If Jesus is always teaching, he is also preparing his followers. He has something he’s asking them to do, wants them to be doing. In much of the first part…
Scottish pastor and biblical scholar of the previous century W. Graham Scroggie points here to one of the key, constant questions about Jesus: from where is he getting this authority? …
The most inconvenient part of our faith isn’t having to gather here on Sundays or listen to me preach, tedious though that can be. The most inconvenient part of our…
“They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach” (1:21). From the shores of Galilee, Jesus and his four new disciples…
Isaiah was unsparing in pointing to the God-defying behaviors and choices all too common all around him in his day. What we mostly remember about Isaiah, I suppose, are his…
People were just floored by how Jesus spoke and taught. “[H]e taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law” (Mk 7:29). The rabbis said,…
It’s not hard to think of biblical lands as wilderness and wasteland: Big Bend as far as the eye can see, but remember that the land God promised His people…
One thing I can guarantee you: if you follow Christ, it’s eventually going to get you in trouble. There are many in situations of authority and influence who do not…
There are no mañana disciples. Peter gets it. He would never be one of those! Well, his heart is in the right place, but the problem is that his heart…
I’m not sure whether Jesus lived in turbulent times or just sort of caused tumult wherever he went. He definitely upset a lot of old, traditional notions and ways—those venerable…