The Motley Crew

April 14, 2010

Matthew 12

Questions

1. What did you like the best about 40 Days of Love?

2. What did you like the least about 40 Days of Love?

3. The 3 steps to fulfilling our vision at St. Paul’s is by connecting people to Jesus in worship – connecting people to others in Bible groups – and connecting to the world through ministry. In order to connect people to others in Bible groups St. Paul’s is going to go through a spiritual campaign like 40 Days of Love every spring. Do you have any ideas for 2011?

Read Matthew 12:38-45

4. What had they already been seeing for the last 9 chapters?

5. How can people be so blind? Are there times when we are too?

6. Who is the Queen of the South?

7. Who is greater than Solomon?

8. I wonder how these claims by Jesus affected the people who heard them?

9. How can we keep unclean spirits out of our house?

10. Will we ever be immune from the attacks of satan?

Read Matthew 12:46-50

11. I wonder why His family wanted to talk to Him?

12. Was Jesus excluding His family?

13. By the way – how do we do the will of the Father…

The Motley Crew

April 14, 2010

Matthew 12

Some Suggested Answers

As Pastor Eddie was attending an out-of-town conference, Doug served as moderator. We began with prayer.

Doug had come across a couple of articles concerning forgiveness, a topic we discussed last week. Copies were passed around. The titles were "Prayer Increases Forgiveness, Study Shows" and "Learning To Forgive May Improve Well-Being." Links to these two articles have been posted on the Motley Crew web page.

1. What did you like the best about 40 Days of Love?

• It was good to stop and think about these issues.

• It was a good reminder. A different way of presentation.

• Catchy phrases that provided good “hooks” for memory. An example, in Chapter 28, “Seeing the Truth about Yourself”:
  I have sinned.
  I am forgiven.

• Diving into 1 Corinthians 13 helped me to better understand the implications of Jesus' command to love one another.

2. What did you like the least about 40 Days of Love?

• The fast and loose use of translations, including paraphrases, that seemed to be used more to make a point than to accurately reflect the message of the verse.

• Omissions in some verses that sometimes completely changed the meaning of the original verse.

• Commercials to purchase other products.

• Generalizations (“We all are ...”)

3. The 3 steps to fulfilling our vision at St. Paul’s is by connecting people to Jesus in worship – connecting people to others in Bible groups – and connecting to the world through ministry. In order to connect people to others in Bible groups St. Paul’s is going to go through a spiritual campaign like “40 Days of Love” every spring. Do you have any ideas for 2011?

• Studies that focus more on the Lutheran Church, including studies from Concordia, Crossways, and other resources.

• Biblical literacy (getting a better understanding, even as a basic level).

We talked about the use of a study Bible to better understand the meaning of the text, and as a means to get good background about the context in which the author was writing (for example, common expressions that were used in the society that we would not recognize). A couple of recommended resources were:

• Concordia Self-Study Bible (Concordia Publishing House, 1986; NIV; 2,200 pages)

• Life Application Study Bible (Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1997; NIV; 2,528 pages)

• William Barclay (1907-1978), a Scottish lay scholar that wrote some very understandable commentaries (The New Daily Study Bible, 17 volumes covering the entire New Testament, plus numerous other works). Some reviewers praise the Biblical background provided by Barclay as well as illuminating examples, but caution the readers to draw their own conclusions concerning his theology.

• The Archeological Study Bible (Zondervan, 2006; NIV; 2,2336 pages)

Read Matthew 12:38-45

The Sign of Jonah

38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you."

39 He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one [a] greater than Jonah is here. 42 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.

43 "When an evil [or unclean] spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation."

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 12:41 Or something; also in verse 42

4. What had they already been seeing for the last 9 chapters?

Answer – miraculous signs. Not to mention events such as the feeding of the 4,000 and the feeding of the 5,000 (the only miracle reported in all four Gospels).

In The Lutheran Study Bible, there was a chart of the miracles of Jesus. In the Gospel of Matthew, by Chapter Twelve, they counted 12 miracles that had been performed by Jesus. They also note that “Besides this list, Jesus performed numerous miracles that the evangelists mention but do not describe” (including three additional miracles in Matthew prior to this chapter). Source: The Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2009), p. 1596.

