Jesus eats His last meal with His disciples. This was the Passover meal (vv. 14-20). As it was drawing to a close, He instituted the ordinance that the church calls"Communion” or “The Lord’s Supper.” The bread and wine represented Christ’s broken b …
Paul says, Tychicus is a dear friend, who faithfully works and serves the Lord with us, and he will give you the news about me (v. 7). I am sending him to cheer you up by telling you how we are getting along (v. 8). Onesimus, that dear and faithful follower from your own gr …
The island of Malta is located 60 miles south of Sicily. The ship was lost but all 276 of the men were saved by the hand of God. The inhabitants of the island showed great kindness to the shipwrecked men (vv. 1-2). As Paul was throwing wood on the fire a poisonous snake fastened …
It seems that whenever Jesus talked about His death, it brought out some spiritual flaws in the lives of the disciples. In the present passage, we see them arguing with one another about who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom. Leaving the north country Jesus and His disci …
The elder son comes in from the field to find a party for the younger son going on (vv. 25-28). In the illustration of the younger son in this passage, Jesus has made it clear that the publicans and sinners were guilty of the obvious sins of the flesh. At this point in the pa …
Christians in Corinth were surrounded by sexual temptation. The city had a reputation even among the heathen for sexual immorality and religious prostitution. It was in this kind of society that Paul delivered these instructions on sex and marriage. He deals with a set of problems concerning which …
Psalm 96 quotes verses 23-33 with a few minor omissions. This includes a threefold instruction to the Lord’s people about singing: …
In this short personal letter to Philemon Paul writes from prison as a friend to a friend (v. 1). Paul is imprisoned in Rome while awaiting trial after his appeal to Caesar (Acts 28:16, 30- 31). Although several names are mentioned, the main content of the letter is addressed to Ph …
In this chapter I can’t help but be impressed with David’s brutal honesty about himself. He doesn’t attempt to project positive images about himself but is forthright and objective. Because of his spiritual poverty he’s ready for a mighty work of God in his life and he desperately needs one. He …
In celebration of the Passover meal, they were to eat bread made without leaven (v. 15). This is flatbread made with no yeast. In fact, if you ate anything made with yeast during this festival, you would be excommunicated from Israel. The only work they were allowed to do during t …