During Lent I am listening to the New Testament, courtesy of a wonderful partnership between CBF and Faith Comes by Hearing. Many in our congregation are taking part (in fact we are almost out of CD's!)
In an attempt to make this a shared event, I am going to post some of my impressions, thoughts, each day. (It will also be an incentive not to miss a day!) I also invite you to post your thoughts in the comment section.
It is our hope that this discipline will be very beneficial as we prepare for Easter!
Day 1
Matthew 1-7
Who are these people? The father of______________. While I recognize some of their names, I do wonder about others. Do they ever appear in the Bible? Where did Matthew get their names? Was there a genealogy service available?
While I knew that Matthew took very seriously the idea that Jesus was the fulfillment of ancient prophecies, I was struck with how often idea appears in the 2nd chapter. And did you know that Nazareth was an after-thought about where to settle?
"You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world..." Is that what we really want to be? I am struck with how often we don't want to stand out. We have seen what happens to people who are out-front on issues--they are ridicules, have their lives thrown open to the world. Who would want that? Can't we just be on the front row--where we can be seen, but still sorta blend in with the crowd?
Thoughts for Day 1. What were yours?
2 comments:
I was stunned when I heard one simple sentence. It is after Jesus spends time in the wilderness with Satan and endures the temptations. Satan leaves Jesus. And then the kicker for me--"angels came down to minister to Jesus." Wow! What did they do? How bad was the experience with Satan that Jesus needed to be ministered to? That one sentence really raises lots of questions for me, and paints an incredible picture for me.
I'm not sure if I completely agree with your thoughts on the "salt of the earth, light of the world" bit. I'm not sure that the people you described are who Jesus is talking about. The people who stand out and are out front on issues are examples of leaders, but not necessarily the average light of the world. Also- if enough people followed this advice, wouldn't you blend in with the other "lights" of the world? I must say- I really prefer the light of the world analogy to the salt one. It's much easier to imagine one light in a dark room, and then other lights turn on, slowly illuminating different things so you can see better. Often, once all the lights are on, you can't even distinguish one light from the other. That's how I interpreted that section.
PS- If someone would like to try to explain the idea of "not throwing pearls before swine", I'd appreciate it. I mean, I love the comic strip, but I'm not sure if I understand who the "swine" are.
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