And by this time, Jesus was famous throughout the region as evidenced by Matthew 4:23-25, Mark 3:7-12, and Luke 6:17-19 (to mention just a few):

Matthew 4:23-25. Jesus Heals the Sick

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

Mark 3:7-12. Crowds Follow Jesus

Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. When they heard all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him. For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, "You are the Son of God." But he gave them strict orders not to tell who he was.

Luke 6:17-19. Blessings and Woes.

He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil [or unclean] spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

5. How can people be so blind? Are there times when we are blind, too?

They were seeing what they wanted to see. In particular, the Pharisees were protecting the status quo: their jobs, their means of livelihood, their position within the community, and they did not want the boat to be rocked!

Many Jews – then and now – weren't expecting what they got. They were looking for a political-military leader that would expel the Romans (some have suggested that this was the motivation for Judas Iscariot, and one wonders what the feelings of Simon the Zealot were).

One of the group members cited Isaiah, who was clear in telling people that the Messiah would not be a soldier but would be a servant. They were a stiff-necked people (and, of course, so are we at times).

Even after the Resurrection, Acts 1:6 reports that “So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” Some of the Apostles were still missing the point; they still did not understand what kind of a Kingdom that Jesus was bringing.

John 3:19-20 (New International Version)
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

John 5:42 (New International Version)
… but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.
And, lacking the love of God in their hearts, they could not respond to the message preached and lived by Jesus.

And, yes, we are also blind at times, each in our own way.

6. Who is the Queen of the South?

Answer: 1 Kings 10:1-13 where she is called the Queen of Sheba from a country in southwest Arabia now called Yemen.

It was mentioned that some interesting claims have been made about the Queen of Sheba, and some of her activities during this visit with Solomon, but that such claims should be taken with a good deal of skepticism.

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon. Verses 1-5:

When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relation to the name of the LORD, she came to test him with hard questions. 2 Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan — with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones — she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind. 3 Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her. 4 When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, 5 the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cup bearers, and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the LORD, she was overwhelmed.

2 Chronicles 9:1-12 gives substantially the same account.

There is also a lengthy account of this visit in Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 8, Chap. 6, Paragraphs 5 & 6.

Note: Doug found a couple of interesting web pages concerning the country of Saba (Sheba). Links are posted on the Motley Crew web page and also at the bottom of this document, together some additional information concerning the Queen and her capital.

7. Who is greater than Solomon?

Answer – Jesus.

“Jesus was the 'one greater' than Jonah, and likewise was the 'one greater' than Solomon.” The Lutheran Study Bible, p. 1606. He is Wisdom Incarnate.

In the Greek, to indicate this relationship, they used the word πλειον (pleion) meaning “more of” in quantity, number or quality. Thus, Jesus was “more of” Jonah as a prophet, and was “more of” Solomon as a source of Wisdom. The parallel symbolism here is really striking.

8. I wonder how these claims by Jesus affected the people who heard them?

Some understood and were changed.

Some rejected His message, as evidenced by the actions of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes.

Much of what Jesus said was veiled; it was simply too dangerous to speak plainly, as we saw with John the Baptist. In the 1980s, this was called “plausible deniability.”

Four examples of how people were affected by Jesus, from Matthew, Chapter 9:

Jesus Heals a Paralytic. Verse 8: “When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.”

The Raising of the Dead Girl." Verses 25-26. “After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. News of this spread through all that region."

Jesus Heals the Blind Men. Verses 29-31. “Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you"; and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, "See that no one knows about this." But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.”

Jesus Heals the Mute. Verse 33. “And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, 'Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.' "

And this from John 2:23 (New International Version)
Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name [or and believed in him].

9. How can we keep unclean spirits out of our house?

Answer: Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

When we open our hearts to God, confessing our sins and cleansing our souls, we must immediately invite God to grace us with the gift of the Holy Spirit.

In Luther's Order of Baptism from 1523, the ceremony begins with:

The officiant shall blow three times under
the child’s eyes and shall say:

Depart thou unclean spirit and give room to the Holy Spirit.

