Category: Bible Studies

In the Apostle Paul’s last letter, he asks Timothy:

When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. (2 Timothy 4:13)

Paul was no longer under house arrest. This time, he was in a Roman prison, and we can imagine how horrible it must have been. Damp, cold — the words “bring the cloak” are touching, but the last phrase tells us about Paul’s character. A mind like his needed stimulation! The word translated “books” refers to fragile papyrus documents, and the “parchments” were valuable leather scrolls.

It is interesting how our reading materials have changed over time. The earliest documents, like the Ten Commandments, were chiseled in stone. The Babylonians wrote on clay tablets and baked them in the sun. Later came the papyrus documents formed from ribbons of pith taken from the Nile River plant’s stem. The ribbons were laid side-by-side horizontally, and a second layer was added vertically. Finally, the whole sheet was soaked in muddy water and pressed together while it dried. Most of the New Testament was probably written on this fragile material. The next great innovation was parchment – fine leather scrolls and books.

Have you thought about how difficult it would be to use a scroll? They were unrolled with one hand and wound up with the other. It would be challenging to follow a series of scripture readings during a sermon! The book form was a tremendous innovation. Sheets were folded and stitched together, then bound between two covers. Now it was possible to turn the pages and follow along. They were much more convenient to use in studying the Word of God. For two thousand years, the form reigned and filled the great libraries of the world. In our generation, we’ve seen the next big step in the evolution of books: the digital age.

I was slow to adopt an electronic library. I love the feel of a fine book. Leather covers with gilded pages, fine type, and flowing fonts are a work of art, but when Jan and I moved aboard our sailboat, we disposed of most everything. That included most of my library. It was indescribably hard for me to part with the thousands of books that formed my carefully collected and cherished library. However, they would never survive a life at sea. I never thought I would preach again, but God had other plans.

In San Diego, I was called to fill the pulpit in my childhood church. Now I was desperate for a library, but my loving wife, the librarian, introduced me to electronic books. Today I have more books on my cell phone than I ever had on my selves!

The advantages of an electronic library are clear. I can take my study with me anywhere. While I wait in the hospital for a member’s surgery to conclude, I can study, read, and research. It is so easy to search for topics electronically. As I get older, my eyes are getting weaker, but I can easily enlarge the print in electronic books to any size with the flick of my finger. The list of wonders goes on and on.

On the other hand, when the power goes out during a winter storm, like Paul, I may find myself looking for “the books and the parchments.” What do you think? Are you using eBooks now, or are you holding on to hardbacks?

I’m getting older, and I found myself in the doctor’s office for a stress test. That means the nurse attaches a dozen electrodes to different parts of your body using Super Glue that will require a week’s worth of scrubbing in the shower to remove. Then you are asked to step onto a treadmill and walk briskly while they “monitor your vitals” – that’s another way of saying “documenting the heart attack you are about to have.”

At the far end of the treadmill was a motivational poster of some stairs climbing up from the beach. I understand it was a reference from the movie “Something’s Gotta Give.” Jack Nicholson is told he will be healthy enough for sex if he can climb the stairs. I didn’t know that at the time. It just wasn’t very motivating, and I told the nurse, “Stairs! Stairs? Are you kidding me? I’m a diabetic. Stairs won’t motivate me to pass this test! Put a double-bacon cheeseburger up there, and I’ll run to the moon and back!”

She stepped out of the room for a moment and came back in with a color copy of a double-bacon cheeseburger and taped it over the stairs. I passed the test with flying colors.

So, what motivates you to be a disciple? Are you on a quest to meet the Lord? Are you thinking of heaven and your eternal reward? Are you inspired by the amazing love we have in Christ? I often wonder what led those men and women to willingly forfeit their lives rather than deny their Lord. What’s your motivation? Drop me a line!

After a night without sleep, countless beatings, a Roman flogging, and now hanging from nails on a cross, Jesus was nearly dead. What we don’t think of, though, were the little pains: the hurt of the taunts, the sweat in his eyes, the raging thirst. The fifth of the Seven Last Sayings of Jesus is a Greek word: “I thirst” (John 19:28).

By this point, Jesus was approaching the end. The soldiers at the foot of the cross heard and saw it all. Jesus didn’t die like other men. The first thing he said from the cross was, “Father forgive them,” and the second was a promise to the penitent thief, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Even the battle-hardened centurion would have been touched as Jesus entrusts his mother’s care to Jesus’ best friend. The cry of desperation in the language of his childhood, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” would have haunted them. Thus when Jesus said in a dry, hoarse whisper, “I thirst,” one of the soldiers rushes to wet his lips with their own “sour wine.”

