Bible Commentaries

Mark 10:35 — James and John had in this incident. This was not to "spare the Twelve" as the Markan theorists allege; for Matthew did not spare the Twelve at all, even relating the indignation of the group against "the brethren," not against their mother (Matthew 20:24). Of course, this request was childish in that they supposed Jesus would agree to their request even before they had stated it. The request itself, stated immediately afterward, had all kinds of things wrong with it: (1) It showed a lack of faith

Mark 14:3 — this family, perhaps out of respect for the desire of the family for privacy following the resurrection of Lazarus. Such a conclusion is mandatory from the facts: (1) of the Lord's prophecy that this deed would be an everlasting memorial for Mary; (2) which would have required publishing her name; and yet (3) her name was conspicuously omitted until the publication of John. For a number of critical questions arising from variations in the sacred accounts, see under parallels in Matthew and John

Mark 14:9 — for a memorial of her. This verse requires important deductions: (1) Christ did not believe that the end of all things would occur at some near time in the future, this verse envisaging a worldwide proclamation of the gospel throughout the ages. (2) That this memorial "of her" intrinsically demanded the publication of her name is evident; and therefore the silence of the synoptics regarding it must be accounted for by supposing that it was deliberately concealed for a long while afterward, perhaps

Mark 6:14 — reign thus spanned the life and public ministry of Jesus: From a family characterized by intrigue and violence, "he appears as a sensual, cunning, capricious, cruel, weak, unscrupulous, superstitious, despotic prince (Matthew 14:9; Luke 3:19; 13:31,32)."[18] It may well be doubted that this Herod believed in the resurrection of the dead; but a guilty conscience is a strong persuader, and his fearfully guilty heart shuddered at the thought that perhaps our Lord was a reincarnation of John the Baptist. Herod

Luke 11:47 — Woe unto you! for ye build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. So ye are witnesses and consent unto the works of your fathers: for they killed them, and ye build their tombs. This is Woe 2. Gilmour thought "the argument here is obscure";[47] but it is actually quite clear. The hypocritical conduct of lawyers in building impressive tombs to the honor of God's prophets whose words they themselves despised and were in the process of violating

Luke 12:46 — and the dead. However long delayed, in the eyes of men, it shall nevertheless come to pass as the Lord promised. Cut him asunder ... means "to punish with terrible severity."[46] This is a very strong word, bringing to mind such passages as Daniel 2:5; 3:39, etc., in which offenders in ancient times were literally cut in pieces. The use here is a metaphor for the utmost in severity. The next two verses were probably intended by Jesus to soften somewhat the terrible metaphor he had just used.

Luke 14:11 — or powerful in any eternal sense. Man's life is ephemeral; his days are few and full of trouble; at his best, man is above only a few of his contemporaries, and that only for a brief moment in time. "O why should the spirit of mortal be proud?" (2) They can look at the lives and achievements of others which exceed their own in excellence and glory. As Barclay suggested, "Many a man has decided to burn his clubs after watching the Golf Open Championship."[15] For further comment on the grace

Luke 17:30 — occurred."[37] Paul indicated that the same will be the case with Christians when the final Disaster falls (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Other analogies which we are perhaps justified in drawing are: (1) faith will virtually have ceased on earth; (2) men will be busy in the same old ways, pursuing their same old interests; (3) materialism will have won the minds of men; (4) the utmost security shall be felt by men; (5) all appeals regarding the worship of God shall be scoffed at; (6) the Second

John 12:24 — beareth much fruit. He that loveth his life loseth it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. Three applications of this metaphor are: (1) in nature, the death of seeds is necessary to their production of fruit; (2) Jesus consented to die as a means of winning the world to himself; and (3) for all who would be saved, the process is the same. One must renounce himself, loving not his own life, but losing it, and taking up fully the identity of Jesus in order to

John 14:27 — Jesus saw in the disciples some rising symptoms of that carnal weakness which would prostrate them all before the night was over. Fear not ... is one of the central admonitions of Christian faith. Angels bore the same admonition to Joseph (Matthew 1:20), to Zacharias (Luke 1:13), to Mary (Luke 1:30), and to the shepherds (Luke 2:10). ENDNOTE: [19] H. R. Reynolds, op. cit., II, p. 230.

