Here begins a multipart series on every instance of healing and deliverance in the four Gospel and Acts, posted each Wednesday, for the rest of 2023.
In this post, Scriptures: Mark 1:21-28 and Luke 4:31-37. Let’s see how Jesus expelled the demons.
What does it mean to be a disciple? You better count the cost before becoming one!
Included in this post are the link to his video testimony, the transcript of the video, and my embedded comments.
These chapters are on Jesus’s discourse about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple (AD 70) and then the Second Coming, which has not happened yet 2000 years later (and counting). Looking at the chapters side by side clarifies what he really taught. I updated this post.
Update: June 7, 2024. What does baptize literally mean? Can infants be baptized, biblically speaking? What about adults being baptized twice? Questions like these are answered point by point.
In its simplicity, it is “communication with God.” But what do the Scriptures say about it more fully? This post offers a thorough biblical teaching, with many references, on prayer generally.
An old-fashioned Bible study is offered here, countering a desperate misinterpretation from certain Bible interpreters who seek for more money.
God’s New Covenant plan is much better than an obsolete, national, theocratic tax designed to support an obsolete, national, religious system.
These names and titles and activities and metaphors reveal his character and outreach towards needy humans. Many tables and Scripture references are included.
Some Renewalists of the Word of Faith variety say your redeemed spirit is perfect, but not your redeemed soul. True?
This topic is really unpopular in the “wilder grace” and “freer grace” Renewal circles. But becoming like Christ is scriptural. Unavoidable. Necessary. And a blessing.
We all need to participate. But how exactly?
What are the Scriptures that reveal them? How are they relevant to my life today? Or have they ceased?
These are more commonly known as ‘tongues.’ Here some of the biblical basics.
It is important to distinguish law from the gospel. If we don’t, we’ll get confused about how to walk the walk.
Are we body and soul? Or are we body, soul, and spirit? It’s not as clear-cut as we may believe.
Let’s use the Q&A format for ease of understanding this major theme of New Testament, particularly the synoptic Gospels.
Some key points backed up by lots of Scripture.
An old-fashioned Bible study here. There is a lot of confusion in certain quarters of the global Renewal Movement about what revivals involve. How can we clear up the confusion? What did Paul really teach in 1 Corinthians 14? Are we willing to obey his teaching or just run roughshod over it?
This short post should help define the term. A simple five-step explanation of the Kingdom is included, as well.
What do their names mean? Why do the lists of the twelve in the New Testament have a slight variation? Can it be resolved?
Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes and tsunamis—natural disasters slam humankind every year. Did God do that? What does the Bible say? Two different covenants make all the difference—a progressive revelation.
God is loving and merciful, but how far do those attributes go at final judgment? Let’s explore this complex issue.
Grace means God’s unmerited, unearned favor. But once you have experienced it, you must show it.
You did something you regret. You said something that you want to take back. Good news! You’re a prime candidate for God the Redeemer to deliver you out of your troubles and buy you out of your self-inflicted prison.
Christ fulfilled or paid off your debt to the Law. It’s paid in full. He accomplishes this by fulfilling the holiness demand in the law and the fullest revelation of God’s character.
When the Old and New Testaments are interpreted carefully and rightly, using Scripture to interpret Scripture, this truth will emerge: Jesus Christ fulfills the old law, in many, many areas.
Does the verse allow violence to be done to Christians, without self-defense?
In the current confusion in society, we need clarity. The Bible still has wisdom to teach us, if we listen.
Don’t try this at home or elsewhere, unless called of God to take down an entire religious system!
In the book of Acts, they dropped dead. Why? To understand what happened, it is important to keep the Old Sinai Covenant and the New Covenant separate.
This is important for our walk with God. Don’t get them confused!
Does the Old Testament demand literal retaliation for a wrong? Should an eye or a tooth be gouged or knocked out—physically? What about the teaching of Jesus? Does he raise our vision to a higher calling? How do we forgive a tort or a physical injury? How do we get compensated for damages?
Let’s learn about these key Christological points together, in the Q & A format.
Let’s place his two natures side-by-side with verses from Scripture to see who he really is.
This topic is about Jesus Christ in his full personhood. Let’s use the Question and Answer format for clarity and conciseness.
