Yearly Archives: 2010

The Vineyard

Posted on April 7, 2010 | Leave a comment

The prophet Isaiah records the song of the LORD for His vineyard that had become unfruitful.

1 Let me sing now for my well-beloved A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
2 He dug it all around, removed its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it And also hewed out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones.
3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge between Me and My vineyard.
4 “What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?
5 “So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground.
6 “I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned or hoed, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.”
7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel And the men of Judah His delightful plant. Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress. (Isaiah 5:1-7 NAU)

The photo was made in the hill country of Judah south of Bethlehem near the Patriarchs Way. This region of the country is filled with vineyards.

Vineyard in the hill country of Judah near the Patriarchs Way. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Vineyard in the hill country of Judah. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

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Posted in Bible Places, Bible Study, Israel, Old Testament

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Perfume of pure nard

Posted on April 6, 2010 | Leave a comment

Shortly before His death, Jesus went to Bethany. The event we are considering today took place at the home of Simon the Leper, but Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, His friends, were present.  On this occasion Mary anointed the feet of Jesus with perfume of pure nard.

Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. (John 12:3 ESV)

The Greek word for perfume is muron, and the word for nard is nardos. Our word myrrh comes from muron. While it might be used of a specific type of fragrance, in this place it is probably used in the general sense of perfume. Nard (or spikenard) is “a fragant oil derived from the root and spike (hair stem) of the nard plant which grows in the mountains of northern India” (Brown, Anchor Bible, I:448). Mary anointed His feet. The parallel accounts are Matthew 26:6-13 and Mark 14:3-9. This act is to be told wherever the gospel is preached. This took place in the house of Simon the leper. The account in Luke 7:36-50 took place in Galilee and is different.

The Eretz Israel Museum at Tel Aviv University has one entire building devoted to glassware. I was especially interested in a large collection of perfume bottles from the first century A.D.

Perfume Bottles at Eretz Israel Museum at Tel Aviv University

First Century A.D. Perfume Bottles at Eretz Israel Museum. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

The museum sign associated with this collection identifies these bottles as “Free-blown vessels of colored opaque and translucent glass, probably produced in the same centers.”

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Posted in Bible Study, Culture, Israel, New Testament

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“He is not here, for He has risen”

Posted on April 4, 2010 | 1 comment

The women who came to the tomb of Jesus on the first day of the week found the stone rolled away from the tomb. When they entered the tomb the body was not there (Luke 24:1-3).

The angel said to the women,

He is not here, for he has risen, as he said.  (Matthew 28:6a ESV)

Several tombs of the type in which Jesus was buried have survived the centuries. This one was discovered during road construction a few years ago near Mount Carmel.

A Roman Period tomb with a rolling stone. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

A Roman Period tomb with a rolling stone. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Paul says that Jesus was “delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” (Romans 4:25 ESV).

Last year I wrote about “The empty tomb” here, and “The Tomb of Jesus” here. Use the search box to locate other posts about tomb.

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Posted in Bible Places, Bible Study, Israel, New Testament

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The observance of Easter

Posted on April 3, 2010 | 3 comments

Have you ever thought about it? Was Easter celebrated in the churches of New Testament times? For a brief discussion of the historical information, read an article that I have posted here at the Biblical Studies Info Page.

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Posted in Bible Study, Church History, New Testament

The Via Dolorosa – the Way of the Cross

Posted on April 2, 2010 | Leave a comment

An incredible day in history. Early in the morning Jesus was transferred from Caiaphas, the Jewish High Priest, to Pontius Pilate, the Roman military governor. When Pilate learned that Jesus was from Galilee, he sent Him to Herod Antipas. Herod quickly sent Him back to Pilate. Under pressure from the religious leaders, Pilate delivered Jesus to be crucified. The numerous events from the last day prior to the crucifixion of Jesus are recorded in the New Testament (Matthew 26-27; Mark 14-15; Luke 22-23; John 18-19).

As early as Byzantine times Christians began to follow the final steps of Jesus on specified days. Over the centuries many changes were made in the route and the stops. The traditional Via Dolorosa, as known today, was fixed in the 18th century.

Jerome Murphy-O’Connor says,

The Via Dolorosa is defined by faith, not by history. (The Holy Land, 5th edition, 37)

He continues,

The present Way of the Cross has little chance of corresponding to historical reality… (38)

According to tradition, the third station of the cross is where Jesus falls the first time under His cross. It sounds reasonable, but the Gospels make no specific mention of this.

Roman period street near 3rd station of the cross. Photo by F. Jenkins.

Roman period street near 3rd station of the cross. Photo by F. Jenkins.

This photo shows the street in front of the third station. The plaque in Hebrew, Arabic and English provides the following information about the street.

Paving stones, apparently from the Second Temple Period (ca. 100 B.C.E. – 100 C.E.). The street was found in its entirety 3 meters below the existing level and was partially restored by the Municipality of Jerusalem … 1980-1981.

This means that the street Jesus might have walked is at least 10 feet below the present street level.

[A portion of this post is repeated from April 8, 2009.]

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Posted in Bible Places, Church History, Israel, New Testament

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BiblioBlogger rankings for March

Posted on April 2, 2010 | Leave a comment

The Top 50 BiblioBlogger rankings for March are posted here. Thanks to our readers for moving us into 10th place. This list is based on the Alexa traffic rank.

