Category: Bible Studies

Growing old is not for whimps! Aches and pains beset us. Hair falls out (or worse grows where it doesn’t belong). Joints ache only to be replaced. Foot troubles, tooth troubles, cataracts, dark spots, bladder trouble, heartburn, suspicious moles and let’s not talk about cancers, heart trouble, or diabetes. Our bodies are starting to wear out.

The ancient Romans and Greeks acknowledged this in their letters. Latin letters begin with the proclamation “Salve!” (health) followed by inquiries after the recipient’s health, while Greek letters often conclude with rhonnumi (ῥώννυμι), “be in good health, farewell, goodbye.” 

Early Christians closed their letters the same way (Acts 15:29), but then began expanding their conclusions. Ignatius of Antioch wrote a series of letters to various churches as he was led to Rome to be martyred (about 108 A.D.). He closed his epistles with the traditional “be in good health,” but then explained the source of true health (“Good health in God the Father and in Jesus Christ,” IEph 21:2; “Good health in Jesus Christ,” ITr 13:2; “Good health in Christ Jesus our common hope,” IPhld 11:2; “I bid you good health in the power of the Father,” ISm 13:1; “Good health in the Lord,” Ignatius to Polycarp 8:3.) He also stresses how caring for our health gives us the strength that we need to persevere to the end: “Good health to the end, in the patient endurance of Jesus Christ” (Ignatius to the Romans, 10:3).

As children of God, we should take care of the bodies the Lord has given us. After all, Paul says, our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19; 3:17). This runs counter to the feelings of many people – even some Christians. Some feel the “flesh” is evil and should be punished. The Apostle Paul warned the Colossians:

Why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh (Colossians 2:20 – 22).

Rather, we are told to “Glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:20).

Of course, some people can’t be bothered. “Dust to dust,” they say as they sit idly by stuffing themselves with snack food and downing “brown, fizzy water” (or worse). Many were taught their bodies are like spacesuits of the soul. One day we’ll take off the spacesuits and our souls will be free,  but is that true? After all, Jesus was resurrected. He didn’t abandon his body in the grave. It was changed. Paul told the Corinthians, “We shall all be changed.”

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:50 – 53).

I’m looking forward to that new body! This one is beginning to show its age!

If you received a new Bible for Christmas, you might have noticed a change in the new English translations. It might seem like the guardians of political correctness have started working on the Bible. For example, in 2 Corinthians 1:8 the King James Version reads:

“For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble,” but the New Revised Standard Version reads: “We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced.” What is going on?

The Apostle Paul wrote in Greek, and he used the word “adelphoi” (ἀδελφοί). Our English word “Phil-adelphia” combines “philia” (love) with “adelphoi” (brothers) meaning “the city of brotherly love.” 

Our old friend, Brother Curmudgeon asks, “Well, if Paul used the word ‘brothers,’ why do the new English translations add ‘and sisters’?”

The answer is, when adelphoi (the plural form of brother, adelphos) is used, it can mean “brothers and sisters” (So the GW, GNB, NCV, NLT, and the NRSV). “Brothers and sisters” can be awkward so some of the newer English translations work around that by substituting “friends” (CEV, The Message). 

“Yes, but where is the evidence the people in Paul’s day meant ‘brothers and sisters’?”

Without trying to be too technical, archaeologists digging in the sands of Oxyrhynchus, Egypt have discovered thousands of ancient bits of letters and documents from that time. They illustrate how Greek speakers like Paul used words in those days. For example, Leonides wrote a letter to the keepers of the property records asking that they recognize his right to a third of the estate of his mother. There were three siblings – two brothers and a sister – and they are all referred to as the adelphoi – “brothers and sisters.” (Oxyrhynchus Papyri 713, 21f. dated 97 A.D.) There are many more examples, but it does expand our understanding of some biblical passages.

For example, when Jesus warned his followers “You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers [and sisters] and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death” (Luke 21:16). He included “sisters” too! Likewise, it is possible to include the sisters of Jesus in Matthew 12:46: “While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers [and sisters] stood outside, asking to speak to him.” So too, when Jesus moved to Capernaum with his mother and brothers that could have also included his sisters as well (John 2:12, see also John 7:3, 5). His sisters may have also been in the Upper Room with the disciples before Pentecost: “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers [and sisters].”

