Matthew and Mark both tell the story of Jesus healing the daughter of a Gentile woman in one of the cities of Syrophoenicia on the Palestinian coast:

“And … he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet.  Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth.  And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.’  But she answered him, ‘Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.’  And he said to her, ‘For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.’   And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone” (Mark 7:24-30 ESV, and see Matthew 15:21-28).

Mark makes it very clear that the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician (the NIV calls her “Greek” because the Jews referred to all non-Jews as “Greeks”), and seems to also stress her gender – putting her at a double disadvantage as a member of an ethnic group and gender looked down upon by many ancient Jews who often used the term ”dogs” of Gentiles as impure according to God’s Law.  We should remember that religious Jews did not like to be approached in conversation by Gentiles and particularly by women.   The woman’s approach to Jesus is all the more remarkable as she clearly knew about Jewish culture.

Jesus apparently rebuffed her at first, saying: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel” (Matthew 15:24), and, when she persisted,  “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.”   This led to the woman’s amazing reply in pleading that even the dogs were able to pick up crumbs under the children’s table, for which words Christ rewarded her with the healing of her daughter.

Reading this account superficially, Jesus’ reaction to the woman, effectively referring to her as a “dog,” seems harsh and out of character, but we should consider two things.  Instead of the Greek word kinos “dogs,” Mark actually uses the word kinaria – the diminutive form used of “little dogs” or “puppies.”  This considerably softens the tone of Jesus’ words, though the implication is still there, kindly worded or not. We can only presume then, that Jesus’ words were meant not to disparage the woman but to see the extent of her humility and faith. This is a meaningful possibility to keep in mind, because Jesus’ reaction was immediate and full as soon as the woman replied in such a way to indicate her humble acceptance of his words and her faith in him despite any insult she might have perceived. 

If this was the case, the lesson for us is obvious.  Whenever we are faced with difficulties and trials that we need to take before God, we should remember that it is possible to approach him with both accepting reverence and persistence (see also Jesus’s parable on the importunate widow, Luke 18:1-8). The example of the Syrophoenician woman shows us that our faith must be willing to humbly accept the present answer, but we should also be unafraid to persist in asking God’s favor.

We are all so used to hearing people say “Amen” at the end of prayers and saying it ourselves that we seldom think about the word, but the following points may show you that there is a lot about that small word you don’t know.

1) “Amen” doesn’t just mean “may it be so.”  Many people think of amen as a kind of spiritual punctuation mark – something we put at the end of prayers to mean “the prayer is over.” Those who understand the word better think of it as meaning “may it be so” and being a way of adding our agreement to what was said, but the word means much more than that and actually has a number of meanings.  Amen comes from a Hebrew root which in its various forms can mean: to support, to be loyal, to be certain or sure, and even to place faith in something. At the most basic level, the word can mean simply “yes!” as we see in Paul’s statement: “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 1:20). But the central meaning of the word has to do with truth, as we will see.

2) Amen was not usually used to conclude prayers in the Bible.  Although it is found many times in the Bible, its main use was to affirm praise for God (Psalm 41:13; Romans 1:25; etc.) or to confirm a blessing (Romans 15:33; etc.) –  either by the speaker or the hearers.  The “amen” found at the end of the Lord's Prayer in some manuscripts of the New Testament  affirms the expression of praise that concludes the prayer. Perhaps because of this, over the course of the centuries it became common practice to use "amen" as the conclusion for prayers.

3)  Amen is used as a characteristic of God in the Old Testament.  Although the English Bible translation you use may not show it, in Isaiah 65:16 the Hebrew text speaks twice of “the God of Amen,” and this clearly uses amen as a characteristic or even a title of God.  Because many translators feel this would be confusing in English, they choose to render the text as “the God of truth,” and although that is not a bad translation, it does somewhat obscure the original sense of what was written.

4)  Amen is used as a characteristic of Jesus in the New Testament. Just as God is referred to as the God of Amen in the Old Testament, so in the New Testament in Revelation 3:14 “Amen" is used as a title for Jesus Christ “These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation.” The combination of Amen with “faithful and true witness” clearly shows the connection between amen and truth.

