New Testament I (Video)

This lecture is the final part of an Overview of the Gospels. Examine John 4 and the Samaritan Woman and John 8 with the Woman Caught in Adultery. What kind of relationship does Jesus have to His own Law? God's Law exposes the fact that we are not without sin. “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.” Reflect that forgiveness proceeds and produces freedom.

This lecture covers part five of the Gospel of John. Consider the resurrection and garden event in John 20 when Jesus said to Mary Magdalene, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). Reflect on the Genesis echo of a man and a woman in a garden. Another Genesis echo is that it is the first day of the week before it was light. The "Woman" address is also an echo of Genesis. The new Eve, Mary Magdalene, was a well-known, publicly ostracized sinner. Jesus is remaking the world as a place where death will be destroyed. Mary's story is your story. Jesus is the embodiment of Israel's God and fulfillment of the great hope. The focal point is the moment of the Father's glorification through the Son. The Cross is the place that shows the form of God's interaction with the world.

This lecture covers part four of the Gospel of John. Examine the seven "I Am" Sayings. (Greek ἐγώ εἰμί) In Exodus 3:13-14, God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM” and also, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” Consider that in John 8:57-59 Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” In John 6:35 He says, “I am the bread of life” and in John 8:12, “I am the Light of the world” In John 10:11, 14 Jesus states, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” and “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me". In John 8:58 Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am” and in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life”. In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” and in John 15:1, “I am the true vine”. The "I Am" statements of Jesus show us that He is the fulfillment of Israel's hopes. They are statements that show us He is also the embodiment of Israel's God.

This lecture covers part two of the Gospel of John. John's Prologue is Chapter 1:1-18 and is the whole Gospel in summary form. The rest of the Gospel of John interprets the Prologue. Consider the main themes of John's Gospel. Jesus was in the beginning (Greek ἀρχή "beginning"). God's True Word is Jesus. Reflect that Martin Luther struggled with his sinfulness and questioned if he was one of the elect of God. Johann von Staupitz advised Luther not to "probe into the secret council of the hidden God."

This lecture covers part three of the Gospel of John. The body of John's Gospel is John 1:19 through Chapter 21. There were those who thought of themselves as disciples of Moses but not of Jesus. Consider that Jesus is the fulfillment of everything Moses said. He is the fulfillment of the practices and the fulfillment of the temple and the Law. Jesus is the "Logos (sarx) (Word-flesh) and "Logos incarnatus" (Word will become flesh). The whole Bible is about Jesus. In the Gospel of John, there are far more links to the Jewish festivals than in the other gospels. The first public ministry of Jesus in John's Gospel is the cleansing of the temple. In John 2, Jesus is the fulfillment of what the temple was all about. Jesus is the real Temple. He is the presence of God and where atonement and worship can and should happen. Reflect that the Torah is Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy but the Law is ultimately about Jesus. It is its true content and final goal.

This lecture is the third part of an Overview of the Gospels. What does God think about you? John 15:13 tells us that, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." Consider John 3 and Jesus' encounter with Nicodemus. The human situation is so serious that only death and resurrection is the solution and it is not something that we just know. The solution is the crucified and resurrected Jesus. Reflect on John 3:16, "For God so loved the world . . . "

This lecture is the second part of an Overview of the Gospels. What is God like? Why does the answer to this question help? Consider that Voltaire was a French Enlightenment writer whose Poem On The Lisbon Disaster or An Examination of That Axiom 'All is Well' contrasts with The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. In what sense is Jesus the answer? The name Jesus contains a story of a real human life. Jesus experienced being forsaken by God so that we never would. What happens in John 20 is our basis for hope. The Resurrection in John 20 also echoes Genesis.

We come now to the first part of an Overview of the Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke , and John are about Jesus. Jesus' divinity and Messiahship is revealed in Mark as He dies on the Cross. Matthew shows emphatically that the Old Testament is fulfilled and seen in Jesus Christ. Luke presents Jesus as the fulfillment and culmination of God's plan of salvation. The Book of Acts is about the movement of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. John makes it clear that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament Scripture and festivals. John presents Jesus as the True Temple. In John's Gospel, Jesus uses the phrase "I AM" seven times. Martin Luther stated, “I know of no other God except the one called Jesus Christ." The Cross is the hour of glorification.

