"In Jerusalem shall My name be forever." - YHWH in 2nd Chronicles 33:4 (via BA Purtle)

[The saints in Revelation] must endure...trusting that things will turn out other than how they presently seemed to be, that the arrival of the storm signals the dawning of a new day, one that will bring the awaited harvest for the faithful. - Mark Nanos, (via Joshua Reese)

The brevity of this story (Acts 21:20-27) belies its importance, both for what it tells us about Luke and for what it says about Luke's Paul. Given the anti-legalistic, anti-ethnocentric, and apocalyptic accounts of Paul, one would expect Paul to stand up to the Jerusalem leaders in much the same way that he seems to stand up to Peter in Antioch (Gal. 2). The anti-legalistic reading seems to require Paul to declare that neither Jews nor gentiles are saved by works and so Jews do not need to keep the law and no longer need to circumcise their sons. This Paul should then tell the Jerusalem leaders that he will not take part in the cultic practices that make him appear to be law observant, since doing so would be bearing false testimony. The anti-ethnocentric reading appears to require Paul to declare to the Jerusalem leaders that their insistence on law observance and their contention that ethnicity matters are idolatrous and ethnocentric. Again, this Paul should resist the call to participate in the Jerusalem cult since to do so would be to suggest that Jewish distinctives like circumcision, purity regulations, and the temple (works of the law) still matter. And the apocalyptic reading seems to require Paul to declare that the old has passed in light of the apocalyptic invasion of the Messiah: the temple, ritual purity regulations, and ethnicity are all nothing in the wake of the messianic new creation. 

But Luke's Paul does none of these things. Instead, he does precisely what is asked of him, knowing full well that it will give, and is intended to give, everyone the impression that he himself keeps the Jewish law. These publicly performed rituals show people that Paul was not teaching Jewish Messiah followers outside Judea to abandon Moses, the Jewish rite of circumcision, or the Jewish law. The story makes clear that the ethnic distinctions persist and matter in the Jesus movement: one set of practices applies to Jewish followers of Jesus, while another set of practices applies to gentile followers of Jesus (Acts 21:25). Laws, ethnicity, and differences continue to matter for Luke's Paul. - Matthew Thiessen, A Jewish Paul

My teaching on Luke's beatitudes from the sermon on the plalin in chapter 6. Notes. Audio 1. Audio 2. Video. 

The grace of God is given in context to the Day of the Lord and the coming Kingdom. Grace is unto strengthening the church in her identity and purpose in this age (cf. worship, discipleship and evangelism), and thus grace is the primary “commodity” sought by the saints in this age. - John P. Harrigan

The Church is called to persevere in their calling to worship God and believe in his appointed Messiah, sanctifying themselves in preparation for his Kingdom, and testifying to all nations of the judgment and restoration of that Kingdom. However, perseverance in this calling is wholly dependent upon God and his grace, by means of the Holy Spirit’s empowerment.  (Acts 1:4-8)

The Holy Spirit is given by God as a deposit (cf. 2 Cor. 5:5; Eph. 1:14; etc.) of the grace (Gk. charis) that will be given the saints at the revelation of Jesus (cf. 1 Pe. 1:13; Titus. 2:11; 1 Cor. 1:7; Gal. 1:6; etc.). - John P. Harrigan

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. (ESV Matthew 9:35) 

The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor." (NIV Luke 4:17)  

Humanity’s ultimate problem is death/suffering/sickness and its root of wickedness and rebellion (i.e. bad news). The biblical gospel (i.e. good news) boldly declares to the sick and dying the overturning and conquering of death in the resurrection of the body. Moreover, it declares to the poor and oppressed the uprooting and destruction of wickedness in the judgment of the Day of the Lord. - John P. Harrigan

In light of the coming Messianic Kingdom, the Church’s primary role is to acknowledge and worship God in his present benevolent sovereignty over all things in the heavens and on the earth, and to wait, hope and pray for the Day of the Lord and the coming of His Messiah.   