Then he shall sign him with a cross on
his forehead and breast and shall say:

Receive the sign of the holy cross on both thy forehead and thy breast.

Let us pray.

O Almighty eternal God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, look upon this N., thy servant whom thou hast called to instruction in the faith, drive away from him all the blindness of his heart, break all the snares of the devil with which he is bound, open to him, Lord, the door of thy grace …. [Emphasis added]

One member asked whether or not those three “breaths” might represent the Trinity. Another member mentioned that her Romanian mother-in-law used to do something very similar: three soft breaths on the baby's face (although the mother-in-law never explained why). A third member mentioned an Irish/Celtic custom of performing a mini-Baptism when a child is born. The mid-wife would drop three drops of water on the child, saying “Father,” “Son,” and “Holy Spirit.” This was intended to keep the devil away from the child until the “real” Baptism was performed. It was also called a “Birth Blessing.”

10. Will we ever be immune from the attacks of satan?

Answer – when Jesus calls us home to heaven!

The group's answer was “No!” One member observed that we could avoid these attacks if we just went over to satan. However, as long as we're still being attacked by satan, then we know that we're still on the right track. It's not because God hates you, but because you love God that satan focuses on you. There were times in their lives that neither Job nor Jonah were happy. But being happy in this life has never been a guarantee from Christ. However, in the long run, our faith will give us eternal happiness. “I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.” (Jeremiah 31:13)

Read Matthew 12:46-50

Jesus' Mother and Brothers

46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you." [Note: Some manuscripts do not have verse 47]

48 He replied to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."

Also in Mark 3:31-35 and Luke 8:19-21.

11. I wonder why His family wanted to talk to Him?

Answer: One idea is that they thought He needed a break because, in their minds, He was starting to lose it. See Mark 3:21

Mark 3:21 (New International Version)

“When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, 'He is out of his mind.' "

Context: The people were crowding around Jesus so tightly that neither He nor His apostles could even eat a meal. A few verses later is Mark's account of Jesus' mother and brothers standing outside, waiting to talk to him. Mark 3:31-35.

12. Was Jesus excluding His family?

Answer – Absolutely not. He was just giving a Christ-like answer. Certainly His family is included among those doing the will of the Father! They simply had to share Him… aren’t you glad they did!

Verses 48-50. Who is my mother, and my brethren? An allusion to his Divine character, which lifted him above the ordinary ties of the flesh. Behold my mother and my brethren. His real relatives are those bound to him by spiritual ties. The same is my brother. Not those with fleshly ties, but those who do the will of his Father in heaven. Such become God's spiritual children, and thus become spiritually related to the Son of God. B. W. Johnson's Bible Commentary.

50. For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother – that is, "There stand here the members of a family transcending and surviving this of earth: Filial subjection to the will of My Father in heaven is the indissoluble bond of union between Me and all its members; and whosoever enters this hallowed circle becomes to Me brother, and sister, and mother!" Jamieson, Faussett and Brown

These verses have generated a great deal of discussion within the churches of Christ. A brief mention of the various translations of “brother” is found below.

13. By the way – how do we do the will of the Father…

Only with the help of God, through whom all things are possible. Otherwise, we are lost. Also by studying His Word, and praying that He will write His Words on our hearts. “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds...” (Deut. 11:18)

To do the Father's will includes believing (John 6:29). By doing what pleases the Father, we identify ourselves as members of the family of Jesus (Matt. 7:20-21). The Lutheran Study Bible, p. 1606.

John 6:29: Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent."

Other Possible Answers:

1. The Ten Commandments. Exodus 20:1-17.

2. The Greatest Commandment, Matthew 22:34-39:

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

To the same effect: Mark 12:28-34 and Luke 10:25-37 (contained within The Parable of the Good Samaritan)

3. The New Commandment. John 13:34 (NIV): "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

A few other quotations from the Gospels that bear on this question:

John 6:38-40 (New International Version)

For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

John 4:34 (New International Version)

"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”

John 7:16-17 (New International Version)

Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.

