Luke 12:8-12 (AD 29) Sometimes you bump into a Bible verse or passage that stops you short and – when you take it seriously – can look kinda scary. Such as this one, which seems to refer to the possibility of God refusing to forgive a certain type of sin. That would contradict the rest … More Day 75: Blaspheming the Holy Spirit
Luke 11:14-32 (AD 29) The opening of today’s passage is another example of how the enemies of Jesus tended to come at him with transparently envy-driven nonsense. This was how events unfolded: Jesus encountered a man rendered mute because he was possessed by a demon. Jesus drove out the demon; immediately the man could speak. … More Day 72: Not everyone who demands proof, wants it
Luke 11:1-13 (AD 29) Jesus’ blueprint for prayer is as well-known as it is ignored. Not that we don’t ever recite it – in fact some people think recitation of the exact words is extremely important. What tends to get ignored is that the first priority in our prayer life should be a desire, spilling … More Day 71: The priority of God’s glory
Luke 10:1-24 (AD 29) Jesus sent out seventy-two disciples as warm-up guys for his tour around the country. Taking place about six months of his death, these thirty-six mini-missions were at a specific moment in time and not intended as a blueprint for missionary organisations throughout history. Luke isn’t telling us how me must do … More Day 69: Thirty-six pairs of missionaries
John 10:1-21 (AD 29) “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.” (v.1) Notice that the Pharisees acted like they wanted to be in the sheep pen – that is, to be among … More Day 68: Wolves in shepherds clothing
John 9 (AD 29) The Pharisees hereby continue their head-scratching propensity to ignore the enormous significance of what’s in front of their faces and focus instead on whether their godless bonus rules are being kept: Jesus healed a blind man who was then taken to the Pharisees. Then – to paraphrase the following conversations in … More Day 67: Don’t wanna believe, not gonna believe
John 8:12-59 (AD 29) Today’s passage is a uniquely argument-filled section. Jesus was facing down not just the religious leaders but groups of Jews who were attacking him with bad theology. Remind yourself first that Jesus, whilst God, was also a man capable of feeling hurt and being saddened. Note also the viciousness of the … More Day 66: Arguing with the children of Satan
John 7:2, 11-52 (autumn, AD 29) When someone can’t see the wood for the trees, they are so involved in their immediate experience that they can’t grasp the bigger picture. That’s a very polite way of describing how a lot of people reacted to Jesus. They witnessed or heard about an incident, and took it … More Day 65: Can’t see the wood for the trees
Luke 9:51 (autumn, AD29) “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.“ Older translations refer to him “set[ting] his face”. The Greek words ‘prosōpon stērizō’ literally mean, ‘his face set to turn resolutely in a certain direction’. Why did he have to set out ‘resolutely’. Why … More Day 63: Set your face
John 7:2-10 (autumn, AD 29) Jesus’ brothers didn’t get it. Simon, Jude, Joseph and James must have known he was an exceptionally good person, but he also seemed like an attention-seeker with a bad agent. There they were in the under-populated, under-recognised north, with a trip to the big city begging, and Jesus didn’t seem … More Day 62: Did Jesus need an agent?
Paul T Reynolds 