Why were saints raised from the dead after Jesus died?

What is the significance of the raising of these saints?

The details of this event are so few that we are liable to stray into conjecture. One possible suggestion is that God was giving the Jewish religious leaders further evidence of the triumphant power of the Lord’s death and resurrection. They were responsible for having Him crucified, despite the evidence in Bethany that He had power over death.

D. Oliver
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Where is the fine line between submission and personal identity?

Where is the fine line between submission and personal identity?

Scriptural teaching does not present contradictions. God intends a woman to submit to her husband (Ephesians 5:22)." TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 5:22). God intends each believer to fully develop emotionally, socially, and mentally; He has ordained ultimate likeness to Christ for each one (Romans 8:29)." TARGET="_blank">Romans 8:29).

A husband whose view of his wifes submission includes squelching her personhood needs to submit his thinking to the Word of God. His headship gives him the responsibility of lovingly nurturing her toward full development of all that will give her honor at the Judgment Seat of Christ. She is a believer who has equal standing with him in Christ (Galatians 3:28)." TARGET="_blank">Galatians 3:28).

Her submission to the leadership God entrusted to Him will not limit her functioning in life, if she were suddenly widowed.

D. Oliver
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When should I confront someone who has done something wrong against me?

Does Matthew 18:15" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 18:15 teach that a believer must seek redress when he is wronged?

Some differences between believers are trivial and require tolerance, not redress. In 1 Corinthians 6:7," TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 6:7, Paul reproved the Corinthians for seeking redress by going to law. He asked them, "Why do ye not rather take wrong?" Taking another Christian before a court is clearly wrong. A matter taken to court cannot be called "trivial." Taking wrong rather than seeking redress is clearly the preferred option.

When should a believer go to another who has trespassed against him to get a matter made right? The word "trespass" in this text is the usual word for "sin," or "miss the mark." Hence, this is not merely a slight or difference of opinion but a matter that must be rectified so the offender may be cleansed from his sin and restored to the Lord.

Matthew 5:24" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 5:24 gives us the responsibility of the one who offends, "Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." His sin makes acceptable worship impossible until the matter is rectified.

J. Slabaugh
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Did Jesus suffer the pains of Hell on the cross?

How are Christ's sacrificial sufferings related to the sufferings of the lost in hell?

What was infinite in character (the sufferings of our Lord Jesus at Calvary) and what will be eternal in duration (the sufferings of the lost in the lake of fire) should be carefully distinguished. A reverent consideration of the Bible's descriptions of Calvary indicates that the Lord Jesus endured the unmitigated judgment of God. His was an infinite capacity to feel and to suffer. His holy emotions, unclouded by sin, fully registered the approaching storm when He was in Gethsemane. He endured the totality of that judgment on the cross. Prophetically, His language was, "Thou hast afflicted me with all Thy waves." "All Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over me." Although the flood waters were "restrained" in Noah's day, no such limitations restricted the flood-tide of grief that swept over His holy soul. Typologically, the scapegoat, whose death was in an uninhabited land, points to the One Whose sufferings were incomprehensible to the human mind. How could we measure His sufferings when He Who is absolute Holiness was, at the same time, "made sin for us?" Not only was the Savior suffering for countless others' sins, but God, through His Son, was condemning sin in the flesh. How correct Samuel Stennett was, "What he endured no tongue can tell to save our souls from death and hell!" Saying, "Christ suffered our hell" not only claims too much but also says too little. He suffered infinitely more than we could have endured through endless ages.

E Higgins

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What did the Lord mean, "Let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will?"

What did the Lord mean, "Let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will?"

Before Gethsemane, the Lord Jesus said, "What shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy name" (John 12:27,28)." TARGET="_blank">John 12:27,28). After Gethsemane He said, "The cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?" (John 18:11)." TARGET="_blank">John 18:11). There was no possibility of His turning from or being unwilling to go to Calvary. Gethsemane itself carries a weight of grief and a depth of wonder exceeding perhaps any other scene. This is holy ground! Together, Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s accounts portray immense emotional suffering that expressed itself physically. His sorrow was to the point of death, to the limit of the human frame. His anguish was accompanied by godly reverence and dependence (Hebrews 5:7)." TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 5:7). Each statement of prayer includes the submission of His will to the Father’s. It could not have been otherwise.

Such was the enormity of Golgotha’s awaiting suffering that He would never have endured it unless this was His Father’s will. Each exploration of an alternative was fully submissive. Gethsemane’s question was, "Can divine Persons find any other way but Calvary to deal with sin?" Gethsemane’s answer? " No."

