Judas is the real star of the show Jesus Christ Superstar. His portrayal in the show is tied inextricably to the Christology of its composers, for whom Judas is their preeminent spokesman. The historical Judas is a far more complicated character. Read more
Here are the strongest objections to my claim that Jesus’ resurrection is the bedrock for what we believe. The toughest issue is: How do we know that Jesus’ body wasn’t stolen and destroyed without a trace? That's the Number One alternative to which everyone jumped back then. Read more
We find the bedrock for what we believe inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. It is the site of an event so huge that it turned the universe upside down: the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth in the year 30 AD. Read more
It’s like the fabled “Showdown at the OK Corral,” only here the scene is a garden, the Garden of Gethsemane, and here, the stakes are sky-high: the eternity of an entire planet hangs in the balance. Why does Jesus appear so absolutely mortified? Read more
The word anti means “against” in English far more than it does in Greek. Examining the uses of this word gives us a rich picture of meaning that can illuminate some key passages of God’s word, including the very heart of our message of the cross. Read more
“Thief” is too mild a word in the verse where we are told that Jesus was “crucified between two thieves.” Not even “bandit” has enough kick to translate the word lēstēs. A better word would be "guerilla" or "terrorist." Read more
Two major puzzles about the trial of Jesus deserve answers. First, on which day of the week did it happen? Second, how do we explain how his trial breaks all the rules for a Jewish trial? Read more
The ancient Qumran community was so strict about the Sabbath that their rules did not even let them use the restroom on that day! They taught that on the Sabbath, a member was not to walk more than 1000 cubits outside his city. But their community’s latrine was 1500 cubits (3000 feet) outside the city, to prevent grossing God out (Deuteronomy 23:12-14). How did they solve this problem? Josephus says: they didn’t. Qumran is the place where we found the... Read more
The Pharisees have had a lot of undeserved bad press. Like the Puritans, they have unfairly become victims of a merciless historical spin machine. They have become everyone’s whipping boy. It’s hard for us to conceive that the Pharisees were actually the liberals of Jesus’ day. Read more
The Hebrew concept of being “upright,” doing what is “right,” the opposite of crookedness, is expressed by the word yashar, meaning "straight" or "level." It is used in famous verses such as Judges 21:25: "Everyone did what was right in their own eyes." Read more
Biblical Words and World
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