Blog – Page 155 – Read Through the Bible

February 14 / Matt. 11:2-19

Matthew 11:2-19

I got my undergraduate degree from a public institution, the University of Illinois. I was pleased to learn that this public institution offered a pair of Old and New Testament courses as fulfilling the Humanities General Studies requirement (and I certainly did not want to take Shakespeare courses!). It was in this NT course (taken out of sequence) that I wrote a paper about John the Baptist entitled “Born of Woman, No Man Greater”. That paper marked the beginning of my study of the Bible. It was also because of this NT course that I met a young man (Jim) who later led me to the Lord. We were in a Chemistry class together and I had brought my NT textbook, the Oxford Annotated Bible to class with me. Jim had already taken the NT course and recognized the OAB. That book started a conversation that terminated some three years later with my “born again” experience. So today’s reading brings back happy memories for me.

And again, David mentioned this very reading in his sermon today. Echo!!

February 13 / Luke 7:1-17

Luke 7:1-17

I don’t know what to make of the following verses: Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited His people!” And this report about Him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country. (Luke 7:16-17) It would be less confusing if Luke had not included the first four words, Fear seized them all… How does this miracle generate fear? Or is this a fear that reflects an awesome authority figure, someone who should be honored and obeyed. The remainder of these two verses lends to that understanding. The second part of these two verses has Jesus’ fame spreading …through the whole of Judea… Judea is some 80-100 miles south of Nain, so report of this miracle has indeed spread far and wide.

Nain itself is about ten miles south of Nazareth, effectively one of the southernmost villages in Galilee. Capernaum, by contrast is some 20-30 miles northeast of Nain, one of the northernmost cities in Galilee. So I find it surprising that Luke has these two miracles side-by-side in these 17 verses. Some manuscripts even refer to “the next day” at the beginning of this “Nain” section. I could begin to suspect Luke’s chronology, except that he, himself has undertaken to write “an orderly account” (Luke 1:3) and that he had clearly done his research (Luke 1:1-4).

February 12 / Matt. 8:5-13; John 4:46-54

Matthew 8:5-13 and John 4:46-54

Today and tomorrow we have three accounts of Jesus healing a young man “from afar”. Matthew (today) and Luke (tomorrow) have very similar accounts; most scholars believe them to be recounting the same incident. John’s account (also today) is quite different from the other two; to my mind these are two separate healings, one recorded in Matthew and Luke, the other in John. I see only three similarities – in both incidents a (1) young boy/man (2) living in Capernaum is healed (3) “from afar”. The differences are many; I note a number of them in the second link below. But in addition, the incident begins with Jesus in Capernaum in Matthew and Luke, while He is in Cana in John’s gospel. The most profound difference, as I mention below, is the centurion’s speech, “Lord, I am not worthy…”. We easily embrace his words.

…many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven… (Mt. 8:11) Can you imagine dinner with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Or pick another set of names: Peter, James, and John; Martha, Mary, and Lazarus; Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea; Paul, Silas, and Barnabas; Matthew, Mark, and Luke. I would personally like to break bread with the two disciples whom Jesus met while they were walking along the road to Emmaus – to listen to them as they tell me of Jesus opening the Old Testament scriptures to them (Luke 24:13-35). But also, to dine again with Mary Ann Duddy, Millie Rodes, and Mim Stambaugh… GLORY!! And it’s ours to grasp, folks. Write your own dream; Jesus is waiting for you with outstretched arms. GLORY!!

February 11 / Luke 6:43-49; Matt. 12:33-37; Matt. 7:21-29

Luke 6:43-49 and Matthew 12:33-37; 7:21-29

It’s been a challenge to organize these readings and keep similar material from the Synoptics together, especially when it’s only three or four verses that overlap. The Sermon on the Mount creates the most difficulty, in terms of small common sections. So today we have three reading sections and five sets of comments in the links below from 2019.

Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad… (Mt. 12:33a) How does one make a tree one way or the other? And why would we want to make a tree bad? Or what can we do for a bad tree to make it good? I don’t know that we can make bad trees good. We can possibly make less productive trees more productive, but to turn a tree completely around – not likely. Earlier in His Sermon on the Mount Jesus says to cut down any tree “that does not bear good fruit” and throw it into the fire. (Mt. 7:19) However, Jesus is not talking about trees here. He is talking about us! And with us it is possible to make the bad, good, and the less productive, more productive. It is, in fact, our Lord’s wish. He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (I Timothy 2:4)

Finally, after saying all that, it is possible to make a “bad” tree good. The apostle Paul shows us: For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree. (Romans 11:24) God is in the grafting business and He wants us to join Him!

