Luke 11:5-13 “Notice what you notice.” In yesterday’s reading about building a firm foundation I noted that Matthew, with his “rain, wind, floodwaters ” trio was somewhat more comprehensive than Luke who only mentioned floodwaters. Today we have another clear difference between the two writers in telling the same “story”. Luke closes today’s reading with …
Category Archives: RTB 2019 – Gospels – Notice What You Notice
March 24 / Luke 6:46-49
Luke 6:46-49 “Notice what you notice.” Luke’s account of building on a firm foundation… I already mentioned yesterday that Matthew was more comprehensive in his telling of this metaphor. Luke only mentions the floodwaters and the foundation, while Matthew covers the entire structure, adding the rain and wind that could do damage to the roof …
March 23 / Matt. 7:24-29
Matthew 7:24-29 “Notice what you notice.” After the challenge of yesterday’s reading, today we have one that is a Fred and Carol favorite. It is a section of Scripture that we chose for the Gospel reading at our wedding – the house built on a firm foundation. We chose this reading because we wanted our …
March 22 / Matt. 7:21-23
Matthew 7:21-33 “Notice what you notice.” Here we have, in my mind, one of the scariest verses in Scripture, with Jesus speaking: ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’ (v.23). So what does it take for one of us to become an “unknown”. Not doing the “will of My Father” (v. …
March 21 / Luke 6:43-45
Luke 6:43-45 “Notice what you notice.” If I had not put the two gospel passages side by side, I would have said that Luke had nothing to add that Matthew had not already said (yesterday), including the same words, almost verbatim! However, I would have been wrong! Luke gives us something to grab onto – …
March 20 / Matt. 12:33-37
Matthew 12:33-37 “Notice what you notice.” Matthew again on good and bad trees and their fruit… It’s intriguing that Matthew has this item in chapter 12 when he had already covered it in chapter 7 in the Sermon on the Mount. I can’t recall any other items like this (similes, metaphors, analogies, parables) that are …
March 19 / Matt. 7:15-20
Matthew 7:15-20 “Notice what you notice.” So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit (v. 17). The context here is “false prophets”. We should feel blessed that those who lead us at St. Andrew’s do not appear to be “false prophets” or “diseased trees” or “wolves in sheep’s clothing”. …
March 18 / Matt. 7:7-14
Matthew 7:7-14 “Notice what you notice.” For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few (v. 14). Strange that today’s reading would follow Patrick’s sermon from yesterday, where he asked us to look again at our “assurance of salvation” (my words, not his). …
March 17 / Luke 6:37-42
Luke 6:37-42 “Notice what you notice.” Luke’s Gospel on judgment… Some days I read the passage over and over before something hits me. Not today. Right away I saw three things I wanted to comment on. First, Luke adds a strange item to the parallel section in Matthew, where he says Give and it shall …
March 16 / Matt. 7:1-6
Matthew 7:1-6 “Notice what you notice.” Do not judge… and “pearls before swine”. A couple of good lessons here. I’ve had to work on my being overly judgmental. In a sermon a few years back our pastor in Texas told us that our worst trait was often our best trait taken to a negative extreme …