by Jim Kerwin
on April 25, 2022
The John the Baptist Experience
Book 1: The Exceptional Messenger
Deeper Dive 6:
Verb Voices and Violent Versions
Copyright © 2022
by
Jim Kerwin
Matthew 11:12 —
A Thorny Translation Challenge
As we have seen, Matthew 11:1-19 is that wonderful passage in which Jesus teaches about John the Baptist. First, He sends a message of encouragement to the imprisoned John. Then Jesus uses the opportunity to point the crowd to John’s fulfillment of the prophecies in Malachi 3:1 and 4:5-6 (the latter being the “Elijah prophecy”).
Matthew’s account of the events and teaching that day is very clear — except for one verse that has proven to be something of a thorny challenge to translate and interpret. That verse is Matthew 11:12—
“From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.”
What makes it “thorny”? Because [continue reading…]
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2 Kings 11:14,
2 Kings 19:1,
2 Kings 22:11,
2 Kings 22:19,
2 Kings 2:12m 2 Kings 5:8,
2 Kings 6:30,
2 Samuel 13:19,
2 Samuel 13:31,
2 Samuel 15:32,
2 Samuel 1:11,
2 Samuel 1:2,
2 Samuel 3:31,
active voice,
Acts 14:14,
Deuteronomy 6:5-6,
Ezra 9:3,
Ezra 9:5,
Genesis 37:29,
Genesis 37:34; Genesis 44:13,
Isaiah 36:22,
Isaiah 37:1,
Jeremiah 41:5,
Jim Kerwin,
Job 1:20,
Job 2:12,
Joel 2:12-13,
John 6:15,
John the Baptist,
Judges 11:35,
Luke 16:16,
Malachi 4:4-5,
Matthew 11:1-19,
Matthew 11:12,
Matthew 26:25,
middle voice,
Numbers 14:6,
passive voice,
rending of garments,
The John the Baptist Experience
by Jim Kerwin
on April 11, 2022
The John the Baptist Experience
Book 1: The Exceptional Messenger
Deeper Dive #5: “Malachisaiah”?
Copyright © 2022
by
Jim Kerwin
Two Prophecies, Two Readings
Please let me share Mark 1:1-3 from two translations, the King James Version and the New American Standard Bible:
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; 2As it is written in the prophets,
“Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face,
which shall prepare Thy way before Thee.
3The voice of one crying in the wilderness… etc.
[kjv]
1The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You,
Who will prepare Your way;
3The voice of one crying in the wilderness…’ ” etc.
[nasb]
As we can see, Mark introduces “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” by immediately [continue reading…]
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1 John 1:1,
1 Peter 1:1,
2 John 1,
2 Kings 19:21,
3 John 1,
Acts 23:22,
Biblical inerrancy,
Deuteronomy 11:1-6,
Exodus 20:11,
Genesis 2:1-2,
Hebrews 10:15-17,
Hebrews 10:5-9,
Hebrews 1:5-13,
Hebrews 2:6-8,
Hebrews 3:15,
Hebrews 3:7-11,
Hebrews 4:4,
Hebrews 4:7,
Hebrews 6:14,
Hosea 1:10,
Hosea 2:23,
Isaiah 10:22-23,
Isaiah 40:3,
Isaiah 62:11,
James 1:1,
Jim Kerwin,
John 12:15,
John the Baptist,
Jude 1,
Majority Text,
Malachi 3:1,
Mark 1:1-3,
Matthew 21:1-5,
Matthew 21:5,
mnemonic trigger,
Numbers 16:1-33,
Numbers 16:1-33; Numbers 26:9-10,
Numbers 26:9-10,
Psalm 106:16-17,
Psalm 8:4-6,
Psalm 9:14,
Romans 11,
Romans 9:25-26,
Romans 9:27-28,
Textus Receptus,
The John the Baptist Experience,
Zechariah 9:9
by Jim Kerwin
on April 7, 2022
Ellen Lakshmi Goreh
(1853-1937)
In the secret of His presence
How my soul delights to hide!
Oh, how precious are the lessons
Which I learn at Jesus’ side!
Earthly cares can never vex me,
Neither trials lay me low;
For when Satan comes to tempt me,
To the [continue reading…]
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communion with God,
Ellen Lakshmi Goreh,
hymn,
hymns,
Presence of God
by Jim Kerwin
on April 6, 2022
5 April 2022
Answered Prayer for the Honduras Trip!
