How Jesus’ cryptic warning has given rise to an array of conflicting interpretations. What did Jesus actually intend?
The Holy Study Circle: The Ḥavurah (‘Group’) in Rabbinic Literature and Jesus’ Study Circle
The pattern of activity within Jesus’ group is very similar to the modes of operation known from the ḥavurah of the tannaitic-amoraic period.
Locating Jesus’ Place on the Political-Ideological Spectrum of Second Temple Jewish Society
Was Jesus on the right, left, or near the center of the political spectrum of first-century Jewish society?
Man’s Contractured Arm
How did Jesus balance the need to honor the Sabbath with the need to help people who were suffering?
Man With Edema
According to Jesus, God sets aside his divine prerogatives in order to alleviate human suffering.
The Seven Types of Pharisees and the Fear of God in the Synoptic Gospels
Ancient Jewish sources attest to a debate over which motivation for keeping the commandments—fear or love—was most highly to be esteemed. This debate surfaces, among other places, in the Talmudic discussions of the seven types of Pharisees. These seven types and the debate over love versus fear illuminate important aspects of Jesus’ teaching.
Halakha in the Gospels
The Gospels describe Jesus and his followers as keeping halakha to a relatively high extent; they were a group to whom the law was important.
What Is the Leaven of the Pharisees?
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke give three different answers. Which, if any, is original?
Call of Levi
In the Call of Levi story we learn about Jesus’ attitude toward sinful persons and about his relationship with the Pharisees.
The Good Samaritan
The parable of the Good Samaritan came as a response to the lawyer’s question, “And who is my neighbor?” The lawyer wanted Jesus to draw a circle defining who is inside, and therefore the neighbor I must love, and who is outside. Jesus, by using Leviticus 19:34, ingeniously turned the lawyer’s question on its head.
This article is a sample chapter of Marc Turnage’s, Windows into the Bible: Cultural and Historical Insights into the Bible for Modern Readers (Springfield, Mo.: Logion, 2016), which will be released at the end of March 2016.