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Acts 18:23-28 meaningOctober 21, 2024
For a third time, Paul leaves Syria to go preach the gospel in the west. He first visits the Galatian churches. Meanwhile, in Ephesus, a man named Apollos comes to town and preaches passionately about Jesus. Priscilla and Aquila teach him about some aspects of faith in Jesus of which Apollos was ignorant. Eventually, the Ephesian believers send Apollos to Corinth. In Corinth, Apollos helps the Corinthian believers by debating the hostile Jews in public and showing persuasively that the Hebrew scriptures prove Jesus was the Messiah.
Acts 18:12-22 meaningOctober 21, 2024
A new Roman proconsul, Gallio, comes to Corinth to govern the province of Achaia. The hostile Jews bring Paul to Gallio and ask him to get rid of Paul. Gallio dismisses them, since there is no criminal charge against Paul. The proconsul of Rome is not concerned with Jewish religious quarrels. The Jews return to Gallio, dragging with them the new leader of the synagogue, Sosthenes, who is apparently a believer. They beat Sosthenes in front of Gallio. Gallio still will not do anything about Paul. Paul and his team decide to leave Corinth. Priscilla and Aquila go with them. The married couple stop in Ephesus to live there. Paul preaches the gospel in Ephesus and tells the interested Jews there that he will return if God wills it. He sails back to Israel, visits the Jerusalem church, then returns to the Syrian Antioch church.
Acts 18:5-11 meaningOctober 21, 2024
Timothy and Silas arrive from Macedonia to Corinth. Their presence frees Paul to preach the gospel full time. Some of the Jews reject the gospel with hostility. Paul announces he will focus on the Gentiles from then on. He leaves the synagogue and begins preaching next door. The leader of the synagogue and his entire household believe in the gospel. Many other Corinthians, Jewish and Greek, believe. Jesus tells Paul in a vision that he will be physically safe in Corinth. Paul teaches in Corinth for a year and a half.
Acts 18:1-4 meaningOctober 21, 2024
Paul leaves Athens and goes to Corinth. There, he preaches the gospel in the synagogue every Sabbath, and works as a tent-maker alongside a married couple of the same trade: Aquila and Priscilla.
Acts 17:22-34 meaningOctober 21, 2024
Paul gives a sermon that does not presume prior knowledge of the Old Testament. Paul compliments the Athenians on how reverent they are toward divine powers. Paul observes that one of the idols in Athens is dedicated to “the unknown god.” He uses this unknown god as a stand-in for the true God, that although He is unknown to the Greeks, He desires to be known by them. Paul explains that the true God is the real power behind all life. He is a God who does not live in temples. Paul claims that God has overlooked the Athenians’ past; they did not know Him and had not heard of Him until now, but now God was calling them to repent and return to Him because He has appointed a day in which everyone will be judged by a Man who was raised from the dead. Some of Paul’s listeners think the claim that God resurrected a Man is too incredible to believe. But others are very interested in what Paul is preaching. Some Greeks even go to him to learn more. They then believe in Jesus. One of the new believers is an Athenian judge.
Acts 17:16-21 meaningOctober 21, 2024
The countless amount of idols in Athens bothers Paul. He preaches in both the synagogue and the Agora (market). Local Greek philosophers are interested in what Paul says. They take him to the Areopagus, a stony hill where debates were held. They give Paul the chance to preach.
Acts 17:10-15 meaningOctober 21, 2024
Because of the danger to the new Thessalonian believers, Paul and his team sneak out of town to the nearby city of Berea. The citizens of Berea are more thoughtful and mature than those in Thessalonica. They receive Paul’s teaching with a warm and welcoming attitude, while also comparing his truth-claims with the Scriptures. Many of the Bereans believe, Jews and Greeks alike. The Jews who caused the trouble in Thessalonica hear that Paul is still preaching in the next town over, so they go to Berea and rabble-rouse against the Christians once more. This time, only Paul leaves town. Some of the Bereans escort him all the way to the city of Athens, while Silas and Timothy remain in Berea, with the promise that they will join Paul in Athens as soon as they can.