This post answers a series of tough questions about this vital and indispensable doctrine.
Good question, and the answer is clear, based on one biblical truth. Other questions are included here, as well.
From the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451). English, Greek, and Latin are included; the post discusses how the definition opposes three deficient teachings about Christ and answers the objection that the fifth-century church just made it all up.
Two natures (deity and humanity) are united in one person—the person of Jesus Christ. Let’s use the Q & A format, for clarity and conciseness.
What are the theories? Are some better than others? Update: I added a long summary table of the theories.
Many claim that the birth narratives in the Gospels–here the third Gospel–were merely reshaped copies of Greco-Roman myths. True?
Some scholars say they are irreconcilable, while others say reconciling them is not so difficult. I favor plausible harmonization. It’s all in the family. Bonus: see the American family “the Roosevelts” in a chart for parallels.
Updated: Here are twenty-nine objections in a list that complementarians (restrictionists) raise. Replies are given to each one. Many important verses are discussed here, like Genesis 1-3, Galatians 2:28, Ephesians 5:22-24, 1 Timothy 2:11-15, 1 Peter 3:1-7, 1 Corinthians 7, 11:2-16, and Acts 6:5.
In Genesis healing is about fertility. It is God’s promise to those who live by his commands. It is his blessing. And this first book of the Bible teaches us that God can answer prayers for fertility, to remove the sadness of infertility.
How do biblical covenants bear on that extremely important question today? Do the Sinai Covenant or the New Covenant cancel the Abrahamic covenants? What does the remnant mean in the Bible?
What is it? Do they happen today? Can you experience one?
This post is an old-fashioned Bible study, offering a clear understanding of the church.
Yes, the first-person pronoun “I” is in that old biblical songbook (Psalms), but so is “God” without “me.” But when do we take “me” too far?
It is the key to the Christian life. What does the Bible say?
What should worship look like, biblically, in a church service? What are its component parts? Is the church today imbalanced by omitting some things? Included here is a teaching about prayer and intercession, based on the Lord’s Prayer.
Everybody seems to use the term. I’ve seen it in movie reviews. “The scene was ‘deconstructed’ nicely.” But what does it really mean?
This is so important to God. It should be to us too.
Liberalism, generally, favors a bigger government and higher taxes to pay for it, while conservatives advocate moving in the opposite direction: limited government and low taxes. What does the Bible say about this?
In a world filled with despair, we need this gift of God more than ever.
We live in a society that degrades humankind with cursing people, promiscuously sharing our bodies with various partners, doing drugs, and other dehumanizing things. God calls us to something higher.
Renewalists believe that Satan is real and attacks people, but in Christ they can have victory over the evil spirit being.
Renewalists have a robust and biblical pneumatology (doctrine of the Spirit). The church is a living organism, and the Spirit is guiding it. But the church is made up of individual believers. The Spirit works in them too.
Is America experiencing inevitable decline? A nervous breakdown?
Do you remember when you messed up? When you got drunk and went too far? What about the flirtation that went too far? What about saying stupid stuff at the job or Thanksgiving? When you lost your temper? What about your bad behavior generally? What about that abortion? Shoplifting?
This study looks at this attribute of God from a personal point of view. It is relevant to your life.
Start with this post, if you want the Bible basics. It will boil things down and clarify them. Key Hebrew and Greek words, too.
Prepare to get your hands dirty. This post attempts to dig up the roots of wild and crazy public policies.
All the verses are here. This post is good for your personal edification or for pastors and teachers who wish to build a Bible study or sermon series.
All the verses are here. They are great for your personal edification or for pastors and teachers who wish to build a Bible study or sermon series.
It’s about God’s love and favor, not yours for him. Great for a series of sermons or Bible studies or your personal edification.
Here are the verses where the words love and grace in their various forms appear in the biblical prophets. Great for a series of sermons and Bible studies or your personal edification.
This is for your Bible study and sermon series and personal edification. All the words for love and grace in these three books of the biblical Wisdom literature are found here. Great for your personal edification or a series in a Bible study or sermons.
Even though these verses have an ancient historical context, they are spoken to you today. Such verses are timeless and universal in that way, if we interpret them properly. Great for a sermon or Bible study series or your personal edification.