Dear Friend,
The La Joya church-plant worship band warming up on Sunday evening, 13 March
Consider this communique a praise report! While you were praying for last month’s Honduras trip, God was answering and blessing. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been Covid-restricted in my travel for two years, but it really seems like this trip took the prize for the number of God-timed and God-ordained arrangements.
Plus, the Lord kept me in the best of health, and He preserved us on the road — we witnessed (but didn’t participate in!) two head-on collisions. All thanks to God and many thanks to you all for your prayers.
I fired off many pages of narrative to my wife Denise while I was gone — way too much to condense here.
Perhaps the story can best be [continue reading…]
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Antonio Rodriguez,
Bobby Hoyle,
David Moore,
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Rony Funes,
Tegucigalpa,
The John the Baptist Experience,
Yoro
by Jim Kerwin
on March 28, 2022
Clara Scott
(1841-1897)
Open my eyes, that I may behold
Wonderful things from Your law.
—Psalm 119:18 nasb—
Open my eyes that I may see
Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me.
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for Thee,
Ready, my God, Thy [continue reading…]
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Clara Scott,
Divine guidance,
Divine inspiration,
hymn,
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by Jim Kerwin
on March 28, 2022
The John the Baptist Experience
Book 1: The Exceptional Messenger
Deeper Dive #4:
Peter as Mr. “Euthus-iasm”
Copyright © 2022
by
Jim Kerwin
In a footnote in chapter 4 (Jesus Reveals John in Malachi), we mentioned that the unanimous testimony of the Early Church Fathers was that Mark’s Gospel is the faithful recounting of the preaching of the Apostle Peter.
Peter’s Favorite Adverb
Adding weight to this historical testimony is the energetic brevity of the accounts in Mark’s Gospel, and Mark’s frequent use of the adverb εὐθύς (eu-thús). The word appears in the New Testament 59 times; of those occurrences, it functions 51 times as an adverb, and is rendered (depending on your translation) as immediately or as soon as. Mark (or Peter, if you prefer) uses εὐθύς / euthús adverbially 41 of those 51 times, and it seems like we can almost listen through Mark’s ears to Peter’s animated and [continue reading…]
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2 Peter 2:15,
Acts 13:10,
Acts 13:13,
Acts 13:8,
Acts 15:37-39,
Acts 8:21,
Acts 9:10-11,
Bar-Jesus,
Elymas,
Isaiah 40:3,
John Mark,
Luke 3:4-5,
Mark 14:51-52,
Mark 1:3,
Matthew 3:3,
Sergius Paulus,
Simon Magus,
Simon Peter
by Jim Kerwin
on March 21, 2022
The John the Baptist Experience
Book 1: The Exceptional Messenger
Deeper Dive #2:
Jesus’ Message to John
in Matthew 11
Copyright © 2022
by
Jim Kerwin
In the first Deeper Dive we introduced the “Mnemonic Trigger Principle.” We saw that for ancient peoples, educated through the discipline of rote memorization, the quotation of a line of text could elicit the entire context of the quote from memory. But our familiarity with Scripture, the Old Testament in particular, is not as great. Thus to grasp the full contextual message of an Old Testament quotation, we need to free ourselves of our verse-and-chapter shackles, return to the original passage, and ask, [continue reading…]
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Charles Wesley,
Deuteronomy 31:23,
Deuteronomy 31:6-7,
Isaiah 35:1-10,
Isaiah 61:1-3,
John 1:33,
John the Baptist,
Joshua 10:25,
Joshua 1:6-7,
Joshua 1:9,
Matthew 11:4-6,
Psalm 27:14,
Psalm 31:24,
The John the Baptist Experience
by Jim Kerwin
on March 14, 2022
The John the Baptist Experience
Book 1: The Exceptional Messenger
Chapter 4: Jesus Reveals John in Malachi
Copyright © 2022
by
Jim Kerwin
Cellmates in Solitary
John the Baptist was finding that even a man in solitary confinement has cellmates. For months, he had been the “guest” of Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, in the latter’s hot, dusty desert fortress of Machaerus. Perched atop a Perean mountain over 3,500 feet above sea level, the palace of Machaerus had a breathtaking view to the west of the expanse of the Sea of Tiberius (what you and I know as the Sea of Galilee). Not so John’s dark, windowless cell. No, at this point, all John could see were his four cellmates [continue reading…]
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1 Corinthians 9:25-27,
