Aaron Simms's Blog, page 15

The Word “LORD” in the Bible

You may have noticed that in English translations of the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, the word “LORD” (in all capital letters) appears often.  Why is this?

It goes back to the Jewish reluctance to write or use the personal name of God.  In Exodus 3, when God reveals Himself to Moses, Moses asks God for His name.  God says to Moses, “I am who I am.”  His people therefore called God “Yahweh,” meaning “He who is” or “He who causes to be.”  The name “Yahweh” is therefore a response to G...

The Resurrection and the Life – John 11

Chapter eleven of John’s Gospel is one of my favorite texts in the Gospels, because it is really powerful.

In this Gospel text we see the friendship that Jesus has with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus – three siblings who lived in the village of Bethany.  Bethany was a couple miles away from Jerusalem, so it was a convenient spot to stay when Jesus came to Jerusalem for a festival.  It was close enough to be an easy walk to the city, but far enough away that he didn’t have to worry about the Pharis...

Lent Midweek 4 – Life in the Church

The following is adapted from my book To the End of the Age: Christ’s Presence in the World.  My thoughts are proceeded by two “guiding passages” from 2 Kings 5 and Mark 1; my commentary follows these Biblical texts.

LIFE IN THE CHURCH

Guiding Passages

2 Kings 5:1-14

Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.

Now the Syrians on one...

Once Was Blind

Chapter nine of John’s Gospel tells of Jesus’ encounter with a man born blind.  There are a couple main questions implicit in this reading: why is the man born blind, and what has Jesus come to do?

Jesus’ disciples want to know the reason for this man’s blindness.  So, they ask Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  Behind this question is the assumption that this man is being punished for sin, either his own or his parents’ sin.  Surely, they think, thi...

Lent Midweek 3 – The Lord’s Prayer

The following brief guide to the Lord’s Prayer is adapted from my book The Christian Faith: An Introduction .

The Lord’s Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer was taught by Jesus Christ in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4.  Most often, the longer version from Matthew’s Gospel is used in Christian worship and private devotions.

The prayer is as follows:

Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and fo...

The Living Water

In chapter 4 of John’s Gospel, Jesus has left Judea to come into the region of Samaria.  John 4:1-3 reads, “Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee.  And he had to pass through Samaria.”  John the Baptist had come to pave the way for the Lord, and now that his mission was done John was beginning to fade into the...

Lent Midweek 2 – The Apostles Creed

In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he reminds the congregation that he delivered to them the Gospel which he had received (1 Corinthians 15:1-28).  This message “of first importance” is “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,” and that he appeared to many, including Paul.  The Scriptures that Paul is referring to are the Old Testament Scriptures.  He is saying that Jesu...

Condemned Already (John 3:18)

In chapter 3 of John’s Gospel, Jesus has a discussion with Nicodemus.  Nicodemus is a leader in the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council in Jerusalem.  The normal lectionary text for today only goes to verse 17, which I think is somewhat unfortunate, because that cuts off Jesus mid-speech and leaves an important part out of it.  Verses 18 through 21 provide important context where Jesus says, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because...

Lent Midweek 1 – The Ten Commandments

During the season of Lent, I’ll be doing a post each midweek about a topic related to the season.  This week’s post is about the Ten Commandments.

Deuteronomy 5:6-21 contains the Ten Commandments, known as the “Ten Words” (or Decalogue) by the Israelites.  The word “Deuteronomy” itself means “second law.”  This name comes from the fact that the book of Deuteronomy is a recounting of the history of the people of Israel after the Lord had delivered them up out of Egypt.  It’s basically the even...

The Temptations of Jesus

Genesis 3 and Matthew 4 are really two halves of a whole, like the two halves of a pecan shell.  In Genesis we see the opening of the shell to sin, and in Matthew we see the closing of the shell through Christ’s righteousness.

If we look at Genesis, we see the fall of Adam and Eve into sin.  God had created all the world through the power of His Word and then made man and woman and placed them in the Garden of Eden.  God dwelt with them as they lived in His presence, and He allowed them to ea...