This chapter is full of information about church leaders. I look more carefully at the women leaders than the men, though everyone gets a comment.
The Torah is the first five books of the Bible. Yes, God’s love and grace can be found in this section of Scripture. It is not always and only wrath and judgment. Great for your personal edification or a series in a Bible study or sermons.
Yes, women really did function in Christ’s five gifts to his church, his temple, to build it up: apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors-teachers. Check out the evidence. (I updated this post.)
How can we proclaim it if we don’t know what it is? After a basic definition offered just below, the gospel also has multiple parts to it. Let’s see what they are. (I recently updated this post.)
One older commentator says the prohibition in those verses seems “absolute.” Yet how do we properly read them?
May she be welcomed into heaven because she put her faith in Christ! 1926-2022. Historians of the monarchs of Europe always include several genealogical tables. Here are some of them for your convenience. Further, each monarch massively influenced influenced the Western European church, and the church influenced them. Continue reading
This is the final chapter of the book of Acts, but not of the acts of God, which go on to this day. Paul gets bitten by a poisonous snake, shakes it off, is unharmed, and then God works healing through his hands. They finally reach Rome, where Paul is at liberty to live in his own rented quarters and preach the kingdom of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
This article is the conclusion to the series on postmodernism and the Bible. A good summary of the entire series.
The words “the truth” will shock postmodernists and deconstructionists. Good. But it asks: How do we study and interpret the Bible? How do we find truth which really is out there, around us? This post is a simple reply to claims of unsolvable ambiguities in the Bible.
Paul, Luke, and Aristarchus go through a storm and shipwreck. An angel stands before Paul and promised everyone safety. When they followed his directions, they safely reach an island.
It is now time to counter the extreme views spelled out in Part Five. Who was Jesus, really?
Paul delivers a speech before Agrippa and Festus, in Caesarea. Paul recounts his testimony on the road to Damascus. Festus reacts and calls him crazy. Does Paul want to convert him? Agrippa and Festus conclude that Paul is innocent, but he had appealed to Caesar, so the trials go on.
Paul defends himself before Festus, King Agrippa II, and his sister Bernice against the accusations of the Jerusalem establishment, who stood around Paul. He was calm and forceful in his defense. He appealed to “lord” Caesar.
Deconstruction overturns privileged hierarchy and meaning. Defenders promise us that they do not practice Anything Goes in their deconstruction of texts. Do they keep their promise? How do we verify it? Click on this link only if you have courage.
Paul defends himself before Felix at Caesarea. He is kept in custody, discussing with Felix, righteousness, self-control, and judgment to come. Felix is succeeded by Porcius Festus.
Paul appears before the Jewish High Council, a Roman commander rescues him, Jesus personally appears before Paul, a plot by assassins is foiled, and he is taken to Caesarea, where he had landed earlier.
Do you want to know what deconstruction really is? Read about it from its practitioners.
Paul delivers his defense (apologia) to the crowds who were demonstrating against him. It is a masterpiece.
This chapter has all sorts of prophetic words about Paul going up to Jerusalem. He arrives there. The chapter also sees James, the (half-)brother of Jesus, tell Paul to go along with a vow to be a good witness to the law-keeping converts to the Jesus Movement, which he did. A riot promptly beaks out when he is spotted in the temple. In v. 16, Paul’s third missionary journey comes to an end, and his journey to Rome via Jerusalem begins in v. 17.
Postmodernism has produced all sorts of confusing interpretations of Scripture. For the postmodernist, Scripture has turned into a pot of stew.
Paul is on his way to Jerusalem. But first he forms a team, sees a boy named Eutychus survive a fall, and delivers his very moving farewell to the Ephesian elders. This chapter also begins Paul’s journey to Jerusalem (20:16 to 21:17). Please see the timeline table that harmonize Acts 18-25 and Paul’s epistles
Paul is in Ephesus and prays for twelve disciples who need the fullness of the Spirit, seven Jewish exorcists get pummeled, a demonstration erupts because of the goddess Artemis and Paul’s monotheism and the gospel. The fifth “panel” is in this chapter. Also see the ministry timeline set in a convenient table.