5) Amen was used uniquely by Jesus.  Jesus usually used the word amen at the beginning of his statements, and in those cases, it was sometimes translated by the Gospel writers into Greek as “truly” (Luke 4:25; 9:27; etc.).  The NIV translates this in turn as “I assure you …”   But a completely unique use of amen by Jesus in the New Testament is recorded by the apostle John, whose Gospel shows us that Christ frequently doubled the word at the beginning of particularly important statements. In the King James Bible this is translated “Verily, verily,” in the ESV as “truly, truly,” and in the NIV “Very truly.”   The doubling of amen was not only used by Jesus, however. In the early 1960’s part of a Hebrew legal document dating from the time of Jesus was found in which an individual declares “Amen, amen, ani lo ashem” meaning “Very truly, I am innocent.”  It is possible, then, that Jesus borrowed this doubled form of amen from legal language of the day.  But knowing that Jesus used this expression to signify important things he wanted to stress can help us see their importance in our own study of his words. The full list of occurrences of amen being doubled in John’s Gospel is: 1:51; 3:3, 5, 11; 5:19, 24-25; 6:26, 32, 47, 53; 8:34, 51, 58; 10:1, 7; 12:24; 13:16, 20, 21, 38; 14:12; 16:20, 23; and 21:18.

It is interesting that while the New Testament writers often left untranslated certain Hebrew or Aramaic words such as abba, “father,” but immediately followed the word with a translation into Greek, they invariably left “amen” untranslated in its Hebrew form. This could possibly have been because they felt the word amen was known and understood by all their readers, but it is more likely that they knew that the word represented a range of meanings and they felt it better to simply include the word and let the reader or hearer consider the possibilities. If this is the case, we can draw a lesson from the fact. That small untranslated “amen” we read in our Bibles can mean more than just “may it be so.” We can often profitably think about what it most likely means in a given context or the intended force with which the expression was used.  Finally, we should remember that “amen” certainly is not just a spiritual punctuation mark or a simple exclamation – wherever we use it we should think of it as a solemn affirmation that we are giving our personal guarantee that what was said is true! 

Most of us know what it feels like to finally accomplish something we have worked toward for a long time: a goal, a dream, a project to which we have dedicated time and energy. Even with relatively small-scale things, it can be a triumphant feeling. The larger the accomplishment, the greater are the emotions of triumph, thankfulness and deep happiness that come with accomplished plans and goals.

This feeling ties in to the story given in all of the four Gospels of the supreme sacrifice of the Son of God on behalf of humanity. That had surely been a project a long time in the planning – from before the world was even formed (1 Peter 1:20). It had been over thirty years of the physical life of Jesus in the actual making: growing, building, preparing, patiently working toward the eventual goal of the sacrifice itself.

The sacrificial death of Christ is a somber and heart-wrenching thing to ponder, yet it seems more than likely that even as he perished in excruciating pain, there was for the Son of God a feeling of triumph and thankfulness at the very end. We know that even beyond the physical pain Jesus bore, because of the human sin he had taken upon himself, he endured the terrible feeling of being cut off from the Father – as can be seen in his almost final words: “Why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34 – and see Psalm 22:1). But we must always remember these were not his final words.

Putting the Gospel accounts together, we find that the last recorded words of Jesus – three small words in English translation, spoken directly before he died – show a much more positive ending to the story of the physical life of the Messiah. Those words, according to John, were simply: “It is finished!” (John 19:30). In the original Greek of the New Testament the expression is a single word (tetelestai), but the sense is certainly that of the three English words – “It is finished!” The positive nature of the expression becomes clear if we look at it closely.

The Greek word tetelestai carries a number of related meanings. In the English New Testament it is translated as “finished” (as with a job), “fulfilled” (as with a purpose), “accomplished” (as with a task), “performed” (as with a command), “completed” (as with a goal), and in other similar ways. But the central idea in each case is a positive one. While it is natural for us, as we come to the end of the crucifixion story, to think of “it is finished” as a negative expression – we see it as a supremely sad ending, almost like an admission of defeat – nothing could be further from the truth. When we translate the word tetelestai in any of the other ways it could be rendered, the meaning is much clearer. “It is fulfilled!” “It is accomplished!” “It is performed!” “It is completed!” These are not three words of defeat, but three words of triumph!

