Today, I am reading and commenting on Matthew 23-24.

A large part of today’s passage is various ways in which Jesus condemns the Pharisees  and teachers of the law in His day.  In many ways pastors and religious leaders today should examine themselves to see to what degree, if any, what He says here applies to them.  In fact, all of us should examine ourselves to see if any of what Jesus says in today’s passage applies to us.  Jesus warns against seeking to appear righteous to others while being filled with wickedness and hypocrisy.  All too often, we focus on doing things for public appearance while ignoring the more important difficult things.  We need to start with getting our hearts right with God and examining how we think about others in our hearts.  As I wrote that I realized that we often speak about that side of what Jesus says here (even those who do spend more time on appearing righteous than being righteous often speak about not doing that), but while doing so we overlook something He says here.  Jesus condemns the Pharisees for carefully giving a tenth of the output of their gardens while neglecting justice, mercy, and faithfulness.  What we miss is that when He tells them they should have practiced those three that they should do so without neglecting the tithe.  In the same way, we should practice true righteousness without allowing ourselves to appear to be wicked and decadent.  While we are doing the acts which God calls us to do in private or secret, we cannot neglect taking care about how we speak (or act in public).

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

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus

Today, I am reading and commenting on Matthew 21-22.

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem riding on a donkey’s colt He was fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah concerning Jerusalem’s king riding in after victory over His foes. Jesus is declaring His victory at this point.  We tend to think of Jesus being victorious when He was crucified, or sometimes when He rose from the dead.  This passage makes me think that perhaps we are mistaken when we say that.  Perhaps we should see that Jesus victory as happening when He rode into Jerusalem at the beginning of this week, knowing that by doing so He was sealing the outcome of His crucifixion at the end of the week.  Whether that is true or not, Jesus was indeed declaring His victory by riding into Jerusalem.  By the following Sunday Jesus would demonstrate that He was more powerful than suffering and death, that those who bowed their knee and took Him as Lord need not fear those twin horrors because Jesus had overcome them.

Then, when Jesus drove those who were buying and selling in the temple courts out, the chief priests and elders were offended by the children praising Him and calling Him the son of David (which was probably understood to be proclaiming Him king of Israel…and perhaps God).  Of course, they couldn’t really complain about Him driving out the merchants because, by the time they got there, He was healing the blind and lame.

Finally, I want to touch on the lesson Jesus spells out for the Parable of the Tenants.  This provides yet another counter to those who want to say that Matthew 15:24 (where Jesus says, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”) means that Jesus ministry was only for the biological descendants of Jacob.  Here, after telling the Parable of the Tenants, Jesus says to the Jewish religious leaders, “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”  Jesus is saying that the kingdom of God will be given to anyone, and everyone, who produces its fruit and gives God what is His.  A few verses later, after His enemies asked Him about paying taxes to Caesar, Jesus tells us what is God’s when He tells us to give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s (the coins which bear Caesar’s image), and unto God what is God’s (ourselves who bear God’s image).

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

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus

Today, I am reading and commenting on Matthew 18-20.

Before I get into the main thing I want to write about I want to comment on where the Pharisees came to Jesus to ask Him about divorce.  I think we often miss how this is the second time Matthew reports on Jesus’ teaching about marriage and divorce.  Jesus’ response on the issue directly echoes what He said during the Sermon on the Mount. There, He said that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery.   Here, Jesus says that if a man divorces his wife and marries another that man commits adultery.  While that strengthens what He said in the Sermon on the Mount, it does not really add to it.  The fact that Matthew chooses to repeat Jesus’ teaching on divorce suggests that he saw this as an important teaching.