Matthew 7:20-21 (New International Version)

Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Before we closed, we took a closer look at verse 42 as it related to the Queen of Sheba:

● The queen of the south. The queen of Sheba is supposed to have been queen of Sabaea, or Arabia Felix, which lies in the southern part of the peninsula between the Red Sea and the Persia Gulf. But Josephus says she was from Ethiopia in Africa.

● Shall rise up in the judgment. This phrase refers to the Jewish and Roman custom which required the witness to stand up while testifying in a criminal case.

● For she came from the ends of the earth. A Hebraism, indicating a great distance. [similar to the phrase “40 days and 40 nights,” which means “a long time.”]

● To hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here. Her testimony will be based on the compared privileges, which stand thus: notwithstanding the dangers and inconveniences, she came a great distance to be taught of Solomon, but the Jews rejected the teaching of the Son of God, though he brought it to them. The teaching of Solomon related largely to this world, but Christ taught as to the world to come.

J. W. McGarvey and Philip Y. Pendleton, The Fourfold Gospel or A Harmony of the Four Gospels.

Note: The name of the Queen of Sheba, according to the Arabians, was Balqis (or Balkis). Her capital was Ma'rib, Yemen. A large city in antiquity, it economy collapsed after the route of the Incense Road changed. It has a current population of 16,794. Ma'rib is situated on the left bank of Dhana Valley, which flows in the Saihad Desert, and is located approximately 120 kilometers south-east of Yemen's modern capital, Sana'a.

The approximate distance between Ma'rib – the ancient capital of Sheba – and Jerusalem is 1,500 miles according to Klaus Schippmann, Ancient South Arabia: From the Queen of Sheba to the Advent of Islam (1998, translation by Allison Brown). On page 54 he wrote "Assuming the distance that could be covered in a day by a pack camel to be under 20 miles, the Queen of Sheba would have been on the road for about 160 days, or over five months, for the round trip." Therefore, the one-way trip was about 80 days, 2 2/3 months.

Note: Ma'rib is located northeast of Aden, Yemen (at the bottom of the Arabian Peninsula)

Sources:

• Wikipedia contributors. "Queen of Sheba." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 15 Apr. 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.

• Wikipedia contributors. "Ma'rib." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 1 Mar. 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.

• Map from The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin, http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/arab_pennisula.gif

See also:

• The Incense Road

• The Queen of Sheba (including legends)

• Sheba: The Ancient Empire

• Sheba and Solomon

Next Week: on to Matthew, Chapter 13. We closed with prayer.

A couple of additional observations about the Scriptural passages that we just read:

v 39. Adulterous generation. Jesus describes His contemporaries with a term often used by OT prophets (Jer. 3:8; Jer. 13:37; Ezk. 16:15). Jer. 3:20: "Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord." Thus, this phrase was used to describe a generation that is not only evil but also has the same relationship to God that an unfaithful wife has to her husband (or an unfaithful husband has to his wife). Nicoll, p. 191.

v. 43. The “arid places” referred to her relates to Jewish belief that demons live in arid places, such as deserts. If they found no resting place there, they would seek out some human habitation. The Lutheran Study Bible, p. 1606. Also, Nicoll, p. 192.The Greek word is anudron (ανυδρων), which means “un-wet” or “waterless.”

v. 45. “Seven other spirits.” Note the reference in Sunday's reading from Revelation, “from the seven spirits before his throne.” (Rev. 1:5) Those “seven spirits” refer to the perfection of the Holy Spirit. The “seven spirits” in verse 45 would likewise refer to much greater evil than was previously inhabiting that person. The Greek was “seven different spirits more-wicked [than] itself.”

v. 46. Concerning “my mother and brothers.” The Greek word for “brothers” is άδελφοί (adelphoi), which the Greek dictionaries define as brother, half-brother, step-brother (Epiphanius), cousin (Jerome), a near relation, neighbor, a fellow-countryman, or a fellow believer (“brethren” in the sense of a common faith, which is the fundamental message of this verse). Take your pick, bearing in mind: "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." Corinthians 13:12 (NIV). [emphasis added]

See also Mark 6:3, “Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph [Greek: Joses], Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.”

Parallel Accounts:

For Additional Study:

Online Resources

Book of Concord in PDF Format, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod <http://www.lcms.org/graphics/assets/media/LCMS/TrigBOC.pdf> (2MB file)

These texts are in the public domain and may be copied and distributed freely. The source of these translations is Triglot Concordia: The Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921).

