Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Jesus”
Matthew 22:1-14 One Parable, Two Tellings If you turn to Luke 14:15-24 you will find a parable that is similar to the one that we are looking at this week. There is an invitation, a banquet, rejection and finally an invitation to those in the highways and byways. Matthews version differs in some major ways to Luke and is more …
Luke 16:1-8 The Most Difficult of Stories If you thought the parable of the sheep and the goats was the most difficult parable to get your head around you probably haven’t read this one. It involves a ‘dishonest’ steward and a manger who in the end praises him for acting shrewdly but losing him money. If you read on Jesus …
Matthew 25:31-46 The End of the World The parable of the sheep and the goats is often shied away from due to the perceived nature of its context. Much of this is down to the final few lines which seems to spell eternal damnation for those whose actions let them down. This focus on what happens at the end means we …
Luke 10:25-37 The Context This parable is told in response to a number of questions from an expert in the law, or lawyer as some versions translate it. The fact that this man had come to Jesus to discuss the interpretation of scripture means he is probably a Pharisee. This may seem unimportant but strikes at the heart of the …
Matthew 13:33; Luke 13:20-21 A Lot of Flour 60lbs may not seem that much to some people but if we convert it into some more meaningful numbers it may help us understand the scale of this parable. 60lbs = 27.22kg 1kg makes 12 large rolls 27.22 X 12 = 326.64 rolls Thats a lot of bread for one woman to make in …
Matthew 7:24-27, Luke 6:48-49 The Sermon Close In Matthew’s gospel this parable rounds of Jesus’ sermon on the mount. It is simple in its structure, following the often used comparison between two peoples actions. It is the a summary of all that has gone before, condensing the proceeding sermon into a simple illustration. Jesus has spoken at length in the …
Treasure : Matthew 13:44; Pearl : Matthew 13:45-46; Seed : Mark 4:26-29 The Kingdom All three of these parables are offered as examples of what the Kingdom of God is like, how it works and also its worth. The Kingdom is a much debated term within Christian theology and it is difficult to give it a precise definition. It involves …
Matthew 13:1-9, Mark 4:1-9, Luke 8:4-8 The Farmer Most Bibles give this parable the title of the sower (In Matthew, Jesus uses this name v18) but if we look at it closely we may find that this character plays only a minor role in the story. If you read Jesus’ explanation in each of the gospel accounts you will his explanation …
‘I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old…’ Psalm 78:2 The Parables If you were to ask people which stories they knew from the Bible then a good number of the parables would be included in those they can recall. This is probably due to the fact that parables often come …
Written for the Methodist Churches Online Bible study, A Word in Time. The original post appears here. Luke 7:1-10 “When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy of having you do this for him, …
This week saw the publication of the so called Panama Papers. These are documents leaked from the law firm Mossack Fonseca and comprises of more data than either Edward Snowden or Wikileaks managed to hand out. The Panama Papers give us a glimpse into the workings of tax evasion around the world. These papers have lifted the lid on how criminals, politicians and …
Luke 5:27-32 Engage Levi : This is a Hebrew name and probably meant that this man was a descendent of Levi son of Jacob (Gen 35:23). This meant he was of the priestly tribe though he had not taken up that line of work. Tax collectors : Rome taxed the countries it ruled in order to maintain its empire. It …
Luke 4:1-13 Engage Genealogy of Jesus: In the verses just prior to this story we are given a list of Jesus’ descendants. We must not mistake these lists for ancient versions of our modern day family trees. Instead these lists of kinship were as much about theology and politics as they were history. Wilderness: The wilderness had great significance for …
Luke 3:1-18 + 21- 22 Engage Tiberius Caesar : He was Roman Emperor from 14-37AD he was known as a great general but in later life suffered a decline in his mental health. He ordered Jews out of Rome at one time and in his final years his reign was marked by fear. Pontius Pilate : Fifth prefect of Judea …
Deep in the book of Ezekiel we are given a description of the angels that surround the throne of God. Their faces looked like this: each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had …
Hope : Jesus Titus 2:11-13, Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 2:1-7 ‘Turn around and believe that the good news that we are loved is better than we ever dared hope, and that to believe in that good news, to live out of it and toward it, to be in love with that good news, is of all glad things in this world …
Written for the Methodist Churches Online Bible study, A Word in Time. The original post appears here http://www.methodist.org.uk/prayer-and-worship/a-word-in-time/2015/3-9-may-2015/sunday John 15:1-8 “I am the vine, you are the branches” (v. 5) Psalm : Psalm 150 Background Jesus shares his final ‘I am’ saying with his disciples between leaving the upper room (John 14:31) and entering the garden known as Gethsemane (John 18:1). We …
Luke 4:16-21 Jesus’ reading of Isaiah’s word in his local synagogue announced His mission to the world. He told the listeners that day that the words He had read had now been fulfilled by Him. It is important for us to hear the words of this proclamation in their fullness. It is good news, freedom, healing and justice but we …
Doing love : John 3:16, Who is your neighbour? : Luke 10:25-37 Love came down at Christmas Cold nights, twinkling lights, warm fires, the smell of pine, nativities, carols, good food, mulled wine, cards, presents, family, friends, laughter, and love. Christmas is a magical time. It’s a time when we remember that Jesus came to us; as a cute baby …