Matthew 5:27-28

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

From Background Notes [BN] for October 5^th & 6^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The first set of texts, from Matthew 5 (with parallels in Mark), strengthen the intentionality of marriage by reminding that adultery — the loss of marriage — is more than a physical act, but also involves matters of the heart.

Mark 10:45

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

From Background Notes [BN] for September 28^th & 29^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

What Matthew and Mark both stress is the Son of Man as ransom for many, a phrase deserving a brief explanation. The term “ransom” translates the Greek word lutron which means “the price of release.”

 

2 Samuel 7:12-14a

When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son.

From Background Notes [BN] for September 28^th & 29^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Even the New Testament bears early witness to the idea that one day Yahweh would once more bring his King to David's throne, a Savior who would deliver Israel from her enemies and grant mercy to sinners in her midst.

Luke 21:5-6

Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”

From Background Notes [BN] for September 28^th & 29^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

At the head of this religious operation was the High Priest who, spiritually, ruled nation and religion. His power also extended to the…

Luke 21:5-6

Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”

From Background Notes [BN] for September 28^th & 29^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

At the head of this religious operation was the High Priest who, spiritually, ruled nation and religion. His power also extended to the…

Luke 21:5-6

Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”

From Background Notes [BN] for September 28^th & 29^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

At the head of this religious operation was the High Priest who, spiritually, ruled nation and religion. His power also extended to the…

Luke 22:24-26

A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.

From Background Notes [BN] for September 28^th & 29^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

By the time Jesus inaugurated his public ministry in the late 20's C.E., Israel seethed with revolution, with each of several groups advocating for this or that means of bringing justice back to God's chosen people. In each instance, the effective use of power played a key role, and they all wanted to be number one.

Mark 11:24-25

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

From Background Notes [BN] for September 21^st & 22^nd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Perhaps it would be tempting for the disciples to read into Jesus' symbolic actions and prophetic words false notions about their own triumph over the wicked. Cursing fig trees, overturning the tables of merchants in the Temple, and…

Mark 11:12-14

The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.

From Background Notes [BN] for September 21^st & 22^nd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Why the action of cursing the fig tree?

 

Matthew 21:13

“It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

From Background Notes [BN] for September 21^st & 22^nd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Worse than this, Jesus identifies the Temple as having become a "cave of lestes (in Greek).”Who are these lestes?

 

Jeremiah 7:11

Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD.

From Background Notes [BN] for September 21^st & 22^nd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

What would a visitor approaching the Temple courts immediately see? He would encounter crowds of people exchanging their currency for the Temple shekel, allowing them to purchase proper sacrifices, or, in the case of the poor, to buy pigeons instead.

 

Matthew 21:12

Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.

From Background Notes [BN] for September 21^st & 22^nd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

At every opportunity, Jesus created space for people to meet him. He would draw crowds through his miracles so that he could tell them about the coming kingdom of God. He would challenge Israel’s prominent leaders so that he could invite others to join the conversation.

 

Jeremiah 9:23-24

Thus says the LORD: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; 24 but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the LORD; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the LORD.

From Background Notes [BN] for September 14^th & 15^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Two very different worlds confront each other on the lips of God’s messenger. One advocates boasting, while the other brings the personal knowledge of the Lord. One creates alienation, while the other offers reconciliation through love, justice, and righteousness. This other world is the one offered by Jesus.

 

Revelation 12:4b-6

The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.

From Background Notes [BN] for September 14^th & 15^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The child is Jesus and the dragon is the Devil and the angel hosts are all around.

Hebrews 2:14-15

Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.

From Background Notes [BN] for September 14^th & 15^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Or, faced with the horrifying condition of the demon-possessed man, chained among the tombs in Mark 5:1-20, Jesus wages war with the demons that held the man captive.

 

1 John 3:1

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

From Background Notes [BN] for September 14^th & 15^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

God’s love is a persistent expression of His nature (see 1 John 4:16) that finds unexpected and utterly amazing form in the coming of Jesus. By sending His Son, God determined to reaffirm that we “should be called children of God.”

 

Revelation 22:3-5

No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

From Background Notes [BN] for September 7^th & 8^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The statement, “No longer will there be any curse,” prominently anchors the message of this text, reminding the reader that “God and the Lamb” share the throne, ruling over more than a garden — over a city — where all the trees are available for “the healing of the nations.”

Genesis 3:11-12

And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

From Background Notes [BN] for September 7^th & 8^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The human judgment that nakedness equaled shame is what God asks Adam to explain. It is a question about meaning, and where Adam obtained it. God is working backward from human hiddenness to human nakedness, and then He asks Adam to explain how he came upon the significance of his present sense of shame.

Psalm 10:1

Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

From Background Notes [BN] for September 7^th & 8^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Israel acknowledges that when God drops from their view, it is not because of any failure in Him, but as a result of their turning “to other gods.” God does not choose to be absent arbitrarily or impulsively in the biblical story, yet humans seem to push him out of the world to make room for other companions.

Genesis 3:1

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

From Background Notes [BN] for September 7^th & 8^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Allowing this conversation to take place, the woman enters dangerous territory, for she is permitting a nonhuman to influence her thinking.

Mark 3:26-27

And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come.  In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house.

From Background Notes [BN] for September 7^th & 8^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

In a very specific sense, Jesus is a rebel who resists the prevailing empire of evil wherever it is found. Yes, Jesus does resist the dark kingdom to the point of “binding the strongman” so that he might seize his kingdom.