February 1 Water baptism was part of the conversion of an adult Gentile to the Jewish faith, along with circumcision, a commitment to following the Jewish Law, and offering a sacrifice. John the Baptizer stood in the Jordan River, inviting his audience to be baptized. “People came from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity…
January 31 Christmas cards and Christmas pageants are not the best resources for understanding the Bible. A case in point is the birth narrative of Jesus. Luke tells us that shepherds visited Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus in a manger. Matthew tells us that the Magi followed a star to a house where Joseph,…
January 30 Welcome to the Gospel of Matthew! Like John, Matthew was one of Jesus’ disciples, specifically one of the twelve apostles. Scholars also identify Matthew with the name Levi in Mark 2:14. (Compare with Matthew 10:3) You may have heard critics argue that Isaiah 7:14, the prophecy that Matthew quotes in verse 23, denies…
January 29 In the final chapter of John, we read about the disciples’ encounter with Jesus in Galilee. Jesus had told them to meet Him there. (Matthew 28:10) As the story unfolds, the disciples are on the Sea of Tiberius (another name for the Sea of Galilee). Peter and the others have been fishing all…
January 26 John 20 records Thomas’ first encounter with Jesus after His resurrection. The other disciples had already seen Jesus, but Thomas wasn’t there. When they said they had seen Jesus, Thomas scoffed, “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in His hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and…
January 25 As He hangs on the cross, just before taking His last few breaths, Jesus speaks those three epic words, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) Notice that He doesn’t say, “I am finished.” He says, “It is finished.” But what was finished? His life? His ministry? Everything necessary for the Scriptures to be fulfilled…