Why is this saying – actually only one word in Greek – recorded for us to meditate on? Jesus wasn’t play-acting on the cross. He didn’t just say this to fulfill the prophecy, and he wasn’t asking for pity. It reveals his humanity.

This word was a prayer, but not to God. It was addressed to his executioners. There is a kind of pride that says, “I will never ask you for anything!” But Jesus still had faith in humanity – even as they were taking his life. So what possessed an unnamed soldier to run to the aid of Jesus? Touched by Christ, the soldier shared what he had.

So what is “sour wine”? Were they sadistically giving a dying man vinegar? A quick search of the different English translations is revealing. Moffatt’s version and the Jerusalem Bible read “vinegar,” while Goodspeed, Phillips, and the New English Bible translate the word as “sour wine.” Still, I like the Today’s English Version and the New American Bible’s translation “common wine.”

Baker’s Encyclopedia of the Bible explains: “there were three pressings. The first was extracted by stomping on the grapes. This made the best wine. The second took the must, put it in a bag, and squeezed out the juice. The last took the leavings and boiled them to extract the very last. This was ‘common wine.’” The United Bible Society’s Handbook on the Gospel of John, a help for translators, explains: “The Greek word refers to a diluted, vinegary wine. Since it was cheaper than regular wine, it was a favorite drink of laborers, soldiers, and other persons in moderate circumstances. The translations ‘sour wine,’ ‘bitter wine,’ and ‘vinegar’ suggest that offering this drink to Jesus was an act of cruelty, whereas it had the humanitarian purpose of relieving his thirst.”

Even in his death, Jesus won followers! “And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was the Son of God!’” (Mark 15:35).  

Several years ago, I was involved with a Toastmaster’s Club. It was a wonderful way to meet some fascinating people and hone my speaking skills at the same time. One of the members was a divorce lawyer, and I remember he told me, “Valentine’s Day is the beginning of divorce season.” I was a little shocked and asked him to explain. “No one wants to get divorced over Christmas or start the New Year with a filing. But Valentine’s Day, that just reminds people of what their marriage used to be, and now they are ready to move on.”

I often see articles about “How to Divorce-Proof your marriage.” I don’t believe them. They may contain useful advice, but any marriage can fall apart. It happens to couples that you think it could never happen to. Marriage requires work, and prayer, and a commitment unlike any other. However, a well-informed relationship does make a difference.

Here are some observations that have come from my own experience and over forty years of ministry. First, a surprising observation. “What brought you together can drive you apart.” When a couple comes to me for help, I ask them to fill-out two pages in our first session. On the first page, I ask them to write down all the reasons they married their mate. Then, on the second page, I ask them to write down all the reasons they don’t want to be married anymore. The results are surprising.

What attracted you to your spouse? She was such a great conversationalist!
Why do you want to leave her? She never shuts up!

What attracted you to your spouse? He always had money.
Why do you want to leave him? He is so stingy!

What attracted you to your spouse? She was such a great lover.
Why do you want to leave her? All she thinks about is sex!

And so, the lists go on. Perhaps what we need to do is turn back the hands of time. In that first counseling session, I also ask the couple to bring their wedding album. We go through the pictures together. We laugh and cry and remember the way things were. When young couples come to me to plan their weddings, we talk about their budget. How much are you spending on the venue? How much are you spending on the cake, the dress, the tuxedoes, and hair? I don’t care how much you are planning on spending on the photographer. Whatever it is, double it. Someday those pictures may save your marriage!

It was a long walk home to the house of Simon the Leper. The sun warmed their backs as they passed through the Garden of Gethsemane. Slowly they plodded to the top of the Mount of Olives, drawn on by the promise of rest. The disciples stretched, out of breath, in the cool shade of the gnarled olive trees.

     They looked back at Jerusalem, her walls orange in the afternoon sun. But as imposing as the walls were, they couldn’t conceal the magnificent Temple. Even now, her mighty spires loomed above the walls across the Kidron Valley from them. As the disciples sat panting from their climb’s exertion, the words of Jesus came back hauntingly.

     “Do you see all these things?” he had asked. “Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which shall not be torn down.”

     Jesus too gazed back at the city walls, but as vividly as they saw the Temple, Jesus saw the legions that would camp outside Jerusalem forty years in the future.