Luke - Acts is considered in this part ten discussion. Stephen tells a history of Israel that remembers and highlights the presence of sin, the consistency of God's faithfulness, and persistence of God's promise. Right when Paul is at his worst, is when God shows up in grace. This "at the same moment" of this event characterizes the Gospel according to Luke. Consider Acts 10 and the Promise and Acts 15 with the Council at Jerusalem. Reflect that a major issue for the early Church was if the Gentile believers should be circumcised.

This lecture covers part one of the Gospel of John. Who is Jesus? The Gospel of John presents Jesus as the fulfillment of Israel's hopes. John shows that Jesus is the embodiment of Israel's God. The Gospel of John was written later than the other Gospels. The early Church believed John helped interpret the facts of the other Gospels in a spiritual way. Jesus speaks more in the Gospel of John and the order of the Gospel of John is different. The cleansing of the temple in the Gospel of John is placed in Chapter 2. John is an eyewitness who was with Jesus as a disciple. The early Church tradition and internal evidence indicates that John wrote the gospel. Examine that the tension between the synagogue and early Christians had reached a point where confession of Jesus as Messiah was grounds for being expelled from the synagogue. John uniquely points out the tension between the Christians and the synagogue. John sets up a distinction of those who are in the light and those in darkness. He distinguishes between unbelief and faith. In John 3, Jesus speaks with Nicodemus. The main issue is the answer to the question, "Who is Jesus?" The Gospel of John was written into the tension of the Jewish leaders in the synagogue and the Christian Church. The Gospel of John presents Jesus as the fulfillment of Israel's hopes and the embodiment of Israel's God.

Luke - Acts is considered in this part nine discussion. The Salvation Song by The Avett Brothers is analyzed. What does their verse, "I would give up everything" mean? In Acts, the Church lives as a family. Acts is about the action of the Holy Spirit. The ultimate job of the Holy Spirit is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ: ". . . when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses". Examine Acts 2 which contains the Pentecost Scene. The curse in Genesis 11 due to the Tower of Babel is being reversed. Understand that the basis of the Christian confession as it comes to expression in Acts is that the crucified Christ is alive. The basic statement of Acts is that God raised up this Jesus, to which we are all witnesses. Reflect briefly on Acts 5 with the sin of Ananias and Sapphira.

Luke - Acts is considered in this part eight discussion. The Parable of the Prodigal Son is covered in this lecture. In Luke's theology, Jesus came for the sinner. God humbles the proud by His actual demand. In The Parable of the Prodigal Son, why is the older brother angry? The older brother is the heir to his father's estate. When we are brought to the end of ourselves, it is because God has acted to take us to that place by speaking His Law.

Reflect on part ten of the Gospel of Mark. Appraise Erasmus' doctrine of free will and Martin Luther's response, "On the Bondage of the Will". In 1524, Erasmus wrote Discourse on Free Will and in it stated that man has a soul that has free will to accept or reject God's grace. Luther argued against the fulcrum point of salvation being on man in "On the Bondage of the Will". He argued that if the pivot point is man's act, man can never have peace. For Luther, Erasmus' pivot point was fundamentally uncertain. God acts to save and redeem blind and bound people in Jesus. Consider Jesus' Conditional Commands in Mark 8 as they point out that salvation is fundamentally unconditional. Jesus has the power to forgive sins. Only one person can forgive sins. Mark points to Jesus' identity as the Son of God as salvation belongs to the Lord. Reflect on Philo of Alexandria: "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle." Relate to the ending of Mark - "But go, tell . . .".

Luke - Acts is considered in this part two discussion. The early Church had some recurring problems. The issues were the relationship between God's people before and after Jesus. The question was concerning the relationship between Israel and the Church. Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-to Israel and His people. The Spirit is sent to empower his Church to take the gospel message to the ends of the earth. The main point of Luke-Acts is that the sending and sacrifice of Jesus and sending of the Spirit do not contradict the promises to Abraham and Israel but are their fulfillment, embodiment and enactment. Jesus, God's Son and the Spirit are the fulfillment of God's plan and purpose. Luke was almost certainly written after the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. Was there a missionary movement in early Judaism? A God-fearer was someone in the Synagogue and interested in the Scriptures but did not want to be circumcised. Judaism today is too diverse to see missionary movement. The evidence is for Luke writing after the destruction of the temple in 70 AD due to his having more detail on the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. In Luke, there is an acuteness of the issue of God's faithfulness to Israel.

