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Utterly spiritless
In Ephesians chapter 3, Paul writes about the mystery of Christ that has been made known to him (v. 3). He writes about how God has given him grace to speak about the boundless riches of Christ (v. 8). And he writes that, in Christ, we have boldness and confidence to approach God (v. 12). …
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Gendered titles & getters-of-stuff-done
While reading the biblical books of Ephesians and Colossians in Greek, I have been struck by Paul’s repeated references to himself and others as διάκονος (pronounced de-ä’-ko-nos; it’s where we get the English word “deacon”): Paul says that he has become a διάκονος of the good news of God’s promise in Jesus, according to the…
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Grace overflows into us
In a lot of translations, Ephesians 1:7-8 reads something like this: “In [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us” (NIV, emphasis added). When I was translating, I came up with this: “In [Christ] we have redemption through his…
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Predestination is not that interesting
Over the last couple years of studying Greek―three quarters at Fuller and then studying on my own since then―my vocabulary has reached the point where I know every word that is used at least ten times in the New Testament. So, when I translate, I tend to plug along until I come across a word…
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Late to the Vineyard
Is your eye bad because I am good? That’s a very literal translation of the second half of Matthew 20:15, which is often translated or are you envious because I am generous? (e.g. NIV, NRSV). I’m thinking about this story, which Jesus tells in Matthew 20:1-16, about several different sets of workers who end up…
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John the Baptist’s Legacy
I don’t think I realized until last summer―when I was preparing a sermon on John the Baptist for a preaching class―how many things Jesus says that are actually direct quotes from John the Baptist, at least as recorded by the gospel writer Matthew. First I noticed that right as Jesus begins his public ministry, in…
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Elizabeth’s Pregnancy
This is not a pregnancy announcement :D. It’s not really a full blog post either. I was thinking about writing something about Elizabeth’s pregnancy with John the Baptist. After all, it’s almost Christmas, when we celebrate the birth of Jesus―and Elizabeth’s miraculous pregnancy and Mary’s were closely connected. I love the story Luke tells about…
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Speaking Honestly
For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” Though Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded him as a prophet. But when…
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Troubled (White) Consciences
At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” (Matthew 14:1-2) Guilty conscience, much? King Herod hears that there’s this guy named Jesus who is going…
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When You Can’t Win
“But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son…