The Surprising God

This post exegetes Matthew 22:15-23:39, providing context for the RCL Gospel readings on Oct. 22, 29 and Nov. 5 in 2023 (21st, 22nd and 23rd Sundays after Pentecost). This exegesis draws on commentary from Robert F Capon ("Kingdom, Grace, Judgment"), RT France ("New Bible Commentary"), and Louis Barbieri ("Bible Knowledge Commentary"). Introduction Last time  we looked at the first part of the Holy Week confrontations between Jesus and the Jewish religious establishment. We’ll now look at additional ones. Throughout, Jesus uses these confrontations to reveal more about his identity as the Messiah, the Son of God; and about the radical nature of the grace and judgment that comes in and through him. "Woe Unto You Scribes and Pharisees" by Tissot (public domain via Wikimedia Commons) Confronting the Jewish religious establishment (22:15-22:46) The Jewish religious leaders continue to try to entrap and thus condemn Jesus. Jesus turns their attempts b

This post exegetes Matthew 21:18-22:14, providing context for the RCL Gospel readings on Oct. 1, 8 and 15 in 2023 (18th, 19th and 20th Sundays after Pentecost). This exegesis draws on commentary from Robert Capon ("Kingdom, Grace, Judgment"), RT France ("New Bible Commentary"), and Louis Barbieri ("Bible Knowledge Commentary"). Introduction In Matthew chapter 21, Jesus enters Jerusalem and the events during ‘Holy Week’ unfold. In Jerusalaem, Jesus ramps up his teaching, using enacted and spoken parables to reveal more about his identity and authority. This precipitates an intense confrontation with the Jewish religious establishment. Jesus’ arrest, death and resurrection are now just a few days away. "The Entrance of Jesus Into Jerusalem" by Gerome (public domain via Wikimedia Commons) The Gospel reading for 10/1/23 starts at Matthew 21:23. But let's back up to get the context. In vv 1-11, Jesus rides into Jerusalem. Then in vv12-17, he enter

This post is derived from the manuscript that was the basis of a presentation from Grace Communion Seminary faculty member Dr. Gary Deddo at the July 2023 Grace Communion International Denominational Celebration in North Carolina, USA. "Follow Me" by Liz Lemon Swindle (used with artist's permission) Introduction Who is Jesus Christ? All of Scripture is aimed at answering this important question. Our challenge in understanding how Scripture does this is to gather up the pieces of the puzzle that make up Jesus' portrait. Doing so is a life-long task, getting to know more and more of who Jesus is, not just what he did, nor the names and labels we have for him. There is no shortcut—we must continually read and review Scripture with special concentration on the life of Christ and especially what we learn from his telling us of his relationship to the Father and the Holy Spirit. As we do this, our faith and lives become more and more a response to all of who our Triune Go

In this post,  Kerry Magruder  provides a reader's guide to "The Soveriegn Creator," which is chapter 8 of Thomas F. Torrance's book " The Christian Doctrine of God: One Being Three Persons " (1996). The guide was written for a session of the  T.F. Torrance Reading Group .  Introduction (pp. 203-204)  Belief in God as the Sovereign Creator is couched within our understanding of the saving love of the Triune God. We see this in the Nicene Creed: “While the concept of God as the Creator of the universe derived originally from the Old Testament revelation and had been developed by Judaism, it was radicalised through the New Testament teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ as the Word of God by whom all things that came into being have been created, from whom they derive their intelligible and lawful order, and through whom and in whom the whole universe of visible and invisible realities consists or is held together. In Jesus Christ the Lord God has himself beco