Nov 13
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution We Are NicodemusNicodemus is usually celebrated for his intellectual honesty. After all, of all the Pharisees, it is only he who comes to Christ in order to investigate His claims further. And he even apparently believes - to some degree - that Christ is truly from God ("Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher from God..."). But Jesus doesn't seem to celebrate his bravery for risking possible expulsion from the Sanhedrin. "Are you a teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these thing… Read more »
Nov 9
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Don't Carpe DiemAt the first Passover feast of Jesus' ministry, many believed in him because of the signs that they witnessed. And in this case, it appears that the sign(s) they saw were his cleansing of the temple. They were allured by his authority. In any case, they were drawn to him and, as so many people do, wanted to make a commitment to his ministry. They wanted to hail him as the next great thing. And how they longed for the next great thing. 400 paralyzing years of silence separated them from the… Read more »
Nov 8
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution The Sum of DiscipleshipThis text of scripture is often overlooked. How many times have you heard a preacher talk about Andrew, the one disciple of Christ who was formerly a disciple of John the Baptist? If it wasn't for the fact that John the Baptist heralded Christ, we might be only reading about Jesus' eleven disciples. What a picture of true discipleship! John announced to his followers that Jesus was the lamb of God. Without reservation they transferred their discipleship to a new Master, Jesus. This sho… Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Give Me BarrabusThis text never ceases to amaze me. What we have here is "How To Split A Church 101." The religious leaders stir up the people to protest against Christ - someone they had absolutely no beef with prior to te Pharisees' manipulation. (Makes you wonder how high the percentage was of those who really didn't want to call for Christ's crucifixion, but surrendered to the Pharisees' pressure, following right along with Peter's compromise in the previous chapter.) Bu… Read more »
Nov 7
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution At Table"...he was known to them in the breaking of bread." Either Jesus' appearance had dramatically changed after his resurrection and glorification, or he deliberately cloaked the eyes of these two disciples from being able to recognize him. Regardless, they finally recognized him at table as they broke bread together. The point I just made may not be the driving idea in this text (because Luke doesn't say so), but it is hard to overlook the fact that reclining at table was such… Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution No Knapsack or Sandals"And he said to them, 'When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?' They said, 'Nothing.'" They lacked nothing. An all they had were the clothes on their backs. And Jesus reminds them, "See! I told you. My Father will always provide!" I wonder how much of our prayers are consumed with issues that mean...nothing. Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Teaching MomentAmazing. An extremely holy moment - and one the disciples will always look back on after Christ ascends to heaven - and they actually begin to argue over who is the greatest. Amazingly, Christ didn't all-out rebuke them. He used this as a teaching moment. Maybe Christ sat and watched each of them and the thought of their faithfulness to him through his trials (:28) spawned more patience in his heart. Regardless, I find I remarkable that his disciples fought over power. Yet, Jesus gave it to… Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Materialism and the End-TimesNote the context of this passage from the final verse of the preceding chapter through the first several verses of this one. The Pharisees' materialism and egomania is contrasted with the widow's generosity. And it is this issue that triggers Jesus' teaching on the end times. And after teaching on the end times he returns to his original subject. He ties it all together. Simply stated, people will be carried away in living life and the return of Christ will be a shock. Let it not… Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Beware of the Hype & FlashJesus' condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees sounds eerily similar to the egocentric practices of our modern celebrity preachers: "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes [flashy & expensive suits], and love greetings in the marketplaces [bloated titles and "honor"] and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts [luxury cars; plush offices; first-class airline seats; etc.], who devour widows' houses [money-hungry pros… Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Prayer: Persist and WaitThe context is rock-solid. "And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart." Obviously, the Christian's devotion to prayer is important to God, which begs the age-old question, "Does prayer actually work?" In anticipation of this question, Jesus contrasts God's generous and just nature with an irreverent and mean-spirited judge who was reticent to grant justice to an injured widow. (Keep in mind that women - much less, wi… Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Loving My Neighbor JustlyJesus indicated to the lawyer that he indeed was right that his chief goal should be to love God with his whole being and to love his neighbor as his self. The problem arises when selfishness unseats good theology. (A common problem - we believe the right thing, but do nothing.) "Who is my neighbor?" He might as well have asked, "Who do I not have to love?" Jesus responds with the parable of the compassionate Samaritan. But note the illustration that Jesus chose to show us… Read more »
Oct 19
