What language(s) did Jesus speak?

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According to Peter G. Bour:

‘Given his environment, it is certainly possible that Jesus had some ability in Aramaic, Greek and Hebrew, and was able to use each in the appropriate setting.’

Pate cites Stanley Porter:

‘Jesus would probably be best described as productively multilingual in Greek and Aramaic, and possibly Hebrew, though only Aramaic would have been his first language, and Greek and Hebrew being second or acquired languages.’

Taking each of these three languages in turn:

1.…

“Follow me”

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Jesus’ command: “Follow me” might at first sound like: “Come with me.”

Scot McKnight writes:

‘The most important words Jesus said to his disciples were “Follow me.” To Levi Jesus said, “Follow me” (Mark 2:14). To a less-than-certain-about-following-Jesus-person Jesus said, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead” (Matthew 8:22), and to the crowd and his disciples, Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34).

…

Masters and slaves in Christ

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In the course of a discussion about Jonathan Edwards and slavery, John Piper notes:

I believe that the New Testament ordered human relationships in Christ in such a way as to transform the master-slave relationship into something so different from “owner” and “property” that what remained was no longer recognizable as slavery in the traditional sense. To say it another way, when the New Testament instructions to masters and slaves were obeyed, what was left of the master-slave relationship was not a relationship of owner and property.…

John Calvin on errors in Scripture

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I appreciate the work that Wyatt Houtz has done in demonstrating John Calvin’s approach to various apparent discrepancies in the Bible.

Here’s briefest of summaries.  In most cases, I have elaborated in my Bible Commentary on the various passages.

Gen 1:14:16 – Calvin knows that the Moon is not larger than Saturn, and that the Moon is a dark opaque body and not a luminary.  Calvin concludes that the author of Genesis is justified in using unscientific language, in order for God’s revelation to be understood by ordinary people.…

Mt 26:39/Mk 14:36/Lk 22:42 – “Let this cup pass from me!”

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Mt 26:39 Going a little farther, he threw himself down with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me! Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Mk 14:36 He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Lk 22:42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me.…

1 Jn 5:20 – ‘The true God’

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5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us insight to know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This one is the true God and eternal life.

Is John referring to the Father or to the Son as ‘the true God’?

(a) Some commentators understand John to mean that ‘the true God’ refers to the Father (so Westcott, Dodd, Grayston, Smalley, Stott).  …

‘A more Christlike God’ – 7

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Summarising chapter 7 – ‘The Cross as Divine Consent’

The relationship between God and his people is not that of a ‘forced marriage’:

‘God has given us free will and we can freely accept or reject his proposal.’

But what if we decline?  “Please accept my gracious offer…or else!”

We have seen that God is Christlike – and his nature is therefore cruciform (Cross-shaped) and kenotic (self-giving).

But how can such a God be said to reign?…

Lk 17:21 – “The kingdom of God is in your midst”

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Lk 17:20 Now at one point the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God was coming, so he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, 17:21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

Various interpretations have been proposed:

(a) Some think that this is a later addition to the Gospel, attempting to deal with the so-called ‘delay of the Parousia’ and seeking to ‘spiritualise’ the notion of the kingdom of God.…

Challenges and blessings of Bible reading

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John Piper talks about the challenges and blessings of reading the Bible from cover to cover.

First, three challenges:-

1. You will be opposed. “Satan hates the word of God and will disincline you, blind you, distract you, bore you.” He will do anything to keep you from the word. Pray for his subversive aims to backfire. “Ask God to keep your heart inclined, remove your blindness, grant you focus instead of distraction, and give you excitement instead of boredom.”…

Why we need to read the Bible daily

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From the teaching of John Piper:-

Here are ten reasons we need the word daily.

(1) Scripture is a means of preserving our salvation. Salvation is a dynamic reality that functions in three tenses: past, present, and future. And in the present reality, “God saves us daily by Scripture” (1 Tim. 4:16).

(2) Scripture meets Satan’s temptations (John 8:32, 44; 1 John 2:14). “Every time Jesus was tempted by the devil, he struck back with ‘the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God’” (Eph.…