Luke - Acts is considered in this part six discussion. Luke and Acts are two volumes of one work of history. Luke shows that the Gospel of Jesus and the Church that the Spirit creates do not disqualify God's promises but are actually the fulfillment of the promises he made long ago. Luke is about who God Is and what His grace is like. The unique material in Luke emphasizes that God is merciful and God is Father. In Luke 4, Jesus announces what He came to do. Who did Jesus come to call and who were His friends? Jesus came for the sick and the sinner. To say that Jesus came for the sick and sinner is to say He came for all people. He came with His mercy. Jesus is a Friend of sinners.

Luke - Acts is considered in this part five discussion. Consider both Luke 9:20-22 with Peter's Confession that Jesus is the Christ and Acts 2 with the First Sermon of the Christian Church. The promises and even the prayers of David come true in Jesus who is the risen Lord and Christ. The pivot between Acts 7 and 8 is the story of Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian Church. The disobedience of the wilderness generation is emphasized in Acts 7. The rejection of the prophets who announced the Righteous One is also emphasized. Stephen relativizes the Law as the standard of obedience. He relativizes temple as the place of God's presence and he redefines obedience and disobedience, and true and false worship around the acceptance or rejection of Jesus. Follow the identity and character of God across Luke-Acts Who is this God in relationship to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Who is this God in relationship to the gods of the Gentile world? This God is not one of the Gentile gods. This God is revealed in Jesus as the God the Gentiles did not know. In Acts 17:22-23, Paul is on Mars Hill. This God is Israel's God who is finally and fully revealed in the Son and power of the Spirit. The Father reveals himself by sending the Son and sending the Spirit to witness to the Son. The Spirit's job is to convict the world of sin and to witness to Jesus. What is this God like? The Father that the Son reveals is a merciful Father. The merciful Father is seen in Luke 15 in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The Parable of the Good Samaritan points to the very shape that the early Church takes in loving your neighbor. The kind of mercy of the Father is newly seen in the Son. Jesus is the Friend of sinners. Jesus embodies the principles of mercy that the parables are all about. Luke presents Jesus as gift and Acts announces the giving of the Spirit as gift.

Luke - Acts is considered in this part seven discussion. There are three parables in Luke. The Parable of the Lost Sheep, The Parable of the Lost Coin, and The Parable of the Prodigal Son. The Parables of the Lost Sheep and Lost Coin are covered in this lecture. Consider that the meals Jesus has with sinners are the beginning enactment of the Great Party.

Luke - Acts is considered in this part four discussion. The presenting issue was if Gentile converts needed to be circumcised. God's purposes for the whole world were coming to fulfillment for Jew and Gentile. Luke 2 contains the Song of Simeon. Acts 15 and Luke 2 both tell that Jesus is the Savior of all- both Jew and Gentile. Examine Luke 24 with the Disciples on the Road to Emmaus. For Luke, God's promises are fulfilled in the mission and message of the Son and the missionary message about the Son. Luke's genealogy is different from Matthew's genealogy. Matthew starts the genealogy with Jesus as the son of Abraham and son of David. In Luke 3:23, the genealogy of Luke starts with Jesus. Luke takes the genealogy from Jesus all the way back to Adam.

Luke - Acts is considered in this part one discussion. The presentation and proclamation of Jesus Christ and the history and missionary activity of the early Church is considered. The body of Christ is important as the body and not just its parts. The body of Christ exists as a gift. We need the Mediator who knew no sin and became sin for us. Christ is the head of the Church and his body is the place where he is presented through prayer, preaching, and the coming together of his people. Important themes in Luke-Acts are Jesus, the Spirit, and the Church. "Theophilus" means "lover or friend of God". A major theme is how Jesus and the Church are the fulfillment of God's purposes and plans. It is likely that Luke-Acts was written by Luke, the physician. The Greek used is good and there is more detail when describing the Crucifixion. The most likely person included in the text's 1st person is Luke, the traveling companion of Paul and the early Church ascribed the writing to Luke. Luke-Acts is a two part history that proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ and charts the progress and power of the Spirit in the missionary activity of the early Church.

The lecture touches on the Doctrine of Predestination. Reflect on Romans 8: 29-39, 8:18, and 10:13, 17. And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified. Consequently faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the preached word of Christ. Romans 9:23 and 11:32 are also covered. Jesus' blood shed on the Cross is sufficient to save all people but only efficient for those who believe in Jesus.

