What Jesus promised the apostles about Israel's future
…tion. The kingdom is not a retreat from creation but its renewal under the rightful King. Luke confirms that this is kingdom government Luke records the promise in a different setting. At the Last Supper, after the disciples disputed about greatness, Jesus contrasted Gentile domi…
Read article →Simon Greenleaf · Legal examination of testimony · 1846
A nineteenth-century legal scholar's examination of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John as witnesses, asking how their credibility, consistency, knowledge, conduct, and accounts would fare under principles used to assess evidence in courts of justice.
View recommendation →Near-death experiences, neuroscience, and the authority of Christ
…Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." —Luke 16:31 The line is devastating to our appetite for extraordinary testimony. God has not left us waiting for a resuscitated traveller to tell us how to be saved. The written Word bears wi…
Read article →Why the Son assumed a complete human nature, not merely a body
…a container or a body waiting for a divine occupant. Primary passages: Matthew 26:38–39; Luke 2:40, 52; Luke 22:42; Hebrews 2:14–18; Hebrews 5:7–9; Hebrews 10:5–10 --- “A body hast thou prepared me.” Those words from Hebrews 10:5 may be among the first that come to mind when we…
Read article →Eustathius of Antioch, the human soul of Christ and the pictures created by our words
…e teacher’s words actually teach the hearer to imagine? Primary passages: John 1:1–3, 14; Luke 2:40, 52; Matthew 26:38–39; Colossians 1:15–17; Philippians 2:5–8; Hebrews 1:1–3; 2:14–18 --- The incarnation is often explained through pictures. God put on humanity as we put on a gar…
Read article →Abraham, Lot, divine wrath, and a pattern that must be used carefully
…days of Lot Jesus compares the revealing of the Son of man with the days of Noah and Lot (Luke 17:26–30). Ordinary life continued until judgement arrived suddenly. In Lot's case, “the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven” (Luke 17:29). The…
Read article →The gathering of the elect, one taken and one left, and Paul's revealed mystery
…39 Noah and his household were preserved. Those swept away were the objects of judgement. Luke's parallel adds Lot: he departed from Sodom, and fire destroyed those who remained in the condemned city. Christ concludes, "Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is reve…
Read article →Fulfilment in Christ, the inclusion of the Gentiles, and Israel's future mercy
…shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." —Luke 1:32-33 Jesus is the fulfilment. But the terms being fulfilled retain their meaning: David's throne and the house of Jacob. Luke does not explain the promise by replacing Jacob with the…
Read article →Conditional blessing, irrevocable promise, and fulfilment in Christ
…e throne of his father David" and that He would reign "over the house of Jacob for ever" (Luke 1:32-33). Peter proclaimed the risen Christ as the One in whom God's oath to David reaches fulfilment (Acts 2:25-36). Christ's present heavenly authority is real and universal. The ques…
Read article →Divine judgement, the character of God, and the promise of escape
…to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." —Luke 21:36 The verse has interpretive questions. "Escape" may include providential survival, spiritual preservation, flight, or removal. It should not be made to prove pretribulationism by i…
Read article →Two failures, two responses, and the difference between remorse and repentance
…als became increasingly forceful until he began to curse and swear. Then the cock crowed. Luke records the piercing moment: “And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me t…
Read article →Why the distinction matters when we speak about Jesus
…reveals the one Christ in the truth of both His natures. How Could Jesus Grow in Wisdom? Luke writes that “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” (Luke 2:52). If Jesus is God, and God knows all things, how could He increase in wisdom? The answer i…
Read article →Sources behind Qur’anic narratives
…Jesus are embedded within the public world of first-century Judaism and the Roman Empire. Luke tells his reader that he has investigated material delivered by eyewitnesses and intends to write “in order” so that Theophilus may know the certainty of what he has received (Luke 1:1–…
Read article →Not escape from the body, but its redemption
…I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." —Luke 24:39 The One standing before them was the same Jesus who had been crucified. He showed them His wounds. He could be touched, and He ate in their presence (Luke 24:42–43). The resurrect…
Read article →Which Gospel does the Qur'an affirm?
