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 […]
Our next stop in the parables of Jesus brings us to that of the lost sheep recorded both in Matthew 18:10-14 and Luke 15:1-7; I am using Luke’s account today. In Bible symbolism sheep often represent people, for example “The Lord is my shepherd” Psalm 23:1; “All we like sheep have gone astray” Isaiah 53:1; […]
“Blessed are those who mourn…” Matthew 5:3; the Greek here means to grieve or lament. Jesus is not necessarily or primarily speaking here of sharing the grief of someone that has experienced bereavement, although such sharing is taught in Scripture and definitely has its rewards. The mourning we see here is that of those who […]
Job was an upright man that feared God and kept himself from evil, 1:1. Being severely tested he neither sinned with his lips or blamed God, 1:22; 2:10. However he spoke beyond his knowledge, and when God questions him he acknowledges his error, despises himself, repents in full humility, then steps out serving God and […]
In Daniel 4 Nebuchadnezzar had witnessed the works of Yahwah (Jehovah) God and acknowledges them in words, and that the Spirit of God was in Daniel (a distinction that every child of God should have) but had not submitted to His ruler-ship over his own life and kingdom. He failed to break off from his […]