Reflect on part nine of the Gospel of Mark. Examine the calling of the Disciples. The ones Jesus called as disciples were not righteous but sinners. Mark shows us that people, particularly the disciples, are blind. The people were also blind in the sense that they did not understand. Eyes are open when Jesus talks of his suffering, death and resurrection. “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39) Mark shows us that people are bound. In Mark 8-10, Peter, like the others, does not understand. A contradiction arises between what the disciples planned to do and what they actually did. The disciples and Christians are people. People are blind, people are bound, and the disciples are people. Sigmund Freud taught that there were three insults that came to humanity. The Cosmological Insult was that Copernicus found the earth was not center of the universe. The Biological Insult was that humanity was not especially created but had developed. The Psychological Insult was that the human being is not the master of his own house. The Gospel frees us from the prison of having to be our own lord by confessing that Jesus is Lord. There are three great mottos of Socratic education. The beginning of education is first to admit you do not know anything. Next, examine your life. "The unexamined life is not worth living," said Socrates. For Socrates, the goal in life is to know yourself. In comparison, the Bible teaches that the human heart is fundamentally unknowable to the human. Jesus has compassion and associates with the disciples who have this fundamental problem. The call of Jesus has the power to get the disciples to act and follow him. Their disobedience does not disqualify them as disciples. People are blind, people are bound, and the disciples are people. Is there a difference between the Peter of Mark 14 and the Peter of Acts 2? Peter in himself does not change in himself. The difference is that the Holy Spirit descends in Acts. Peter then speaks the Word of God with power and authority because of the Holy Spirit. The promises of a new heart and coming Spirit are true in Christ.

Luke - Acts is considered in this part three discussion. Examine the Structure of Luke. The Gospels present the significance of Jesus. When Luke talks about order, he is not talking about chronology but theology primarily. Luke uses Mark's gospel as a source. Luke's order has more to do with the structure of Luke's narrative starting in Luke 3 and through Acts 28. Luke-Acts is a geographical presentation of God's action in the Son and in the Spirit. Luke focuses on the Son and Acts focuses on the Spirit. Luke 1 and 2 are the Birth Narratives and an introduction to the life of Jesus. Luke 3:1-9:50 shows Jesus' Ministry Outside Jerusalem. Luke 9:51-19:27 reflects the Journey to Jerusalem. Luke 9:51-19:17 contains most of the material unique to Luke. Luke 19:28 - 24:52 accounts for Jesus in Jerusalem. Acts is another geographical presentation but it moves in the opposite direction. In Acts 1:1-8:1, the Church is in Jerusalem. In Acts 8:1-9:31, the Church moves out to Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. Acts 10:1-28:31 takes the Church outside Israel to the ends of the earth. Luke's geographical pattern has a theological purpose that shows the Lordship of God over history. Luke not only traveled with Paul but was a preacher of the Gospel and historian of the early Church.

Reflect on part seven of the Gospel of Mark. Mark shows us that Jesus is the Messiah and also shows us that Jesus is the Son of God. An important theme in Mark is what it means that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. The characters in Mark each represent different ways how to make sense of Jesus. It is at the Cross where we see what it means that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. Christology is what Mark says about Jesus. Soteriology is doctrine relating to salvation and theology is doctrine relating to God. Mark’s Anthropology holds that Christians are righteous before God and yet still sinful in themselves. Although the Christian is simultaneously righteous and sinner, it does not mean he has two identities. Righteous and justified is the Christian’s identity before God. Before God you are either justified or sinner – either in Christ or not in Christ. Jesus determines your standing before God and nothing else.

Reflect on part eight of the Gospel of Mark. Consider that ongoing sin will lead to the disqualification or qualification of our identity in Christ. The new name Christian summons us to faith in Christ. It summons us away from the sin and death that defines the old age and us in the old Adam. The Christian life is a battle between unbelief and faith. We remember the book of Numbers with the accounts of the people out of Egypt, wandering in the desert, and before the promised land. There are moments in life, some impulsive, where unbelief is stronger than faith. Suicide reflects a despair that grows out of realizing you cannot make it. It represents moments of unfaith. The act of calling the sinner’s sin is so that he may be saved in the day of the Lord. Reflect that discipline in the Church is always oriented toward the Gospel restoration.

Reflect on part six of the Gospel of Mark. Examine Mark 15 and the events leading up to the crucifixion. The language of kingship is emphasized in Mark. Everything in Mark’s Gospel leads up to the moment of the centurion’s confession that Jesus is the Son of God. Reflect on 1 Corinthians 15:13-14, "But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain."

