John 4:1-3<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I think I\u2019ll restrict myself to these four passages today. \u00a0It\u2019s a busy day, and there\u2019s a lot of news out of Paris to watch.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
These are simple passages. \u00a0In Mark, Jesus \u201ccame into Galilee.\u201d \u00a0In Luke, Jesus \u201creturned . . . into Galilee.\u201d \u00a0In John, Jesus \u201cdeparted . . . to Galilee.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The language that interests me, though, is in Matthew: \u00a0\u201cNow when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew (\u1f00\u03bd\u03b5\u03c7\u03ce\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03b5\u03bd)<\/span>\u00a0into Galilee.\u201d<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
That word suggests a tactical move, designed to avoid being swept up in the government action that ended\u00a0John\u2019s ministry. \u00a0After all, Jesus was related to John, and had \u00a0been associated with John, receiving baptism at his hands. \u00a0Moreover, John was pointing to Jesus, and describing himself as Jesus\u2019 forerunner. \u00a0It would have been reasonable, in a way, for the authorities to try to seize Jesus, too.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I presume that Jesus could miraculously have fended off any attempt to arrest or kill him before it was his time to be arrested and crucified. \u00a0\u201cNo man taketh it from me,\u201d John 10:18 represents him as saying about his own life, \u201cbut I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.\u201d \u00a0But there seems little need to invoke miraculous power when simple prudence will do the job. \u00a0Not even for the Savior.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBehold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves,\u201d he told his disciples. \u00a0\u201cBe ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.\u201d \u00a0(Matthew 10:16)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, too, for us. \u00a0Giving up smoking can help us to avoid emphysema long before there\u2019s an urgent necessity for supernatural healing. \u00a0Doing regular homework might spare us the desperate need for last-minute divine intervention on a final exam. \u00a0Training children up in the way they should go isn\u2019t foolproof \u2014 children retain their agency \u2014 but it can certainly reduce the percentage of youth who will turn to delinquency, crime, and drug addiction.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Matthew 4:12 Mark 1:14 Luke 4:14 John 4:1-3 \u00a0 I think I\u2019ll restrict myself to these four passages today. \u00a0It\u2019s a busy day, and there\u2019s a lot of news out of Paris to watch. \u00a0 These are simple passages. \u00a0In Mark, Jesus \u201ccame into Galilee.\u201d \u00a0In Luke, Jesus \u201creturned . . . into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
New Testament 30<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" Matthew 4:12 Mark 1:14 Luke 4:14 John 4:1-3 I think I'll restrict myself to these four passages today. \u00a0It's a busy day, and there's\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/01\/new-testament-30.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Testament 30\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" Matthew 4:12 Mark 1:14 Luke 4:14 John 4:1-3 I think I'll restrict myself to these four passages today. \u00a0It's a busy day, and there's\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/01\/new-testament-30.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-09T17:39:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-01-09T17:43:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2015\/01\/640px-Nazareth_Palm_Tree_200704-225x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/01\/new-testament-30.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/01\/new-testament-30.html\",\"name\":\"New Testament 30\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-09T17:39:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-01-09T17:43:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" Matthew 4:12 Mark 1:14 Luke 4:14 John 4:1-3 I think I'll restrict myself to these four passages today. \u00a0It's a busy day, and there's\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/01\/new-testament-30.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/01\/new-testament-30.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/01\/new-testament-30.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New Testament 30\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New Testament 30","description":" Matthew 4:12 Mark 1:14 Luke 4:14 John 4:1-3 I think I'll restrict myself to these four passages today. \u00a0It's a busy day, and there's","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/01\/new-testament-30.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New Testament 30","og_description":" Matthew 4:12 Mark 1:14 Luke 4:14 John 4:1-3 I think I'll restrict myself to these four passages today. \u00a0It's a busy day, and there's","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/01\/new-testament-30.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2015-01-09T17:39:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-01-09T17:43:03+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2015\/01\/640px-Nazareth_Palm_Tree_200704-225x300.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/01\/new-testament-30.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/01\/new-testament-30.html","name":"New Testament 30","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-01-09T17:39:51+00:00","dateModified":"2015-01-09T17:43:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" Matthew 4:12 Mark 1:14 Luke 4:14 John 4:1-3 I think I'll restrict myself to these four passages today. \u00a0It's a busy day, and there's","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/01\/new-testament-30.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/01\/new-testament-30.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/01\/new-testament-30.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New Testament 30"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16749\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Nazareth](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2015\/01\/640px-Nazareth_Palm_Tree_200704.jpg\")
<\/a>