When Jesus proclaims that “the kingdom of God has come near” (Mark 1:15), He draws upon a powerful idea that pervades the Hebrew Scriptures and history. There was an expectation in the Hebrew Scriptures that God’s kingdom would catastrophically break into the world. The Scriptures described a figure—the Messiah or Son of Man—who would inaugurate …
Bibliography for “The Beginning of the End”
When I conclude a sermon series, I usually share resources I utilized in my study and preparation for sermons. Here is the bibliography for our recent series, "The Beginning of the End," which is the tenth and final part of an extended walk through the Gospel of Matthew. Bibliography for “The Beginning of the End” …
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Bibliography for “Scandalous Jesus”
When I conclude a sermon series, I usually share resources I utilized in my study and preparation for sermons. Here is the bibliography for our recent series, "Scandalous Jesus," which is the ninth part of an extended walk through the Gospel of Matthew. Bibliography for “Scandalous Jesus” [Gospel of Matthew, part 9] Kenneth E. Bailey. …
Questioning Jesus
This past weekend at Eastbrook, as we continues our preaching series during Lent entitled "Scandalous Jesus," we looked at the final two in a series of questions-answer exchanges Jesus has in Jerusalem. Found in Matthew 22:34-46, Jesus first responds to a question about the greatest commandment from a Pharisee (22:34-40) and then poses His own …
How Should We Read Jesus’ Parables?: some basic guidance
Jesus knew we loved stories and so He spoke from stories quite a bit of the time. The type of stories he used were called parables. What is a parable? A parable is often defined as “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.” It’s a story that deals with earthy things in order to talk …
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Matthew Erickson 