Category: Bible (Page 7 of 394)

I always like the phrase the penny dropped when it comes to understanding difficult concepts, those aha moments when something finally comes clear. I needed to replace the batteries in a key fob recently, but could not figure out how to open the case without damaging it. After watching a YouTube video the penny dropped. I understood the secret and cracked the case without a problem. I felt like MacGyver and Indiana Jones rolled into one.

Only after spending months with Jesus did the penny finally drop for Peter. Walking along with his disciples, Jesus asked, Who do people say that I am? They gave a variety of answers; John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the prophets. The Jesus asked again, But who do you say that I am? Peter answered without hesitation, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

What finally flipped the switch for Peter? By this time he’d witnessed multiple healings and miraculous feedings of multitudes. He woke with Jesus, walked with Jesus, ate with Jesus and worked with Jesus. He listened to Jesus teach and asked questions. He watched Jesus bend the laws of the natural world and confound the leading teachers of the day.

How much did Peter wrestle with this dawning perception? Jesus finally posed the question and drew out a previously unexpressed belief. I don’t know if Peter blurted out the words or whispered them in a quiet sense of awe. Either way, Peter voiced the truth now seated in his heart. Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, the long-awaited one, the Savior of the world. Like Peter, may the penny drop for each of us, and may all the world come to the same realization.

Mark 8:29 & Matthew 16:15

Photo by Adam Nir

My wife and I just emerged from two weeks of battling a flu virus. As we mixed with family and friends over Christmas, we picked up one of the nasty bugs circulating this season. We’re doing better, but it took days to find enough energy just to get out and about.

Contrast our recovery with the way Jesus healed people. A man named Jairus begged Jesus to heal his daughter. By the time they reached the house, the girl had died. Undeterred, Jesus pushed past the mourners and kneeled next to the bed. What he did next was astounding.Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.

In another encounter Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law. Sick in bed with a high fever, Jesus stood over her and rebuked the illness which left her at once. Then she immediately rose and began to serve them.

Jesus brought a little girl back from the dead who got up and started running around the room. He reanimated her organs and muscles so completely she could not stand still. Peter’s mother-in-law felt so much better she jumped up and fixed dinner. Did Jesus tell her to lie down for a few minutes, or not overdo things for a few days? Not at all. He healed her back to vigorous health in an instant. She could no more set still than a kid on Christmas day.

Two weeks and I’m still feeling the results of the flu. Two seconds with Jesus was all that these women needed to hop out of bed and run around, better than ever.

Jesus revealed his absolute mastery over this world when he healed the sick and raised the dead. Notice the word immediately in both accounts. More than a faith healer or an experienced physician, Jesus, the Lord of all Creation, caused the bodily systems he designed in the first place to tremble with delight. Amazing. Truly we serve an astounding God.

Mark 5:41-42; Luke 4:38-40

Photo by Kelly Sikkema

The coldest months of winter in Colorado don’t yield much yard work. This time of year leans more towards snowblower than leaf blower. But a passage of Scripture reminded me of a practice I enjoy every spring.

Jesus said, The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.

When the weather warms and the ground thaws next spring, I’ll give attention to my lawn. Raking, watering, and sowing grass seed. I over-seed large parts of the yard where the grass is thinning. I try to keep the grass seed contained, but some always falls into my planting beds. In an ironic twist I often get a nice stand of grass where I don’t want it. But so goes the practice of sowing good seed. It takes root and sprouts wherever it lands.

Jesus tells us the kingdom of God grows in the same way. The sowers (you and me) spread the seed—the good news of the kingdom—and let it fall where it may. We never know how the seed may sprout and grow—that mysterious work remains in God’s hand. We also don’t know whose heart might prove fertile soil. I’ve been surprised more than once by a person embracing the faith who I considered beyond the pale.

I sow without worrying about results. In small ways I express my beliefs and let people know I follow Jesus. I offer to pray for others and genuinely follow-through. Random conversations sometimes allow me to speak of my faith. Even saying bless you to a sneeze in the grocery store feels like a radical act of connection these days. No matter what you hear, people need Jesus. Don’t be afraid to sow some seeds.

Mark 4:26-29

Photo by Mikołaj 

This may be obscure Bible trivia, but if you do the math it appears that Methuselah, the oldest man in the Bible, might have died in the Great Flood. If so, can we claim his was a life cut short?

The text gives his age at 969 years old upon his death. Which by any count is a good, long life. Some scholars believe he died right before the waters rose. One Jewish tradition teaches that Methuselah died seven days before the Flood. These days were given so the people could mourn his passing, reflect on his exemplary life, watch as animals thronged into the ark, realize that imminent catastrophe was upon them and and receive a final appeal for repentance.

But apparently no one repented, and furthermore we have no record of Methuselah living a life of faithfulness. On the contrary, we read that of all the people living at the time only Noah found favor in the eyes of God. While Methuselah’s father walked closely with the Lord, young people often reject the faith of their elders. Each of us faces God on our own terms.

Do I believe that Methuselah died in the flood? Sadly I do. The Scriptures tell us that wickedness spread throughout the earth and I think Methuselah got caught up in the culture. Happens all the time. Fortunately his grandson arrived to build a boat and batten down the hatches. I wonder if Methuselah sat and mocked as the ark took shape, or did he slowly come to realize his own need for repentance?

It’s ironic that the oldest man in the Bible did not die of old age. But the Lord follows strange patterns. Pay attention, and don’t be surprised if this reality proves true in your own life as well.

Genesis 5 & 6

Photo by Donald Teel