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Digging Deeper Series I, #2
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Digging Deeper Series I, #1
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On Ritual Impurity: Everything Jesus did was to a purpose, including becoming “unclean” …
“To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.” (Titus 1:15, ESV)
Always Unclean!
One day it struck me that day after day in the Gospel record Jesus was making Himself ritually impure. He was always doing those things that were forbidden by the paradigms of the Pharisees. He touched lepers, touched the casket of a dead young man, walked on Gentile land, let Himself be touched by a women with a chronic issue of blood, all acts of ritual impurity. Yet in none of the Gospel accounts do we have any record of Jesus going to the ritual purification baths to cleanse Himself from these ritually impure encounters with people. It’s as if Jesus deliberately set about to redefine ritual purity for His disciples. That is something no rabbi of His day would ever contemplate doing!
In seemingly always being “unclean” by those He either associated with or touched, Jesus was also pointing forward toward the Cross. As He repeatedly became unclean by interacting with and touching these outcasts, He left them healed, clean, and restored. In doing so, the purpose of the Cross is foreshadowed as Jesus became “impure” on our behalf so that we might be presented “clean” to His Father. What a remarkable rabbi! So different from all the others. No wonder the crowds began to seek Him out.*
* Making Disciples Jesus Way P. 28 and 29, © Douglas J. Greenwold 2005, 2007, 2012
©The Rev. Robbie Pruitt, October 14, 2021, Board Member, Preserving Bible Times
Digging Deeper Series I: The Great Commission
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This set of twenty 2-minute video programs on discipling featuring Doug Greenwold, originally intended for radio, provides ideal conversation starters for small study groups and Bible studies. Series I, The Great Commission, will lead you into a study of how disciples of Jesus Christ are to be distinguished from believers, what it means to follow Jesus and what it means to submit to His authoritative teaching.
Upon purchase you will receive a link, via email, to the page containing links to all 20 videos:
- #1 – The Great Commission
- #2 – They’re Seamless
- #3 – Are You Bible Literate?
- #4 – Do You Have the Desire?
- #5 – What does “follow me” mean?
- #6 – Biggest Challenge: Emulation
- #7 – It’s About Community
- #8 – A Passion for Purity
- #9 – Wrestling with God’s Word
- #10 – To Believe is To Do
- #11 – A Rabbi Like No Other
- #12 – Rabbi In Training
- #13 – Passion!
- #14 – Born to be disciples?
- #15 – Where do pastors fit in?
- #16 – Repentance
- #17 – Detoxify
- #18 – The Acrostic
- #19 – Questions?
- #20 – Quintessential Quotes
Watch your email for confirmation and the link to the streams. If it does not appear, please check your spam folder as, on rare occasions, it may be found there.
Purchase the entire series for $9.95
Donate to PBT …
2 Crowns: King Herod vs King Jesus (in 6 parts) …
The historic, geographical and cultural context of Jesus’ earthly ministry are essential parts of His full story and eminently useful in gaining a fuller understanding of that time and place. We invite you to travel with us to then and there by exploring four of the most significant sites in the history of Israel. Stunning photography and insightful commentary from Dr. John Bernbaum combine to make this 6-part video series the next best thing to time travel! After watching, we invite you to rate and comment on this video series.
Part I (4 minutes, 30 seconds):
Part II (5 minutes, 41 seconds):
Part III (3 minutes, 23 seconds):
Part IV (3 minutes, 48 seconds):
Part V (4 minutes 21 seconds):
Part VI (7 minutes 44 seconds):
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE 2 CROWNS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Your thoughts on this video series? …
We would appreciate your support for Preserving Bible Times for the development of more digitized contextual resources like 2 Crowns. Preserving Bible Times is a 501(c)(3) organization.
You may also donate by check made out to Preserving Bible Times and mailed to:
P.O. Box 83357, Gaithersburg, MD 20883-3357
Thank you!
2 Crowns: King Herod vs. King Jesus
The historic, geographical and cultural context of Jesus’ earthly ministry are essential parts of His full story and eminently useful in gaining a fuller understanding of that time and place. We invite you to travel with us to then and there by exploring four of the most significant sites in the history of Israel. Stunning photography and insightful commentary from Dr. John Bernbaum combine to make this 30-minute video the next best thing to time travel! After you have watched, we invite your rating and comments on the video …
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE 2 CROWNS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Please let us know your thoughts about this video …
We would appreciate your support for Preserving Bible Times in the development of more digitized contextual resources like 2 Crowns. Preserving Bible Times is a 501(c)(3) organization.
