Breaking the Rules, Part Four (One More Time Around the Mountain)

Yes, I know this could be an unfortunate subtitle, because taken literally it immediately invokes images of wandering Israelites, desert wilderness and manna from heaven and that is not at all what we will be exploring here. Nevertheless, I am sticking with it and using it in its metaphorical sense; we need to revisit all … Continue reading →

Breaking the Rules, Part Three (The Special Bread)

This bread is to be set out before the LORD regularly, Sabbath after Sabbath, on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant. It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in a holy place, because it is a most holy part of their regular share of the offerings made to … Continue reading →

Breaking the Rules, Part Two (The Deacon and the Hat)

He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’  (Mark 7:6-7) Recall that Jewish tradition taught that the oral Torah was … Continue reading →

Breaking the Rules, Part One

Breaking the rules? This is not something that most Christians think about with a positive frame of reference. When we think about “breaking the rules” we generally tend toward the topics of sin and rebellion. It may surprise you to know that during the days of Jesus’ ministry He broke many long-established religious rules. And … Continue reading →

The Greatest Command, Part Two

In the previous blog (January 2014, “The Greatest Command, Part One), we established two things concerning Jesus’ answer to the question of which command is the greatest of all the commandments. First, we established that Jesus gives us one answer to this question (not two or three); the command to love God is the single … Continue reading →

The Greatest Command, Part One

A very common incident in the first century would be for an expert in Judaic legal rulings to ask a Rabbi for his opinion regarding some portion or aspect of the Torah. This is what happens to Rabbi Jesus as recorded in the twelfth chapter of Mark…. On this occasion, Jesus was asked about the … Continue reading →

People of Noble Character

Acts chapter 17 records Paul’s visits to Thessalonica, Berea and Athens. In all three instances, Paul teaches in a Jewish Synagogue, and in all three cases the bible says that the Jews (and some Greeks) were persuaded to be…saved? No. Baptized? No. Converted to Christianity? No again. There is some interesting detail about Paul’s teachings … Continue reading →