Category Archives: Christian character

The parable of the wise and foolish virgins: a warning

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During Jesus’ last week in Jerusalem, the disciples pointed out the splendor of the temple and he replied that a time would come when one stone would not be left on top of another. Chapters 24 and 25 of Matthew are known as the Olivet discourse, where Jesus described both the destruction of Jerusalem and his second coming. Then he told them four parables, including the parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matthew 25:1-13).

In the first three, the people in it know something will happen but do not know when: the return of the king, the coming of the bridegroom, and the return of the property owner.… Read the rest

Workers in the vineyard: what is the meaning of their strange wages?

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Matthew’s gospel records nine parables of the kingdom, parables that Jesus began with the words, “The kingdom of heaven is like . . .” In this post, we’ll look at the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16).

It comes immediately after the story of the rich young ruler and Peter’s response. And it has bookends. The last verse of chapter 19 says (in NIV), “But many who are first will be last and many who are last will be first.” The parable ends, “So the last will be first and the first will be last.”

… Read the rest

Uncomfortable scriptures: what does God have to do with hate?

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God is love, right? And doesn’t he command us to love our neighbor as ourselves and to honor our parents? So when he says, “Jacob I loved, Esau I hated” (Romans 9:13, quoting Malachi 1:2-3) or “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother. . . such a person cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26), it makes us uncomfortable.

Biblically illiterate people (who, alas, include preachers and the seminary professors who mistaught them) will claim that Jesus said no such thing and that the Old Testament misrepresents God. Let us not forget some important facts:

… Read the rest

Understanding the parable of the four soils in the Bible

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Sower / Millet. parable of the four soilsThe Parable of the Sower appears in all three synoptic gospels. Jesus implied it is the key to understanding his other parables. Today, thinking of it as the parable of the four soils might make it easier to grasp. After all, the sower went out to sow seed, and the parable never mentions him again. It doesn’t really say much about the seed, either, except that it’s apparently some kind of grain. But the soils? They’re crucially important.

The three accounts are a little different, but the differences don’t alter the basic points.

A sower went out to sow seed. In those days, that meant taking a bag of seed and throwing it on the ground.… Read the rest

All things are lawful. Does that mean anything goes?

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Sin. all things are lawful
Nowadays, sin seems like a good thing. / Corey Balazowich via Flickr

In our experience, some things are lawful and others illegal. In that regard, 1 Corinthians 6 has a very odd juxtaposition of ideas. 

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

… Read the rest

Faith: What are you going to believe? What will you say?

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A woman entering her hotel room was shocked to see a naked woman, who appeared to be dead, draped across the bed. Her husband, bending over the corpse, looked up and said, “Dear, before you say anything, I have a question. Are you going to believe what you see, or what I tell you?”

That is exactly the same question God has for each of us. We believe what we see, and that’s the wrong answer.

… Read the rest

The odd healing of the blind man of Bethsaida

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The healing of the blind man of Bethsaida, one of the few incidents unique to Mark’s gospel, must be the oddest of Jesus’ miracles. It says that when he got to Bethsaida, the townspeople brought a blind man to him and begged him to heal him. Begged? It’s almost as if he seemed unwilling at first.

Then, Jesus took the man by the hand and led him out of town. And at first, the healing seemed not to work. The man could see, but not clearly. Jesus had to try again.

Did Jesus have an “oops” moment? Or did he have a reason for performing a two-step healing?… Read the rest

What do fear, flesh, and works have to do with salvation?

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Someone left an interesting comment on an earlier post:

If we cannot lose our salvation why then did Paul say Walk out your salvation with fear and trembling.

And why did he say I pummel my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others I myself will not be cast away

It’s in reply to an earlier comment that claims it’s impossible to lose salvation once saved. Numerous Bible verses seem to point in that direction. Numerous other Bible verses seem to say that it’s possible, once saved, to lose salvation. Theologians have been arguing about it for centuries.… Read the rest

The fall of man: what happened when the serpent tempted Adam?

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Some people might be thinking, “No. The serpent tempted Eve.” Not quite. Adam and Eve in Genesis represent the entire human race. They started in a perfect place, the Garden of Eden. It took both the man and the woman to forfeit that position in what we know as the fall of man.

Genesis begins with three momentous events:

  • God created the heavens and the heavens and the earth, culminating with the creation of a man.
  • God planted the Garden of Eden, and while it grew, he gave the man the dignity of naming the beasts and looking for a suitable helper.
… Read the rest

How the Syrophoenician woman demonstrates great faith

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Jesus encountered a woman in Gentile territory at the end of a particularly hectic time of his life. We know her as the Syrophoenician woman from Mark’s account. Matthew’s account calls her a Canaanite woman. The incidents that finally drove Jesus out of Palestine to are recorded in Matthew beginning with 13:53 and in Mark 6-7.

  • Jesus taught in the synagogue at Nazareth. The townspeople were offended at his teaching. He could do no mighty works there because of their unbelief. That pairing of offense and unbelief is key to understanding his later two meetings with the Syrophoenician woman.
  • He sent out his disciples in pairs for ministry.
… Read the rest