Psalm 104:14-15 Wine, Scripture says, is one of God?s great gifts to man. Yahweh is the true God of the vine, the true Dionysus. And wine is one of the great gifts of the New Covenant. One of the signs of Israel?s immaturity in the OT was the prohibition of drinking wine in the presence of God: ?Do . . . . Continue Reading »
Scripture says, ?You shall not bear the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.?E And Jesus said, ?Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and . . . . Continue Reading »
Luke 22:24-30 As I mentioned last week in connection with priesthood, there is a sense in which we can talk about a priestly stage of Israel?s history and a priestly stage of life. But the more fundamental reality of the NT is that all members of Christ are priests. And the same is true of . . . . Continue Reading »
Leviticus 22:10-16 In the sermon today, I addressed the some of the challenges and temptations of young adulthood, the priestly stage of life. It is biblically appropriate, as I tried to show, to describe young adulthood in these terms. But we should not let this perspective obscure the more . . . . Continue Reading »
When Jesus instituted the Supper, He told His disciples to continue to ?do this?Eas a memorial of Him. The ?this?Eis not only the eating and drinking, but the whole ritual, which includes the moment when the bread is broken. In making this part of the rite, Jesus was linking the Supper with the . . . . Continue Reading »
The Westminster Dictionary of Worship has this explanation for the name Maundy Thursday: “The title for Thursday in Holy Week derives through Old French mande from the Latin ‘mandatum novum,’ ‘a new commandment’ (John 13:34), associated with the ceremonial washing of . . . . Continue Reading »
It is clear that the Lord?s Supper has some kind of relationship to the death of Jesus. Jesus said at the Last Supper that the bread was His body, given for you, and the wine was His blood, poured out as the blood of the new covenant. When Paul talks about the Lord?s Supper, he says that it . . . . Continue Reading »
Luke 23:13-25 Six times in this passage, Luke uses the word ?release.?E Most of the uses describe Pilate?s desire to release Jesus. He plans to scourge Jesus and ?release?EHim; he is obliged to ?release?Esomeone at the festival, but the Jews demand that Pilate ?release?EBarabbas rather than Jesus, . . . . Continue Reading »
Luke 22:28-30 One of the unique features of Luke?s account of the Last Supper is the repeated reference Jesus makes to the kingdom of God. He says He will never eat a meal again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom, and that he will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom comes (vv. . . . . Continue Reading »
Luke 21:10-11 According to John?s gospel, Jesus said at the outset of His ministry, ?destroy this temple and in three days I will rebuild it.?E As John tells us, Jesus was talking about the temple of His body, which would be destroyed on the cross and ?rebuilt?Ein the resurrection. Though Luke . . . . Continue Reading »
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