Bible Commentaries

Luke 11:13 — Jesus drew His climactic conclusion (cf. Matthew 7:11). Since God is perfect He will do much more than a sinful earthly father would do. When Jesus gave this teaching the Holy Spirit did not yet indwell every believer (Acts 2:33; cf. Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4). The greatest blessing God could give a believer then was the possession of His Spirit. Thus the gift of the Holy Spirit was God’s greatest possible gift for the disciples who first heard this teaching. In effect Jesus was saying

Luke 16:18 — next cited an example of the continuing validity of the Old Testament and the Pharisees’ disregard of it. God still expected and expects submission to His Word. The Pharisees did not condone adultery, though they permitted divorce (Deuteronomy 24:1-4). Some Pharisees permitted a man to divorce his wife and then remarry another woman, though most of them did not grant women the same privilege. [Note: Marshall, The Gospel . . ., p. 631.] Jesus condemned such conduct as a violation of the seventh

Luke 17:34-36 — The parable of the one taken and the one left 17:34-36 The point of these examples is that when Jesus returns He will separate people, even those who are intimate companions. The unstated reason is implicit, namely, to judge some and not the others. Some will be ready for His return and others will not.

Luke 18:31-34 — 4. Jesus’ passion announcement and the disciples’ lack of perception 18:31-34 (cf. Matthew 20:17-19; Mark 10:32-34) Jesus’ passion announcements to His disciples constitute important structural markers in Mark’s Gospel. Luke and

Luke 18:35 — Luke wrote that Jesus met the blind man as He was approaching Jericho, but Matthew and Mark said that the incident occurred as Jesus was leaving that town (Matthew 20:29; Mark 10:46). There have been many explanations of this apparent contradiction. A summary of the most popular ones that reflect a high view of the biblical text follows. One view is that there were three separate incidents. Matthew recorded two blind men and Mark

Luke 19:8 — due when restitution was necessary (cf. Leviticus 5:16; Numbers 5:7). When a Jew stole an animal that he could not restore, he had to repay about fourfold, but if he was caught with the stolen property, he had to repay double (Exodus 22:1; Exodus 22:4). Zaccheus’ words were the signs of true repentance (cf. Luke 3:8; Luke 14:33; Luke 18:22). "Zacchaeus is an example of radical repentance, not of practical wisdom, and it is assumed that his response will leave him pretty much in the same

Luke 23:47-49 — the tragedy but stood aloof (cf. Psalms 38:11). These reactions confirm that Jesus did indeed die as a real man. He was not a demigod who merely appeared to die. Note also that Luke presented these witnesses in a receding order from the cross (Luke 23:46). The effect is to lead the reader to step back from the cosmic epicenter of history gradually. Luke stressed Jesus’ innocence in a number of ways that the other Gospel writers did not. He recorded that Pilate declared Him innocent four times

Luke 24:25-26 — personal evidence from those who need it." [Note: Marshall, The Gospel . . ., p. 896.] Luke highlighted Jesus’ identification as the risen Christ by placing the word translated "He" in the emphatic position in the Greek text in Luke 24:24-25. Jesus stressed again the divine necessity (Gr. dei) of Messiah’s sufferings. "This scene suggests that a meal with Jesus is an especially appropriate place for the revelation and recognition of Jesus as the (risen) Messiah, and that

Luke 9:47-48 — little children on different occasions as object lessons to teach different lessons. Once He used a child to teach that no act of kindness for one of His suffering disciples, whom the child represented, will pass without God’s reward (Matthew 10:40-42). On the present occasion Jesus used a child to illustrate two lessons. By standing the child beside Him Jesus gave the child honor. Mark wrote that Jesus took the child in His arms (Mark 9:36). Evidently Jesus did both things. The first lesson

John 13:10-11 — 8:1; et al.). Jesus spoke of this forensic or legal forgiveness as a total bath (Gr. louo). After a person believes in Jesus as Savior, he or she commits sins and those sins hinder the believer’s fellowship with God (cf. Matthew 6:12; Matthew 6:14-15; Luke 11:4; et al.). Jesus compared this family forgiveness to washing (Gr. nipto) the feet, which become dirty while walking through life. Therefore Jesus was illustrating the importance of believers obtaining spiritual cleansing from God periodically

