{"id":71365,"date":"2019-03-10T22:08:35","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T04:08:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=71365"},"modified":"2019-03-10T23:46:55","modified_gmt":"2019-03-11T05:46:55","slug":"new-testament-notes-96-99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/03\/new-testament-notes-96-99.html","title":{"rendered":"New Testament Notes 96-99"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Christ<\/a>
From the Monastery of St. Catherine
(Sinai Peninsula, 6th-7th century)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matthew 9:27-34<\/a>; Matthew 12:22-24<\/a>; Matthew 20:29-34<\/a><\/p>\n

Mark 3:22<\/a>; Mark 10:46-52<\/a><\/p>\n

Luke 11:14-15<\/a>; Luke 18:35-43<\/a><\/p>\n

Compare John 7:20; 8:48, 52; 10:20<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I have a certain respect for those who attempt to explain otherwise inexplicable miracles by invoking demons. \u00a0Sometimes, frankly, that\u2019s the best that you have. \u00a0Sometimes, naturalistic explanations just can\u2019t do the job.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a certain strain of anti-Mormonism \u2014 most famously exemplified, I suppose, by the notorious charlatan and mountebank Ed Decker, but also featuring other zany madcaps besides \u2014 that takes this route.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The trouble is that such explanations soon run into the scriptural principle of judging a tree by its fruit (e.g., at Luke 6:43-44<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The critics just can\u2019t seem to catch a break.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Israel<\/a>
A field of lettuce in modern Israel (Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matthew 9:35-38<\/a><\/p>\n

Mark 6:6, 34<\/a><\/p>\n

Luke 8:1<\/a>; Luke 10:2<\/a><\/p>\n

Compare John 4:35<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I still recall, soon after arriving in Interlaken, in Switzerland\u2019s Berner Oberland, for what was essentially my second mission assignment \u2014 I would remain there for seven months or so \u2014 writing a postcard to my parents that consisted solely of Matthew 9:35-38.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I felt it strongly then, and I still do.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

We need more laborers to help with the harvest. \u00a0There are so very many people who need hope and purpose in their lives. \u00a0There are so very many, and so very many things, arrayed against them.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Lake<\/a>
Aerial view of Z\u00fcrich and its suburbs (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matthew 10:1-16<\/a><\/p>\n

Compare Mark 3:13-19; 6:7-11; Luke 6:12-16; 9:1-5; 10:3; John 1:42<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m impressed by the fact, noted in Luke 6:12-13, that even Jesus prepared himself for the calling of the Twelve by spending the entire night in prayer atop a mountain. \u00a0Clearly, he took their calling very seriously \u2014 as we also should.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the matter of the apostles cleaning off their feet against those who didn\u2019t accept them: \u00a0At a certain point during my mission in Switzerland, an unusual number of members of the Twelve came through the country. \u00a0But they stayed only briefly. \u00a0They didn\u2019t meet with us and they didn\u2019t meet with the members. \u00a0So why were they coming? \u00a0We never really knew, though I have a slightly informed hunch. \u00a0But the rumor went around the mission \u2014 not seriously, but, in a sense, semi<\/em>-seriously \u2014 that all of the Twelve were eventually going to meet on the shores of either Lake Zurich or Lake Geneva in order to collectively wash their feet off against the Swiss and shut the mission down. \u00a0So unresponsive were the Swiss to the message of the missionaries . . .<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Matthew 9:27-34; Matthew 12:22-24; Matthew 20:29-34 Mark 3:22; Mark 10:46-52 Luke 11:14-15; Luke 18:35-43 Compare John 7:20; 8:48, 52; 10:20 \u00a0 I have a certain respect for those who attempt to explain otherwise inexplicable miracles by invoking demons. \u00a0Sometimes, frankly, that\u2019s the best that you have. \u00a0Sometimes, naturalistic explanations just can\u2019t do the […]<\/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":[1821,4057,156,2625,3007],"class_list":["post-71365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-apostle","tag-demon","tag-missionary","tag-new-testament","tag-new-testament-commentary"],"yoast_head":"\nNew Testament Notes 96-99<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    Matthew 9:27-34; Matthew 12:22-24; Matthew 20:29-34 Mark 3:22; Mark 10:46-52 Luke 11:14-15; Luke 18:35-43 Compare John 7:20; 8:48, 52;\" \/>\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\/2019\/03\/new-testament-notes-96-99.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Testament Notes 96-99\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"    Matthew 9:27-34; Matthew 12:22-24; Matthew 20:29-34 Mark 3:22; Mark 10:46-52 Luke 11:14-15; Luke 18:35-43 Compare John 7:20; 8:48, 52;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/03\/new-testament-notes-96-99.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-03-11T04:08:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-03-11T05:46:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2015\/03\/320px-Spas_vsederzhitel_sinay.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\/2019\/03\/new-testament-notes-96-99.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/03\/new-testament-notes-96-99.html\",\"name\":\"New Testament Notes 96-99\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-11T04:08:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-11T05:46:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\"    Matthew 9:27-34; 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