     The disciples broke the silence, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”

     First, Jesus warned them, “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many.” The disciples must not allow these false prophets to deceive them! They must carry the gospel to every nation. But remember, Jesus, warns them, “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

     Next, he predicts the destruction of Jerusalem in such precise language that his followers could escape the future blood bath. “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong — let the reader understand — then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that this will not take place in winter because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now — and never to be equaled again. Be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.”

     In September A.D. 66, anti-Roman extremists annihilated the Roman garrison in Jerusalem and gained control of the city. Florus, the procurator, was powerless. The imperial legate of Syria, Cestius Gallus, marched on the town with the twelfth legion. From their camp on Mount Scopus, north of Jerusalem, the Romans swiftly entered the city but failed to capture the fortified Temple within. Realizing they needed reinforcements for so great a task, the Romans attempted a withdrawal, which quickly degenerated into a rout. The first Jewish Revolt had begun. Four years later, after a systematic campaign, the Romans destroyed the city after a long and bloody siege. The Temple was burned, and her stones were thrown down.

     How did the Jewish Christians escape the fate of their countrymen? An early Christian historian, Eusebius, says they took advantage of the first Roman retreat to escape to Pella, a city on the Jordan River’s far side. When they saw the Romans camped on Mount Scopus, they remembered the words of Jesus and used the Roman retreat as their opportunity to flee.

     They were saved from the swords of Rome by listening to the words of Jesus. I wonder if we are wise enough to listen to the warnings of Jesus two thousand years later?

Kansas is a Republican state. This is the home of Dwight Eisenhauer and Bob Dole. Farmers tend to be a conservative lot, and Trump easily carried this state in the last election. People frequently ask me why I don’t preach on political issues — why I don’t denounce the Democrats, Socialists, Communists, and the 4-H. (Just kidding about the 4-H.) D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the famous British preacher put it much better than I in his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount (1959):

The primary task of the Church is to evangelize and to preach the gospel. Look at it like this. If the Christian Church today spends most of her time in denouncing communism, it seems to me that the main result will be that communists will not be likely to listen to the preaching of the gospel. If the Church is always denouncing one particular section of society, she is shutting the evangelistic door upon that section. If we take the New Testament view of these matters, we must believe that the communist has a soul to be saved in exactly the same way as everybody else. It is my business as a preacher of the gospel, and a representative of the Church to evangelize all kinds and conditions and classes of men and women. The moment the Church begins to intervene in these political, social, and economic matters, therefore, she is hampering and hindering herself in her God-appointed task of evangelism. She can no longer say that she ‘knows no man after the flesh’, and thereby she is sinning. Let the individual play his part as a citizen and belong to any political party that he may choose. That is something for the individual to decide. The Church is not concerned as a Church about these things. Our business is to preach the gospel and to bring this message of salvation to all. And, thank God, communists can be converted and can be saved. The Church is to be concerned about sin in all its manifestations, and sin can be as terrible in a capitalist as in a communist; it can be as terrible in a rich man as in a poor man; it can manifest itself in all classes and in all types and in all groups.

I am named after my grandfather. Papa was very involved in Oklahoma politics and once served as the sergeant at arms for the state senate. The whole time I was growing up, Papa encouraged me to become the President of the United States. Just before he died, he told me I had chosen to pursue something greater than that. “I’m so proud you’re a preacher Johnny.”

The burdens of leadership can be almost unbearable. In the second half of Exodus chapter 15, Moses had to deal with the people’s disappointment after discovering the watering hole was bitter. In chapter 16, the people grew nostalgic for Egypt’s rich foods, but they conveniently forgot the pains of their past slavery. Now, in chapter 17, the Israelites have once more forgotten the Lord’s care, and they doubt the Lord’s presence. They believe they are going to die of thirst in the desert:

The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”

Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?”

But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”

Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” (Exodus 17:1 – 4)

It’s not hard to imagine their plight. The unrelenting sun beat down on them. Their children and their animals were desperate for a drink. The problem began when the people forgot what the Lord had done for them. They forgot the waters of Marah, the paradise of Elim, the meat, and the Mana that the Lord provided. Remember: God is best seen in our rearview mirror. Because of his faithfulness in the past, I can march into the future. When we take our eyes off of God, though, we see only obstacles and challenges. In pain, people lash out at their leaders. Moses cared about his people, and because of their pain, Moses was ready to give up in despair. It’s a vicious cycle. How can leadership break that cycle? It’s a question of vision. What were they focused on?

