60IN60 Day 29 - Mon Jan 31

It's Day 29 and we're in Matthew 22.

A scary thought: the Bible is "able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). That can be frightening, but know that God loves you the way you are, but too much to leave you that way. 

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verses 24-28 - They had their little ironclad theological puzzle, yet they didn't understand the larger truths that rendered their point moot. We can get too full of ourselves and all our theological knowledge. A little humility is much needed.

Help:
- Verses 1-14 - The overall analogy is about salvation.
- Verses 5-6 - They weren't just apathetic toward what the king wanted - they were in active, murderous opposition.
- Verses 11-12 - We have to be "dressed" in the righteousness that comes from Christ.
- Verse 17 - This was intended as a trap for Jesus. Two groups had come to Jesus (see verses 15-16). If Jesus said, "Don't pay the tax," the Herodians (who were in sympathy with King Herod) would have taken news of that to Herod and they could have arrested Jesus as inciting rebellion against the king. If Jesus said, "Pay the tax," the Pharisees (who were in opposition to the Roman government) would have gone to the people and said, "Jesus is just a patsy for the hated Romans!"
- Verse 24 - This way of doing things was how things were handled in the Old Testament times. Marriage back then was rarely for love. We consider marriage for love to be the only option, but that's been the minority opinion throughout history.
- Verses 42-46 - This is a puzzle Jesus gives to them. The gist: David calls the promised Christ "Lord"; but David was older (i.e. lived before) than the promised Christ, so the Christ should have called David "Lord" (out of respect toward an elder); why doesn't David do that? It's because the Christ wasn't just an ordinary descendant - it was the Son of God. The puzzle revealed that the Pharisees didn't understand all the Old Testament prophecies about who the Christ would be.

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.