Don’t worry Brother Curmudgeon. Our new English translations aren’t changing the Scriptures. They are becoming more accurate.

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. 

 The Holy Bible: New International Version. (1984). (Mt 6:25–34). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Jesus was exhausted. It was the end of a very long day of teaching and preaching and he just needed to get away from it all. At evening, he got in a boat and told his disciples, “Let’s go across to the other side of the lake.” Then he fell asleep so soundly that even a hurricane couldn’t wake him. Have you ever wondered how that was possible? (Mark 4:30-34)

Take a minute this morning to make a list of all the things that keep you up at night or the things that wake you up in the wee hours of the morning and prevent you from falling back to sleep. Now spend your second minute giving each of those worries to God. As you pray, draw a line through each worry knowing God will take care of it. Finally, spend your third minute thanking God for carrying those burdens for you and asking for His help to let go.

The Breath of Life
We were made from dust, and we will return to dust. What animates us is “the breath of life.” God breathed life into us. In the very first chapter of the very first book of the Bible, God creates people, and in chapter two the process is personalized: 

“The LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature,” (Genesis 2:7).

Many, many years later, the Apostle Paul told his young protégé, Timothy, “All Scripture is God-breathed,” (2 Timothy 3:16). In other words, the same breath that transformed so much dust into a living, breathing human being, transformed the Bible from just an ancient book into the Scriptures – the very words of God. But if these are the words of God, why are they so hard to understand? 

“It Ain’t Easy”
The Apostle Peter claimed the Bible was inspired (2 Peter 1:21), but he – an inspired apostle – also made this observation about Paul’s writings: “There are some things in them that are hard to understand, … “(2 Peter 3:15, 16).

Why is the Bible so hard to understand? First, it was written a long, long time ago, in a place very far away, in a culture that is very different from our own. Even the names are difficult to pronounce! 

Second, we are often listening to just one side of a conversation. It can be like playing the game show, Jeopardy! “Here is the answer; what is the question?” 

Finally, the Bible is designed for meditation (Psalm 1).

So what is the key?
Unlocking the treasures of the Bible is not impossible, but it does require work. Here are some keys:
Find a good teacher. Do you remember the struggle the Ethiopian had? (Acts 8:26 ff.) What a blessing it was to meet Philipp! 

Use a good translation. Have you read about Ezra the Scribe? (Nehemiah 8:8) They not only read the Scriptures, but there were also people present who gave the sense of the text.

• Use good helps. Make the Bible come alive! Use good helps, including:
• Choose a good introduction.
• Use good maps.
• Refer to a good Bible dictionary or encyclopedia.
• Judiciously use a commentary – after you have done your study!
• Ask good questions.
• Pray, pray, pray!

While the Apostle Paul was on his way to Jerusalem with a gift for the poor saints there, he passed through Troas. The apostles and his friends decided to remain in Troas for a week so they could worship with the saints there. Some of the modern English versions differ in their translations in a most interesting way. For example, the New International Version reads:

“On the first day of the week we came together to break bread” (Acts 20:7).

The KJV, ASV, CEV, ERV, RSV, NASB – even The Message, Geneva and Wycliffe, all agree, but the Good News Bible, for some strange reason, says “On Saturday evening we gathered together for the fellowship meal.” Why would they do that? Because it was.

Have you ever stood outside at midnight and looked up? Nothing remarkable happens. There are no flashing lights or ringing bells to inform you the new day has begun. It seems rather arbitrary, but the Romans started their new day at midnight and so do we. On the other hand, the Jewish people sensibly began the new day at sundown. (They could have just as easily used sunrise.) Sundown is easy to observe. (If they sky was cloudy, they used two threads: one blue and the other white. When you could no longer tell the difference, that counted as sundown.)

And so today, just as it has for thousands of years, the Sabbath begins at sundown on what we call Friday night and extends until sundown Saturday night when Sunday, the first day of the week, begins.

Remember, the first Christians were Jewish. They would have enjoyed the Sabbath meal “Friday” night and attended the synagogue services on the Sabbath (our Saturday). Then, when the sun set, they, like Paul in Troas, gathered for Christian worship and the Lord’s Supper. Thus, even though it was what we would call “Saturday night,” it truly was the first day of the week, the Lord’s Day, so all the English translations are correct.

