Bible Commentary

“Why doesn't God do miracles today like when Moses was having a hard time? Wouldn't it be better for everybody if God just smashed all those evil commies and murderers?” Those words were asked by a questioning fifth grader

Is there a point in time when God is finished with a you? If you answer “yes,” you don't understand the meaning of God's grace.

Can you identify with parents whose newborn son was marked for death by government policy? Can you imagine that son would not only survive but grow up in the palace of a king, commit murder, and end up in a nowhere wilderness exile?

The Apostle Paul was very likely coming to the end of life when he wrote this letter, but his hope was undimmed as he encouraged a people he loved as though they were his children.  

Paul's letters to the church in Corinth are shaped by his humility, his deep love for Christ, and his deep concern for a people he knew well who were living in a city of importance, wealth, and notorious immorality.

Some modern commentators have questioned Paul's message before the Aeropagus as lacking or not strong enough. But it is Paul's knowledge of pagan beliefs, coupled with his thorough Jewish scholarship, that equipped him to present the gospel to some of the world's greatest thinkers.

Acts begins with an emotional roller coaster ride from the cross to Pentecost, as the horror of the cross is translated into the powerful outpouring of God's Spirit.

Luke, the single Gentile gospel writer, knew the Apostle Paul and was an early convert to the Christian faith. The earliest churches were strongly influenced by their Jewish roots. Luke's narrative offers some details and connections that the other three gospels do not include.

The people called Israel needed good news. Other than the privileged upper class who maintained a tenuous peace with the Roman authorities and controlled social and religious establishments, the vast majority struggled to live adequately and hold on to the promise that God would send the Messiah.

The promise of God's Savior coming into this lost world was as old as Abraham. Now, in the desperation of God's own people and the deepening spiritual darkness, the time has come.