October 4/5, 2014
Matthew 12-15
I’ve heard of frustrated pastors who have quipped, “They wouldn’t be satisfied if Jesus Christ was their pastor!” As it happens, it was the most religious of the Jewish groups that gave Jesus the most trouble. In these chapters, we begin to feel rumblings of discontent from the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, a premonition of that day when things will get ugly.
In Matthew 12, the Pharisees call Jesus out on various forms of Sabbath-breaking. Jesus answers, “I am Lord of the Sabbath” (12:8). They are so incensed that they begin to plot his demise (12:14). They accuse him of casting out demons by the prince of demons (12:24). They demand a sign (a miracle on cue) from Jesus, and Jesus says the Ninevites who repented under Jonah’s preaching will condemn them (12: 41). Even Jesus mother and brothers have doubts!
Matthew 13 highlights Jesus’ code language: teaching by telling stories or parables. Parables a fun to figure out, but Jesus had a reason for resorting to them: he spoke to them in parables, because “seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear” (13:13). The “they” are the Pharisees. Parables were Jesus way of circumventing the their displeasure! At the end even Nazareth, his home town, rejects Jesus.
Matthew 14 records two of Jesus’ most famous miracles, the feeding of the 5000 and walking on water, but begins with the martyrdom of John the Baptist. Here we have a foreshadowing of what awaits the Lord.
In Matthew 15, Jesus is pummeled again by the Pharisees’ questions and disapproval. Finally, he “gets outa Dodge” and heads for the Gentile country around Tyre and Sidon, where he finds faith in Gentile woman who needs a healing for her daughter. How refreshing, and how sad! Sometimes, we’re more likely to find faith outside the bounds of organized religion!
Your fellow pilgrim through the New Testament,
Pastor Gary
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Friday, October 3, 2014
OCTOBER 3 MATTHEW 8-11
October 3, 2014
Matthew 8-11
Now that we’ve had a taste of Jesus’ surprising teaching, it’s time to see what He can do. Read Matthew 8-9 and be amazed at His healing ministry, not only the miracles, but the recipients of those miracles: an untouchable leper, a Gentile soldier’s servant, two demon-possessed souls from a Gentile community, a paralytic, a dead girl, a bleeding woman and many more.
Along with the fishermen, Jesus calls a hated, traitorous tax collector to follow Him. Matthew 9:36 sums it up, “When He saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” No one is beyond the scope of Jesus’ love!
In Matthew 10, we meet all Twelve Disciples. They, most probably, had already seen Jesus heal and calm the storm. They were already following Him. But here in Matthew 10, they are named, taught and sent out to minister in Jesus’ name. Read Jesus’ instructions as though he were sending you. If you were standing among them, would you feel prepared for ministry?
Matthew 11 describes John the Baptist’s last wave of doubt. Languishing in Herod’s prison, he sends word to Jesus, “Are you [really] the One who was to come?” Jesus tells his messengers to return to John and report the amazing things Jesus was doing. When they’ve gone, Jesus speaks highly of John, but adds this curious statement: “Yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (11:11) Jesus is alluding to the New Covenant, the New Order, which He is ushering in.
Our reading for today concludes with some of Jesus’ most comforting words: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (11:28)
Let’s all take a deep breath and say, “Thanks.”
Your fellow pilgrim through the New Testament,
Pastor Gary
Matthew 8-11
Now that we’ve had a taste of Jesus’ surprising teaching, it’s time to see what He can do. Read Matthew 8-9 and be amazed at His healing ministry, not only the miracles, but the recipients of those miracles: an untouchable leper, a Gentile soldier’s servant, two demon-possessed souls from a Gentile community, a paralytic, a dead girl, a bleeding woman and many more.
Along with the fishermen, Jesus calls a hated, traitorous tax collector to follow Him. Matthew 9:36 sums it up, “When He saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” No one is beyond the scope of Jesus’ love!
In Matthew 10, we meet all Twelve Disciples. They, most probably, had already seen Jesus heal and calm the storm. They were already following Him. But here in Matthew 10, they are named, taught and sent out to minister in Jesus’ name. Read Jesus’ instructions as though he were sending you. If you were standing among them, would you feel prepared for ministry?
