28
votes
Accepted
Why did Jesus begin his ministry at age 30?
Why did Jesus begin his ministry at age 30?
Jesus a sympathetic High Priest that can sympathize with our weaknesses. For this reason, he came to earth born as a man having flesh and blood, and ...
- 13.2k
20
votes
How is it possible for Jesus to be quoted in the NT during moments of solitude (Gethsemane) or away from the disciples (Nicodemus, Pilate etc.)?
There are two common answers to this question:
A. Inspiration
All scripture is given by inspiration of God (2 Tim. 3:16)
On this view the authors learned of these details by revelation from God, ...
- 14.5k
15
votes
What is the meaning of Luke 3:8?
Luke 3:8 is essentially a caution to the Israelites against complacency and against relying on their ancestory or bloodline to justify them before God. John as the preparer of the way - is calling for ...
- 1,558
14
votes
Is there any ambiguity in Luke 2:5 to whether Mary and Joseph were already married?
There are three variants of the Greek text here:
(a) ... τῇ μεμνηστευμένῃ αὐτῷ γυναικί ... ("his betrothed wife")
(b) ... τῇ μεμνηστευμένῃ αὐτῷ ... ("his betrothed")
(c) ... τῇ γυναικί ...
- 10.2k
12
votes
When did, "Satan fall from Heaven like lightning." Luke 10:18?
OP: Is it possible, through the interpretation of scripture, to determine approximately when this event happened?
Yes, I believe it is.
Luke 10:18 in Greek (SBL GNT), with the New American Standard ...
- 24.6k
12
votes
Accepted
What's wrong with being wise and learned that warrants being denied by God the secrets of His kingdom? Luke 10:21
The point isn’t so much about being LESS wise and LESS learned. No, rather the point is to be humble, because knowledge can cause the possessor to become puffed up or conceited, arrogant.
“If anyone ...
- 8,412
12
votes
In Luke, Jesus speaks about the righteous not needing a physician. Just who were the righteous? (Luke 5:31)
To answer your main question, there are none righteous in Luke 5:31. Christ is speaking ironically here. Even though His metaphor about the healthy people not needing a doctor (symbolic for sinners ...
- 2,882
11
votes
What is the significance of both the priest and the Levite in the Good Samaritan parable?
Setting to the scene
The parable of the Good Samaritan is told by Jesus shortly after an expert of the law summarizes the law into 1) Love God and 2) Love your neighbor. This scene occurs in the town ...
- 7,563
11
votes
Luke 5:37-38 - KJV "bottles" vs. NKJV "wineskins"?
The word used in the Greek original is ἀσκός “skin, hide”, but usually a “skin made into a bag, wine skin”.
http://perseus.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.9:2:100.LSJ
The point of ...
- 5,225
11
votes
Accepted
Markan priority, Q, and the parable of the mustard seed
A fundamental problem of this question is the a priori of "the current consensus of the writing of the gospels". Such a consensus does not exist. This two-sources-theory is just one of several ...
- 579
11
votes
Accepted
Why did the disciples have so much trouble recognizing Jesus after his resurrection?
In the first case, Mary was exceedingly upset. 'They have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid him.' Grief overcame her. And frustration, that she could neither find Jesus nor lay ...
- 28.1k
11
votes
Are there contextual cues which suggest Jesus calming the storm does not require Jesus to be God Almighty?
A miracle does not necessarily originate with the person who is seen doing it. Consider the following similar miracles performed by persons whom no one would consider to be "God Almighty."
...
- 3,350
10
votes
Accepted
In Luke 11:50-51, why does Luke seem to refer to Abel as a "prophet"?
Not all prophets have recorded prophecy
It should be noted that it is possible to a prophet and not have any of your prophetic utterances recorded in scripture, for example in 1 Kings 18:4 we read "...
- 3,657
10
votes
In Luke 7:18-23, why did John the Baptist ask Jesus if he was the Messiah since he baptized Jesus and heard God speak about Jesus?
That's a very good question, and one that I wondered about for a long time.