Despite the pain, the humiliation, and the anguish of his own impending death, the Son of God knew that he had succeeded – he had accomplished the very reason for his human life in a victory that would touch all human lives throughout all time. To that point in history no single event had accomplished so much good or incorporated such a victory. The last words of Jesus – “it is finished” – were surely the three most triumphant words ever spoken. They were equaled only by another three triumphant words spoken a few days later: “He has risen” (Matthew 28:6).

The Triumph of Trust

Ultimately, the lesson we can draw from the story of the last words of Jesus is one of trust. Jesus trusted God throughout his life and ministry and even throughout a slow and terrible death. He trusted that God was fulfilling his purpose when he was in pain, when he felt cut off from God, even as he felt his very life ebbing away. Far from being an expression of defeat, his words “it is finished” were the final and complete expression of his trust. The last words of Jesus were, in that sense, the fulfillment of a prophecy contained in the book of Isaiah: “The Lord Almighty has sworn, ‘Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will happen’” (Isaiah 14:24).
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When we see the final words of Jesus in context, with the sense they really convey, we can rejoice that they can – and will – apply to our lives also. Just as Job wrote of God “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him” (Job 13:15), the last words of Jesus remind us that we too can trust that despite any and all appearances, whatever may happen in our lives, if we continue to trust God he will complete his purpose in us. That is a tremendous truth that can underlie our desire to follow in the steps of Jesus and to strive to learn lessons from his sonship, signs, sermons, service and sacrifice.

​“… we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure” (2 Thessalonians 1:4 NKJV).

The Bible often speaks of faith and patience in combination – prompting us to ask, “Can we have true faith without patience – or even true patience without faith?” The answer to these questions is found in understanding the relationship between the two qualities. 

Every Christian knows the importance of faith, hope and love (1 Corinthians 13:13), but sometimes we need to be reminded that these things are completely interrelated rather than existing in isolation.  It is sometimes hard to see this, because different terms are often used, so we don’t always see the connection.  An example is the way in which faith and patience interact. Biblically, patience is a form of hope.  We see this fact in many scriptures:   “But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” (Romans 8:25); “We remember … your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance [patience] inspired by hope …” (1 Thessalonians 1:3).  

But patience can mean different things in the Bible. For example, the Greek word makrothumia, often translated “longsuffering,” relates to patience with people, whereas the word upomone is generally patience with regard to things or circumstances.  It is this patience with the circumstances and conditions in which we find ourselves that ties into faith – supporting it and being supported by it.

Notice how the two qualities of faith and patience interact. Paul tells us:  “… we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance [patience]” (Romans 5:3).  James tells us “ … count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience” (James 1:2-3 NKJV),  and Peter elaborates: “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that … your faith ... may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:6-7).  

These scriptures, and many others, show us that two things occur when we suffer as Christians. On the one hand, the sufferings refine our faith making it better, stronger (mentioned by Peter). Sufferings also produce patience in us (mentioned by James and Paul).  The two qualities are both needed to withstand problems.  Faith without patience produces Christians who may start off well, but who eventually falter in their faith and fall away or burn out. On the other hand, patience without faith produces individuals who experience suffering but do not profit from it in the way God intends. 

It is to the degree that we employ both patience and faith in our suffering that we are strengthened and endure, and it is that endurance which is ultimately necessary to succeed in the Christian life (Matthew 10:22; Matthew 24:13). Simply put, patience needs faith and faith needs patience.  As the Book of Hebrews confirms, we need both qualities in our lives if we are to: “Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised” (Hebrews 6:12).

Check out the NEW Tactical Christianity!
 
After seven years of operation, the original TacticalChristianity.org sister website has been completely remade!   We are extremely happy to welcome you to the new site and know that you will find it even more helpful than it has been in the past.