Secondarily, the Church is called to prepare for its inheritance in that kingdom. It is called to holiness and blamelessness that we might receive a rich welcome into the coming kingdom. This is the context of discipleship and sanctification, training to reign in love and righteousness.  

The tertiary role of the Church is to be a witness of that Kingdom—and the judgment and restoration therein—to all the nations.  - John P. Harrigan

“Israel's national redemption will not occur in our day, but it will indeed come to pass. At His time the Lord will cause it to come to pass suddenly. May the Lord be gracious to His people of old. Oh, that the Redeemer would come to Zion and turn away ungodliness from Jacob! Israel would then rejoice and the Gentiles would glory, and together they would render the Lord honor, glory, and thanksgiving. Hallelujah!” - Wilhelmus à Brakel (1635-1711) 

The fact that Irenaeus’ views on the Kingdom were so soon overtaken with in the Great Church by the Platonizing, spiritualizing interpretation may have a good deal to do with the general neglect of his writings in the later tradition of the Church. Most medieval manuscripts of Adversus Haereses do not contain the final chapters of Book V, where Irenaeus’ eschatology is most fully presented. The desire to protect Irenaeus’ reputation for orthodoxy has not been confined to medieval copyists. In 1938, V. Cremers attempted to show that these pages were not the work of Irenaeus at all, but a later interpolation. Some scholars, though not embarrassed by the realism of Irenaeus’ expectations of the Kingdom have yet been at pains to urge that ‘there is not a single mention of the words “thousand years’ reign”’, so that it cannot be said that there are any ‘misplaced chiliastic tendencies in the Adversus Haereses’. However, the Armenian version of Books IV and V of Adversus Haereses, first published in 1910, shows these claims to be unsupportable. For from it we learn that even the one Latin manuscript that had been thought to preserve the whole of the text did, in fact, lack a small but crucial paragraph in the very heart of Irenaeus’ discussion of this subject. And in that paragraph Irenaeus speaks unequivocally of the thousand-year reign of the just. -Dennis Minns 

Irenaeus belonged to a body of Christians, surprisingly large even at the end of the second century, who continued to believe in the imminent coming of the Kingdom of God in a quite literal sense: they believed that at the coming of Christ the earth would be renewed and the just would rise from the dead to dwell with him in his Kingdom for a thousand years…. Half a century later, partly in consequence of the growing influence of Platonism within Christian theology, the ‘spiritual’ interpretation of the coming of the Kingdom had triumphed, and the views on the Kingdom of Irenaeus and other like-minded theologians were derided as naïve or outlandish. - Dennis Minns

God's election is of the Jewish people as a whole and that while out of this people he has called prophets, kings, redeemers, priests—heroes of all sorts whose service and stories are detailed with great precision in the Hebrew Bible, they each had their significance only as they came out of Israel and returned into it as sons of the nation God had elected and which he had sworn not to abandon. If we take the Hebrew Bible seriously, there cannot be any individual, however significant and prominent, whose relationship with God is unilateral, with the people of Israel not being the decisive presence serving as the purpose of the relation. The kings, priests and prophets of Israel were sent to rule, minister to and address the people of Israel; without this people not one of them would have had any significance nor would his mission have been conceivable… Should we be misled into believing that this is true only of the Hebrew Bible where as in the New Testament it is Jesus addressing humanity rather than just the people into which he was born, we need only remind ourselves of those passages in which Jesus specifically proclaims the focus of his ministry as being the Jewish people…We need to realize that Jesus must not be separated from the Jewish people because he did not wish to separate himself from them. - Michael Wyschogrod, via Bill Scofield

In Paul's day, churches (ekklesiae in Greek) were still connected to the synagogue. As Pauline scholar Mark Nanos has said for decades, ekklesiae were actually "synagogue subgroups." Later, yes, churches as we have come to know them have disconnected from the synagogue. But in Paul's day, they were umbilically connected to each other. Where else would Paul's gentiles have access to the Jewish scriptures he instructed them to learn? - Ryan Lambert, The Weird Apostle

Bad ideas defeated by force rather than by facts will keep coming back. If truth is really on your side, you have nothing to fear in the hearing and nothing to lose in honest, thoughtful engagement. - Dr. Micheal Svigel

“Pilate said, ‘What accusation do you bring against this man?’”

