When Jesus and Paul address the issue of greed as a factor that can exclude self-professed believers from the kingdom of God, they are not talking about problems with greedy impulses that all humans struggle with on a daily basis but those who extort and defraud and steal from those living on the economic margins of life and who amass great wealth in the process.
Robert A. J. Gagnon.
The primary source of the appeal of Christianity was Jesus—His incarnation, His life, His crucifixion, and His resurrection.
Kenneth Scott Latourette.
Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.This raises several questions. What day does John mean by Passover? And is he using inclusive or exclusive reckoning?
Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. (Joh 11:55–12:2)
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.Now John also states that the washing of the disciples feet occurred during the time of the Last Supper. John writes,
And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. (Luk 22:7–15).
Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (Joh 13:1–5).I have previously argued that the feast on the Friday is distinct from the Passover meal on the Thursday. John also tells us that the Jews did not wish to defile themselves on Friday morning so that they could eat the Passover.
Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. (Joh 18:28)Again John is referring to a Friday feast which follows the Passover meal that occurred the night before when they ate the lamb. Though this does not necessary tell us what day John is referring to in 12:1.
| Day | Event | Inclusive days prior | Exclusive days prior | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # days | # days | # days | # days | # days | # days | ||
| Thursday-Friday | 6 | ||||||
| Friday-Saturday | Sabbath | 6 | 5 | 6 | |||
| Saturday-Sunday | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||
| Sunday-Monday | 4 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Monday-Tuesday | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Tuesday-Wednesday | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Wednesday-Thursday | Passover daytime | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Thursday-Friday | Passover meal evening | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Friday-Saturday | Sabbath, Unleavened Feast | 1 | 0 | ||||
The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it. (Joh 12:12–14)This is during daylight hours, thus would be the Monday. Though traditionally the church celebrates this as Palm Sunday.
And he was teaching daily in the temple. (Luk 19:47).The synoptic gospels do not lay out a strict chronology.
On one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel (Luk 20:1 NASB).John mentions events over these days without clear chronological references.
Cruelty and wrong are not the greatest forces in the world. There is nothing eternal in them. Only love is eternal.
Elisabeth Elliot, A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael.
There is a deep irony in this attempt to curtail human creativity and resourcefulness. The same people who resolutely oppose economic growth tend to resist any curtailment in the growth of the state's power to intervene and redistribute wealth. Christians, who take the reality of sin seriously, so it seems to me, ought to do the exact opposite: encourage economic development and growth while advocating for a curtailment of state power and the accumlation of national debt. In other words, we should trust free people more and powerful people—or those lusting after power—less.
John Bolt, Economic Shalom
Scripture often warns us—and in the severest terms—against finding our sexual identity apart from Christ and against pursuing sexual practice inconsistent with being in Christ.
Kevin DeYoung
If we have to "choose between unequal prosperity and shared poverty," I'll choose the former.
RJ Moeller
Romans 9:14-23 is foundational to Calvinist theology.
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—
Rather, does not the potter have authority over his clay to make from the same lump, either a vessel that is for honour or that is for dishonour?
The idea that any man or writer should be opaque to those who lived in the same culture, spoke the same language, shared the same habitual imagery and unconscious assumptions, and yet be transparent to those who have none of these advantages, is in my opinion preposterous. There is an a priori improbability in it which almost no argument and no evidence could counterbalance.
C.S. Lewis, "Modern Theology and Biblical Criticism", Christian Reflections.
People have a strange tendency to accept bramble-leadership, a fact which continues to baffle us.
Dale Ralph Davis, Such a Great Salvation.
