Luke 7:18-35 When we read these Matthew and Luke accounts on consecutive days we see how very similar they are – which makes the differences between them more pronounced. As happened to me two years ago, verses 29 and 30 caught my eye: When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they …
Category Archives: RTB 2021 – New Testament
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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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 …
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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 7th 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. …
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 …
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 …
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 …