Does postmodernism spring out of the head of Zeus unconceived or misconceived? Or does it carry a heavy debt on its back to earlier movements and trends?
Paul finishes up his second missionary journey in v. 22 and begins his third in v. 23. In this chapter, his ministry in Corinth and Ephesus takes center stage. Priscilla and Aquila make their appearance, so does the powerfully effective speaker Apollos, who received more theology about God and the fulness of the Spirit.
Paul is still on his second missionary journey, along with his team, minus Luke, who will rejoin them in Troas (20:5). The Bereans were nobler than the Thessalonians because the Berans searched the Scriptures. Paul preaches his famous discourse to the Areopagus council.
So begins an eight-past series. In the late 1980s or early 1990s, a pastor reported this conversation (as I recall it) between him and a woman from his large congregation. She apparently wanted him to approve of something.
Paul begins his second missionary trip, with Silas. The Spirit leads Paul and Silas not to go into two big regions but to go to Macedonia; the salvation of Lydia and her household; the deliverance of an oppressed girl; a beating, Paul and Silas singing and praying in prison; an earthquake; and a jailer’s and his household’s salvation. Timothy and Luke join Paul’s team.
The council in Jerusalem decided on how Gentiles could be saved. They held to four requirements, which were designed for peaceful fellowship between Messianic Jews and converted Gentiles. Paul and Barnabas split up. After this, Paul and Silas begin Paul’s second missionary trip, all the way to Acts 18:22. And Barnabas and Mark make a second team. Included: Timeline table of Paul’s journey coordinated with his epistles.
This chapter ends Paul’s and Barnabas’s first missionary journey, but not before Paul gets stoned and taken for dead. This chapter includes preaching, a healing miracle, and other signs and wonders. He tailors his message for towards pagans for the first time; then he is challenged by opponents.
This chapter is clearly transitional. In their first missionary journey, Barnabas and Saul go beyond Israel and Antioch and head westward. It includes worshipping and praying and personal prophetic words and spiritual warfare. It has Paul’s first recorded sermon, a masterpiece. This is Paul’s and Barnabas’s first missionary journey (to 14:28). Table: Paul’s travels which is coordinated with a timeline.
James, son of Zebedee, is executed; Peter escapes miraculously from jail; Rhoda’s exuberance, and Herod Agrippa’s sudden death.
Peter explains his eating with Gentiles, Agabus and his team of prophets appear and predict a worldwide famine, and the disciples are first called Christians in Antioch, and Barnabas and Saul are commissioned to bring relief to Jerusalem Christians.
Despite the confusion circulating over the web for years, the Bible unambiguously upholds the sanctity of prenatal life.
This chapter is the most important one in all the Bible for the description of including the Gentiles into the New Covenant community of God. This transition could happen only through Peter.
In this chapter: Saul’s conversion and Peter healing Aeneas and raising Tabitha from the dead. Thus, Saul and Peter are paired together in different storylines, and clearly Peter is in the lead, for now.
In this chapter, because of the persecution of the Messianic Jews, they have to flee Jerusalem. Philip reaches out to Samaritans, and then to the Ethiopian Treasurer. Philip then gets snatched away by God and ends up at Azotus and preaches the gospel in that region.
Stephen’s speech begins the slow transition from dependence on the temple and towards a more global outreach. God does not dwell in temple buildings made with hands. Stephen is martyred.
The Hebrew and Greek widows complain about distribution of resources. The apostles appoint seven servants to handle the issue. Certain members of a synagogue oppose Stephen and drag him before Caiaphas the high priest.
Ananias and Sapphira are instantly judged. God through the apostles worked many signs and wonders, and the people greatly honored the Messianic community. Some feared to join, but others did. Peter’s shadow was cast on them and miracles happened. The council arrested the apostles and put them in prison, but an angel released them. They went into the temple and preached but were rearrested. Gamaliel gave his speech urging caution about executing them. The apostles were flogged and released but never stopped preaching.
The council (Sanhedrin) arrest Peter and John and the healed man and threaten them. The two apostles say they must obey God instead of man. They return to the Christian community and report what happened. The whole community pray for boldness and share everything in common. The place where they met was shaken, and they are again filled with the Spirit.
