By Thomas Manteufel This story shows the holy family in Jerusalem at the feast of Passover. According to Deuteronomy 16:16, all male Israelites were obligated (though the women were not forbidden to show devotion in this way also) to come to the Lord’s house to celebrate the feasts of Passover, Weeks, and Booths. The young ..
Editor’s Note: The following homiletical help is adapted from Concordia Journal, January 1984. By Thomas Manteufel According to the context of this pericope, Israel was to have no fellowship or covenant with the heathen. She was to war against their blasphemous religion. In a similar way, Christians of the New Testament are to distance themselves from the ..
Editor’s Note: The following homiletical help is adapted from Concordia Journal, October 2003. By Thomas Manteufel It can be exciting to meet a famous personality. In this Scripture text, God, by the mouth of the prophet Isaiah, introduces someone whom he wants his people to meet. Behold! Look! He calls out in the original Hebrew. See the ..
By Thomas Manteufel The letter to the Hebrews was written to exhort Jewish Christians in the first century to remain steadfast in faith and dedication rooted in Jesus as the Messiah promised to Israel, resisting all temptations to live in impenitent disobedience, or forsake their confession of his claims to be their Prophet, Priest, and ..
By Tom Manteufel From time to time novels have appeared which depict the ramifications of the discovery of alleged archeological evidence that the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ never took place, such as When It Was Dark (in the early twentieth century) or more recently Dr. Paul Maier’s theological thriller A Skeleton in God’s Closet. ..
By Thomas Manteufel What does the Old Testament portrayal of Israel have to do with us followers of Jesus Christ? This question may well occur to hearers of this and similar Old Testament lessons. The fact is that when God through Moses addresses Old Testament Israel, he also speaks to us. By way of analogy ..
By Thomas E. Manteufel, In this Easter season we hear the apostle Peter exhorting the Christians to live righteously, turning from evil and doing good, seeking peace and pursuing it (1 Pe 3:8-12). In doing this he wants us to look at: Jesus Christ, the Guide to Right Living I. The followers of Christ are ..