We’ve noted many times how the New Testament draws on the Old Testament for its content. Some books stand out in that regard. The Gospel of Matthew is one of them. Long regarded as the most Jewish gospel due to its numerous hooks into the Old Testament, Matthew was especially fond of the book of Exodus. In this episode, we’ll take a trip through Matthew to see how frequently Matthew utilizes Exodus and Moses imagery and episodes in his presentation of Jesus.

Recently Dr. Heiser reached out to his audience asking whether pastors who follow the podcast had tried teaching the content of his book, The Unseen Realm, to their congregations. The response was amazing, with close to 150 responses. The interest in sharing the experience of teaching the meta-narrative of Scripture to congregations stimulated the idea to have guest pastors and teachers on the podcast to tell us their stories. Join us as we listen to pastors of diverse denominations and congregations talk about the impact of teaching biblical theology in its original context to their people.

Dr. Heiser answers your questions.

In Matt 1:20 the gospel writer describes Mary’s pregnancy to Joseph this way: “do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” The wording is unusual for several reasons, most notably that the Greek verb translated “conceived” in the ESV means “fathered” or “begotten,” something the Old Testament never has the Spirit doing elsewhere and only rarely has God performing in any context. In this episode of the podcast, we talk about Matthew’s word choice in this verse and its theological implications.

In John 20:11-16 is a famous scene after the resurrection that takes place at the garden tomb. To our surprise we learn that Mary Magdalene failed to recognize the risen Jesus, instead “supposing him to be the gardener” (John 20:15). In this episode of the podcast, we discover that John’s intent in this scene was not to have his readers question Mary’s ignorance or judgment. Rather, the scene draws on a frequent ancient Near Eastern tradition, also present in the Hebrew Bible, that associates kings with gardens and even casts them as gardeners. The garden tomb scene and the identification of Jesus as the “gardener” turns out to be filled with symbolism that presents Jesus as the Davidic messiah-king.

Dr. Louis Markos returns to the podcast (first appearance, episode 322), this time to talk about the influence of Paradise Lost, the classic work by John Milton, and its influence on Christian thought about Satan and demons. Dr. Markos is Professor of English at Houston Baptist University. He is an authority on C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien and also teaches courses on mythology, Classical Literature and Victorian and Romantic Literature. Dr. Markos recently reviewed Dr. Heiser’s book, The Unseen Realm, and found its emphasis on the supernatural metanarrative of the Bible not only fascinating, but quite important for contemporary believers, especially millennials

Dr. Louis Markos’ Amazon Author Page

Listeners to this podcast know that the New Testament’s use of the Old Testament is crucial to being an intelligent reader of the New Testament. Usually this takes the form of a New Testament writer citing a specific Old Testament passage and either interpreting it or applying it. Sometimes the relationship between the testaments is much broader, where New Testament writers presume an entire backdrop of worldview elements or practices. In this episode we illustrate how the gospel writers intentionally present Jesus in the context of specific elements of Israelite kingship. Knowing this helps us get more out of the gospel presentations of Jesus’ life.

Recently Dr. Heiser reached out to his audience asking whether pastors who follow the podcast had tried teaching the content of his book, The Unseen Realm, to their congregations. The response was amazing, with close to 150 responses. The interest in sharing the experience of teaching the meta-narrative of Scripture to congregations stimulated the idea to have guest pastors and teachers on the podcast to tell us their stories. This episode is the fourth of a series in that regard. Join us as we listen to pastors of diverse denominations and congregations talk about the impact of teaching biblical theology in its original context to their people.

Dr. Heiser answers your questions.

Few passages in the Bible are as familiar to Bible readers as John 3, the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. John 3 of course gives us memorable lines, such as “you must be born from above” (more popularly, “you must be born again”) and of course John 3:16. The chapter has also produced famous interpretive headaches, like “unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). This episode of the podcast seeks to explicate this verse by exploring the strength of the idea that the exodus and its Old Testament imagery provides the context for interpreting John 3.