Did ancient Judaism teach that personal misfortune was proof of sin?
LOY Excursus: Sources of the “Strings of Pearls” in Luke’s Gospel
The “strings of pearls” (Luke 8:16-18; 9:23-27; 16:16-18; 17:1-6) offer an example of the outsized influence of the First Reconstruction on the synoptic tradition.
Cumulative Life of Yeshua Greek Reconstructions
The reconstructed Greek text of the Anthology (thus far completed) with accompanying English translation.
Yeshua’s Immersion
The words of the heavenly voice that spoke at Jesus’ immersion foreshadowed the trajectory of Jesus’ career.
Yohanan the Immerser’s Execution
The story of John the Baptist’s martyrdom was rich with allusions to stories from the Hebrew Scriptures.
Yohanan the Immerser’s Eschatological Discourse
John the Baptist anticipated the coming of an Elijah-like priestly messiah who would purify the Temple on an eschatological Day of Atonement.
Yohanan the Immerser’s Exhortations
In Yohanan the Immerser’s Exhortations John the Baptist instructs his audience how they are to behave in order to bear the fruits of repentance.
Yohanan the Immerser Demands Repentance
In Yohanan the Immerser Demands Repentance John the Baptist challenges his audience, which had gone through all the trouble of going out to the Jordan River to receive his baptism, to accept his even more important advice: to repent of their evil deeds and imitate the faithfulness of Abraham their father.
“Destruction and Redemption” complex
A reconstruction of Jesus’ prophecy of the coming destruction of the Temple and future redemption of Jerusalem.
A Voice Crying
An examination of the Jewish setting of John the Baptist’s proclamation of an immersion of repentance for the release of Israel’s sin indebtedness.
“Choose Repentance or Destruction” complex
In the “Choose Repentance or Destruction” complex Jesus urges his contemporaries to repent or face dire consequences in this world and in the world to come.
Darnel Among the Wheat Parable
Is the Darnel Among the Wheat parable an allegory about eschatological events, or a lesson about God’s character?
A Woman’s Misplaced Blessing
When a woman in the crowd praised Jesus’ person, he redirected her attention to the Kingdom of Heaven, which is realized through the doing of God’s word.
Yeshua, His Mother and Brothers
Did Jesus reject his natural family in favor of a spiritual kinship, or did he pay Mary and his brothers the highest possible compliment?
Four Soils Interpretation
In the Four Soils interpretation Jesus explained the meaning of the imagery in the Four Soils parable.
Four Soils Parable
By not revealing what the Four Soils parable was about until its dramatic conclusion Jesus drew in his audience and held their attention, making them the very thing the parable urged them to be: good listeners.