Psalms: 61, 64 Meditation John: Do we ever make the story not about us? The paralytic had been under that curse for 38 years. Following local custom, (or what may be termed as superstition) he would go to this pool hoping for a cure. Along came Jesus and cured him. Apparently, the Jewish rulers and …
Tag: Jesus
Thursday, January 20
Psalm: 70 Meditation Mark: Jesus begins with a series of rhetorical questions. I tell people there are two kinds of questions I don’t answer: rhetorical and stupid. Jesus goes on to say, in essence, don’t be stingy with money, gifts, kindness, etc. The line about the seed growing is very similar to “one sows, another …
Monday, January 17
Psalm: 7 Meditation Mark: Apparently, Jesus’ popularity fostered great crowds to gather and so crush upon Him. Well, He was healing and teaching which also served to augment the crowds following Him. It becomes evident that those following Him believed they could be cured just by touching Him or His cloak. This proved to be …
Friday, January 14
Psalm: 88 Meditation Mark: Jesus is in the midst of choosing His disciples; this time it was Levi (Matthew) who was being called. The only flaw here is that Levi was a tax collector. I hope we all appreciate that tax collectors for Rome meant collaborators. That put the tax man in the same company …
Tuesday, January 11
Psalm: 83 Meditation Mark: This is not an unfamiliar passage we are considering. This is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry where he sets the theme of His purpose to the Jews. “…for He taught them as one having authority.” (v. 22) A person speaks with authority more because he believes what he says or is …
Sunday, January 9
Psalm: 94 Meditation Hebrews: These verses can be compared and contrasted with David’s Psalm 8. In that psalm, David reveals that God had made man a little lower than the angels … In Hebrews chapter 1 the writer tells us that Jesus is begotten by God (i.e., His eternal Son) and next we see that …
Saturday, January 8
Psalms: 99, 101 Meditation John: John recounts 7 signs (miracles) of Jesus of which this is the second. I might wonder why this royal official would leave his dying son to traipse after some itinerant preacher with a reputation for healing folks. Let’s face it, the distraught father cannot, of himself, improve the lot of …
Thursday December 30
Psalm: 119:145-176 Meditation John: This vignette in Jesus’ life is striking. The self-professed law-biding Pharisees bring forth to Jesus a woman caught in adultery. So many questions – so little space! This obviates the position women held in ancient Jewish society. That’s all very well, but it is not the point of the story which …
Tuesday, December 21
Psalm: 19 Meditation Luke: Unlike Mark, Luke is far more generous with the details surrounding John the baptizer’s conception. Gabriel’s description of what John’s life will look like takes on all the trappings of a nazarite and I am not certain they even existed anymore at the time of his birth. The last notable nazarite …
Monday, December 20
Psalms: 32, 36 Meditation Isaiah: I am no particular fan of poetry, but the opening line Isaiah gives ranks rather high in terms of beauty. The shoot springing forth from the stump (root KJV) of Jesse is none other than Jesus. The picture here is something like the Garden of Eden and of the restored …
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