Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

Sometimes we may think a person is great and then discover that he is far greater than we could have imagined. I suppose someone has lived beside an athlete and realised that he was better than most. But then he saw the athlete at the Olympics and discovered that he was the best in the world by a long way. But the neighbour had to see the athlete in a superior situation to appreciate his greatness. Or we might think that a military officer seems competent, but then in a war we see his real greatness. Of course, such places also reveal whether or not a person is truly great. Peter had seen Jesus do great miracles and had concluded that he was the promised Messiah and the Son of the living God. So he knew that Jesus was great. Yet he still thought there were places where it would not be possible for Jesus to show his greatness, and one of them was Jerusalem because Jesus had indicated that he would be put to death there. In verse 26, Jesus speaks about the possibility of being asham...

We are familiar with great gatherings in which a leader addresses a large audience. Often those who have been chosen by him to help him in his mission will be placed near him in prominent positions. The audience will then hear an address from the leader and as they listen to him they will also observe his chosen helpers standing or sitting near to him. Something similar, but in reality far more important in its significance, took place on the occasion when Jesus selected his apostles. He was there as the Leader, the apostles were there as his agents, and the crowd were there listening to Jesus as he outlined various features of his kingdom. The preparation Luke informs us that Jesus spent the night in prayer before he publicly identified those who would be apostles. In his Gospel, Luke mentions that Jesus was praying at his baptism and on the Mount of Transfiguration. Other Gospels mention other occasions when Jesus prayed. Perhaps we are surprised to see references to prayer in t...

Was the calling of Levi (or Matthew) a significant moment? It was obviously significant because Levi was called by Jesus to be an apostle. He was also going to write a Gospel. Yet we are told about his experience and not about the call of some of the other apostles. I would suggest that we are told about his conversion because he was from a different background from most of the apostles. Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, and Nathaniel (Bartholemew) were devout Israelites, individuals who would have been respected in their local communities for their dedication to the Jewish faith. With Levi, we move to a different kind of person. It is possible to speculate about why he had the name Levi. Parents usually chose names for reasons. Perhaps, in this case, they wanted their son to serve God in a special way. After all, in Jewish history, Levi was the tribe chosen to serve God as priests and Levites. If that was the parents’ wish, then eventually their prayers were answered far above wh...