Claimed as a hostage, she's forced from the verdant slopes of her beloved vineyard to serve Herod Antipas' neglected wife. In an opulent palace where Roman culture supersedes the commands of God, Joanna struggles to express her Jewish faith. Despite her misgivings, she is swept into the adventure of traveling with the court, and conflicted by her feelings towards the enigmatic man who took her captive. As the royal marriage fractures, she is caught in the crossfire, and her choice will alter the fates of those she loves.When rumors whisper that a man from Nazareth travels the roads of Galilee, healing and proclaiming the kingdom of God, Joanna yearns to follow. When it becomes impossible to leave the palace, she begins to fear her role in an earthly court will cost her place in the heavenly one.The first novel in the Court of the Tetrarch series imagines the origins of the biblical woman who beholds the empty tomb.

    In earthly terms, Paul had traded power for weakness. But—as he explained in his subsequent letters—this “weakness” was actually the key to flourishing community that is able to experience God’s transformation, restoration, and healing. What would it mean for pastors today to take seriously Paul’s exhortation in 1 Corinthians 11:1 to “imitate me as I imitate Christ” and lead their congregations in this way? Instead of drawing leadership principles and practices from the worlds of business, education, and politics—which tend to orient churches around institutional power and image maintenance—Timothy Gombis follows Paul in resisting the influence of the “present evil age” by making cruciformity the operating principle of the church. Gombis guides the reader through practices and patterns that can lead a congregation past a focus on individual salvation, toward becoming instead a site of resurrection power on earth.

    T. Wright While full of theological import, Paul’s letter to the Galatians also captures and memorializes a significant moment in the early history of Christianity. This commentary from N. T. Wright—the inaugural volume of the CCF series—offers a theological interpretation of Galatians that never loses sight of the political concerns of its historical context. With these two elements of the letter in dialogue with each other, readers can understand both what Paul originally meant and how his writing might be faithfully used to respond to present questions. Each section of verse-by-verse commentary in this volume is followed by Wright’s reflections on what the text says about Christian formation today, making this an excellent resource for individual readers and those preparing to teach or preach on Galatians. The focus on formation is especially appropriate for this biblical letter, in which Paul wrote to his fellow early Christians, “My children—I seem to be in labor with you all over again, until the Messiah is fully formed in you!”

    B. Jamieson probes the complexity of the Christology presented in the epistle to the Hebrews. Exploring the paradox of this key term, Jamieson argues that, according to Hebrews, Son names both who Jesus is eternally and what he becomes at the climax of his incarnate, saving mission. Jesus is, in short, the eternal Son who became the messianic Son for us and for our salvation. This volume thereby offers a case study showing how the church's core convictions about Christ lead us not away from the text, but deeper into it.

    For two millennia, they have appeared in poetry and politics, and in the thought of mystics and activists, as Christians and others have reflected on their meaning and shaped their lives according to the Beatitudes’ wisdom. But what does it mean to be hungry, or meek, or pure in heart? Is poverty a material condition or a spiritual one? And what does being blessed entail? In this book, Rebekah Eklund explores how the Beatitudes have affected readers across differing eras and contexts. From Matthew and Luke in the first century, to Martin Luther King Jr. and Billy Graham in the twentieth, Eklund considers how men and women have understood and applied the Beatitudes to their own lives through the ages. Reading in the company of past readers helps us see how rich and multifaceted the Beatitudes truly are, illuminating what they might mean for us today.

    But do you understand what it means?Baptism is the doorway into membership in the church. It's a public declaration of the washing away of our sin and the beginning of our new life in Christ. But the sacrament that is meant to unite us is often a spring of division instead.All Christians use water to baptize. All invoke the triune name. Beyond that, there's little consensus. Talk about baptism and you're immediately plunged into arguments. Whom should we baptize? What does baptism do? Why even do it at all?Peter Leithart reunifies a church divided by baptism. He recovers the baptismal imagination of the Bible, explaining how baptism works according to Scripture. Then, in conversation with Christian tradition, he shows why baptism is something worth recovering and worth agreeing on.

