Commuter Bible NT

During his second missionary journey, Paul travelled through the city of Philippi and planted a church there. As is evident from the opening chapter of Philippians, Paul had a deep love for this congregation and he has no trouble expressing his affection. His occasion for writing is to inform them about the details of his imprisonment, and even in such circumstances, Paul’s mind and heart are focu...

At the end of our last reading, Paul was admonishing husbands and wives to love each other in a way that reflects the relationship between Christ and his church. Today, we pick up where we left off as Paul admonishes children to obey their parents in the Lord, for this is right. As mentioned in our intro to Philemon, the relationship between slaves and masters during this time period was closer to...

Paul continues to admonish the Ephesian church to live a new life in Christ, a life that is distinct from the rest of the world. The Christian ought not to partner with those who are disobedient. Instead of walking in their darkness, as we once all formerly walked, we should instead walk as children of light. To do this, we must pay attention to our daily walk, growing in our understanding of the...

If you’re a part of a healthy church, you know that unity and fellowship is God’s good gift to the saints, but that gift doesn’t come without effort. Paul urges the Ephesian church to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. This kind of work doesn’t fall only to those who have titles within the church; the ascended Christ has blessed the whole church with gifts...

Here in chapter 3, Paul uses the word “mystery” again and again, so be gracious and allow me to reveal and clarify what the word mystery means in this sense. We often to refer to that which is unknown to be a mystery, but that’s only a partial definition. Technically, a mystery is something that was once hidden but is now revealed. In this case, the mystery is that God’s plan was to redeem both Is...

Most of us do not like to think about death, especially when we think about our own death. While all men will die one day in the future, Paul turns this concept on its head by saying that all men start off as dead men. In this case, however, they are spiritually dead. In his extravagant grace and mercy, God, who is very much alive, brings lifeless souls to new life in Christ. Paul goes out of his...

After a standard greeting to the church at Ephesus, Paul seems to overflow with joy and thanksgiving over the rich blessings of God offered to the believer through the gospel. The entire passage seems to effervesce with gratitude and jubilant praise. Notice, too, how much of this is centered on Christ and on God the Father. God is the main actor of the passage; in other words, it is God’s work for...

At the end of Colossians, Paul mentioned a man named Onesimus as a beloved brother in the work of ministry. This brother, Onesimus, was a slave to Philemon, and Paul writes to Philemon to ask if he could be freed. Many in slavery in this day and age were enslaved voluntarily as means by which they could repay debt. Once that debt was paid or the years of service to which they agreed came to an end...

Paul’s letter to the church at Colossae concludes with admonition to speak with God regularly in prayer, and to speak graciously with others, acting wisely toward outsiders who do not yet know the mystery of Christ revealed through his gospel. After this, he includes a summary about the ministry of the gospel being performed through other faithful men. These include Tychicus and Onesimus who are d...

Paul has positioned Christ rightly as the one who is before all things, and in whom all things hold together. All things were created by him, through him, and for him. This same Christ humbled himself to death on a cross so that our debt our sin might be canceled. In doing so, he disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly, triumphing over them. With this as his preface, Paul t...

Having reminded the church of the preeminent Christ, He who is before all things and in whom all things hold together, Paul moves on to consider how false teachers compare to him. All treasures of wisdom and knowledge are to be found in this Christ, which means that mere men cannot teach anything that would be new or unknown to the Lord. It is the gospel of Christ that has saved them and cancelled...

Paul writes to the church at Colossae from prison to correct false teaching and encourage the church to trust in Christ fully as Lord. In this first chapter he presents Jesus as supreme and preeminent over all of Creation. He is the firstborn, meaning he is the one inherits all things from the Father and that He comes first before anyone else and before anything else. This same powerful and author...

We have reached the final chapter of the Gospel of John, wherein John reveals some of the events that took place following the resurrection of Jesus. In our last episode, the disciples discovered that Jesus had risen from the dead. He has presented himself to them on a couple of occasions already, but in today’s episode, Jesus appears to them on the shore of the Sea of Tiberius where has breakfast...

To quote 1 Corinthians 15, Quote: “I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures...

Jesus has testified before the Jewish Sanhedrin and before Pontius Pilate the Roman governor of Judea. While denying culpability, Pilate eventually gives way to the demands of the Jews and send Jesus to be put death by crucifixion. The cries of the Jews which declare, “We have no king but Caesar” recall the posture of Israel of old, for as early as the book of Judges they declared that they were i...

At this point in the narrative, Jesus is confronted by a mob comprised largely of chief priests and Pharisees who wish to have Jesus killed for blasphemy. They arrest him, tie him up, and take him Annas, a man of considerable influence who was a former high priest and the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was serving as high priest that year. They press Jesus for information on his teachings, but he...

Jesus is walking with his disciples and teaching them about his relationship with the Father, with the Holy Spirit, and with his disciples. In today’s reading, we’ll hear Jesus pray for himself, for his disciples, and for all those believers who come after them. This section is often called “the high priestly prayer,” as Jesus is interceding for those whom he loves based on his status before the F...

Christ has introduced his disciples to the inner workings of the trinity and what must take place in the near future so that God’s will might be fulfilled. At the end of our last episode, we had a brief introduction to the Holy Spirit, whom Christ calls “the Counselor.” Today, Jesus says that he must return to the Father, because if he doesn’t go away, the Counselor will not come. Later, he explai...

Jesus continues to teach his disciples after they have celebrated the Passover, and at this point they are on their way to the Mount of Olives. During this discourse, Jesus emphasize relationships within the Trinity and today he’ll expand to include the relationship between the Triune Godhead and Christ’s disciples. Jesus begins by saying that his disciples are the branches and that he is the vine...

Jesus and his disciples are in the upper room celebrating the Passover, and up until this point, Jesus has washed the disciples’ feet, predicted the betrayal of Judas and the denial of Peter, and has commanded them to love one another. Jesus is preparing to leave his earthly ministry and return to the Father, and as such is the case, he gives his disciples further insight into his relationship wit...

The time of the Passover has come, and Jesus has gathered with his disciples in the upper room where he will institute the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. Before that happens, Jesus humbles himself before his disciples, takes the job of a servant upon himself, and begins to wash their feet. This act of service is confusing to Peter, who refuses to receive it at first, then asks to be washed entire...

Our chapter begins in a home in Bethany of Judea just before the Passover celebration takes place in Jerusalem. Jesus is there with Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, the latter of which washes the feet of Jesus with expensive perfume and with her hair, a decidedly lavish and humble act. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the chief priests plot to kill Lazarus because he is evidence of Christ’s power and autho...

In today’s episode, we’ll consider the seventh of seven signs in John’s gospel: the raising of Lazarus from the dead. When Jesus hears the news that his friend is sick, he doesn’t leave immediately, but instead, he waits to days before traveling to Judea to see him. Remember, they recently left Judea because the Jews tried to stone Jesus when he was in Jerusalem. Upon entering Bethany of Judea, Ch...

Jesus has rebuked the Pharisees for being spiritually blind, though they claim to be the spiritual leaders of God’s people. Jesus is not like these men: he is the good shepherd who knows his sheep, calls them by name, and lays down his life for them. During the Festival of Dedication, which we know as Hanukkah, Jesus is cornered by Jews who demand that he plainly say whether or not he is the Messi...

Jesus performs the sixth of seven signs recorded in John’s gospel by healing a man who was born blind. The disciples assumed that his blindness must have been attributed to sinfulness; in other words, someone must have acted sinfully, or else God would not have punished him so. Jesus dispels this assumption, simply saying that he is blind so that God’s works might be displayed in him. Once he is h...