The Jewish Studies Blog

It is possible that we have long misinterpreted this verse (I do not receive glory from people). You may say what is there to misinterpret!? Jesus says that he does not seek praise from people, but only from God Himself. It’s pure and simple. But it is not that simple. During the Second Temple period, in addition to Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Samaritans there were other Israelite groups. Not much later some rabbis derogatorily referred to a group that is of particular interest to us here as the “people of the land.”

Dear participants in Jewish Studies for Christians study group, shalom! First, I wanted to thank you all for taking part in so many discussions throughout the blog! It’s been nothing short of…

Ok…. if you are going to listen to a Christian sermon one day. Make it a good one. As for me I have only two preachers that I listen to. Timothy Keller…

When we do not spend most of our time attempting to harmonize the Gospel accounts, surprising insights sometimes emerge. Moreover, it is by highlighting the sometimes sharp differences between the accounts of Jesus’ life we encounter what otherwise has proven to be an enigmatic enterprise – discovering John’s original intention, context, and purpose for composing this Gospel.

Another extremely important function of the chiasm is to point the reader/hearer to the key concept within the literary unit. While everything in John 5.19-30 can be said to be important, within the unit there is a section that is highlighted as being of greater importance. Which verse or verses are the most important? Simply put it is the center verse/s, the point at which the forward movement stops and then begins to move in a backward direction. In terms of content, that formation (in this case D1 and D2) is emphasized as the crucial point of the entire literary unit.