If the disciples are silenced, Jesus says in answer to the Pharisees who demand that they stop hailing Him as king, then these very stones will cry out. He is on His way into Jerusalem, and the stones are the same stones that will someday be thrown down, the stones of the city and temple. The . . . . Continue Reading »
Luke Timothy Johnson points out that Luke 19:45 uses ekballo to describe Jesus casting out the money-changers from the temple. This is the same verb used throughout Luke’s gospel to describe exorcism. Jesus has come to the temple, found it infested with demonic “brigands,” and . . . . Continue Reading »
Why do the disciples put their garments down in front of Jesus as he comes into Jerusalem? Why did Jehu’s soldiers do the same for him in 2 Kings 9? A couple of answers are possible: 1) Perhaps there is some sort of parallel between this practice and the scene in Aeschylus’ Agamemnon , . . . . Continue Reading »
Sermon outline for Feb 15: In the Robbers’ Den, Luke 19:1-48 INTRODUCTION After a long journey, Jesus arrives in Jerusalem, and we learn that all along his goal has been the temple. He enters the city of the Great King as a king (19:37-38), and begins to drive out the moneychangers in the . . . . Continue Reading »
Exhortation for Feb 8: Toward the end of this morning’s sermon text, Jesus takes the twelve aside for some individual instruction. He tells them, as He has done before, that they are going to Jerusalem so that all the things prophesied about the Son of Man can be accomplished: “He will . . . . Continue Reading »
The incident with the “ruler” in Luke 18 begins with a question about how to inherit eternal life, and ends with the promise of “eternal life” (v 30). Along the way, Jesus has radically transformed the path to eternal life. Jesus does not say that one inherits life by doing . . . . Continue Reading »
Kenneth Bailey helpfully emphasizes that Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the publican takes place in the temple, and he suggests convincingly that it is set during a public worship service. The fact that both men go up to the temple at the same time, and the fact that they are both . . . . Continue Reading »
Sermon outline, Feb 8: INTRODUCTION As we saw last week, Luke 17:11 begins a new stage of Luke’s account of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, one that comes to an end in 19:48. This large section is divided into two subsections, 17:11-18:30 and 18:31-19:48. These two subsections are closely . . . . Continue Reading »
Exhortation for February 1: Jesus has many things to say about faith in our sermon text this morning. One of the main things has to do with the power of faith: He says that anyone who has faith the size of a mustard seed can say to a deeply rooted tree “Be uprooted and be planted in the . . . . Continue Reading »
The story of the 10 lepers in Luke 17 is not just about Jesus demonstrating that He is powerful to save, cleanse and heal. He is powerful for all those things; He DOES have mercy on the unclean and the outcasts. But Luke tells the story of the healing almost incidentally: “as they were going, . . . . Continue Reading »
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