Our newly remade site features an improved layout, as well as navigation and search features that are a great advance over what the earlier site was able to offer.  You will find that the page redesign also makes reading easier and more enjoyable.

Perhaps the greatest difference you will find in our new website is  the new Blog layout which now shows the blog post images and a short sample of text so you can get a better idea of which past blogs you might like to read.

We would like to give a mention of special thanks to Anthony Joseph  for his help in the new website design and production – we think he did a great job and are confident that you will think so, too.

Enjoy the new site and what it has to offer here!

The Berean Study Bible (BSB) is a recent translation of the whole Bible, first published in 2016 (2020 version reviewed) by the ministry behind the online Bible study site BibleHub.com.  According to its dedicated website, the Berean Bible consists of four components or “translation tiers,” including the Study Version which is recommended for personal study, public reading, memorization, and evangelism.

The translation of the BSB was accomplished by a team of scholars associated with the Bible Hub ministry, and although the team was relatively small –  it was composed of six scholars –  this is not necessarily a bad thing, as the translation avoids many of the pitfalls associated with both single-person and large committee translation efforts. 

​See our new review of this very worthwhile translation here, and download a free copy in your choice of several electronic formats here. 

​“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters ... Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,  I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff,  they comfort me …” (Psalm 23:1-4).

It’s hard for modern Christians not to think of Psalm 23 when the word “shepherd” comes to mind.  But that beautiful psalm reflects only some of the aspects of shepherding. Leading the sheep to pasture – providing for them – and through the valley of darkness – protecting them – are certainly vital aspects of the job, but as a shepherd himself David knew that there was more to the job than just feeding and protecting the sheep.

We find additional insights into the role of the shepherd in another of David’s psalms: “Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever” (Psalm 28:9). In the first half of this single verse we see the same aspects of protecting the sheep and providing for them, and in the second half David also mentions guiding the sheep (the Hebrew urom is a verb – to shepherd or guide, not to be a shepherd) and carrying them.

In this short but remarkable verse, David captures perhaps all the major aspects of the shepherd’s role in four verbs: To protect the sheep from death, to supply their needs, to guide them and finally to carry them when they are weak or injured and need the shepherd’s strength in addition to their own.   

This picture meshes well with Christ’s role as shepherd, which we see in the prophecy quoted by Matthew: “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah … out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel” (Matthew 2:6).  Jesus himself elaborated on the same four aspects of that role mentioned by David in Psalm 28.  As the prophesied shepherd,  Christ did all these things for his people:

Protected them from eternal death: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11).

Provided their needs: “I am the gate for the sheep … whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture” (John 10:7-9).

Guided them: “When Jesus… saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things” (Mark 6:34).

Carried them: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he … go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home” (Luke 15:4-6).

The people of ancient Israel in David’s day, and those of Judea in Christ’s day, knew well that these things were all involved in being a shepherd. That’s why Christ used that analogy often, and why his hearers may have understood more fully  than we sometimes do what it means that the Lord is our shepherd. They knew, as we should come to know also, that the flock need never doubt that the Shepherd will always  protect, provide for, guide, and carry the sheep. It’s what shepherds do.

​“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me”  (Revelation 3:20 ESV).

These words of Christ are among the best known in the Bible and are the subject of many religious quotations.  We all know them, but we usually think of them out of context – as an invitation to open our hearts and minds to Christ and to turn to him in conversion.  As Christians we need to understand that the context of the verse has much more to do with where we are now than it has to do with our initial conversion!

In Revelation 3 the apostle John records the words of Christ not to the unconverted, but to the church at Laodicea – a church described as being lukewarm and in real danger of failure:

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!  So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.  You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see” (Revelation 3:15-18).

It is within this context, immediately after this scathing rebuke, that Christ says:  “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.  Here I am! I stand at the door and knock ...” (Revelation 3:19-20).  The context in Revelation 3 makes the specific meaning of this metaphor clear.  Christ tells his followers who have become lukewarm that he still stands at the door and knocks – we still have the opportunity to open that door wide and to fellowship with him.

