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52 Week Journey
…this way constantly, and the form itself was part of the message. Parables reward attention and patience, and they resist being reduced to a single moral without losing what makes them true. This week walks through…
Chapter study
…An extended metaphor that never loosens its grip Unlike many of Jesus's parables, which are told and then left to do their work, the vine image is sustained and interrogated across eight verses: vine, branches,…
Devotional
…that Jesus receives sinners and eats with them (15:1-2), and all three parables in the chapter, the lost sheep, the lost coin, and this one, answer that specific complaint. The father's joy at the son's return directly…
Devotional
…who, on finding one of great value, sells all he has and buys it. Both parables describe the same response to the kingdom from different angles: one man stumbles onto it, the other has been searching, but both respond…
Devotional
…only my calm. Amen. Mark places this immediately after a chapter of parables about the kingdom, several of which describe things growing or working unseen, a seed planted, a mustard seed spreading. The storm miracle…
Devotional
…Luke 15:1-2 The Pharisees' complaint that sets up the whole chapter of parables. Luke 15:22-24 The father's commands: the best robe, a ring, sandals, and a feast, given before the son finishes speaking. Isaiah 55:7 Let…
Devotional
…13 that understanding this parable is the key to understanding the parables generally, since it is itself a parable about how parables are received. It functions almost as an introduction to the method. The three…
Biblical concept
…true at once, and Scripture never asks us to choose between them. The parables in Matthew 13 slow the picture down further. The kingdom grows like a seed nobody can rush, hides like leaven working through dough, and is…
Biblical concept
…as plainly as parallel texts ever do. This matters for how Matthew's parables of the kingdom should be read. When Matthew 13 says the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, or leaven, or a merchant seeking fine…
Biblical concept
…5), with the same picture in Jeremiah 2:21 and Hosea 10:1. Gospels Parables of the tenants, the labourers and the fig tree in the vineyard, and then John 15 where Jesus takes the name of the vine Himself. Revelation The…
Bible question
…Christ, who ever lives to make intercession for me. Amen. Luke 18 Two parables about how to keep praying. Daniel 10 Heard from the first day, answered on the twenty-first. Romans 8 The Spirit praying where our words run…
Bible question
…The pattern, persistence, and the Father's good gifts. Luke 18:1-14 Two parables about how to pray and how not to. Psalm 13 Honest lament that ends in song. Philippians 4:4-9 Anxiety, prayer, thanksgiving and peace.…
Bible question
…renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple. This follows two parables about counting the cost, Luke 14:28-32. He is not recruiting by minimising. Renounce is a word of release of ownership, and the disciples in…
Bible question
…people object to it. Seek comes before save. Luke 19:10, and the three parables of Luke 15 all involve searching. Scripture presents God as taking the initiative before anyone asks. He read his job description out of…
The Sunday Study
Verse-by-verse teaching with historical context, and a prayer to close. Nothing else in the email.