Thoughts on Ministry, The Bible, & Christian Living
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
“If then you have been raised with Christ” – because of our identification with Jesus we have been granted new life which gives us the capacity to live a new kind of life. That new kind of life will be described in detail in the following verses.
5 So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.
“So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made” – The context and actions of Herod described in verses 1-4, seem like certain death for Peter. In moments of difficulty (no matter the intensity of the difficulty), believers should turn to God for both hope and answers. ”casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Pe 5:7.
“earnest prayer” – pertaining to an unceasing activity, normally involving a degree of intensity and/or perseverance—‘without ceasing, continuously, constantly.’ Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 655.
22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord
“when the time came for their purification” -Referring to the time mentioned within the Mosaic Law (Leviticus 12), 33 days after Jesus’ circumcision. Making Jesus just under 6 weeks old.
23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”)
“Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord” -Noted from Exodus 13:2, 12
24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”