Sabbath

March 19 Jesus never did a miracle the same way twice. On this occasion, he took the deaf and speech-impaired man away from the crowd for privacy. This is the first time I’ve noticed this detail. How ‘bout you? (Tomorrow, we’ll see the only other place where Jesus performs a private miracle in Mark 8:22–26.)…

February 28 An expert in the Jewish Law sought to trap Jesus by asking Him which was the greatest commandment. He may have been thinking along the lines of the “Big Ten” recorded in Exodus 20. At this point, however, Jewish Rabbis had added over seven hundred laws of their own in an effort to…

January 24 John has much to say to us about authority and truth in this eighteenth chapter, and how we as humans can handle or mishandle it. Judas has now betrayed Jesus, selling his friendship for a mere thirty pieces of silver—the cost of a common slave. Think about the message in that… everything Judas…

May 2 2 In most Easter pageants I’ve seen, the crowds during Jesus’ final days include the same actors and characters with whom Jesus interacted during His ministry and those who shout “Crucify,” leading up to His death. I suspect this is because many churches and ministries’ productions of Passion plays don’t have enough cast…

March 27 “Not even God Himself could sink this ship!” was the common thought about the R.M.S. Titanic before she sailed her tragic maiden voyage on April 10, 1912. In the first century A.D., a similar attitude was common regarding the Second Temple (Herod’s Temple), the massive complex of buildings with courts, colonnades, balconies, and…

March 8 At the end of Matthew 28, Jesus commissions His disciples for ministry: “As you go, make disciples.” For three years, the disciples have learned doctrine and practice from Jesus. They have been His disciples. This now raises the important question: What is a disciple? Back in the day, a disciple was someone who…