Matthew 27:45-56 So this is what it has all come to. Three years of teaching about and living in the Kingdom of Heaven, and this is what it has all come to. He wasn’t kidding about going up to Jerusalem to be delivered to death, a death on the cross. Not just three years but 2000 and three years. All of the promises made to Abraham, everything revealed to Moses, and all of the promises made to David. They all... Read more
Philippians 1:12-26 We all know that to love God with all our heart, soul and mind and to love our neighbors as ourselves are the 2 greatest commandments. But what is love? Saying this, I sound a little like the alien women in episodes of the original Star Trek series, in which they are always asking things like, “What is love?” and “What is kiss? Show me kiss.” (Naturally, Captain Kirk then fulfills his galactic duty to seek out... Read more
Philippians 1:1-11 In spite of all the other elements in the story, The Lord of the Rings is perhaps a story more about fellowship than anything else. In fact, the second volume of the trilogy is even called The Fellowship of the Ring. In that story, great fellowship takes place among many different kinds of creatures. If you know the story, you know that a good wizard, men of old, elves, dwarves – and of course, the stay at home... Read more
Matthew 27:1-10 He had been plotting it for weeks now, the evil thing that had to be done. For some time he had grown frustrated and disappointed at the sharp difference between what was promised and what was. It wasn’t at all what he had bargained for, he told himself, and so he had the right to take matters into his own hand. It wasn’t just that things were not as they were promised to be: he didn’t feel valued. ... Read more
Matthew 26:57-75 “What do you think of this Jesus?” Careful how you answer! They answered and said, “He is deserving of death.” Then they spat in His face and beat Him, and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, saying, “Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck you? Really? What could a good moral teacher and healer of sicknesses possibly have done to merit death? Maybe the religious leaders of the day were just jealous,... Read more
Matthew 26:47-56 Today we come to the Word of God. When we say “the Word of God,” we often use it in 2 different senses of the Word. We say, on the one hand, that the Bible is the Word of God. In its strongest sense, we see this when the prophets say things like, “Thus says the Lord.” We also use “the Word of God” to mean the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. In both... Read more
Matthew 26:31-46 We know that Jesus was constantly in prayer, but we don’t have many of His prayers written down for us. He’s left us the prayer, of course, in the Lord’s Prayer. We have what is called the high priestly prayer of John 17. But today I’m especially glad for His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane. This prayer of Jesus seems a lot like my prayers, and I think that just as Jesus taught by His words and... Read more
Matthew 26:17-30 One of my favorite painters is the surrealist Salvador Dali. In 1976 Dali painted a painting titled “Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea which at Twenty Metres Becomes the Portrait of Abraham Lincoln," (commonly called “Lincoln in Dalivision). In this painting, he used 252 tiles that when seen up close look like his wife, Gala, looking out a window, with other images thrown in. But as you move back from the painting, a picture of Abraham Lincoln emerges. Not... Read more
Matthew 26:1-16 In Matthew, we have been climbing God’s holy hill. The going has been rough lately, actually ever since Peter made his profession and Jesus began to teach about His coming death. But Jesus’ words on the coming destruction of the Old Covenant and Temple have been even a little tougher to get through. Obviously, something big is about to happen! And then, here in Matthew 26, after struggling to have come this far in our journey, the rest... Read more
Matthew 25:31-46 We Americans are the richest people who have ever lived. I’m using statistics that are now almost a decade old (and I think these numbers are even higher), but 34% of our families own 2 TVs, and 40% own 3 or more. Our average family has 2 cars, while 18.7% of us have 3 or more, not to mention computers, VCRs, stereos, houses, etc. We live longer, with better medical treatment than ever before, we have unlimited... Read more
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