Tag: Biblical Characters

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Andrew

Andrew

Andrew, another of Jesus’s disciples, is Peter’s brother, presumably his younger brother. They’re fishermen. When Jesus asks them to be his disciples, he tells them that going forward, they’ll fish for people.

While the Bible talks about Peter a lot, Andrew receives only a few mentions. And when his name does occur, it’s usually along with his brother. It seems Andrew is destined to be forever connected with his more outgoing sibling.

However, the Bible has two stories about Andrew.

Once, when a huge crowd (the Bible says 5,000 men, plus women and children) gathers to listen to Jesus, he wants to give them something to eat. Though he already knows what he’s going to do, he uses this as a teaching moment for his disciples. 

After Philip, another of the disciples, realizes they don’t have enough money to buy food, Andrew offers a hopeful suggestion. He brings them a boy with five small loaves of bread and two tiny fish. It’s not enough, but it’s a start. 

Yet with Jesus this is more than enough. He supernaturally multiplies this small amount of food, feeds everyone gathered, and has leftovers. Though Andrew’s part in this miracle is small, he is the catalyst to make it happen.

Another time, some people from Greece want to meet Jesus. They approach Philip and ask for an introduction. What does Philip do? He tells Andrew. (It’s interesting that Philip and Andrew appear together in both stories.) Together Philip and Andrew go tell Jesus about the people who want to see him. Though we don’t know why Philip doesn’t do this himself, we can surmise that he looks to Andrew as someone who can help make it happen. Even though we have no hint of Andrew being a leader among the twelve disciples, Philip must have looked up to him.

How do we react when we find ourselves in someone’s shadow? What do we do when a friend asks for help?

[Discover more about Andrew in John 6:8–9 and John 12:20–22.]

Read more about other biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Simon Peter (Cephas)

SImon Peter Cephas

Simon, whom Jesus calls Peter (Cephas), is one of Jesus’s twelve disciples. He’s also part of Jesus’s inner circle of three, along with James and John.

Peter often receives criticism and even ridicule for his behavior.

He sometimes speaks before he thinks, his doubt causes him to sink when he tries to walk on water, and he denies even knowing Jesus. During Jesus’s arrest, Peter whips out a sword and slashes at someone, but all he gets is an ear. 

But let’s not focus on these things. Let’s look at the positive.

Peter is the only one of the twelve disciples who walks on water. Though his journey is short before his faith falters, remember that he’s the only one to leave the safety of the boat. The other eleven don’t even dare to try. Peter does, and his faith is rewarded.

Later when Jesus asks his disciples, “What do people say about me?” they give various answers. Then Jesus gets direct. “What do you say?”

Not surprisingly, Peter speaks first. He states with boldness, “You’re the Christ, the son of the living God.”

Jesus blesses Peter for his spot-on answer. This truth sets the foundation for Jesus’s church.

After Jesus rises from the dead and returns to heaven, Peter emerges as the church’s first leader—effectively the first Pope. 

Then, Peter speaks on Pentecost under Holy Spirit power, and 3,000 people believe.

Later people lay the sick on the streets so that Peter’s shadow might fall on them as he walks by. The Bible never says these folks are healed, but with their friends positioning them this way, there must be a good reason to do so.

In addition, Peter later writes two books of the New Testament: 1 Peter and 2 Peter.

Like all of us, Peter has his strengths and his weaknesses. May we seek to emulate the positive parts of Peter’s example and avoid the negative.

Do we choose to focus on people’s admirable traits or their faults?

[Discover more about Peter in Matthew 16:13–18, Acts 2:14–41, and Acts 5:15. Read Peter’s two letters: 1 Peter and 2 Peter.]

Read more about other biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Simeon (2)

Simeon

Simeon’s a good guy. He’s serious about following God and obeying all the religious rules. He believes the prophecies that say God will send someone to save them. Even though his people have waited for centuries, Simeon lives in expectation that God will rescue them as he promised long ago.