    

    The question every student of Scripture needs to ask, then, is this: Are your interpretive principles and methods legitimate and ethical? In this accessible introduction to biblical hermeneutics, Nicholas G. Piotrowski presents an approach that explores three layers of context: literary, historical, and christological. Because no text exists in the abstract, interpreters must seek to understand a passage's ecology: the flow and argument of the entire biblical book, the world of the original author and audience, and the movement of redemptive history that culminates in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Careful interpretation is both a science and an art, Piotrowski argues, and it has powerful implications for what we believe and how we apply God's Word. Featuring numerous examples, further reading lists, and a glossary, In All the Scriptures equips students, pastors, and thoughtful readers to build a solid foundation for interpreting the Bible.

    Cattapan invites you to look to the greatest teacher of all time—Jesus. With humor and stories from the trenches, Cattapan draws valuable insight and tools from the Gospels and shares ten life-changing principles every teacher can learn from Jesus. In Sweet Jesus, Is It June Yet?, she’ll help you hang onto your sanity and fulfill your calling even when you’re feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and on the verge of burnout.Classroom burnout is real. About 44 percent of new teachers in New York leave the profession by their fourth year and 40 percent of new teachers leave Chicago schools within five years. All over the country, managing online instruction has only added to the pressures teachers face.In order to combat frustration and burnout, Cattapan will help you:remember where your calling began;rediscover who this is all about;know when to lean on others for help;learn how Jesus dealt with challenges; andunderstand that God’s grace really is enough.Whether you’re a brand new teacher, a veteran educator, or a homeschooling parent, you’ll find wisdom—and more than a few laughs—in Cattapan’s reflections on the Great Teacher and in classroom stories straight from the front lines.

    Written with classroom utility and pastoral application in mind, this accessibly written volume summarizes the content of each major section of the biblical text to help students, pastors, and laypeople quickly grasp the sense of particular passages. The series, modeled after Baker Academic's successful Old Testament Handbook series, focuses primarily on the content of the biblical books without getting bogged down in historical-critical questions or detailed verse-by-verse exegesis. The book covers all four Gospels and explores each major passage, showing how Jesus is the central figure of each plot. It also unpacks how the Old Testament informs the Gospels.

    Christopher Holmes, an expert in contemporary theology, engages with the church fathers along with Augustine and Aquinas to offer a rich, accessible account of the triune God and the divine perfections. Holmes shows how we share in the life of God through imitation and participation and how the doctrines of the triune God and the divine attributes shape our understanding of the Christian life. Throughout, Holmes demonstrates the importance of theology for Christian faith and practice.

    On the one hand, Christians have often made Jesus so much more than human that it seemed inappropriate to ask about the influence other human beings had on him, male or female. On the other hand, women have been treated as less than fully human, their names omitted from stories and their voices and influence on Jesus neglected. When we ask the question this book does, what Jesus learned from women, puzzling questions that have frustrated readers of the Gospels throughout history suddenly find solutions. Weaving cutting edge biblical scholarship together with an element of historical fiction and a knack for writing for a general audience, James McGrath makes the stories of women in the New Testament come alive, and sheds fresh light on the figure of Jesus as well. This book is a must read for scholars, students, and anyone else interested in Jesus and/or in the role of ancient women in the context of their times.

    But understanding even the basics about the Septuagint is helpful for academics and laypeople alike.In this book, scholars Gregory R. Lanier and William A. Ross examine what the Septuagint is and why Christians should care about it. By distilling the complexity surrounding the origin (who and where), translation philosophy, and transmission (history), the authors address not only how the church throughout history has viewed this text, but also its continued value for the study of the Old Testament and New Testament. Here is a book that serves as a springboard for anyone interested in knowing more about the Septuagint and its relationship to the Bible.

    His four-volume magnum opus on Acts has received high praise from all quarters. This commentary on 1 Peter features Keener's meticulous and comprehensive research and offers a wealth of fresh insights. It will benefit students, pastors, and church leaders alike.

    He joins the crowds listening to Jesus telling lovely stories and offers his lunch of five loaves and two fish to him. Then the miracle happened!

    Engaging with global social and political realities that are still very much with us, Ernst K�semann offers a theological indictment of global white supremacy, capitalism, and militarism and passionately articulates an apocalyptic theology of liberation. The book includes a foreword by James H. Cone and an introduction by Ry O. Siggelkow.

