Sabbath

January 16 There are several Marys mentioned in the Gospels, and sometimes it’s easy to get confused distinguishing between them. The Mary in today’s Bible reading is Mary of Bethany—the sister of Martha and Lazarus (the friend Jesus raised from the dead in John 11). This Mary is not to be confused with Mary Magdalene;…

March 21 Mark 9:2–13 records the Transfiguration, where Jesus gave Peter, James, and John a glimpse of the consummation of the Kingdom of God. This story is recorded in all three of the Synoptic Gospels.[1] But, just prior to the Transfiguration in all of the Synoptics, Jesus tells the three disciples “Truly I tell you,…

February 20 God inspired Peter to speak his confession, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16–17) Jesus praises Peter for his insight, and says He will build His unconquerable church on Peter’s confession. And yet, just seven verses later, Jesus looks at Peter and says, “Get behind me, Satan!” Why…

March 13 Jesus was in a synagogue on the Sabbath and encountered a man with a shriveled hand. The Jewish authorities wondered what Jesus would do. “Will He heal this man on the Sabbath?” they thought. Given that the man’s hand was withered, he had probably been this way his entire life. The Mosaic Law prohibited…

February 6 In Matthew 6, Jesus provides a stark contrast between the attitudes of the Jewish leaders and His own. He speaks of giving, praying, and fasting on one hand, then possessions and anxiety about provisions on the other. But, if we boil down the entire chapter, we immediately see the division: self-centeredness and God-centeredness. In…

February 13 Yesterday, we touched on Jesus looking back to Isaiah’s description of the coming Messiah, a prophecy written seven hundred years before His birth. He does the same in today’s Bible reading in Matthew 11:2. John was confused, possibly doubting. His relative, Jesus, had been ministering for some time now, and John had told…