Day 95: Matthew 19:13-15 (AD 30) You’d be surprise how this verse gets weaponised and in other ways misapplied. Just in my own experience I have heard it used as grounds for suggesting that a church was going against the Bible by not running a specific, requested children’s ministry programme. If the church was living … More Day 95: No barriers to entry
Matthew 19:3-12 (AD 30) The Pharisees had a habit of deliberately mangling Scripture and then demanding Jesus publicly unmangle in a way that would make him look bad to either them, regular people, or preferably both. In this example they used some verses from Deuteronomy: “If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to … More Day 94: Jesus honoured marriage & singleness
Luke 17:11-37 (AD 30) “Now on his way to Jerusalem…” begins our reading. This is the journey for which Jesus ‘set his face’ as older translations described the manner of his setting out, in Luke 9:51. Jesus’ friends and family were concerned at the risks of seemingly putting his head in the lion’s mouth by … More Day 92: Ungrateful and undeserving
John 11, part 2 (winter, AD 29) A few months earlier Jesus was at the house of Mary and Martha. Mary was at Jesus’ feet, lapping up everything he was saying, leaving chores and practical hospitality aside for a while. Martha complained to Jesus about it, and was given a gentle but firm rebuttal: “Martha, … More Day 91: Martha – humbled and holy
Luke 17:1-10 (winter, AD 29) Jesus said scary stuff sometimes, but some of the scariest things he said containing the most comforting truths. “Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. It would be better for them to be thrown … More Day 89: Comfort in the scary bits
Luke 16:19-31 (winter, AD 29) Money is not the root of all evil. What Paul said to Timothy (1 Tim 6:10) was that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (emphases mine). That is a vastly different meaning, and reflects what Jesus was talking about in this passage, about thirty … More Day 88: Money is not the root of all evil
Luke 16:16-18 (winter, AD 29) There are still those who, while calling themselves Christians, insist that we need to keep to the civil and ceremonial code of Old Testament Law. And yet, throughout the gospels Jesus made it clear that those codes were done away with, and no longer acceptable because the prophesied Messiah had … More Day 87: Old covenant drugs and new covenant cure
Luke 15 (winter, AD 29) Jesus’ parables were simple stories, addressed to a specific audience about a specific issue. Though simple, they were also at times deliberately opaque to those who were setting out to oppose him (see Matthew 13:10-17). So to understand a parable, we need to bear in mind a.) why did Jesus … More Day 85: The Parable of the Forgiving Father
Luke 14:25-35 (winter, AD 29) Many moons ago an evangelism team came to the school run by our church. After a clear and engaging gospel message, the speaker called for a show of hands: ‘Who wants to accept Jesus into their hearts today?’ (not that Jesus ever told us to do that, but moving on…). … More Day 84: Hands up if you love Jesus
Luke 14:1-24 (winter, AD 29) Imagine the scene in the Pharisee’s house (v.3-6). Jesus, seemingly energised rather than cowed by the presence of a hostile audience, confronted the religious leaders with a couple of questions. Sympathetic members of the public were mixed with Jesus’ opponents as they scrutinised him. Faced with a seemingly straightforward legal … More Day 83: Dumb(struck) Pharisees
Paul T Reynolds 