It's Day 36 and we're in Matthew 28.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 15 - I wonder why they were not personally changed (and therefore refuse the money and instead believe in Christ) by the encounter? Fear for their lives?
If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.
If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.
It's Day 35 and we're in Matthew 27.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 14 - The restraint He shows is amazing. Because the charges were trumped up, He could have lawyered His way out, but He remained silent.
If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.
If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.
It's Day 34 and we're in Matthew 26.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 5 - They were so interested in their popularity.
If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.
If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.
It's Day 33 and we're in Matthew 25.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 20 - God expects fruitfulness.
Help:
- Verse 20, 22 - God expects that we use the time, talent, and money He's entrusted to us to bear fruit.
- Verses 24-27 - The master does not agree with the servant's argument that he is an unreasonable man. He does respond by saying, "If you really believed that, you wouldn't have just buried what I gave you."
If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.
If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.
It's Day 32 and we're in Matthew 24.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 3 - There is a plan.
Help:
- Verses 4-51 - This all is generally considered to have to do with "end of the world" stuff. There's a ton of details here, but the two key verses are 36 and 42. Verse 36 reminds us how much we don't know. Verse 42 reminds us to always be ready.
- Verse 34 - The word "generation" can mean "generation" or "race." Some take the verse to refer to the Fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, which would put it with a generation. Some take it to mean that it'll happen before the end of the world.
If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.
If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.
It's Day 31 and we're in Matthew 23.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 23 - I think Baptists are guilty of this too often: missing the larger issues of justice.
Help:
- Verses 6-10 - We need to be careful that we're not getting full egos off the praise of people.
- Verse 13 - The second half of the verse refers to people with genuine spiritual interest who would come to the Pharisees because they were "the religious experts." The Pharisees' answer would point those people in the wrong direction.
- Verses 30-32 - They were both trying to claim that it was their "fathers" who made up Israel while trying to deny the ancient disobedience those old Israelites did that made God mad.
- Verses 34-35 - Because the Pharisees of Jesus' day had a vantage point to see so much and therefore have so many warnings about disobedience, it makes their guilt greater.
If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.
If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.
It's Day 30 and we're in Matthew 22.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 7 - Tough verse, but worthy of pondering as to why God would do that.
Help:
- Verse 7 - Verse 6 is a big help in understanding verse 7. These people had murdered innocents.
- Verse 10 - The point here is that the invitation was widely given, but verse 12 has more to say.
- Verse 12-13 - Some were invited, but didn't make the change needed to come to the wedding. The analogy would be those who hear the gospel invitation, but never change their lives. Verse 13 is descriptive of hell.
- Verse 14 - God throws open the opportunity to all, but we must come having received what Christ has done for us.
- Verses 15-16 - The Pharisees and Herodians were natural enemies. If Jesus said to pay the taxes, the Herodians would turn Him into the Romans as an enemy of the state, preaching rebellion. If Jesus said to pay the taxes, the Pharisees would tell the people that Jesus was just a patsy for the oppressive Roman rule. It was designed to be a no-win situation.
- Verse 24 - This was the tradition back then. I know today that we marry for love and this seems strange to us, but it was the custom. (And our marrying-for-love system hasn't exactly produced perfect results either.)
- Verse 30 - We will not be married to other humans in the Kingdom to come.
- Verses 41-45 - This is a little puzzle. David is speaking of the Messiah, who will come after him. Because David is the older, he should receive the higher honor. Yet he refers to this Messiah as "Lord." Why? The answer is that the Messiah was not just going to be another human, but God incarnate. That made the Messiah worthy of such an honor.
If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.
If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.
