The Fruitless Fig Tree
Mark 11 contains an excellent example of a literary "sandwich." The meat of the sandwich is the so-called cleansing of the temple. Many Christians fail to grasp the importance of…
Cleansing Or Curse?
Most scholars believe that the book of Mark was the first gospel written, probably around 65 AD. There is strong evidence that Mark relied heavily on the eyewitness testimony of…
Bad Tenants
The theme of fruitfulness is found throughout the scriptures. Isaiah chapter 5 tells the story of a landowner who carefully cultivated a vineyard, anticipating a rich harvest of good grapes.…
Bearing the Right Fruit
The theme of fruitfulness can be traced throughout the scriptures. In the last blog, we examined Isaiah 5, which contains the song of the vineyard. God the landowner lovingly cultivated…
The Vineyard
Isaiah chapter 5 contains a song about a landowner who made every effort to cultivate a flourishing vineyard: "My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug…
Vindication of the Righteous
In Matthew 13, Jesus tells this very brief but revealing parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When…
The Hebrew Canon
Here are the closing words of the Torah: "Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, who did all those miraculous…
Gentle Jesus, Meek & Mild
There is a widespread sentiment - both in our society & in some quarters of the church -that Christians ought to be "nice" people. And no doubt there is a…
The Wrong Shall Fail, The Right Prevail
Last week we began celebrating the music of the Christmas season. Our world has been immeasurably enriched by sacred works inspired by the birth of Jesus the Messiah. Yet we…
Is God Fair?
There has been a strange trend within evangelical Christianity to extol the unfairness of God. It seems to me that this line of thought has become more prevalent over the…