Draw near to God and He will draw near to you
Peter said to Him, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.
Matthew 14:28
What a crazy idea! “Lord, if that is really You out there, tell me to come to You.” What if the figure coming towards them had been a ghost, as the disciples first assumed? Could not a ghost as easily reply, “Sure, come to me”? Peter would have quickly realized the logical weakness of his test–under water. Continue reading
The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trapmled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up. Luke 8:5 (read 8:1-21)
INTRO: From the time we were big enough to carry a lunch sack, we were sent off to school every day to learn
– first, to read and write, and then everything else (history, gramar, science, etc.)
Do you remember ever being taught how to learn?
We were constantly told to pay attention, but were you taught how to pay attention?
– it was assumed from our first day of class that we knew how to learn, focus our attention, and use good study habits
Jesus taught his autdience how to listen to his teaching Continue reading
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you
Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick. Matthew 14:13-14
John the Baptist was not a political figure, he was a spiritual leader. He did not rally people for a polical cause or spout an ideology. But whenever a person takes a strong and vocal position regarding the impact of God’s righteous will on society, there are inevitable political consequences.
After hearing about John’s execution, Jesus wanted to be alone. He needed, first of all, to deal with the grief he now carried of having lost John to Herod’s axe. Secondly, he had to work through the realization that he was next. John was first on the scene, announcing the coming of Jesus. Now he was also first to be taken out by violence. As Jesus followed John in ministry, so he would follow him to his execution. There was no retirement or death by natural causes for either John or Jesus. Continue reading
A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more? Luke 7:41-42 (read verses 36-50)
INTRO: Do you remember being told as a child, “Never play with matches”?
The danger of a fire getting out of control is even greater in the age of the Internet
– a pyromaniac can strike a match in Florida that sets fires all over Afghanistan
(See recent news of the preacher who burned the Quran. With all the tragedy going on in world right now, why did he think he needed to add this to it?)
It is one of the great mysteries of human nature that in the name of God, people can become calloused regarding the death of others
But the truth is, this is a spiritual virus that creeps into every religion and all religious people
– either we get too devoted to the wrong things or our devotion gets twisted–e.g., fanaticism Continue reading
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you
He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary . . . ?”
And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household. Matthew 13:54-55, 57
Jesus Christ knows what it is to be rejected.
He was in the world, and the wold was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. (Jn. 1:10-11)
He was despised and forsaken of men / A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face / He was despised and we did not esteem him (Is. 53:3)
A beautiful person in every way, yet rejected. If you, also, experience rejection, do not assume it is because Continue reading
Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else? Luke 7:19 (read verses 18-35)
INTRO: This week, Barbara said she was going to look into getting a bus pass for next month
Gasoline is simply too expensive right now to keep filling up her tank
Gas prices right now, like the tidal changes along the West Coast due to the earthquake in Japan, illustrate the famous “Butterfly Effect”–only it’s not the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil nor is the effect a tornado in Texas
The hike in the cost of gas is the result of another famous physics’ model, the “Domino Effect” in the middle-east as the population of one nation attempts the achievement of those in another nation that brought down the authoritarian rule of an elite
I read an interesting article in Jadaliyya, in which Lina Khatib described the typical response of Arab autocrats to the current protests in their nations: Continue reading
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchang seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matthew 13:44-46
Treasure . . . it was there all along, but hidden. The treasure was a source of joy. As long as the treasure was hidden, the man in the story did not know this joy. Had he passed that field every day unaware of the joy beneath him?
Jesus’ purpose for the parables is to give us knowledge of that which is present yet invisible (vv. 31-33). Truth is hidden in the ordinariness of the parables, the kingdom of heaven is hidden in every moment, and God is hidden in Jesus Christ. Jesus told parables to enable his followers to go beyond looking to seeing (Mk. 8:17-21). Continue reading
Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” Luke 7:9 (read 7:1-19)
INTRO: So many centuries have passed since the time of Jesus, it isn’t often that archeology can locate an exact spot that is mentioned in the gospels
– one of the exceptions is the synagogue in Capernaum
– the ruins of the structure you see there today was built on the site of the first century synagogue
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you
And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are the angels.” Matthew 13:37-39
This poor planet! There is too much violence, too much suffering, too much grief, too much evil.
Looking into the distant future, Jesus saw a time when “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire” (v. 41). Imagine this: Planet Earth innocent and healthy, where everything is perfect–exactly as it should be–, nothing corrupt or impure, nothing abusive or oppressive, nothing that involves one person exploiting, using, or harming another. Continue reading
Although Jesus’ concerns were not political, there are always political consequences attached to beliefs that are strongly held and practiced–provided the beliefs are significant and life-changing. It is therefore necessary to look closely at the teaching of Jesus and ask how it could affect our participation in various social systems–e.g., political, corporate, and religious. It is a characteristic of social and economic systems to produce classes like those in verses 20-26; poor and rich, hungry and well-fed, ostracized and praised, etc.
Since this was not the theme of our Bible study, I thought it might be helpful to add a few thoughts for us to consider along these lines. I hope the following stimulates your own ideas and creativity. I have adapted these points from Helmut Thielicke’s, The Evangelical Faith, vol. 2.