…no longer possess the original Injeel. Jesus received one revelation, but Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are later human accounts. They may retain fragments of His genuine teaching, but the original book was corrupted, obscured or lost. That answer must do more than create a theor…
Read article →Israel's Messiah, Israel's Scriptures, and a gospel for the world
…on the eighth day, presented at the temple, and raised in obedience to the law of Moses (Luke 2:21-24). Paul summarises His historical setting: "God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law." —Galatians 4:4 He attended the synagogue, went up to Jerusalem for the f…
Read article →The glory philosophy could not contain
…myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” — Luke 24:39 The tomb is empty because salvation is not the liberation of Jesus from His humanity. The body that was crucified is raised and glorified. His wounds are not erased from the risen…
Read article →What mercy, holiness and the cross reveal about God
…hall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil" (Luke 6:35). The command is grounded in the character of God. Christ does not merely tell His disciples to adopt an admirable policy. He tells them to resemble their Father. Matthew records t…
Read article →The wicked husbandmen, the fruit-bearing nation, and what Jesus said afterwards
…its house desolate, and foretold the destruction of the temple (Matthew 23:37-38; 24:1-2; Luke 19:41-44). The events of AD 70 gave that warning terrible historical expression. We should therefore avoid two opposite reductions. Matthew 21 is not the permanent rejection of every Is…
Read article →The Gospel, Human Perception, and the Illuminating Work of the Holy Spirit
…stated principle is that greater knowledge and entrustment bring greater responsibility. Luke 12:35–48. We should notice both sides. Knowledge matters. The ignorant servant is still accountable. At the cross, Jesus prays: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” —…
Read article →A forensic reading of Christ's Olivet Discourse
…ming and His people. Similarity is real. Identity must still be demonstrated. Clue eight: Luke and Revelation preserve the same prophetic world Luke's parallel discourse makes the national and geographical setting explicit: "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall…
Read article →A sign of Israel's renewal, not Israel's disappearance
…Joshua 4:1-9 Isaiah 49:1-6 Ezekiel 37:15-28 Matthew 10:1-8; 15:21-28; 19:27-30; 28:16-20 Luke 6:12-16; 22:28-30 Acts 1:1-26; 2:1-41 Romans 11:1-7 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Revelation 21:9-14
Read article →Isaiah, John, and the Divine Identity of Jesus Christ
…eded to convey an implied relationship. For example, “the fig tree, and all the trees” in Luke 21:29 can naturally become “the fig tree and all the other trees” in English, because a fig tree is plainly a tree. The absence of a separate Greek word is not, by itself, proof of mist…
Read article →The incarnation, the limits of created perspective and the love philosophy could not imagine
…into.” — 1 Peter 1:12 At Christ’s birth, the heavenly host filled the night with praise (Luke 2:13–14). Angels ministered to Him after temptation and in agony. They announced His resurrection. Paul says that through the church the manifold wisdom of God is now being made known “…
Read article →Why the final seven is unfinished, future, and centred upon Israel and Jerusalem
…r example, Christ stopped His synagogue reading before "the day of vengeance of our God" (Luke 4:16-21). Zechariah 9:9-10 places the King's humble arrival beside His worldwide reign, though the two have not yet occurred together. The New Testament also reveals conditions appropri…
Read article →The crucifixion in history, Scripture and the Qur'an
…to Jesus' arrest, condemnation, crucifixion, death and burial (Matthew 26-27; Mark 14-15; Luke 22-23; John 18-19). This should be stated carefully. The four accounts are not four entirely independent modern depositions. Matthew and Luke use Mark and other material; the relationsh…
Read article →What 'yea and Amen' in Christ means for Israel and the covenants
…ltimately to Christ, but Gabriel still says that He will reign "over the house of Jacob" (Luke 1:32-33). The new covenant is mediated by Christ, but Jeremiah still names "the house of Israel" and "the house of Judah" (Jeremiah 31:31). Abraham's Seed brings blessing to every natio…
Read article →A response to Hank Hanegraaff on resurrection, Daniel’s final week, and the Tribulation
