God's Gift of Scripture with Belton Joyner

This week’s focal text stirs a number of questions: Why did Jesus go so far from His usual region? (v. 24)...Why did Jesus not want anyone to know where He was? (v. 24)...Why did the Gentile woman seek out the Jewish rabbi? (vv. 25-26)...Why did Jesus hesitate to offer healing? (v. 27)...Why did the woman talk back to Jesus? (v. 28)...Why did Jesus heal the woman’s daughter? (v. 29-30) One conclus...

Solomon was a mixed bag. He got the temple built...1 Kings 6:1-38 (Hooray!) He showed great wisdom...1 Kings 4:29-34 (Hooray!) He worked to make for peace...1 Kings 4:24 (Hooray!) One of the marvelous moment’s in Solomon’s reign came when two women came before him, each claiming to be the mother of the same baby boy (1 Kings 3:16-28). To settle the dispute, Solomon said they should cut the baby in...

It sounds like the plot of a TV drama: the heroine is a prostitute who tells lies. (Check out Joshua 2:1 and Joshua 2:3-5). This mixture hardly seems like the account of someone faithful to God. Nevertheless, Rahab is one of the few women mentioned in Matthew’s account of the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:5). Nevertheless, Rahab is celebrated as an example of faith (Hebrews 11:31). Nevertheless, J...

When we sing the hymn “Holy, Holy., Holy,” we know that we are singing about God (“Lord God Almighty”). The writer of 1 Peter has added another dimension: “But, as obedient children, you must be holy in every aspect of your lives, just as the one who called you in holy” (1 Peter 1:16). Me, holy? This must be a misprint in every Bible on my shelf. Many students of the Bible conclude that this lette...

If I counted correctly, in the Common English Bible translation, there are 306 words in this week’s focal text. That means that there are about 306 ways we could study these verses. Wow! Paul had a lot to say to the Corinthians about the resurrection! Where to begin? If I counted correctly, in my copy of a Greek New Testament, there are 257 words in this week’s study text. That means that there ar...

Would Thomas fit in very well at your church? After all, even after the other disciples have witnessed to him about the risen Lord, Thomas refused to get on board (John 20-25-26). Let’s give the disciples credit for not pushing Thomas aside just because he did not believe in the same way they did. I am not always comfortable around folks who don’t agree with me on politics and religion. Would Thom...

My house is out in the country, and my mailbox is about three-hundred yards away at the road. Today, I walked up to the mailbox around 10:00 AM to see if the mail had come. It had not. I went again around noon. The mail had not come. At 3:00, I walked up there again. No mail. Finally, when I went back around 4:30, I found the box packed with magazines and bills and advertisements. It took four tri...

Mr. Hall was in church every Sunday. He sat in the same pew near the front and every week he went to sleep, sometimes even before my sermon! Someone once asked him why he came to church if he was going to go to sleep. He replied, “I just want God to know which side I am on.” The three disciples went with Jesus to let Him know which side they were on. Peter had just said, “Even if I must die alongs...

Students of the Bible often conclude that Matthew addressed his gospel account largely to the Jewish Christian community. He begins his account with that lengthy Hebrew genealogy of the Messiah, traced all the way back to Abraham (Matthew 1:1-17). So, it is not surprising to find this question in this week’s focal text: Is the Messiah the son of David? (Matthew 22:41-46) Jesus starts the conversat...

Have you begun to pull together all those receipts and papers you will need to file this year’s taxes? (Now don’t embarrass me by saying that you have already filed for this year. Maybe I had to put it off until I had a chance to purview this text.) There is something at the beginning of this account that challenges me. When those who wanted to trap Jesus (the Greek word for “trap” is one used for...

Did you see the headline in this morning’s paper? Did you see the news that screamed across the Internet today? Well, I didn’t. I am writing this several months ahead of when you will read it, but I have a guess about the headlines you will see today. There will be one or two articles that will raise the questions “Who do those people think they are?” “Who gave him the power to do things like that...

“Back in the day” there was a custom that the king would protect and give benefit to anyone who was allowed to drink from the king’s cup. No wonder the mother of James and John wanted to them drink from Jesus’ cup! Then, our Lord explains that this might not exactly what the disciples are expecting (Matthew 20:22). To drink from Jesus’ cup does not assure one of privilege; it means that one will b...