Reflect on part five of the Gospel of Mark. Examine the circumstances surrounding the Roman Triumph. Mark is writing to suffering Christians in Rome and emphasizes details of Jesus’ crucifixion that show ironically and truly that his crucifixion is His triumph. The significance of the Passover meal in the Gospels is Jesus’ interpretation of his own death. Consider the Peter Principle. Church tradition holds that Peter died a faithful martyr’s death in Rome. A negative pastoral point is that Peter shows us that there is never a time when we do not need Jesus. A positive pastoral point is that Peter, despite making mistakes, is still a significant Apostle.

This lecture covers part five of The Sermon on the Mount. Examine that Matthew 5:48, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” is Jesus’ authoritative interpretation of the Law. The Law is holy, righteous, and good. The Law asserts categorically that God is God and we are not. “God gives what He demands,” according to Augustine of Hippo. The way the Gospels are written show Jesus fulfilling the Law and the Prophets. Jesus is the only one whose righteousness exceeds the scribes and the Pharisees. Recognize that the Gospel creates faith that is active in love.

Reflect on part four of the Gospel of Mark. Examine the big event in Mark 11 - the Triumphal Entry. Jesus refers to himself as the one David had called Lord. He ended his teaching not just on the theme of power but on forgiveness. The authority of Jesus was challenged. The temple and city of Jerusalem would be destroyed in 70 AD. Recognize that the important thing is to know is who Jesus really is.

Reflect on part three of the Gospel of Mark. Peter profoundly misunderstood what the Christ should be. In the three Passion Predictions, Jesus predicts his suffering, death, and resurrection. Examine Mark's account of Jesus and the Transfiguration. The disciples thought Jesus would walk into Jerusalem to a palace but Jesus came not to take life but to give his own life. Consider that the Messiah comes to save sinners.

Reflect on part two of the Gospel of Mark. Consider that the point of the secret in Mark is that it needs to be a secret until people know what the secret is. You cannot understand what it means to be the Messiah or the Son of God until he has hung on the Cross. There has to be a Messianic secret because there is a Messianic misunderstanding. What they thought Messiah should do was not what Jesus came to do. Expectations about the Messiah made it almost impossible for the people to imagine that what Jesus was up to was what the Messiah would be up to. Consider that dramatic irony is when the audience knows something that the characters do not. Mark makes clear what it means that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. Mark also makes clear their experience of suffering. The climatic statement in Mark 10:45 is book ended by two stories of a healing of a blind man. What is in between will be important and related to the events that frame it. Inclusio is the literary term. We will have a healing experience like the blind men when it comes to the question of who Jesus is. In Mark 8:31 – 10:45, Jesus tells us what it means that he is the Messiah. Even the disciples cannot understand what it means for Jesus to be the Messiah. The disciples were thinking in terms of temporal benefits, not forgiveness and thought in terms of political independence and the land, not a battle against sin and death. Explore that the Maccabean Revolt was the event that formed 1st century Jewish ideas about what a Messiah should do. Ptolemaic forces controlled Palestine and there was religious desecration and lack of freedom. Against all odds, the Maccabees drove out the Ptolemaic forces. The Maccabees set up the Hasmonean dynasty and had independence for almost 100 years. What a human being expects from their king is not like the actual Messiah Jesus. Jesus loves and has compassion for people. Jesus means to show the kingdom of God is at hand. Consider that it would have been easy for people to just interpret Jesus as a miracle worker.

This lecture covers part seven of The Sermon on the Mount. “All of us are all partially unbelievers,” according to John Calvin. The fight of the Christian life is the fight of faith to believe what God says when it contradicts what you see. Consider that the sins that you cannot forget, God cannot remember. Reflect on Psalm 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

This lecture covers part six of The Sermon on the Mount. Passive righteousness before God is received by faith and active righteousness is defined by love for others. Consider that the Beatitudes are not steps on a ladder to happiness and to God. The Beatitudes describe the “bottom of the ladder” people God comes down to. Christ came to die for sinners, the ungodly, enemies of God, and the weak.

