Author Archives: John S.

John 10:22-11:57 Jesus wept. John 11:35 Why? Why would Jesus weep over the death of Lazarus? He knows full well what He is about to do. He knows that within minutes Lazarus will be back among the living. So Jesus cannot simply be experiencing the loss of His dear friend the way we grieve the …

Continue reading “November 5 / John 10:22-11:57”

Matthew 19:1-15; Mark 10:1-16; Luke 18:15-17;Matthew 19:16-30; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18:18-30;Matthew 20:1-16 Let’s think about the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. (Matthew 20:1-16) Most of us have little difficulty in identifying with those laborers hired at the beginning of the day, who complain of unfairness. We can envision these laborers bringing a class-action …

Continue reading “November 4 / Matthew 19:1-20:16; Mark 10:1-31; Luke 18:15-30”

Luke 16; Matthew 18:15-35; Luke 17:1-18:14 In the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus gives us the Lord’s prayer, He immediately stresses that “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Mt. 6:12) means that if we do not forgive others, God will not forgive us. (See the October 18 post.) Today, …

Continue reading “November 3 / Luke 16; Matthew 18:15-35; Luke 17:1-18:14”

Luke 13-14; Matthew 18:10-14; Luke 15 When one of those who reclined at table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” But He said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for …

Continue reading “November 2 / Luke 13-14; Matthew 18:10-14; Luke 15”

Matthew 11:20-30; Luke 10:1-24;Luke 10:25-42, 11:37-12:21, 12:35-59 Then He began to denounce the cities where most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented …

Continue reading “November 1 / Matthew 11:20-30; Luke 10, 11:37-12:21, 12:35-59”

John 9:1-10:21; Matthew 8:18-22; Luke 9:51-62 How is our eyesight? Are we blind? Do we need Jesus to anoint our eyes? Are we willing to follow His instructions to “go and wash”? Do we perceive the Light of the world? Or are we so sure that we see that we think we have no need …

Continue reading “October 31 / John 9:1-10:21; Matthew 8:18-22; Luke 9:51-62”

John 7-8 Do you want to know whether Jesus speaks Truth with a capital “T”? You could study His words intently. (And you should.) You could compare what He says with what is written in the Old Testament. (And you should.) You could learn Hebrew and Aramaic and Koine Greek. (Interesting!) You could delve into …

Continue reading “October 30 / John 7-8”

Matthew 17:14-23; Mark 9:14-32; Luke 9:37-45;Matthew 17:24-18:9; Mark 9:33-50; Luke 9:46-50 And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to Him and, kneeling before Him, said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. …

Continue reading “October 29 / Matthew 17:14-18:9; Mark 9:14-50; Luke 9:37-50”

Matthew 16:1-12; Mark 8:11-26;Matthew 16:13-28; Mark 8:27-9:1; Luke 9:18-27;Matthew 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36 And He said to all, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake …

Continue reading “October 28 / Matthew 16:1-17:13; Mark 8:11-9:13; Luke 9:18-36”