Kingdom.2

Familiar old words to many. Note - Jesus wanted his friends to request that God's kingdom come.  For what were they asking? What had Jesus/the Gospels to say on the kingdom and its coming?

Marriage v.2

Jesus said a bit on marriage and adultery and divorce. We read Gospel exchanges, when Jesus was being challenged by religious critics about his word. I would say they were attempting to show him up. I do not find Jesus setting out a systematic prescription on human sexuality, or addressing contemporary issues for 2017. That is not surprising

Worship (edn 2)

 

 

 

Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” (Matthew 4:10, NRSV)

Religion? (Edited)[updated]

🔕 ↓↓↓ 👎 🕀
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released the analysed data from the 2016 census. The results portray a decline in the "religion" category. The ABC has produced a neat graphical representation of some overall data. (More on the data story below). "Religion" is a Bible word (rare), a word with limited and specific use in the text, nowhere near as prominent in the Bible as it is in Australian culture or publications.

Copied from ABC website graphic: Each dot for 1% of population
www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-27/census-australia-as-100-people/8634318

Raised/Rose

By the time of Jesus, even if disputed, there was an expectation of resurrection in his community. One example comes from the account of Lazarus, where his mourning sister spoke with Jesus:

Risen - ? - !

Ancient Jerusalem tomb being modelled by excavators - roof collapsed

 

In John’s account following the execution of Jesus on the Roman cross we read:
Early on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb. It was still dark. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the entrance. So she ran to Simon Peter and another disciple, the one Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb! We don’t know where they have put him!”
Mary (and others - “we”) saw an emptied tomb. (There was more to the story of the women. For example, John goes on to recount that this Mary was the first to speak with the risen Jesus.)

Dead

Jesus “Was crucified, dead, and buried..” - old words, long used. An even older statement is found in Paul’s writings:
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, NRSV).

The purpose of Jesus' coming was indicated from the outset. (See, for example, posts "Saviour"; "Lamb of God"). Jesus himself made it very plain well beforehand that his death was no tragic defeat or failure of strategy:
The reason my Father loves me is that I give up my life. But I will take it back again. No one takes it from me. I give it up myself. I have the authority to give it up. And I have the authority to take it back again. I received this command from my Father.”
The Jews who heard these words could not agree with one another. Many of them said, “He is controlled by a demon. He has gone crazy! Why should we listen to him?” (John 10: 17-20, NIRV) Too plain! What offended them so? Must have been that claim Jesus' made.