[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (LRAU) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]
[5:58 pm, 10/05/2022] S.R:
𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜
𝟙:𝟚𝟚
"They were amazed at His
teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the
scribes."
For preachers to be authoritative,
they need to handle the text accurately. That takes a lot of time, effort, and
passion!
𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜
𝟚:𝟙𝟛
"And He went out again by the
seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching
them."
Jesus loved to teach. He was
famously and more known as "the teacher" (or the Rabbi in Hebrew)
than by any other names.
Even according to the book of
Timothy and Titus, what makes a pastor different from other Christians is the
ability to teach the word of God!
Teaching Matters
𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜
𝟛:𝟜
"And He *said to them,
"Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or
to kill?" But they kept silent."
God commanded that they rest on
Sabbath. These Jews didn't know why it was so. Jesus knew the commandment not
just in words but in spirit too.
There are a lot of exceptions in
the Bible. It's necessary to know why they are so. After all, heaven is not
heaven if God is not there.
𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜
𝟜:𝟛𝟡
"And He got up and rebuked the
wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down
and it became perfectly calm."
This is the same God who is with us
till the end of the age. You can look at my DP (WhatsApp profile picture) too.
I have put up a hymn based on this incident!
𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜
𝟝:𝟚𝟝-𝟚𝟞
"A woman who had had a
hemorrhage for twelve years, and had endured much at the hands of many
physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but
rather had grown worse"
This woman had gone to all the
doctors of her time, but she never got healed rather lost all her money. The
description is not just about the seriousness of her disease but also about the
cost of medical fees! Last time, I went for eyes check-up. I paid ₹800
and was told to visit twice. I was given a blank paper, no treatment, no
prescription, no nothing, except to come back next year with ₹800
again for a check-up. 😂
The Gospel of Luke omits this
description. Luke, being a doctor, himself, had some respect for his
profession. 😎
He said that the woman's problem was an incurable one😂
The good part is this woman got
healing from God. Maybe, we have wasted all our money, energy, time, hope on
something here and there, and have nothing to spend more now. Maybe it's time
to exercise faith in God and be brave enough to do a crazy thing (to touch Christ
for healing)!
𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜
𝟞:𝟚𝟞-𝟚𝟟
"And although the king was
very sorry, yet because of his oaths and because of his dinner guests, he was
unwilling to refuse her. Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded
him to bring back his head. And he went and had him beheaded in the
prison."
What injustice is this! But why did
it happen to John the prophet of God in this stupid manner! It's okay to die
the death of a martyr, but not like this, the wish of a crazy girl.
And Jesus was alive but He didn't
protest about it, nor sought justice for his cousin brother John, nor tried to
reform the government! His business was
totally different. Preachers do well to focus on their bounden duty!
𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜
𝟟:𝟠
"Neglecting the commandment of
God, you hold to the tradition of men."
God first.
Men secondary.
𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜
𝟠:𝟛𝟠
"For whoever is ashamed of Me
and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also
be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy
angels."
“Ashamed”
That's the watchword. People hardly
know that they are ashamed or not. And the reality is they are ashamed.
Forget about being courageous,
let's pray that we will even recognize, realize how we are ashamed of Christ!
O! Pity, O Christians!
𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜
𝟡:𝟛𝟚
"But they did not understand
this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him."
Sometimes, people blamed the
leaders that they are too intimidating and they aren't approachable. Well, to
them Jesus would be also an imperfect leader. Hmm! Unsanctified people have
unsanctified ideas, beware!
𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜
𝟙𝟘:𝟚𝟚
"But at these words he was
saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much
property."
If you have much, you have much to
lose. It's not wrong to have much, and there's no virtue in poverty. But if anything
that we have accumulated has distracted us from following the giver of life, we
have got to dismantle them!
𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜
𝟙𝟙:𝟛𝟘-𝟛𝟛
"’Was the baptism of John from
heaven, or from men? Answer Me.’ They
began reasoning among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He
will say, 'Then why did you not believe him?'
But shall we say, 'From men'?"--they were afraid of the people, for
everyone considered John to have been a real prophet. Answering Jesus, they
*said, "We do not know." And Jesus *said to them, ‘Nor will I tell
you by what authority I do these things.’"
Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance
is an abdication of responsibility. Saying "I don't know" is one of
the most famous demonstrations of ignorance! And often, it means exactly as it
was in this story.
𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜
𝟙𝟚:𝟜𝟛-𝟜𝟜
"Calling His disciples to Him,
He said to them, ‘Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the
contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but
she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.’"
I often heard from some people that
it's difficult to give even 10% when you earn much. And that's stupid. But all
sinners are stupid, what to do?
10% of 10,000 is just 1000
10% of 1,00,000 is 10,000
10% of 10 Lakh is 1 lakh. As the
amount increases, the 10% deductible amount increases too.
Jesus said the opposite. It's more
difficult to give when you don't earn much. And that's common sense too, right?
But greed, love of money, and love of pleasure have made people lose their
common sense.
𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜
𝟙𝟛:𝟙-𝟚
"As He was going out of the
temple, one of His disciples *said to Him, ‘Teacher, behold what wonderful
stones and what wonderful buildings!’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Do you see these
great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn
down.’"
The Jews took pride in their
temple. They boasted that the temple should be in Jerusalem and not in Samaria.
After all, it's the temple of God, so, it was right for them to love the
temple. But their attachment had gone corrupted—they loved the temple but not
the God of the temple. So, God had to not only desecrate but completely destroy
the temple.
Abraham was a friend of God. God
gave him Isaac after 25 years of promise. Abraham loved his son Isaac too much
that it had become an idol of his heart. God had to tell Abraham that he must
give up even his very son for God.
Is there anything we are too
attached to? If it has become an idol, the Lord will take it away. But if we
like Abraham learn to re-orient our hearts to Him, there's grace as vast as the
ocean!
𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜
𝟙𝟜:𝟞𝟚
"And Jesus said, ‘I am; and
you shall see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING
WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.’"
Surely, Jesus will come by the
clouds. Whenever we see the clouds, let's remember that Jesus could just appear
anytime. That's anticipation, not dreadfulness, btw!
𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜
𝟙𝟝:𝟙𝟝
"Wishing to satisfy the crowd,
Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed
Him over to be crucified."
Pilate feared the crowd rather than
fearing God.
He loved the praise of people
rather than loving justice.
Let's not be Pilate!
𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜
𝟙𝟞:𝟚𝟘
And they went out and preached
everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the
signs that followed.] [And they promptly reported all these instructions to
Peter and his companions. And after that, Jesus Himself sent out through them
from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal
salvation.] (Mark 16:20, NASB)
The necessity of the proclamation
of the good news of salvation.
Salvation is what everyone is
after. Even spiderman and superman are all about salvation. No story is
inspiring without a plot of salvation. No testimony is worth saying without
salvation. The Bible is also about salvation, but the spiritual salvation the
real one!