March 20 / Matt. 16:13-28

Matthew 16:13-28 For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay each person according to what he has done. (v. 27) I’m always intrigued by these “rewards” verses. See also Mt. 5:12, 19:27-30; Luke 6:23, and others. I’m going to quote John S. …

March 19 / Matt. 16:1-12; Mark 8:11-26

Matthew 16:1-12 and Mark 8:11-26 In discussing the feeding of the 4,000 in the area of the Decapolis I had wondered yesterday who might those people be who came from “far away”. We learn this morning that some in this “far away” crowd were Pharisees and Sadducees: And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to …

March 18 / Matt. 15:32-39; Mark 8:1-10

Matthew 15:32-39 and Mark 8:1-10 Jesus speaking: …and some of them have come from far away. (Mark 8:3b) According to both Matthew and Mark (if they were writing chronologically) Jesus and His disciples are on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. So I wonder about those who …

March 17 / Matt. 15:21-31; Mark 7:24-37

Matthew 15:21-31 and Mark 7:24-37 Holy Week this year is Spring Break week for our Avanza kids. Normally we try to tie our Avanza Bible lessons to our church calendar, but we will be a week early in covering Jesus’ crucifixion since we won’t meet the kids during Holy Week. To set the stage for …

March 15 / Matt. 15:1-20

Matthew 15:1-20 The Isaiah quote (Mt. 15:8-9) caught my eye. Surprisingly, it was the Isaiah quote that I noticed two years ago. Those of you who were raised in the Catholic faith or some other denomination, see if you agree. Today, something different in that quote… This time I went back to the Isaiah text; …

March 13 / Matt. 14:34-36; Mark 6:53-56; John 6:22-40

Matthew 14:34-36, Mark 6:53-56, and John 6:22-40 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life… (v. 35a) My Study Bible alerted me to other verses in John’s gospel where Jesus said “I am…”. I decided to look them up and print them out for all of us to see. Please read on: And …

March 12 / Matt. 14:22-33; Mark 6:45-52; John 6:16-21

Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, and John 6:16-21 But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” (John 6:20) The Gospel writers in all three readings today quote Jesus with the exact same words. Another “divine echo” for us, in that we’ve got FEAR as the topic for our St. Andrew’s Sunday sermon …

March 11 / Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-15

Luke 9:10-17 and John 6:1-15 I keep thinking about feeding the 5,000. What is Jesus’ message for us today? One U.S. farm today feeds 166 people annually (American Farm Bureau). So it would take 30 farmers to feed 5,000 for one year. Backing that off for one day – 30 farmers over 365 days means …