Bible Commentaries

Luke 10:22 — by saying that the Son bestows knowledge of the Father according to the Son’s will. By saying these things, Jesus was claiming to have an exclusive relationship with God and to be the sole mediator of the knowledge of God to humankind (cf. Luke 4:32; 1 Timothy 2:5).

Luke 11:14-16 — Luke again first presented the setting for the confrontation that followed. Jesus cast a demon out of a man whom it had made dumb. This sign of His messiahship amazed the multitudes that observed it (cf. Luke 4:36; Luke 9:42-43; et al.). Some of them attributed Jesus’ power to the head demon, namely, Satan (Luke 11:18). The spelling Beelzebul (NASB) is most common in the Greek text. Beelzebub (NIV) has come down to us from the Latin manuscript tradition.

Luke 13:15-16 — Jesus’ argued from the lesser to the greater again. A person is much more important than an animal (cf. Luke 14:5). The Jews regarded women as less important then men. Jesus viewed her as a daughter of Abraham, a very exalted title that described a female descendant of the revered patriarch. Perhaps the Jews had denied this woman this title concluding that her

Luke 15:17-19 — senses" is an idiom that indicates repentance. [Note: Jeremias, The Parables . . ., p. 130. See also Greg Forbes, "Repentance and Conflict in the Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15:11-32)," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 42:2 (June 1999):211-229.] He changed his mind about his attitude and decided to make a change in his behavior. The young man used "heaven" as a euphemism for God (Luke 15:18; Luke 15:21). The Jews frequently did this to avoid using God’s

Luke 18:34 — Luke alone repeated three times that the disciples failed to comprehend Jesus’ words. He strongly suggested that their failure was due to God withholding this understanding from them (cf. Luke 24:16; Luke 24:25-26). That is, it was not within God’s purpose for them to understand at this time. The illumination of believers is a necessary work of God’s Spirit that is supernatural. The Twelve probably would not believe that such a fate

Luke 19:12 — parable unfolds. A situation similar to the one Jesus described had happened not long before Jesus gave this parable, and He may have had it in mind. Herod Archelaus, one of Herod the Great’s sons, had visited Rome after his father’s death in 4 B.C. to receive Caesar’s confirmation to reign over a section of Palestine bestowed on him in his father’s will. Other Herods-Herod the Great, Antipas, Philip, and Agrippa I-also had to go through this procedure, but the case of Archelaus

Luke 19:29-30 — farther east. [Note: Marshall, The Gospel . . ., p. 712.] Bethphage was "the village opposite" or "ahead" (Matthew 21:1). The mention of Mt. Olivet (lit. olive orchard) recalls the prophecy of Messiah’s coming there (Zechariah 14:4). The preparations to enter Jerusalem riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey, were to fulfill Zechariah 9:9-10. The disciples were to borrow or rent this animal for Jesus to ride on. Evidently such animals were available to assist travelers. [Note:

Luke 22:52-53 — prepared for a fight, but Jesus assured them that He would not give them one. If they wanted to arrest Him, it would have been easier to do so in the temple in daylight. They did not do the deed then, of course, because they feared the people (Luke 19:48; Luke 20:19; Luke 22:2). By coming when and as they did, they only made the hypocrisy of their action more obvious. "Hour" designates a time of destiny or opportunity. The power (Gr. exousia, "reigns" NIV, cf. Luke 4:6; Luke 23:7)

John 1:19 — matters of theological and practical orthodoxy, including ritual purity. The Levites descended from Levi, one of Aaron’s ancestors, and assisted the priests in their ministry, mainly in the areas of temple music and security. [Note: Carson, p. 142.] "The Jews" is a term that John used 71 times, in contrast to the other evangelists who used it rarely. Usually in John it refers to Jewish people who were hostile to Jesus, though occasionally it occurs in a neutral sense (e.g., John 2:6)

John 11:11-13 — of Jesus’ meaning. The New Testament writers commonly referred to death as sleep for the Christian because our resurrection to life is a prominent revelation and is sure (cf. Acts 7:60; 1 Corinthians 15:20; 1 Corinthians 15:51; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). That Jesus was not teaching soul sleep should be clear from Luke 16:19-31. The doctrine of soul sleep is the teaching that at death the soul, specifically the immaterial part of man, becomes unconscious until the resurrection of the body. The

