December 25, 2015. Daily Reading: Malachi 1-4. Background: The name Malachi means “My messenger”, and there is some debate as to whether or not this was considered a proper name of the prophet or if the book is written by an anonymous “messenger” of God. Regardless, there is a strong consensus that the ministry of…
Tag: John the baptist
John 5-6: The testimony of Jesus.
September 13, 2015. Daily Reading: John 5-6. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 5 1. Healing on the Sabbath: Now that Jesus has stated His ministry, John gives us an account of His healing a lame man on the Sabbath, something that was notorious for getting Him in troubles with the Jews. Here we find Jesus traveling…
John 3-4: A new birth and living water.
September 5, 2015. Daily Reading: John 3-4. Background: John 1-2. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 3 1. The man who came to Jesus by night: Chapter 3 of the book of John contains one of, if not the most quoted bible verse amongst Christians today, however the context of John 3:16 is often not highlighted as…
John 1-2: Come and see.
August 29, 2015. Daily Reading: John 1-2. Background: The gospel of John is quite different from the other three synoptic (meaning synopsis, or summery) gospels, containing different stories, miracles and theological emphasis. The differences in this gospel reflect a different purpose in writing, likely written after a good amount of theological reflection of the author,…
Luke 7-8: Stories of Jesus.
June 6, 2015. Daily Reading: Luke 7-8. Background: Luke 5-6. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 7 1. The centurion’s servant and the widow’s son: There are two stories of Jesus’ healing in this chapter. The story of the centurion’s servant is very unique and interesting in different regards. What might be surprising from the beginning of…
Luke 3-4: John and Jesus.
May 23, 2015. Daily Reading: Luke 3-4. Background: Luke 1-2. Concepts and Connections. Luke 3 1. John the baptizer: One of the hints as to the idea that Luke was writing to a Roman citizen is how he sets the time period of the things that he writes about, using Roman official’s and the ruler’s name…
Luke 1-2: The birth of John the Baptizer and Jesus.
May 16, 2015. Daily Reading: Luke 1-2. Background: Luke is the third gospel in the cannon and is written by a disciple of Christ who sets out to tell the story of Jesus in a ordered, historical fashion. Luke is known as a physician (see Colossians 4:14) and is the author of two books of…
Mark 5-6: Healings, signs and the limited commission.
April 4, 2015. Daily Reading: Mark 5-6. Background: Mark 3-4. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 5 Three accounts of healing: Though this chapter is a rather lengthy text, it has one overall theme, and that is miracles of healing done by the Christ. There are three accounts of healing depicted here, one of a man who has…
Mark 1-2: The early ministry of Jesus.
March 20, 2015. Just as a heads up, I have switched the order of reading for today and tomorrow. Today we will look at Mark 1-2, and tomorrow we will look at Isaiah 56-61. _________________________________________________________ Daily Reading: Mark 1-2. Background: Mark is the beginning of the testament of Christ, a recording of His ministry. Many…
Isaiah 40-44: The Holy One of Israel.
February 27, 2015. Daily Reading: Isaiah 40-44. Background: Isaiah 34-39. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 40 1. A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Comfort was coming for the people of Israel, which is likely an immediate reference to the Babylonians (who had taken Judah captive) being defeated by the Medes and Persians. As chapter 40…
Matthew 14-16: Jesus’ ministry.
February 14, 2015. Daily Reading: Matthew 14-16. Background: Matthew 11-13. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 14 1. Belief without faith: At the beginning of this chapter we gain an interesting perspective into the mind of Herod the tetrarch and can glean an important lesson about a characteristic of man that we might sometimes overlook in our own lives….
Matthew 11-13: Speaking in parables.
February 7, 2015. Daily Reading: Matthew 11-13. Background: Matthew 8-10. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 11 1. John the baptizer and the Messiah: John had come as the one who would prepare the way for the Messiah, a voice crying in the wilderness. As Jesus’ and John’s ministries begin to overlap, John sends messengers to Jesus to…
Twenty Eight Eighteen 