But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
—Matthew 3:7
Why does John yell at those Pharisees and Sadducees that are coming for baptism?
Church
Responding to the Covenant | Genesis 17:10
This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
—Genesis 17:10
This is the Covenant: that his people will be marked and sealed. Baptism, anyone?
St. Stephen & the History of Israel | Acts 7.48-53
Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with human hands; as the prophet says,
‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
or what is the place of my rest?
Did not my hand make all these things?’
“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it.”
—Acts 7.48-53
1. He skips the history of Israel that includes the Divided Monarchy, Exile, Return, Intertestamental Victories and and Sorrows, and the establishment of the Jewish state under Roman Rule.
2. He jumps straight from the temple to their Rejection of Jesus. This could be Jesus’ connection as a New Temple among us, it could highlight Israel’s inordinate obsession with the temple, even unto the rejection of their Messiah, or it could be a reference to the charges they brought against Jesus to get him crucified: blasphemy against the temple.
Some random Beatitude snippets | Matthew 5.6,11-12
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
—Matthew 5:6
So encouraging. This gives me hope.
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
—Matthew 5:6
That’s interesting. He hasn’t mentioned any other Jewish or biblical things. Why root this encouragement in a random reference to the prophets?
And the story moves from Abraham to Isaac… | selections from Genesis 26
Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to King Abimelech of the Philistines.
—Genesis 26:1
This reads like a later interpolation because of confusion between the two drought accounts.
The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; settle in the land that I shall show you.
—Genesis 26:2
God’s first word to Abraham: “Go”. God’s first word to his son: “Do not go”. I love that. Not sure why, but I do.
Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall be put to death.”
—Genesis 26:10-11
Oh the mercy of God, and how he protects the vulnerable here. But how do we understand when he doesn’t act in protection like this?
God & Sarah: one of the most beautiful verses in the Bible | Genesis 21.1
The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised.
—Genesis 21:1
What a beautiful and weighty verse. So much is concentrated right here. What a picture of our God!
Luke on the New Perspective on Paul | Acts 15:1,8-11
Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”…
— Acts 15.1
This is a great summary of the argument for the New Perspective on Paul. The key is the line about Moses. It’s not about works righteousness, but ethnic identity.
And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
—Acts 15:8-11
Another quick NPP note. Notice here that Peter is not contrasting salvation by yoke versus salvation by grace, but that grace will also save them just as the Jews believed it saved them.
Luke sure can turn a phrase | Luke 3:19-20
But Herod the ruler, who had been rebuked by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the evil things that Herod had done, added to them all by shutting up John in prison.
—Luke 3:19-20
Ohh, that’s a nice literary turn of phrase. “Speaking of all the evil things he had done, he added to them by imprisoning John.”
Yep. The gospels depict Jesus as God. | Matthew 28.1-10
After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
—Matthew 28.1-10
Wow. This here clearly says that they worshiped Jesus. And he does not at all correct them or steer them to worship elsewhere. This is in stark contrast to the angel in Revelation.
Rebekah: The Blessing is the Promise | Genesis 24.60
And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,
“May you, our sister, become
thousands of myriads;
may your offspring gain possession
of the gates of their foes.”
—Genesis 24.60
Sounds prophetic of things to come, if you ask me…. Also sounds a whole lot like Abraham and Isaac’s promise from God.
The Daughters of YHWH | Genesis 12:17
But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
—Genesis 12:17
The LORD enacts vengeance for the sake of his daughters. He hates injustice against them, even when the perpetrators are oblivious that they are perpetrating it.
Justice, Self-Control, & Judgment| Acts 24.24-25
Some days later when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him speak concerning faith in Christ Jesus. And as he discussed justice, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “Go away for the present; when I have an opportunity, I will send for you.”
— Acts 24.24-25
These are very odd, very specific things. It’s funny that these things shook him so much to the core. I wonder what it was specifically that was enough for Luke to include this? Was the Justice Paul talked about more along the lines of the wrath of God, or more like equality in society and Social Justice (that would surely shake a wealthy local governor!). It was probably something like the fact that God would make all things right someday. Maybe the judgment piece made him scared? But either way, personally, I find it interesting that the one that scares me the most is the call to self control.
Theology “versus” Pastoring | Ezra 7.11
This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to the priest Ezra, the scribe, a scholar of the text of the commandments of the Lord and his statutes for Israel:
—Ezra 7:11
Well look at that! Ezra is described as a priest, scribe, scholar, and teacher of the Law (and, let’s not forget: a “doer” of it as well!). No false academic/pastoral dichotomies here!
We are descendants of the Covenant| Acts 3.24-26
And all the prophets, as many as have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, also predicted these days. You are the descendants of the prophets and of the covenant that God gave to your ancestors, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you, to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”
— Acts 28.23-31
In this, we see that we, the New Covenant People of God, are still members of the covenant that’s been in effect the whole time: the Abrahamic Covenant. It is not done away with; only brought under a new administration: that of Christ.
How serious are you about ministering to your people? | Ezra 8.15-18
I gathered them by the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none of the descendants of Levi. Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were wise, and sent them to Iddo, the leader at the place called Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his colleagues the temple servants at Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God. Since the gracious hand of our God was upon us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the descendants of Mahli son of Levi son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, with his sons and kin
—Ezra 8.15-18
Here, you see Ezra refuse to settle for who he had before him. He was determined to see that the ministers to God’s people be the absolute most qualified people they could be. They had to be Levites. There were none there. Did he just throw up his hands and say that they had to “settle” for who was there and willing? No! He went out and sought qualified ministers.
the long way home 