Now to get to what I thought was the main thing in today’s passage, being great in the kingdom of heaven.  At the beginning of the passage, Jesus’ disciples asked Him who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus answers by telling them that in order to even enter the kingdom of heaven we must become like a child, and the greatest in the kingdom of heaven are those who take on the role of a child.  We debate and talk about what Jesus means by that a lot.  I want to note that towards the end of today’s passage, Jesus returns to teaching His disciples about what they need to do to be great in the kingdom of heaven.  When the disciples got angry over James and John seeking a position of prominence for themselves, Jesus tells them that if they want to be great among His followers must be a servant to others.  Jesus teaches that being the greatest is the exact opposite of how the world approaches greatness.  The world says that those who lord if over others, those who give orders which must be obeyed to others, are the greatest.  Jesus says that’s backwards.  Those who serve others who seek to do what others need and desire before they do that which they need and desire are greater than those who give orders.  This reminds me of how a child will often seek to do anything to help their parents complete their tasks.  A child will often happily run and grab tools for their father just to be part of the work their father is doing.  So, we should seek to do likewise.  Let us happily do the mundane things so that others can complete the more “important” tasks.

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

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus

Today, I am reading and commenting on Matthew 15-17.

There is a lot I want to write about in today’s passage, and there is even more I could write about.  When the Pharisees confronted Jesus about His disciples failure to follow the tradition of ceremonially washing their hands before eating, Jesus called them hypocrites.  After the encounter was over, Jesus’ disciples asked Him if He realized that the Pharisees were offended? To which Jesus replied that His disciples should ignore their feelings and teachings.  Jesus was not concerned if His words offended people.  At least, not people who claimed to speak for God, but I think He was not concerned about offending people.  We should not be afraid of offending people by telling them the good news of the kingdom of Heaven.

Next we come to the story about the Canaanite woman who approached Jesus.  I was struck by this because I have been listening to a Christian apologist who regularly debates Muslims lately.  One of the claims made by the Muslims is that Jesus’ ministry was only to the people of Israel and that Paul went against His teachings by reaching out to the Gentiles.  Interestingly enough, I have never heard them use today’s passage.  The reason I find that surprising is because Jesus says something in this passage which would better support their arguments than the passage which they do use (especially the way they like to use Scripture.  Jesus says to the Canaanite woman, when His disciples asked Him to send her away, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”  From that one could make the argument that “See, Jesus came right out and said His ministry was only for the people of Israel.”  Of course, the problem with this is what Jesus DID.  After the woman said, “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table,” He told the woman she had great faith and healed Her daughter.  So, we see that while Jesus may have said that He was sent only to the people of Israel (I could make a case that “the lost sheep of Israel” actually means all of those who genuinely seek the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), He demonstrated that when they rejected Him He would move on to any who would put their faith in Him.  Then if we look at Paul’s ministry we find he followed Jesus model.  When Paul went into a new city, he first went and preached to the Jews.  It was only after the Jews rejected his teachings about Jesus that he went to the Gentiles in that city.

Finally, and this is getting much longer than I prefer, we come to the story of the four thousand.  This account says that He went up on a mountainside and sat down.  Just like He did at the beginning of the “Sermon on the Mount.”  Further, it does not mention that He taught the crowds.  It says that great crowds came to Him bringing those in need of heeling, and He healed them.  This healing resulted in the people praising God.  As I read this I kind of want to see what it looked like.  I imagine the people coming to Jesus in despair either because of their own suffering or because of that of their family or friends.  Then, after experiencing or witnessing Jesus’ healing they began to sing and shout and praise God.  And there is one more piece to this picture.  It tells us that after three days Jesus called His disciples to Him.  So, where were they this whole time?  It seems to me that they were likely dispersed among the crowds answering the eager questions of the people who had experienced, or witnessed Jesus’s healing who wanted to know what Jesus’ teachings were.  So, here is the picture, people coming in despair with little hope.  Their despair turned to joy and praise.  Finally, they turned to Jesus’ disciples to learn how they could be part of this wonderful ministry.

I want to end a question: are we so excited about being part of Jesus’ ministry that we forget to eat?  for three days?

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

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus

Today, I am reading and commenting on Matthew 13-14.

I am going to touch on several parts of today’s passage.  First, we have the Parable of the Sower.  Every time I read it I wonder if I qualify as the good soil or if I am more like where the seed falls among thorns.  We should strive to uproot the thorns in our life which choke out the growth of righteousness.  I know that I need to do more of that.  It is interesting that the very next parable is the Parable of the Weeds.  While we should uproot the thorns in our own life in order to keep them from choking out the growth of righteousness in our lives, we should not seek to uproot the weeds which are the people who have rejected God’s words entirely.  The thorns in the Parable of the Sower are a completely different metaphor from the weeds in the Parable of the Weeds.  The lesson of this second parable is the opposite of the well-known military saying, “Kill them all and let God sort them out.”  Jesus tells us, “Let them all live, God will sort them out at the end of the age.”  Next are the Parables of the Mustard Seed and Yeast.  Both of these teach us that acting righteously has disproportionate impact.  A mustard seed is very small, yet the plant which grows from it is rather large.  And it only takes a small amount of yeast to transform a large amount of dough.  In both cases, the lesson here is that it takes just a few people faithfully following God to radically transform society.  In the case of the mustard seed, a few people being willing to do God’s will offers shelter to many who otherwise suffer the harshness of life.  The Parable of the Yeast shows us that it only takes a few people faithfully following God to transform all of society.  Which brings us the the Parable of the Hidden Treasure and the Parable of the Pearl.  These teach us that if we truly understand the value of God’s kingdom we will be willing to give up everything else to be part of it.  Finally, I want to touch on the lesson of Peter’s attempt to walk on the water.  When he was focused on going to Jesus, he was able to do that which seems impossible, but as soon as he began to think about the danger of what he was doing, he began to succumb to it.  Let us focus on Jesus and not allow ourselves to be distracted by the troubles and difficulties which may be around us.

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

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus

Today, I am reading and commenting on Matthew 10-12.

I want to start by commenting on John the Baptist sending his disciples to ask Jesus if He was the “one to come”, or if they should expect someone else.  I find this interesting because when Jesus asked John to baptize Him John had replied that he should be baptized by Jesus.  So, at that point John had been convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, yet now he had doubts.  This passage should give us confidence that when we have doubts it does not mean that we have lost faith.  I, also, find Jesus’ answer instructive.  He does NOT say, “Yes, I am the One to come.”  Instead, He tells John’s disciples to report to John what he had done.  Then He says, “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”  Suggesting that many will struggle with reconciling Jesus’ teaching with their preconceived ideas about who God is, that they will fail to see how God uses what looks like powerlessness to reveal His power.  Something Jesus highlights a few verses later when He tells us that God hid His “things” from the wise and learned while revealing them to children.

I did not intend to write that much about John the Baptist sending His disciples because I felt like I should write about Jesus’ comment on the unforgivable sin.  Jesus says that all kinds of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.  He says this in the context of some of the Pharisees saying that He drove out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons.  So, what Jesus seems to be saying is that if we give credit to Satan, to evil beings, for what God has done we have committed a sin which cannot be forgiven.  I am struggling with explaining the meaning of this clearly.  Satan does not drive out demons.  Satan does not do good.  I think about the story from “Schindler’s List”.  Oscar Schindler initially did what he did in order to benefit himself, but as he did good things in order to benefit himself, he started to do good things because they were good.  Until in the end, he regretted not doing more.  Satan does not give us power to do good, because God’s Spirit can use the good we do in order to bring us to Him.

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

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus

Today, I am reading and commenting on Matthew 7-9.

There are so many lessons for us in today’s passage that I will not be able to touch on them all.  The passage begins with Jesus warning us not to judge because we will be judged by the standard we use to judge others.  However, a few verses later He tells us that we should determine whether a prophet is true or false by looking at the results of their actions.  Which suggests that we are called to judge according to a standard.  I am going to try to show how there is a thread of thought going through this passage.  In between those two passages Jesus tells us that we should do unto others as we would have them do unto us because if we ask we will receive, if we seek we will find, and if we knock the door will be opened.  Then after telling us to judge a prophet by the fruit he produces, Jesus tells us that not everyone who calls Him Lord will enter into the kingdom of Heaven, but only those who do the will of the Father.  The logic which Jesus presents here is that we should apply the standard by which we judge others to ourselves before we apply it to them, AND, that standard is that we should treat others as we desire to be treated.  All of which is based on the idea that if we ask God, He will give us good gifts, good gifts which we can pass onto others.  I want to circle back to what Jesus tells us about those who call on His name but will not get into Heaven.  They performed miracles in His name, they prophesied in His name, they even drove out demons in His name, but they did not do the will of the Father.  Paul expands upon this idea in 1 Corinthians 13 where he writes, “If I do not have love, I am nothing.”(paraphrasing here)  If we ask God for something, we should be doing so from love of others.  If we seek, we should be seeking the good of others.  If we knock on the door looking for hospitality, we should be planning to be hospitable.  If we do these things, we will get what we ask for, we will find what we are seeking, and the door will be opened and we will be invited in.

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

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus

Today, I am reading and commenting on Matthew 5-6.

When we think of the Sermon on the Mount we usually imagine Jesus standing on the side of a mountain speaking to a crowd gathered below Him, perhaps in a natural amphitheater of sorts.  We have this perception despite the way in which Matthew describes it.  Matthew tells us that when Jesus saw the crowds He went up on a mountainside and sat down.  Then His disciples came to Him and He began to teach them.  It makes me wonder if our perception of how Jesus taught during His ministry on this earth is flawed.  We imagine Jesus preaching to large crowds.  Perhaps instead Jesus normally taught to just the much smaller group of His disciples (which numbered about 120 by the time of His death, including women).   If this was indeed how Jesus taught it would explain some of the questions which Pharisees and other teachers of the Law asked Him later in His ministry.   For example, if Jesus regularly spoke to crowds with teachings like this where He spoke on divorce, why did the Pharisees ask Him about His position on divorce later?  Which leads me to think that we should focus more on that sort of teaching today.  Jesus had large crowds follow Him but He chose to sit down with just a small number to teach them His word.  He then sent those close followers out to teach others what it meant to be part of the Kingdom of God.  Having said that I want to note that He did not teach His disciples in private.  Anyone could show up and listen in to what He was teaching them.

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

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Matthew 1-4.

The first thing which struck me in this passage was how it repeatedly mentioned that God spoke to people through dreams.  When Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant and was going to divorce her, an angel of God appeared to him in a dream.  Then the Magi were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod.  After that an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt.  In Egypt, an angel once more appeared to Joseph to tell him to return to the land of Israel with Mary and Jesus.  Finally, after Joseph heard that Archelaus was ruling in Judea, he was warned not to go there and instead went to Nazareth in Galilee.  The first thing I want to note is that in three of these five dream messages we are told that the message was explicit.  We do not know what message the Magi received in their dream(s) which led them to believe they were warned not to go back to Herod, or how the dream conveyed that message.  The same is true of the warning which Joseph received about not returning to Judea.  However, the angel explicitly told Joseph to marry Mary and to name her son Jesus.  He was also told explicitly to flee to Egypt, then, later, explicitly told to return to the land of Israel.

Which means that God will give us guidance through dreams.   We should pay attention to our dreams, but not spend excessive energy on them.  In none of the three dreams where the angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph do we get any indication that Joseph was expecting God’s guidance.  Yet, in all three that guidance was clear and unambiguous.  All of this suggests that God’s guidance is unambiguous.  Which leads me to the following conclusion: if you are not following God’s direction in the small, “generic” things, He will not bother to give you direction in the big things.  If you aren’t faithful in the small things, God will not call you to big things.

Repeated references to being warned in a dream

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

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus