Character in Context

This week we are going to make good use of my last year spent studying laments in Hebrew scripture and culture. We’ll talk about the word Abba and what it does and does not mean, and whether or not Gethsemane was actually a garden or if the word points to something other than the traditional understanding.

This is both a beautiful and dreadful section of scripture. Beautiful because Yeshua/Jesus is revealing how the Passover is redefined through His ministry, and dreadful because of Peter’s proud assurances that he will never deny His Master—and calling Him a false prophet in the process.

Before we get into the actual breaking of the bread and drinking of the wine, we need to talk about the Passover in the first century and what we can know (and can’t know) about it through contemporary writings. Not contemporary to us but contemporary to Yeshua/Jesus and His followers.

Was the Last Supper a Passover seder or not? John and the Synoptics seem to disagree. But this week what we are really going to ask is: "Is that even the right question or are we missing the bigger theological picture of what the author of Mark (as well as Matthew, Luke, and John) was trying to communicate to us?" Lots to discuss this week about ancient Hospitality laws and social etiquette.

This week we are going to talk about the Greek word paradidomi, translated as handed over, betrayed, delivered over, etc. in both the Gospels and in the Greek OT, the Septuagint. What does the way paradidomi was used in translating the prophets teach us about Yeshua’s/Jesus’s betrayal?

I am back and I am going to talk very briefly about why the episodes stopped and what has been going on over the last five months. As for this episode, I was writing out Mark part  61 concerning the Passover, and about two pages in, I realized that not everyone would be familiar with the Biblical calendar so we’ll be covering that today. We’ll be covering all four Biblical new years mentioned in Scripture but with a special emphasis, obviously, on the festival calendar because—you know, Passover is the subject of the final three chapters in Mark. These will no longer be airing on HNR because I just can't keep up with both shows nonstop and have decided to air only Context for Kids on HNR. Coming up with an hour and a half of material every week is just way too much and the kid's show is more important to me.

We knew how to celebrate and love Christmas, but a lot of people really struggle when coming into the Biblical festivals and especially Sukkot. We’re going to take a look at some really common challenges based on a great conversation on my social media wall and come up with some solutions and we’re also going to talk about that elusive spiritual fruit of joy—which doesn’t mean being happy all the time!

The Prosperity Gospel comes in many forms—all of them smacking of paganism and an extreme misreading of the purpose of blessings and curses in the Bible and oftentimes a lopsided cherry-picking of wisdom literature. As this aberration curses those who we are commanded to bless, we’re going to talk about how believers should respond to the reality that not everyone who seems blessed has their blessings due to righteousness and not everyone who seems cursed has their troubles due to unrighteousness.

Traditionally, the barren women of Scripture are studied and celebrated on Rosh HaShanah—so why are they historically considered cursed and sometimes even experience persecution by other women? And what does Proverbs 31 woman have to say about the perfect wife/woman?

Yeah, you guys get the picture. I have my snark on for this one. Yeshua/Jesus is pretty specific here but we don't like it so we try to find workarounds. Let's look at these final verses of the Olivet Discourse in Mark 13 to find out exactly what He is and is not saying.