13Watch! Stand firm in the faith! Be courageous! Be strong!

22If anyone does not loveThe verb here is φιλεω, not αγαπαω. We must be fond of the Lord, or be ‘accursed’. How many sermons have you heard on that subject? (People who think of God as an angry old ‘man’ are not going to be fond of Him, but if they think in such terms, they do not really know Him.) our Lord Jesus Christ,The eclectic Greek text currently in vogue omits ‘Jesus Christ’ (following some 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality); and so NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc. do the same—ho hum. I have supplied ‘our’ on the basis of 58% of the manuscripts, including the best line of transmission. let him be accursed. The Lord is coming!All commentators appear to be in agreement that Maranatha is a transliteration of an Aramaic expression [although I would have expected Paul to use Hebrew] made up of two words, but there is disagreement over how to make the division. It could be ‘maran atha’, meaning ‘the Lord has come’, or ‘marana tha’, meaning either ‘the Lord is coming’ or ‘O Lord, come’. All three make good sense, so take your pick.

24My love is with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

3since you want proof that Christ is speaking through me—He who is not weak toward you but powerful among you

5Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you yourselves really not know that Jesus Christ is in you?Sin does have a way of undermining confidence. A Christian who keeps on sinning tends to become less and less sure of his salvation.—unless indeed you are disqualified.

14The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.Here we have a clear reference to the Trinity.Amen.

4Yes, being in this ‘tent’ is a burden, so we groan—not enough to want to strip, but to be really clothed; that what is mortal may be swallowed up by the Life.This paragraph relates only to the redeemed; only we have the prospect of improving our ‘clothing’. As for the lost, the mortal will be swallowed up by the Death, and they will be left naked (but not cease to exist).

7—we walk by faith, not by sight—

21Because He made the One who did not know sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become God’s righteousness.Here we are face to face with the mystery of our redemption. Jesus, God’s Son, never sinned, did not ‘know’ sin, experientially, but He was "made to be sin" on our behalf. It is a grim picture, as though on the cross He was changed into a bundle of sin. And in exchange He gave us His righteousness. How can we ‘measure’ or understand such love? It is beyond our comprehension. As Romans 11:33 expresses it: "Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!"

3we recognize this, most noble Felix, with full gratitude, always and everywhere.

24Now after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith into Christ Jesus.Some 45% of the Greek manuscripts omit ‘Jesus’, as in AV and NKJV.

25But as he expounded on righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix became afraid and answered, "Go away for now; when I have occasion I will summon you."To believe into Jesus would require changes that Felix was not prepared to make.

5since they have known me for a long time, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived as a Pharisee.

17delivering you from ‘the people’ and the ethnic nations, to which I am sending you:

23—that the Messiah would suffer; that as the first to rise from the deadYes, Jesus was the first one out, but only the first! He would proclaim light to both ‘the people’ and the ethnic nations."How did Jesus do this after His resurrection? Presumably He did it, and continues to do so, through His followers.

4But they kept silent. So He took hold of him, healed him, and let him go.

17And at meal time he sent his slave to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’

30saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish!’

1Now the feast of unleavened bread, which is called ‘Passover’, drew near.

27Who is greater, the one reclining or the one serving? Is it not the one reclining? Yet I am among you as the one who serves.

42saying, "Father, if you would just remove this cup from me—nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done!"

6who, existing in God’s form, did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,Since Jehovah the Son was (and is) equally God, the point appears to be that He did not insist on hanging on to His prerogatives.

7but divested Himself, taking a slave’s form, coming to be in the likeness of men.Note that to be a human being is to be a slave. We are born slaves, live slaves and die slaves. We are born slaves to self, sin and death (with Satan behind the scenes); Christ offers us the option of being slaves to God, good and life. You can’t stop being a slave, but you can choose your owner.

8And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to the point of deathHebrews 5:8 says that Jehovah the Son "learned obedience by the things that He suffered". He had never experienced anything like that before. So what happens to us if we have the same mindset?—even death on a cross!

20Now to our God and Father be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

21Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you.

23The grace of the Sovereign, Jesus Christ, be with you all.Instead of "you all", some 9% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘your spirit’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, etc.). Amen.

7A woman of Samaria comes to draw water. Jesus says to her, "Give me a drink."

23But the time is coming, in fact now is, when the genuine worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Really, because the Father is looking for such people to worship Him.The Father "is looking" for those who will worship Him in spirit and truth. It may be that we have here a window on the reason why God created a race such as ours—persons in His image with the capacity to choose. God "is looking" for something, which means He does not have it, at least not automatically, nor in sufficient quantity. I take it that He wants to be appreciated for who He is, but to have meaning such appreciation cannot come from robots—it has to be voluntary. So He created a type of being with that capacity, but He had to take the risk that such a being would choose not to appreciate Him. Unfortunately, most human beings make the negative choice, and with that negative choice come all sorts of negative consequences. Ever since Adam humans are born with an inclination toward sin, so for someone to choose to appreciate God is definitely not automatic, nor even easy. No one can reasonably accuse God of having ‘stacked the deck’ in His own favor, of ‘buying votes’—He seems to have done just the opposite. If a human being, against his natural inclination, chooses to appreciate God, then He receives what He is looking for. "In spirit and truth" presumably means that it cannot be faked, cannot be forced, cannot be merely physical, cannot be merely emotional (though both body and emotions can, and often will, be utilized).