    Jeffrey Weima explains the meaning of the seven "sermons" of Revelation 2-3 and provides sample sermons that show how these ancient messages, despite their subtle Old Testament allusions and perplexing images, are relevant for the church today. The book includes photos, maps, and charts and is of interest to preachers, students, teachers, and Bible study groups.

    

    The Gospel of John, the epistle of 1 John, and the Apocalypse all begin in the same way: by pointing to the importance of knowing the Word, both written and incarnate. Using an artistic, storytelling approach to spirituality, John relies heavily on readers' imaginations to help them see what it takes to become disciples by abiding in Jesus.Rodney Reeves combines exegesis with spiritual reflection to explore how the only biblical writer to employ three different genres presents a consistent vision of Christian spirituality. Rather than focusing on detailed instructions, John uses evocative metaphors and illustrations so that readers can envision how to follow Jesus--as disciples, in community, and even at the end of the world.Filled with stories and implications for today's readers, Spirituality According to John provides an accessible introduction to the rich spiritual world of the Johannine literature that makes up much of the New Testament. In John's era and now, anyone who has ears to hear can learn to truly abide in Christ.

    Yet historians see Pharisees as respected teachers and forward-thinking innovators who helped make the Jewish tradition more adaptable to changing circumstances and more egalitarian in practice. Seeking to bridge this gap, the contributors to this volume provide a multidisciplinary appraisal of who the Pharisees actually were, what they believed and taught, and how they have been depicted throughout history. The topics explored within this authoritative resource include:the origins of the Phariseesthe meaning of the name “Pharisee”Pharisaic leniency, relative to the temple priesthood, in judicial mattersPharisaic concerns for the Jewish laityPharisaic purity practices and why they became popularthe varying depictions of Pharisaic practices and beliefs in the New TestamentJesus’s relationship to the Phariseesthe apostle Paul and his situation within the Pharisaic traditionthe question of continuity between the Pharisaic tradition and Rabbinic Judaismthe reception history of the Pharisees, including among the rabbis, the church fathers, Rashi, Maimonides, Luther, and Calvinthe failures of past scholarship to deal justly with the Phariseesthe representations, both positive and negative, of the Pharisees in art, film, passion plays, and Christian educational resourceshow Christian leaders can and should address the Pharisees in sermons and in Bible studiesFollowing the exploration of these and other topics by a team of internationally renowned scholars, this volume concludes with an address by Pope Francis on correcting the negative stereotypes of Pharisees that have led to antisemitic prejudices and finding resources that “will positively contribute to the relationship between Jews and Christians, in view of an ever more profound and fraternal dialogue.”Contributors: Luca Angelelli, Harold W. Attridge, Vasile Babota, Shaye J. D. Cohen, Philip A. Cunningham, Deborah Forger, Paula Fredriksen, Yair Furstenburg, Massimo Grilli, Susannah Heschel, Angela La Delfa, Amy-Jill Levine, Hermut Löhr, Steve Mason, Eric M. Meyers, Craig E. Morrison, Vered Noam, Henry Pattarumadathil, Adele Reinhartz, Jens Schröter, Joseph Sievers, Matthias Skeb, Abraham Skorka, Günter Stemberger, Christian Stückl, Adela Yarbro Collins, and Randall Zachman.

    Whether described as documenting intra-group 'oral traditions' or preserving the collective perspectives of their fellow Christ-followers, these writers are treated as something akin to the Romantic poet speaking for their Volk - a questionable framework inherited from nineteenth-century German Romanticism. In this book, Robyn Faith Walsh argues that the Synoptic gospels were written by elite cultural producers working within a dynamic cadre of literate specialists, including persons who may or may not have been professed Christians. Comparing a range of ancient literature, her ground-breaking study demonstrates that the gospels are creative works produced by educated elites interested in Judean teachings, practices, and paradoxographical subjects in the aftermath of the Jewish War and in dialogue with the literature of their age. Walsh's study thus bridges the artificial divide between research on the Synoptic gospels and Classics.