Reflect on part one of the Gospel of Mark. The overwhelming majority of what is in Mark is in Matthew. Mark has become to be appreciated due to the consensus that Mark was written first. All the Gospels are written anonymously. Anything we know about authorship, we know from Church tradition. Through The history of the Church, by Eusebius, we learn that Papias taught Mark was a companion of Peter in Rome and wrote down everything Peter said about Jesus. Mark emphasizes things such as suffering, persecution, the Cross, and following the crucified Messiah. Mark is thought to have been written before the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. Mark tells us who the good news is about. He tells us that Jesus is the Son of God and Messiah. Even though you as the reader know who Jesus is, none of the characters in Mark know who He is. Mark teaches us what it means that Jesus is the Christ and Son of God.

This lecture covers part eight of The Sermon on the Mount. Amazingly, the sentences God speaks about Jesus become, because of Jesus, sentences He speaks about us. We live in the “in-between” eschatological time. We always need to make the distinction of who we are in ourselves and who we are in Jesus. Consider that we need to affirm that anger is absolutely not ok. In Christ, we should not be defined by anger. Anger in real ways can be overcome with love. Active righteousness comes from passive righteousness. Jesus wants to reveal and expose our sin to us. The quicker we see our sin, the faster we will run to our Savior.

This lecture covers part four of The Sermon on the Mount. In the first five chapters of Matthew, Jesus reenacts the crucial moments in the history of Israel. Consider that a king was slaughtering baby boys, Jesus passes through the waters of baptism, and He went into the wilderness 40 days and 40 nights. Jesus will save his people from their sins. Examine that Matthew is telling us something theological when he uses the term "mountain". Jesus offers an authoritative interpretation of the Law which intensifies it. The Sermon on the Mount is the definitive statement of the Law of God. Consider that Matthew 5:21-48 is what the righteousness of God looks like. Thought and deed are equated and become both liable to judgment. The Law is interpreted in such a way that everyone comes under a death sentence. Reflect on Matthew 5:48, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

This lecture covers part three of The Sermon on the Mount. Faith is given and created by God as He speaks His Gospel. The Gospel creates faith that is active in love. How can this radical love be created if not humanly possible but should define the Christian in the Church? To generate radical love is to preach Christ as gift. The Word creates the faith that generates love. In basic terms we affirm the human mind and the goodness of it. Jesus was raised from the dead. Reflect on what creates faith in the resurrection is God who can raise the dead saying that He raised Jesus. Where there is no life, God promises life.

This lecture covers part two of The Sermon on the Mount. Our relationship before God is defined by the righteousness of Jesus received by faith. Our relationship with others is defined not by selfishness but by service or love for others. Faith comes first and then love flows. Consider faith is the measure of any good work of love. The measure of a good work is if it is in conformity to what is revealed and if it is done in faith. You need to have faith in God before ultimately having love for a person. Who you are before God is determined by what He has done in Jesus – the gift He has given received by faith. In the Sermon on the Mount we are called to a love defined by the Cross, suffering and self-sacrificial. There are two fundamental ways to hear the Sermon on the Mount. You can either hear the Sermon on the Mount in fear or in faith. The Sermon on the Mount is intended to both evoke fear and preach Christ and cause faith. Martin Luther reflected that, “A man does not live for himself alone, he lives only for others.” Where does faith come from? Faith comes by hearing the Gospel.

Explore what it means to follow the crucified Christ. For the Reformers, the evidence that the Gospel was going forward was that they were being martyred. We try because we have been crucified with Christ. Reflect on Romans 8:13, "... but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live."

This lecture introduces the idea of the theologian of the Cross or theologian of Glory. For Martin Luther, there were only two types of theology- one of glory (man involved) and one of the Cross. Explore the theology of the Cross through Galatians 2. For Luther, the Glory theologian thinks they are an essentially free person. The theologian of the Cross recognizes that they are bound. A theologian of Glory thinks that suffering should stop but a theologian of the Cross understands that it is suffering that God saves us through. Luther made the distinction between Jesus as Gift and Jesus as Example. When the Gospels are read, you must first hear Jesus given as a Gift for you. To “take up your cross” is not a call to do something. Crucifixion is something that you suffer. The Christian life is life after death. According to Matthew, what makes you a disciple of Jesus is Jesus’ cross as your death. What makes you a follower of Jesus is forgiveness not following.