46So Jesus went again to Cana of Galilee,I suspect that He had a brother-in-law living there. where He made the water wine. Now there was a certain royal official whose son was sick in Capernaum.

5we must hand such a one over to Satan for a destruction of the ‘flesh’, that the spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord Jesus.I do not understand this. If while in the group the man fell into such sin, how can excommunicating him (verse 13) and turning him over to Satan bring about an improvement? I would expect Satan to lock him up tight. Unless it be that the shock treatment would somehow wake the man up. Perhaps 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit "Jesus", to be followed by NIV, LB, TEV, etc.

7Therefore purge out the old leaven, so that you can be a new batch, like you are, without yeast. Especially since Christ our Passover has been sacrificed in our place.Some 3% of the Greek manuscripts omit "in our place", to be followed by NIV, NASB, TEV, etc.

11But now I write you not to associate with anyone who calls himself a brother who is a fornicator, or greedy, or an idolater, or abusive, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such.Since we cannot exit the world, we are obliged to deal with the sinners in it; but we do so without identifying with them and their life style. But within the circle of believers there is identification, communion, mutual commitment, and a life style very different from that of the world [well, at least it is supposed to be]. What is at stake is not only the spiritual power of the congregation, but also its testimony before the world—someone who wants to keep on sinning like the world has not been transformed and does not belong in the circle, and this should be made very clear to one and all. Paul is saying that they should not do anything that could be construed as an acceptance of his conduct.

7and with a loud cry he said: "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore you by God,Now really, a demon appealing to God! Since he had recognized, correctly, that Jesus was ‘Son of the Most High God’, he was appealing to Him through His Father—pretty shrewd! (I assume that he had been informed that the attempt to destroy Jesus with the storm had failed.) don’t torment me!"

34And He said to her: "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go into peaceThat is what the Text says, ‘into’ not ‘in’. To go in peace is to leave on good terms, no hard feelings. But what might going into peace be? I would say that you take the peace with you; you live within an atmosphere of peace. Now that is a proper ‘blessing’! and be healed from your affliction."

40But they started ridiculing Him.They knew that she was dead, as indeed she was. After He put them all out, He took the child’s father and mother, and those with Him,Peter was there, and he helped Mark write this Gospel. and went in where the child was lying.

12but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness farthest away. There, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.""Sons of the kingdom"—those who knew the truth and rejected it will have the severest judgment, "farthest away". (Dante’s view of hell is perhaps not entirely mistaken.)

24And then—a great tempestThe word rendered ‘tempest’ usually means ‘earthquake’; one could render, "there was a big earthquake in the sea"—which would produce sudden, unexpected waves. Maybe that is what happened (that lake is right on a major fault line). arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered by the waves. But He was sleeping.

29And then—they cried out saying: "What do you have to do with us, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?"The demons knew who Jesus really was, and also about their own destiny. The parallel accounts in Mark 5 and Luke 8 give added detail—their name was ‘Legion’, and there were about 2,000 pigs. In Luke 8:31 they kept imploring Him not to send them to the Abyss—they were really worried; they knew something we do not.

26Yet look! He is speaking openly and they are saying nothing to Him. Could it be true that the rulers know that this is really the Christ?

41Others were saying, "This One is the Christ!" Others were saying: "Surely the Christ isn’t coming out of Galilee, is He?

47So the Pharisees answered them: "You haven’t been fooled too, have you?

6but whoever should cause one of these little ones who believe into me‘Into’ not ‘in’. The Lord Jesus always said "believe into [Greek εις] Me", never "believe in [Greek εν] Me". (In John 3:15 a very few Greek manuscripts of inferior quality have "in", against 99.5% that have "into".) People believe in Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, the goodness of man, or whatever, but it does not change their lives. Similarly there are many who say they believe in Jesus, but it makes no difference in their lives. You have to believe into Him—commitment and identification are involved—it is a move from being outside to being inside. to fall, it would be better for him if a large millstone were hung on his neck and he were drowned in the depth of the sea!It is preferable to suffer an ignominious physical death than to destroy the faith of a child who believes into Jesus. What is worse than an ignominious physical death? Spiritual death—in verses 8-9 Jesus refers overtly to hell fire. If you send a child to hell, you go too! What about all the teachers who have dedicated themselves to destroying the faith of their students?

8"If your hand or your foot is causing you to fall, cut them off and throw them away! It is better for you to enter into the life lame or maimed than to be thrown into the everlasting fire, having two hands or two feet.

