Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “Jesus”
The Lord’s Prayer, Part 3: The Lord’s prayer is brief and seemingly simple at first glance. But as we dig deeper into Jesus’ model prayer for His disciples, we understand God’s intentions more clearly by uncovering the rich context that His listeners understood. Concluding our 3-part series on the Lord’s prayer, we consider the Year of Jubilee, a year of …
The Lord’s Prayer, Part 2: Jesus prayed to the Father, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” What does this Kingdom look like? The Hebrew prophets provide answers in specific, physical details. Part 2 of our 3-part series on the Lord’s prayer directs our attention to Jesus’ focus on the Kingdom of God. …
The Lord’s Prayer, Part 1: Many Christians can recite the Lord’s prayer from Matthew 6 by heart. But Jesus’ model for prayer meant much more to His Jewish listeners than we realize today. Chris begins a 3-week series on the Lord’s prayer by revealing the monumental implications it had specifically for Israel. Jesus came to Earth offering the Kingdom of …
How Did the Average Israelite View Jesus?: We all see Jesus differently! Over the past two weeks we’ve explored how the Romans dismissed His ministry and the Jewish religious leaders of His day considered it a threat. But the common Jewish people were much more interested in our Savior. We hear about “The People of the Land,” the average Israelites …
How Did the Religious Leaders View Jesus?: Even though He came to offer salvation from sin, not everyone loved Jesus. We saw that fact last week through the eyes of the Romans, who were more concerned with their empire than with the Lord of the universe. This week we look at Jesus through the eyes of the Pharisees and Sadducees. …
How Did the Romans View Jesus?: Everyone views Jesus differently. Some think He was a prophet, others think He was a teacher, and still others think He was a common man. Of course, Christians worship Him as our loving Savior, the One we live to please and around whom we build our lives. For the next three weeks we’ll study …
Temple Structure & the Gospel, Part 3 of 3: The major theme of Leviticus is the distinction between holy and common, clean and unclean. God’s Law provided for unholy human beings—the children of Israel—to live in the midst of their holy God. When we get to the book of Ephesians, something amazing happens. The apostle Paul explained that through Jesus’ …
Temple Structure & the Gospel, Part 2 of 3: In Ephesians 2, the apostle Paul laid out a brilliant truth—one best understood when we take note of the Second Jewish Temple’s structure. He explained that Gentiles, who were once far from God and didn’t know Him, now have access to Him through Jesus, the Son of God. But does this …
Temple Structure & the Gospel, Part 1 of 3: Herod’s Temple was an architectural marvel of the ancient world. But it was much more than a grand building. It was the heart of the Jewish people’s worship of the Lord God. This fact was evident in the purposeful design of the Temple, as it separated sections of the structure to …
Who Are “The Least of These?”When Jesus spoke of caring for “the least of these” in Matthew 25, to whom was He referring? Many believe He spoke of the poor and needy. While we certainly should be helping such people, as God commands, the context of Jesus’ words help us determine that He spoke of another group of people. In …
