Jesus’ strategy is to move people from dwelling on the physical and temporal to understanding their spiritual and eternal need; therefore, He is the” bread of life”.

In 1976, Newsweek magazine proclaimed “the year of the evangelical,” with a cover story on being “born again.” It charted the expanding influence of evangelical churches, which were theologically and politically diverse, and, the article argued, were positioned to have a major impact of the nation’s public morality. After all, evangelicals were strategically important in the election of Jimmy Carter, a self-professed evangelical who talked of being born again. Today, few would portray the evangelical movement with such positive qualities.

As Jesus offers six proofs of His deity, He also feeds the 5,000 and walks on water–further proofs of His deity.

Most of us born in America think about truth and the Bible through the grid of Western rationalism and linear thinking. That reality informs how we interpret and apply the Bible, especially its teachings about Jesus and the ethical dimensions of genuine, biblical Christianity. I have been challenged by a recently released book, entitled Seeing Jesus from the East: A Fresh Look at History’s Most influential Figure by [the late] Ravi Zacharias and Abdu Murray.

As the Pharisees chastise Jesus for healing on the Sabbath, He explains His relationship with the heavenly Father as one of equality, interdependence and mutual honor.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many religious figures in all major world religions to think of end-of-the-world scenarios or what is also known as the apocalypse, from the Greek word, apocalypsis—also the title of the last book of the Bible, Revelation. There are crazy websites that see a worldwide conspiracy in the COVID-19 crisis; speculate that Bill Gates is the antichrist; and maintain that the government is trying to suppress religious freedom using the COVID-19 hoax. Our enemies are all around us, they exclaim, and we must be ready. Such teachings feed irrational fears in the midst of this crisis and are not really based on the authority of Scripture.

Jesus challenges the worldviews of a Samaritan woman and His disciples by changing their focus from the physical and temporal to the spiritual and eternal.

Telling the story of an individual is an important exercise, for a historical narrative often reveals the character of a person and the long-run effects of historical actors and events. We can learn much from narratives. The Bible is filled with historical narratives and, among other things, reveals the purposes and goals of God, who acts in space-time history to accomplish His redemptive plan. So, how culture tells a story—creates a narrative—is quite important.

Jesus, the Son of God, did not come into the world to condemn the world, but to offer it salvation.

The brutal murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis by a city policeman comes in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, massive unemployment and fear stoked by uncertainty and tragedy.  In addition, the nation lacks the calming moral leadership that can foster unity and oneness of purpose.  Instead, there is division and bullying.  The demonstrations that
[continue reading…]