Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Before considering the details of the Leviticus, we must have before us certain matters that have been established in Genesis and Exodus. These are things that we as Israelites already know when we first hear Moses report what God dictated to him in Leviticus. Adam Let us begin with Adam.…
(continued from issue 142) 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘An adam, 1 when he brings near from you p a Nearbringing 2 to Yahweh, from livestock 3 from the herd and from the flock you p shall bring near your p Nearbringing. 4 2.…
Trying to Deal Honestly with Luke 10.25-37; 18.18-30; and Parallels When Christ enjoins upon the young man the duty of following him (Mt. 19:23), he does not give a counsel, but a command to all in common because no one can have a hope of salvation unless he follows Christ…
Initial Observations: How the Gospel Challenged the Pharisees In another paper , I argued that the “Law-Gospel” hermeneutic, as applied to Luke 10.25-37; 18.18-30, resulted in a fundamental misreading of the text. Thinking of the context of those passages in Luke’s Gospel has given me some further reflections on how…
I recently heard of a new English translation of the Bible being prepared by men concerned to preserve a literal word-for-word rendering of the Hebrew and Greek but also sensitive to ecclesiastical tradition. I wrote to the committee and asked if they were going to fix the traditional translation of…
All Christians struggle with sin. Many times even relatively mature Christians commit sins they thought they had long since left behind and end up struggling anew with sinful habits in thought, word, or deed. Naturally, this means they must rouse themselves to action in putting to death the deeds of…
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Matthew 14:11: And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she carried it to her mother. There are two tables in our sermon text, two feasts. There is the murderous feast of Herod, a cannibal king, a shepherd who devours the best of his…
There are echoes in the story of the book of Esther, at least in Mark’s version of John’s execution. Matthew tells us that when the daughter of Herodias danced before Herod, he promised with an oath to give whatever she asked. Mark records Herod’s words somewhat differently: He promises not…
In an old JBL article (on Peter in Matthew), Jack Dean Kingsbury points out that “with” statements frame the gospel of Matthew: “God with us” at one end, and “I am with you always” at the other. Within the gospel, Kingsbury argues that Jesus is mainly “with” the Twelve. Matthew…
Every time the name “Herod” appears in the gospel of Matthew, innocents die. Herod the Great is a prominent character in chapter 2, and the name Herod doesn’t appear again until chapter 14, where Antipas agrees to give Herod’s head to the female Herod, Herodias. Herod doesn’t appear in the…
Peter’s name is used 24 times in Matthew’s gospel. He is identified as “Simon, who is called Peter” or “Simon Peter” three times (4:18; 10:2; 16:16), once called “Simon” (17:25) and once “Simon Barjona” (and two more times is identified as “Simon” (16:17). The distribution of his major appearances in…
I suggested in an earlier post that time is not a lava flow that is liquid and dynamic until it reaches the past, at which point it hardens to rock. If not lava, then what? How does the past keep flowing when it’s no longer present (except as the “present…
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