September 13, 2025

Top 10 New Testaament Archaeological Discoveries: #8, The Erastus Inscription

It sure looks to be him! He has the same name. He did the same job. He’s from Corinth, and he lived during the middle of the first century during the ministry years of the Apostle Paul. In 1929 near the ancient theater in Corinth, Greece, archaeologists uncovered a pavement stone with a Latin inscription that reads, “Erastus, in return for his aedileship, laid this pavement at his own expense,” and Paul, writing from Corinth, writes, “Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you” (Romans 16:23).

Erastus was an uncommon name in Roman times, which in itself adds weight to the potential connection between this pavement stone and Paul’s Christian friend and colleague (2 Timothy 4:20; Acts 19:21-22). But there’s more! Written in Greek around 57 A.D., Paul calls Erastus a city manager or city steward. Written in Latin and dating to the middle of the first century, the Corinth inscription, carved with seven inch tall letters that were originally filled with bronze, calls Erastus an aedil, what we might call a public works commissioner, an elected official responsible for maintaining public buildings, keeping the streets in working order and overseeing the market.

Not everyone will agree, but to me it sure looks like the same guy! Once again archaeology and the Bible converge harmoniously. I look forward to meeting my brother, Erastus, one day, but not in a city with streets paved with stones. Instead, we’ll meet in a city with streets paved with “pure gold” (Revelation 21:21).

— Daniel McCabe

Our Community Seminar Series for Fall 2025

Hi, everyone! Thanks to those of you who have already signed up for the Fall seminar! At this time we have five registered, which is still five short of our desired minimum. Do you know of any others who you can recruit to join us? This is arguably my favorite seminar to teach, and it’s been super well-received in the past, so I think you’ll really like it too. But who else do you know who might like to attend? If you have been thinking about registering, please consider doing so now. I look forward to reaching our goal this week. Feel free to share this post or click on the picture below to reach our registration form.

–Daniel McCabe

Trivia

According to livingcost.org, a meal at McDonalds in the US costs about $11.00, but in Israel the same meal will cost WHAT? (Answer at bottom of page.)

Life in the Land: Sitting Shiva

As a pastor I have sat many times in homes, churches, hospitals and funeral parlors with individuals or families who have lost a loved one, and it’s been my privilege to provide a steady presence, to pray with them or to attempt a timely word of encouragement. But once the memorial service, the graveside service and the church-hosted meal for the family have all come to a close, the family quietly returns to their home to grieve alone. Sure, church members or friends may organize a meal train over the next two weeks, but even then they usually just drop off their meals at the front door without entering. Is it possible that we have forgotten how to “weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15)? Have we forgotten even how to weep?

Shiva means “seven,” so sitting shiva is the Jewish practice of receiving guests into one’s home for seven days following the funeral of a close relative. The family stays home and doesn’t work or participate in social activities so that they are free to receive guests who come with food and flowers. Most will stay to pray, to share memories or perhaps just to sit together in a show of support, ensuring that the family isn’t isolated while they process their grief. Sometimes a shiva candle is lit for all seven days to symbolize the soul of their loved one. Sometimes the family covers the mirrors in their home to avoid any preoccupation with personal appearance; tears a small piece of cloth or a black ribbon to symbolize their heartache; or sits on the floor or perhaps on low stools in a show of humility while they mourn.

I like the practice of sitting shiva. It gives permission to grieve whereas too often we feel an unspoken pressure to return to work, to move on or to be strong when in reality grief takes time. Admittedly grief lasts more than seven days, but sitting shiva might just slow us down long enough to realize that we need the Lord and others during such difficult times more than we might think.

–Daniel McCabe

The Apostolic Fathers: Papias of Hieropolis, part 4

So far we’ve met Ignatius who was fed to the lions, Polycarp who was burned at the stake, and Clement who rubbed shoulders with emperors in Rome. Next up, Papias, the bishop or pastor of Hieropolis, a city not mentioned in the Bible, but one which often comes up in sermons on Revelation 3 when describing the location of the lukewarm church, Laodicea, which is situated in biblical Asia Minor between Colosse, known for its cold springs, and Hieropolis, known for its hot springs.

Born in 60 A.D. shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 A.D., Papias evidently knew both Polycarp and the apostle John, but he’s especially known for some early statements that he made about the compilation of the Bible. In his five-volume work, “Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord,” Papias argues that of the four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—Mark is the earliest and that Mark drew his information from the Apostle Peter (cf. 1 Peter 5:13, “Mark, my son”). Given that 93% of Mark’s Gospel is included in both Matthew and Luke, Markan priority is still the prevailing theory held by modern Bible teachers. Papias is also known for his statement that the disciple Matthew, whose Gospel targeted a Jewish audience, had previously recorded many of Jesus’ teachings in Hebrew, which he later used as a resource when writing his Greek Gospel, the one included in our New Testaments. Lastly, Papias believed that Jesus would return to earth one day to physically reign for one thousand years, a view that I hold and one which follows quite naturally from a normal reading of Revelation 20:2-7, where John repeats this number six times in six short verses. Maranatha!

