An exploration of the jewish roots of Christianity.
One the problems that Jesus faced during his ministry on earth was people’s misconception of the Kingdom of God. They had certain expectations as to what the Kingdom of God would be like, but they were wrong. This is why Jesus spent much of his time teaching about the Kingdom Read more…
I’m a terrible golfer, but I go golfing anyway. Occasionally I’ll even go golfing alone, which I enjoy. When golfing alone, I’ll often get paired up with other players to speed up the pace of play when the course is crowded. This means that I end up having the Read more…
But we need to remind ourselves to whom Paul’s great letter was sent. Looming up behind the various discussions of why Romans was written is an issue not usually noticed. Paul was coming to Rome with the gospel message of Jesus the Jewish Messiah, the Lord of the world, claiming that, Read more…
Surprisingly, the Kingdom of God isn’t mentioned much these days in the church. It’s surprising because it’s the one thing that Jesus talked about most often. Jesus’s life and ministry were shaped around the concept of the Kingdom of God and its arrival on earth. The first words of Read more…
“The present evil age” is the context in which God’s purpose of salvation is now unfolding. The notion of two ages, borrowed from Jewish apocalyptic thought, juxtaposes a present age of sin and decay and a future age of blessing and peace. For Paul, however, the death and resurrection of Read more…
Psalm 113 is the first psalm in a six-psalm collection called the “Egyptian Hallel” (113–118). It is tradition for Jews to recite (or sing) these six psalms around the time of Passover to commemorate the deliverance from Egyptian slavery. This explains why when Jesus was entering Jerusalem on a donkey Read more…
A friend of mine recently gave me a tallit as a gift. A tallit, for those who may not know, is a Jewish prayer shall. This particular tallit is of the messianic kind (made by and for cultural and ethnic Jews who believe in Jesus as the Messiah), and therefore Read more…
Most people in the western world today know that Jesus died on a cross. The question is, why did he die? Most Christians would respond to that question with a theological answer. That is, they would say that Jesus died in order to take away the sin of the world Read more…