The disabled beggar is healed at the gate called Beautiful. Peter, along with John, preaches the second recorded sermon, which is a great overview of OT Scriptures and themes proving Jesus is the Messiah.
The Holy Spirit arrives with great power at the festival of Pentecost. Peter preaches the first sermon after the birth of the church. He tells the Jewish pilgrims that they must repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Three thousand souls were added to the church. Then the earliest community shared everything in common, and more people were being saved.
Luke addresses Theophilus, to whom he dedicated his second volume. Jesus promises the Holy Spirit. He commissions disciples to go beyond Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. He ascends into heaven. Matthias is chosen to replace Judas.
What if 1 Timothy 2:11-15 is not about women teaching and dominating men at church? What if it is about a husband and wife at home? Or does the house church merge the domestic and public spheres? What would that mean for church policy and women teachers out in public?
We come at last to the end of the series. This part, summarizing the previous fourteen articles, can serve as a guide for which article the reader may need in the future. The series has always been about having confidence in the four Gospels so the gospel of the kingdom can go forth.
The number of similarities, even between the Gospel of John on the one side and Matthew, Mark, and Luke on the other, is remarkable.
When you read the first three Gospels, you are likely to observe countless similarities. And that is the dominant picture: the places, the names, the crowds, the rural setting, busy Jerusalem. However, some skeptics see insurmountable problems.
Whether you want your baby or not, God loves him or her, and he loves you. God can turn your Plan B into his Plan A, and make it better than your plans. Keep your baby, if you have an unplanned pregnancy.
On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court ruled on Roe. V. Wade. How did Blackmun interpret the Constitution’s silence?
Jesus appears again, this time on the shore of the Lake of Galilee. He miraculously provides them with a catch of 153 large fish. He asks Peter three questions about his love and commitment. He predicts by what manner of death Peter would glorify God. He tells Peter not to get distracted by the beloved disciple’s future. The post-script says that the beloved disciple wrote the Gospel, and his testimony is true. Not even the world itself would have room for all the books containing all the things Jesus said and did.
God initiates. We respond. We need both passages to clarify and balance out the other one. This is an old-school exegesis (pronounced EX-uh-gee-sus or ex-uh-GEE-sus), which means a close reading or analysis of a text.
The author of this Gospel made sure he used eyewitness testimony; indeed he was an eyewitness!
Jesus is raised from the dead. Mary Magdalene visits the empty tomb. She reports back to Peter, who visits the tomb, but the beloved disciple gets there first. They depart and Mary returns. She sees two angels in the tomb; then Jesus appears to her outside it. She clutches him, and he tells her to stop because he will not leave permanently at that moment. He commissions her to tell the other disciples. He appears to them and shows them his hands (wrists) and side. He exhales and says for them to receive the Spirit. He appears to Thomas. John lays out the purpose of the book.
Luke researched those who knew Jesus from the “beginning,” his key criterion.
The chief priests and temple officers shout for him to be crucified. They back Pilate into a corner, saying that they have no king but Caesar. He reluctantly orders his crucifixion. The soldiers divide his garments. He hands his mother over to the disciple whom he loved. Jesus dies when he gives up his spirit. His side is pierced. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus work together to bury him.
The evidence suggests that Peter was indeed a portrait painter, but he used words alone. Jesus was his subject.
I really like this creed. I add a commentary, which I hope clarifies it. We the church today ignore it at our peril, particularly the American church.
Centuries ago, the church debated the issue of who Christ was. In today’s church, we like to innovate so much that we become arrogant and can sometimes stomp all over the ancient creeds. But we ignore this creed at our peril.
Jesus is arrested in a garden and brought before the emeritus high priest Annas. Then he is led to the serving high priest Caiaphas. Next, Pilate questions him, finds no basis for an accusation against him, and intends to release him because of a Jewish custom. The Jewish establishment and their allies shout for the insurrectionist Barabbas to be released, instead.
This article rounds a corner from the traditions transmitted before the Gospels were written to the Gospels themselves, as we have them now. Do they enjoy eyewitness testimony at their foundation?
