Matthew 21:1-28:20 - Concordia Commentary


Book Description

The Concordia Commentary series enables pastors, professors, and teachers to proclaim the Gospel with greater insight, clarity, and faithfulness to the divine intent of the biblical text. The series covers all of the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments.




The Sword and the Mask


Book Description

Is spiritual warfare real? Is it just a metaphor for social justice? Do territorial spirits have a stranglehold on the planet? What does the Christian do with the rising fascination with the supernatural in Western culture? Does any of this matter for daily life? With meticulous care, Jon Furgeson dives into the sea of perspectives and voices in the church and Western culture, bringing the reader on a journey to gain perspective. After clearing the clutter and the confusion, he presents a bold new, yet faithful, way to understand spiritual warfare, to see how it affects every person to the foundations of who they are and how the Spirit of God in Christ acts in the midst of the fallen powers to take broken sinners and turn them into antifragile saints.




The Resurrection of Jesus


Book Description

The earliest traditions around the narrative of Jesus' resurrection are considered in this landmark work by Dale C. Allison, Jr, drawing together the fruits of his decades of research into this issue at the very core of Christian identity. Allison returns to the ancient sources and earliest traditions, charting them alongside the development of faith in the resurrection in the early church and throughout Christian history. Beginning with historical-critical methodology that examines the empty tomb narratives and early confessions, Allison moves on to consider the resurrection in parallel with other traditions and stories, including Tibetan accounts of saintly figures being assumed into the light, in the chapter “Rainbow Body”. Finally, Allison considers what might be said by way of results or conclusions on the topic of resurrection, offering perspectives from both apologetic and sceptical viewpoints. In his final section of “modest results” he considers scholarly approaches to the resurrection in light of human experience, adding fresh nuance to a debate that has often been characterised in overly simplistic terms of “it happened” or “it didn't”.




Jesus Enters Jerusalem


Book Description

This book retells the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem on what has become Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-38, and John 12:12-19). The Arch? Book series tells popular Bible stories through fun-to-read rhymes and bright illustrations. This well-loved series captures the attention of children, telling scripturally sound stories that are enjoyable and easy to remember.




Matthew


Book Description

This book is a verse-by-verse analysis of the New Testament Gospel of Matthew. It provides a comprehensive introduction to the Gospel, which describes the world of Jesus and his first followers. This commentary explores the historical, social and religious contexts of Matthew and examines the customs, beliefs and ideas that inform the text. Unfamiliar to many readers of the New Testament, this background will help readers fully understand the text of Matthew, which focuses on what Jesus taught and why the religious authorities in Jerusalem rejected his message and gave him up to the Roman governor for execution. This book will be an important tool for the clergy, scholars and other interested readers of Matthew.




Oral Transmission and the Dream Narratives of Matthew 1–2


Book Description

The first Gospel has traditionally been considered a very Jewish work. Recent scholarship has suggested some Hellenistic influence. The issue is explored in this work with attention focused on the dream narratives of the first two chapters. An investigation is carried out using a new methodology. The memory techniques used in an oral or semi-literate society are explored. A search is made for such techniques in Matthew and these are then compared with similar devices in a wide range of literature, Old Testament, contemporary Jewish, Greek and Roman. The intention is that literary practice should help to clarify the cultural setting in which Matthew functions. This is a work which will interest New Testament scholars with a focus on Gospel studies and oral transmission. It may also appeal to some classical scholars or those with a specialized interest in Josephus.




Mark 1:1-8:26


Book Description

This theological exposition of Scripture enables pastors and teachers of the Word to proclaim the Gospel with greater insight and clarity. Each commentary affirms the inspiration and authority of Scripture and explains the distinctive themes and the theological message of the biblical text.




As It Was in the Beginning


Book Description

Paul's comments regarding the new creation in 2 Cor 5:17 and Gal 6:15 have tended to be understood somewhat myopically. Some argue the phrase "new creation" solely refers to the inward transformation believers have experienced through faith in Jesus Christ. Others argue this phrase should be understood cosmologically and linked with Isaiah's "new heavens and new earth." Still others advocate an ecclesiological interpretation of this phrase that views Paul referring to the new community formed around Jesus Christ. In As It Was in the Beginning, Mark Owens argues that the concept of "new creation" should be understood (like the gospel) within the realm of Paul's anthropology, cosmology, and ecclesiology. At the same time, he also argues that Paul's understanding of new creation belongs within an Urzeit-Endzeit typological framework, especially within 2 Cor 5-6 and Eph 1-2. This reading of new creation attempts to give due weight to the use of Isaianic traditions in 2 Cor 5:17 and Eph 2:13, 17. Owens demonstrates that the vision of new creation in 2 Corinthians and Galatians is starkly similar to that of Ephesians.




Perspectives on Israel and the Church


Book Description

The relationship between Israel and the church is one of the most debated issues in the history of theology. Some hold the view that there is almost seamless continuity between Israel and the church, while others believe there is very little continuity. Additional perspectives lie between these two. This debate has contributed to the formation of denominations and produced a variety of political views about the state of Israel. To advance the conversation, Perspectives on Israel and the Church brings together respected theologians representing four positions: Traditional covenantal view by Robert L. Reymond Traditional dispensational view by Robert L. Thomas Progressive dispensational view by Robert L. Saucy Progressive covenantal view by Chad Brand and Tom Pratt Jr.




NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY


Book Description

Now the beloved Apostle states clearly that if we love God, we will obey His commands. And those commands are not difficult for us to obey. After all, He came to be the Savior of the world. So, three things show us clearly that Jesus came from God. Those things are the Holy Spirit, the water of Jesus’ baptism, and the blood of His death on the cross. Therefore, everyone who believes in Jesus, the Son of God, will know that what God says is true. But anyone who does not believe in God is saying that God tells lies. They just do not believe the message that God told us clearly about His Son. You don’t want to be one of those people. Truly, we can trust God to help us when we turn to Him. We know that He will hear us. When we ask for anything that He wants us to have, He listens to us. This is especially true when we see another Christian doing something bad, this is what we should do. If it is a sin that does not cause death, pray that God will help him. Then God will help that person to live forever with Him. We should settle it in our minds that nobody who has become a child of God continues to do wrong things. Instead, the Son of God keeps them safe so that Satan cannot do anything to keep them from going to heaven. So I beg you, says John, do not put anything in this world or of this world before God.