Category Archives: Sermons on the Mounts

RESURRECTION

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This post is about the resurrection of Jesus, it is an extension of Saturday of Holy Week- A Day of Rest and Born Again or Born from Above.

With His earthly life and “forty months” of ministry about to end, can you imagine all of the thoughts that swirled around Him? Jesus’ metamorphoo and the time spent with the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah) signals His ride into Jerusalem, so He can pay the Bride’s price for His Church. But the time between “Who is it you want?” (John 18:4) and “Woman, why are you crying?” (John 20:15 NIV) changed so much. Types and shadows were about to become bold clear light. The Prophet’s words were being fulfilled and rejoiced over in the Heavenlies. Our redemption from the sin that claimed us was gladly being paid. The Way back to the Father and His Garden was opened, if we choose that path.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday could be Work, Rest, and Begin a New; okay, that activity could go on for a while:)

Resurrection or rise, arise, risen, and several other ideas are expressed with two Greek root words (for the most part). Anastasis G386 and egeiro G1453 are those root words, yes, they can have prefixes and other tenses.

ἀνάστασις | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com

ἐγείρω | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com

ἔγερσις | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com

G386 – anastasis – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (kjv) (blueletterbible.org)

G1454 – egersis – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (kjv) (blueletterbible.org)

Old Testament

Hosea 6:2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. (KJV) In Hebrew, the third day is Tuesday or Yom HaShelishi.

Yom ha-sh’lishi: The THIRD DAY – Hebrew Word Lessons

Examples of being raised from the dead.

  • 1 Kings 17:17-24 is where Elijah raised the widow’s son.
  • 2 Kings 4:29-37 is the telling of Elisha raising the Shunammite’s son.
  • 2 Kings 13:21 Elisha is dead and another dead man is thrown into his grave and touches his bones and was revived and stood up (he was resurrected). This event brings to mind the verse in Jude, where Satan is trying to take Moses’ body. Why did he want it? I am pretty sure it was not for a trophy. We have to know he was up to no good. A popular idea is that Satan wanted to make Israel stumble and sin by going into idol worship over the corpse. HOW ABOUT he took it because he feared it would act like Elisha’s bones and cause people to fear God? HOW ABOUT #2 Satan did not want it to be available for the transfiguration. Moses was there and with a “born from above body”.
  • In Hebrews 11:17,19 the faith of Abraham is relived when he sacrificed Issac. He knew God could/would raise him from the dead.
  • Martha knew Lazarus would rise in the resurrection on the last day, John 11:24. I do believe this was a Hebrew idea that Matthew writes about.
  • In the Sermons on the Two Mounts the Sadducees are baiting Jesus on a woman who had seven husbands. This must a been a point of discussion in their Torah studies. (Matthew 22:28) Jesus instructed them about physical state of being in Heaven.
  • John 5:29 may also be an Old idea with an upgrade. Good deeds people have a resurrection of life and bad deeds people have a resurrection of judgement.

New Testament

This is a spot check through the New Testament, there is a lot, but my focus will be Matthew, John, and 1 Corinthians.

Matthew’s contribution starts in Chapter 22 and goes to 27. There is an interesting shift in Matthew’s terms. Before Jesus’ physical resurrection (Chapter 22) he used anastasis G386 in Chapter 27 he used egersis G1454. I wonder if it is an Old-to-New shift in thinking. This is the only time G1454 is used in the Bible. Anastasis is used many more times in the New Testament.

Jesus knew what was to happen to Him in that Passover, He would be sacrificed like the lamb in Exodus. The thing that caught my attention for this post was His physical body. He had also been teaching about that as we will see in John. First, we should take a look at the revelation that Paul received on the topic.

1 Corinthians 15 is Paul’s class on the resurrection to the Church. Verse 35 starts his discussion on the body. Verses 42 to 46 describe what happened to Jesus, His natural body was put into the earth but a spiritual body came out (44). I termed this His born from above or born-again example. Yes, at the last trumpet, we who are living will get this new body and it will be quick (52).  

John’s purpose in writing his Gospel was to show Jesus as the Son of God. He highlighted the miracles Jesus did, for some reason only seven have got a lot of press. He did more in John’s Gospel and taught about some miraculous things that would occur. Here are some about His resurrection.

