Category Archives: Jesus Christ

Mt 13/Mk 4/Lk 8 – The Parable of the Sower – Intro

Walking With Giants Posted on by

Here is the text, based on Matthew’s account, but including significant variants from Mark and Luke.

Mt 13:1 On that day after Jesus went out of the house, he sat by the lake. 13:2 And such a large crowd gathered around him [Lk: and people were coming to Jesus from one town after another] that he got into a boat to sit while the whole crowd stood on the shore. 13:3 He told them many things in parables [Lk: he spoke to them in a parable], saying: “Listen!…

Mt 13/Mk 4/Lk 8 – Why did Jesus speak in parables?

Walking With Giants Posted on by

The so-called ‘Parable of the Sower’ is recorded in all three Synoptic Gospels.  And, in each case, the parable itself is followed by an explanation by Jesus of why he taught in parables.

Luke’s is the briefest account, followed by Mark’s and then Matthew’s:

Lk 8:9-10
8:9 Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. 8:10 He said, “You have been given the opportunity to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that although they see they may not see, and although they hear they may not understand.”
…

Isaiah 9:6 – ‘Wonderful counsellor’

Walking With Giants Posted on by

In the NIV, Isaiah 9:6f reads:

6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.…

Science and miracles

Walking With Giants Posted on by

Sir Colin Humphreys recently spoke at Norwich Cathedral on ‘How Can Science Fit With Miracles?’.

A video recording of the lecture, together with the Q & A session which followed, can be found here.

Sir Colin spent most of his time discussing three miracles – the ancient Israelites’ crossing of the River Jordan, the crossing of the ‘Red Sea’, and the resurrection of Jesus.

When approaching miracles from a scientific perspective, he said, we should first ask if any known natural mechanisms can be invoked in order to help us understand what happened.…

The honour and shame of the cross

Walking With Giants Posted on by

We are often told that ancient societies, such as Israel, were ‘honour-shame’ cultures.

How does the relate to the crucifixion of Jesus?

To be sure, crucifixion was not only a terribly painful death, but also a shameful one.

We see something of the humiliation of Jesus’ death in Mark’s Gospel.  Abandoned by his friends, tortured, and hung up (probably naked) to endure a lingering death in full public view.  And yet Mark communicates a certain honour to that which most would have found utterly shameful. …

Is Jesus the only way?

Walking With Giants Posted on by

Writing in the Apologetics Study Bible for Students, Brett Kunkle writes:

That Jesus is the only way to God may be the most controversial claim of Christianity, so we had better have good reason for making it. I think we do.

What does Jesus say? We don’t want to claim something about Jesus that he wouldn’t claim of himself. If the Gospels are historically reliable (we have overwhelming evidence they are), then we have Jesus’s own words and by examining them we discover that he claims to be the only way to God.…

Two encounters with Jesus

Walking With Giants Posted on by

Ian Paul compares and contrasts two encounters with Jesus: that of Nicodemus (John 3) and of the Samaritan Woman (John 4):

John 3 John 4
Who is involved? A respectable named Jewish man An outcast unnamed Samaritan woman
Who initiates the encounter? The person themselves Jesus
When does the meeting occur? In the evening In the broad daylight
What is the literal significance of this? In a hot climate, it would be natural to meet to discuss things in the evening—and Nicodemus might have been wanting to keep the meeting secret or at least discreet.
…

Jn 6:38-40 – “I have come…not to do my own will”

Walking With Giants Posted on by

6:38 I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. 6:39 Now this is the will of the one who sent me—that I should not lose one person of every one he has given me, but raise them all up at the last day. 6:40 For this is the will of my Father—for everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him to have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”…

Eternal submission in John’s Gospel

Walking With Giants Posted on by

The Fourth Gospel clearly teaches that the Son is one with the Father in essence, and yet subject to him.

As Christopher Cowan explains, this subjection is seen in a number of ways.

1. The Son is ‘sent’ by the Father

‘The Father’s purpose in sending the Son is that the world might be saved through him (John 3:17), and Jesus repeatedly describes God as “the Father who sent me” or “him who sent me” (e.g.

…

1 Cor 11:3 – Gender complementarity and the immanent Trinity

Walking With Giants Posted on by

1 Corinthians 11:3 reads:

‘But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.’

The statement ‘God is the head of Christ’ comes in a context which deals with the expression of gender roles in public worship.  Does it then provide a basis for gender complementarity on the basis of the immanent Trinity?

Most evangelical egalitarians, such as Kevin Giles, answer with a resounding, ‘No!’ …