In Luke 7:36-50 Jesus has been invited to dinner at a Pharisees house when a sinner woman (possibly a prostitute, at any rate a known sinner) shows up at the banquet room; according to H. H. Haley “an oriental banquet was a sort of public affair” so in accordance with that culture she had the […]
In Luke 18:9-14 Jesus spoke a parable to all those that trust in their ancestry or their good works for salvation. In this parable He contrasts a Pharisee and a tax collector: the Pharisee, one of the religious elite, comes to the temple to pray and begins by telling God how good he is, he […]
Using the setting of a man with a servant Jesus gives us a lesson on faithful, humble service in Luke 17 7-10. The servant goes to the field to till the soil or tend the cattle, when he returns to his master’s house does his master say, “Come at once and sit down to eat?” […]
In Luke 15:11-32 Jesus tells a story of a father with two sons. Since we do not have space in this meditation to talk about both sons we are focusing on the younger, who approached the father asking to receive his inheritance early. According to Jewish law at the father’s death the younger son would […]
Samaritan’s were a mixed race; they also had a corrupted form of religion. They and the Jews usually did not have good relationships with each other, and there was often a spirit of hatred and hostility manifested between them, leading the woman in John 4:9 to say “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” But Jesus […]
“Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy” Matthew 5:7. The Greek word that is used here is ELEEMON which means “compassionate”. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 2:4 that God “is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us”. And in Titus 3:5 “according to His mercy He […]
Recently we thought about our wonderful Lord, and then about His wonderful works as He seeks to reveal Himself to us, now today we conclude this short series looking at His wonderful works in us. In Psalm 107 15-24, especially 16-20, “He has broken the gates of bronze, And cut the bars of iron in […]
It seems that the Judahites Thought of themselves as God’s chosen race that would always experience God’s good blessings, failing to keep in mind that those blessings are only attained to by abiding in and keeping His covenant. Because of blatant sin, moral decline, and rebellion, Babylon came against Jerusalem and captured it bringing […]
The primary definition of mercy in the Old Testament Greek language is kindness; Webster expands on the definition of mercy saying it is, “a refraining from harming or punishing offenders, enemies, Etc. kindness in excess of what may be expected. A disposition to forgive and be kind.” This surely sums up God’s disposition toward us. […]
Jeremiah had been put in prison for proclaiming the word of the Lord (Jeremiah 32:2-3), and he had made it clear, that because of sin, Jerusalem would be overrun and the nation would be carried captive into a foreign land. This was what some would call “redemptive judgment” because, while it would punish sin, it would […]