The Miracles of Jesus - Session 5 - Fruitless Lives

Insights:

• Cursing the fig tree is an acted parable related to cleansing the temple and conveying a message about Israel. (D. A. Carson)
  
• Unless Israel repents, like the fig tree it will perish. (Craig Blomberg)
  
• Jesus himself replaces the temple as the centre of true worship of God. (Ben Witherington III)
  
• Those who profess to be God's people but live unfruitful lives are warned. (Leon Morris)
  
• When he comes, what will he find? Will he find fruit or just leaves? And will he pronounce judgment upon us? (David Garland)
  

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The Miracles of Jesus - Session 4 - A Faith-full Outsider

Insights:

• The faith of the centurion and the Cannanite woman are exceptions in the ministry of Jesus, which is to bring blessing to humankind universally. (John Nolland)
  
• Jesus is willing to reach out to those who are beyond the pale so that the least, the last, and the lost might become the first, the most, and the found. (Ben Witherington III)
  

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The Miracles of Jesus - Session 3 - Knowing the King

Insights:

• He flees from the temptation to secret prayer, for here is the source of his strength to resist evil. (E. M. Bounds)
  
• I had never seen Jesus as I saw him then. I had seen him as powerful. I had seen him as wise. I had witnessed his authority and marveled at his abilities. But what I witnessed last night I know I'll never forget.
  I saw God. The God who can't sit still when the storm is too strong. The God who lets me get frightened enough to need him and then comes close enough for me to see him. The God who uses my storms as his path to come to me.
  I saw God. It took a storm for me to see him. But I saw him. And I'll never be the same.

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The Miracles of Jesus - Session 2 - The Heartbeat of God

Insights:

• Those who believe in Jesus become his possession. As a result of believing in Jesus, there should be a total difference in the way we live, in how we use our money, in how we think, in the TV shows that we watch, in how we treat our families, in how we spend our free time. Believing in Jesus changes everything. (Matt Williams)
  
• The picture of the kingdom of God as a feast is prominent in Judaism and in the synoptic teaching, and the abundance of wine is a feature of the feast. (George Beasley-Murray)
  
• The abundannt provision at these shared meals is symbolic of the joy of God's uncalculating forgiveness, and a pointer to the eschatological messianic banquet.

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