Matthew 11 describes John the Baptist’s last wave of doubt. Languishing in Herod’s prison, he sends word to Jesus, “Are you [really] the One who was to come?” Jesus tells his messengers to return to John and report the amazing things Jesus was doing. When they’ve gone, Jesus speaks highly of John, but adds this curious statement: “Yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (11:11) Jesus is alluding to the New Covenant, the New Order, which He is ushering in.
Our reading for today concludes with some of Jesus’ most comforting words: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (11:28)
Let’s all take a deep breath and say, “Thanks.”
Your fellow pilgrim through the New Testament,
Pastor Gary
Thursday, October 2, 2014
OCTOBER 2 MATTHEW 5-7
Matthew 5-7
We press the pause button on the narrative, near the beginning of the first gospel, to get a taste of Jesus’ teaching. It comes at us like the slap in the face the sergeant gives the soldier who panics in a World War 2 film, and with him, we say, “Thanks, I needed that!”
There is no way to emphasize the kind of explosive impact these three chapters of Matthew have had upon the church and the world. We call them, The Sermon on the Mount, and bring to mind a pastoral hillside with quiet listeners and a bubbly stream in the background. But these words would have incited and challenged Jesus’ listeners, especially the really religious ones, and turned their world up-side-down.
Nothing I say can take the place of a humble, open-hearted reading. So, do it now! Read the Lord’s teaching. Let it break your heart and shape your life. Let it help you to understand God’s ways, shine the Lord’s light, live the principles of the law, love the unlovable, pray and devote yourself to God effectively, find freedom from worry and judgmentalism, receive God’s best gifts, and bear God’s best fruit.
STOP READING THIS BLOG and read Matthew 5-7 now!
Your fellow pilgrim through the New Testament,
Pastor Gary
P.S. November 1-2, Pastor Paul Walles, Pastor David Motta (my brother from Fargo), Pastor Aaron Yoder and I will be leading our annual Men’s Retreat. We will immerse ourselves in this passage, the Sermon on the Mount, that weekend!
We press the pause button on the narrative, near the beginning of the first gospel, to get a taste of Jesus’ teaching. It comes at us like the slap in the face the sergeant gives the soldier who panics in a World War 2 film, and with him, we say, “Thanks, I needed that!”
There is no way to emphasize the kind of explosive impact these three chapters of Matthew have had upon the church and the world. We call them, The Sermon on the Mount, and bring to mind a pastoral hillside with quiet listeners and a bubbly stream in the background. But these words would have incited and challenged Jesus’ listeners, especially the really religious ones, and turned their world up-side-down.
Nothing I say can take the place of a humble, open-hearted reading. So, do it now! Read the Lord’s teaching. Let it break your heart and shape your life. Let it help you to understand God’s ways, shine the Lord’s light, live the principles of the law, love the unlovable, pray and devote yourself to God effectively, find freedom from worry and judgmentalism, receive God’s best gifts, and bear God’s best fruit.
STOP READING THIS BLOG and read Matthew 5-7 now!
Your fellow pilgrim through the New Testament,
Pastor Gary
P.S. November 1-2, Pastor Paul Walles, Pastor David Motta (my brother from Fargo), Pastor Aaron Yoder and I will be leading our annual Men’s Retreat. We will immerse ourselves in this passage, the Sermon on the Mount, that weekend!
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
OCTOBER 1 MATTHEW 1-4
October 1
Matthew 1-4
The Messiah has come...in a way that no one expected! What did we expect? God’s people were looking for a conquering King, a Liberator, someone to ride to the rescue and free God’s people from the Roman overlords!
What they got was a baby.
This very human baby was also very Jewish, descended from Abraham, we read. Later, we will see His obvious connection with the whole human race, both Jew and Gentile, in Luke’s genealogy, which goes all the way back to Adam. But even here, we see Jesus’ connection to the whole world through those Gentile women who were grafted in to his lineage, most notably Rahab and Ruth!
This baby was also very divine. Matthew makes it clear that God was the Father of this Child, and that a perfectly appropriate nick name for Him might be “Emmanuel,” which means, God with us.
In chapter two, we learn from both Herod’s jealousy and the Magi’s devotion, that this Jesus is Someone to be reckoned with. All through the first two chapters, we also see the faith of the stepfather that God provided for his Son.
