Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

As is obvious from the chapter, Paul is presenting information about the resurrection of Jesus that he believes are essential details of the gospel. This is a reminder about how big the gospel is and how much there is for us to think about and rejoice in when considering the amazing salvation that Jesus has provided.    Does the resurrection of Jesus matter?   In verses 12-19, Paul lists several ways in which the resurrection of Jesus is essential. He mentions a general point concerning resurrection. The Corinthians had listened to the emphasis of Greek culture, which denied the possibility of a resurrection. If that idea was right, it would mean that Jesus was still dead.   If Jesus is not alive, we should not preach the gospel because it is an untrue message. In this scenario, preachers or others who mention the resurrection of Christ are telling lies about God, which would have meant at that time that the Jews were right when they said that the Christi...

What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? Many answers could be given to that question, but in a sense that is what Matthew is doing in his Gospel, and this explains why incidents that seem initially to have no connection are placed together by him in his account of the coming of Jesus. In this section of the Gospel, Matthew describes three instances in which the disciples learned several aspects of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. The healing of a boy (Matthew 17:14-21) A man had brought his demon-possessed son to the nine disciples of Jesus at the bottom of the mountain in order for them to heal him. They had been unable to do so, yet when the man informed Jesus of their failure he healed him immediately (Mark tells us that the father asked Jesus to strengthen his faith from unbelief). Before he did so, Jesus spoke in general to the people and we should consider his response because it is a rebuke that they received when they were described as faithless and twisted....

Paul has pointed out to the Corinthians what the Old Testament predicted about the Messiah. When he came, he would die for our sins and then after being buried he would be raised again on the third day. Perhaps a response he anticipated was something like, ‘It is easy for you to say that because we know that you know the Old Testament very well. Can you provide evidence that Jesus fulfilled those requirements?’ After all, if Paul cannot prove that the resurrection of Jesus took place, what would be the point of preaching about it? Maybe that was the reason why he proceeded to list some of the witnesses who saw Jesus alive after his death. Why these six appearances? The list that Paul gives is surprising because he does not begin with those who saw Jesus first after his resurrection. We are told elsewhere who they were: Mary Magdalene, a group of women and the two who were travelling to Emmaus, one of whom we know was a man. Why did he not mention them? One common suggestion is t...

As we have seen several times in our studies in this book the background is the decision of the people, after hearing the messages of Haggai and Zechariah, to resume rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. They had previously lacked enthusiasm for the project, but now their attitude had changed. No doubt, the people might have assumed that all that was included in this rebuilding project would be done under the supervision of Joshua and Zerubbabel. We are about to discover from this section of the prophecy that much more was included. Look for more We should not be too surprised at that method of more being included than first seems the case because it occurs repeatedly with regard to many aspects of the Christian faith. Here are a couple of examples. First, Jesus promised his disciples that when a person would trust in him for salvation he or she would receive the Holy Spirit to indwell them. What happens when a person believes in Jesus? He or she receives the Spirit. Does that C...