To understand why John asked such a question, you have to understand that he was in prison and had only stories about the ...
- 127
10
votes
Accepted
Why the change in language between Luke 11:13 and Matthew 7:11?
There is actually no Greek manuscript that explicitly states what the NIV implies in Matthew 7:11: "how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts ...". The Greek simply contains the ...
- 10.2k
10
votes
In Luke 3:16, what does:"not worthy to untie the straps of his sandals" mean?
I wouldn't call it a "deeper hidden meaning", but a "graphic obvious meaning" -- at least to John the Baptist's hearers.
Here, and in the parallel synoptic passages (Matt 3:11 // Mark 1:7 // Luke 3:...
- 24.6k
10
votes
Why did angels speak a sentence of eleven words without a verb?
The short answer is because they chose to. This "quip" answer reveals the challenge of answering most "why" questions, as "why" normally requires inference of motive, rather than actually interpreting ...
- 19.9k
10
votes
Forgiveness of Christ
Peter speaks to a group that had gathered in Solomon's Portico in response to his healing a man who had been lame from birth. Only Jews were allowed in that particular area. He speaks of Jesus' ...
- 4,435
9
votes
Accepted
Is κεχαριτωμένη synonymous with πλήρης χάριτος?
No, it is not. As they are used in the New Testament, πλήρης χάριτος describes one's own character and capacity to bestow favor; κεχαριτωμένος is a designation of God's attitude and actions toward the ...
- 26.1k
9
votes
Son of a snake or illegitimate son of a snake?
"Is there any support for this claim?" It seems unlikely.
On the one hand, so far as I can tell, Malina and Rohrbaugh offer no evidence in support of their assertion that the phrase ...
- 24.6k
9
votes
Did Jesus ascend to Paradise on the day of the crucifixion? Is this a contradiction?
There is no such contradiction when we understand the original language of the biblical text.
In Hebrew and Greek there were no punctuation marks like now, which allows us to make spaces between the ...
9
votes
Meaning of כָּמ֑וֹךָ in Hebrew / ὡς in Greek ("love thy neighbor *as* thyself")
The preposition כְּמוֹ (of which כָּמ֑וֹךָ is the 2nd person singular inflected form) means "like, as".
There is a Hebrew prayer called מִי כָמֹכָה "Mi Chamocha" from it's opening ...
- 296
8
votes
Comma? "Verily I say unto thee today, ..." or "Verily I say unto thee, today..."
The Bible does not agree with the view that Jesus and the criminal went to heaven on the day that Jesus spoke to him. Jesus had foretold that , after his being killed, he would not be raised up until ...
- 13.2k
8
votes
Accepted
How to reconcile Luke 2:11 and Acts 2:36?
A rhetorical response question would be, "Why would one think Act 2:36 is referring to Jesus being 'made Lord and Christ after the resurrection'?" This idea is reading more into Act 2:36 than is there....
- 19.9k
8
votes
Accepted
Why was it a public disgrace for Elizabeth to be barren? (Luke 1:25)
Two reasons barrenness was undesirable
In antiquity there were typically two reasons that barrenness was undesirable. The first, which isn't really an issue in this text had to do with the security of ...
- 7,563
8
votes
What species of flower might Jesus have been referring to when he said, "Consider the lilies"?
According to John Chancellor, in his book The Flowers and Fruits of the Bible (NY: Beaufort Books, Inc., 1982, p.42), the lily (actually "lilies of the field") Jesus spoke of in Matthew 6:28-29 was ...
- 7,084
8
votes
Is the younger son’s inheritance restored in Luke 15:31?
An article in Jewish Encyclopedia sheds a little light on this topic.
My summary of the information combined with information from the parable is:
The father can do what he wishes with his property
...
- 883
8
votes
Accepted
Did the shepherds leave their flocks?
The simple answer is, obviously, YES. we can deduce this because:
The town of Bethlehem was a small town and they could not have taken their flocks with them
They left immediately (Luke 2:15) and ...
- 82.3k
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