Timothy Keller بودكاست

Jesus debated. Jesus fought. Jesus argued with the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians, the teachers of the law, people we would call religious and civil elites today. But Jesus never picked a fight unnecessarily. In Mark 7 Jesus argues about the clean and unclean laws, the ceremonial washings, the ablutions the Jews observed. We might think it…

It’s not the whale events in your life that make you who you are. It’s all the guppies. Every morning you wake up and millions of them come at you. You have to eat. You have to sleep. You have appointments. The mundane, the hum-drum, the hustle and bustle. The difference between Martha and Mary is that Martha is swept along by the mundane, but Mary…

The real Jesus believed in demons. The real Jesus believed in the devil. Most of us say, “They didn’t understand then what we understand now about diseases and mental illnesses. They attributed them to demons.” But in Matthew 4:24, you see something that explodes that whole idea. In Matthew 4:24, it says they brought all manner of sick people to hi…

The gospel changes the way we look at our money and possessions. If we understand the gospel, we should have a radically different relationship with money than what our culture says is normal. To look at what the Bible says about this, let’s look at this very famous passage: Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler. From the rich young ruler, we …

In Luke 7, we see a personal encounter Jesus has with two people. They’re both seeking him, but he responds very differently to each of them. We first see Simon, a member of the religious and cultural elite. He invites Jesus to dinner, which meant inviting someone into relationship. Then we see the women, who’s a sinner and prostitute. She approach…

If you want to get the gist of who Jesus is, you have to look at encounters Jesus had with individuals. The gospels are filled with encounters Jesus has with all sorts of people. In Luke 19, we get to a guy named Zacchaeus, and we’re told two things about him: that he’s a chief tax collector and that he’s wealthy. This teaches us two different and …

Some people dwell on Christ’s power and authority and majesty, and other people dwell on Christ’s vulnerability and tenderness and grace. But it’s critical not to screen out one side of Jesus as if it’s incompatible. The power of Christ is caring power, and the care of Christ is powerful caring. Jesus Christ, the little, tender, meek and mild baby,…

Because Jesus claims that he’s the final word, that salvation is completely by grace through him, the Pharisees and the Herodians band together to kill him. This teaches us not only how radical Jesus’ way of salvation is, but that if you really hear it, it will create all sorts of division in your own heart. Whenever the real Jesus is revealed, the…

Of all the passages that are read at Christmas, Luke 2 is perhaps the most famous. And in this most famous passage, the most famous word is peace. What is Christmas all about? Peace on earth. When Jesus Christ was born as a baby, he was born to bring this peace. But what is this peace on earth? We’ll look at 1) what it is not, 2) what it is, and 3)…

The message of Christmas is the message of the gospel. It’s the essential message of Christianity. And in Luke 1, we have one person’s response to that message. At Christmastime you’ll be hearing this message. The question is, “How should you respond to it?” The message is that the Most High has become the most low. God has become human. Let’s look…

There is absolutely no better place anywhere in the Bible that depicts Jesus as Immanuel, as God with us, as God truly with us in our condition as this passage. We’re going to see who Jesus is and what he came to do. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 8, 1996. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; Hi…

Though there may have been other occasions, the only time we know of that Jesus ever left his country, ever left the boundaries of Israel is here in Mark 7. He did so for a purpose, and he did so to teach us something. There are two stories: the healing of the little daughter and the healing of the deaf-mute. Let’s look at them and see what they te…

In John 2, John puts the changing of water into wine at the wedding and the cleansing of the temple together. He sticks them together, even though on the surface, they look utterly different. In the wedding feast, you have Jesus acting quietly, hidden, privately. Here in the cleansing of the temple, you have him public and dramatic. There, he was r…

Jesus’ first miracle was not just a miracle, but a miraculous sign. It was an acted-out picture of who Jesus is and everything Christianity is. His inaugural event was not walking on water or raising somebody from the dead. Instead, what you have here is not a very big deal. A party looks like it’s going to go two days instead of three days. Wow. W…

True Christianity is a fight. Anyone who offers you a Christianity without tears is not giving you good money; it’s counterfeit. Anybody who says, “If you receive the baptism of the Spirit, your problems are over; if you receive the voice of assurance down on your heart, if you receive the sense God is pleased with you, that’s the end of conflict, …

We’re looking at the life of Jesus. Not at his words and teachings, but at his deeds and his life—the things that happened to him and the things he did. The birth of Christ has one wonderfully big word attached to it: the word “incarnation.” The birth of Jesus is the incarnation of God. Incarnate means God comes in. He comes in our flesh. He comes …

We all want peace, contentment, groundedness. And Jesus says, he will give us his peace. But he doesn’t just zap us with it. He says it comes through learning who he is. John 16 is the end of the training course Jesus gives his disciples. It’s just before he dies, and verse 28 summarizes everything he’s been saying: he explains who he is, how he ca…

There’s a whole field now called happiness studies—whole departments in academia are dedicated to happiness studies. And of all the things I’ve read, none of them are as nuanced as what Jesus says. Jesus says one of the main resources his disciples need in life is joy. And he says joy is something he gives. In John 15:11, he says, “I give you my jo…

When you’re about to die, you don’t make small talk. You talk about the most crucial, important things. And on the night before Jesus is about to die, he’s talking about the Holy Spirit. Why is Jesus so constantly talking about the Holy Spirit? I think we see at least two reasons. One is a hard reason, at least it’s hard to hear. And one is a wonde…

There’s no more important issue, spiritually, for people than the question of innocent suffering. We don’t struggle much with the suffering that comes to people who’ve brought it on themselves. The real problem is innocent suffering. We’re looking at Old Testament narratives because in them, profound truths are depicted concretely. In the New Testa…

Exodus 33-34 remarkably depicts, in the most concrete way, how to find God. And not only how to find God, but how to find him when you’ve lost him. The Bible often talks about our relationship with God as if it’s fire. It comes down into our lives. But the second you stop tending a fire, it burns down. See, if you’ve never found God, or if you have…

When we hear the word “sin,” we think we know what it means. But we don’t—not really. If we don’t understand sin, then Christianity makes no sense. But even more so, if we don’t understand sin, then the knowledge of God’s love and grace won’t really transform or heal us. So how do we find out what the Bible means by sin? By looking at Jonah, who’s …

It takes tremendous courage to leave the land you’ve always lived in and permanently move to another land. People don’t usually do it unless they expect a better life. In the book of Ruth, we have the story of two immigrant women—Naomi and Ruth—who forge an amazing interracial sisterhood. But these women immigrate expecting to have not a better, bu…

Forget the heroes. These days, we want authenticity. We want personal vision. We’ve done away with hero worship. In the story of Samson, we see that the Bible doesn’t give us hero worship, but it also doesn’t give us hero hatred or deconstruction. Some people have called Samson an old-fashioned hero, like Superman—but he’s not. I’ve been waiting fo…

If you don’t yet, you will soon sense an acute need for wisdom. You’ll take a job you never should’ve taken, hire somebody you never should’ve hired, date somebody you never should’ve dated. Often, the older you get, the more you worry. Because the older you get, the more you see how important wisdom is, how difficult it is to gain, and how your li…