Category Archives: Bible

Luke 22:44 – ‘His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground’

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Luke 22:44 And in his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

The first thing to note is that vv43-44 are text-critically disputed.  Garland, along with others, considers the debate finely balanced.  I shall proceed on the assumption of their authenticity.

1. ‘Bloody sweat’ affirmed

Some old writers, and some modern apologists, eager to squeeze the last drop(!) out of this passage, take it to mean that Jesus actually sweated drops of blood.…

Matthew 2:11 – ‘Gold, frankincense, and myrrh’

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2:11 As [the magi] came into the house and saw the child with Mary his mother, they bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their treasure boxes and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Summary.  Rather than supposing that the gifts brought by the magi carry symbolic meaning, it is probably better to view them as gifts ‘fit for a king’.

Do the gifts have symbolic meaning?  I have some hesitation about this, but I’ll put this out as a gentle warning to my fellow-preachers anyway.…

Genesis 18 – Abraham’s three visitors

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Gen 18:1 The LORD appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest time of the day. 18:2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing across from him. When he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

Who were these ‘three men’?

Some writers, both ancient and modern, have seen the three persons of the Trinity here.…

Why are Matthew’s and Luke’s birth narratives so different?

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The most celebrated critical commentary on the birth narratives is that of Raymond Brown – The Birth of the Messiah.

In discussing the birth narratives as history, Brown cites two sets of problems:

1. The problem of corroborating witnesses

Regarding the main body of the Gospel narratives, there is no shortage of witnesses whose reminiscences could be harvested.  And there was a tradition that had been passed down from this first witnesses.  See Acts 1:22; 1 Cor 15:3 etc.…

2 Peter 1:20 – ‘No prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet’s own imagination.’

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2 Peter 1:20 ‘No prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet’s own imagination.’

This passage may mean,

(a) no prophecy is to be understood by private interpretation; i.e. it must be interpreted as the Church understands it, or as the Holy Spirit illuminates it.  This would be consistent with the fact that the false teachers certainly did misinterpret Scripture (2 Pet 2:1; 3:16).

According to Bauckham, most commentators and translations adopt this interpretation. …

Matthew 22:14 – “Many are called, but few are chosen”

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Matthew 22:14 – “Many are called, but few are chosen”

Two (not necessarily contradictory) aspects of this saying – the numerical and the theological – warrant consideration.

1. Numerical

For Enoch Powell, Jesus’ words ‘few are chosen’ mean ‘that his salvation will not be for all, not even for the majority,’ insisting that ‘ignorance, incapacity, perversity, the sheer human propensity to error are sufficient to ensure a high failure rate.’  But, as the contributor to Hard Sayings of the Bible (presumably F.F.…

Mark 6:3 – a scandalous birth?

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Mark 6:3 Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” And so they took offense at him.

The reference to Jesus as ‘Mary’s son’ is unusual, and invites attention.

A son would usually be identified in connection with his father, not his mother (although see Judg 11:1–2; 1 Kgs 17:17; Lk 7:12; Acts 16:1; 23:16; Gal 4:21–31).  This would be the case even if the father were dead, as may be the case with Jesus, given the silence of the Gospels after the birth narratives in that regard.…

Philippians 4:14 – ‘I can do all things’

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4:13 I am able to do all things through the one who strengthens me.

Ben Witherington has characterised this the ‘Superman Verse’, on the basis of its common misinterpretation.

Noting that this verse is often claimed by athletes, the Apologetics Study Bible for Students explains:

‘Paul is not claiming that Christians can do absolutely anything. After all, is it really possible to run three-minute miles or bench press one thousand pounds? The context shows that Paul actually had Christian perseverance in mind.

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God honours his Word

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God honours his word.  As John Stott has written:

‘Behind every word is the person who speaks it, and the authority he possesses or lacks. God’s Word has power for the sole reason that it is God who speaks it. His Word is creative (“for he spoke and it was done,” Ps. 33:9), productive (“my word … shall not return to me empty but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,” Isa. 55:11), and redemptive (“it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe,” 1 Cor.

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John 1:51 – ‘Angels ascending and descending’

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John 1:51 – “I tell all of you the solemn truth—you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

The allusion is to the experience of Jacob (later re-named Israel), Gen 28:17.  While on his way to see Laban, he had a dream in which he say angels ascending and descending between heaven and earth.  He concluded that ‘the Lord is in this place’, and named it ‘Bethel’, meaning ‘the house of God’.…