9And if your eye is causing you to fall, tear it out and throw it away! It is better for you to enter into the life one eyed than to be thrown into the fiery Hell, having two eyes.I believe this is literal, but largely hypothetical—by the time someone realizes what is happening, it is usually too late. Maybe that is why we are supposed to exhort one another daily (Hebrews 3:13).

6Now from those who seemed to be important (whatever they were makes no difference to me; God shows favoritism to no man)—those with influence contributed nothing to me,

16knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, we ourselves have believed into Christ Jesus, so as to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law; because no one will be justified by works of law.This point is so important that Paul says it three times!

17But ifWe have here what in Greek grammar is called a ‘condition of fact’—the protasis is presented as being true—so that often ‘if’ should be ‘since’. By using ‘we’, Paul is associating himself with Peter and the others as a sinner (a nice touch), but they are already Christians, so he goes on to reject the notion that Christ could be viewed as an accomplice to their sin. while seeking to be justified in Christ we ourselves were discovered to be sinners, then is Christ a minister of sin? Of course not!

5one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

14so that we no longer be ‘infants’, tossed about as by waves and carried off by every doctrinal fad, through the underhanded dealings of the people who collect the fee for the error;Before Paul wrote Ephesians, κυβεια always meant dice-throwing (but commentators usually don’t like that, and so take evasive action). Why do people do that? Usually for material advantage. If the dice-throwing is ‘crafty’ then it is crooked—the dice are loaded. But this has to do with doctrinal fads (‘winds’). Why do people start and push fads? To get or to keep attention, which usually involves material advantage. But who throws dice by himself? To cheat you have to have a victim. But why is the other guy playing? He hopes to make a fast buck, too. So why do people buy into doctrinal fads? Often for material advantage—the purveyor makes promises (e.g. the ‘prosperity gospel’); sometimes for ‘spiritual’ or social prestige (which can translate into material advantage). You have to make the victim think that there is something in it for him. One of the basic meanings for μεθοδεια is ‘a method of collecting taxes’ or ‘debts’. If you want to shear the sheep, you need a method. But who would be vulnerable to any such ‘method’? Only a spiritual ‘infant’, who still thinks he can make a fast spiritual buck, who thinks there can be shortcuts. A "perfect man" (ανηρ, not ανθρωπος) is like Jesus—when Satan comes with his shortcuts he is not taken in. Let us try to pull it together. The fad (ανεμος) is an error (πλανη), which carries a fee—the error is not free. The purveyor needs a method for collecting the fee (μεθοδεια) for the error he is selling. But it cannot be obvious, he needs to finesse it (κυβεια εν πανουργια) (he wants happy, unsuspecting sheep). Someone who is mature (verse 13) knows there are no shortcuts, so is not taken in by any cheap promise. Telling the truth in love (verse 15) contrasts with selling an error for gain (verse 14).

16from whom the whole body, being fitted and knit together by what every joint supplies, as each individual part does its work, promotes its own growth,Any local congregation can promote its own growth by encouraging each member to exercise his gift(s); by making room for all the gifts and promoting their use. its own edification, in love.

6And He marveled at their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.

48And He sawIt was night, and they were about eight miles away, so this was supernatural vision. them straining at rowing, because the wind was against them. Well about the fourth watch of the nightThat was 3 a.m.! He comes to them walking on the water, and would have passed by them;They had been rowing for about nine hours, and when Jesus sent them off He presumably knew what was going to happen. (We should not be surprised if God does similar things with us.) He obviously intended for them to see Him, otherwise He would not have come near enough. But He did not go straight at the boat, but was walking off to one side. Just why He did it that way, the Text does not say, but from the parallel accounts we know that it gave Peter a chance to try a walk. As soon as He got in the boat it was transported several miles to the shore, immediately (John 6:21).

50Because they all saw Him and were terrified. Immediately He spoke with them and said: "Have courage! It is I; don’t be afraid!"

6But since they kept contradicting and blaspheming, he shook his clothesThe idea was presumably to get rid of any dust; this was far less serious than shaking the dust off the feet, but he was clearly severing ‘diplomatic relations’ with them. and said to them: "Your blood be upon your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles."

19He came to Ephesus and left them there (after having entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews).

21rather he took leave of them saying, "I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem;Perhaps 3% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit ‘I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). but I will return again to you, God willing."In fact, God did will it. Then he set sail from Ephesus.

3Can you be so foolish? Having begun in spirit, do you finish in flesh?

7Now you must know that only those who are of faith are ‘sons’ of Abraham.

28—there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no ‘male and female’;The Text does not have ‘neither male nor female’; the formula changes, as I have indicated. I suppose the reference is to Genesis 1:27, and the reason for the female in Genesis 2:18. All are saved on the same basis. all of you are one in Christ JesusThe reference is to the spiritual realm, not the physical—a Jew who believes into Jesus does not stop being a physical Jew, a slave who believes into Jesus does not automatically change social status, a male who believes into Jesus does not stop being a physical male, etc. But if we are all "clothed with Christ", verse 27, we will all look alike, at least from a distance. People looking at us should think they are looking at Him.—