Over the years, as the distinction between Jews and Christians became stronger, the Roman practice of beginning the new day at Midnight became accepted and the saints met at 10:00 A.M. for Bible School and 11:00 A.M. for worship. (Okay, I made that last part up, but you get the idea.)

 These Leadership Paradoxes were given to me years ago by one of the finest elders I ever knew, Bob Denney. Bob was a captain on Admiral Hewitt’s staff in the second world war, led the rescue of the American POWs near Nagasaki just after the second nuclear bomb was dropped (eventually Bob died from cancer — probably from that exposure). He was also the first television weatherman and a contractor. Truly an amazing man and a superb Christian leader. See if these Paradoxes don’t inspire you too:

• People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.
• If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
• If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
• The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
• Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
• The biggest men with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men with the smallest ideas. Think big anyway.
• People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
• What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
• People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help them anyway.
•  Give the world the best you have, and you’ll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best anyway.

The value in an action lies, not in the response it will receive, but in the quality of the action itself. Doing what is right, because it is right and honors God, is abundantly worthwhile, whether or not it is understood, appreciated, or reciprocated.

Her example shines from the shadows. Although she was not an apostle and we don’t even know her name, Peter’s wife is a true hero of faith. We begin our story in Capernaum, a fishing village on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. The sabbath synagogue service has just concluded. It was an amazing service! In the middle of worship, a demon-possessed man began screaming:

“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him (Mark 1:24 – 26).

Mrs. Peter probably missed seeing and hearing this. Her mother was home ill with a deadly fever. Now imagine what happened next. Peter, along with Jesus, Andrew, James, and John (and perhaps others), leave the assembly and come home with him. Now we know Jesus will take her by the hand and heal her completely, but Peter’s wife didn’t know that when Jesus and the rest arrived. How would you react if your husband brought home company under such circumstances? We are introduced to Mrs. Peter’s greatest virtue, what the Greeks called “makrothumia” – long-suffering.

In the very next chapter, we encounter her virtue again. Nearly the whole village has gathered in and around her house to hear Jesus teach. People are in the doorway and the windows. They have crowded into every corner of her home. Then, in the midst of it all, four young men carry their paralyzed friend onto the top of the house. (Did she hear them up there?) The young men begin digging a hole through the roof! (Can you see the bits of dirt and dust falling into the room and onto Jesus? How does Mrs. Peter react?) They lower their lame friend down in front of Jesus. The Lord not only heals the young man. He also forgives his sin! But, again, put yourself in Peter’s wife’s position. Not only is there a crowd in your home, but someone has dug a hole in her roof! She doesn’t rush to Peter to object. She doesn’t say anything to the young vandals. She was long-suffering!

On top of all that, Mrs. Peter encouraged her husband to leave and follow Jesus for three years. Later, the Apostle Paul asked: “Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas (Peter)?” 1 Corinthians 9:5. Gone was his career as a prosperous fisherman and their life in Galilee. Just as Paul traveled across Asia Minor and Europe spreading the gospel, Peter traveled around the Black Sea starting churches (1 Peter 1:1). What I find fascinating is the presence of the long-suffering Mrs. Peter. According to Paul, Mrs. Peter traveled to distant lands, quietly helping her husband. She was content in the shadows.

Many years later, as we read Peter’s letter, I believe we see Peter describing his wife. He holds her up as an example for all wives:

Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.

Finally, as we leave the pages of Scripture, we find one last tradition concerning Peter and his wife. They have arrived in Rome, but Emperor Nero has gone mad. Nero sadistically persecuted the Christians. Ultimately, Nero will have Paul beheaded, and Peter crucified. But before Peter died, he saw his wife led out the martyrdom. Eusebius records the words of Clement:

“They say that the blessed Peter when he saw his own wife led out to death rejoiced at her calling and at her return home and called out to her in true warning and comfort, addressing her by her name, ‘Remember the Lord.’ Such was the marriage of the blessed and the perfect disposition of those dearest to them.” (Ecclesiastical History, 3.30.2)

Did you notice the phrase “addressing her by name”? Someday, we’ll learn the name of this long-suffering saint!