"Blessed is the one whom God disciplines." What a terrible thing to say to a man who has
lost his possessions, his family and his health. Job is in utter agony and Eliphaz tells him
this is discipline and a blessing. His
counsel, to cast himself upon God, is not wrong, it is literally the only
counsel anyone can give, but it presumes that this is discipline for
wrongdoing. Job has turned to the Lord
but now the pain is greater than anyone could imagine and for what purpose or
reason? Job needs compassion not a
lecture. We don’t know how to deal with
other people's pain very well, it makes us uncomfortable and we either change
the subject or give expert advice when the reality is that unless we know what
God is doing in a situation we can't give advice.
The Jews are confused about Jesus' words. "How can this man give us his flesh to
eat?" Surely Jesus can't mean that
literally can he? Jesus, however,
presses the metaphor even further in response to their misunderstanding, it
isn't enough just to eat His flesh, you also have to drink His blood. Why are they disputing among themselves about
these things and not asking Jesus for clarification? Again, they are leaning on their own
understanding. I do the same thing all
the time, trying to sort out things in life without recourse to simply asking
the Lord to reveal to me what they mean.
If we are to have true wisdom, the wisdom that knows all things, we have
to go to the one who indeed is omniscient, praying to Him more than talking
amongst ourselves.
As he begins a new ministry, Paul confounds the Jews in
Syria and then argues with the Hellenists (Greek-speaking Jews) in
Jerusalem. He is, in sporting terms, a
dual threat. The name Paul is the
Hellenized version of his Jewish name, Saul.
He had a foot in both worlds and was equally comfortable with Greek and
Hebrew thought, unlike most of the other disciples/apostles. No one wanted to believe that he had changed
sides until Barnabas stood up for him.
It seemed impossible to believe that this man could have suddenly
decided he had been completely wrong, but when he did, there was no turning
back for Paul, and the a truer missionary was never born.
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