The miracles of Jesus were only slightly less of an intellectual challenge to citizens of the 1st century than they are to us. Raising a dead girl to life, for example, was no more common in ancient Israel than it is now! And thus it was Jesus’s ability to perform such “signs and wonders” that...
Tag: biblical interpretation
Understanding the Bible 19: The Sermon on the Mount
How to interpret the Sermon on the Mount has been one of the most debated questions in all of church history. The content and tone shift so dramatically – from the comforting assurance that “your Father in heaven gives good things to those who ask him,” to the simple faith of the Lord’s prayer, to...
Understanding the Bible 18: Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots…Oh My!
The Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes and Zealots are central characters in the New Testament, and there is no understanding Jesus without understanding the larger conversation into which he entered. In this episode we examine each of these four major sects of first century, Palestinian Judaism and their answers to the central question of the day: What...