“They answered him, ‘If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.’” John 18:29–30

Evasion only works with people who cavil, “What is truth?” - John Piper

If you don’t understand how Jews viewed the future at the time of the New Testament, you won’t be able to appreciate the significance of what it means to change that expectation. - Tyler Luedke

[Luke 17:21] ...the kingdom of God will come into your midst (suddenly and apocalyptically from God). It will not come progressively as a synergistic insurrection from Israel’s inner rooms or wilderness areas. Unlike Barabbas (23:19), Jesus demands the embrace of non-violent martyrdom (9:23, 14:27). Only those disciples who renounce everything in this age (12:33; 14:33), putting their hope in God alone, will inherit the resurrection and eternal life “when the Son of Man comes” (18:8). This seems to be the apocalyptic faith that Jesus is cultivating in 17:20–21. - John P. Harrigan, Signs of Jewish Zealotry in Luke 17.20-21

A brief teaching I did on interpreting Luke's sermon on the plain with three broad narratives or storylines. 

History is moving toward a climactic end involving the day of the Lord, the resurrection of the dead, the judgment of the wicked (ending in gehenna), a cosmic renewal (new heavens and new earth), and the messianic kingdom (based in a glorified Jerusalem). The vast majority of Jesus’s sayings about the kingdom of God fit comfortably within this worldview. - John P. Harrigan, Signs of Jewish Zealotry in Luke 17.20-21

Unlike the synergism of the zealots, Jesus’s expectation of how and when the messianic kingdom would come was much more apocalyptic. Without the aid of ζηλωταὶ, it would come suddenly like lightning in the sky (cf. Matt 24:27; Luke 17:24), as in the days of Noah and Lot (cf. Matt 24:36–39; Luke 17:26–29). 

Thus, Jesus was not seeking to radically redefine what the kingdom was, but rather he was simply seeking to correct ideas circulating within Jewish circles at the time concerning when and how the kingdom would come, based upon assumptions concerning where it would originate. It would not come out of Israel’s midst by the strength of human zeal, but rather it would come into Israel’s midst apocalyptically by the power of God from the heavens. Understanding the observable signs in Luke 17:20–21 as Jewish insurgencies helps us navigate what Jesus was trying to communicate more broadly concerning the kingdom of God in Luke 17:20–18:8.  - John P. Harrigan, Signs of Jewish Zealotry in Luke 17.20-21

Evidence that Jewish zealotry was in mind in Luke 17:20–21 is seen in the Synoptic parallels: “So, if they say to you, ‘Look! He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say,‘Look! He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it” (Matt 24:26; emphasis added). Compared to other the commonly postulated signs, insurgent scheming seems to better fit in the Judean wilderness and/or in Jerusalem’s inner rooms. According to Josephus, seditious movements were relatively common in the first century. They are also seen in the New Testament (cf. Mark 15:7; Luke 23:19; Acts 5:36–37; 21:38). Moreover, such insurrectionists seem to better fit the parallel descriptions of “false messiahs” (Matt 24:24; Mark 13:22), who would provoke the popular declaration: “‘Look! Here is the Messiah!’ or ‘Look! There he is!’” (Mark 13:21). Looking (Gk. ἰδού) here and there (Gk. ὧδε, ἐκεῖ) in Matthew 24:26 and Mark 13:21 is clearly associated with messianic expectations. The same would seem to apply to looking here and there in Luke 17:21a and 17:23a. The best context for this errant first-century messianic expectation seems to be Jewish zealotry. - John P. Harrigan, Signs of Jewish Zealotry in Luke 17.20-21

Zealot beliefs largely overlapped with common apocalyptic expectations at the time, except for the synergistic means of ushering in the apocalyptic future. Patterned after (and seemingly extrapolated from) the Maccabean revolt, zealotry envisioned a Davidic descendant gathering an army of those zealous for God (Gk. ζηλωτής) in the Judean wilderness. With heavenly approval and miraculous signs, he would liberate Jerusalem from Gentile antichristic tyranny and usher in the glorious age to come (thus the false messianic “signs and omens,” Matt 24:24; Mark 13:22).  - John P. Harrigan, Signs of Jewish Zealotry in Luke 17.20-21