You may also donate by check made out to Preserving Bible Times and mailed to:
P.O. Box 83357, Gaithersburg, MD 20883-3357
Thank you!
The Video Trailer: 2 Crowns – King Herod vs. King Jesus
Our trailer is only 50 seconds long. We recommend watching full-screen.
We’d love to get your opinion (see below) and we look forward to our premier of the full 30-minute video on March 29th. It will be offered at no charge and you are invited!
Have you watched? Please share your thoughts …
Reflection, December 2020 …
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God has His reasons and men have theirs. It is more than fortuitous when they all effect the same end. While there was obviously a divine plan in operation, there were also multiple mundane motivations for Joseph and Mary to journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. The context speaks meaningfully to the latter. Why Bethlehem? Why then? Doug Greenwold had much to teach on these matters in both his writings and his broadcasts. Let’s examine the possibilities:
In Luke 2, we are told of the Roman census that Caesar Augustus had decreed. The scant historical records that survive inform us that Rome regularly conducted two different kinds of census. One was to obtain population data to assist in planning budgets, infrastructure and the distribution of public welfare. The other was for taxation purposes. Luke 2:3 explains that Joseph went to Bethlehem “to register with Mary”. The likely reason is that, as a member of the Davidic clan, Joseph owned property in the Bethlehem area and was required to be present to certify his ownership. Interestingly, the Romans typically allowed up to two years for the citizens of their conquered territories to comply with the taxation census so, ostensibly, Joseph could have chosen anytime during that two-year period to arrive. Why would he choose a time close to Mary’s delivery date? Poor planning? Or might they actually have made that arduous 5-day uphill trek as much as a month or two prior to the birth? Luke 2:6 tells us only that “While they were there the time came for the baby to be born.” The context hints that our traditional view — that theirs was a late night arrival on the night of the birth — is unlikely.
The Mishna is the major written compilation of the rabbinical oral tradition that was spawned during the intertestamental period and through the time of the Second Temple. It was published around 200 A.D. and informs us of many of the protocols and the priestly organization in service to the Temple at Jerusalem. Among the details is responsibility for the monthly wood provision to the Temple which was allocated across the various tribes and clans of Israel. Interestingly, the Davidic clan was responsible for bringing wood to the Temple in early summer — late June and early July by our calendar. Might it be that Joseph saw the opportunity to “kill two birds with one stone” by combining his response to the census with fulfilling the wood obligation for his clan and thereby holding theirs to a single journey? Granted, that’s pure speculation, but it is prompted by the context.
Also, appreciate God’s sense of timing. Luke tells us of the unusual presence of shepherds in the fields at night. Late spring and early summer occur after the wheat crop is harvested permitting sheep to graze harmlessly. It is also the time when the paschal lambs were birthed along the hillsides of Judea, including Bethlehem. Coincidence?
Then, of course, there was that prophecy. The prophet Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah. He gave us the following in Micah 5:2 …
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.”
The residents of Nazareth, among them Joseph, Mary and their families, were zealous in regard to their belief that the prophet Isaiah had designated them as the people who would prepare all Israel for the arrival of Messiah (see our streaming video series “That Dustup in Nazareth”). In addition to the Isaiah and Micah prophesies there was the belief (derived from Daniel 9:24-27) that the Messiah would arrive 490 years (7 times 70) after Artaxerxes’ command to return to and rebuild Jerusalem (457 B.C.). That would be about now, they calculated. And, after all, both Mary and later Joseph had been visited by an angel telling them of the most unusual baby they would receive. How could they not have thought that this baby must be born in Bethlehem?
That the appointed place was Bethlehem is a matter of history. The Bible gives us that much. That the Son of God was born there comports perfectly with prophesy. The day and month remains unknown to us though we’re given some tantalizing clues. Even the precise year is open to question. What we can be sure of is that the timing was perfect. Now, as for the timing of those however-many-wisemen? That’s for another day (and year) … ~~ Jim Park, for Preserving Bible Times
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