February 15, 2015. I have been listening to a lot of sermons and podcasts recently that have dealt with the mission of the church and how we need to relight our fire. Of particular note was the distinction between two different paradigms in Christianity that we need to be aware of to choose the…
Tag: Pharisees
John 9-12: The building climax of the ministry of Jesus.
September 26, 2015. Daily Reading: John 9-12. Background: John 7-8. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 9 The blinding of pride and stubbornness: In chapter nine of John’s gospel, we are given an account of Jesus’ healing of a man that had been born blind, but the irony of the story is that those who could well…
Luke 5-6: Teachings of Jesus.
May 30, 2015. Daily Reading: Luke 5-6. Background: Luke 3-4. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 5 1. Fishers of men: Luke records here that the first disciples that Jesus called were Peter, James and John, who were all fishing partners. Jesus, who was in the process of teaching a large crowd, came across these three fishermen…
Mark 3-4: The social Christ.
March 28, 2015. Daily Reading: Mark 3-4. Background: Mark 1-2. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 3 1. Antagonists to Christ: We see a couple of different antagonists to Christ in this chapter, one that is expected and another that might not be as obvious. The first is the opposition of the Pharisees, who were just waiting for…
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…
Matthew 23-25: Woes, signs and parables.
March 7, 2015. Daily Reading: Matthew 23-25. Background: Matthew 20-22. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 23 Seven woe’s to the scribes and Pharisees: In this passage, Jesus talks very openly and distinctly about the scribes and the Pharisees. It does not seem that He is too worried about whether or not they would take offense at His…
Matthew 20-22: Wisdom of Jesus.
February 28, 2015. Daily Reading: Matthew 20-22. Background: Matthew 17-19. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 20 1. The first shall be last, and the last first: Two of the main stories in this passage carry with them the same message at the end: the last shall be first and the first shall be last. Each story pertains…
We might have missed the point.
November 1, 2014. It’s time for a paradigm shift. Few characters are more disliked by Christians today in the New Testament than the Pharisees. This stems, of course, from a generally negative depiction of this sect in the pages of scripture. The Pharisees were notorious for being the “holier-than-thou” Jews, binding heavy burdens on the people though…
Twenty Eight Eighteen 