The fact that Christ extends the analogy to say that if we open the door he will dine with us –  “I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me”  (Revelation 3:20) –  is also an important part of his message. Eating together was a mark of true and intimate fellowship in New Testament times and Jesus uses the analogy with purpose.  He clearly tells us that no matter what our present relationship with him, we can improve it at any time if we so choose, by opening the door.

The only warning we must give ourselves is that the opportunity does not last forever.  In Luke 13 we see Christ inverted the analogy of the open door in a very potent way: “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.  Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’” (Luke 13:24-27).

Notice again the image of the meal.  These are people who had dined with Christ at one time, but had since fallen away from close fellowship. Elsewhere in Luke, Jesus urged his disciples to be: “like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him” (Luke 12:36).

So we see in the teachings of Jesus a frequent use of the analogy of the closed door that must be opened, a door we may open if we choose, but a door that will not always be possible to open.  In Revelation 3, Christ tells his Church that the opportunity for close fellowship with him is available, but that we must not only open the door to him at our conversion – we must keep that door open till the end. To some he says “be zealous and repent” (Revelation 3:19), but to all of us he says we must continue to keep the door open to him.

How do we know if our door is open?  If we are “contented Christians” – if we are doing only what our conscience or our church expects –  if our expenditure of time, effort and love is often or usually less than it could be – if we do not feel a need for more – we need to ask ourselves if, like the Laodiceans,  we feel we “do not need a thing” (Revelation 3:17) and we have begun to close the door.
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It is only when we keep the door of our hearts and minds open to him that we will have the kind of fellowship with Christ that he characterized as the sharing of a meal together.  That fellowship is something to which the whole of the Book of Revelation points.  It is the reason it tells us “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” (Revelation 19:9a). But if we truly want to participate in that fellowship and want him to open the doors of that dinner to us, we, in turn, must keep our door open to him!

​Twelve thoughts you can read and perhaps tweet this week – each with a point worth thinking about.
 
The thanksgiving difference:
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1) “When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.”  Willie Nelson
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2) “Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” William Arthur Ward
 
Say it with thanks:

3) “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” William Arthur Ward

4) “Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and give thanks continuously.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
 
Thanks beyond things:

5) “Thankfulness includes being grateful for all the problems we do not have.” Anonymous
 
6) “We must find the time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.” John F. Kennedy
 
Gratitude makes us all richer:

7) “Give thanks for a little, and you will find a lot.” Hausa Proverb

8) "Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy.” Fred De Witt Van Amburgh
 
Lives of thanks and giving:

9) “Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our Thanksgiving.”  W.T. Purkiser

10) “If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share.”  W. Clement Stone
 
Don’t stop now:  

11) “Thankfulness expressed today and forgotten tomorrow is like an unkept promise. True thanksgiving never dies young.” Anonymous
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12) “My thanksgiving is perpetual.” Henry David Thoreau

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All course materials are provided free of charge and there are no costs of any kind. Courses can be completed offline and an optional final exam can be taken online for a personalized certificate of completion.  A twenty-four unit course in the Old Testament is currently available that offers a detailed examination of  key biblical events and provides many insights not gained by other methods of study. A course in the New Testament is also now in preparation. 

All cornerstone courses combine careful biblical scholarship – utilizing information from theology, archaeology, and biblical history – with practical insight and applications.  Download a free course from the Cornerstone website today – we are sure you will learn and profit from it! ​

​From "10 Reasons Christians Should Vote in the Election" by Dr. Krish Kandiah. 

1. Voting publicly recognizes that we submit to the authority of the political system in our nation as established by God. (Romans 13:1-7)

2. Voting recognizes the equality of all people and their right to speak and be heard. (Deuteronomy 10:17-19)

3. It is one way that we can obey God's command to seek the good of those around us and our nation as a whole. (Jeremiah 29:5-6)

4. It shows that we care deeply about who our leaders are as we are urged to offer prayer and intercession on their behalf. (1 Timothy 2:1,2)

5. It is a simple yet significant way we can do something about politics in our nation. "All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing," Edmund Burke. (Psalms 34:14)

6. It makes a difference the way a grain of salt makes a difference, and that is how we are to influence our society for good. (Matthew 5:13)

7. It is a privilege not to be taken for granted. Those of us who reap the benefits of living in a democracy should play a part in upholding democracy.