John 14:27 — He used it as a greeting again after the Resurrection (John 20:19; John 20:21; John 20:26). Jesus probably meant that He was bequeathing peace to the Eleven as an inheritance that would secure their composure and dissolve their fears (cf. Philippians 4:7; Colossians 3:15). The world cannot give true peace. That can only come from the "Prince of Peace," a messianic title (Isaiah 9:6-7). He is the only source of true personal and social peace. The world cannot provide peace because it fails

Acts 11:26 — Barnabas had earlier sponsored Saul in Jerusalem (Acts 9:27). Now Barnabas brought Saul to Antioch, a distance of about 90 miles, where they ministered together for a year teaching and leading the church. This was probably in A.D. 43, ten years after the death and resurrection of Jesus and the day of Pentecost. Luke noted another advance for the church in that observers called the believers "Christians" (lit. those belonging to Christ’s party, i.e., Christ followers)

Acts 15:5 — . it is possible that nationalist pressure [against Rome] was increasing in Judea, and that [Jewish] Christians were having to tread carefully to avoid being thought of as disloyal to their Jewish heritage." [Note: Marshall, The Acts . . ., p. 249.] Unsaved Jews also believed that keeping the Mosaic Law is essential for acceptance by God (cf. 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16). The Old Testament taught that Gentiles would share in the promises made to Israel (Genesis 22:18; Genesis 26:4; Genesis 28:14;

Acts 16:19-21 — Clearly the actions of the girl’s masters against Paul and Silas, whom the people perceived as Jews, were prejudicial. They wanted to get even for causing them financial loss (cf. Acts 19:24-27), not for preaching the gospel. Normally only wealthy people took the risk of prosecuting someone in court since such action was very expensive. [Note: Witherington, p. 496.] This is the first formal indictment against Paul that Luke recorded in

Acts 18:26 — hoped for salvation in Messiah and had not rejected him. The entire Book of Acts depicts the transition from Judaism to Christianity. It is not surprising, therefore, to find imperfect forms of faith during those epochal days." [Note: Kent, p. 149.] Another possibility is that Apollos was a New Testament Christian who had not yet learned as much as Priscilla and Aquila had about their faith. Priscilla and Aquila were an outstanding couple who give evidence of having a strong marriage. They

Acts 23:16-17 — were available to him. Obviously the Lord provides these means and He expects us to use them. This in no way means that we are not trusting Him. Rather, we are trusting God to use the methods and the means to accomplish His purpose." [Note: McGee, 4:616.]

Acts 3:25-26 — covenant God made with Abraham because they were Abraham’s physical descendants. They were part of Abraham’s physical seed through whom God purposed to bring blessing to all the families of the earth (Genesis 12:3; Genesis 22:18; Genesis 26:4). Their acceptance of God’s Messiah was essential to their fulfilling all God’s purposes through them and in them. God desired to bless all people, but He purposed to bless humanity by first blessing the Jews. It was to bless first the Jews

Acts 4:12 — 1:69), Simeon (Luke 2:30), and John the Baptist (Luke 3:6) had previously connected God’s salvation with Jesus. Peter stressed that Jesus was a man: He lived "under heaven" and "among men." Jesus, the Messiah, the Nazarene (Acts 4:10), is God’s only authorized savior. Apart from Him there is no salvation for anyone (cf. John 14:6; 1 Timothy 2:5). "Peter (and/or Luke) is no advocate of modern notions of religious pluralism." [Note: Witherington, p. 194.] ".

Romans 2:1-4 — view themselves as sinners subject to God’s judgment. They should not misinterpret God’s failure to judge them quickly as an indication that they are blameless. They should realize that God is simply giving them time to repent (Romans 2:4; cf. Jeremiah 18:6-11; 2 Peter 3:9). "Repentance plays a surprisingly small part in Paul’s teaching, considering its importance in contemporary Judaism. Probably this is because the coming of Christ had revealed to Paul that acceptance with

Romans 7:7 — theologians like to distinguish the moral from the ceremonial parts of the Mosaic Law at this point. Many of them contend that God has only terminated the ceremonial part of the Law. [Note: E.g., John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2:458-60.] However here Paul, arguing that the Christian is dead to the Law, used one of the Ten Commandments as an example of the Law. He was not saying, however, that immoral behavior is all right for the Christian (cf. Romans 8:4). Paul’s use of