November 7, Day 311

Today's Reading

False Messiahs, wars and rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes…all are happening with increasing intensity.  Are we living in the last days?

November 6, Day 310

Today's Reading

The last days of Jesus' earthly ministry were characterized by changes from the earlier times:

1. He became increasingly blunt with the religious leaders.

2. He became very clear about his impending sacrifice.

3. He spoke (as in today's passage) in great detail about the last days and His ultimate return.

November 5, Day 309

Today's Reading

Jesus had been speaking and debating with the Jerusalem religious leaders since he was 12 years old. He asked them difficult questions and He answered their attempts to trap Him in something He said. Now, as He neared the cross, He told them plainly what they looked like from a spiritual perspective. I'm certain that He could have used the same description of me at various times. By His grace, I never want to be that way again!

How about you?

November 4, Day 308

Today's Reading

Then Jesus was approached by some Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead. They posed this question: (Mark 12:18 NLT)

If you read today's passage carefully, you will get a glimpse into the normal life of the the religious leaders in Jesus' day. They stood around and argued about mundane subjects, trying to outsmart each other. In many ways, the were the "intelligencia" and they hated Jesus for drawing more attention from the people than they got. The scene was set to crucify Him!

November 3, Day 307

Today's Reading

Then Jesus said to the disciples, "Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, `May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you've received it, it will be yours. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too." (Mark 11:22-25 NLT)

We have been studying the model prayer. In the same way that He had taught His disciples how to pray, Jesus tied answered prayer to forgiveness. If we maintain an unforgiving spirit, it will cut off our prayer effectiveness.

November 2, Day 306

Today's Reading

For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost." (Luke 19:10 NLT) That has become one of my favorite verses.

 

November 1, Day 305

Today's Reading

Today is a good time to talk about the contrast among details in the different Gospels.  For instance, Mark described James and John as coming to Jesus to ask the blessing of sitting on His right and left in His kingdom.  Matthew said it was their mother who made the approach.  Is this a contradiction?

Or, in another scene, Luke describes an anonymous blind man asking Jesus for his sight.  Mark says his name was Bartimaeus.  But Matthew says there were two blind men together at the side of that road.  Clearly this might be a contradiction.  Hmmmm.

If one subscribes to the theory that the Holy Spirit mechanically dictated the Scriptures, then surely He wouldn't contradict Himself.  However, if "Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit…" (2 Peter 1:21) and God led them as they wrote within their own limited vocabulary, their own limited knowledge of the events and their own limited sources, then it's not contradiction, but the God-inpired recording of history.

Mark was written first, but he wasn't there; his source was Peter.  Luke was the consummate historian, but he wasn't there; his most likely source was Jesus' mother Mary.  Matthew, the tax collector, was there from the time he was called.  John, the beloved, was there.  Matthew was surely educated; John was not.  But John was "the disciple whom Jesus loved" and was very close to Jesus from the beginning.

Not contradictions.  Contrast.  Matthew, Mark and Luke are called the "synoptic Gospels".  The word means that we see the whole together through them.  They tell most of the same events from different perspectives.

I hope I didn't bore you today, but this is critical in your understanding of Scripture.