8. Not voting is a form of voting, as it will influence the outcome. We need to take responsibility for our actions, as well as our lack of actions. (Luke 10:25-37)
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9. Voting has biblical precedence, for example Acts 14:23 describes that the early Christians elected elders by voting.

10. Voting is part of our stewardship to use all the resources we have been given in ways that honor God; to waste a vote is to squander a gift.

Some Christians believe that the kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven are two different things. According to this view,  the writers of the New Testament were referring to a “millennial kingdom” (the kingdom of God)  or a “universal kingdom” (the kingdom of heaven).  But does the New Testament really make such a distinction? 

The expression “kingdom of God” occurs some 68 times in the New Testament, while the phrase “kingdom of heaven” occurs only 32 times.  Importantly, while “kingdom of God” is found in ten New Testament books, all the references to the “kingdom of heaven” occur in the Gospel of Matthew.

While the “two kingdoms” advocates suggest that Matthew was describing a “millennial kingdom” and the other Gospel writers were speaking of a “universal kingdom,” there is no biblical basis to presume this.  On the contrary, there is good biblical indication that the two expressions are not referring to two different things, but are two ways of referencing the same thing.

We see this in the words of Christ himself in his conversation with his disciples after he spoke with the rich young ruler who did not want to give up his possessions to follow Christ:

“Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:23-24, emphases added).

Looking closely at these verses we see that Christ used both expressions –  the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven –  at the same time and clearly speaking about the same thing. 

Why then does Matthew usually use only the expression “kingdom of heaven”?  The answer is simply because Matthew originally wrote his Gospel to a Jewish audience that by tradition – in order to not break the commandment against lightly using God’s name –  often tried to avoid speaking the name of God and frequently substituted a euphemism.  As a result, the Jews frequently referred to the “kingdom of heaven” rather than the “kingdom of God”  –  using the one expression for the other in much the same way that we nowadays might say “The White House announced” meaning the President or his administration announced something.

The other Gospels usually used “kingdom of God” where Matthew used “kingdom of heaven” in recording their parallel accounts of the same spoken words.  We can see this by comparing, for example, Matthew 11:11-12 with Luke 7:28; or Matthew 13:11 with Mark 4:11 and Luke 8:10. In these and many other instances Matthew used the expression “kingdom of heaven” in deference to his Jewish audience, while the other Gospels used “kingdom of God.”

​For all these reasons, the New Testament makes it clear that the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are exactly the same thing.

Asking and giving may seem like polar opposites to us, but when it comes to asking for something from God, or even giving something to Him, these actions have something in common in that they involve our relationship with our neighbor.  

Two verses in the New Testament show this fact. It’s easy to see one of them and then to think the other is just a parallel account or a slight variation, but the two verses make two distinct statements:

“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (Mark 11:25).

“… if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you,  leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift”  (Matthew 5:23-24).

Notice that these situations are not the same at all.  Mark 11 speaks of occasions when we are asking something from God – specifically forgiveness in this case – and shows us that we cannot receive this from God (and perhaps anything) if we ourselves are not willing to give forgiveness.   In Matthew 5, the occasion is one in which we wish to give something to God, but he makes it clear that he will not accept the gift (perhaps any gift) if we know others have something against us and we are not willing to accomplish reconciliation.

Taken together, these verses show how important right relationships with our neighbors are for a right relationship with God.  In both these cases,  God does not want to accept something - a request or a gift - from someone who is estranged from another, who is holding back something from another, whether we are holding back forgiveness or reconciliation. 

In the case of our forgiving others, nothing must stop us doing this, though God understands that in situations where others have something against us we can only do our best to reconcile with them. Sometimes, others are not going to accept our attempts  at reconciliation and there is nothing we can do about that, other than to pray for them. 

