Well, technically I missed a day since I'm not getting around to posting until after midnight on Day 15. I actually started this earlier today, but I got interrupted by several things that pushed this post onto the back-burner. So, due to the lateness of the hour and the fact that so much of these chapters are pretty much identical to what occurs in Matthew (and I've already commented on these sections there), this post should be a bit shorter...we'll see!
One difference from Matthew in this section is that it seems that Jesus spends a bit more time pointing out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. They were so intent on keeping the letter of the Law that they worked out some "loop-holes" to actually bypass the spirit of the Law. Jesus points out rather strongly that the point is the heart. How we need to focus on our own hearts and pray that God would change our hearts to be in line with what He desires!
In the account of the healing of the deaf and mute man, I could not help but see the parallel between the that physical condition and the spiritual condition of unbelievers - they are spiritually deaf to the truth of God and spiritually mute with regard to speaking the truth of God. In both physical and spiritual maladies, Jesus has the power to open ears and loosen tongues!
Peter's roller-coaster ride is nowhere more apparent than in 8:29-33. He has just answered correctly that Jesus is Messiah--the Christ! And not 2 seconds later, seemingly, he is rebuking Jesus for saying that He will do what Messiah came to do! What a reminder of how weak we really are and how dependent we need to be on the grace of God for consistent righteous living!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment