Article archive
09/10/2015 06:00
Pilate had been wanting to find means to let Jesus go because he did not believe Jesus was a threat—he could not find any fault with him. But now in the midst of a conversation, as Pilate is interested in finding out whether there is any divine connection here, Jesus will not talk to him. Somewhat...
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09/03/2015 13:36
The Jews had accused Jesus of calling himself a king (Luke 23:2). Pilate, intent on judging the matter for himself, asked Jesus if he was the king of the Jews. Rather than answering him directly, Jesus asks whether Pilate is asking for himself or because someone else has said so. This sort of...
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08/26/2015 13:24
John’s point is not merely to recount the events of the night. The Synoptics had been around for years by the time John wrote his Gospel. People knew the events. John is interested in making certain points as he writes. Therefore certain events such as Jesus’s trial before Caiaphas and Pilate...
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08/17/2015 07:40
Although Jesus knew that the disciples needed much more instruction (16:12), his time of personal teaching (prior to the cross) was done. Chapter 18 opens with them going out. Whether that means leaving the upper room or going out from the confines of their intimate conversation to meet with the...
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08/11/2015 07:34
As Jesus continues in his prayer, he starts to expand the relationship that he has enjoyed with the Father to include the disciples also. Again, we must hold tightly to the understanding that Jesus is praying from the perspective of the perfect man—not as God of the Trinity. Here he is the only...
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07/07/2015 08:00
We have discussed the point of shared glory between the Father and the Son. The Son glorified God in his movement toward death—he had walked the road of God’s salvation plan by manifesting God’s truth, goodness, and beauty in all his life. The Father glorified the Son in the many ways he confirmed...
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06/29/2015 08:43
The penal substitution theory of the atonement has significant faults that cannot be overlooked. However, what is the alternative? Can we say—and be in line with God’s Word—that the guilt of our sin was actually not placed on Christ at the cross so that Jesus’s death was not caused by God striking...
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06/22/2015 06:52
Chapter 17 is known as Jesus’s high priestly prayer. That is a good title. It matches the appellation of Hebrews 4, and the prayer speaks exactly of Christ’s intercessory work. It does so even as it starts out in speaking of the glory brought to the Son by the Father and to the Father by the...
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06/15/2015 17:02
Chapter 16 closes the conversation. This last topic—about the fact that Jesus’s normal speaking in figurative language would soon change to plain speech—follows from the last point concerning not seeing him and seeing him again from verses 16 through 24. In verse 23 of that section, Jesus had...
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06/09/2015 09:59
The next mini-section we come to in Jesus’s discourse begins in verse 5 of chapter 16. Again Jesus mentions that he is going away, and then he seems to chide the disciples for not asking where he is going. But if we flip back just a page or so in our Bibles, we find at the end of chapter 13 that...
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