    Edited by David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, this commentary series, to include 47 volumes when complete, takes a Christ-centered approach to expositing each book of the Bible. Rather than a verse-by-verse approach, the authors have crafted chapters that explain and apply key passages in their assigned Bible books.Readers will learn to see Christ in all aspects of Scripture, and they will be encouraged by the devotional nature of each exposition presented as sermons and divided into chapters that conclude with a “Reflect & Discuss” section, making this series ideal for small group study, personal devotion, and even sermon preparation. It’s not academic but rather presents an easy reading, practical, and friendly commentary.The CCE series will include 47 volumes when complete. The author of Exalting Jesus in Romans is Tony Merida.

    For example, when approaching this passage from Matthew's gospel, Martin Luther read it literally, for as he says in his own words, it is his body and his blood, but Thomas Cranmer argued that there must be some figure or mystery in this speech. In this Reformation Commentary on Scripture volume, scholars Jason K. Lee and William Marsh guide readers through a wealth of early modern commentary on the book of Matthew. Readers will hear from familiar voices and discover lesser-known figures from a diversity of theological traditions, including Lutherans, Reformed, Radicals, Anglicans and Roman Catholics. Drawing upon a variety of resources--including commentaries, sermons, treatises, and confessions--much of which appears here for the first time in English, this volume provides resources for contemporary preachers, enables scholars to better understand the depth and breadth of Reformation commentary, and seeks to encourage all those who desire to read the words of Scripture faithfully.

    The apostle Paul emphasizes that salvation is by God's grace alone. He gives assurance that freedom, hope, and the gift of righteousness are secured through Christ's death on the cross, with the promise of a new and glorious destiny. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, believers can discern and do the will of God in everyday life. God's purpose is to bring Jews and Gentiles together so that they may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one voice. In this Tyndale Commentary, David Garland offers clear guidance along the rewarding, though sometimes difficult, paths of this great letter. The Tyndale Commentaries are designed to help the reader of the Bible understand what the text says and what it means. The Introduction to each book gives a concise but thorough treatment of its authorship, date, original setting, and purpose. Following a structural Analysis, the Commentary takes the book section by section, drawing out its main themes, and also comments on individual verses and problems of interpretation. Additional Notes provide fuller discussion of particular difficulties. In the new New Testament volumes, the commentary on each section of the text is structured under three headings: Context, Comment, and Theology. The goal is to explain the true meaning of the Bible and make its message plain.

    Although he ruled over a rich, strategically crucial land, his royal title did not derive from heredity. His family came from the people of Idumea, ancient antagonists of the Israelites.Yet Herod did not rule as an outsider, but from a family committed to Judaism going back to his grandfather and father. They had served the priestly dynasty of the Maccabees that had subjected Idumea to their rule, including the Maccabean version of what loyalty to the Torah required. Herod's father, Antipater, rose not only to manage affairs on behalf of his priestly masters, but to become a pivotal military leader. He inaugurated a new alignment of power: an alliance with Rome negotiated with Pompey and Julius Caesar. In the crucible of civil war among Romans as the Triumvirate broke up, and of war between Rome and Parthia, Antipater managed to leave his sons with the prospect of a dynasty.Herod inherited the twin pillars of loyalty to Judaism and loyalty to Rome that became the basis of Herodian rule. He elevated Antipater's opportunism to a political art. During Herod's time, Roman power took its imperial form, and Octavian was responsible for making Herod king of Judea. As Octavian ruled, he took the title Augustus, in keeping with his devotion to his adoptive father's cult of the divine Julius. Imperial power was a theocratic assertion as well as a dominant military, economic, and political force.Herod framed a version of theocratic ambition all his own, deliberately crafting a dynastic claim grounded in Roman might and Israelite theocracy. That unlikely hybrid was the key to the Herodians' surprising longevity in power during the most chaotic century in the political history of Judaism.

    Jesus is not only the quintessential model of faithfulness in a fallen world, but his unique work frees us from the burden of perfect obedience.

    Graves clearly explains and illustrates this approach with fulsome discussions of five themes that are addressed in various ways in the Bible: personal responsibility; sacrificial offerings; insiders and outsiders; marriage, polygamy, and divorce; and the afterlife. By attending to the way these topics are addressed throughout the entire biblical witness, we become better interpreters and better teachers, more adept at discerning the Bible's teaching on these topics and others for our modern world.