Archive for category: Bible Study Moment

Let’s look at an overlooked person in the Bible, Barnabas. First, his name is really Joseph but the apostles renamed him Barnabas meaning one who encourages. He is first mentioned in Acts 4:36, 37 when he sells some property and gives the proceeds to the apostles.

Then in Acts 9, where Saul’s conversion is told, Barnabas seems to be the first one to believe that Paul is now not an enemy, when in verse 27 and following Barnabas brings him to the apostles, being a witness to the change in Saul that leads him to go by his other name, Paul.

Next, in Acts 11:19-26, there are disciples in Antioch who start proclaiming the good news about Jesus to Gentiles as well as to Jews. When those in Jerusalem hear the news they send Barnabas to Antioch. After a while in Antioch Barnabas goes to Tarsus to get Paul, who had gone to his hometown for his own protection. They come back to Antioch and it is there where the disciples of Jesus are first called Christians. He and Paul go back to Judea with gifts received from those in Antioch for those in Judea who might need them in anticipation of a predicted famine, and they both return to Antioch, where in Acts 13 the leaders of the church there sense the Holy Spirit telling them to send Paul and Barnabas to Cyprus to share the good news of Jesus. As part of the preparation for them to go the leaders fast and pray, laying their hands on Barnabas and Paul. They have John Mark with them as an assistant but in Acts 13:13 he leaves them and goes back to Jerusalem.

Continuing their journey, in Acts 14 Paul and Barnabas are in Lystra where Paul heals a man with a disability. The people there decide that Barnabas and Paul are the gods, Zeus and Hermes. After returning to Antioch, in Acts 15:36-38 they decide to revisit those followers from their first journey; Barnabas, the encourager, wants to bring John Mark with them again but Paul doesn’t, and the two end up going separately, Barnabas with John Mark, and Paul with Silas.

Since the rest of Acts is basically the adventures of Paul, we don’t have any more biblical record of what Barnabas does after that. Mark, the one Paul wanted to leave behind does get mentioned in some of Paul’s letters as being a great help to Paul.

Mark Phillips

For Tabatha’s Installation Service this Sunday, where I anticipate there will be some laying on of hands following the example of the church leaders in Antioch, I will wear my necktie with the winged lion, the symbol for St. Mark, aka John Mark on it.

Matthew 5:3-11 is where what has become known at the Beatitudes is found. This is also the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. In Luke 6, there is a similar passage, 6:20-26 being blessings and woes beginning the Sermon on the Plain.
A leader in one of the Christian groups I was involved in in college suggested that a way to grow in your faith is to memorize the Beatitudes, and then, once you had done that then memorize the rest of the Sermon on the Mount. Good idea. You can also do the same thing with Luke’s Sermon on the Plain. It’s shorter.

Mark Phillips

Now let’s look at the temptation of Jesus stories in Matthew 4 and Luke 4. The order is different. If we use Matthew’s order as 1, 2, 3; then Luke has them 1, 3, 2. So what? Now if we look at John, basically the same temptations appear within successive stories. This was brought out in a Life and Teachings of Christ class I took in college.

In John 6:15, at the end of John’s version of the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus takes refuge up the mountain because the people want to make him king, very similar to the devil offering all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus worships him, Matthew’s 3^rd temptation.

Then the next day, in John 6:30, 31 some of the people ask for a sign (or miracle) citing their ancestors eating manna from heaven. That request looks a lot like Matthew’s 1^st temptation, turning stones into bread.

Then after Jesus talks about being the bread of life, in John 7:1-5 his brothers urge him to go to Jerusalem and do some great work there to gain much more publicity. This sounds similar to the 2^nd temptation, throw yourself off the temple because Psalm 91 promises that you’ll be ok.

Mark Phillips

The books of 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings is a 4 volume history of the Israelites from the birth of Samuel through the southern kingdom (Judah) ending with the Babylonian exile.

1 Samuel goes through the reign of King Saul, the first king of the united kingdom. So David & Goliath is in 1 Samuel 17.

2 Samuel covers the reign of King David.

1 Kings covers the reign of King Solomon.

2 Kings goes from the kingdom splitting into the northern kingdom of Israel with 10 tribes and the southern kingdom with 2 tribes, Judah and Benjamin through the time of the Judah being carried into exile. It covers hundreds of years while the other 3 are one lifetime. And it can be confusing to follow since the reference points are tied to what is happening in the other kingdom, e.g. in the fifth year of this king of Israel this other person becomes king in Judah.

1 & 2 Chronicles is a 2 volume history covering basically the same time period. Obviously this is a shorter history with fewer details, at least some of the time. For example in Chronicles the transition from David to Solomon is nice and neat. In 1 Kings 1 it is not nearly as straightforward.

Mark Phillips