Mark Strauss's blog

The discussions surrounding the recently discovered “Gabriel’s Revelation” (or “Dead Sea Stone”; see the posts below) have brought to the foreground the long-debated question of whether first century Judaism expected a suffering (and vindicated?) Messiah. This issue is closely related to—though broader than—the question of whether the “Suffering Servant” passages of Isaiah were interpreted messianically in the pre-Christian era.

I attended a Martin Luther King breakfast a few weeks ago and heard a fascinating message from the speaker, a prominent African-American leader in the community. She spoke from Matthew 15:21-28, the account of the faith of a Canaanite woman.