When the Lord tells Jeremiah to write the words He has
spoken against Israel, Judah and the nations He also gives the reason for doing
so, “It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend
to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may
forgive their iniquity and their sin.” Did God not know how this would turn
out? There was too much prophecy to
believe that “every one” would turn from their evil ways. He had always spoken of a remnant, not the
entire nation. The Lord was giving
anyone who would come and listen to the words a chance to hear the truth and
respond with repentance. Jeremiah was
banned by the officials from the temple area so his scribe, Baruch, would be
the one to deliver the message. The
heading of the chapter tells us how this is going to turn out. The king wanted no part of hearing the
message.
Why did the Pharisee invite Jesus to dine with him? The highest appellation he can think of to
ascribe to Jesus is Teacher and yet he did not treat Him with the respect a
Teacher deserved in Judaism, the courtesy of hospitality. Simon the Pharisee said “to himself” that
Jesus must not be a prophet based on His allowing the woman to wash His feet. The person in the scene with the perception
problem is Simon. He is the only one who
can’t see things clearly. The woman
recognizes Jesus and treats Him with more than common courtesy, she provides
lavishly for Jesus. Jesus knows who she
is and proves it with the parable of two sinners, one great, one not so
great. In the end, she is the one who
receives pardon while Simon’s sins remain.
The first thing we must do is recognize we are sinners if we would see
Jesus rightly. Our reaction to Him should
be like this woman’s.
Paul looked intently at the man and discerned he had faith
to be healed. Although the man had never
walked from birth, Paul saw that man believed that it was possible to be healed
and to walk. When Paul commands it, the
man springs up onto his feet and walks, an incredible thing to be sure. Because of the story that was current in the
area of a recent visitation from the gods (Baucis and Philemon),
the people of the region were on high alert for such a thing and are
immediately prepared to offer sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas who they take to
be the gods incarnate. Can’t you just
see Paul when he realizes what is going on here? He takes action right away to deter the
people from their intentions by pointing away from himself to the living God
whom he is proclaiming . The actions of
the people are because, in the myth, judgment fell on the city that failed to
recognize the gods and it was destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah. The reality of judgment was the motive for
lavish sacrifice. When we believe in the
reality of future judgment we have a different attitude toward the present.
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