According to John’s gospel, the last words of Jesus were “It is finished!”
That phrase is actually one word in the original Greek: tetelestai.
The root of this word is “teleo” which means “to complete” or “bring to an end” and while the word may be unfamiliar to us, those who lived in first-century Palestine would have heard it spoken several times a day and in a variety of contexts.
Many years ago, in that ancient time when jokes now hoary with age had the blush of early youth upon their cheeks, when a man first asked, “When is a door not a door?” and when the answer seemed to be a marvelously fresh and brilliant thing—at some happy moment in that ancient time, some brilliant person said: “Orthodoxy means ‘my doxy’ and heterodoxy means ‘the other man’s doxy.’ “
I have been asked more than once (and have also overheard many heated debates) about the modern “Christmas VS Holiday” controversy.
Most Christians get immediately offended when the word “Holiday” is substituted for “Christmas” because they regard it as just another example of encroaching secular humanism.
In most cases, it certain is that. The name “Christ” has become an offense to our post-christian culture and it should not therefore surprise us that the anti-christ citizens do everything in their power to erase his highly-exalted name.
However, most Christians are actually fighting to retain a word which (at least historically speaking) protestants have always recoiled against: “Christmas” (more…)
Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” (Matthew 5:13)
This saying puzzles modern Bible readers because when they think of salt, they think of that pure table salt in the cupboard which never seems to go stale.
This saying might also confuse the more scientific-minded Christian since they know that Sodium Chloride (NaCl) is a chemically stable compound.
The word “disciple” comes from the Greek word mathetes (pronounced math-ay-tays).
This word was used in pre-christian literature to describe a ‘pupil’ or ‘apprentice’ who had committed himself to attaining understanding or expertise in a certain field of study. Three things were assumed in ancient discipleship:
- A specific field of knowledge or skill
- A master or expert in that field
- A pupil who was dedicated to learn