CURRENT EVENT – FEBRUARY 26, 2012

On January 10, 2012, a young man made a video to be broadcasted on YouTube. This is not an unusual event, but overnight his video called, “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus,” went “viral” which means millions of people all over the world watched it.

A WORD FROM THE EDITOR – FEBRUARY 26, 2012

Jesus tells this parable in the context of people’s mixed reception to his message. Perhaps the disciples felt a bit disheartened that not everyone jumped at the chance to follow their Master.

REFERENCE SHELF – FEBRUARY 26, 2012

The introduction to this section emphasizes Jesus’ teaching and the size of the crowd that came to him. The setting is the seaside, the most frequently mentioned locale of Jesus’ Galilean ministry (1:16; 2:13; 3:7; 5:1, 21; [6:34]; 7:31).

RESOURCES – FEBRUARY 26, 2012

Biblical parable should be distinguished but not divorced from allegory. An allegory is a series of pictures or cryptograms in a story symbolizing a series of truths in another sphere.

CURRENT EVENT – FEBRUARY 19, 2012

Each year, CNN honors several people for making a significant change in the world. This year, fourteen-year-old Michael “Mikey” Carraway Jr. was chosen as one of these “CNN Heroes.”

A WORD FROM THE EDITOR – FEBRUARY 19, 2012

The story of the feeding of the 5,000 appears in all four Gospels. In fact, it is one of only a small handful of stories to have that distinction.

REFERENCE SHELF – FEBRUARY 19, 2012

This large thought unit is marked at its beginning and its end by the repetition of the phrase “after this” Jesus went away/went about (6:1; 7:1). It is organized much like chapter 5: a sign is followed by a four-stage dialogue that attempts to explain it.

RESOURCES – FEBRUARY 19, 2012

The names and times for daily meals are not given in the OT. There are, however, terms for meals in the NT: ariston is lunch, deipnon dinner, or chief meal.