In chapter three, we skip ahead to the days when John the Baptist and Jesus are young adults. John fulfills the forerunner role of Elijah, which Malachi had described in yesterdays’ reading. John, even as he baptizes people for repentance, speaks of Another, who will baptized with the Holy Spirit. Just then, it seems, Jesus approaches for baptism, and John—recognizing Him—tries to get out of it. Jesus insists and all heaven breaks loose.
In chapter four, Jesus faces His final trial before beginning His ministry: temptation by the devil in the wilderness. Of all the lessons we learn, the power of the Word in doing battle with the enemy may the greatest. Immediately after those forty days of testing, Jesus begins to preach, to gather disciples and work miracles.
It has begun!
Your fellow pilgrim through the New Testament,
Pastor Gary
Matthew 1-4
The Messiah has come...in a way that no one expected! What did we expect? God’s people were looking for a conquering King, a Liberator, someone to ride to the rescue and free God’s people from the Roman overlords!
What they got was a baby.
This very human baby was also very Jewish, descended from Abraham, we read. Later, we will see His obvious connection with the whole human race, both Jew and Gentile, in Luke’s genealogy, which goes all the way back to Adam. But even here, we see Jesus’ connection to the whole world through those Gentile women who were grafted in to his lineage, most notably Rahab and Ruth!
This baby was also very divine. Matthew makes it clear that God was the Father of this Child, and that a perfectly appropriate nick name for Him might be “Emmanuel,” which means, God with us.
In chapter two, we learn from both Herod’s jealousy and the Magi’s devotion, that this Jesus is Someone to be reckoned with. All through the first two chapters, we also see the faith of the stepfather that God provided for his Son.
In chapter three, we skip ahead to the days when John the Baptist and Jesus are young adults. John fulfills the forerunner role of Elijah, which Malachi had described in yesterdays’ reading. John, even as he baptizes people for repentance, speaks of Another, who will baptized with the Holy Spirit. Just then, it seems, Jesus approaches for baptism, and John—recognizing Him—tries to get out of it. Jesus insists and all heaven breaks loose.
In chapter four, Jesus faces His final trial before beginning His ministry: temptation by the devil in the wilderness. Of all the lessons we learn, the power of the Word in doing battle with the enemy may the greatest. Immediately after those forty days of testing, Jesus begins to preach, to gather disciples and work miracles.
It has begun!
Your fellow pilgrim through the New Testament,
Pastor Gary
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
SEPTEMBER 30 MALACHI
Malachi
If I remember, it was from my brother, that I first heard the designation: “Malachi (jokingly pronounced muh-LAH-chee), the Italian prophet!”
Malachi means, “My messenger.” Last in the English Bible, Malachi is also the last of the prophets, just after Haggai and Zechariah, and, possibly, a contemporary of Nehemiah.
Malachi wrote both to rebuke and affirm the struggling post-exile community in Israel.
Here are some of the rebukes: You doubt the Lord’s love! (1:2-5) You bring defective offerings and sacrifices! (1:7-14) You priests do not set your hearts to honor God’s name! (2:1-2) You priests are teaching people to stumble and sin! (2:7-8) You people have been immoral and have broken your marriage vows! (2:10-16) You have robbed God by not bringing him the full tithe! (3:6-12) Malachi is straight-forward and up-front concerning Israel’s sins.
But amidst the rebukes (and, possible, a part of them!) is Malachi’s affirmation: the great “day of the Lord,” promised by so many of the prophets, is coming! It is the “day of his coming,” Malachi says. He asks, “Who can endure it?” because it is also a day of fiery purification, intense cleansing, and judgment (3:1-5). This “day of the Lord” will bring joy to the righteous, as they see “the sun of righteousness rise with healing in its wings,” (4:2) and it will be introduced by the prophet, Elijah! (4:5)
The last word of the Old Testament is a word for men of every age. When Elijah, the forerunner of the Messiah, comes, “he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers;” this will save the land from a curse. Family dissolution is a curse that must be reversed by Christ in every generation.
Speaking of generations, tomorrow, we read the incredible “genealogy of Jesus Christ” at the beginning of Matthew!
The Old Testament is ended; behold, the New!
Your fellow pilgrim through the Bible,
Pastor Gary
If I remember, it was from my brother, that I first heard the designation: “Malachi (jokingly pronounced muh-LAH-chee), the Italian prophet!”
