Monthly Archives: October 2021

Daily Bible Study

October 22, 2021 Bible Study — God Reveals Himself To Those Of Whom The World Takes Little Notice

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 2-3.

I will always remember my father reading the beginning of Luke 2 every year on Christmas Eve before we opened our presents (we did that on Christmas Eve because we went to one of my Uncle’s house for Christmas Dinner with all of my Dad’s family).  I love the fact that God sent His messengers to announce the birth of His Son to shepherds in the field, not to kings or other members of the elite.  Then, when Jesus’ parents took Him to the Temple for to be presented to God, it was not the priests and Levites to whom He was made known.  No, it was Simeon and Anna to whom the Holy Spirit revealed who He was.  Like the shepherds, Simeon and Anna were not people of great notice.  Even today, God generally first makes His announcements to those of whom the world takes little notice.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

October 21, 2021 Bible Study — An Orderly Account

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 1.

I really like Luke’s introduction to his Gospel.  First, he acknowledges that others have written accounts about Jesus’ life and that he was not relying solely on his own observations.  Then he writes that he has carefully investigated the events and will present an orderly account of them.  In many ways, Luke’s account of Jesus life here in this Gospel and his account in the Book of Acts represent the first presentation of events in a way which we today are used to seeing events recorded.  While Luke’s theology influences what events he chooses to record, he records them in the order in which they happened to the best of his ability to determine.  In many ways, Luke answers the argument I hear many unbelievers make for questioning Jesus’ existence.  That argument is: if Jesus existed and did the things which the Gospels say He did, how come there is so little mention of him by those who were not Christians?  Luke’s answer is, if you saw what Jesus did and thought it was significant, how can you not be one of His followers?  Or, to paraphrase C.S. Lewis: if you saw the Jesus recounted in the Gospels, especially Luke’s, you could only reach one of three conclusions.  He was either a liar and a fraud, or He was crazy, or He was the Son of God.  If you concluded that He was one of the first two, there was no reason to mention His existence in anything you wrote.  However, if you concluded He was the third option, then you had no choice but to become His follower.  Luke wrote this Gospel in order to convince those already drawn to Jesus’ teachings of this last option.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

October 20, 2021 Bible Study — The Poor You Will Always Have With You

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Mark 14-16.

Every time I read the story about the woman who anointed Jesus with oil I always feel like there is more to it than I am seeing.  Perhaps someone reading this blog will be able to provide me such an insight.  So, I get one clear message from this story: we should not feel that our every thought, action, and expenditure must be to help the poor.  Further, sometimes we should do things to show our love to those around us.  Jesus made a point that wherever the Gospel is preached the story of what this woman did will be preached.  Which suggests that the message of this story is critical.  I was going to stop with that, but I had one more thought on this story.  When Jesus told those saying that she should have sold the perfume and given the money to the poor, He quoted from Deuteronomy 15:11.  The context of that verse tells us that we should give to the poor generously, that we should not be tightfisted towards them.  This woman was acting in a generous open-handed manner, while those rebuking her had a grudging heart.

I want to write a bit about chapter 16.  After much thought over the years I have become convinced the Mark ended his Gospel at verse 16:8.  I believe that the rest of chapter 16 is an accurate account, but was added to the Gospel from other sources.  I really think that Mark intended to end his Gospel with the cliff hanger of the women fleeing from the tomb, bewildered and afraid.  He wanted us to come away with the feeling that early that Sunday morning those who followed Jesus were bewildered and afraid, not just the women.  He wanted us to see the contrast between how they acted later and how they felt that morning.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

October 19, 2021 Bible Study — Give To God What Is God’s

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Mark 12-13.

Some years back I read an article which gave some insight into the account of when Jesus was questioned on whether Moses’ Law allowed for paying tax to Caesar.  It made particular point about the fact that the coin used to pay the tax had Caesar’s image upon it (there was a lot more to the article than that, but that is the point which always brings me to my thoughts on this account).  So, when Jesus tells them to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s He makes a very profound statement.  Jesus was clearly pointing out that the coin was made by Caesar (or, at least, at Caesar’s command) in his image, making it his.  On the other hand, each and every one of us was made by God in His image.  Therefore we belong to God and should surrender ourselves to Him.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

October 18, 2021 Bible Study — Who Is In Charge?

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Mark 10-11.

I know this will come as a surprise to those who regularly read this passage, but I am not sure where I am going to go with this today.  I will start with Jesus’ commentary on marriage and divorce.  He tells us that at creation God made humans male and female and for this reason a man leaves his parents and is joined with his wife.  From that He concludes that one should not separate that which God has joined.  I think this speaks pretty clearly to several issues in our society today.  Then we have the account of parents bringing their children to Jesus, which His disciples thought was a waste of His time and attempted to block.  Jesus rebuked them for that and told them that they needed to receive the kingdom of heaven in the same way that children do.  I have seen many debates on what that means, but I have always seen it in the context of later in this passage when Jesus told His disciples that anyone who wants to be great in God’s kingdom must serve others.  So, in the same way that children generally do not think of themselves as being in charge, we too should not take the attitude that we are in charge.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

October 17, 2021 Bible Study — I Do Believe, Help My Unbelief

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Mark 8-9.

