February 18 / Luke 5:12-16

Luke 5:12-16 “Notice what you notice.” Luke has two items that are not included in Matthew or Mark, and both jumped out at me. In verse 12 the man who approached Jesus was full of leprosy (NKJV, ESV). And verse 16 says that Jesus …would withdraw to desolate places and pray. What to make of …

February 17 / Mark 1:40-45

Mark 1:40-45 “Notice what you notice.” I’m developing a new respect for Mark’s Gospel. A few days ago he added while it was still dark (v. 35) that the other writers had omitted. Today he adds Moved with compassion/pity… (v. 41) at the plight of the leper and his approach to Jesus – kneeling before …

February 16 / Matthew 8:1-4

Matthew 8:1-4 “Notice what you notice.” When much of these Gospel writings are so familiar, some days it’s hard to “notice what you notice”. That was the case today for me. Still, one item was confusing to me: …go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to …

February 15 / Luke 4:42-5:11

Luke 4:42-5:11 “Notice what you notice.” As I pointed out Wednesday, the Matthew reading from two days ago would have been better placed somewhere else in our “lectionary”. Whereas Matthew’s writing is very general in nature, both Mark and Luke are more specific – Jesus comes from the Synagogue to dinner to His Sabbath healings. …

February 14 / Mark 1:35-39

Mark 1:35-39 “Notice what you notice.” February 14, Valentine’s Day, a normal work day for most people. But if you’re related to a flower shop, well, it’s a bit more – actually, much more than “a bit more”. So that accounts for the late post, but that’s not all. Read on… So today, And rising …

February 13 / Matthew 4:23-25

Matthew 4:23-25 “Notice what you notice.” In putting these readings together I’ve mostly followed the ordering in The Chronological Study Bible (edited only for length of passage). However, today is the first case I’ve found where I could have done better. It’s a small matter, but… In today’s reading Matthew speaks in broad generalities with …

February 12 / Luke 4:38-41

Luke 4:38-41 “Notice what you notice.” So today we have the third of the Synoptics’ accounts of Jesus healing Peter’s mother-in-law. And the accounts are in agreement as to that healing and as to Jesus healing the sick and casting out demons. Mark and Luke also have Jesus leaving the Synagogue (on the Sabbath; this …

February 11 / Mark 1:29-34

Mark 1:29-34 “Notice what you notice.” I wondered to myself before I began reading today’s passage how I could possibly see something new when we were repeating an event from Matthew yesterday and looking at only six verses. But right away on my first read I noticed a number of items. First, Matthew had Jesus …

February 10 / Matthew 8:14-17

Matthew 8:14-17 “Notice what you notice.” If we were reading through our Chronological Bibles four or five pages at a time, we’d might never have noticed that we jumped from chapter 4 in Matthew to chapter 8. Essentially we skipped the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5-7) plus a few verses before and after. Both Mark …

February 9 / Luke 4:31-37

Luke 4:31-37 “Notice what you notice.” So again we have back-to-back narratives, this time between Mark and Luke. There are only a few differences to note: Mark refers to a man with an unclean spirit (Mark 1:23) while Luke refers to a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon (Luke 4:33), the difference …