Latest Commentaries

Peter’s Three Denials of Jesus: Peter is recognized by various people as a follower of Jesus while the Lord’s religious trials carry on inside the homes of high priests. Despite his earlier promises, Peter denies knowing Jesus three times, each with increasing vigor. When the rooster crows, Peter remembers his now-broken promise and Jesus’s now-fulfilled prophecy and he runs away weeping bitterly.

Peter Denies Knowing Jesus Two More Times: Peter’s second and third denials of Jesus occur during the Lord’s religious trial held at Caiaphas’s house. One of the men to whom Peter denies being with Jesus is a relative of Malchus, the servant whose ear Peter cut off when defending Jesus at His arrest. After this third denial, a rooster crows, thus fulfilling Jesus’s prediction that Peter would deny Him three times before the rooster crows.

Peter’s First Denial of Jesus: Peter manages to enter into the court of Annas where Jesus’s preliminary trial was taking place. While Peter is there, he denies being a follower of Jesus to a slave girl.

Zechariah spells out four requirements that sum up the ethical teaching of the prophets prior to Judah’s exile to Babylon. He reminds the post-exilic community of Judah that their forefathers’ rejection of that teaching was why God punished them severely by scattering them abroad at the mercy of foreign nations, consistent with the provision of God’s covenant/treaty with Israel.

Zechariah receives a delegation of returning exiles from Bethel who inquire whether they should continue to fast yearly to commemorate and lament the temple’s destruction. The LORD tells the prophet to inform them that their fasting and feasting did not please Him because they were heartless rituals.

The Preliminary Trial of Jesus: John describes the first of Jesus’s three religious trials. It takes place in the home of Annas, the former high priest. Annas questions Jesus about His teaching. Jesus respectfully reminds Annas that He has always taught openly for everyone to hear and that if there is something He said that was against the law, it was Annas’s obligation to cite and prove it before arresting or interrogating Him. The high priest’s servant strikes Jesus for speaking this way to the former high priest. Jesus mercifully replies that if he said something wrong, it should be pointed out, not met with violence, while offering that what he said was actually true. Having found nothing to accuse Jesus of doing, Annas passes his prisoner onto Caiaphas, the sitting high priest.

John tells us that following His submission to arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was brought to the house of Annas first. He informs us that Annas was the father-in-law to Caiaphas, the sitting high priest, and reminds his readers that Caiaphas was the one who previously determined it was better that Jesus die than that they risk losing their place or nation. This was John’s way of telling the reader that the trial’s outcome was determined before it began.

Psalm 118 concludes with a familiar refrain: "Give thanks to the LORD for He is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting."

The psalmist completes his poetic narrative with a declaration that the LORD is God and has given us light. He presents a final scene depicting a festival sacrifice offered in love to God for rescuing him. The language used is prophetic of Jesus the Messiah, who is both the Light of the world and our Passover sacrifice.

The psalmist continues his poetic narrative testifying of the LORD’s salvation with a praise that this day is the day of salvation which the LORD has made. He then beseeches the LORD to send the Messiah, before saying "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD." This portion of Psalm 118 gives voice to what the crowds proclaimed of Jesus the Messiah as He triumphantly entered Jerusalem.

The Psalmist punctuates his poetic narrative with a memorable architectural metaphor. He says that the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. The psalmist originally applied this to himself. But it also applies to the Messiah. Jesus and New Testament writers use this prophecy to explain how Jesus’s rejection by the religious leaders of Israel did not disqualify Him from being the LORD’s Messiah.

With this portion of scripture, the psalmist continues his poetic narrative with a triumphal parade of the righteous entering the LORD’s gate. The lines of this song are prophetic of Jesus the Messiah’s triumphal entrance into Jerusalem.

The Psalmist continues his poetic narrative testifying to the LORD’s everlasting kindness by depicting a rejoicing camp following the stunning victory in battle. The tents of the righteous are full of joyful shouting as they praise the right hand of the LORD. The psalmist marvels that he is not dead but still alive. In verse 18, the psalmist reflects upon how the LORD has used these severe circumstances to mature him in His faith.

Three times the psalmist recounts how the nations surrounded him. Three times the psalmist boasts "In the name of the LORD I will cut them off." He describes how the LORD will extinguish his enemies with fire. The psalmist addresses his enemy who pushed him violently to remind him that he did not fall because the LORD helped him. This section within this Hosanna Psalm ends with the psalmist’s boast of praise that the LORD is his strength and song and has become his salvation.

The psalmist punctuates his poetic narrative to make the claims that it is better to refuge in the LORD than to trust in man or in princes.

The psalmist begins his poetic narrative (Psalm 118:5-27) by recalling a time when he called out to the LORD in his distress. The LORD answered and exalted him. The psalmist does not fear because the LORD is with Him and wonders aloud—what can man do to me? He concludes that he can trust the LORD, and rest content to not pay back the evil they have done him because the LORD is among those who help him and the LORD will save and vindicate him.

The psalmist concludes his introductory chorus by emphatically reinforcing the truth that the LORD’s lovingkindness is everlasting. He does this by repeating three times what he said in verse 1. He calls upon Israel, the Levites, and those who fear the LORD to speak this bedrock truth with their own mouths

Psalm 118 begins with a common exhortation to "Give thanks to the LORD." The reason he provides for us to give thanks is: "for He is good." The psalmist’s proof that the LORD is good is: "For His lovingkindness is everlasting." The psalmist’s gratitude for God’s lovingkindness is established up front and it permeates the entirety of Psalm 118. Psalm 118 is the climactic finale of group of five consecutive praise psalms called "the Hallel."

Isaiah ends the third Servant Song describing two types of men who walk in darkness. The first type fears the LORD but has no light of his own. Isaiah encourages this man to trust in the Messiah. The second man also walks in darkness, but he tries to get along by the dim light of his own fire. Isaiah warns him that this trust is misplaced and will result in his torment.

The Servant is able to trust and obey God through hardships, because the Lord is near Him and the Lord will vindicate Him. The Servant challenges anyone who does not believe His true identity to stand up to argue against Him in court with God as the judge. God will decide in the Servant’s favor and the arguments of the unbelievers will wear out like a moth-eaten garment that is riddled with holes.