Peter J. Leithart

INTRODUCTION During Advent, Pastor Sumpter and I will be alternating preaching, and we will be preaching on the lectionary, that is, the passages that make up our Scripture readings for Advent.  All these passages are about the Lord’s “coming,” and thus all shed light on the . . . . Continue Reading »

Matthew 26:58: Peter also was following Him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and entered in and sat down with the officers to see the outcome. We’ve concentrated in the sermon this morning on Jesus’ trial itself, but as Matthew tells the story of the trial, it is . . . . Continue Reading »

We live in an age when many of our relationships are mediated through a screen.  We email family members in the next room, and often know more about the lives of Facebook friends than we do about the people who live next door or who sit next to us at church. This is not an attack on . . . . Continue Reading »

PROVERBS 28:7 We again have a proverb about torah and knowledge.  The one who keeps watch over torah is a son who knows.  The word translated as “wise” in the NASB is a form of the verb byn , used in verse 5.  Here, the verb puns with the word for son, ben .  The son . . . . Continue Reading »

Matthew describes two sets of witnesses in the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus.  One is a set of false witnesses, but they fail to bring convincing testimony.  There is a second set of witnesses, two witnesses, who come “later” (v. 60).  These witnesses bring a united testimony, . . . . Continue Reading »

The priests and elders are sticklers.  They want to convict Jesus and put Him to death.  That’s the goal of the trial.  But they also know that they have to operate according to the rules of justice given in their Torah.  They know they need testimony, and they know that . . . . Continue Reading »

On the first Passover, Israel was delivered from the angel of death and separated from Egypt.  In the narrative in Exodus 12-14, the night of Passover continues, narrativally, until the day after the crossing of the sea.  Chronologically, it is not the same night; but in the narrative . . . . Continue Reading »

The trial and death of Jesus looks like a tragedy, for Him.  It isn’t,  not in the least, and not just because He’s raised from the dead.  He’s no victim of circumstance or fate, but lays down His life for His sheep. But there is tragedy, the tragedy of Israel. . . . . Continue Reading »

The Sanhedrin condemns Jesus for claiming that He was able to destroy the temple and rebuild it.  To them, that was equivalent to claiming God’s power, and had to be blasphemy.  Surely Jesus didn’t have that kind of power - never mind that He had spent several years very . . . . Continue Reading »

Athanasius argues: The Son assumed flesh, and its terrors, especially the terror of death.  The goal was to overcome death and terror, but the Son did this by suffering those terrors Himself. We will be delivered from death, and not just in the future.  Athanasius points to martyrs to . . . . Continue Reading »