Acts 17:1-9 meaningOctober 21, 2024
After leaving Philippi, Paul, Silas, and Timothy make their way further west into Macedonia. In the city of Thessalonica, Paul preaches at a Jewish synagogue. For three Sabbaths, he uses the Old Testament to show that Jesus was the Messiah, who was prophesied to die and resurrect. A significant number of the Jews, God-fearing gentiles, and important women believe in Jesus. Other Jews are filled with jealousy. They rouse a mob and tear through the city. The mob alerts the authorities to Paul’s presence in town, that he and his teachings are upsetting other cities in the Roman Empire. They claim that what he teaches is opposed to Caesar, because he is corrupting people into believing in a false king named Jesus.
Matthew 28:19-20 meaningOctober 14, 2024
The Great Commission (continued) Jesus commissions and commands His disciples to make more disciples of all nations. They are to accomplish this by going to the nations, baptizing new disciples in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and by teaching new disciples to do the things Jesus commanded them. The Great Commission ends with Jesus promising to be with them until His return.
Matthew 28:18 meaningOctober 14, 2024
The Great Commission Jesus begins His Great Commission of His disciples by declaring that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him.
Matthew 28:16-17 meaningOctober 14, 2024
Jesus’s sixth resurrection appearance. The disciples obey Jesus’s command and proceed to Galilee. They see Him there and worship Him, but some were doubtful.
Matthew 28:11-15 meaningOctober 11, 2024
The Resurrection Coverup Some of the soldiers who ran away from the tomb report to the chief priests about the angel who rolled away the stone. The priests confer with the elders and together they devise a scheme to cover up the resurrection. They bribe the soldiers with a large sum of money to tell the lie that Jesus’s disciples stole His body by night. The religious leaders assure the guards that they will keep them out of trouble if Pilate hears of their desertion or failure.
Matthew 28:9-10 meaningOctober 11, 2024
Jesus’s Second Resurrection Appearance Jesus meets the women after they reported to the disciples about the angel and the empty tomb. They fall to the ground in worship of Jesus, clinging to His feet. He encourages them to not be afraid and tells them to instruct His disciples to leave Jerusalem for Galilee where they will see Him.
Matthew 28:8 meaningOctober 11, 2024
The Women’s Resurrection Report The women rush from the empty tomb and find the disciples. They report what they saw and heard from the angel—that Jesus has risen from the dead, and His message to meet Him in Galilee.
Matthew 28:5-7 meaningOctober 10, 2024
The Angel’s Announcement to the Women at the Empty Tomb When the women arrive at Jesus’s tomb, they find it empty. An angel addresses them stating that the reason Jesus is not here is because He has risen. The angel invites the women to see the empty tomb for themselves. He charges them to inform the disciples about what they have seen and to remind them of Jesus’s message to meet Him in Galilee.
Matthew 28:2-4 meaningOctober 10, 2024
The Opening of Jesus’s Tomb Matthew reports accompanying signs of Jesus’s resurrection: a severe earthquake, an angel of the Lord descends from heaven, and the stone sealing Jesus’s tomb is rolled away. The Roman soldiers guarding Jesus’s tomb were terrified and became like dead men at the sight of this brilliant and powerful angel.
Matthew 28:1 meaningOctober 10, 2024
End of the Sabbath Once the Sabbath is over, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary come to visit Jesus’s grave.
John 1:1 meaningSeptember 28, 2024
John begins the prologue to his Gospel with a sublime statement about Jesus’s divine identity. It reflects fundamental principles from the Genesis account of creation expressed in terms taken from the Arché Principle of Greek philosophy.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 meaningSeptember 24, 2024
Paul urges his readers to walk in righteousness and light, and to separate themselves from those in the church who work against the will of God. God has called believers to be set apart from the world, to live in step with His design as sons and daughters.
2 Corinthians 6:11-13 meaningSeptember 24, 2024
Paul appeals to the Corinthians to hear him: he has held nothing back in his openness and love for them, but the Corinthians have not reciprocated in the same way.
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