A number of other Lutheran texts can be found in the Belief and Practice section of the website of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod: http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=112

John Gill's Exposition of the Bible.
<http://www.ewordtoday.com/comments/matthew/gill/matthew11.htm>

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary.
http://www.ewordtoday.com/comments/matthew/mh/matthew11.htm

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
<http://www.ewordtoday.com/comments/matthew/mhc/matthew11.htm>

Jamieson, Faussett, and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.
<http://www.ewordtoday.com/comments/matthew/jfb/matthew11.htm>

B. W. Johnson's Bible Commentary
<http://www.ewordtoday.com/comments/matthew/johnson/matthew11.htm >

Greek Interlinear Bible, http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/Greek_Index.htm
Based on NA26/27. A word-by-word translation of the Greek New Testament.

John Lightfoot's Bible Commentary
http://www.ewordtoday.com/comments/matthew/light/matthew12.htm

J. W. McGarvey and Philip Y. Pendleton, The Fourfold Gospel or A Harmony of the Four Gospels (Cincinnati, The Standard Publishing Company, 1914)
http://www.ewordtoday.com/comments/matthew/four/matthew12.htm

The NET Bible. <http://bible.org/netbible/> A completely new translation of the Bible with 60,932 translators’ notes. It was completed by more than 25 scholars – experts in the original biblical languages – who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. Excellent notes, citing both the Greek and Hebrew, as needed. Greek and Hebrew fonts available without cost.

Harold H. Buls - Sermon Notes <http://www.pericope.org/buls-notes/index.html> and a second collection, Sermon Notes of Dr. Harold H. Buls <http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/wittenberg-bul.html>. Adapted from Exegetical Notes, Series A, Festival Season Sundays, Gospel Texts, by Harold H. Buls, Concordia Theological Seminary Press: Ft Wayne IN, 1980, pp.9-12.

W. Robertson Nicoll, The Greek Expositor's Testament. Vol. 1. (New York: George H. Doran Co., ca. 1910). Five volumes containing excellent notes on the Greek text and summaries of commentators. Available at Google Books (www.books.google.com) and the Internet Archive (www.archive.org; easier to find here than at Google Books).

Other Additional Resources:
http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/SPLC/Motley%20Crew%20Research%20Resources.html

Other Resources

Barker, Kenneth L., ed., TNIV Study Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006)

Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. Readers Edition. (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2006)

Davies, Benjamin, ed., Baker's Pocket Harmony of the Gospels (Baker Book House, 1975). Formerly printed as Harmony of the Four Gospels.

Goodrick, Edward W. and John R. Kohlenberger III, eds., The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999). This is the second edition, originally published as the Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance. It was originally published as The NIV Exhaustive Concordance. It should be distinguished from The NIV Complete Concordance by the same authors.

Green, Jay P., ed., The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament. Vol. IV. Second Edition. (Hendrickson Publishers, 1985)

Halley, Henry H., Halley's Bible Handbook. New Revised Edition (24^th Edition). (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1965)

Hickie, W.J., Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1977). 214 pages. This is a reprint of an older edition, originally published by Macmillan, August. 1893. A contemporary review described this as "A handy little volume, compiled on sound principles from trustworthy authorities." The 1911 edition is available online and for download at http://openlibrary.org/b/OL17866849M/Greek-English_lexicon_to_the_New_Testament

The Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2009).

McGarvey, J.W. [John William], and Philip Y. Pendleton, The Fourfold Gospel or A Harmony of the Four Gospels (Cincinnati: The Standard Publishing, 1914). Also available online at http://www.ccel.org/m/mcgarvey/ffg/FFG000A.HTM

Nave, Orville J., ed., Nave's Topical Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1979)

Newman, Barclay M., A Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament (London: United Bible Societies, 1971). 203 pages.

New Bible Dictionary. Second Edition. (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1962)

NIV Archeological Study Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005)

Rogers, Cleon L. Jr., and Cleon L. Rogers III, eds., The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998)

Strong, James, ed., The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990)