  • John 3:6 The Spirit gives birth to spirit.
  • 11:25 He tells Martha He is the resurrection and the life.
  • 12:24 Jesus gives a multi-level explanation of a seed producing a harvest. Unless He died, His harvest would not have happened.
  • 16:16 He tells the Disciples that He will die but that they would see Him again (palin, G3825).

These are posts I have done on the work of Jesus and His resurrection.

Going to Pay the Bride’s Price-Palm Sunday

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Palm Sunday has been labeled many things, but paying the bride’s price may be new to you. I have connected this ride with David’s return after running from Absolom, so seeing this as a king riding into his domain is easy to grasp. Zachariah 9: 9-13 is just one of the verses that foretell this ride. I would like to add this as another thing from Hebrew tradition that Jesus was fulfilling. Hebrew wedding traditions are sprinkled throughout the Bible but never listed, see The Ten Virgins post.

The Father picks the bride for His Son and the Bride’s Price is agreed upon. The Groom then goes to the home of His future wife and pays the price. This looked more like a parade than a busy deal and it was a very festive occasion. The Groom then leaves and returns to His Father and waits. The Groom’s Father decides when His Son returns and receives His Bride so the marriage feast may begin. (Does any of this sound familiar?)

While the Son/Groom is waiting to return for His wife He is busy. Future accommodations must be made ready. There are presents to be sent to the future Bride (Pentecost) and she must make herself beautiful and always be ready for the Groom’s return. Cleaning the house was important, like removing the yeast during Passover, Jesus cleaned the Temple and put an end to the unproductive fig tree.

Gold and jewels are mentioned as part of the adornment, sounds like Heaven to me. No one but the Father of the Groom knows when He is going to return to claim His wife. Before the return, a wedding feast must be prepared, and guests have to be invited.

To lend some stories and parables to back my thought up, I will use the Book of Matthew. Chapter 19 has Jesus leaving Galilee and going to the east bank of the Jordan River. There He is questioned about marriage and divorce. This was laying the groundwork for the disciples. Tuesday of Holy Week finds Jesus, first on the Temple Mount being challenged again about marriage and divorce by the leaders of Jerusalem. Chapter 22 is a parable about a wedding feast. As He is leaving to go to the second mount, the Mount of Olives, He prophesies about the Temple and its destruction. While on the Mount of Olives, He gives a second parable about marriage and being ready for the Groom’s return. Tuesday was a busy day for Jesus.

The price Jesus paid for His Bride was His righteous, sinless life and His shed blood. Only those two things would allow Jesus to walk into Hell on Saturday and claim the keys to unlock us from the legal hold of Satan over our lives. The “Second Adam” carried His blood to the heavenly Mercy Seat and sprinkled it to fulfill the demands of the Frist Covenant.

May the grace of Jesus, the love of the Father, and the fellowship of the Spirit be with you as you go into the fields and make disciples and bring glory to God. So, this Palm Sunday, think of the price Jesus paid to include you as the Bride for His marriage feast.

The Bride of the Lamb

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I hitched the Bride of the Lamb to Daughter Zion and Eve in my last post, and I noticed something about the parables that Jesus told about weddings. This is unusual for me to do; I am going to list the references. The parables are the same in Mark, Luke, and Matthew, so I will list just Matthew.

  • Matthew 22
  • Matthew 25
  • John 3:29
  • 2 Corinthians 11:2 
  • Revelations 19:6-9
  • Revelations 21:2 and 9
  • Revelations 22:17

In Matthew, the parables are part of what I call the Sermons on Two Mounts. Matthew 22 is on the Temple Mount and is in response to the Pharisees and Sadducees challenging Jesus’ authority. They knew these parables were about them and they were trying to arrest Him. This wedding banquet parable talks about burning the city. That happened with the Babylonians and would happen again with the Romans. (It is a legend that those two destructions happened on the same day.) 22:11-14 is a passage that intrigues me. The leaders challenged Jesus again with a question about marriage, they did not like His answer.

Matthew 25 is on the Mount of Olives and is told to just His disciples. I believe this one has more to do with the Church/Bride that is about to be born on Pentecost. This parable also has a group of people who were not ready for the coming of the bridegroom.