Malachi means, “My messenger.” Last in the English Bible, Malachi is also the last of the prophets, just after Haggai and Zechariah, and, possibly, a contemporary of Nehemiah.
Malachi wrote both to rebuke and affirm the struggling post-exile community in Israel.
Here are some of the rebukes: You doubt the Lord’s love! (1:2-5) You bring defective offerings and sacrifices! (1:7-14) You priests do not set your hearts to honor God’s name! (2:1-2) You priests are teaching people to stumble and sin! (2:7-8) You people have been immoral and have broken your marriage vows! (2:10-16) You have robbed God by not bringing him the full tithe! (3:6-12) Malachi is straight-forward and up-front concerning Israel’s sins.
But amidst the rebukes (and, possible, a part of them!) is Malachi’s affirmation: the great “day of the Lord,” promised by so many of the prophets, is coming! It is the “day of his coming,” Malachi says. He asks, “Who can endure it?” because it is also a day of fiery purification, intense cleansing, and judgment (3:1-5). This “day of the Lord” will bring joy to the righteous, as they see “the sun of righteousness rise with healing in its wings,” (4:2) and it will be introduced by the prophet, Elijah! (4:5)
The last word of the Old Testament is a word for men of every age. When Elijah, the forerunner of the Messiah, comes, “he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers;” this will save the land from a curse. Family dissolution is a curse that must be reversed by Christ in every generation.
Speaking of generations, tomorrow, we read the incredible “genealogy of Jesus Christ” at the beginning of Matthew!
The Old Testament is ended; behold, the New!
Your fellow pilgrim through the Bible,
Pastor Gary
Monday, September 29, 2014
SEPTEMBER 29 ZECHARIAH 12-14
Zechariah 12-14
The final three chapters of Zechariah’s great prophecy usher us into the “last days.” The scenes that God gave to Zechariah harmonize beautifully with the final chapters of Revelation. Here, we read of the final battle, when the nations of the earth are gathered in Israel to attack Jerusalem. Through Zechariah, God says that he will make Jerusalem “an immovable rock!” (12:3) She will remain ”intact in her place!” (12:6) God himself will fight against these nations.
Meanwhile, the inhabitants of Jerusalem will have a change of heart. “They will look on me,” God says, “the one they have pierced, and they will mourn...” (12:10). We Christians see this as a reference to Jesus’ piercing and the final revival among the Jews! They will be cleansed from their sin (13:1), and the idols will be banished from the land (13:2). [NOTE: Zech. 13:7 somehow applies both to Jesus’ passion (Matt. 26:56) and the end times.]
Finally, the Lord returns to fight against the nations that had surrounded Jerusalem! He “lands” on the Mt. of Olives; it splits in two. He comes with his “holy ones.” When night falls, there will be light. Living water will flow out from Jerusalem, and the Lord will be king over all the earth! (14:1-9) Hallelujah!
Tomorrow is our final day in the Old Testament!
Your fellow pilgrim through the prophets,
Pastor Gary
The final three chapters of Zechariah’s great prophecy usher us into the “last days.” The scenes that God gave to Zechariah harmonize beautifully with the final chapters of Revelation. Here, we read of the final battle, when the nations of the earth are gathered in Israel to attack Jerusalem. Through Zechariah, God says that he will make Jerusalem “an immovable rock!” (12:3) She will remain ”intact in her place!” (12:6) God himself will fight against these nations.
Meanwhile, the inhabitants of Jerusalem will have a change of heart. “They will look on me,” God says, “the one they have pierced, and they will mourn...” (12:10). We Christians see this as a reference to Jesus’ piercing and the final revival among the Jews! They will be cleansed from their sin (13:1), and the idols will be banished from the land (13:2). [NOTE: Zech. 13:7 somehow applies both to Jesus’ passion (Matt. 26:56) and the end times.]
Finally, the Lord returns to fight against the nations that had surrounded Jerusalem! He “lands” on the Mt. of Olives; it splits in two. He comes with his “holy ones.” When night falls, there will be light. Living water will flow out from Jerusalem, and the Lord will be king over all the earth! (14:1-9) Hallelujah!
Tomorrow is our final day in the Old Testament!
Your fellow pilgrim through the prophets,
Pastor Gary
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