Posts tagged Luke 2

Luke Loves Dual Portraits

I’ve spent a number of years at the post-graduate level analyzing Luke’s two-volume Luke-Acts. I’ve observed that, among many other astonishing techniques, Luke consistently pairs two people together in order for us to compare. He creates dual portraits for us to gain insight into how two different people respond to God’s revelation, to hardship, or to temptation. And knowing the biases against women in the first century, what is surprising is that the dual portrait consists of a man and a woman.

Tim ColeAugust 11, 2020Mary, Zechariah, Luke 1, Luke 2, Portraits, Luke's Use of Dual Portraits, Nicodemus, The woman of Samaria, John 4, John 3, Nocodemus, Men compared with women in the Bible

Addicted to the Mediocrity of Sameness

Sometimes Christians maintain this attitude toward learning new truths in Scripture. “Everything that can be known from Scripture is already discovered. There is nothing new for me to learn. After all, I’ve been to Christian college or been in church all my life.”

In fact, occasionally, pride induces resentful questions: “How could that be true? I’ve never heard these things before!”

It is estimated that 75% of Americans never think; that 15% think they are thinking and that a mere 10% actually think. That small 10% of the population will be the significant women and men in the culture and in Jesus’ church.

Tim ColeJanuary 3, 2019Bible study, mediocrity, Jesus, Christian living, Luke 2