I am being very blessed by this course. I thought twice about posting since I'm not clergy or a minister. But I thought there might be some laypeople like me here so I'll dare to share things that may be elementary to folks 'in the business'. The ironic thing is that I initially bought Logos (back when it was Libronix) for my husband-- once a pastor, now a chaplain but I'm the one who loves it. So here are my thoughts and I hope more folks will share.
I was amazed at how my familiarity with the crucifixion passages dulled my senses to where I hadn't really thought about the face that the religious leaders had to come up with a political charge in order to get Rome to kill Jesus. You would think when Pilate saw through their secular charge -- that it was only a vehicle to get rid of Jesus for their own religious reasons, that he would have not taken it seriously. But the articles on Pilate and why he would care if they made a public fuss about his ignoring a potential insurrectionist were very enlightening.
And I never caught the irony before that Rome ended up executing a pacifist and releasing an actual insurrectionist.
- Cynthia, as a minister, it does my heart good to see laity studying God's word and sharing their insights. One of my greatest joys is seeing people in my congregation pursue Jesus through his word and see light bulbs light up. Even if you aren't a minister professionally, I hope you know that you are a minister to those around you and God will use the insights given to you to bless the people he puts in your path. I hope you continue to share as you grow through this course!