Nothing is known of Papias’ death in the early to mid-second century, but along with Ignatius, Polycarp and Clement he rounds out the Hall of Fame of men known to history as the Apostolic Fathers, men from the first century who knew and learned from one or more of the twelve apostles, but particularly Peter and John. These men showed a remarkable faith in Jesus and a resolve to make his name known to their congregations and to the world. May we too live with that same resoluteness for the Lord all our days.

— Daniel McCabe

The High Priestly Prayer of John 17, part 4

Jesus says in v. 12, “While I was with them, I kept them in Your name, which You have given Me. I’ve guarded them and not one of them has been lost.” They are unified now at this point “except the son of destruction.” There was one who was always in God’s sovereign plan to have been lost “that the Scripture might be fulfilled” and, of course, that’s Judas Iscariot, the one who would betray Jesus. You’ll remember that in the garden Judas leads a contingent of soldiers to come and arrest Jesus. He’s the one who was determined to be “the son of destruction that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”

But what Scripture might this be? While Jesus doesn’t specifically say, a couple of strong contenders come to mind. We have Psalm 41, for example, where David describes the betrayal of his close friend, Ahithophel, who later hangs himself. There are correlations between Ahithophel’s betrayal of David and Judas’ betrayal of Jesus.

Also, perhaps Psalm 109, which again talks about a betrayal of David. Here David wishes essentially that the betrayer would have no more posterity, that he would be replaced, and that his office be filled by another. As you may know Peter cites this psalm as a reason for replacing Judas with Matthias in Acts 1. So Jesus knows that Judas Iscariot was always going to be lost. He’s the son of destruction. Other than Judas, Jesus has lost none. None whom Jesus was supposed to keep have been lost.

Now Jesus again turns in prayer to what’s coming next. He says in v. 13, “But now I am coming to You, and these things I speak in the world that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.” The disciples faced a tough future, so they better buckle up because what they’re about to live out will be very tough. Even so they would have Christ’s joy fulfilled in them if they stayed unified as they were supposed to and as they lived out the life of ministry before them. Nothing would make Jesus happier than for them to live that out.

He says in v. 14, “I have given them Your word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world just as I am not of the world.” So how can Jesus say that the disciples are not of the world just as He was not of the world? We can certainly understand how Jesus wasn’t of the world. After all, He’s God and He descended into the world and walked around it for about 33 years. But the disciples were born in sin and they’re fully human and only human. However, since we have been adopted as God’s sons and daughters, then we can say that the world is no longer our home or even our origin. Being of this world then is no longer our nature, therefore the world will hate Jesus’ disciples. Because Jesus is not of the world, neither are the disciples anymore, and the world hates that which is not its own. So the disciples will have a tough time “because they are not of the world just as [Jesus] is not of the world.”

Jesus is obviously realistic, however. He says in v. 15, “I do not ask that You take them out of the world,” for if God just took them home at that point, they would have no ministry before them. They couldn’t testify to Jesus. They couldn’t go on to proclaim His name and see more people saved. If God snatched us out of this world as soon as we’re saved, then there’s no one left in the world to testify for Him. After we’re saved, it’s natural to all want to be home. We want to be in heaven, but we have work to do, and God lays before us many great tasks that He will work through us for His glory. The disciples had especially great tasks ahead of them, so Jesus prays for them. He’s not asking that the Father take them out since they have to be in the world, but “that You keep them from the evil one.”

Jesus does care for them and He does want to protect them. The devil would certainly be after them. He would prowl about like a roaring lion seeking to devour the disciples, so Jesus prayed for their protection.

He says again in v. 16, “They are not of the world, just as I’m not of the world,” and then in v. 17 he prays what He wants for them, “Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world, and for their sake I consecrate Myself that they also may be sanctified in truth.”

That is a prayer that we all must have for ourselves. How are we to be sanctified? How are we to grow in our holiness and be further conformed to the likeness of Christ? How is it that any of us are sanctified? It’s by the truth, which is the Word of God. That’s the only way that we can truly grow closer to God, by knowing Him more, by being in the Word of God. Only as we know God more and learn more of the truth and of His will for our lives can we have hope to ever be sanctified.

–Adam Keim

Answer to the Trivia

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