Psalm: 107:33-43 Meditation: MattThis parable of Jesus is full of contrasts and extreme amounts. The debt of the first servant is an incomprehensible amount. 10,000 talents would be 60 million work days. The second servant’s debt was 100 denari or roughly 3-4 months wages for one worker. A similar thought exercise can be made for …
Tag: Parable
Sunday, October 23
Psalm: 63:1-11 Meditation: LukeIn this passage the young “lawyer” is asking and answering questions to prove how smart he is, or may be tricking Jesus. The lawyer’s narrow perspective is overturned when Jesus changes a parable to show the cultural bad guy to be the loving hero. The lawyer answered Jesus’s question correctly but probably …
Wednesday, February 16
Psalms: 130, 138 Meditation Mark: In this parable of the wicked tenants, Jesus gives a synopsis of what happened to the prophets before Jesus came along. The vineyard is a metaphor for Jerusalem, the man of Mark 12:1 is God the Father, the tenants are Israel. From the time of Moses, God sent His prophets …
Sunday, December 5
Psalm: 57 Meditation Isaiah: It is a pity most of us are not well-versed in husbandry. The image of the vineyard emerges again. So, God planted the vineyard and He expected it to yield grapes but instead, it yielded what must amount to sour grapes. This vineyard = God’s chosen people; God’s plans as regards …
Tuesday, November 30
Psalm: 27 Meditation Luke: All too often things are taken for granted. It is difficult for most of us (perhaps more especially me) to re-read a familiar passage such as this and to see it with “fresh” eyes. What may appear as obvious to many of us will not be so to others. I wonder …
Saturday, November 27
Psalm: 17 Meditation Luke: “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were religious and regarded others with contempt.” (v. 9) Well, I don’t like to think that I regard someone less religious than I in contempt. I have fallen victim to some self-complacency when I only wish others were …
Monday, July 19
Psalms: 20, 23 Meditation Matthew: This is yet another parable of keeping vigil. (See Matthew 24:36-51) I understand the rejection of the 5 foolish virgins but, I think one of the underlying messages here is that decisions have consequences. The foolish bridesmaids (virgins) brought no supply of oil with them and, at midnight, the groom …
Wednesday, July 7
Psalm: 80 Meditation Matthew: This episode takes place during Jesus’ last week before He dies. This is significant in that in the parable Jesus tells His listeners, the son who was sent to the tenants was Himself, the vineyard is Israel, and the tenants are the priests, scribes, and Pharisees – all of them should …
Wednesday, February 17
Ash Wednesday Psalm 95 Meditation: Luke –Whether you hold to the traditional Christian calendar or not, the purpose of Lent is to remind us of our need for a Savior and the cost that our Savior needed to pay for us. The tax collector in the parable has a truly Lenten spirit. And as we …
Thursday, December 3
Psalm: 21 Meditation Matthew: In this parable, one of the sons obeyed his father – it was the one who had said he would not go into the vineyard. This son was representative of “prostitutes and tax collectors”; whereas the other son who said he would go but did not represented the chief priests and …
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