Matthew 26:14-16, 47-56 Summary: Judas’ betrayal of Jesus is considered one of the most underhanded and sinister acts in human history. After all he had seen and heard and even participated in as “one of the twelve,” his act is both deeply sinister and hard to understand. Yet in spite...

John 12: 20-33 Bernie Bakker will bring God’s Word

Matthew 23: 1-39 Summary: In this chapter, Matthew recounts some of the sharpest words of Jesus on record. And he saves his most blistering admonition for the sin of religious exhibitionism–religion as a mere show put on to impress others. Given their supposed devotion to the scriptures, the Pharisees ought...

Mark 10:17-31 Summary: The rich man looked like such a good candidate to follow Jesus. He was moral, respectful, deferential, and his longing was to have the assurance of salvation. All looked primed for a wonderfully happy encounter with Jesus. Surely he was mere steps away from the Kingdom. But...

Luke 4:14-30 Summary: You can well imagine Nazareth abuzz with anticipation that the boy they’d known from his childhood would be leading the Sabbath worship in the synagogue this week. And in fact, all seems to be going wonderfully as Jesus begins his sermon from Isaiah 61…until Jesus addresses the...

1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 Summary: In this chapter, Paul takes up a couple of subjects in which he thought the Thessalonians could benefit from more instruction and encouragement; namely, sexual morality (v.3-8) and work (v.9-12). While they’re two quite distinct subjects, he holds them together in verse 1 as areas of...

Matthew 2:1-8 Summary: Before Jesus had said or done anything that could have been offensive, he was already rejected by the ruthlessly paranoid Herod the Great. It’s the beginning of a life-time of rejection for Jesus–the unavoidable consequence of the true King of Heaven entering into a world of sinful...

Matthew 2:1-8 Summary: Before Jesus had said or done anything that could have been offensive, he was already rejected by the ruthlessly paranoid Herod the Great. It’s the beginning of a life-time of rejection for Jesus–the unavoidable consequence of the true King of Heaven entering into a world of sinful...

Psalm 130 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2