December 19, 2024
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Reading along with us in our Lenten readings from “The Life of Jesus”? Here’s today’s reading:
Advent 2024 – Day 19 in the Book: “The Life of Jesus“
The Year of Growing Opposition
Read Sections 4.8 through 4.11 (pages 76-80)
This book is an account of Jesus’ life and teachings told through in chronological order from the four Gospels to create one continuous story.
*If you do not have a copy of the book please contact the church at (401)667-0775 and we can get you a copy.
Lord. To who shall we go. You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know you are the holy one of God. What a statement Peter has made. Lord. We are fully in whatever your Will is we will follow. Not always easy in following Jesus as he requires less of ourselves and more of him. But we are all in. Where else you going to go. And no where else I would rather be. Jesus mentions Judas. His own non belief chose his destiny. God did not use him as a puppet. But he chose as he kept his eyes on himself and his desires instead of who was before him. His choice!!
The Canaanite woman Jesus words seem harsh. But he’s only telling her. I have come first to the chosen Jewish nation She was considered an enemy of the Hebrews and the apostles did not want Jesus to respond to her. Is at the same with us with some people we don’t care for. Is the gospel only for who we think is worthy or for all people. Love digging into these reminders that the gospel is for ALL people. The Jews even to call these people Dogs. As Jesus points out. Not to degrade her but to show the contrast of what he is about to do. That was the jews attitude. Not Jesu, as he answers her prayers and heals her daughter. Imagine the lessons that the apostles and others are learning. You are not anything special compared to others in Gods economy because of your race. Color. Name. Or position.
Advent Day 19
I have always wondered why Jesus had many times instructed those who witnessed His miracles not to say anything to others. Yet they always went and told others and spread the word. Was it intentional because Jesus was using human nature to actually spread the word of His doings?
I believe it was because Jesus knew there was a time frame that He would be popular then unpopular. And He didn’t want people to get carried away by the power of His miracles and rush the timeline. And at this point, He also wanted people to believe in Him because of who He was and what He said rather than just seeking Him for the miracles He would perform.
The Life of Jesus 4.8 – 4.11
I remember reading about the passage where Jesus criticizes the Pharisees for following man-made traditions instead of God and the author specified that there are parts of the Torah that talk about people giving free-will offerings to the Tabernacle/Temple to honor God, but what Jesus was describing was people who would spitefully deny assistance for their family by giving their excess wealth to God and the Pharisees in their greed were okay with that. So this wasn’t people making up their own ideas of tradition from scratch, but rather twisting the Laws of God in ways that benefited them or intentionally hurt others; which is also deplorable.
May we honor God in following not just the letter of scripture but the spirit of it.
Jesus Helps a Canaanite Woman
This woman is shouting! Her daughter has a demon inside her and is suffering. (I can only imagine.) At first Jesus did not answer her. I think He may have wanted to see how His disciples were going to react. They were annoyed and want to get rid of her, “Tell her to go away, she keeps crying out and will not leave us alone.” Reminds me of the parable of persistent widow and the unjust judge. After she bows down in front of Him and says “Lord help me!” He answers her in a way both she and His disciples understood. His response actually says no, it would be like a father taking food from his children and giving it to their pets. She is not Jewish and has no real right or expectation to have Jesus do anything on her behalf. Her response was I am going to keep on asking; like a dog at a table waiting for pieces of food to fall from their master’s table. I love this part “Woman, you have great faith! You will get what you asked for.” And right then her daughter was healed.
It was a test of her faith and to teach His disciples and us. He is always compassionate, caring and showing us the importance of keep on asking!
Jesus was never afraid to say things that were hard and true to see what people would do with it and see if they would persevere through it because of who He was. God does not like being put in boxes and will often break out of them so we understand it is not we who control or manage Him, but He should control and mange us. And so Peter says the thing we should say as well when God does things that we don’t understand….where else are we going to go. You have shown yourself to be true, good and powerful. This is also true of the Canaanite woman. Jesus says nothing at first to see what the disciples will do and then even reflects their sentiments to the woman to see what she would do. But she does the right thing to keep pressing in because she knows her situation needs the power Jesus has and she therefore will not be cast aside easily. It is sooooo unfortunate that the Jewish leaders don’t get this. They hold to their laws and traditions and criticize and condemn Jesus for His perspective rather than realizing Who He is and the right He has to speak into things and define things in certain ways even if it doesn’t match what they think or understand. And how absolutely true it is that it is not what goes into the mouth that is a moral problem, but it is what comes out of the mouth. It is the heart that matters and what kind of things we desire and seek that then leads to behavior that is either right or wrong. The Jewish leaders were far more concerned about the outward appearance of things rather than what was inside. They were sorely mistaken and not listening to Jesus was to their detriment and it will be to ours too if we do not listen and follow. And how amazing Jesus’ miracles are….He speaks a word or touches people…whatever the situation calls for. And I am always amazed when the Bible summarizes Jesus miracles. Like, He healed this guy, but then He healed others that had various things wrong with them, but we won’t go into the details because there was just too many. Jesus is awesome!