And the Cornerstone courses are not the only Bible courses available online. The Online Bible College Association is a new and growing association that provides an excellent service by listing worthwhile Bible courses they have personally checked to ensure they are not scams, and provide quality, trustworthy material. A number of the courses they list are free. You can visit their helpful site and check it occasionally for new additions, here.
If you are looking for a truly worthwhile goal to set for this new year, consider taking one of the many Bible courses that are available online. A good number, such as those available from Cornerstone Bible Courses, are completely free. Cornerstone’s carefully prepared non-denominational and non-commercial courses provide in-depth information on the Bible – without advertisements or other distractions – to those who cannot attend Bible school or seminary, or who simply want to understand the Bible at a deeper level in their own personal study. Significantly, all course materials – including e-textbooks – are provided for free and there are no charges of any kind. If desired, an optional final exam can be taken online and a personalized certificate of completion is provided for all passing grades. You can download a free course and study materials today from the Cornerstone site, here.
And the Cornerstone courses are not the only Bible courses available online. The Online Bible College Association is a new and growing association that provides an excellent service by listing worthwhile Bible courses they have personally checked to ensure they are not scams, and provide quality, trustworthy material. A number of the courses they list are free. You can visit their helpful site and check it occasionally for new additions, here. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14 KJV).
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased” (Luke 2:14 ESV) The angelic annunciation to the shepherds that is recorded in the Gospel of Luke is among the best known of all the stories of the New Testament, yet the wording of this annunciation as it is found in various versions of the English Bible is profoundly different. While virtually all translations are in agreement regarding “Glory to God in the highest,” there is much disagreement as to what was promised on earth. Older Bible translations such as the King James Version and a very few modern ones, such as the World English Bible, state that the coming of the Messiah brought the promise of peace and good will to “all men.” But most modern Bible versions state that the promise of peace was not made to all, but to “those on whom God’s favor rests” (NIV), “those with whom he is pleased” (ESV), or some variant of one of these (as AB, ASV, BLB, BSB, CSB, ISV, NAB, NASB, NLT, and many others). There is obviously a great deal of difference between these translations – on the one hand peace is offered to all people, and on the other hand only to those with whom God is pleased. Why the divergence, and which of these readings should we choose? The first question is the easiest to answer. The KJV was based on the Byzantine Text family which uses the Greek word eudokia in Luke 2:14, while most other English versions follow the Alexandrian Text which has the nearly identical eudokias – but although the difference consists of only one letter, the meaning is quite different, as we saw in the respective translations. As far as which reading is preferable, there is division among New Testament textual scholars, but in general it is true that the oldest manuscripts we have favor the reading found in the older manuscripts of the Alexandrian Text and hence almost all modern translations opt for that reading. As is often the case in such questions, there are arguments on both sides of the issue; but ultimately, even if the textual matter is unresolved, we can answer the question theologically – by looking not only at what the immediate context of Luke is, but also what the whole Bible tells us. Biblically, it is unlikely that God’s promise of peace refers to everyone regardless of their attitudes and actions. Nevertheless, in verse ten of the same chapter Luke says the angel announced “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” So there is certainly a sense in which the good news – the message of the Messiah’s birth – was made available to all. This is the wider sense in which John 3:16 tells us that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.” But that same verse tells us that despite the universal availability of the gift, it is still only “whoever believes in him” that “shall not perish but have eternal life.” In the same way, Luke 2:10 gives us the universal availability of God’s promise of peace, but verse 14 tells us that it is “those whom God approves” or “those with whom he is pleased” who receive the promise. It is those who have God’s goodwill, or favor – because of their faith in him and in the one whom he sent – who find peace. We catch a glimpse of this selective reception of peace in the teaching of Jesus himself. In Luke 10:5 Jesus tells his disciples, “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’” This is the offer of peace that is freely made to all. But Jesus continued by explaining “If someone who promotes peace is there [literally “a son of peace,”] your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you” (verse 6). It is only those who are the “sons” or “daughters” of peace who receive the peace God offers. As for whether we personally are a son or daughter of peace, the answer is simply whether or not we accept the news of the Messiah’s coming, and what that means in our lives. If we do, then – as the angel announced – we will experience the peace the Messiah’s coming brought. The word “gospel” means “good news” and in that sense, all the four gospels contain a joyful message. But there is one gospel that focuses on joy – we might almost say it is filled with joy – and that gospel is Luke. Joy may not be as noticeable as some of Luke’s other themes, but it is a very real emphasis of his gospel, nonetheless. Luke begins and ends his account of the life of Jesus by focusing on joy, and between these two “bookends” he mentions joy more than any other gospel – in fact, more than any other book of the New Testament.
At the beginning of his gospel, Luke (alone) records two events in which great joy is evident. Luke gives us a “prequel” to his account by recording the birth story of John the Baptist – whose parents are told “He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth” (Luke 1:14). Luke notes that while still in Elizabeth’s womb, John “leaped for joy” (Luke 1:44) at the sound of Mary’s voice, and that even her neighbors and relatives shared her joy (Luke 1:58). In the same way, in Luke’s account of the nativity of Christ, joy is equally evident when the angel announces the birth of Jesus to the shepherds with the words: “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10). That “good news” was, of course, the beginning of the “gospel” – a message of potentially unparalleled joy for everyone (“for all the people”) that through Jesus Christ those who were lost and doomed could now be saved. Once we enter the body of Luke’s gospel, we find multiple references to joy. Luke records Jesus’ admonition that we find joy even in times of persecution (Luke 6:23), that those like the seed that fell on rocky ground only temporarily receive the word with joy (Luke 8:13), that the seventy–two Jesus sent out returned with joy (Luke 10:17), and that Jesus himself was full of joy through the Holy Spirit (Luke 10:21). But it is the joy of the lost being found that underlies much of what the Evangelist writes. Joy is at the heart of the three parables he records regarding the shepherd who goes in search of the lost sheep (Luke 15:3–7), the woman who searches for a lost coin (Luke 15:8–10), and the father who daily looked for the return of his lost son (Luke 15:11–32). Each of these parables ends with a joyful celebration: the shepherd invites everyone to rejoice with him, as does the woman when she finds her coin, and the father whose son had been lost has finally returned. But while Matthew records, for example, some of the parable of the lost sheep (Matthew 18:12–14), Luke alone includes Jesus’ words “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety–nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:7). In the same way, all four gospels record the miracles of Jesus, and the resurrected Jesus appearing to the disciples, but only Luke records the joy of the people at Jesus’ works (Luke 19:37), and only Luke (Luke 24:41) and John (John 20:20) record the disciples’ great joy at seeing their resurrected Lord. When we look for it, we find joy throughout the third gospel. Given what we have seen of this continued focus, it is perhaps not surprising that Luke’s account ends in exactly that way – with the words “Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy ...” (Luke 24:52). If we want to read a gospel account that highlights the joy that Jesus and his disciples had, or we would simply like to read the Bible’s most joy–filled book, we need look no further than Luke. *Extracted from our free e-book Lessons from Luke: Understanding More of the Third Gospel. Download a free copy here. |
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Author :Unless otherwise stated, blog posts are written by R. Herbert, Ph.D., who writes for a number of Christian venues – including our sister site: TacticalChristianity.org Categories :
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