Careful When Gathering Sticks

A young man wondered if he should go to a Bible school. His business was carpet-cleaning. Because he traveled around, he personally witnessed to six or seven people each day. His future at a mission school would mean that he would spend six months with Christians. Then he would go out and do mission work ... if he still had a mind to. Charles Spurgeon said, "Be careful when you are picking up sticks, that your fire doesn't go out." So if you are considering going to a Bible school, make sure they have an emphasis on reaching out to the world, so that you will end up with more zeal than when you enrolled. Better still, get into a lifestyle where you will be schooled by regularly rubbing shoulders with the world. 

There goes another minute. Gone forever. Go share your faith while you still have time. - Ray Comfort

That which cannot be earned by moral perfection cannot be lost by moral imperfection. - Micheal Heiser

Ironically, it seems that, since the second century, most of Yeshua’s followers would prefer that he does not restore the kingdom to Israel. It turns out that the kingdom of heaven is far too Jewish for most of his followers. - D. Thomas Lancaster. 

Jesus described the future with phrases like: “the age to come” (Mark 10:30), “the renewal of all things” (Matt 19:28), “my kingdom” (Luke 22:30), “the resurrection” (Matt 22:28). Peter described it as: “the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time” (Acts 3:21). Paul said that the Spirit of God within us and  “the whole creation groans” for this time (Rom 8:22). - Joel Richardson 

There is no such thing as "spare time." Time is humanity's most precious resource. There is only time well spent and time wasted. - Aaron Eby

In Judaism, Rabbis have always debated what seemed like two different Messianic figures being described in the scriptures. One was Messiah son of David (The Warrior Like Messiah) and the other is Messiah son of Joseph (The Gentle Suffering Servant). They were unable to see how this might be one Messiah coming at two different times and so missed their Messiah.

What’s interesting is that they were expecting and waiting for their Warrior Messiah to come and rescue them from the bondage and tribulation they were experiencing and instead got the suffering Messiah coming to make atonement for sin.

Now 2,000 years later it seems that the church is making the same mistake and this time is expecting the gentle Messiah to return, when actually we are going to get the Warrior Messiah coming to judge the world and take His throne in Jerusalem! 

-Johnathon Blaze

Divorcing “the Gospel” from eschatology, particularly the Second Coming and the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel, is all too common but nevertheless shortsighted and problematic. 

We are not just saved from our sins (a typical and yes at one level necessary way of framing the Gospel). 

At a more holistic level, however, we are saved into a very specific type of Kingdom that will manifest at the return of Christ. - Travis M Snow 

His iron-clad commitment to keep His promises spares us the trouble of building His Kingdom without Him. As C.H. Spurgeon once said, it is quite difficult to have a Kingdom without the King present. We are to bear witness of His Kingdom coming, but we’ll never establish it here without Him. The dominion mandate in the Garden was usurped by the one whose head Jesus will crush finally and forever, and “the kingdoms of this world [will] become the Kingdom of our Lord and His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever,” “gloriously.” - Stephanie Quick, Kingdom Come

The moment Gentiles began to dominate the Christian demographic, we began to deliberately divorce ourselves from the Judaic ethos of the faith. This was due in part to the mounting tensions between mainline Judaism and the controversies surrounding this new sect of “the Way,” and in part to the controversy of Jerusalem saddling the Roman Empire that Gentile Christians wanted distance from, and, lastly, in sure part to the general antisemitism and anti Judaism within the Empire that colored, say, Roman Christian interpretation of the foundational texts. By the time Church Fathers gathered to root out heresies and identify core doctrines in our creeds, they had intentionally distanced Christendom from Jerusalem and Judaism. This was done deliberately, and to everyone’s detriment. - Stephanie Quick, Kingdom Come