February 10 / Matt. 7:13-20; Luke 6:37-42

Matthew 7:13-20 and Luke 6:37-42

Judge not, and you will not be judged… (Luke 6:37a) Many Christians today are seen as judgmental, simply because they see issues differently than society’s currently accepted norms. Same-sex marriage and unmarried couples living together are two items that come to mind so often in terms of our “judgment” of others’ lifestyles. Basically, to many on the more liberal side of these issues, if we disagree we are being judgmental. I have (or have been with Carol when we have) had a number of conversations on these two topics. We lost some very dear friends when we turned down their invitation to attend their lesbian daughter’s wedding. And we got into a very heated discussion with another couple over them living together unmarried. In both cases we stood by Biblical principles, but were shut down as being judgmental. Jesus told us not to judge, but He also told us (through Paul’s and John’s writings) to discern between right and wrong (I Corinthians 12:10; I John 4:1). Judgment vs. discernment – we have to be careful. We may know what’s in our hearts, but others may view us quite differently! …which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed… (II Timothy 1:12a)

February 9 / Matt. 7:1-12; Luke 11:5-13

Matthew 7:1-12 and Luke 11:5-13

Today’s reading schedule takes us through the first 12 verses in Matthew’s 7^th chapter, but my comments in the second link below include Mt. 7:13-14, FYI, so you might want to read a couple more verses.

Ask, seek, knock. Three levels of request, going from the lesser to the greater. Asking suggests merely making a request. Seeking means really going after something. And knocking is the most imperative – here I am with my request. Please answer me! So when we pray, are we asking, seeking, or knocking? Maybe it depends on what we’re praying for. But far too often I’m guessing that I am merely asking when I should be knocking!!

February 8 / Luke 12:22-34

Luke 12:22-34

Instead, seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. (v. 22a) I kept thinking yesterday about our reading from Matthew and our “needs” – food, drink, clothing, shelter. In both yesterday’s and today’s readings Jesus is telling us, “…do not be anxious…”. That one word, “anxious” appeared six times in yesterday’s reading and three times today. I think “anxious” is the first half of Jesus’ teaching, but God’s kingdom is the main focus! A couple of days ago Bruce commented on the “woes” passage: “I’m taking these verses to mean the condition of our hearts… centered on Jesus, His teaching, His love.” That’s also wisdom for today’s reading about anxiety and our needs. Check the “condition of our hearts” – focus on the kingdom of God and not our needs. Work to satisfy those needs, but “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you…”! [Brief musical interlude…!] Especially in today’s world, as Archbishop Beach reminds us over and over, “Do not worry!”

February 7 / Matt. 6:16-34

Matthew 6:16-34

We’re not to worry about food, drink, clothing? In today’s world? What about the hundreds of thousands of homeless people in our cities? (Jesus mentions “housing” elsewhere: Foxes have dens, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.) (Mt. 8:20) We have poor in our own country who have to decide between paying rent or buying food or filling prescriptions. What is Jesus’ answer for them today? I know His answer – His answer is “us”. We take care of them. But how? We have homeless shelters, food banks, soup kitchens, government programs. But look at what COVID has done to millions of families!! We’ve already spent $4 trillion on a number of federal programs to meet these needs and President Biden is asking for $2 trillion more. We’ve let the government supplant the churches in taking care of society’s needs. How did that happen? Did the church abdicate its responsibility? What to do? What is Jesus’ answer for today?

February 6 / Matt. 6:1-15; Luke 11:1-4

Matthew 6:1-15 and Luke 11:1-4

Two years ago I did a small contrast between Matthew’s and Luke’s “Our Father” prayer (see the second link below). One item that I didn’t mention – maybe that I didn’t notice – was that Matthew includes an additional “request” sentence that Luke completely leaves out: …Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Mt. 6:10b) And it’s a prayer that we pray so often – “Lord, your will be done.” And it was Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, …not My will but Yours be done. (Mt. 26:39, Mark 14:36, Luke 22:42). Thinking further about that “request” prayer. We tend to pray that prayer for both “yes” and “no” outcomes to our own prayers. That is, both Democratic and Republican Christians were praying that prayer in the last presidential election: “Lord we pray that Biden will win, but Your will be done”, “Lord we pray that Trump holds on, but Your will be done.” And we mean it, no matter the outcome. After the 2016 election result Democrats were praying, “Ah well, God is in control.” Then in 2020 Republicans were praying the same prayer. Maybe we should just forget our own wishes and begin our “need” prayers with “Your will be done…”.

Reward. That word is mentioned five times in Matthew’s first six verses today. Three of those passages refer to rewards from the Father: “…no reward…” in verse 1 and “…your Father Who sees in secret will reward you.” in verses 4 and 6. The other two references are to earthly rewards, reflected as praise and recognition by others. The NASB translation adds a strong emphasis that the ESV lacks: …they will be praised by people … < and > they have their reward in full. (vv. 2b, 5b) My Study Bible notes, “The honor they receive from people is all the reward they get.” That’s a strong statement – that’s all we get…!!

February 5 / Luke 6:20-36

Luke 6:20-36

But woe to you who are rich, … But woe to you who are full now, … But woe to you who laugh now, … But woe to you when all people speak well of you… (vv. 24-26) I always cringe a bit when I read these verses; Carol and I are (relatively) rich, well-fed, happy, with hundreds of friends. Is Jesus speaking directly to us? What is His message to us? He told the “rich, young ruler” to Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me. (Mark 10:21) Neither of us feels that “calling”. So what is Jesus saying to us?