This is Jesus’s long and profound prayer of consecration before going to the cross. He prays for himself, his immediate disciples (the eleven) and the church. He even prays for people in the world. The church is called to live in unity.
This is a question that must be explored. At least twelve scholars say it probably happened. If so, this gives a huge boost to the reliability of the Gospels.
No need to be afraid of this document. If it existed, Matthew and Luke used it. If they weren’t afraid, why should you be?
Jesus tell his disciples that persecution is coming. He teaches on the ministry of the Spirit. The disciples’ sorrow will turn to joy. In the world they will have trouble, but they can take courage, because he has overcome the world.
In this chapter, Jesus says he is the true vine, the Father is the vinedresser, and the branches must dwell or live in the vine. The world hated him, and it will hate his disciples.
We continue the series, and this post is about how the stories and teachings and memories of the deeds of Jesus were transmitted before the first three Gospels were written down.
With this article we turn a corner away from archaeology and non-Christian written references to Gospel persons (the last three articles). Now we discuss the preservation of Jesus’ ministry — his words and activity — after his crucifixion (and resurrection) and up to the time when the Gospels were written.
Jesus is still in the middle of his farewell discourse. He says he is the way, the truth, and the life. He promises the Paraclete or Holy Spirit. He says the ruler of this world has no hold or claim on him. His disciples will do “greater things” than he did. What does this mean?
Jesus washes his disciples’ feet. He predicts Judas’s betrayal. Jesus gives them a new commandment: to love one another. He also predicts Peter’s three denials. Verse 31 begins the Farewell Discourse(s) all the way to 17:26. The chronology between John and the Synoptics and Passover and the crucifixion is also discussed here. They can be harmonized.
If you throw a rock in a pond, does it produce ripples? Did the life of Jesus produce no effects at all? Are the ripples delusions or real? Now let’s study the historical evidence. If you have a son or daughter or a co-worker or husband who challenges you, send him or her to this link.
Part 3 in the series that explains why the Gospels are reliable and lists some discoveries.
Mary anoints Jesus at Bethany. A plot is hatched to kill Lazarus. Jesus enters Jerusalem triumphantly. Some Greeks seek Jesus. The Son of Man must be lifted up. The unbelief of the people is stated. Jesus came to save the world, not judge it.
Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead and declares that he himself is the resurrection and the life. The chief priests and Pharisees plot to arrest and kill Jesus. It is the Passover season.
Who were the “gods” and “sons of the Most High” in Psalm 82:6? Whom does Jesus say they were in John 10:34-36? Many commentators offer their opinion, and they are unanimous about who they were not. Now what about–who they were?
The Synoptics are Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Archaeology affirms their reliability. This post lists some discoveries.
So begins a fifteen-part series on the historical reliability of the four Gospels.
Jesus says he is the gate or door to the sheep pen. He says he is the Good Shepherd. He proclaims that he and the Father are one. The Father is in him and he in the Father. The religious establishment pick up stones to execute him prematurely. He replies to their mob mentality with Scripture. Ps. 82 is discussed in detail here in vv. 34-36. He withdraws.
Jesus heals a man born blind, on the Sabbath. The Pharisees and Jerusalem religious establishment investigate. The former blind man’s parents are called in. The former blind man gets the better of the establishment. They throw him out. Jesus teaches about true seeing and spiritual blindness.
The title could also be “Is God Bound to Obey Our Decrees?” Or “Do Our Decrees Have Power in Themselves Apart from God’s Will and Power?” That’s what certain teachers seem to say. Let’s look into this subject.
Jesus forgives a woman caught in adultery, saying to her accusers: Let the one without sin be the first to throw the stone at her. Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” Knowing the truth will set you free. The Jerusalem establishment’s father is actually the devil. Jesus makes this startling pronouncement: “Before Abraham was, I am.”
Jesus told his brothers that he was not (currently) going to this feast of Tabernacles, yet he went a little while later. Then he taught in public in the temple. Jesus challenged the rulers to judge with a righteous judgment and stop being lawbreakers who were seeking to kill him for (allegedly) breaking the law. They sent officers to arrest Jesus. The people’s opinion about him were divided. The officers returned and said his teaching was unprecedented, so they could not arrest him! Nicodemus steps forward and defends Jesus.
