Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

As we saw in a previous study, Jesus had restored the sight of Bartimaeus the blind beggar just before he entered new Jericho, the city built by Herod the Great beside the ancient city with that name. No doubt, the travellers accompanying Jesus were amazed at what they had seen him do for Bartimaeus. Of course, a real matter of interest for us in reading about the incident would be whether there was an anticipation in the crowd concerning what Jesus would do next. One thing that can be said of Jesus is that his next action was not predictable, and that remains true today. For example, when he calmed the sea, who would have thought that his next action would be to heal a demoniac? Luke gives a hint that something will happen when he says that Jesus was passing through the city. Otherwise he would have merely said that Jesus had left the city after helping Bartimaeus. Who was Zacchaeus? There is a statement in the Old Testament where God says he will bring one person from a city and tw...

The disciples must have been puzzled often by what Jesus said and did. Earlier in the chapter, he had an interaction with an unnamed rich person who had initially indicated he wanted to be a disciple of Jesus. Yet it was not difficult for Jesus to show to the man that he had a wrong understanding about Jesus and wrong motives for serving him. Nevertheless, the disciples wondered what kind of person Jesus wanted to follow him. Readers of the gospel might also have the same question. In any case, Luke proceeds to describe two genuine followers of Jesus, one a blind man and the other a tax collector, neither of whom would normally be the kind of individual that would impress the disciples.   Luke does not tell us the name of the blind man, but Mark in his Gospel tell us that his name was Bartimaeus (in fact this may be his surname). Matthew, who was an eyewitness, tells us that there were two lepers, although only one of them is mentioned by Mark and Luke. At some stage on this moment...

It might be true to say that God seems silent today as far as his kingdom is concerned, at least within the circles and places that we are familiar with. Prior to Nahum’s prophetic announcement, the people of Israel and Judah may have thought he was silent in their time because he did not seem to be doing anything about Nineveh and its intentions. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, an empire that seemed invincible to other countries, and which was intent on destroying God’s people as it conquered all nations that stood in its way.     Of course, there are different ways of viewing Nineveh and its empire. We can see them as the tool that God used in providence to chasten the nations for their sinful behaviour, or we can see them as a tool God used to discipline his people for their unfaithfulness to him. That kind of divine response is frequent. Another way of looking at Nineveh is that about a century earlier, it had experienced a unique revival through the preaching of Jonah...

Jesus has had an interaction with the crowd about him being the Bread of life, of his capacity to provide what people need for spiritual satisfaction. When someone makes an incredible assertion about himself, it is helpful to consider what else he might choose to say. A will revealed When we speak of God’s will, we know that there are two options to consider. There is his secret will in which he has included everything that comes to pass. No-one outside of God know the contents of God’s secret will apart from the details he has chosen to reveal. For example, his secret will includes the date of our birth and the date of our death. We know the date of our birth, but that is all. We don’t know the date of our death, or what will happen between them. But God knows all details, and at some stage others will discover those details. This is not the will of God that is described in our verse. The will of the Father here is his revealed will. Yet his revealed will needs to be divided into diff...

  As we know, Paul in this section of his letter is encouraging husbands to care for their wives in a wholehearted and sacrificial manner. Their example is Jesus and what he does for his people. No doubt, many details of Jesus’ involvement could be given. Paul provides a past, present and future perspective of that commitment by Jesus. The past (v. 25) Paul describes what Jesus did for the church in the past. He mentions both the attitude and the action of the Saviour. Regarding his attitude, he loved the church; regarding his action, he gave himself up for her. What does it mean that Christ loved the church? He loved her eternally as the divine Son of God in heaven. This eternal aspect is described as his response to the gift his Father gave to him. In love, the Father gave him an elect people to save and, in love, Jesus accepted them and loved them even although they were sinful. Since the gift was eternal, it means that he always has loved them. Christ loved the church and gave ...