John 6:22-7:1 (spring, AD 29) According to the doctrine of the Eucharist, taking the Lord’s Supper is not only a memorial, but also part of how we receive salvation[1][2][3]. It claims that the bread and wine literally turn into Jesus’ body when and because the priest prays over them (known as ‘transubstantiation’). It also states … More Day 53: Jesus isn't bread, part 1
John 6:22-7:1 (spring, AD 29) We’re going to hang out here for three days. For today, here’s my summary version – in script form – of the passage: Narrator: Jesus had cross the Sea of Galilee by boat, where he fed the 5,000. After that he slipped away under cover of darkness, walked half-way across … More Day 52: Jesus the bread of life
Matthew 14 (spring, AD 29) King Herod really loved the sexy dancing of his niece, and made a drunken offer to her that resulted in the beheading of John the Baptist to please her Mum. It’s tragic to see that Herod was “distressed” (v.9) at the idea but went along with it anyway, more concerned … More Day 51: Jesus and John the Baptist’s death
Mark 7:1-23 (AD 29) Why did Jesus speak so harshly to the religious leaders in this incident? They asked a question that seemed, from the words alone, to be a genuine enquiry: why were Jesus’ disciples not following one a tradition established by previous leaders. Jesus’ response of immediately calling them hypocrites showed that, as … More Day 50: Hypocrites & legalists
Matthew 10:26-11:1 (AD 28) ‘Peas on earth.’ ‘Give peas a chance’ (my favourite piece of graffiti, which was on a railway bridge over a motorway outside London for 20 years). Or as the famous Christian song/hymn says, ‘PEEEEEEEAAAAAAA…son earth’. But what does the Bible say about peace? Compare these three passages from three different gospels, … More Day 49: Peas on earth?
Matthew 9:35-10:25 (AD 28) An army Captain once told me an officer should never tell his troops to do something or go somewhere he isn’t prepared to do or go himself. Not that I pay attention to what every army officer tells me – I heard from another that I was supposed to be a … More Day 48: Do not worry about what to say
Matthew 9:27-34 (AD 28) If the Pharisees were on Twitter and tweeted, “It is by the prince of demons that [Jesus] drives out demons” (as per verse thirty-four), I think their tweet would have gone viral…and not in a good way. They would have received a stream of mockery, facepalming and eye-rolling gifs. Their statement … More Day 46: Pharisees getting desperate
Matthew 13:1-52 (AD 28) This is probably the second-most famous parable, after ‘The Good Samaritan’, with an unusually long explanation in the Bible about what it means. Today we’ll think specifically about the fact that all three of the seeds that found soil began to grow, although the seed falling on healthy soil did not … More Day 43: Healthy soil or bust
(Apologies: this should have been Day 41 to stick to chronological order, and yesterday’s reading should have been given today.) Luke 7:36-8:3 (AD 48) Jesus did not forgive the woman because of what she did for him, and the woman was not forgiven after Jesus declared her forgiven. What Jesus told the Pharisee host is … More Day 42: How much do you owe Jesus?
Matthew 12:22-50 (AD 28) In v.27 Jesus says, “…if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out?”. There may to have been some successful instances of exorcism by Jewish people – i.e. it wasn’t just Jesus and his disciples. The difference with a mere human doing the exorcising is … More Day 41: When Jesus was accused of being Satan
Paul T Reynolds 