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Posted in Biblical Studies, blog

Peter’s denial of Jesus

Posted on April 1, 2010 | 1 comment

Thursday was another activity-filled day for Jesus, but we pick up on the activity late in the day. The Gospel of John fills in a lot of information not contained in the other accounts of His life. Here is what John records:

  • The passover meal (John 13:1-38). John includes no account of the institution of the Lord’s Supper which took place at the time of this meal (Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:17-20). Only John records the washing of the disciples’ feet.
  • His farewell discourses (John 14-16).
  • His priestly prayer for His disciples and those who believe on Him through their word (John 17).
  • His betrayal and arrest (John 18). Note that it would have been fairly late in the evening before He was arrested.
  • He is taken to the house of Annas (John 18:12-14), where he was delivered over to Caiaphas (John 18:24-28). I think the text indicates that Jesus remained there throughout the night.
  • The denial by Peter (John 18:15-18).

The traditional location for the house of Caiaphas is known as St. Peter in Gallicantu (St. Peter of the Cock Crowing). We have written about the site here, and I will not discuss the authenticity of the place now. The site has a nice statue of Peter saying, “mulier non novi illum.”

Peter denies knowing Jesus. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins at St. Peter in Galicantu.

Peter denies knowing Jesus. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Having arrested Him, they led Him away and brought Him to the house of the high priest; but Peter was following at a distance. After they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter was sitting among them. And a servant-girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight and looking intently at him, said, “This man was with Him too.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.” (Luke 22:54-57 NAU)

This must have been one of the most hurtful things to Jesus. It is one thing to have acknowledged enemies mistreat you, but when it is done by a supposed friend it is doubly hurtful.

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A quiet day for Jesus

Posted on March 31, 2010 | Leave a comment

The Gospel accounts indicate no activity  for Jesus on Wednesday of the final week. After all of the conflict on Tuesday, one can imagine He needed a time for seclusion. We should consider another possibility. Had He continued the intense conflict with the religious leaders it might have affected the time of His death.

Jesus carefully orchestrated His death. From the beginning He spoke of His hour. After the raising of Lazarus he withdrew to a place northwest of Jerusalem on the edge of the wilderness at Ephraim.

Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples. (John 11:54 ESV)

Jesus would offer Himself as the sacrificial lamb at the time of the Passover meal. This took intricate planning.

The crowds of pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem for Passover overloaded the system. Many of them likely slept in the open on the Mount of Olives and other places near the city. On Monday evening,

And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. (Mark 11:11 ESV)

Luke tells us that it was His custom to do so.

And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. (Luke 22:39 ESV)

Bethany, the village of Mary, Martha and Lazarus (John 11:1), was located on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives about two miles from Jerusalem (John 11:1, 18). The photo below of the eastern slope of Olivet was made from near the traditional tomb of Lazarus at Bethany. In the time of Jesus the mountain was likely filled with olive trees. Today we see modern housing. Jerusalem may be seen only after one reaches the crest of the mountain.

Eastern slope of Mount of Olives near Bethany. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Eastern slope of Mount of Olives near Bethany. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

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Posted in Bible Places, Bible Study, Israel, New Testament

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A day of conflict for Jesus

Posted on March 30, 2010 | Leave a comment

Tuesday of the week of Jesus’ death was a day of great conflict. The tensions between Jesus and the Jewish leaders had been growing for a long time and was about to reach its peak. The Gospel of John records this climax in His ministry.

37 Although Jesus had performed so many miraculous signs before them, they still refused to believe in him, 38 so that the word of Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled. He said, “Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39 For this reason they could not believe, because again Isaiah said, 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and turn to me, and I would heal them.” 41 Isaiah said these things because he saw Christ’s glory, and spoke about him. (John 12:37-41 NET)

Not everyone rejected Jesus. John says that many among the rulers believed on Him. Their faith was not strong enough to overcome their fear of being cast out of the synagogue and elicit a confession of Him (John 12:42).

According to the Gospel of Matthew, the chief priests and elders questioned His authority to do the things He was doing. It seems they were especially perturbed that He would dare do these things in the temple courts. That was where they were in control! (Matthew 21:23ff.). The intellectual sparring was followed by His scathing rebuke of them recorded in Matthew 23.

When Jesus and His disciples left the Temple that day to go out to the Mount of Olives, His disciples pointed out the magnificent buildings of the temple that had been constructed by Herod the Great. And the work continued long past the death of Herod in 4 B.C. (John 2:20).

1 Now as Jesus was going out of the temple courts and walking away, his disciples came to show him the temple buildings. 2 And he said to them, “Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, not one stone will be left on another. All will be torn down!” (Matthew 24:1-2 NET)

In the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24 (= Mark 13; Luke 21), Jesus foretold the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies in A.D. 70. The destruction was so complete that only the retaining walls around the Temple precinct were left standing. Archaeological excavations following 1967 have brought to light some of the rubble that was pushed from the platform into the Tyropoeon Valley on the western side. The stones are still impressive.

Broken stones once part of the temple precinct. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Broken stones that once were part of the temple precinct. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

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Posted in Archaeology, Bible Study, Israel, New Testament

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Caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found

Posted on March 30, 2010 | Leave a comment

Almost everyone who visits Israel with a tour group makes a stop at Qumran. The guide gets a commission when you buy Ahava beauty products! But that’s o.k. Also, everyone who wishes listens to the story of Qumran and the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Most folks get a photo of Cave 4 where many of the fragments of biblical books were found.

Qumran Cave 4. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Cave 4 at Qumran. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

There are other caves in the area where important scrolls were found. Todd Bolen has written an informative post, especially about how to locate Caves 1 and 2, at the Bible Places Blog here. He even includes a PDF file so you can print the material and carry it with you on your next trip to Israel.

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Posted in Archaeology, Bible Places, Israel, Photography, Travel