This was the climate that Jesus was ministering in: rigid impossibilities required for Sabbath keeping that ruined the original purpose of the Sabbath. It was to be a day to rest from our work; a day to worship God and fellowship with other believers in ways that we cannot do during the work week; a … Continue reading –>
If, as so much of the Christian world argues, the seventh-day Sabbath was abolished, replaced, superseded, fulfilled (whatever), then why did Jesus spend so much time dealing with how to keep the Sabbath? Read the following verses. What are the issues under contention in these scenes, and what are not the issues? Matt. 12:1-2; Luke 14:1-6; … Continue reading –>
In Matthew 11:20-27, Jesus begins with a powerful rebuke to some of the cities in Galilee who rejected His ministry. What makes the rebuke, and His warning of condemnation, so frightening is that these cities had been given great opportunities to know the truth. He, the Truth (John 14:6), had walked in the flesh among … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Matt. 11:28-30; Matt. 12:1-2; Luke 14:1-6; John 5:9-16; Matt. 12:9-14; Isa. 58:7-13. Memory Text:“‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest’” (Matthew 11:28, NIV). Christ was a living representative of the law. No violation of its holy precepts was found in His … Continue reading –>
Who among us doesn’t know the reality of the great controversy? We know about this war because we feel it inside us on a daily basis. We live in a broken world, a world cursed with anxiety and pain. A world where a serpent isn’t limited to one tree in the middle of a garden … Continue reading –>
All through history, humans have engaged in warfare. Something in human nature causes the people of one group to want to plunder, pillage, and slaughter those of another. In a book about her father, British philosopher Bertrand Russell, Katherine Tait wrote about her father’s concern at the outbreak of World War I regarding the joy … Continue reading –>
As we have already seen, the words of Jesus in Matthew 11:12, however deep, do reveal the fact that the kingdom of God isn’t going to be established without a struggle, or without a fight. That fight, we understand, is the great controversy, and it has been and still is raging. It will until the … Continue reading –>
Whatever the ultimate meaning of Matthew 11:12, as we saw yesterday, it does help to reveal the reality of the great controversy. It depicts a struggle, a battle and—as we know from other Bible texts—this battle is, at the core, the one between Christ and Satan. Who do the following texts tell us about in … Continue reading –>
Bible students through the ages have struggled with Matthew 11:12 because the words that describe the kingdom and the people here can be used in either a positive or negative sense. The Greek verb basmati can mean either “forcefully advancing” or “suffering violence.” And the Greek word biastes can mean “forceful or eager men” or … Continue reading –>
Scripture is the Word of God, and in it the plan of salvation is made clear. Yet, some texts can be difficult to understand. This, though, should not be surprising. After all, in every aspect of natural life we find things hard to understand. How much more so will it be with parts of the … Continue reading –>