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Wounded WidowJesus didn't have compassion on this grieving widow only because her son died, for with his death also died her provision. A woman's only provision was through marriage. And if a woman's husband died her son was responsible to care for her. Thus, the death of her son signaled certain poverty. (Few men would marry a widow.) So Jesus' compassion was more geared toward granting her justice in her situation. I wonder if we perceive the implications of social injustice in our cul… Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution God, Give Me the Faith of a CenturionThis story is powerful! That Centurion is cool! Think about it. He built the Jews of Capernaum their synagogue. While other centurions were fleecing the Jews, he was serving them. The priests obviously viewed the Centurion as a protector and respected him. "Lord, he is worthy of you for he loves our nation and built us our synagogue." Yet, this centurion won't even go out to meet Jesus because of his feeling of unworthiness. So not only was this Centurion humble and a lover of Isr… Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Share FairThis was essentially John's message to the children of Abraham. Of course, even on being the children of Abraham the Jews could not rest. Status or birth gives no one entrance to the kingdom of the heavens. A righteously cultivated heart did. Beyond status, he admonished his hearers who asked, "What shall we do?" To the average person, John exhorted to share one's tunic and food. To the tax collector he admonished avoiding collecting more money than was required. To the Ro… Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Elect FishingCould this illustration have meant anything else other than that the same God who commissioned us to fish for men is the same God who will cause men to bite on our bait (the Gospel)?! HE is the one who initiates and perfects salvation! Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Report CardThis I one of those obscure texts that we often gloss over. "A report went out about him in all the surrounding region." In other words, Jesus caught the attention of the religious and political power brokers. From this day forward, he had his own "FBI file." He was noted as dangerous. A potential threat - not just to the Jewish establishment, but to Caesar's government. American ministers know nothing of this kind of thing. We minister without accountability or fear of… Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Defeating TemptationJesus came to produce this kind of righteousness in our lives. When the devil finished tempting - because Jesus victoriously overcame each temptation - he left. The devil came, tempted, and departed in defeat. Christ aims that we also share in this victory (which, obviously means we share in the same kind of temptations). As Paul said, that we may know him and the power of his resurrection, being conformed to his death. (Phil. 3:10) Read more »
Oct 8
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Fizzling Faith & Growing BeliefA common theme throughout Jesus’ ministry is the fizzling eagerness and accompanying unbelief of the “righteous” (or sons of Abraham), which is contrasted with the initial unbelief of sinning Israelites that morphs into ardent belief. A trait of this religious unbelief is a lack of intellectual honesty. Rather, the religious are political, calculating, and seek to preserve their agenda and self-interests. And it was these characteristics that shielded some of the sons of Abraham from a revelatio… Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Discipleship Parallelism1 – Christ’s promise to rule if we abandon all – including discipleship-destroying family ties, if need be. 2 – Sons of Zebedee ask family (mother) to request privilege from Jesus 1 – Willingness to suffer in the world 2 – Gains rulership from God in the age to come (But sons of Zebedee didn’t want denial of self. They craved authority.) 1 – The first will be last and the last will be first 2 – Gentile leadership is self-driven and over-lording. The greatest in the kingdom deliberatel… Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution The Elect Are LaborersI love how Jesus likens those of us who he calls to salvation (the elect) to laborers. Sadly, the predominant mentality of many Christians is that the Holy Spirit works for us – to bless us, heal us, fix us, meet our needs, etc. But we are born again to become part of God’s master plan for world evangelization and discipleship – calling others who are idle to join in the labor. What a powerful parable of the story of Israel, God’s chosen people. They have worked hard to preserve his precepts, an… Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Better Than Sex or MoneyIt appears that Matthew (ironically, a former tax collector and very likely formerly greedy and a swindler) ties together this chapter, filled with hard sayings, with these final words of promise and comfort for those who believe. The promise? Nothing about this world, but all about the next. A hundred-fold gift from God and the right to rule with him. This, of course, was in response to the call for sexual purity and material fidelity and the disposal of materialism and abandoning all – even ou… Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Woe to the TemptersJesus, here, very urgently and gravely communicates the terrible offense and resulting “woe” (or curse) for causing/tempting one to sin. This is quite startling when it is applied to mean-spiritedness that causes pain in others, dressing in a certain way that causes lust in others, manipulating others to sin, etc. This is treasonous behavior in the kingdom. Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Humility Rather Than StatusJesus says here so clearly that the greatest virtue of the kingdom of heaven is humility. It puzzles me how people – so many people – who have access to the Bible still manage to rationalize a life of fleshly pursuits in regards to status, image, power, ego, authority, headship, one-up-man-ship, competition, and the list goes on. Additionally, being that the kingdom of heaven IS the rule of God, it only makes sense that we are to thus embody humility because we must humble ourselves and submit t… Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Irritable JesusIt appears that Jesus was irritated with the disciples because they couldn’t cast out the demon (although one can conjecture that Christ might have been reacting to the relentless demands of a needy Israel that still continued in their unbelief). One has to wonder if Jesus became irritable with his disciples for failing to cast out a demon after “only” three years of training, what is his level of frustration with the contemporary church? Read more »
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bennettc2969 added a text contribution Christ's Gift of AuthorityI suspect that these texts may be linked, contextually. Beginning in verse 21, Jesus “began” (inaugurated a new teaching) to speak of his imminent death. This makes the preceding text that much more weighty. Jesus was expressing his intention to give his apostles his own authority to carry on the mission. But there’s a catch to inheriting this authority…denial of self! Read more »