Normally, however,  in our relationship with God, whether we are asking or giving, if we hold back from our neighbor, God holds back from us. On the other hand, if we are giving forgiveness and attempting reconciliation where it is possible,  God does not hold back from us in accepting  that which we are asking or giving. ​

“The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I am not guilty of turning from my God. All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees. I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight” (Psalm 18:20-24).

At first sight, verses such as these might appear to show a self-righteous attitude and perhaps that David was proud of his own righteousness.  If you were to say the same things to your friends, you know how they would react!  But there are two factors to consider in looking at verses like these and understanding what David meant:

1) What righteousness means in the Old Testament.   First, we must understand that the concept of righteousness in the Old Testament is somewhat different from what we find today and even in the New Testament. In the Hebrew Bible the word sedek which is often translated as “righteousness” literally means “straightness” as opposed to “crookedness,” but it is usually used of the status of relationships rather than as a  measure of perfection. Under the Law of Moses one could be righteous by simply maintaining one’s relationship with God and others according to basic legal norms –  the term did not denote some kind of perfect purity or spiritual perfection.

Anyone who did not literally murder, cheat, lie to, or otherwise harm other individuals maintained a proper relationship with them and was therefore “righteous.” In the same way, those who, for example, did not take God's name in vain and who kept the Sabbath day maintained a basic relationship with God that was regarded as righteousness. This is different, of course, from the deeper expectations of the New Testament, which more frequently stress the spirit of the law, as well as the importance of  right motivation and the attitude behind our behavior.   

But according to the earlier concept of righteousness found in much of the Old Testament, when a person fulfilled the basic demands of his relationship with God and others he or she could be said to be “righteous,” and many of the times that David uses the term sedek, it is from this perspective.  David was righteous in Hebrew terms simply because he lived within the expectations of  the covenant community of which he was a part.   

2)  What David also says regarding sin and righteousness.  Even though David could see himself as usually being righteous in terms of how his society used the term, we find plenty of evidence that he was not proudly self-righteous.  We know that David sinned and knew that he sinned (Psalm 51, etc.), so it is clear he did not imagine himself perfect in our modern sense of righteousness.  We also know that David earnestly asked God to help him walk in the way of righteousness, as we see, for example, in Psalm 19: “Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression” (Psalm 19:13).

Finally, we know that beyond asking God’s help to walk righteously, David openly gave God the credit when he did do what was right!  In Psalm 18 –  the same psalm we quote above regarding David’s expressions of righteousness –  we also find: “It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect” (Psalm 18:32).  This same attitude of humbly crediting God with his righteousness is frequently confirmed in other psalms, as when David says: “You are my Lord, my goodness is nothing apart from You” (Psalm 16:2).

So, there is no indication in the psalms of David, or elsewhere, that David was self-righteous or proud of his own goodness.  It is clear that while David knew that at most times he did walk righteously according to how this concept was understood in his own culture, it is equally clear that he asked God’s help to do so and gave God credit when he succeeded.
 
* For further understanding of the psalms of David, download our free e-book Spotlight on the Psalms from our sister site here.

​In his first letter to the church at Corinth, the apostle Paul wrote: “Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel” (1 Corinthians 4:15). It has sometimes been claimed that in saying this Paul contradicts the plain teaching of Jesus: “And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven” (Matthew 23:9).

Clearly, the teaching of Jesus is not against calling anyone’s human father by that name, but against using the term as a religious title –  as we see by looking at the context where he tells his disciples they are not to be called “Rabbi” (Matthew 23:8), “Father” (Matthew 23:9), or “Teacher” (Matthew 23:10). These were all elevated religious titles in Jesus’ time, and he continued by stressing that his disciples were to be servants rather than elevating themselves above others (Mathew 23:11-12).

So where does this place Paul’s comment? Was he not putting himself in a position inciting the Corinthians to call him “father”?    The answer is – not at all.  Just as the author of the book of Hebrews speaks of our human fathers (Hebrews 12:7, 9), the apostle John understood that there was nothing wrong with addressing human fathers by that name (1 John 2:13; etc.), and the apostle James knew that it was not wrong to refer to Abraham as his father (James 2:21).

