Selfishness

Crowd Wanting to be Healed - Mark 6:53 – 6:56 (commentary)

We find Jesus arriving back on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee not very far from Capernaum in the plain of Gennesaret (v. 53). This was one of the most fertile areas in all Palestine. No sooner had He landed than He was surrounded by a crowd of people (v. 54). Many of them c …

Disciples Arguing About Who is The Greatest - Mark 9:30 – 9:37 (commentary)

It seems that whenever Jesus talked about His death, it brought out some spiritual flaws in the lives of the disciples. In the present passage, we see them arguing with one another about who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom. Leaving the north country Jesus and His disci …

Conduct surrounding the Love Feasts - I Corinthians 11:17 – 11:22 (commentary)

The next item Paul brings to their attention in this chapter is the “love feast.” From the very early days of the church, it was customary for the believers to eat together before they partook of the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:42, 46). The called this meal the “love feast.” This meal was part of the ...

Peter Confesses That Jesus is the Christ - Luke 9:18 – 9:27 (commentary)

Jesus wants the Christian to go beyond knowing what others believe by making their faith personal (vv. 18-20). He then predicts his death for the first time (vv. 21-22). He goes on to say to them all, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cr …

Death to The King of Babylon - Isaiah 14:1 – 14:11 (commentary)

Isaiah warned that Judah would one day be taken into captivity by Babylon and this happened in 586 B.C. Jeremiah prophesied that this captivity would last for 70 years. After this, Babylon would be judged and the Jews were permitted to go home (Jer. 25:1-14). The picture in …

Result of Rejecting The Light - Jeremiah 13:12 – 13:27 (commentary)

The next parable that Jeremiah gave was of the wineskins. He announced what seemed to be a self-evident parable to the people. That was that every wineskin should be filled with wine (v. 12). The people scoffed at Jeremiah’s parable, as they expected every wineskin should b …

Reaching Out to Those in Need - Jeremiah 22:13 – 22:23 (commentary)

Jeremiah says that in those days they even had trouble with rulers wasting money in an extravagant way on their own private homes (vv. 13,14). When the nation of Judah was bankrupt and deep in trouble, king Jehoiakim used his power to force unpaid Jewish slave labor to bu …

The Kingdom Divided - I Kings 12:16 – 12:33 (commentary)

Due to Rehoboam’s dictatorial threat, he alienated the 12 tribes and only the closest countrymen from Judah did not abandon him. Rehoboam’s insensitivity to the Israelites’ hardships extinguished any hope they may have entertained of economic recovery. His dictator …