#MATTHEW

The royal #GoodNews of #Jesus as #King. A #Gospel for the #Jews.

#Matthew 1:1—Many Christians can recall by heart the #firstverse in the Bible and in the Old Testament, Genesis 1:1, but could not possibly recite this verse, Matthew 1 verse 1, the first in the New Testament—and the first Bible verse that names Jesus! How strange is that?

#Matthew 1:1—While we take the Bible literally we must avoid what lawyers call #textualism. David was not literally the son of Abraham, nor father to Jesus: all lived 1,000 years apart! We may take no meanings from Bible words the #BibleWriter neither would nor could have done.

#Matthew 1:2—A #genealogy in the Bible is not cold. The greatest story ever told starts with #Abraham, who God calls His friend [Isa 41:8]. A warm opening!

#Matthew 1:5—#Rahab and #Ruth were aliens taken into God’s people because of their faith that God inspired them to. So the #godlywomen who are named in this male genealogy were not even Jewish! An inclusive opening! Especially, as Jews passed their Jewishness on through their mothers.

#Matthew 1:8—This genealogy has fewer names in it than are listed in 2 Chronicles chapters 22-26. Matthew missed out some: his #genealogy was symbolic, obviously an accepted practice. Biblical genealogies enable us to recall God’s goodness, but not to calculate exact #dates.

#Matthew 1:16—Matthew and Luke (in Luke 3:23) list different fathers for #Joseph. Probably Luke emphasized the ancestry of #Mary; perhaps Matthew highlights Christ’s legal line of descent. Compare #Obed in Ruth 4:10&21, whose biological father was Boaz but whose legal father was Mahlon.

#Matthew 1:19—#Joseph was a righteous man—but he knew that righteousness includes #mercy! So a truly good and warm-hearted man, too.

#Matthew 1:21—The #Name of Jesus! I treasure what #BernardofClairvaux wrote: ‘No book or writing has any savour for me if I read not therein the name of #Jesus.’

#Matthew 1:25—Not one word spoken by #Joseph is recorded in any of the four Gospels. Yet he was the first human to pronounce the name #Jesus (of Mary's son). When in history did someone say so little but speak with such eternal and precious value? And how loved Joseph was by God.

#Matthew 2:1— Where the #Magi came from is unclear (possibly Persia). But the poor (shepherds), the fabulously wealthy (wise men), and even the #stars themselves, bowed down to acknowledge the #birth of the King of Kings. The whole of His universe had to recognise who He was.

#Matthew 2:1— Every early church in the Holy Land but one was later sacked by Muslims. In #Bethlehem we were told that the #ChurchOfTheNativity (in use since c333AD) survived because the invading #Persians saw carvings of the #Magi on its walls and said ‘But these are Persians!’

#Matthew 2:1— We do not know why the #Magi were attracted to the one true God. But Magi appear in the story of #Daniel [Dan 2:2]. Many think his faith created among them believers, who passed on their faith so that their distant descendants were still awaiting the coming King.

#Matthew 2:2—The Star fits no Western comet records—but Chinese records DO list a #comet in 5 BC. To the #Magi, who had already seen signs in the planets, it was a dawn star in the east. The comet then moved W with the stars as they rode. See slides at http://www.cis.org.uk/upload/manchester/The_Star_of_Bethlehem.pdf

Matthew 2:2—And in any case, to finish this series of tweets on the Magi and the Star, remember that wise men still seek Jesus! #WiseMen #Magi #StarOfBethlehem #Star

#Matthew 2:5—Unlike Herod, the chief priests and teachers knew where to look for the #Messiah. But they stayed in the wrong place!—with their empty book knowledge. Knowing it—but not knowing or following Him.

#Matthew 2:16—The appallingly brutal King #Herod the Great was non-Jewish, from Idumea (the Greek name for #Edom). So Herod was descended from the ancient founder of the Edomites, who was #Esau. Hebrews 12:16 calls Esau a godless man. But we should imitate our heavenly Father.

#Matthew 2:23—Little #Nazareth—they chose a deliberately obscure home for safety. But it also represents the Son of God’s great humility.

#Matthew 3:2—#Repentance involves both regret for the past and resolve for the future—both a change of heart and a change of direction.

#Matthew 3:4—#JohntheBaptist ate locusts and wild honey—the hated and the loved: he accepted everything thankfully.

#Matthew 3:3—We have times when we think nothing new could happen; but #JohntheBaptist burst into view like a meteor, after 400 years of silence from the prophets. God had always been working; now He revealed through John the One for whom all #history is His Story.

#Matthew 3:4—#JohntheBaptist ate locusts and wild honey—the hated and the loved: he accepted everything thankfully.

#Matthew 3:7—#JohntheBaptist called the #Pharisees and Sadducees #vipers because of his experience of desert life: vipers flee a brushfire. Will our faith stand the heat?