1 Thessalonians 2:2,
1 Timothy 4:7-11,
1 Timothy 4:7-8,
1 Timothy 6:12,
2 Kings 1:8,
2 Peter 1:4,
2 Timothy 4:7,
Acts 134:23-25,
Acts 20:24,
Clement of Alexandria,
Colossians 1:29,
Colossians 2:1-2,
Colossians 4:12-13,
doubt,
Elijah,
Eusebius,
Exodus 20:7,
Hebrews 12:1,
Irenaeus,
Isaiah 35:5-6,
Isaiah 40:3,
Isaiah 61:1-2,
Jerome,
Jim Kerwin,
John 10:30,
John 18:36,
John 19,
John 3:3-5,
John 8:12,
John 9:5,
John the Baptist,
Judges 13:5-7,
Judges 16:17,
Kingdom of God,
Kingdom of Heaven,
Luke 11:5,
Luke 13:23-24,
Luke 13:23-28,
Luke 16:16,
Luke 7:18-30,
Luke 7:27,
Luke 9:28,
Luke 9:31,
Luke 9:33,
Luke 9:35,
Luke 9:36,
LXX,
Malachi,
Malachi 3:1,
Malachi 4:2,
Malachi 4:4-6,
Mark 1:1-4,
Mark 1:35,
Mark 9:10,
Matthew 11:10,
Matthew 11:11-15,
Matthew 11:14-15,
Matthew 11:2-6,
Matthew 11:7-10,
Matthew 12:6,
Matthew 14:23,
Matthew 17:1,
Matthew 17:10-13,
Matthew 17:2-3,
Matthew 17:5-8,
Matthew 26:36-42,
Matthew 5:22-44,
Mount of Transfiguration,
Mount Tabor,
Numbers 6:5,
Papias,
Philippians 1:29-30,
Psalm 104:2,
Psalm 119:115,
Psalm 139:19,
Psalm 6:8,
Septuagint,
Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton,
Tertullian,
The John the Baptist Experience
by Jim Kerwin
on March 6, 2022
6 March 2022
¡Buen Viaje!
Dear Friend,
One nice thing about returning to Honduras annually is nurturing relationships. Here’s a pre-birthday-party dinner to which I was invited in
Tegucigalpa, Honduras. (The honoree is the young lady in polka dots at the far corner of the table, a youth leader in the church.) The folks were sheepish about asking me to the actual party afterwards, but were very pleased when I accepted the invitation.
Buen viaje is the Spanish equivalent of bon voyage. The clock is ticking down to my “o’dark thirty” departure on Thursday this week (3/10/22). Destination: Honduras! When I last left Honduras, almost exactly two years ago, the borders were closed just a few days later because of COVID restrictions. This is my first going “anywhere” outside the States since those lockdown measures went into effect.
I mentioned in the last newsletter that Denise and I had just celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. It’s a happy, heavenly “coincidence,” then, that the requested subject of the pastors’ teaching seminars (three in two places) will be the challenges of husband-wife ministry.
We certainly aren’t the [continue reading…]
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by Jim Kerwin
on March 6, 2022
William Newell
(1868-1956)
Years I spent in vanity and pride,
Caring not my Lord was crucified,
Knowing not it was for me He died
On Calvary.
Chorus:
Mercy there was great, and grace was free;
Pardon there was [continue reading…]
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Calvary,
confession,
Conviction of Sin,
hymn,
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praise,
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William Newell
by Jim Kerwin
on March 3, 2022
Cecil Frances Alexander
(1818-1895)
Jesus calls us o’er the tumult
Of our life’s wild, restless, sea;
Day by day His sweet voice soundeth,
Saying, “Christian, follow Me!”
As of old Saint Andrew heard it [continue reading…]
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Cecil Frances Alexander,
consecration,
full surrender,
hymn,
hymns
by Jim Kerwin
on February 28, 2022
Judson Van DeVenter
(1855-1939)
All to Jesus, I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
Chorus:
I surrender all, I surrender all,
All to Thee, my blessèd Savior,
I surrender all.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Humbly [continue reading…]
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consecration,
full surrender,
hymn,
hymns,
Judson Van DeVenter
by Jim Kerwin
on February 25, 2022
George Matheson
(1842-1906)
O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering [continue reading…]
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George Matheson,
hymn,
hymns,
joy,
light,
Love of God,
the cross
by Jim Kerwin
on February 22, 2022
Howard Grose
(1851-1939)
Give of your best to the Master;
Give of the strength of your youth;
Throw your soul’s fresh, glowing ardor
Into the battle for truth.
Jesus has set the example,
Dauntless was He, young and brave;
Give Him your loyal devotion;
Give Him the best that you have.
Chorus:
Give of your best to the Master;
Give of the strength [continue reading…]
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consecration,
full surrender,
Howard Grose,
hymn,
hymns
