Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

Obviously, the author is giving reasons for the greatness of Jesus. The writer has already mentioned that Jesus is God’s perfect spokesman for revealing his will, greater than all the prophets. He is also the heir of all things, the One for whom everything exists. In addition, he is the creator and upholder of the universe with regard to all aspects of its existence. Now he mentions another reason, the fourth, which is what he did at the cross.   The first detail that we can note from this fourth reason is that the purification for sins was achieved. We can see that was the case from the use of the word ‘after’. It is possible that we might read this phrase quickly and not observe the dramatic nature of the statement. We need to put ourselves into the outlook of the readers of this book. They were Jews, and purification for sins was a dominant aspect of life, something they thought about a great deal, probably every day. Throughout their history, millions of sacrifices had been off...

  Peter concludes his letter with a number of personal references and descriptions of the Christian life. Although they are his closing remarks, they are also inspired words. One way to see how they apply to us is to ask a string of questions. So we can ask five. The questions are not inappropriate, but normal ones to use of this passage. 1. What does it mean to be a faithful brother (v. 12)? It is generally assumed that this Silvanus is the same person as the Silas who was with Paul at an earlier period. Peter could be referring to Silvanus as the deliverer of the letter as well as the amanuensis who wrote down what Peter had dictated to him. It was customary for senders of letters to comment about the deliverer, because often the deliverer would give information about the circumstances of the sender. If he was the deliverer, it was important that the recipients knew that he was more than a postman with nothing to say about Peter’s situation. There are two ideas in this descr...

Peter closes his letter with words of encouragement for the suffering Christians to whom he wrote. In his brief consolation he says a great deal to them. We can focus on five matters, four of which concern God – his resources, purpose, action and praise. But before considering them, we can think about the apostle’s assessment of time.   Peter says that their sufferings will not last long, even if they should last for the rest of their lives. This perspective is not unique to Peter. Paul reminded the Corinthians: ‘For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison’ (2 Cor. 4:17). He regarded his difficult circumstances as momentary.  John, also writing in circumstances of suffering, stated: ‘I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus’ (Rev. 1:9). He regarded tribulati...

The shepherds involved in this incident were not the first shepherds described in the Bible as serving God. The first martyr, Abel, was a shepherd before he was killed by his brother Cain. Moses was a shepherd living in Midian when God called him to lead his people. David was a shepherd boy in Bethlehem when he was anointed by Samuel to be the next king of Israel. Amos was a shepherd in Tekoa before he became a prophet. All these are known to us by name, unlike the shepherds in this story. But which of them had the greatest privilege? Surely these shepherds did who had the privilege of seeing Jesus. Sometimes, surprising people are found together. Maybe it can happen in a lift when you find yourself sharing it with a very important person. Or sitting in a restaurant and in walks such an individual and takes the next table to you. Maybe it happens with crowds as well. Two marches with opposing ideas can find themselves sharing the same location for a short time. However surprising those...

As we think of this statement about Jesus revealing God, we need to ask some basic questions. Is the author using illustrations here when he mentions his two details about Jesus being the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature? What does he mean by the glory of God? What does he mean by God’s nature? Has Jesus always been this? Where and when does Jesus do this?   With regard to the first detail, that Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God, the author is using the sun and its rays as an illustration. When we look at the sun, do we see the sun? We see the rays of the sun, and the rays are connected to the sun, and the sun always has them. We might say that the sun cannot exist without the rays and the rays cannot exist without the sun. But do we see the sun or do we see its rays? We see its rays.   With regard to the second detail, the exact imprint of his nature, the author uses the image of something that was an exact copy of an original, such as ...

In his Gospel Matthew indicates its focus in the first verse of chapter 1, which is to explain how Jesus is the Son of David and the Son of Abraham. Part of the story of David is connected to Bethlehem. He came from there to be king, but another king, Saul, did not like his arrival. Jesus too moved from Bethlehem to be king, and in his case as well another king did not like his arrival. But Matthew also wanted to show that Jesus is the Son of Abraham who would bring blessings to Gentiles. How soon would that take? It happened shortly after his birth, when the Magi came to worship him. Who were the Magi? They were persons of understanding, with the ability to give counsel and advice. Important people would consult them regarding dilemmas and issues. If they were like other magi, they would have used astrology as part of their research. But here they were in Bethlehem, counsellors come to see the Wonderful Counsellor.   When did they come? One of the unfortunate aspects of trying to ...