#Matthew 3:14—This proves #JohntheBaptist had both prophetic vision and humble wisdom. Jesus was John’s young relative [Lk 1:36], but John still recognized Jesus for who He was, unlike the people of Nazareth [Lk 4:28] or the whole world [Jn 1:10-11]. Can we show so little pride?

#Matthew 4:1—A double whammy: Jesus faced not just #temptation, but temptation in the desert, too. He knows how cruel life can be.

#Matthew 4:1—We read that #Satan tempted the first #Adam in #Eden. He tempted Jesus, the last Adam, in the #wilderness, which was what Eden had become. He succeeded with the first; but not with the second!

#Matthew 4:3—#Satan tempted Jesus there because he knew that a #desert in one’s life reveals what is in one’s heart [Deut 8:2]. Unfortunately for him, he revealed Jesus!

#Matthew 4:3—This was the first of the three #temptations that Jesus faced:— that we can do without God; that God doesn’t really care; and that the only person that matters is me. These are as fierce in the modern world as they ever were. Are we ready to answer them all?

#Matthew 4:4—This is a great #Bibleverse to underline in our Bibles. We need outer food, but inner food more.

#Matthew 4:6—The Bible hints that #Satan was a #fallenangel. So he knew what #angels could do! If angels could do that, how much more we should trust in God Himself!

#Matthew 4:9—Thus #Satan unconsciously reveals his own preference and his preferred temptation to us: to take the crown without the #Cross. No-one who follows Jesus can do that.

#Matthew 4:11—#Satan had offered Jesus #angels; but when Jesus defeated Satan, the angels came anyway! Not merely can the #devil create nothing new or good; he can offer us nothing that God is willing to give us in any case—if we follow #Jesus.

#Matthew 4:19—#Fishing and #angling can range from netting them in in shoals, to spending many hours struggling to attract a nervous or suspicious fish out of the shadows. God will use every subtle or unsubtle way imaginable, to take loving hold of those He has set His heart on.

#Matthew 5:2—The #Beatitudes: they are the ‘beautiful attitudes’ that #Christ would have us show. And all are messages of #certainty, arising from the faith that the #HolySpirit ignites in us.

#Matthew 5:3—The #Beatitudes teach us what not to grasp but to long for. We should not grasp at #heaven (this verse), at earth (v5), at revenge (v7), or at our rights (v9). Instead we should long for compassion (v4), freedom (v6), revelation (v8) and heaven’s King—Christ (v10).

#Matthew 5:13—#Salt was widely used at that time to kill infection, protecting things of value from rot and decay. We should be salt that stops evil, and light that starts good.

#Matthew 5:13—Near where I live, rock salt is mined as a crude solid mixed with minerals such as insoluble gypsum. Crushed piles of it are left at roadsides for winter use—until rain slowly leaches away the #salt, leaving only rubbish. Has our saltiness seeped away?

#Matthew 5:16—We must not rob God of the #praise He so richly deserves! When others look at us they need to see Jesus. Our giving should be transparent so that all know Who it is that stands beyond us.

#Matthew 5:28—This is the message of Job 31:1, a precious verse to me as a young man. Controlling desire is not about emotion, it requires a Christly act of the #will, setting our minds rock-like on where we want to get to. And no-one reaches a mountaintop except over much rock.

#Matthew 5:39—#Turntheothercheek? Of course! Christ’s command that we should take no revenge is GOOD news!

#Matthew 6:5—#Hypocrite is from the Greek word ‘hypokrites’, an actor playing a part from behind a mask. Is it wrong to wear various faces? No; God understands us very well. (In the OT, even the Hebrew word for #face is a plural word.) But we must not conceal who we really are.

#Matthew 6:11—The #Lord’sPrayer starts as a traditional Jewish #Kaddish —until in this verse simple childlike prayers are added; short, clear and up-to-date. Thus heaven descends to listen to earth. Our #Father is always there, ready, good, loving, wise, helpful and all-powerful.

#Matthew 6:25—This is the greatest de-stressing text in literature—and even #non-Christians can find treasure in it! This is the first of seven reasons why Jesus tells his disciples #donotworry as verse 25 tells us that life is more than worry.

#Matthew 6:26—This is the second of seven reasons that Jesus gives to show we need not worry. Quite simply, worry does not make sense when you see things from the perspective of our #heavenlyFather.

#Matthew 6:27—This one always make me laugh. It’s ridiculous to think that a positive outlook could make us taller, so it is an outrageous joke to think that worry could add to our height! Jesus loved to use #hyperbole in His teaching. Obviously, worry is a waste of time.

#Matthew 6:30—Now Jesus starts to hit the disciples hard. He warns them that worry is incompatible with #faith. Life is fragile: handle it with prayer.

#Matthew 6:32—Jesus draws a red line that must have startled His disciples. Quite simply, worry is #pagan.

