Pastor Foltz is Pastor Emeritus of Saint James Lutheran Church in Gettysburg, PA and author of the the Frontline Study content.
Last week, I noted Luke presents quite a different version of the universal resurrection than Mark and Matthew. This week, I want to examine how he likewise makes significant changes in how Jesus’ resurrection has been reported. You still have the empty tomb, but it simply indicates Jesus is alive. There are no instructions for […]
After examining what Paul, Mark, Matthew, and now Luke say about resurrection, you get the idea that we are looking at the development of a narrative rather than a report of historic events. For instance, Luke makes additions that seem to compensate for Christ’s failure to return when expected. After Jesus is raised, he appears […]
The key to reading Matthew is to realize that he is “Mark plus.” He includes the entire book of Mark almost word for word. The plus is the addition of teachings and parables that pictures Mark’s worker of mighty acts as a teacher of higher righteousness. One effect is to alter the focus of the […]
You have to be somewhat surprised by Mark’s short terse account of the Easter story. We heard from Paul about 30 years earlier that there was an official list of people to whom Jesus appeared after his execution. You would expect these would play a prominent role in his gospel. Instead, Mark adds a new […]
Any biblical understanding of resurrection should start with a careful reading of I Corinthians 15. This long and detailed chapter is our earliest attempt to explain what happened after Jesus’ execution and burial. We usually read it in light of the accounts in the four gospels, but I am inclined to think a more honest […]
Recently, my son, and my beloved brother in Christ with whom I shared 35 years of ministry, died within days of one another. Needless to say, I have been pondering resurrection. One thing has become glaringly clear. Although ”God raised Jesus from death” is the central proclamation of the Christian faith, we pretty much avoid […]
Ever since seminary, I have been aware Genesis is a series of stories put together by an editor or editors. I also early on recognized that the Joseph story is the most beautifully written in the book. This is the first time, however, that I noticed the editors seem to have laid out a plot […]
As I said last week, Jacob was a scoundrel and because of that, he spends a great deal of the biblical accounts running away from the trouble he has created. I wonder why people don’t t ponder what his story says about God. Twice he cheats to steal the birthright that belongs to his brother […]
God is often identified as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Bible. Abraham and Jacob are especially associated with the beginnings of the Hebrew people. Isaac almost serves as a link between the two. Abraham is presented as the founder of the Jewish nation and Jacob as the father of the 12 […]
A straight reading of the chapter has God testing Abraham by seeing if he will kill his beloved son. Scholars differ widely on what to make of it. Some think it indicates the great demands God makes on us. Some think it describes how God provides animal sacrifice to cover human sin. And others even […]
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