…rces destroyed Jerusalem and the temple within the first-century horizon of that warning. Luke’s parallel explicitly speaks of Jerusalem surrounded by armies, desolation drawing near and wrath upon that people (Luke 21:20–24). The fall of Jerusalem was a genuine fulfilment of Chr…
Read article →The question reaches beyond prophecy to the faithfulness of God
…The question is often dismissed as the last trace of the disciples' misunderstanding. Yet Luke records no rebuke of its subject. Jesus does not say that there will be no restoration, that Israel now means the Church, or that the kingdom has become purely spiritual. He withholds t…
Read article →What God's faithfulness to Israel means for everyone who trusts His promises
…m 89:19-37 Jeremiah 31:27-40 Ezekiel 36:16-38; 37:15-28 Matthew 19:28; 21:33-46; 23:37-39 Luke 22:28-30 Acts 1:1-8; 3:19-26; 15:13-18 Romans 9-11; 15:8-12 2 Corinthians 1:18-22 Galatians 3:6-29; 6:15-16 Hebrews 6:13-20; 8:6-13 James 1:17 Revelation 20:1-6; 21:1-5
Read article →The divine identity of Jesus across the Gospels
…duced to prevent the action from carrying its apparent force. The same pattern appears in Luke. Jesus tells the sinful woman, "Thy sins are forgiven", prompting those at the table to ask, "Who is this that forgiveth sins also?" (Luke 7:48-49). The question is exactly right. Who i…
Read article →Spiritual ecstasy, altered states, and discerning what is from God
…t explanation from Scripture. The accusation of drunkenness came from mockers. It was not Luke’s theological interpretation of the Spirit’s work. Paul’s teaching about congregational manifestations is equally important: “And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets…
Read article →The Messiah cut off before the Temple fell
…saves us. --- Primary sources and further reading Daniel 9; Isaiah 53; Matthew 16 and 24; Luke 19 and 21; 2 Corinthians 5; Colossians 1, on the Messiah, reconciliation and Jerusalem’s destruction. Qur’an, Surah 3:45, on Jesus being called the Messiah. Qur’an, Surah 4:157, on the…
Read article →Christianity, Islam and the verdict of the evidence
…ong only to John’s Gospel. It runs through Jesus’ words and actions across Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Islam’s Jesus keeps some of Christianity’s titles while being removed from the narrative which gives those titles meaning. He is called Messiah, but His messianic mission is n…
Read article →One Messiah, one gospel, and God's continuing purpose for Israel
…el 36:16-38; 37:15-28 Zechariah 12:10-14; 13:1; 14:1-21 Matthew 19:28; 21:33-46; 23:37-39 Luke 22:28-30 Acts 1:1-8; 3:19-26 Romans 9-11; 15:8-12 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 2 Corinthians 1:18-22; 3:1-18 Galatians 3:6-29; 6:15-16 Ephesians 2:11-22; 3:1-12 Hebrews 6:13-20; 8-10
Read article →Born, begotten and firstborn in the eternal identity and saving work of the Son
…and only Son The adjective monogenēs (μονογενής) occurs nine times in the New Testament. Luke uses it of an only child: the widow of Nain’s only son, Jairus’s only daughter, and a father’s only son (Luke 7:12; 8:42; 9:38). Hebrews uses it of Isaac (Hebrews 11:17). John reserves…
Read article →Four popular claims tested in context
…n Jerusalem until they receive "the promise of the Father" and power from the Holy Ghost (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4–8). At Pentecost, the Spirit comes upon them and Peter explains the event as the exalted Jesus pouring out the promised Holy Ghost (Acts 2:1–4, 16–18, 32–33). John ident…
Read article →Defining the position before testing it
…he new covenant, and the One in whom all God's promises are yea and amen (Galatians 3:16; Luke 1:32-33; Hebrews 9:15; 2 Corinthians 1:20). The Church also shares blessings once associated with Israel's covenants and hope. Gentile believers who were "aliens from the commonwealth o…
Read article →Labour, purpose, and faithfulness in a fallen world
…them to reject violence, false accusation and greed, and to be content with their wages (Luke 3:14). Their repentance was to become visible within the pressures of daily work. Paul gave similar instruction to believers occupying the lowest and most vulnerable position in the Rom…
Read article →How Christians can think politically without surrendering conscience to a package deal
…by God, and John the Baptist is treated as a living child before birth (Psalm 139:13–16; Luke 1:41–44). The moral status of the unborn does not change because abortion has been placed inside a wider programme of equality or social welfare. These examples are not a new party plat…
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