Posts from February 2025

The existence of enemies is a painful reality of the faithful Christian life, but not one that should surprise us. Our Lord had enemies. The Jewish leaders, Judas, and, of course, Satan himself all opposed Him and sought His ultimate failure and demise. The world hated Jesus and because it hated Him, it hates His people. Jesus said, If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the…

The statement, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” is part of an answer Jesus gave to an Old Testament scribe (lawyer) who came to entrap the Savior (Matt. 22:34-40). Such “lawyers,” as the one who would “tempt” Jesus, were expounders of the Mosaic code and considered themselves above others. In fact, to such a “lawyer” there were over sixhundred precepts in the law of Moses and a considerable number could not even be observed. So, those rabbis would make…

Over the course of a few short years the twelve men whom Jesus had chosen began to grow and mature into the material that God could, and would use to proclaim the gospel to a lost humanity. The more time they spent with Jesus, the stronger grew their faith. Their courage often amazes us; their weaknesses puzzle us. Consider the background of the request Peter made as expressed in the five words of the title of this article. The twelve…