Bible Commentaries

Matthew 22:18-20 — Jesus refused to give the yes or no answer they wanted. Instead He initially pointed out, for the benefit of the crowd standing around, that they were testing Him (Gr. peirazo, to demonstrate intrinsic quality by testing, cf. Matthew 4:1; Matthew 16:1). This was a more gracious word than the one Matthew used to describe their real intent (Matthew 22:15). Their question did not intimidate Jesus even though He perceived their malice, but He saw it as an opportunity to reveal His identity.

Mark 12:31 — The scribe had requested one commandment, but Jesus gave him two. Love for man in Leviticus 19:18 grows out of love for God in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and is inseparable from it philosophically. The Jews regarded only fellow Jews and full proselytes as their neighbors, but Jesus taught that a neighbor is anyone with whom we have any dealings whatsoever (cf. Luke 10:25-27). "Neighbor" (Gr.

Mark 5:33-34 — sensitivity and compassion. She had nothing to fear from Him. Perhaps the woman was afraid because she had obtained Jesus’ power surreptitiously. Still, we have seen that a typical response to the revelation of Jesus’ power was fear (cf. Mark 4:41; Mark 5:15). This is the only place in the Gospels where Jesus called someone "daughter." The woman’s faith in Jesus had brought her into His spiritual family (cf. Isaiah 53:10; Mark 3:35; Mark 7:26; Mark 10:52). Her faith was the

Mark 8:31-52 — traces that journey and stresses Jesus’ preparation of His disciples for His coming death and resurrection. "It is no coincidence that the narrator frames the journey to Jerusalem with two healing stories about blindness [Mark 8:22-26; Mark 10:46-52], for the journey surely seems dominated by Jesus’ urgent efforts to deal with the disciples’ blindness to the things of God." [Note: Rhoads and Michie, pp. 126-27.] Mark structured his narrative around three predictions of His

Luke 22:41-42 — Luke presented Jesus praying as any disciple could pray (cf. Romans 11:4; Romans 14:11; Ephesians 3:14; Philippians 2:10). His posture reflects His submissive attitude. Luke did not record that Jesus lay prostrate during part of His prayer vigil (Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:35). The prayer itself reveals complete dependence on

John 1:21 — because messianic expectation was high then due to Daniel’s prediction that dated the appearance of Messiah then (Daniel 9:25). Malachi had predicted that Elijah would return to herald the day of the Lord that Messiah would inaugurate (Malachi 4:5-6). "Popularly it was believed that Elijah would anoint the Messiah, and thereby reveal his identity to him and to Israel (see Justin, Apology 35.1)." [Note: Beasley-Murray, p. 24.] When John the Baptist denied being Elijah, he was denying

John 17:3 — Jesus proceeded to define the nature of eternal life. Eternal life is essentially knowing (Gr. ginoskosin, cf. Genesis 4:1 LXX; Matthew 1:25) God experientially through faith in His Son (cf. John 3:5; Jeremiah 31:34; Habakkuk 2:14; Hebrews 8:11). Jesus described it in terms of relationship rather than duration. Everyone will live forever somewhere. However the term "eternal

John 20:30 — 2-12).A Summary of the Seven Signs in JohnSignSignificanceBeliefUnbeliefReferenceChanging water to wineJesus’ power over qualityThe disciplesJohn 2:1-11Healing the official’s sonJesus’ power over spaceThe official and his householdJohn 4:46-54Healing the paralyticJesus’ power over timeThe paralytic?The JewsJohn 5:1-9Feeding the 5,000Jesus’ power over quantitySome people in the crowdJohn 6:1-15Walking on the waterJesus’ power over natureThe disciplesJohn 6:16-21Healing

Acts 2:2 — 1:10-11). This noise symbolized the coming of the Holy Spirit in power. The same Greek word (pneuma) means either "wind" or "spirit." Ezekiel and Jesus had previously used the wind as an illustration of God’s Spirit (Ezekiel 37:9-14; John 3:8). "Luke particularly stresses the importance of the Spirit in the life of the church [in Acts]." [Note: Marshall, The Acts . . ., p. 32. ] Jesus’ earlier breathing on the disciples and giving them the Holy Spirit (John 20:22)

Acts 21:17-19 — As he had done before, Paul related to a group of elders what God had done on his missionary journeys among the Gentiles (Acts 14:27; cf. Acts 18:23). This undoubtedly helped the Jerusalem church accept the gift that Paul had brought from their Gentile brethren. I am assuming that the Jerusalem church leaders received the gift, but they may not have done so. Perhaps Luke did not

