Luke 20:9-19 Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty. “Notice what you notice.” I saw two items in Luke’s account of the Parable of the (Wicked) Tenants that were different from Matthew and Mark. First, in Matthew and Mark the tenants (vinedressers) killed one of the servants who was sent to collect the fruit …
Monthly Archives: September 2019
September 10 / Mark 12:1-12
Mark 12:1-12 Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty. “Notice what you notice.” We are back to the Parable of the Tenants, after having Matthew’s Parable of the Wedding Feast in between. I think I’ll rearrange these readings for the next time we do this (next year?) so that we have all three Synoptic …
September 9 / Matt. 22:1-14
Matthew 22:1-14 Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty. “Notice what you notice.” As I’m sure is the case for many of you, I have read this parable probably hundreds of times, but never seriously pondered it – until this morning. So first, the characters. The king is God; He is preparing a wedding …
September 8 / Matt. 21:33-46
Matthew 21:33-46 Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty. “Notice what you notice.” More than 40 years ago I had my own construction company, a partnership with another young man building poured-wall concrete foundations for new houses. We named our company “Cornerstone Construction”. Psalm 118:22 was the Scripture verse that gave our company its …
September 7 / Luke 20:1-8
Luke 20:1-8 Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty. “Notice what you notice.” My Study Bible opened a new possibility, that the Jewish leaders were not challenging Jesus’ authority to teach and preach, but that they were challenging Him for having cleansed the temple of the merchants and money-changers. And in this they had …
September 6 / Mark 11:27-33
Mark 11:27-33 Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty. “Notice what you notice.” It’s a small difference, but somewhat informative; Matthew 21:23 has the chief priests and elders confronting Jesus “…as He was teaching…”; Mark 11:27 says they approached Him “…as He was walking in the Temple…”. Matthew’s account makes more sense, that they …
September 5 / Matt. 21:23-32
Matthew 21:23-32 Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty. “Notice what you notice.” It seems to me that the Jewish leaders had every right to question Jesus’ authority. After all, He had no “seminary” degree – that is, He had not been taught by one of the leading Jewish rabbis (unlike Paul). So if …
September 4 / Mark 11:20-26
Mark 11:20-26 Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty. “Notice what you notice.” I applied John’s “agree(ment) with God” to today’s passage. It works quite nicely! I also shared his phrases with our Men’s Group last night, and they had the same reactions. Finally I tried it in some other contexts also – John, …
September 3 / Matt. 21:18-22
Matthew 21-18-22 Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty. “Notice what you notice.” I like what Debbie said two days ago about the fig tree. It had leaves and looked good on the outside, but it had no fruit. She had reflected that back to activity in the Temple – a lot of religious …
September 2 / Luke 19:45-48
Luke 19:45-48 Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty. “Notice what you notice.” Jesus’ friends had been cautioning Him about going up to Jerusalem, fearing the fate that He might encounter. But He ignored their wishes, even to the point of teaching daily in the Temple (v. 47). Courage in the face of knowing …