New Testament

Glorifying His Name (John 12.20–32)

30 November 2011 Biblical Studies

My students often ask me: “What do I need to do to be in God’s will?” Sometimes we put so much pressure on ourselves to accomplish God’s will, forgetting that he will take care of what is necessary to accomplish his promises. We strive and strive and strive, and so often we fail. My answer always comes from Matthew 23.

Tagged as: common worship, daily reading, gospel, john, love, prayer

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The Rejected Stone (Mark 12.1–12)

6 October 2011 New Testament

This morning’s reading, Mark 12.1–12: Then he began to speak to them in parables. ‘A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watch-tower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the season came, he sent a slave to the [...]

Tagged as: gospel of mark, parable

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Politics & Expediency Trump Truth (Mark 11.27–End)

5 October 2011 New Testament

I’ve been following along with the Common Worship Morning Prayer lectionary. This morning’s New Testament reading was Mark 11.27–end. It is amazing to me how some things never change. Let’s look at the text: Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to [...]

Tagged as: gospel of mark, truth

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Hebrews 2:9 – Separated by Grace (Part 8)

19 April 2010 Biblical Studies

Part eight of the series “Hebrews 2:9 – Separated by Grace.” Thus, we have demonstrated the importance of patristic evidence for the textual criticism of Heb 2:9. Because Origen’s citations pass the appropriate tests (the grammar of the citation is not significantly affected; the author may be quoting directly from a text; our critical edtion is reliable; and the readings are preserved in the original Greek), it should be reckoned as a powerful witness to the text of Hebrews during that time period. Moreover, since in context it makes little difference which variant he chooses, Origen’s witness seems rather strong, at least for Alexandria.

Tagged as: hebrews, New Testament, textual criticism

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Hebrews 2:9 – Separated by Grace (Part 7)

12 April 2010 Biblical Studies

Part seven of the series “Hebrews 2:9 – Separated by Grace.” Irenaeus seems to be fighting the same battle in Book 3 of Adversus haereses. In III.16.9, he lays out the testimony of Paul in an attempt to refute the notion that there is a divine Christ distinct from a human Jesus; he wants to show that they are one and the same.

Tagged as: hebrews, New Testament, textual criticism

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Hebrews 2:9 – Separated by Grace (Part 6)

5 April 2010 Biblical Studies

Part six of the series “Hebrews 2:9 – Separated by Grace.”

Origen mentions the χωρίς reading of Heb 2:9 six times, four of which are preserved in Greek, two in the Latin translations by Rufinus. ((Commentary on John, I.35, XXVIII.18 (bis); Dialogue with Heraclides, 27; Commentary on Romans III.8 and V.7. See Garnet,“Hebrews 2:9.” I have adopted where applicable the Sources Chrétiennes system for labeling chapters, rather than the system used by Garnet.)) While Origen does not seem to declare a preference for either reading, he does seem to favor the χωρίς reading over χάριτι.

Tagged as: hebrews, textual criticism

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A Trustworthy Word (2 Tim 2.11-13)

2 April 2010 Biblical Studies

Earlier this week, I briefly discussed the poem in 2 Tim 2.11–13 in my post about parathēkē. Here, I’d like to explore this passage a bit more, line-by-line. First, let’s set the context. The purpose for 2 Timothy, predominantly, is to encourage a co-worker in Christ to continue to preach boldly the gospel, and to avoid apostasy at all cost.

Tagged as: 2 timothy, apostasy, apostate, couplet, faith, hymn, pastoral epistles, paul, poetry, theology

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Parathēkē: The Beautiful Thing Entrusted to You (Part Two)

31 March 2010 Biblical Studies

In a previous post, I made the point that the parathēkē (παραθήκη), the beautiful thing that God has entrusted to us (in the parlance of the epistles of to Timothy), is not necessarily the Gospel, but really a certain kind of doctrine or orthodoxy — right teaching. First, in order to understand this, we must understand the difference between Gospel and Orthodoxy or Gospel and Teaching.

Tagged as: 2 timothy, bible, New Testament, pastoral epistles, paul, timothy

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Treasure in a Field: Thoughts on Matthew 13.44

21 March 2010 Biblical Studies

I thought it would be nice to take a moment to look at the two possible interpretations of the parable in Matthew 13.44. I am indebted to Jack Wisdom, elder at Ecclesia and all-around exegetical ninja, whose sermon this morning highlighted two different interpretations of this parable.

Tagged as: gospel of matthew, interpretation, parables

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Thumbnail image for <em>Parathēkē</em>: The Beautiful Thing Entrusted to You (Part One)

Parathēkē: The Beautiful Thing Entrusted to You (Part One)

14 March 2010 Biblical Studies

Whatever your opinion of the authorship of the pastorals, there is no doubt that the letters to Timothy paint an interesting picture of discipleship for us. Looking specifically at 2 Timothy, we find a word that is not often used in the New Testament: parathēkē (παραθήκη) — “deposit; thing entrusted to someone.” As far as I can tell, this word appears only in these letters to Timothy. Check out 2 Tim 1.12 and 1.14.

Tagged as: 2 timothy, bible, New Testament, pastoral epistles, paul, timothy

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