It seems like Jesus’s disciples were focused much of the time on trivialities, things that were very short term or weren’t really important.

The event we call “the transfiguration” is recorded by Matthew, Mark and Luke. In all three, it immediately follows Jesus stating, “There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 16:28, Mark 9:1, Luke 9:27)

When Jesus visited his hometown synagogue, we’re told he did the scripture reading “as was his custom”, and then sat down to teach from the passage. (Luke 4:16-21) It’s here we learn that Jesus had acted as a rabbi (perhaps not the rabbi) in this synagogue for some time, prior to the official start of his ministry. No doubt he gained valuable experience as a teacher in this way, and he also would have become very familiar with the scriptures. Every teacher will tell you that they learn more than their students, by having to prepare the lessons.

Before we get into the relationship between Herod and John the Baptist, we have to pin down which “Herod” we’re talking about. As you may know, there’s more than one, and we need some sort of program that identifies the cast of characters.

The accounts that have come to us in the Bible are greatly compressed. Incidents are recorded in a paragraph, when they actually must have taken hours or days. Conversations that occupy a sentence or two were surely longer. Sometimes decades or generations are skipped over entirely.

The day Jesus was raised, he made several appearances to small numbers of his followers. One of these was joining a pair of disciples walking from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus. You remember the story. They didn’t recognize him, but he conducted a Bible class as they walked, drawing out of the Old Testament scriptures the necessity for the Messiah to die and be raised. They invited him to have supper with them, and finally their eyes were opened to see who he was. Then poof! He was gone. Their reaction is worth thinking about:

Where does your food come from? Mine comes from a grocery store or occasionally a farmers’ market. Perhaps you raise some yourself. (I have a couple of tomato plants, but that’s all.) If you’re a farmer or rancher you raise a lot of it yourself, and in fact you are where my food comes from, although it may pass through several layers of middlemen in between.

Where I live in North America, the days are getting shorter. Summer is just about over, and with the shorter days we know that autumn is almost here.

Very few Old Testament passages are quoted in all four gospels. Maybe only this one that I’m looking at in Isaiah 40:3. All four gospel writers record that John the Baptist cited this passage in answer to the question, “Who are you?” John said he was the fulfillment, he was in fact the voice crying in the wilderness.

Jesus asked questions. As we know, this is an effective teaching technique. Several of his questions were directed to people who were trying to challenge him, and his questions fired the challenge right back at them. We may not feel like we’re doubting or challenging him, but I think we can benefit from taking his questions to heart. Part of the effectiveness of teaching by asking questions happens when we explore the “question behind the question”, as it’s sometimes called. Let’s look at a few.

In the final year of his ministry, controversy over Jesus was ramping up, especially in Jerusalem. Rather than try to smooth things out, the Teacher did and said things that actually fed the controversy. John 8 records a series of confrontations with the religious authorities, which left the authorities boiling and the disciples confused.

We’re all familiar with the service of remembrance established by the Lord, where (at his command) we eat a bit of bread and drink a bit of wine. The Lord explicitly tells us they are symbols, and he explains them. Regarding the wine, he says:

Sometimes childhood is referred to as our “formative years”. We learn our first language and a whole lot of other firsts. We absorb attitudes and biases, along with skills and experiences, that strongly influence what we will become as adults. Even our taste in food is shaped.

In the culture I live in, it’s common to hear, “That offends me,” or, “I find that offensive,” or something similar. In English the dictionary definition of “offend” is: “To cause to be upset or to hurt the feelings of someone, esp. by being rude or showing a lack of respect.” And that’s exactly what people mean when they say one of those things. Culturally, it has come to be considered very negative, to cause someone to be offended.

Luke records three brief conversations Jesus had with would-be followers. They might not have all happened at the same time – Luke may have grouped them together because they all revolve around the same thing. My Bible, like some others, inserts little section headings to help you find what you might be looking for.

I’m sure you’ve heard Psalm 84:10 quoted any number of times: “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” When someone quotes it they generally mean, “I would be very happy to have a lowly place as long as it’s in God’s house, rather than enjoy the (assumed) wealth or power gained by the wicked.”

There are a few passages in the Bible that nearly everyone can quote or at least recognize, even if they have little or no familiarity with the Bible. One of these is the angels singing, “Peace on earth!” at the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:14). This is generally taken as rejoicing in the one who will now bring peace to the earth. However, the most commonly quoted version of this song appears not to be accurate. Nearly all other versions render the lyric as, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” or “On earth peace to those who have his good will!”

How long can we go without air? For most of us, 3 to 5 minutes is the maximum. Trained breath-hold divers can go well beyond this, but even for them, the limit is in minutes.

I’m really looking forward to being at a week-long Bible retreat next week. There will be classes, and I look forward to hearing scriptural insights from the presenters. Importantly, there will also be time to interact with fellow believers, sharing ideas, sharing meals, sharing time. Sharing our faith, our hope and our love.

From time to time, I’ll be talking with someone and they’ll express that they don’t really like getting into Bible prophecy. I think what they mean is that they don’t enjoy trying to interpret the minute details, especially trying to figure out in advance what will happen in the “last days” – the time just before and after the return of Christ.