John 13:31-32 — occurrences of this title in John’s Gospel. "In its general usage it is the title of the incarnate Christ who is the representative of humanity before God and the representative of deity in human life." [Note: Tenney, "John," p. 141.] Jesus explained that His glorification would mean glory for the Father who would glorify the Son. Thus Jesus continued to stress His unity with the Father to help His disciples appreciate both His individual identity and His essential deity. The

John 18:28-16 — Gospel writers. He omitted referring to Jesus’ appearance before Herod Antipas, which only Luke recorded (Luke 23:6-12). He stressed Jesus’ authority, particularly His authority as Israel’s King (cf. John 18:36; John 19:11; John 19:14). John seems to have assumed that his readers knew of the other Gospel accounts of Jesus’ passion. This supposition by John supports the view that this was the last Gospel written. The other Gospels stress the legal aspects of this trial. John

John 2:23 — observed His miracles concluded that He was a prophet, but they were not always willing to acknowledge Him as God. John usually used the dative case when he described faith in a thing (e.g., "they believed the Scripture," John 2:22; cf. John 4:50; John 5:47; John 10:38). When he described faith in a person, he did the same or used the verb "believe" (Gr. pisteuo) plus the preposition "into" or "in" (Gr. eis) and the accusative (e.g., "believed in His name,"

John 3:13 — teacher had ascended into heaven and returned to teach about heavenly things. Evidently Jesus was referring to being personally present in heaven since, obviously, many prophets had received visions of heaven (e.g., Isaiah 6; cf. 2 Corinthians 12:2-4; Revelation 1:10-20). However the Son of Man descended from heaven so He could teach about heavenly things. The NIV translation implies that Jesus had already ascended into heaven, but that is not what the Greek text says. The Greek words ei me, translated

John 7:3-5 — believed that He could perform miracles, but they did not believe that He was who He claimed to be. They encouraged Him to promote Himself, perhaps because they saw some advantage for themselves in His doing so. Satan had tempted Jesus similarly (Matthew 4:1-10). God’s plan for Jesus’ exaltation was different from theirs and involved the Cross. It is difficult to tell if these brothers spoke sincerely or sarcastically. Perhaps some were sincere and others were sarcastic. Familiarity with Jesus

John 7:30-31 — Evidently those Jews who tried to seize (Gr. piazo) Jesus did so to restrain Him (cf. John 7:32; John 7:44; John 8:20; John 10:39). However they could not because His hour (Gr. hora), the time for His crucifixion and its consequences, had not yet arrived. God prevented Jesus’ premature arrest. Even though some of the Jews tried to arrest Jesus, many

Acts 1:2 — Jesus was "taken up" at His ascension (Luke 24:51). The orders that He had given His apostles were that they should remain temporarily in Jerusalem (Acts 1:4; Luke 24:49). Then they should go out into the whole world to herald the good news of salvation (Acts 1:8; Luke 24:47; Matthew 28:19-20). Apostles

Acts 11:25 — he described in 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 while he ministered in and around Tarsus. These included persecution by the Jews, probably for trying to evangelize Gentiles. Furthermore some say he had the revelation to which he referred in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4 while he was ministering near there. He was undoubtedly very active in missionary work around Tarsus during his residence there even though we have no record of it.

Acts 4:11 — Peter showed that this teaching did not lead the people away from God but rather fulfilled something that God had predicted. In quoting Psalms 118:22 Peter applied to Jesus Christ what David had said about the nation Israel (cf. Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17). Israel’s leaders had rejected Jesus as an unacceptable Messiah, but He would prove to be the most important part of what God was building. Some scholars believe Peter meant that Jesus was the cornerstone, the foundation

Acts 4:9-10 — not only for the Sanhedrin but for all the people of Israel. Peter used a Greek word that means saved (sothenai), which some English translators have rendered "made well." His use of this word prepares for the use of the same word in Acts 4:12 where it has a broader meaning. Peter’s intent was obviously to prick the consciences of these men too (cf. Acts 2:23; Acts 2:36; Acts 3:13-15). He laid the guilt for Jesus’ death at their feet and gave witness that God raised Him from