What Paul says to the Corinthians is that he was fulfilling the role of a spiritual father to them. He addressed the Corinthians as  “my dear children” (1 Corinthians 4:14).  Two verses after telling them “I became your father through the gospel,” Paul speaks of his assistant Timothy in the same way: “For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love” (vs. 17).

Paul was certainly not telling the Corinthians that they should use the religious title “father” in their relationship with him, but rather he simply tells them how he feels he relates to them spiritually. Just as Jesus, after forbidding the use of father as a religious title, went on to say “The greatest among you will be your servant” (Matthew 23:11), so Paul frankly tells the Corinthians “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants” (1 Corinthians 3:5), and “This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ” (1 Corinthians 4:1).

It was clearly the furthest thing from Paul’s intention to set himself up and to encourage or incite the use of elevated titles for himself or other apostles.  As a true pastor, Paul guided and admonished his Corinthian congregation with a father’s concern and love and was moved to express his fatherly feelings to them in what he wrote.

In 1 Corinthians 4:15 Paul is not talking about the Corinthians calling him “father” – he was simply using a clear and apt analogy about his role as a spiritual parent to his flock. This is an identical situation to that which we find in the book of Ephesians where Paul is hardly inciting the Ephesians to call him “teacher” when he writes “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self” (Ephesians 4:22).  

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Cultural background is often an important key to understanding the New Testament. We know that many aspects of the Jewish and Roman cultures in the time of Jesus shed light on details in the Gospels, especially.  So what does that kind of information tell us about the prayer or prayer outline (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4) Jesus gave his disciples: the Lord’s Prayer?

Perhaps the first things we notice when we look at the Lord’s Prayer compared to the prayers of the time of Christ are the many differences!  Jesus prefaced his instruction on prayer by saying that the Gentiles prayed with a lot of words (Matthew 6:7-8), and that was certainly true of the Romans who ruled first century Judea.  When Romans formally spoke or prayed to the Emperor, they often used all thirty or more of his titles.  Jewish prayer could be extensive, too. The Jews used six titles of God in daily prayers – the main one being “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”  By contrast, Jesus taught his followers to address God simply as Father.  A side note here, but another important difference,  is that in the Old Testament, “father” is used a number of times of God.  But it is always a descriptive – used either as a simile or a metaphor – never a term of address.  

The Jews prayed three times a day, often utilizing the “shema” of Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and other scriptures and a prayer structure involving eighteen benedictions or blessings consisting of (1) three blessings of praise, (2) twelve petitions, and (3) three concluding blessings of thanks.  Once again, Jesus simplified prayer for his disciples, with seven simple requests.

Despite these differences of approach, there are a great many similarities between the Lord’s Prayer and those of the culture of the time.  Some of the introductory phrases are similar to those of contemporary Jewish prayers; both mention the kingdom of God; and the request for daily bread occurs at about the same place in the middle of both Jesus’ prayer guide and the contemporary prayers of the Jews.

Nevertheless, the differences between Jesus’ prayer and those of the culture in which he lived are more noticeable than the similarities and show the truly unique aspects of Jesus’ prayer. One such distinctive aspect of the Lord’s Prayer is that of the implied responsibility that it places on the one praying regarding the petitions being made. Each petition asks for an act of God that presupposes our own participation in fulfilling the request.
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Petitions –  implied responsibility of the petitioner
Hallowed be your name – we must not dishonor it.
Your kingdom come  – we must work for it.
Your will be done –  we must strive to fulfill it.
Give us this day our daily bread – we must work for it.
And forgive us our debts – we must forgive others.
Lead us not into temptation – we must not follow after it.
But deliver us from evil – we must do what we can to escape it.
 
The participation of the petitioner in the various requests of the Lord’s Prayer may only be implied in the wording for the prayer, but its context – at least in Matthew –  clearly shows the responsibilities of the disciple in all of the areas of petition. This is perhaps the greatest difference between the Lord’s Prayer and those of the Jewish people of the time.   Cultural background shows a number of clear parallels between the two approaches to prayer, but the differences are major and significant.