D. Oliver
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Why does the Lord Jesus emphasize the title "Son of Man"?

Why does the Lord Jesus emphasize this title?

In the Gospels, the Lord refers to Himself as the Son of Man on 53 occasions. In all but one of these, the words could be translated literally "the Son of the Man," a form only used of Christ in the Scriptures. On the other occasion, the form is "Son of Man," the same construction used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament on every occasion "son of man" appears. To give some perspective, in the gospel records the Lord referred to Himself as "the Christ" on eight occasions. He referred to Himself as Lord on ten occasions. We have five recorded incidents when He stated He is the Son of God.

But why this emphasis? In Daniel’s prophecy (7:13), at least three truths are related to the Son of Man: His authority, His coming, His rejection. In contrast to others whose dominion would be taken from them, the Son of Man receives authority that will never pass away (v 14). His coming is with the clouds of heaven (v 13). That His rejection precedes His coming is evident in linking two other Old Testament passages with this prophecy. He is a man Who comes from heaven. This is parallel to the teaching of Psalm 110" TARGET="_blank">Psalm 110 (verses 1-3), where the coming ruler has enemies and his own people are unwilling for Him to reign over them while He is sitting at God’s right hand. Add to that verse 17 of Psalm 80," TARGET="_blank">Psalm 80, which appears to be messianic and links "the Man of Thy right hand" (His ascension) with "the Son of Man."

In at least seven of the recorded 53 occasions, He emphasizes His authority: over the Sabbath, the forgiveness of sins, all judgment, and entrance to the kingdom. Comparing Psalm 8" TARGET="_blank">Psalm 8 (v 4) and Hebrews 2" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 2 (vv 6-9), we conclude that the dominion over all the works of God’s hands was lost by Adam, the son of man, and now belongs to Jesus, the Son of Man, although all things are not yet put under to Him.

On at least 17 of these 53 occasions, the Lord is referring to His coming again - and always His coming to earth. He is anticipating His coming glory.

At least 26 of the occasions when He calls Himself the Son of Man, the Lord is emphasizing His rejection - including His death, burial, resurrection, or ascension. This is then a predominant thought associated with His title as the Son of Man.

As in Psalm 8" TARGET="_blank">Psalm 8 and various other passages, the term "son" does not always refer to physical generation, but refers rather to character (e. g., sons of Belial; see also Eph 2:2" TARGET="_blank">Eph 2:2 JND and Mat 23:31," TARGET="_blank">Mat 23:31, JND). The Son of Man embodies all that God ever intended a man to be.

His reasons for using this title so often, then, may be to emphasize His messiahship, coming glory, rejection, authority, and perfection, showing that He was both like, yet distinct from, every other man.

D. Oliver
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Sunday School Activities

You can either make your own Sunday school activities with the programs below or select one of the following Sunday school activities:

Activities for Sunday School Teachers

1. Lesson Activities.

You will find a lesson plan, activity, printable artwork, games and illustrations for 254 stories in the Bible.

Lesson plans - A list of important points that you should review for most of the stories in the Bible. You should have an important message to get accross before you plan one of your Sunday school activities that is supposed to support the teaching portion of the lesson.
Printable activities - This is the list of Sunday school activities that can reinforce your lesson. From 3D models of the tabernacle, to printable coloring books to games that you can print, these Sunday school activities will save your hours of work, especially if you are not the creative type of teacher.

2. Sunday School Worksheets.

Be careful not to over-use puzzles. They lose their effectiveness if you do them every week. With these programs you can turn a Bible vese a Sunday School activity in a 3 mouse clicks. If you want to save even more time, select one of the 325 worksheets that has already been created for you.

3. Online Study Bible

Bible search, commentary, dictionary and other tools to help you prepare a lesson for your next class. Although the Study Bible doesn't count as one of the Sunday school activities, it is important that a Sunday school teacher does more preparation in understanding the scripture than in creating a craft, puzzle or some other interesting Sunday school activity. The teacher needs to know what God's intentions were by reading the scripture rather than trying to apply a certain pre-conceived idea.

4. Newsletter for Sunday School Teachers - The Encourager

The Encourager is a weekly newsletter for Sunday school teachers. The newsletter is the best way to keep up to date with what new Sunday school activities have been created on the site. Each week, a new printable Sunday school activity will arrive at your mailbox - free!

Subscribe to the Encourager

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Was Melchizedek an appearance of Christ in the flesh?