This lecture covers part one of The Sermon on the Mount. Explore Martin Luther’s thoughts on the Sermon on the Mount. It is the longest section of Jesus’ recorded teaching and has been a major source of debate in the history of the Church. The Sermon on the Mount was the ethics or code of Christian living for those in Christian monasteries. Where might we get a righteousness that exceeds the scribes and Pharisees? How does that affect the way we read the Sermon on the Mount? The Sermon on the Mount has a lot to say about what a Christian life should look like. Consider the distinction between Jesus as Gift or Example and distinction between a theology of the Cross or theology of glory and between Law and Gospel. Theology comes from reading the Bible and done well should enable you to go back to the Bible and read it better. There are two kinds of righteousness because people live in two kinds of relationships. The relationship we have before God is creature to Creator. The righteousness before God is something we receive from God - we are passive. The key word in the passive relationship is faith. The key word in the active relationship is love. We commonly replace faith with a kind of morality or metaphysics or rationality to justify ourselves. Consider that what atheists call atheism, the Bible calls idolatry.

Explore an overview of Matthew. Matthew was by far the most widely read Gospel of the early Church. Matthew looks as though it was written from a Jewish-Christian perspective and for a Jewish-Christian audience. Matthew speaks universally to different times, places, and circumstances. Matthew shows us our sin then shows us our Savior in a profound way. The idea that Matthew wrote this Gospel comes from the early Church. Papias said, “Matthew collected the logia” of Jesus. Every manuscript we have of Matthew is in Greek and there are no signs of it being a translation. The evidence suggests the early Church did not dispute that Matthew wrote the Gospel. It seems likely written after 70 AD when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed. There is a tension between the Church as fulfillment of prophecy and the Synagogue and Jewish leaders. The tension emerged after the temple was destroyed. Matthew’s dominant emphasis is Jesus as the fulfillment of all Israel’s scriptural hopes and God’s plan of salvation. God has been faithful to and has fulfilled His promises to Israel and to the nations by acting in Jesus. Matthew is carefully put together in its structure and order in which it tells the story of Jesus. Jesus reenacts Israel’s history.

Jesus is Scripture fulfilled. Jesus’ name is a fulfillment of Scripture. Consider Matthew 1:21, "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." His death and resurrection is the fulfillment of Scripture. Reflect that even a Roman soldier documented in Matthew 27:54 cried out, “Truly this was the Son of God!” The name Jesus indicates that this God who is with us is for us.

Jesus is presented as the Messiah. Matthew’s principle tension of confessing Jesus Christ or not is based on a right or incorrect reading of the Old Testament. For Matthew, Jesus is the King of kings, Lord of lords, the Messiah and the Son of God. In Matthew 16, Jesus makes His first prediction that He will have to suffer and die. For Matthew, the Old Testament read rightly is preparation for and promise of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ whole life is not just the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises in general but in particular. Matthew points out that Jesus acknowledged promises that were yet to be fulfilled. Jesus introduces an overlapping time of this present evil age and the new creation. God’s plan is fulfilled in two comings of Jesus. In Christ we are both sinners in ourselves and righteous in Christ. The birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ inaugurated this time between. The Second Coming of Jesus will inaugurate the end of the time between.

This lecture covers part two of the Distinctiveness of Jesus. Another distinction of Jesus is his teaching through antithesis. “You have heard that it was said…but I say to you…" The interpretation of the Law by Jesus intensifies and internalizes the Law. Jesus has created an identity between intention and action, thought and deed. The old Adam is put to death but God raises the dead in Christ. Also, a distinction of Jesus is his teaching on purity and original sin. Original sin is what we have because we are human. Homo peccator is the phrase which means "a human being is a sinner". A distinction of Jesus is his call to and fellowship with sinners. John announces judgment but Jesus comes and is judged for sinners.

This lecture covers part one of the Distinctiveness of Jesus. There are five things about Jesus that are theologically discontinuous with the context of Judaism at the time. The Distinctiveness of Jesus includes the fact that Jesus’ call to repentance is different than John’s. John is the end of one time and Jesus is the beginning of a new time. The repentance John calls for is like a baptism – a washing away of sin – a cleansing before the judgment that is coming. Jesus’ call to repentance does not have the immediacy of judgment associated with it that John’s call had. There is time to repent in Jesus’ call to repentance. Repentance is something God works in you by speaking His Law. God produces the faith that believes the Gospel that Jesus saves sinners. What does announcing judgment do? Martin Luther says, “He willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” Christian growth is having the faith to believe it is not who you are in yourself but who you are in Christ that defines you. Another distinction of Jesus is the exorcisms he performed. What is happening in Jesus’ ministry is a new Exodus, a new deliverance.