Gospels

John Stott, in his magnificent commentary (paid link) on the Sermon on the Mount, makes these remarks on 5:38-48:

“Our duty to individuals who wrong us is not retaliation, but the acceptance of injustice without revenge or redress.” (page 105)

Jesus then gives 4 example of what this looks like in practice.

“Each introduces a person (in the context a person who is in some sense ‘evil’) who seeks to do us an injury, one by hitting us in the face, another by prosecuting us at law, a third by commandeering our service, and a fourth by begging money from us.” (page 106)

All 4 of those example feel very contemporary, with the possible exception of the third (conscription). But, look at the cultural situation in which Jesus said this, and:

The third example “could be applied today to any form of service in which we find ourselves conscripts rather than volunteers.” (page 106)

In summary:

“In each of the four situations, Jesus said, our Christian duty is so completely to forbear revenge that we even allow the ‘evil’ person to double the injury.” (page 106)

Whet your appetite for more? Why not join us this coming Sunday morning in Kemsing church at 9.30am.

Matthew 28:19 has a command ("go and make disciples"), followed by two participles: "baptising... , and teaching...".

Here's France (paid link) again:

The order in which these two participles occur differs from what has become common practice in subsequent Christian history, in that baptism is, in many Christian circles, administered only after a period of ‘teaching,’ to those who have already learned. It can become in such circles more a graduation ceremony than an initiation. If the order of Matthew’s participles is meant to be noticed, he is here presenting a different model whereby baptism is the point of enrollment into a process of learning which is never complete.

This coming Sunday, I am preaching on the closing verses of Matthew's gospel, Matthew 28:16-20.

Here's R T France (paid link): ... Enjoy!

The risen Jesus, vindicated over those who tried to destroy him, is now established as the universal sovereign, and his realm embraces not only the whole earth, which was to be the dominion of the ‘one like a son of man’ in Daniel’s vision, but heaven as well. At the beginning of the gospel, Satan offered Jesus sovereignty over the whole earth, but his offer was refused (4:8-10); now Jesus, going the way of obedience to his Father’s will even to the cross has received far more than Satan could offer. (Page 1113)

I've been re-reading John 16:12-15 again. To remind you, here's what it says:

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Every Christian believer will, at times in their life, feel the weight of the fact they are a sinner. Perhaps they have just done something that proves to them, and they fear proves to others, that they are a failure before God and before others in the church.

John 8:12 is a familiar verse. It's one of Jesus' famous "I am" sayings. “I am the light of the world”, or   ̓Εγω εἱμι το φως του κοσμου.

Given which, Matthew 5:14 is a massive shock, is it not? I've read both passages many times, but never realised what a significant statement that makes Matthew 5:14: “You are the light of the world”, or   ̔Υμεις εστε το φως του κοσμου.

One of the statements in John, that we take to be one of Jesus' unique and momentous claims concerning himself, is applied to all his disciples. He is the light of the world, "I am", … and so are we!

People sometimes worry that the 4 Gospels don't tell the resurrection story in exactly the same way. This is to worry needlessly. If the 4 Gospels told the resurrection story in contradictory ways, that would be a different matter. As it is, we simply have a difference in perspective. Look at the story from different angles, you include different details and stress different things. It couldn't be otherwise. The four Gospels are not an assortment of favourite deeds of Jesus, thrown together haphazardly.

Darrell Bock cautions:

“The shepherds are often characterised as representing the ‘downtrodden and despised’ of society, so that the first proclamation of the gospel is said to have come to sinners. … There are two problems with reading the shepherds as symbols of the hated. First the rabbinic evidence is late, coming from the fifth century. More importantly, shepherd motifs in the Bible are mostly positive. … Thus, the presence of the shepherds is not a negative point. Rather, they picture the lowly and humble who respond to God’s message.” (page 214)

G B Caird is helpful, as ever, in his comments on Luke's account of the birth of Jesus:

R T France is very helpful on what Jesus expects of his disciples. He comments on Mark 10: