Matthew 11-13
Another jam-packed passage. We begin with Jesus sending reassurance to John the Baptist, then identifying him as the Elijah who was to come, foretold in the Old Testament. John and Jesus had two very divergent approaches -- neither of which is embraced by people who wish to find something wrong.
Jesus' miracles weren't convincing to those who didn't wish to believe. Capernaum, Bethsaida, Korazin... these people were given all kinds of reasons to repent but they did not. Tyre, Sidon and even Sodom are mentioned as more ready to repent than the towns who saw the miracles firsthand. We also see a hint of the day of judgment being a future event, as Sodom had certainly have passed away by Jesus' day.
"I desire mercy, not sacrifice," is used as a chide to the Pharisees who didn't get the whole idea of the law. Certainly God wants sacrifice from us, but not the blood of bulls, lambs and doves. Mercy is overlooked by the Pharisees in favor of legalism.
We see in 12:15-21 the reference from Isaiah explaining why Jesus told people not to tell who He was. Still I wonder why it was done that way. Of course, as explained earlier, the miracles didn't convince anyone who didn't want to be convinced.
Would someone on Satan's team cast out demons? It doesn't make sense, according to Jesus. I could see it all as a grand charade to a certain extent, but Jesus rightly notes that demons were cast out by others allied to the Pharisees.
The Sign of Jonah - 3 days and 3 nights - is an expression. Any part of a day equals one day in that culture. We get a bit more technical about exact time in our day.
The Parable of the Sower offers up a question for me: Are those who are sewn in the rocky places saved? They sprang up, but withered and died. Is this losing salvation? If not, how do we determine between a short-lived plant growth and any other growing plant? The test is in the fruit -- long term -- but we have no way of knowing about the short term.
Some of the parables of chapter 13 deal with judgment. Wheat and weeds, good fish and bad fish -- gathered together then separated. Why would we think there should be a separate Christian culture?
Finishing off chapter 13, we return to the theme of people not believing. Jesus' hometown folks couldn't bring themselves to believe that this boy they saw grow up could be Messiah.
Jesus' miracles weren't convincing to those who didn't wish to believe. Capernaum, Bethsaida, Korazin... these people were given all kinds of reasons to repent but they did not. Tyre, Sidon and even Sodom are mentioned as more ready to repent than the towns who saw the miracles firsthand. We also see a hint of the day of judgment being a future event, as Sodom had certainly have passed away by Jesus' day.
"I desire mercy, not sacrifice," is used as a chide to the Pharisees who didn't get the whole idea of the law. Certainly God wants sacrifice from us, but not the blood of bulls, lambs and doves. Mercy is overlooked by the Pharisees in favor of legalism.
We see in 12:15-21 the reference from Isaiah explaining why Jesus told people not to tell who He was. Still I wonder why it was done that way. Of course, as explained earlier, the miracles didn't convince anyone who didn't want to be convinced.
Would someone on Satan's team cast out demons? It doesn't make sense, according to Jesus. I could see it all as a grand charade to a certain extent, but Jesus rightly notes that demons were cast out by others allied to the Pharisees.
The Sign of Jonah - 3 days and 3 nights - is an expression. Any part of a day equals one day in that culture. We get a bit more technical about exact time in our day.
The Parable of the Sower offers up a question for me: Are those who are sewn in the rocky places saved? They sprang up, but withered and died. Is this losing salvation? If not, how do we determine between a short-lived plant growth and any other growing plant? The test is in the fruit -- long term -- but we have no way of knowing about the short term.
Some of the parables of chapter 13 deal with judgment. Wheat and weeds, good fish and bad fish -- gathered together then separated. Why would we think there should be a separate Christian culture?
Finishing off chapter 13, we return to the theme of people not believing. Jesus' hometown folks couldn't bring themselves to believe that this boy they saw grow up could be Messiah.
posted by rev-ed @ 3:30 PM
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