The Holy Spirit reveals to Simeon that this coming savior will arrive in his lifetime. God promises Simeon that he will see Jesus with his own eyes. 

Throughout the centuries, people lived their whole lives with faith-filled expectation that they would see God’s promised Messiah, only to die before they realized their hope. Yet, God promises that Simeon will witness this firsthand. But God doesn’t say when. 

Then one day the Holy Spirit prompts Simeon to go to the temple courts. Is today the day? He goes. He waits. His pulse no doubt quickens as he looks around, scanning the people milling about. Which one is the Messiah?

Then baby Jesus arrives with his parents. They come to fulfill the religious rituals commanded long ago by Moses. Simeon walks up. He takes baby Jesus in his arms and praises God. What must Jesus’s parents think?

Simeon affirms Jesus as the promised Savior for Israel—and for the entire world. His words shock Joseph and Mary. Then Simeon blesses them and prophesies.

Now, having seen Jesus firsthand, Simeon’s life is complete. He gives it over to God, knowing that he can now die in peace, with the knowledge that Jesus has arrived.

A lifetime of anticipation has now been fulfilled for Simeon. But what if he had ignored the Holy Spirit’s nudge and stayed home that day?

How well do we do at listening to the Holy Spirit and obeying his prompting?

[Discover more about Simeon in Luke 2:25–35.]

Read more about other biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: The Magi

the magi

The story of the magi intersects with King Herod (1). We’ve already covered this from Herod’s point of view. Now we’ll look at it from the magi’s perspective. But first, know that the Bible doesn’t say there are three of them, only that they give three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The magi, aka wise men, travel from the East searching for a baby born to be king of the Jews. They’ve come to worship him. 

They make their journey, based on a new star they spot in the sky, following it west until they reach Jerusalem. They assume he’ll be born to Herod in the palace. After all, this baby will be king.

This is news to Herod—bad news. A baby who could one day become king threatens Herod’s rule. He must squash this danger, but he doesn’t let the magi know his plans.

He pretends he wants to worship the baby king too. He feigns interest and requests they report their findings back to him. Then, based on a tip from the religious leaders who know what the Scriptures say about the coming Messiah, Herod sends the magi to Bethlehem.

They continue their journey, using the star to home in on their destination. It stops over Bethlehem where Jesus and his parents are. The magi enter the place and bow down to Jesus in reverent worship. Then they give him the gifts they brought, gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Having finished their mission, they’re ready to return home, but an angel warns them in a dream to not report their findings to Herod. So they sneak out of town and take a different route home. They’re long gone—and so are Mary, Joseph, and Jesus—before Herod realizes he was duped.

God sent the magi a message in a dream and they obeyed, thereby saving Jesus.

Does God ever communicate to us in dreams? How do we react when he does?

[Discover more about the magi in Matthew 2:1–16.]

Read more about other biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: King Herod

King Herod

After the birth of Jesus, King Herod’s in a tizzy. Here’s why.

Visitors from the Far East, magi, have shown up unannounced. They’re searching for a new king who has been born, the king of the Jews. They’ve seen his star in the sky and have come to worship him.

This is news to Herod. 

He knows nothing about a star or a baby who will be king. He is the king. 

This news threatens his reign and his power. He must squash this menace child, lest the baby seize his throne.

Yet Herod plays it cool with the magi. “Go and find the baby,” he says, “and then update me, so I can worship him too.”

Yet the magi don’t report back to Herod. An angel warns them of his deception. By the time Herod realizes this, the magi have already left the country.

Herod is furious.

He intended to kill baby Jesus. But since he doesn’t know which baby Jesus is, he gives orders to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem. Now many babies die instead of just one.

What anguish this causes the families of these babies. Their young sons, innocent and having done nothing wrong, are executed by a power-hungry king who wants to ensure his ongoing rule.

What Herod doesn’t know is that his heinous scheme is too late. Before he gives the order, Joseph already whisked Mary and Jesus away and fled into Egypt. There, they are safe from Herod’s reach.

Herod has immense power and is corrupted by it. To hold onto his reign as king, he slaughters many innocent babies. But God is more powerful than this evil king and thwarts his plan.

We all have a degree of power. Do we use the power we have for good or for evil? Do we help others or serve ourselves?

[Discover more about King Herod in Mathew 2:1–23.]

Read more about other biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Joseph

Joseph

Joseph’s excited. He’s engaged. Mary’s the perfect girl for him. She’s chaste and devout. Her deep faith matches his own.

Then everything falls apart. 

Joseph hears that his fiancée, the one he knew as pure, is pregnant. He must end their engagement, but, being a good man, he doesn’t want to make life any harder for her. He plans a private breakup.

But before he acts, God sends an angel to him in a dream. The angel says, “Don’t dump her. Proceed as planned. Her pregnancy is not of human origin but from the Holy Spirit. This divine-human conception will produce a child who will save the people from their sins. Name him Jesus.”

That’s a lot to take in.

Joseph does as the angel instructs. He marries Mary, but they don’t consummate their relationship until after Jesus is born. Then, an angel again comes to Joseph in a dream, “Quick! Leave! Herod’s trying to kill your baby. Hightail it to Egypt.” Again, Joseph obeys.

Later, in Egypt, an angel again comes to Joseph in a dream. “Herod’s dead. It’s safe to return to Israel.” A third time Joseph obeys God’s instructions. They settle in Nazareth.

Fast-forward twelve years. Joseph and Mary head to Jerusalem for the Passover. On their trip home, things get hairy. After one day of travel, they discover Jesus isn’t part of the caravan.

Joseph and Mary rush back to Jerusalem to find their son. Their worry is more intense than what other parents would feel. They lost the Son of God.

Three days later, they find him in the temple courts, talking theology with the Jewish teachers. When they scold him for causing them worry, Jesus says, “Didn’t you know I’d be in Papa’s house?” 

Joseph and Mary don’t get it. I can’t blame them. I wouldn’t either.

Regardless, Joseph obeys God at each turn, and he does so without hesitation.

When God tells us to do something crazy, how willing are we to obey?

[Discover more about Joseph in Matthew 1:18–25, Matthew 2:13–23, and Luke 2:1–40.]

Read more about other biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: John (1) the Baptist

John the Baptis

The angel Gabriel says John won’t be just any kid, but a special one. People will celebrate his birth. John’s parents must set him apart for service to God. The Holy Spirit will empower him, and he’ll spark a nationwide revival.

In the mold of Elijah, he’ll do amazing things and pave the way for the Savior the Old Testament prophets wrote about. God’s people have waited for this for centuries.

When John the Baptist begins his ministry, he proclaims, “The kingdom of heaven is near.” He preaches repentance and baptizes people who want to show that they’re sorry for the wrong things they’ve done. They desire to make a U-turn with their life.

Even though Jesus is perfect and doesn’t need to repent, he insists John baptize him. Afterward the Holy Spirit comes upon Jesus and a voice booms from heaven, proclaiming him as God’s son.

Though the main part of John’s work—preparing the way for Jesus—is over, John continues his ministry. One of the things he does proves fatal. He criticizes Herod for marrying his brother’s wife.

Infuriated, Herod arrests John and throws him in jail. Despite this, Herod fears John, and is puzzled by what he says, so Herod protects him.

Yet Herod’s wife, Herodias, holds a grudge against John. She looks for an opportunity to silence him for good.

When Herod throws a lavish birthday party for himself, Herodias has her chance. Her daughter dances at the party and impresses everyone. Herod promises to give her anything she wants. At her mother’s prompting, she asks for the head of John the Baptist, served up on a silver tray.

Though he doesn’t want to do this, Herod won’t back down in front of his guests. He orders the execution of John. 

John faithfully does what God tells him to do. He prepares the way for Jesus. And the people in power kill him for it.

If serving God would result in our execution, would we still obey him?

[Discover more about John the Baptist in Matthew 3:1–17, Mark 6:14–29, and Luke 1:11–17, 57–66.]

Read more about other biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Zechariah (22)

Zechariah

Elderly Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth, have no kids. They’re past their childbearing years. From a human perspective, having a baby is impossible, yet they pray for one anyway. 

They’re a righteous pair, Zechariah and Elizabeth. They obey all God’s commands and follow his rules—all of them. They’re descendants of Aaron. In addition, Zechariah works for God. He’s a priest. 

Did you catch that?

They’re good people. They’re obedient and do the right things. They have the ideal heritage, and Zechariah lives to serve God. 

For all this devotion, shouldn’t God bless them with the child they yearn for? Yet each year passes and no baby. Still they continue to pray for a kid.

Then things change.

One day the angel Gabriel shows up at the temple, right when Zechariah’s supposed to burn the incense for church. How inconvenient. The people are waiting for Zechariah to kick off their religious ceremony. Couldn’t Gabriel have come a few minutes later?

But Gabriel has good news. God will soon answer Zechariah and Elizabeth’s years of prayers. They’ll finally have a baby, a son. “Name him John.”

And how does Zechariah respond? He says, “Really? Elizabeth and I are too old.”

Frankly, I’d say that too.

Gabriel takes this as a sign of unbelief. To make his point, he removes Zechariah’s ability to talk, which makes it difficult for the poor guy to lead worship. He gestures to let the people know he has seen a vision from God. Astonishing.

When his stint in the temple is over, Zechariah goes home, still mute. Take time to imagine what happens when he arrives, what he communicates through gestures, and most importantly, what happens next.

Elizabeth gets pregnant. God is good.

How long will we wait for God to answer our prayers and give us what we yearn for? Do we have faith to believe in the improbable? The impossible?

[Discover more about Zechariah in Luke 1:5–25.]

Read more about other biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: The Mother of James and John

James and John

Two of Jesus’s disciples are James and John. Their mother comes to Jesus, making an audacious request for her boys. She asks that Jesus honor them by letting them sit on his right and his left in his kingdom. 

Jesus is direct. “You don’t realize what you’re asking.” Eventually he says only his Father can grant such a request. The other disciples are peeved at the brothers and their mom for being so pushy.

However, we later see her bravely keeping vigil at the cross as Jesus dies. Matthew notes that she’s one of the women who follows Jesus and cares for him. But we remember her most for being a pushy mom and her shameless promotion of her sons.

How can we know when to advocate for our children and when to let them grow up and fend for themselves?

[Discover more about James and John’s mother in Matthew 20:20–28 and Matthew 27:55–56.]

Read about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Jezebel (2)

Jezebel

The church in Thyatira has a problem. It’s not a thing but a person. Her name is Jezebel.

Though she calls herself a prophet, she misleads people. That makes her a bad prophet. She encourages the church to engage in immoral behavior and unholy actions. She even advocates Satanism.

Not only does Jesus promise a harsh punishment to her and her followers, but he also criticizes those who tolerate her, by allowing her errant teaching to go unchecked.

Tolerance of others is usually a good thing. But sometimes tolerance is unacceptable, such as in the face of wrong teaching that encourages people to sin or leads them away from Jesus. 

This doesn’t apply to differences of opinion or theological disputes. Those instances do demand tolerance. Acceptance is key. Love, in the name of Jesus, is the standard. 

However, we must speak against people who try to pull others away from Jesus, those who cause his followers to stumble in their faith.

May we never discourage others from pursuing God, and may we never tolerate those who would pull Jesus’s followers away from him. 

Are we ever tolerant when we shouldn’t be? Are we ever intolerant when we should love?

[Discover more about Jezebel in Revelation 2:18–29. Also, see Luke 17:1–2.]

Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.