Considering Culture (II)


I’m not going to introduce any new material today. Instead, you’ll have a chance to put into practice the things we have been talking about over the last few weeks by studying one or more of the following examples on your own.

Example 1

“Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,” (Mat 4:5)

There are cultural and geographical factors that will enrich your understanding of this verse. Use the tools and techniques we have discussed to answer the following questions:

  • Where is the holy city?
  • Why did Satan tempt Jesus to cast Himself down from a pinnacle of the temple?
  • If Satan was trying to destroy Christ, wouldn’t it have made more sense to tempt Him to jump from the top of an exceeding high mountain (Mat 4:8), than from the pinnacle of the temple?

Example 2


Research the history behind this passage and use what you find to help answer the following questions:

  • Who established the an eye for an eye rule?
  • Whose idea was compel thee to go a mile rule?
  • Was Jesus saying these rules were not valid? If not, what was Jesus’ point about both these laws?

Example 3


The Lord didn’t have to explain the concept of alms to His original audience. What did they know that we don’t? Research the culture and answer the following questions:

  • What were alms?
  • Why would people sound a trumpet when they did alms?

Leave a Reply
