Big Buts of the Bible

While Matthew, Mark and Luke all record Jesus’ coming to be baptized by John, only Matthew notes John’s reluctance: But John tried to deter {Jesus} saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ With this but we have further evidence that John saw his ministry of baptism as symbolically… Continue reading

The most significant buts surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ have to be those associated with his conception.  Matthew records: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. And another: When Joseph woke up he did what the angel… Continue reading

Staying with the book of Hebrews, here are a few more buts that will help prepare our hearts to celebrate Jesus Christ’s birth. Chapter 2, verses 8 and 9 read: Yet at present we do not see everything subject to Him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory… Continue reading

Another passage that probably isn’t a regular on the Advent radar is Hebrews 10. Hebrews is a great book to consider at this time of year however, for the way in which its author went to great lengths to tie Jesus into the greater narrative of God’s redemptive history. Give Hebrews 10:1-14 a read. The… Continue reading

Big Buts of the Bible: A Revealing Look at Jesus Christ has risen to Best Seller status in its category at Smashwords! The book released a month ago and has seen brisk sales at Smashwords and Amazon. The figures are not in from all the other retailers, but (isn’t that a great word?) suffice to… Continue reading

What Did He Say? In addition to introducing Jesus’ ministry, John introduced a number of key spiritual terms. Repentance, confession, baptism, the kingdom of heaven, judgment, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit are all mentioned here for the first time in the New Testament. Each of these concepts will be developed further as we… Continue reading