‘In contrast to most of the parabolic sayings, such as not reaping figs from thorn bushes (Luke 6:43), the story parables do not serve to illustrate Jesus’ prosaic teaching with word pictures. Nor are they told to serve as vehicles for revealing truth—although they end up clearly doing that. Rather the story parables function as a striking way of calling forth a response on the part of the hearer. In a sense, the parable itself is the message.…
‘The New Testament itself is written in a language Jesus never spoke.’
So claims Richard Rohr (The Divine Dance: The Trinity and your transformation) in a throwaway comment. It is one of a large number of careless and inaccurate statements by this writer.
The two main languages spoken by Jews at the time were Aramaic (in everyday communication) and Hebrew (in more formal religious matters). But what about Greek? This language had been spoken in Palestine for several centuries. …
| Reference | Admonition, in substance | Link to teaching concerning Christ’s person and work |
|---|---|---|
| Rom. 15:2, 3 | Please the neighbor | “for Christ also pleased not himself.” |
| Rom. 15:7 | Extend a hearty welcome to each other. (Receive one another.) | “just as Christ also welcomed (received) you.” |
| 2 Cor. 8:7–9 | Abound in the grace of giving to the needy | “for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that through his poverty you might become rich.” |
How can we preach Christ from the Old Testament? Sydney Greidanus outlines seven ways:-
1. Redemptive-historical progression—seeing the message of the passage in the context of redemptive history from beginning to end, especially following the progression of redemptive history as it moves forward from the text’s historical setting to Jesus’ First and/or Second Coming. [Example: Gen 3 and the ‘Fall’, finding its remedy in the saving work of Christ]
2. Promise-fulfillment—showing that the promise of a coming Messiah was fulfilled in Jesus’ First Coming or will be fulfilled in his Second Coming. …
After his resurrection, Jesus declared that ‘all authority is heaven and on earth’ had been given to him (Mt 28:18). As Christians, then, we confess that ‘Jesus Christ is Lord’ (Phil 2:9-11).
How does Christ exercise his authority in the church today? Four possible answers have been given:-
In the Jewish society of Jesus’ day, it was almost unthinkable that a man would remain unmarried beyond the age of 20 or so. After all, the very first commandment of the Torah is to ‘go and multiply’). Few indeed are the recorded instances of unmarried men. There was a studious rabbi by the name of Simeon ben Azzi. And even he probably had been married, but had become a widower.
Girls were usually married by the age of twelve, and men by the age of twenty.…
He is
(Adapted from Naismith, 1200 Scripture Outlines, p194)…
At times – according to the Gospel narratives – Jesus showed evidence of extraordinary knowledge. This included knowledge of what others were thinking (e.g., Mark 2:6-8; Mark 11:2; John 1:48-49). But such knowledge is not necessarily evidence of our Lord’s divinity, since at other times he displays ignorance. And this combination of extraordinary knowledge about some things and ignorance about others also characterised the prophets of the Old Testament.
According to Raymond E. Brown, this limitation does nothing to diminish our admiration for Jesus Christ, for it shows ‘what depths divine condescension went in the incarnation–it would show just how human was the humanity of Jesus.’…
It is one thing to affirm that Christ was (and is) both human and divine. It is another to seek to understand how these truths relate to one another.
Peter Lewis has some helpful comments on our belief that the incarnate Christ did not cease to be divine.
According to John 1:14, ‘the Word became flesh’. ‘However,’ writes Lewis, ‘we are not to think of the Son as leaving a sort of gap in the Godhead, a vacancy in the Trinity, at his coming down to earth as a man. …
Grudem (Systematic Theology, p541f) outlines a number of reasons. What follows is based on his discussion.
