Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

Jesus has been on the cross since 9am. Luke has told us about two matters that have happened before noon: the prayer by Jesus for the soldiers who had crucified him and the assurance he then gave to the penitent criminal about his place in Paradise later that day. Now Luke moves on to describe what happened in the afternoon of this unique and amazing day. There are some details in other Gospels that Luke does not mention. Regarding the seven sayings on the cross, Luke does not mention numbers three, four, five and six, but he does mention the seventh (as well as the prayer for the soldiers and the promise to the criminal). He does not include (1) the arrangement of care that Jesus made for his mother through his disciple John, (2) the cry about Jesus being forsaken by God, (3) the cry that Jesus was thirsty, and (4) the cry that Jesus had completed the work he was engaged in doing. Although he does not mention them, he does include several important details for his readers to consider....

Having focussed on the greatness of God as they gathered in Jerusalem on the twenty-fourth day of the month in order to make a covenant with him, the people who had returned to the land of Judah then proceeded to look back through the history of their nation right to its beginning at the time of Abraham about fifteen centuries before. As they do so, they mention several periods from their national history, and with regard to each period they say something about the Lord and his actions as well as their forefathers and their actions. So first, we can consider briefly what they said about God as well as what was said about the Israelites, and then we can mention some lessons for ourselves. God and Abraham (vv. 7-8) Abraham was selected by God and brought out of his pagan background in order for the Lord to make a covenant with him. God is described as sovereign in his plan and gracious in his choice of Abraham; moreover, he is said to be the searcher of Abraham’s heart as well as the One...

At the beginning, two humans met with God in a garden and there they would have fellowship together in the cool of the day. Sadly, that fellowship was ended by the rebellion of Adam and Eve against God. They would have another type of fellowship after the Lord had revealed to them his grace about a coming deliverer. But how he would deliver rebels remained the question and the answer had not yet been fully revealed. And it did not seem likely that it would be revealed on the day that Jesus was crucified. Indeed, it looked as if he was a failure in his attempts to provide a recovery. There he was with two rebels, crucified and waiting to die. And then during a conversation he speaks in a manner that connects with the garden that had gone but which in another sense was still there, and in speaking about it tells one of the rebels that he would be in Paradise with him later that day, almost in the cool of the day, we could say. God and rebels together in the garden illustrated by that con...

It is likely that in Israel today hundreds, if not thousands, of people made their way to one of the optional sites for Calvary in order to experience the place. For some, it would have been a lifetime ambition to be there; for others, it would have been one more tourist site to visit in the Holy Land. It is certainly moving to visit them. Many of them would depend on their guides for information about various features connected to the sites. But we don’t have to go to Israel to go to Calvary. We can go there without leaving the building. Yet we always need a guide, and we should always go in the right frame of mind. The Guide is the Holy Spirit.  It is a place for reverence because God is there, for reflection on what took place there when Jesus died, and for refreshment for our souls, and usually the three responses are simultaneous. We need the Holy Spirt, the heavenly Guide, to explain to us the significance of Calvary. Luke mentions four details in verse 34 about what happened...

The seventh month of this year was turning out to be crucial for the city of Jerusalem and the people who lived in Judea. Already they have kept the Feast of Trumpets and the week-long Feast of Tabernacles (it is likely that they had also kept the annual Day of Atonement, although it is not mentioned in Nehemiah – it occurred between those two other feasts). The Feast of Tabernacles finished on the twenty-second day of the month. The meeting described in Nehemiah 9 took place two days later, which suggests that there was a sense of urgency about it. They wanted to know the blessing of God and their response is a useful guide for us as we search for his blessing. What they did (9:1-5) The narrator of the events of that day mentions several features of the people as they gathered together. He highlights their appearance and their actions. It was a day marked by fasting; this was distinct from how they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles, indeed almost the opposite. Fasting usually involv...

Probably Jesus was led to Golgotha by a centurion and four soldiers. The distance was not long, about three quarters of a mile. With him were two criminals who were also going to be crucified. Behind them were a large crown of people and among them were some women from Jerusalem who were weeping loudly. Initially, Jesus was carrying the cross (John 19:17), but somewhere on the route they compelled a man called Simon to carry the cross. It may have been the cross beam that he had to carry. We are not told why Simon was compelled to carry it. Perhaps Jesus was unable to do so because of physical weakness resulting from the way he had been treated since he was arrested. Sharing – the privilege of Simon Simon had probably travelled to Jerusalem from Cyrene (modern Libya) to participate in the annual Passover. The Passover had been held the previous evening and Simon would have held it with family or friends. We are not told where he was staying, only that it seemed to have been outside the...

Somebody has observed that Nehemiah chapters 1-6 focus on the rebuilding of the wall and chapters 7-13 describe the rebuilding of the people. After all, what would have been the benefit of a great wall if no change had taken place in the people living behind it?  Nehemiah realised a very simple and obvious fact about Jerusalem which was that it must have a city life. He was aware of different kinds of city life, having served the emperor of Persia in Susa and elsewhere. But at the time recorded in this section of his book he was concerned about what would go on in the city of Jerusalem and what would be its vibes as a community. He knew that building the wall round the city was a means to an end. It gave security for whatever would take place within it. But there is more to a city than security. Nehemiah was also concerned for the spirituality of the city. That detail is described in 7:1 in the reference to gatekeepers, singers and Levites. Later in the chapter, we are told that ...