Category: Bible Study

A BOMB

“Relax! Eat heartily, drink well. Enjoy yourself.” –Luke 12:19 The late Fr. Rick Thomas said that the verse quoted above, Luke 12:19, is the most obeyed verse in the Bible. However, God’s reaction to those who live out this verse is: “You fool! This very night your life shall be required of you. To whom will all this piled-up wealth of yours go?” (Lk 12:20) The Lord does not consider the “good life” of relaxation and enjoyment to be that good. This comes as a shock to us who have been taught to base our lives on, and save our...

THE STANDARD FOR SEXUAL PURITY

“Recall that Herod had had John arrested, put in chains, and imprisoned on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. That was because John had told him, ‘It is not right for you to live with her.’ ” –Matthew 14:3-4 Jesus commands us to be pure as He is pure (1 Jn 3:3). This means that our standards for purity are not those of the world; they are Jesus’ standards. Jesus, of course, condemns adultery (Mt 14:4), fornication (Rv 21:8), sterilization (see Gn 1:28), contraception, homosexual acts (Rm 1:27), masturbation (see Gn 38:9), pornography, and all other sexual...

THE HOME FRONT

“Jesus said to them, ‘No prophet is without honor except in his native place, indeed in his own house.’ ” –Matthew 13:57 We as Christians expect Herod (Mt 14:1ff), Hitler, and Planned Parenthood to be our enemies. We may be surprised when our own religious leaders attack and reject us (see Mt 12:1ff). And we are usually shocked when our hometown folk, even our own family, reject and persecute us (see Mt 13:57). We understand the lament of the psalmist: “If an enemy had reviled me, I could have borne it; if he who hates me had vaunted himself against...

YOUR NET WORTH

“The reign of God is also like a dragnet thrown into the lake, which collected all sorts of things.” –Matthew 13:47 What is your favorite parable? Many people especially like the first of the kingdom-parables, the parable of the sower and the seed, which is better named the parable of the types of ground. The parables of the mustard seed and the precious pearl are always favorites. Yet how many claim that the parable of the dragnet is their favorite? Nonetheless, the parable of the dragnet is the grand finale of the kingdom-parables in Matthew’s Gospel. It is the last...

HOW TO BURN-OUT

“Woe to me, mother, that you gave me birth! A man of strife and contention to all the land! I neither borrow nor lend, yet all curse me.” –Jeremiah 15:10 Jeremiah wished he had never been born. He sat alone while others were partying (Jer 15:17). His pain was “continuous” and his “wound incurable” (Jer 15:18). According to the terminology of “pop-psychology,” Jeremiah was experiencing “burn-out” in his prophetic ministry. In contrast to “pop-psychology,” the Lord in the Scriptures means something very different by the term “burn-out.” “Burn-out” is a good thing. In fact, it is the meaning of life,...