Matthew 5:1-12: Summary: “Beatitude” comes from the Latin word for “blessed,” which here describes not an emotional state but a relational state. The blessed person is one who lives in the favour and approval of God. The beatitudes are Kingdom attributes, and as such they describe the blessed life in many ways that run counter […]
Luke 18:1-8: Summary: It’s rather unsettling to most of us to think of this as a parable on prayer, because we hate to think that Jesus might be comparing God to such a despicable judge. However, his argument is one of contrast rather than comparison. If a helpless widow embattled with a godless, shameless judge […]
Luke 18:9-14 Summary: The story makes sense to us as 21st century Christian readers. We get it when Jesus says the tax collector is justified and the Pharisee isn’t. But for the original audience, that statement could hardly have made less sense. The Pharisee was the well-respected, moral, upstanding, admired, Psalm 1 kind of man. […]
Luke 15:11-32 Summary: The inclusion of the elder brother’s reaction introduces both confusion and melancholy to what would otherwise be such a glorious conclusion (i.e. v.24). However, the elder brother is central to Jesus’ point in addressing the grumbling of the religious leaders (v.1). Both of the brothers in this parable were rebels who lived […]
Luke 10:25-37 Summary: Jesus likely could have gotten dragged into a lengthy debate with this lawyer over who is and who is not a ‘neighbour.’ However, Jesus avoids the frivolous argument with this famous parable. The priest and Levite decided that it was too costly to stop and help this man (who may very well […]
Luke 8:4-15 Summary: Whenever the crowds gathered in Jesus’ ministry, he was always keenly aware that the number of genuinely committed followers was always smaller than the crowd itself. His parable about the sower and the soils helps the disciples understand why people responded to him the way they did. Some responded to his word […]
John 3:1-16 Summary: John tells us in chapter 20:31 that the whole reason he wrote his gospel was that we ‘may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing in him we may have life in his name.’ That goal is obvious throughout the gospel and especially here […]
John 10:22-30 Series Summary: This is the last of a four part series entitled The Depths of Grace in which we’ve been examining our Reformed doctrine of grace through the lens of what are commonly called the “Five Points” of Calvinism. These five doctrines, often summarized by the acronym TULIP, are: Total Depravity, Unconditional […]
John 6: 35-40 Series Summary: This is the third of a four part series entitled The Depths of Grace in which we’ll be examining our Reformed doctrine of grace through the lens of what are commonly called the “Five Points” of Calvinism. These five doctrines, often summarized by the acronym TULIP, are: Total Depravity, […]
Romans 9:10-18 Series Summary: This is the second of a four part series entitled The Depths of Grace in which we’ll be examining our Reformed doctrine of grace through the lens of what are commonly called the “Five Points” of Calvinism. These five doctrines, often summarized by the acronym TULIP, are: Total Depravity, Unconditional […]