These two parables come after Palm Sunday. This ride into the city mirrors David’s ride into Jerusalem after the death of Absolom. In the big picture of Jesus’ mission, this was when He came to pay the brides-price for us (His death on the cross). The actions of the King/Father and those of the bridegroom are what are highlighted. Yes, the Virgins had to be ready for the coming of the groom. This reflects the wedding practices of the Hebrews at that time. It should also speak to us now. The father and the bridegroom controlled the wedding, and the bride had to make herself ready. John 3:29 is John the Baptist speaking to another aspect of the bride and groom relationship and how his “Elijah relationship” worked with Jesus.

Okay. This study has surprised me with the strange fact the Bride of Christ and the Bride of the Lamb are not in any major translation (well at least I could not find them). It is a given that we belong to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2) and He is the bridegroom, and the Church will be His bride, Revelations 19:6-9 makes that connection clear. The other references in Revelations bring us back to a Daughter Zion picture with the New Jerusalem being cast as the bride and being shown off as such. The lavish gates of heaven and the gemstone foundations speak very much to a Hebrew bride being dressed in her jewels and riches. Please do not forget the righteous deeds we are to put on so we can be ready to meet Him.

The fact that the angels use “the Lamb” instead of Christ or Messiah has my attention. It seems that I do not think enough about Jesus being the Lamb.  

Why would the parables in the Gospels focus more on the bridegroom and his actions than on the bride?

Bible 911 Luke

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This edition of Bible 911 is from Luke and is found in the story of the feeding of the five thousand. Why would Jesus feed 5,000 people and then feed 4,000 more soon after that? How does this miracle fit into the Kingdom timeline of Jesus heading to Passover? What does each Gospel add to the narrative to form a “big picture”? Whom did Jesus want to perform this miracle?

A Little Background

Luke was a Greek doctor that was known as a traveling companion of Paul. He wrote the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts for a person known as Theophilus. Since “most excellent Theophilus” means “strongest God friend” I have to wonder if that was a play on words or some hidden meaning. In Luke 1:1-3 he makes it clear that he has done a lot of research and feels he should write an account of what he knows. It seems that Luke follows the basic timeline in Matthew and Mark but puts events and stories together differently to achieve a smooth tale for Theophilus.

Luke is the only writer to include the narrative about the 72 disciples who were sent out. I think because of this, a tradition was started that he was part of those 72 disciples. We do not know this as a fact.    

Feeding the 5,000

Luke 9: 11 And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing. (KJV) Luke’s telling of this miracle starts in verse 10 and runs through verse 17. The story of feeding the 5, 000 is one of a few events that make it into all four Gospels. The stories are basically the same. They are found in Matthew 14, John 6, and Mark 6.

John adds about the little boy’s lunch (In my tradition, that is John Mark, his nephew.) People have picked Feeding to be one of the seven miracles that show Jesus as Lord. Really, John has more miracles than just seven, but this sign was given for a reason. I think it mirrors the feeding of Israel in the wilderness, something tradition said the Messiah had to do to prove Himself. It is possible that Jesus added the feeding of the 4,000 after He refused to give the Pharisees a sign, just because He was Jesus.

I wish to highlight that this period was part of Jesus’s final push before He went to Jerusalem to die. Luke 9:11 says that He welcomed the people, taught them about the Kingdom, and healed those who needed it. The pattern of teaching about the kingdom of God/Heaven and healing the sick is well established in the Gospels and Acts. It makes you wonder what happened.

This list is compiled from all four Gospels. It may be missing parts from your favorite telling, just include them for your study. In my long-running study of the Kingdom, I noticed that in Matthew, mentions of John the Baptist and blocks/levels of specific teaching on the Kingdom go hand-in-hand. Here are twelve events that are associated with the feeding of the 5,000 and His preparation for Jerusalem.     

  1.  The Twelve are sent out and John the Baptist is killed.
  2. Jesus is seeking quiet time and feeds 5,000+ people.
  3. Jesus walks on water.
  4. John 6:15 The Bread of Life.
  5. Questioned about clean and unclean practices, and His authority.
  6. The group goes to Tyre and the Decapolis for specific healings.
  7. 4,000+ are fed.
  8. Matthew 16:1 is a demand for a sign.
  9. Yeast of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herod.
  10. Peter’s confession and Jesus predicts His death.
  11. The Transfiguration for the inner circle, while talking to Moses and Elijah.
  12. 72 are sent out to prepare the way to go to Jerusalem.  

