Dr Paul Allen

Appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene after resurrection, Alexander Ivanov, 1835 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Daniel 7:9–14 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him” ( v. 13 ). The title Son of Man appears in the New Testament four times outside of the Gospels . It is used for our Savior unambiguously in three places ( Acts 7:56 ; Rev. 1:13 ; 14:14 ), but whether Hebrews 2:6 intends it as a title for Jesus is debatable. Since it is Jesus’ favorite title for Himself, it seems strange that it is not found more often in the apostolic writings. Maybe the original audiences of the epistles did not know the title’s meaning as well as the Gospels’ first readers. As we continue to study the meaning of this title, we must first consider what it does not intend to convey. Popularly speaking, many Christians look at “Son of Man” as a reference to the humanity of Chr...

The Good Samaritan by Aimé Morot (1880) shows the Good Samaritan taking the injured man to the inn. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Mark 12:31 A traveler was walking along a road when robbers suddenly attacked him. They tore his clothes, beat him, and left him to die. Eventually a priest walked down the same road, but when he saw the man, he passed on the other side. Later, a local man came upon the scene, but he, too, passed on the other side. Finally, a stranger from another land walked down the road, noticed the beaten man, and rushed to his aid. He bandaged the man’s wounds, helped him onto his own donkey, and transported him to an inn to take care of him. The next day he paid the innkeeper to look after the man. You are no doubt familiar with this story of the Good Samaritan ( Luke 10:30–37 ). Have your children heard it, too? Jesus told the par-able to show us who our neighbors are—everyone around us—and how we should lovingly respond to their n...