Putting Jesus in his place. This was the issue with which the church at Colossae wrestled. There was a plethora of other gods and spiritual beings to worship. The city was rife with syncretism, the belief that you can worship Jesus but need to supplement your faith by turning to other powers and authorities. If you got sick or wanted your business to flourish, surely it was expedient to pay allegiance to these other powers and not just Jesus? In Colossae Jesus was eminent. He had status. The fundamental question was: Is he pre-eminent? Jesus was important, just not all-important;...
Putting Jesus in his place. This was the issue with which the church at Colossae wrestled. There was a plethora of other gods and spiritual beings ...
Ezekiel ben Buzi would never forget his 30th birthday. He had been trained as a priest and brought up to believe that at this age his life's work would begin. For years he had anticipated this moment when he would be ordained and eligible to serve in the temple. But instead of being in Jerusalem, he was a captive in Babylon. Instead of being a priest, he was called by God to be a prophet. Instead of serving in the temple, he was surrounded by a plethora of pagan gods. But on his 30th birthday, he received a vision from God... This timely vision confronted the Jews with their...
Ezekiel ben Buzi would never forget his 30th birthday. He had been trained as a priest and brought up to believe that at this age his life's work w...
Hebrews was written to address some of the fundamental misunderstandings that the Jewish people had about Jesus. This (unknown) author is correcting their ignorance of who Jesus was, and explaining how he completes and fulfils Israel's history, law, ceremonial rituals and priesthood. And this is highly relevant today. We too can have a wrong understanding of Jesus and his work. We may do things in his name but have become detached from him. We are invited to 'fix our eyes on Jesus'. He is the ultimate and final expression of truth. He is absolutely central in our Christian lives.
Hebrews was written to address some of the fundamental misunderstandings that the Jewish people had about Jesus. This (unknown) author is correctin...
