Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

At this time of year in Jerusalem, two of the seven annual feasts of Israel took place. The Passover was followed by the week-long feast of unleavened bread and since the Passover was followed immediately by the other feast it is not surprising that they became identified with one another, as Luke does in verse 1. Plot (vv. 1-6) We can imagine that there would be a great diversity of religious reaction at such a time. Some would gather to thank God for his amazing deliverance of his people at the Exodus and they would also recall how they had been delivered by him from the exile in Babylon. Such would probably wonder if he would come and rescue them from their current bondage to the Roman empire. Others would see it as a time of meeting up with relatives because every male Jew was meant to attend the Passover. Luke also informs us of what one group of individuals were planning. The religious leaders were eager to have Jesus put to death, but they sensed that the crowd of pilgrims in th...

J. I. Packer was a writer who influenced many. But who influenced him? No doubt, quite a few. One of them was Nehemiah. Packer, when explaining what he would like to say to Nehemiah when they meet in heaven, said this: ‘What I would like him to know is that during the half-century that I have been a Christian he has helped me enormously, more perhaps than any other Bible character apart from the Lord Jesus himself.’ An endorsement like that should lead us to ask what this biblical book is about? What ideas come to mind when we read it? No doubt, the greatness of God is revealed. The importance of prayer is also highlighted. Indeed, in this book, several prayers of Nehemiah are mentioned. Moreover we can see that the responsibility of believers is stated. To Nehemiah, the biblical question of Mordecai to Esther could have been asked, ‘And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?’ (Esth. 4:14). It has been observed that those who ignore history merely r...

The temple in Jerusalem seemed to be the one security on earth that the Jewish people had. Having been rebuilt after the return from the exile in Babylon and enlarged in recent years as one of the building projects of Herod the Great it seemed to hold out against all the invasions and troubles that the Jews had known in the past and were now experiencing. Wherever they were in the world they could look towards Jerusalem and remind themselves that their God was present there in a special way in the temple. No doubt, at every Passover season the vast throng of Jewish pilgrims would admire the great stones with which the temple was built. And among the admirers were the disciples of Jesus, as we can see on this occasion. They would have been puzzled and intrigued by Jesus’ assertion that the day was coming when the temple would be flattened. After all, some of its stones were over forty feet in length and are reckoned to have weighed more than one hundred tons each. How could they collaps...

We may ask if there is a connection between the incidents mentioned here by Luke apart from their consecutive connection? Is there a theme that covers them? Or are they disconnected from one another? Some suggestions could be irrelevant leadership (as seen in the Pharisees, Sadducees and scribes), or ongoing dismissal of Jesus by the leadership, or proper temple attitudes and practices because he was teaching there and refers to some of them. A suggestion that I would make is that Luke is speaking about true religion as taught by Jesus in contrast to what was taught by others. What would be included within true religion? No doubt, many things. Yet, in the light of the cross, which is the event shadowing this Passover week, what would we include? Maybe the matters that Luke includes here. If so, it would include reacting to earthly governments, experiencing the power of God, understanding who Jesus is, and what and how we should give to God. We would agree that a proper response in each...

Adam and Eve, our first parents, have disobeyed God and they can hear him coming towards them in the evening of the day in which they had sinned against him by disobeying his instructions about eating the forbidden fruit. But was this coming by the Lord to be a time of fellowship in which they would share comforting matters? They did not think so. The reason for their apprehensive anticipation was that they knew about his threatened punishment. They now fear in their souls what God will do. After all, God had warned them of the consequences of disobedience. He had spoken of death, but what did that mean? They had never seen death before. But was he coming as judge and executioner, or was he coming in another manner? The arrival of God Moses says that Adam and Eve heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden. How could they hear his footsteps since he is a spirit? The answer to this question is what is called a theophany. In a theophany, God takes on a form in which he can be seen ...