Subscription Lists

Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" Matthew 19:16

Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" Mark 10:17

Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Luke 18:18

Looking at each different passage we find several things about this man.

1. He is young.

2. He is a ruler (whether religious…  ( Click for more )

There are several points to ponder in this chapter in Matthew.

Once Jesus left Galilee, He never came back except to just pass through the region (Luke 17:11). This is where He grew up; this is where His ministry began (Cana); this is where He was rejected first (Nazareth). A prophet is rarely recognized among his own people (John 1:46). Is this because he is better remembered as the snot-nosed toddler, or is it because people remember his childish escapades?

Jesus was fully divine from the very beginning, therefore from the time He was able to demonstrate the difference…  ( Click for more )

At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, "Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?" Matthew 18:21

This is the kind of offense like the in the sense that somebody has done you wrong. It won’t take you long for one of those things to pop into your mind. There it is. What was it about the dirty deed that really hurt you? Betrayal of trust? Lied about you? Bullied you? Cruelly joked about you to others? Misused authority over you? Led you astray? Seduced you and left you cold-heartedly?

Everyone has a broken…  ( Click for more )

Ever notice the directions on products? Some of them are quite humorous, such as “do not operate this hair dryer when sleeping.” Really? Visions of women lying in bed with their blow dryer grasped in a white-knuckled grip trip through my mind. Another favorite is the peanut package on airplanes which says, “Open packet. Eat nuts.” I guess that is for those who would rather slip the packet into their purse and smuggle it off the plane. Found on a Korean kitchen knife, “Keep out of children;” on a batman costume, “This cape does not…  ( Click for more )

At the transfiguration of Jesus, three disciples observed the difference between heavenly glory and earthly bleakness. Jesus had spoken to all the disciples of what was about to happen at the Passover. They probably thought that the kingdom of God would suddenly transform into this great earthly kingdom as soon as Jesus rose from the dead. There was no other way except supernaturally that this kingdom could happen because Jesus had gathered no army, no cache of weapons of war, or horses with which to conquer the Romans. The must have reasoned that God would take over, and…  ( Click for more )

This was Moses’ first time to set feet upon the Promised Land. What an amazing thing to see in that isolated spot on the mountain: Victory and glory suddenly appear before their eyes. Peter, James, and John were the only three disciples that had this experience. What reason could God have had to show them this?

Jesus had just told Peter, “Get behind me Satan,” when Peter had refuted Jesus’ going to Jerusalem to be the sacrifice for the world. It was probably because of this, and because these three men would write letters, which God has preserved…  ( Click for more )

The Pharisees were never satisfied. They wanted to trick Jesus, and to do that they asked for a sign from Heaven. Healing the sick, making the blind see (what no one had ever done before), making the lame walk and become productive to society, raising the dead were not good enough miracles for them. As always, Jesus knew their hearts, and replied to them in kind. “You can look at the sky and tell what the weather will be like for that day, but you can’t read the signs of the times?”

How foolish He made them look. Jesus pointed to Jonah. This would be…  ( Click for more )

When surgeons wash their hands before surgery, they wash with scrub brushes all the way up to their elbows. They scrub under fingernails. They rinse thoroughly. Then they put on sterile gloves. I’d say that is about as clean as you can get without soaking in alcohol or peroxide.

When the Jews washed their hands before they ate, they would take a showy, silver bowl, set it on the table, hold their hands over the bowl palms down, have water poured over their hands, then pat their hands dry with a towel. Not exactly a cleansing kind of hand washing.

What really…  ( Click for more )

Matthew indulges in a flashback in his story about Jesus. First we hear Herod talking about Jesus being the resurrected John the Baptist, then Matthew backtracks for a minute to explain how that could be. Matthew understood that

1. Herod was not of the Sadducee sect because he did believe in resurrection and the Sadduccees did not (Acts 23:8).

2. Herod, even though an atheist, let his fear override his opinion as he declared John the Baptist in his risen state to be able to do mighty works showing forth in him meaning John the Baptist. Remember that John did no signs…  ( Click for more )

This is one of my favorite chapters. Jesus explains why He teaches the people in parables. God enlightened the Twelve to understand the mysteries of the kingdom to come, but the scribes and Pharisees refused to believe so understanding did not come to them. They were made blind and deaf by their unbelief. John quotes Jesus:

If I have told you earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? John 3:12

Jesus spoke in parables because those were real-life examples, and the spiritual truths were made simple and understandable…  ( Click for more )

Hungry! Waking up in the early morning, worshiping with Jesus with no time to eat breakfast the disciples were hungry. On the way to the synagogue, they walked through a field ripe for harvest. The most natural thing in the world to do is pluck some grain, rub the husks off, and satisfy that rumbling, empty belly. (Matthew 12:1)

The Pharisees did not object to the disciples taking food from the farmer’s field, but objected to the disciples “reaping” on the Sabbath.

“Didn’t you ever read the story of David and his hungry men? They took…  ( Click for more )

In prison, it is easy to get discouraged, and easy to allow depressing thoughts of failure to creep and settle in the brain. Christ spoke honorably of John after John's disciples were gone from the gathering described in Matthew 11. He didn’t want to flatter John. That wasn’t what John needed at the time. He was in prison, and God knew that John needed the reassurance that Jesus was exactly who He said He was. That reassurance was more comforting than any praise. It meant that God’s words spoken through him were really God’s words of truth. It meant…  ( Click for more )

Jesus sends out the disciples to spread the Gospel. That must have been both scary and exhilarating at the same time.

I remember the first time I walked to school by myself. I was in the first grade. We lived about a half mile away, so Mom walked the distance with me several times, drove over the path several times, so that I’d know how to get there. When she asked me what streets to take, I told her the regular path she had engrained in my brain. Then I said, “But if I want to, I can go down this street and turn at that street to get there. Or I can go down this…  ( Click for more )

How marvelous God is to give us just what we need when we need it for encouragement and strength and a hearty boost when we feel our lowest.Then sometimes we look around and wonder, "Where is God? Why isn't He answering my prayers?"

Is it so bad to want to see results of prayer?

We just cannot know or understand God's ways. We ask, and we receive. Then we ask, and then we receive. It seems to be a results motivated prayer life.

Jesus taught His disciples to pray, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." Why…  ( Click for more )

The Torah was so steeped in sacredness that the elders of Israel put a hedge of protection around it so that no man could misunderstand and break the Law. Then the next generation put a hedge around that hedge, and again another hedge around that hedge on down through the centuries until Tradition out weighed the Torah by 18 volumes of tiny type to one small volume held in one hand.

Deuteronomy 10:16 And you shall circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and you shall not harden your neck any more.

Always the outward symbol of the covenant with God was circumcision.…  ( Click for more )