Three Vignettes from Matthew (Part 2)
Last week we saw Jesus do the unimaginable – he actually touched a leper. Directly on the heels of that, in Matthew’s gospel account, Jesus violates yet another societal norm. He interacts with a non-Jew, a Gentile. Immediately after coming down from the mountain, and cleansing the leper, Jesus entered Capernaum. The city of Capernaum,…
Read MoreThree Vignettes from Matthew (Part 1)
Last week we looked at Jesus’ calling of Matthew, originally named Levi. Today we will look at the first of three interactive encounters with Jesus drawn from Matthew’s gospel account. In the eighth chapter of Matthew’s gospel, we find three scenes, each right on the heels of the previous, and each depictis Jesus interacting with…
Read MoreThe Calling of Matthew
The confrontations we noted last week wherein the scribes and Pharisees were incredulous that Jesus ate and drank with tax-gatherers and sinners stemmed from (on one occasion, at least) Jesus’ invitation to Matthew to follow him.1 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, ‘Why…
Read MoreTwo Keys For Growing the Kingdom
A Unified Body of Believers As we have noted in previous blog postings, the Father and the Son are so completely unified that Jesus can say to Philip, “He who has seen me has seen the Father,”1 and to the Jews, “I and the Father are one.”2 It is that level of oneness to which Jesus…
Read MoreLoving the Seemingly Unlovely
Wooden Bowls I read, once, the story of a feeble, elderly gentleman who lived with his son, daughter-in-law, and young grandson.1 The gentleman’s failing vision and tremulous hands gave evidence of his advanced age, made even the simplest tasks difficult, and made neatness nearly impossible. As the family dined each evening, accidents were common, with spilled…
Read MoreLong-View Living in a Short-View World™
Last week we looked at the calling each of us has in Christ, a calling to “good works which God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”1 This week we transition into a natural outcome of responding to that calling. God and Time I have two clocks by my desk at work, one hanging…
Read MoreYou Have a Calling on Your Life
I am not a doctor and I know very little about anatomy and physiology. I had never heard of a condition called Bilateral Pulmonary Embolism until early 2012. That year, I stared death straight in the face on two separate occasions. I want to share those experiences, not to sensationalize them, but rather to solidify…
Read MoreServing An Absentee Master
Over the past two weeks, we have looked at Jesus as the Son of God – God the Son, and as the Son of Man. Deity walked among humanity – a truth that distinguishes the faith of a Christ-follower from that of every other faith on Earth. Today, we ask, “What did he want of…
Read MoreGod With Us (Part 2)
Last week, we began our look at “God With Us” by seeing Jesus as the Son of God – God the Son. This week, we continue that study be looking at Jesus as the Son of Man. Son of Man The most prominent way Jesus referred to himself was as the Son of Man, doing…
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