Category: Commentary
-
Sunday to Friday: Save us! To Crucify!
Jesus enters Jerusalem riding on a donkey. It’s a festive scene. Passover week, one of the most significant holidays in the Jewish calendar. Jesus has been preaching throughout the region of Galilee. He has built up quite the following: teaching on the kingdom of heaven and performing miracles. And here he enters the holy city,…
-
Murders, mobs, dictators and the gospel
(originally posted March 7, 2016) In the gospel of Matthew, when Jesus was before the ruling Jewish council, he made a reference to his divine status. To the ruling council, this was taken as blasphemy. Within Rome, they didn’t have the authority to execute Jesus for his action, so they took him to Pontius Pilate, who…
-
A Sinner’s Guide to Repentance
Repentance is sincere remorse or regret for an action. Theologically, repentance is associated with the idea of turning away from sin and turning to God. James 4:7-10 gives what’s almost like a “how to” guide for repentance. It’s not exhaustive, but he says five things that are important to repentance. 1. Repentance involve submission to God Repentance isn’t…
-
Wisdom is as wisdom does
There are two ways to go. The way of the wise and the way of the fool. This is based off of the wisdom tradition of the Old Testament. Which often talks about these two roads. In James 3:13, he asks a rhetorical question, “Who is wise in understanding among you?” Who’s wise? James…
-
Blessed are the persecuted?
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. -Matthew 5:10 In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus begins the sermon with a section called The Beatitudes, 8 statements, most of which seem counterintuitive at first glance. But these are much deeper than pithy statements. They point us…
Josh Benner 