As Master Teacher, Jesus provided hands-on learning opportunities and evaluation experiences for His students. The Twelve being sent out filled both of these learning events. In Luke 9:13 it is clear that Jesus wanted them to feed the crowd, that is a master-level evaluation. The students did not pass that test. So, Jesus began a reteach by feeding the 5,000 and walking on water. (A miracle to rival opening the Red Sea.)

Jesus was preparing the Disciples for the “ride into Jerusalem” and Pentecost. (Remember, Judas Iscariot, was present for these events.) Jesus still had His time on the East Bank and then the trek to the Mount of Olives and His Sermons on the Two Mounts.

Observations, Questions, and Comments

  • What did Jesus do when the disciples were out on their missionary trips?  Search and see if you can find any clues.
  • Jesus did reach out to Gentiles during His trips to Tyre and the Decapolis. These stops foreshadowed the work the Disciples were charged with.
  • 5,000+ people eating without washing their hands, which must have aggravated the Pharisees.  
  • Jesus told the disciples many times that He was to die. Not sure they listened well.

These are two sites from a web search about events in all four Gospels. I am adding these for reference.

10 Events Seen in All 4 Gospels (whatchristianswanttoknow.com)

The Bible in a Year: Seven stories that all the same in all 4 Gospels (sylviabibleinayear.blogspot.com)

Fighting Words

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This post about fighting words is a spinning-off of the post War and Rumors. This is not a complete study of fighting words. These Greek words have different English words they are translated into like strife, quarrel, boxing, and others. I used the NIV, Mounce Reverse-Interlinear, Strong’s Concordance, and the KJV to do this study.

Logomachia-G3055-1 Timothy 6:3-5. Fighting about words. It is used only once in the Bible.

Agōnizomai-G75-John 18:36 and 1Timothy 6:12 (the first word). This refers to a person fighting in public.

Agōn-G73-1Timothy 6:12 (Second word), 2 Timothy 4:7. This refers to where the fight is occurring, like a stadium.

Machomai-G3164-James 4:2. To fight, quarrel, contend or dispute. It is used in Acts 7:26 and other verses.

Polemeō-G4170-James 4:2 and Revelation 2:16. To quarrel, fight, battle, or make war.

Pykteuō-G4438-1 Corinthians 9:26. To box, fight, or beat with your fist. The object of this is beating (derō) the air.

Strateia-G4752-2 Corinthians 10:4. Military service or campaign. This word is also in 1 Timothy 1:18. In most translations, it has two “war or fight” words, but in the Mounce Interlinear, it only has one. It could be read-look at the prophecies about you and have a good campaign. I do not envy translators.

Theomachos-G2314-Acts 5:39. Fighting or opposing God. Theomachos is used only once in the Bible.

James 4:1 also has words that describe fighting/quarreling and disputes. It is polemos-G4171. Again, different translations will give you different words. This word is also used for battle or war.

Linguistics (study of words) is not a simple academic field. Combine that with dogma and you have a difficult task, to say the least. Latin, Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew may still be in use in one form or another, but I feel we do not understand how the original people used these words and phrases. My case-in-point is all of the musical terms and not-understood lines in the Hebrew text. If you really want to feel bad, wade into the tenses and break down of the ancient Greek text. Yes, these may be necessary but they are not for everyone.

I believe there is a good understanding and many faithful renderings of Scripture. It is distressing to see a modern Logomachia over Scripture. My prayer is that we do not extend this into a Theomachos over His plan and purpose for His Church. (They may have been used once in the New Testament but letters today would repeat them many times.)

As I pondered all of this, a strange comparison came into view. The original language that the New Testament was written in was Greek, not Latin. But it did not take long to convert Scripture and most religious writings into Latin. Greek was more for the common people and Latin was for knowledgeable people. Latin was favored by the learned- science, theology, and other subjects taught in universities. For what it is worth, the greatest thing the Reformers did was to translate the Bible out of a dying language to one that the people could understand.

The comparison and contrast I saw were the two trees in the Garden-one was for Knowledge and the other was for Life. Jesus’ teachings on the Kingdom, with miracles confirming His words, were new treasures given to bring life to hurting people. This is why the Pharisees and Sadducees opposed Him, Jesus’ teachings clarified and used Scripture in a way that went against their knowledge. (Of course, claiming to be the Son of Man also got under their knowledge-skin and dogma.)

The modern fighting over words is now with liberal, woke, post-modernist who are changing the God-given uses of words into something different, something anti-God.