| By Andy Moyle | 1 min 41 secs | 0 Comments
No-one knows when As Kees stated yesterday, the events prophesied in this passage ended up happening in AD 70 when Nero destroyed the temple. Matthew’s parallel passage used “prophetic telescoping” where one describes two mountains that look side by side when viewed at a distance, but as you fly over them are actually many miles […]
| By Andy Moyle | 2 mins 32 secs | 0 Comments
The end of the age A difficult passage today, full of doom and gloom. The biggest problem with this passage is the depressing ‘end of the world’ theology that seems so prevalent with some very vocal Christians in this day and age. Up to about 150 years ago the Church’s understanding on these and related […]
| By Andy Moyle | 3 mins 37 secs | 0 Comments
Love If I were to sum up this passage in one word it would be love. This is one of several places where Jesus reminds us of the greatest commandment. As the Amplified Bible puts it: “The first and most important one is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; and you […]
| By Andy Moyle | 4 mins 12 secs | 0 Comments
Wave after wave of attacks In 1972 on the southern coast of Oman eight Special Air Service soldiers had been secretly deployed to help the local troops counter the possibility of a Marxist inspired insurrection. These S.A.S. men with thirty local policemen were occupying a mud-walled fort when at 5.30, as dawn was breaking on […]
| By Andy Moyle | 4 mins 2 secs | 0 Comments
Under whose authority? Yesterday’s fig tree cursing and cleansing of the temple were a really big deal, so now the big guns come out to challenge just who Jesus thinks he is. This would be Caiaphas, Annas and the ruling council of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They ask Jesus under what authority He cleansed the […]
| By Andy Moyle | 2 mins 34 secs | 0 Comments
Oh dear Jerusalem… Jesus arrives for the last time at Jerusalem, where He is shortly to die for our sin and rise again. Riding on a donkey The fact that Jesus came on a donkey is significant. He is deliberately fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O […]
| By Andy Moyle | 4 mins 28 secs | 0 Comments
The Servant King Some years ago, I did a three-day walk, with friends, from St Jean Pied-de-Port in France to Pamplona in Spain, over the Pyrenees mountains. It was absolutely gruelling and there were occasional times when I moved to the front of the group, in an effort to forge ahead and bring the end […]
| By Andy Moyle | 2 mins 39 secs | 0 Comments
Pride, parenthood and possessions The two passages in today’s reading are connected by a single issue: pride. It’s a problem that’s addressed repeatedly in the Gospels. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ first words were “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” The opposite of spiritual poverty is secular pride; self-sufficiency leaves no room for […]
| By Andy Moyle | 2 mins 35 secs | 0 Comments
Six characteristics of holiness Jesus and the disciples walk from Lake Galilee to Capernaum. Disciples would walk in a line behind their rabbi, not as a rabble. So as they are walking along there is a discussion, although the Greek word implies more heat than light, about who is greatest. Jesus in the natural would […]