John 18:28 — They led Jesus therefore from Caiaphas into the Praetorium: and it was early; and they themselves entered not into the Praetorium, that they might not be defiled, but might eat the passover. This and John 18:24 are John's only reference to the formal trial in the Sanhedrin. He also omitted the all-night examination before Caiaphas, and the trial before Herod. Of the six trials before: (1) Annas, (2) Caiaphas, (3) the Sanhedrin, (4) Pilate, (5) Herod, and

John 7:38 — Testament. These two verses (John 7:37-38) refer to Christians receiving the Holy Spirit (John 7:39); and when this promise was fulfilled, they received the Spirit "after they believed" (Ephesians 1:13), and after they repented and were baptized (Acts 2:38ff and Galatians 4:6). Therefore these two verses are a reference to the future giving of the Holy Spirit to Christians in consequence of and subsequently to their believing in Christ and obeying the gospel, obedience being the meaning of "come

John 8:26 — will, these speak I unto the world.[4] Some of the judgments Jesus would speak against those men followed at once, as when he identified them as sons of the devil (John 8:44). Other such denunciations were in the three parables of: (1) the two sons, (2) the wicked husbandmen, and (3) the marriage of the king's son. In the latter, he prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem. ENDNOTE: [4] Brooks Foss Westcott, The Gospel according to St. John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing

Acts 17:18 — encountered him. And some said, What would this babbler say? others, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached Jesus and the resurrection. Epicurean and Stoic philosophers ... In Athens there were: (1) the Academy of Plato, (2) the Lyceum of Aristotle, (3) the Porch of Zeno, and (4) the Garden of Epicurus. Followers of Zeno, called Stoics, took their name from "Stoa," the Greek name of the painted porch where he taught. The groups mentioned here by Luke were the most powerful

Acts 17:31 — refers to the final judgment of all men, sometimes called the "Great White Throne Judgment," but, in any case, the one and only judgment day mentioned in the New Testament. This is not the day of death, for "after this" cometh judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Christ will preside over the Great Assize, rewarding all men according to the deeds done in the body. For more on the judgment, see my Commentary on Hebrews, Hebrews 6:2; also my Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 12:41-42 and Matthew 25:30. The

Acts 21:32 — their unbelief and accept the Savior. Only about a decade from the uproar in this chapter would elapse before Vespasian and Titus would unknowingly implement the Lord's great prophecy of the temple's utter ruin. See my Commentary on Mark under Mark 32:2 for ten reasons why God destroyed it.

Acts 25:21 — kept until I could send him to Caesar. The emperor ... Caesar ... Two titles given here to Nero should be noted. The first of these is actually "Augustus" (English Revised Version margin), which was the title given by the Roman Senate on January 17,27 B.C. to Gaius Caesar Octavianus (63 B.C. to A.D. 14).[14] "Augustus" also translates "Sebastos," and sometimes emperor, as in this verse. It was later applied as a title to any head of the Roman state. The same is true of "Caesar." Still a third

1 Corinthians 12:4 — SPIRITUAL GIFTS ENUMERATED "Here the apostle called the supernatural endowments of the first Christians GIFTS, because they were foretold under that name (Psalms 68:18; Ephesians 4:8)."[9] They are also referred to in the several terms of Hebrews 2:4 as "signs and wonders, and manifold powers, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will." All such supernatural wonders were scheduled to disappear (1 Corinthians 13:8); and their unique purpose was that of "confirming" the word

Galatians 6:16 — Israel of God ... It is surprising that any could misunderstand this, as if Paul were, in any manner, invoking a blessing upon racial Jews. "Israel of God," in the true sense, with Paul, was never racial Israel, but the spiritual Israel. See Romans 2:28,29; Romans 4:13-16 and Romans 9:6-8. This meaning of "spiritual Israel," of course, included all of every race, including Jews, who accepted Christ. "Israel of God," according to Wesley, means "the church of God, which consists of all those,

Ephesians 2:20 — apostles and prophets ... There are five foundations of the Christian faith mentioned in the New Testament: (1) The foundational teaching is composed of the teachings of Christ delivered through the apostles and prophets of the new dispensation (Matthew 7:24-26). (2) The foundational fact is that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:13-20). (3) The foundation person is Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Corinthians 3:11). (4) The foundational personnel was made up of the apostles and prophets