I want to start by Jesus’ use of yeast as a metaphor for hypocrisy.  Here He makes it clear that a little bit of hypocrisy can spread through, and transform, a group just as much as the righteous acts of a small number can transform society around those who do them.  However, the part of this passage which resonates the most with me is the account of the father who brought his son to Jesus’ disciples for healing.  The disciples were unable to heal the boy and the father was beginning to lose hope.  When Jesus told him that anything was possible for the one who believes, the father responded, “I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief.”  That has been my prayer for many years.  I know that my faith is less than it should be, but this story leads me to believe that it is enough, and my prayer is that God cause it to increase.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

October 16, 2021 Bible Study — The Thoughts Which Come Out Of Our Hearts Are What Can Defile Us

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Mark 6-7.

I thought about writing on Jesus’ commentary on what defiles a person when it came up in Matthew, but there were other things I felt were more impactful on that day.  When confronted about His disciples not following the tradition of washing their hands before eating, Jesus went off on the Pharisees about their traditions.  He pointed out how they used traditions to nullify God’s commands.  In particular the way in which they created loopholes for themselves.  In fact, today what Jesus says about this particular loophole reminds me of the one which the very wealthy in our society use to evade estate taxes.  More importantly is what Jesus says concerning what does, and does not, defile us.  While we may be made sick by what we take into our bodies, we are not defiled by it.  According to Jesus, we are defiled by how we think about others.

Which leads me to something else important which was not part of what I intended to write today when I started.  Jesus lists sins which He says all come from evil thoughts, and He tells us that those thoughts come out of our hearts.  When we look at what all of these sins have in common we realize that they all come from thinking of others as existing for the purpose of satisfying our own needs and wants.  So, it is not enough not to take actions which harm others, we must train ourselves to not want to harm others.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

October 15, 2021 Bible Study — Don’t Be Afraid; Just Believe

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Mark 4-5.

I was not sure what I was going to write about this passage because the incidents recounted here have been discussed from many different angles.  Then I came across what Jesus said to Jairus after he was told that his daughter had died: “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”  This came just after the woman was healed by touching Jesus’ clothes.  She was certainly frightened, but acted on her belief nevertheless.  And earlier in today’s passage we have the story of Jesus calming the storm.  There Jesus asked His disciples why they were so afraid, suggesting that they would not be afraid if they had faith.  So, we have a recurring theme in this passage.  The more faith we have the less fear we will feel.  No, that is not quite right.  The more faith we have the less impact fear will have on our behavior.  So, as we look at the world around us, let us not be afraid but just believe.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

October 14, 2021 Bible Study — Are We Willing To “Get Dirty” To Help Those In Need?

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Mark 1-3.

I am used to translations which say that Jesus was filled with compassion when the man with leprosy asked Jesus to heal him that this is the first time I noticed that this translation says He was indignant.  So, why would Jesus have been indignant?  The leper prefaced his request for healing by saying, “If you are willing…”  So, Jesus was indignant that the leper had reason to believe that someone who had the ability to heal him might not be willing to do so.  This corresponds with Jesus reaction to the situation with the man with the shriveled hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath.  There He was angry because of the religious people more interested in the letter of the law (as they interpreted the law) than in helping those in need.

So, Jesus was angry that people were so afraid of stepping over the lines which the “religious leaders” had set up that they would fail to help those in need.  I don’t think His anger was directed at those who were afraid to help.  I think it was directed at those who had made them afraid to do so.  We see more of this same ethos in His response to those who criticized Him for eating with sinners.  As recorded by Mark, Jesus was not condemning the hypocritical (I never realized how much I allow Luke’s telling of this story to color my understanding of what Mark wrote).  Mark highlights that Jesus came to call sinners.  How can you convince sinners to repent, if you won’t spend any time with them?    The Luke account focuses on the hypocrisy of those who think they are better than others.  Mark is more concerned with giving us a model to follow.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

October 13, 2021 Bible Study — Be Wary Of Those Who Choose To Believe What They Know To Be a Lie

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Matthew 27-28.

I do not think it is an accident that Matthew records Peter’s denial of Jesus just before he tells us about Judas hanging himself.  I think Matthew wants us to recognize that both betrayed Jesus, but Peter accepted Jesus’ forgiveness while Judas never gave Jesus a chance to forgive him.  Perhaps Judas’ betrayal was unforgivable, but it was not his place to make that decision.  In the same way, it is not our place to decide that we cannot be forgiven, we need to leave that decision up to those against whom we have sinned.

What I wrote in the previous paragraph has been rattling around in the back of my head for the last few years.  However, the first thing which struck me when I read today’s passage was that it was the chief priests and Pharisees who remembered that Jesus said He would rise after three days. So, we have the priests and Pharisees, who remembered that Jesus said He would rise after three days and Jesus’ disciples, who did not remember that.  However, when Jesus actually did rise from the dead, the priests and Pharisees made up a story explaining why the tomb was empty, while His disciples believed.  They knew their story was not true, yet chose it over the truth.  Be wary of those who do similar things today, those who choose what they know to be a lie over the truth.

 

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.