What are we to gather from the scriptural reference to Melchizedek?

Was he a man of God of his time—a priest of the Most High, indeed, or was he actually the Son of God?

In dealing with this perennial question one wishes to recognize the views of some esteemed brethren who take a contrary view to that expressed here. They believe that this was a Theophany or appearance of the Second Person of the Godhead in a temporary human form (all such theophanies being necessarily Christophanies), and that Melchizedek was actually the Son of God. But is there nothing in the fact that he is said to have been made “like unto the Son of God”? You don’t say a man is like himself; he is himself, but he may closely resemble someone else. However, many such theophanies occur to us—the man who wrestled with Jacob at Jabbok, the man with sword in hand who appeared to Joshua, the angels who appeared to Gideon and Manoah, etc.

One thing characterises them all. At first the appearance seems only human—an ordinary man, but at the end the superhuman, nay the Divine, character of the appearance is manifested. Note this in each of the cases referred to above. This is entirely absent in the case before us. In no sense are we informed that Abraham recognised Melchizedekas Divine, but he did recognise him as a king and as a priest of the Most High God, who ministered to his bodily needs and was greater than himself, therefore able to bless him and worthy to receive tithes from him. Again, Christ might have appeared as a King, but surely not as King of a well-known place as Salem or Jerusalem. Whoever Melchizedek was, his office as priest only shews that God in calling Abraham for a certain object, had not for that left all the world in darkness, but still had notable witnesses, outside His purpose concerning His chosen people to be. Those who stand for the deity of Melchizedek rely much on the expressions used by the Spirit of him in Hebrews 7" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 7: , and make rather “in and out” efforts to shew how each expression applies to Christ. I believe the whole effort is in vain, for these expressions if forced to apply to Christ must be interpreted either of Him in incarnation or of Him before incarnation, and this cannot be done.

As a matter of fact, I believe there is one point and only one which the Holy Ghost would emphasise by His silence in Genesis 14" TARGET="_blank">Genesis 14: concerning the parentage, genealogy, birth and death of Melchizedek, and that is the conventIonal continuity and endless character of His priesthood. The meaning is not that this man was actually without parents nor that he is alive somewhere to-day, but that by the fact that he appears suddenly on the page of Scripture and that no mention is made of his decease, he is thus qualified to be an apt figure of Him Who is Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek and Whose Priesthood can never pass to another.

W.H.

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How should 2 Thessalonians 2:2 be translated?

Which of the two readings of 2 Thessalonians 2:2" TARGET="_blank">2 Thessalonians 2:2 is correct?

The Authorized Version reads, "That ye be not soon shaken in mind,... as that the day of Christ is at hand." Darby's translation reads, "that ye be not soon shaken in mind, . . . as that the day of the Lord is present."

For some Bible students, this involves a very emotional issue. To them, suggesting a change in the King James Version is equivalent to changing the Bible. We must insist, with them, that the Word of God never changes (Psalm 119:89)." TARGET="_blank">Psalm 119:89). Nevertheless, the King James Version is a translation from handwritten documents, manuscripts, that are copies (more likely, copies of copies of copies...) of the original writings. Researchers have discovered more ancient copies, for instance a manuscript (C. Beatty's) containing most of the New Testament and dated toward the end of the first century (thus, perhaps copied within 30 years of the original writings) was found in the 1930s. These older manuscripts have some differences from the manuscripts used by the KJV translators. It is worth emphasizing that "not one fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith rests on a disputed reading" (P. W. Comfort, "The Complete Guide to Bible Versions").

Without attempting in this brief format to answer the objections raised by those who defend the AV readings, I accept the view of reliable scholarship that supports Mr. Darby's translation.

D. Oliver
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Did the earth become "without form and void" or was it made that way?

Can't Genesis 1:2" TARGET="_blank">Genesis 1:2 be translated, "And the earth became without form and void?"

The Hebrew word is properly rendered "was," not "became." The grammar of the passage proves this most persuasively. The phrase, "And the earth was without form and void," in verse 2 is a kind of subordinate clause called a circumstantial clause. It modifies verse 1, the main clause. Thus verse 1 states what God did, and verse 2 adds some further information about it - some circumstances occurring at the same time as the principal statement. We understand from this that God made the heavens and the earth in the beginning, and when He did, it happened that (1) the earth was formless and empty; (2) darkness was on the face of the deep; and (3) the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Grammatically, there can be no discontinuity between these verses. Verse 2 must be describing the earth as it was originally created, not how it became at a time following creation.

D. Valiance
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