NIV Standard Lesson Commentary, 2018-2019

Top Highlights

“Impressive as their response is in the moment, the Lord’s persistent grace is even more powerful.” (Page 245)

“Their prayer requests are made with wrong motives, reflecting envy and jealousy.” (Page 171)

“Speaking in parables is a key characteristic of Jesus’ teaching.” (Page 235)

“The elect lady may be a prominent woman in one of the churches in the Ephesus region, or this may be John’s figurative way of referring to the church. The letter encourages its recipients to continue living lives of love but also to be on guard against, and reject, the false teachers who have been visiting their congregation. In so doing, it touches on a then-emerging threat to the first-century church, a threat that scholars today call Docetism.” (Page 163)

“The dividing of a body suggests the cutting up of an animal offered as a sacrifice on the altar of the tabernacle or temple (see Leviticus 1:6, 12). Jesus is thus identifying himself as the supreme sacrificial offering for sins. He takes the place of the sacrificial lamb (compare Exodus 12:3–10, 21–23).” (Page 348)