Notice as we conclude this story, God didn’t send rain or rivers to rescue the Israelites. That would have quenched their thirst, but it wouldn’t have answered their question. At the heart of the matter, their problem wasn’t thirst; it was faith. “Is the Lord among us or not?” Listen to the rest of the story:

The LORD answered Moses, “Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?” (Exodus 17:5 – 7).

Today, in your meditation, answer their question for yourself: “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Complain, complain, complain. Does it ever seem like complaining is a natural activity? I wonder if seeing the challenges instead of the opportunities surrounding us is part of being human. Perhaps we outgrow our childhood sense of wonder and sadly replace it with a sense of entitlement.

Let’s rejoin the Israelites as they continue to march across the desert to the Promised Land. In Exodus 16, they leave their lovely camp at Elim and pass through the aptly named Desert of Sin.

In the desert, the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” (Exodus 16:2 – 3).

“Nostalgia” is just another name for selective memory. It’s the game called the “Good Ol’ Days,” and it begins “I remember when.” It doesn’t stop until everyone is unhappy with the way things are. How quickly we forget the hardships of the past! It might seem like in the Good Ol’ Days, everyone had “Leave It to Beaver” lives or “Ozzy and Harriet” families. Selective memory passes over polio, Jim Crow laws, and dentistry without Novocain!

Churches can be the same way. People ask silly nostalgic questions: “Where have all the great preachers gone?” “I remember when we were the fastest-growing church in America!” “In the old days, we never would have had this discussion!”

Nostalgia could have hit the church of the second century hard. I can imagine a conversation after services around 110 a.d. “I remember when preachers could raise the dead!” “This new generation doesn’t know how good they’ve got it. Imagine using books instead of those beautiful scrolls!” “In my day, we met in homes, or even caves, but now we’re wasting money on buildings and baptistries!”

I love history, and I love listening to the stories of the days gone by, but the problem with nostalgia is, it is unbalanced. Things were never as bad or as good as we remember. Christians are called to live balanced lives – lives with both eyes open.

People in pain complain. In Exodus 15, 16, and 17, the Israelites faced three challenges: disappointment, nostalgia, and doubt. Their response was always the same: complain, complain, complain. Can we do any better?
Today let’s look at Exodus chapter 15. The chapter begins well as the Israelites escape the army of Egypt. The song of Moses celebrates. “I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea.” Miriam and all the women of Israel took tambourines and danced and sang too.
It was a joyful occasion, but how quickly we forget! Three days later, dragging through the Desert of Shur, they can’t find any water. Their lips are chapped. Their throats are parched. The dust stirred up by thousands of feet must have caked everything. “What kind of leader is this Moses fellow? I thought he knew this desert! I thought he knew where the watering holes were!” We can hear their complaints, but then they discover water!
The Superstition Mountains outside of Phoenix, like deserts everywhere, have hidden watering holes. They are amazing. Unless you are extremely lucky, you would never find them. Legends abound of pioneers dying of thirst just yards away from these pools. Can you imagine the joy when the Israelites came to Marah and found that pool of cool water hidden in the rocks? What promise! Salvation at last! Can you taste it? Spit it out! The water of promise is bitter. It burns your throat and sours your belly. It’s undrinkable! Disappointment and despair descend on the thirsty travelers. Their hope evaporated.
We are disappointed by our unfulfilled expectations. How often has that happened to you? The sales brochure promises the vacation of a lifetime. The picture on the back of the cereal box promises pleasures untold if you’ll only mail in enough box tops. Whatever it was, it wasn’t as much fun as you dreamed it would be. (Sin, too, has an awful aftertaste!)
The same thing can happen to Christians. We rise from the waters of the new birth, only to discover the same world awaits us. The blessed Bride of Christ, the church on earth, is full of blemishes. Preachers, those holy men of God, all too often are just men with holes in them too. Elders don’t keep their word. Christians aren’t perfect. So how do we deal with disappointment?
We can look for happiness elsewhere. “Next year, we’re vacationing in …,” “You aren’t the man I thought you were.” “I’m done with hypocrites!” (My wise grandmother reminded me, “If you’re letting a hypocrite stand between you and God, he’s closer to God than you are.”)
We can pretend it’s not that bad. “At least the spiders will eat the bedbugs.” (True story. We checked into the motel down the road.)
We can quit dreaming, or we can give up.
We can get angry and take out our frustrations on someone else: “So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” (Exodus 15:24)
Or we can turn to the Lord and wait for his salvation. “The Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet” (Exodus 15:25).
It turned out the watering hole called Marah was just a stop on the way to paradise. “Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water” (Exodus 15:27).