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Who is the New Jerusalem?

...pheld the Law now uphold and guard this “city”? Those faithful of old who the writer of Hebrews, in chapter 12, calls a “great a cloud of witnesses” which surround us – much like these walls surround the holy city.   What type of Kingdom? Many people today believe and expect Jesus to physically come back to Earth and set up a kingdom and throne in the actual city of Jerusalem, and reign from there for exactly 1000 years.   That is despite his kingdom having “no end”, as the angel Gabriel said to Mary in Luke 1:33 (cf. Dan 7:27). Why reign physically and temporarily, if only to end it and carry on reigning spiritually in heaven?   But if...

How was Jesus a sacrifice?

...le of the Law of God pointed this out: sin equals death (Romans 6:20-23). But now as Peter wrote, we “were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors”, though not with money or earthly things, “but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19). Christ’s life and death satisfied the requirements of the Law and with his blood we were ransomed for God from our slave-master, sin (Romans 8:2; 7:4). There’s many theories about what exactly the apostles meant by the word “ransom”, and the most prominent theory of the atonement for the first one thousand years of Christianity is what is known simply as the “Ransom Theory”, fo...

Did Jesus lead the first youth group?

...(via his Law). But Jesus is the Son of God, and therefore should be free from paying the temple tax, since “the children are free” from this obligation. But to not cause an offence and as a way to prove himself Lord of all creation, Jesus instructs Peter to go to the sea, cast a hook, and retrieve the first fish caught. In its mouth, Peter discovers a coin that covers the temple tax for himself and Jesus only. Unravelling the Connections The discerning reader may now understand the link between Exodus 30:14 and Matthew 17:24–27. If the temple tax applied to those “twenty years old and over,” the specific focus on Jesus and Peter being singled out s...

An ancient fragment mentions Jesus' wife!?

...UPDATE (3rd May 2014): It is now believed to have been confirmed as a hoax/fake; read the full story on The Wall Street Journal. Ancient and not a fake according to scientists IMAGE: HARVARD UNIVERSITY, KAREN L. KING/ASSOCIATED PRESS A little while ago, there was some hoopla in the news about a newly discovered fragment of papyrus from ancient times which contained the phrase "Jesus said to them, 'my wife...,'". Obviously, and not surprisingly, the media made a big deal out of this. Atheists and the like, saw it as a blow to Christianity and conspiracy theorists everywhere thought it confirmed their views that the Vatican and the Catholic Church wer...

The Coming of Jesus: Daniel's 70 Weeks

...Daniel's 70 Weeks   To fully understand Jesus's first, and indeed what is commonly called his "Second Coming," we need to understand the book of Daniel. This prophetic books give many details and glimpses into the future about coming kingdoms, rulers and above all, the Messiah. I'm going to be focussing on just one part of the book, chapter nine, often referred to as "Daniel's 70 Weeks". But just what is "Daniel's 70 Weeks" you might be asking as you read this. For those unfamiliar with Old Testament prophecy, it is a prophetic vision that Daniel was given from God, and interpreted by the angel Gabriel. You can read the prophecy in fu...

Lent Day 19: Cyprian: On the Unity of the Church: 10-18

...Day Nineteen: St. Cyprian: On the Unity of the Church: 10-18 Who: Third century bishop of Carthage (in modern Tunisia), and martyr from Africa What: A letter to encourage the unity of the church against schisms and heresy during massive Roman persecution Why: A disturbance had happened in the church because of a priest called Novatian — a schismatic of the third century, and founder of the sect of the Novatians. Cyprian wrote to counter this and argues that there can only be one united Church, and the Novatian breakaway was a false church and that Novatian was an antipope.When: Around 249 AD You can find today’s reading on page 97 here: lentfatherscomple...