THE STORY OF JESUS: Matthew 8:23-27 “What kind of man is this?” (Matthew 8:27) This was the million dollar question everyone was asking. He defied all categories and definitions. Personally I do not think Jesus was a ‘superman’. Many Christians assume He had His powers because He was God. But the God-ness of Jesus was fully hidden…
Forgetting the helpless?
THE STORY OF JESUS: Psalm 10 “Do not forget the helpless.” (Psalm 10:12) I just read Viktor Frankl’s account of life in Nazi concentration camps. What the guards did to their prisoners… it’s pure evil! They acted exactly like the ‘wicked’ described in this psalm. All of us have sin in our hearts, but not all of…
Holding back on God?
THE STORY OF JESUS: Exodus 4:18-7:7 “The Lord met Moses and was about to kill him.” (Exodus 4:24) This section (4:24-26) is a difficult part to read. Why is the Lord about to kill Moses, and how does circumcising his son help? If circumcision symbolized their bond with God, was Moses holding back his son? Was Moses…
I AM everything you need me to be!
THE STORY OF JESUS: Exodus 1:1-4:17 “God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” (Exodus 3:14) A name is not just a label, it soon becomes an identity. Everything we know about that something is associated with that name. One way the Nazis depersonalized their prisoners was by giving them numbers. Our names come to characterize…
I will follow You… maybe?
THE STORY OF JESUS: Matthew 8:18-22 “I will follow you wherever you go.” (Matthew 8:19) I recall saying things like this many a time in the past. But apart from emotional times of commitment, have I really followed through? I often face times when an immediate situation requires of me a difficult choice. In those moments, the first…
Healing presence!
THE STORY OF JESUS: Matthew 8:14-17 “‘He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.’”(Matthew 8:17, Isaiah 53:4) Our world is soul-sick, we are infected to the very core of our being. This soul sickness has many symptoms: mental, social, physical, emotional, etc. Billions and billions of dollars are spent to try to find cures… but we’re still sick….
This is surprising grace!
THE STORY OF JESUS: Matthew 8:5-13 “But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside…” (Matthew 8:12) We need to let the shock of these words sink in. Imagine if Jesus said many members of the church would be thrown outside. The ones we expect to be in are not, and the ones we expect to…
Its not about miracles!
THE STORY OF JESUS: Matthew 8:1-4 “See that you don’t tell anyone.” (Matthew 8:4) Why does Jesus try to keep His healing activity undercover? I wonder if it’s because healing is NOT the reason for His mission. Sure it will be a result of His mission, but it is not what He came to do. Jesus does…
Good news for the oppressed!
THE STORY OF JESUS: Psalm 9 “The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.” (Psalm 9:9) In our world, the rich keep getting richer and the poor poorer. The ‘little people’ bear the brunt of suffering, hardship, abuse, injustice. But the God Israel believes in is the God of the underdog,…
He deserves to be King!
THE STORY OF JESUS: Genesis 47:13-50:26 “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.” (Genesis 49:10) From early on the Jewish people have anticipated someone coming. This goes all the way back to…