David I. Lewis Literary Context In the verses proceeding today’s text Jesus confronts the religious authorities about their hypocrisy (11:37–54) and then warns his disciples to be faithful in the midst of persecution (12:1–12), persecution that would come in part from those very religious authorities. Today’s pericope then follows. Here Jesus turns from the disciples ..
By Rick Marrs Paul has regaled the Ephesians with rich spiritual blessings they have in Christ (Eph 1), how both Jews and Gentiles are saved by grace alone through faith alone (Eph 2), how the mystery of the gospel has been revealed by the Spirit through the very human apostles and prophets; Paul then prays for spiritual strength ..
By David Schmitt In 1538, the Dance of Death made its way into the Bible. In their printing of the Old Testament, the Treschel Brothers included Life after the Fall, a woodcut by Hans Holbein. In his woodcut, Holbein pictured Adam and Eve both involved in postlapsarian labor. Adam is tilling the ground and Eve is nursing a child. ..
By Jeff Gibbs Colossians 3:1–13 divides neatly into two sections. The first (vv. 1–4) calls believers to focus their attention on Christ, in relation both to his finished work (v. 1“sitting”), as well as the coming work of Christ on the last day (v. 4, “whenever”). The second (vv. 5–13) commands believers to act on ..
By Bruce M. Hartung It is an easy homiletical move to criticize and condemn the wandering children of Israel for their murmuring against Moses and Aaron, and for their less-than-robust confidence that Yahweh would, in fact, provide. The next homiletical move would then be to identify this same murmuring against religious leadership and lack of ..
By Henry Rowold “Feed Them!” As happens regularly in Scripture, this pericope is so rich that it can evoke an entire series of sermons, without stretching or duplicating: Jesus withdrew from the crowd (also 12:15, and other places specify his retreat for prayer); Jesus has compassion, and heals and feeds multitudes of people; Jesus’s grace ..
By David I. Lewis Literary Context Today’s Gospel is the first of a series of three lessons taken from the so called “Bread of Life Discourse” of John 6:22-71. Here Jesus engages in an extended dialogue first with the crowd (6:25-59) and then with his disciples (6:60-71). At several points, this dialogue shifts to monologue/short ..