Acts 21:27-28 — The Jews from Asia, possibly from Ephesus, were obviously unbelievers. They charged Paul with the same kind of crimes the unbelieving Jews had accused Stephen of committing (Acts 6:11; Acts 6:13-14). The Jews permitted Gentiles in the outer court of the temple, the court of the Gentiles. They could not go beyond the sacred enclosure into the women’s court, or into the court of Israel, much less into the court of the priests. Jewish men like

Acts 26:1-23 — inspired. . . . "There is a consummate passion filling the soul of the apostle as he speaks. I think this is his masterpiece. His message on Mars’ Hill is great, but it does not compare at all to this message." [Note: McGee, 4:624, 626.] The Lord had told Paul that he would bear His name before the Gentiles and kings (Acts 9:15). Jesus had also told His disciples that before the Tribulation enemies would deliver them to prison and bring them before kings and governors for

Acts 5:17-18 — The high priest "rose up" (Gr. anastas, cf. Acts 5:34) taking official action as leader of the Sanhedrin. As mentioned above, the high priest and most of the Sanhedrin members were Sadducees (Acts 4:1). The Holy Spirit filled the believers, Satan had filled Ananias and Sapphira, and now jealousy filled

Romans 13:8 — The NASB translation "Owe nothing to anyone" is misleading because it contradicts Jesus’ teaching to loan to those who want to borrow from you (Matthew 5:42). He implied that borrowing is not always wrong. The New Testament does not forbid borrowing, only the practice of charging exorbitant interest on loans and failing to pay debts (Matthew 25:27; Luke 19:23). There are two kinds of debts: those with

Romans 15:3 — judge the practice of other Christians in respect to doubtful things (Romans 15:3); (2) are personally accountable to God for their actions (Romans 15:12); (3) are not to do anything that will put a stumbling block before their brethren (Romans 15:13); (4) have Christian liberty regarding what they do (Romans 15:14; Romans 15:20); (5) are to do what will edify their brethren (Romans 15:19); (6) should, for the sake of their weaker brethren, voluntarily abstain from certain practices (Romans 15:21); (7)

1 Corinthians 2:6 — because the Corinthians apparently loved to apply it to themselves. "All Christians are ’mature’ in the sense that they have come to terms with the message of the cross, while all others, by definition, have not." [Note: Carson, p. 47.] However, Paul later distinguished the natural person, the spiritual person, and the carnal person (1 Corinthians 2:14 to 1 Corinthians 3:4). Consequently by spiritual he probably meant one who has followed God’s Spirit for some time, not just

2 Corinthians 10:1-10 — permanently and to confirm the united support of the Christians there. One of Paul’s major purposes in writing this letter was to prepare the way for his next visit. He had just referred to that "anticipated visit" (2 Corinthians 9:3-4). Consequently he felt compelled to establish his apostolic authority firmly. ". . . the reason for the new subject (as in 1 Corinthians 7:1; 1 Corinthians 12:1; 1 Corinthians 15:1) lies primarily in the situation [Paul faced in Corinth] rather

Galatians 2:10 — showing the full recognition given by those leaders to the gospel and apostolic office which already were his prior to the meeting of the two parties. A third major support will be furnished by the Antioch incident (Galatians 2:11-21). [Note: Ibid., p. 104.] This section helpfully illustrates the diversity within the unity of Christ’s body. Different Christians can minister to different segments of humanity and to people in different regions. Nevertheless there must be unity in the message we proclaim.

Galatians 4:24 — Paul then interpreted these events figuratively. Note that he said the story "contained" an allegory, not "was" an allegory (lit. "which things are allegorized"). [Note: See Robertson, 4:306-7.] He acknowledged the historicity of the events. Paul saw in this story an illustration of the conflict between Judaism and Christianity, nomism and spirituality. He was calling allegory what we refer to as analogy. An "allegory," as

Galatians 5:3-4 — if they chose the law method. " Grace" was a favorite word of Paul’s. He used it 100 of the 155 times it occurs in the New Testament. In view of the many scriptural promises that God never withdraws His gift of salvation, Galatians 5:4 cannot mean the readers had lost their salvation (e.g., John 1:12; John 3:16; John 3:36; John 5:24; John 6:47; John 10:28-29; Romans 8:31-39; et al.). The legalists appear to have been claiming that circumcision was a necessary step in the process by