#Matthew 6:33—Again, in this #Bibleverse that should be underlined in at least one Bible belonging to every Christian, Jesus insists absolutely that worry is unnecessary. Selfishness and sin are not merely wrong: they do not deliver.

#Matthew 6:34—Finally, in the seventh reason Jesus gives against worry, He reminds us of our plain #mortality. We are never guaranteed tomorrow. When worry about it disturbs us, we must remember that such worry is nonsense.

#Matthew 6:34—In old Bible versions this verse says ‘evil’, but in modern #Bibletranslations, ‘trouble’: we let 'evil' be magnified by our anxiety. Jesus knows us, and instructs us not to let our future wound us, even if our present does. I often quote this.

#Matthew 7:1—This is another verse we should have ringing in our ears. In our all dilemmas and bad judgements, we have the immense assurance that God at least is utterly fair! As Abraham so confidently put it, ‘Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?’ (NIV).

#Matthew 7:7—This is a great promise to underline. Ask, seek, knock, AND… so long, that is, as we fulfil the condition in John 15:7 and remain #inChrist so that His words remain in us.

#Matthew 7:11—We know one thing, as children of a perfect father: our heavenly Dad roots for us! So much so that even in my (NIV) Bible version, this promise ends with an exclamation mark!

#Matthew 7:12—The #GoldenRule - Jesus states the Golden Rule positively, ‘Do…’, where other religions and ethical teachings all have it negatively, ‘Do not…’. He was the most positive person in history!

#Matthew 7:20—We are revealed by our fruit. But by His fruit, Jesus is also revealed to us. And He reveals the #FruitOfTheSpirit perfectly [Gal. 5:22-3]. Thus with His help we can try to walk as He did [1 Jn 2:6].

#Matthew 7:21—It’s not what you know that counts, but what you do with what you know. Mark Stibbe writes that ‘We need to know the Lord of the Book, not just the Book of the Lord.’

#Matthew 7:24—The wise man and the rock: as my father used to say, ‘If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.’ What task is more worthwhile than building our lives on the Rock of Christ?

#Matthew 8:10—Nowhere do we see Christ’s humanity more clearly than in His delightful astonishment. It doesn’t mean He was not one with His all-knowing Father; it does mean that He set everything aside to become one with us.

#Matthew 8:23—His disciples followed Him (into the boat). When we follow Him, we may be tested!

#Matthew 9:9—It’s not our ability, it’s our availability that counts. But how God rejoices when gifted men and women respond to His call and use their gifts in His Kingdom!

#Matthew 9:20—The bleeding woman was a social outcast and all she touched became ruined - until she touched Jesus, sensing His utter love. Then the answer to her faith turned her world back to the right way up: His way up!

#Matthew 9:21—And this was no tentative brushing of fingers: the Greek word means to ‘grab’! Let us take hold of Jesus in firm #faith, as she did.

#Matthew 9:36—Jesus was utterly spontaneous: He only had to see the crowds for His compassion to flood out.

#Matthew 9:37—Jesus sees a need; then He looks to those close to Him, willing them to see it too, to join Him and to become part of God’s active heart.

#Matthew 10:10—The worker is indeed worth his keep; I love these respectful asides that pepper Christ’s sayings. He had been a working man for many years and these words come from His heart.

#Matthew 10:16—‘Be as shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves’: this is a favourite verse of mine—Jesus was utterly honest about people and what he expected of them. These words recall the song of praise by #KingDavid in 2 Sam 22:26-7.

#Matthew 10:36—Our affiliation to Christ must go deeper than the deepest human tie. Our human #relationships are valid and lasting only within the security of our relationship with Him. Within that, they blossom and take on its richness and glory.

#Matthew 10:38—Unlike us, the disciples had no idea that Jesus would later die on the #Cross. Crosses were deadly tools of the Romans that the disciples hated. They knew only one sure thing about crosses: anyone who carried one past you was never coming back. Do we grasp that?

#Matthew 11:3—Jesus was very different from the forceful Messiah who #JohntheBaptist had expected. So even John doubted, for he’d expected the fire of judgement more than mercy. In response Jesus shows that power veiled is anything but power failed, as He reveals it in abundance.

#Matthew 11:26—Our heavenly Father reveals His most precious treasures perhaps only to His own children, as an earthly father would. And first of them is that He is Lord, and therefore so is Jesus.

#Matthew 11:30—We are called upon to bear a #yoke that an ox would find well-fitting and therefore merciful to us and easy to carry. The word translated ‘easy’ was also used of good wine. The act of serving Jesus is itself a celebration.

#Matthew 12:1—The #DayofRest: This is one of the three sorts of work that Jesus, by His example, blesses for us to do even on the #Sabbath or Sunday. Feeding oneself and others, as here, is the Work of Necessity.

#Matthew 12:11—And Jesus presents this example as the Work of Emergency, which is also a right thing to do even on the day of rest. A great illustration, which we can see we must apply, even if we have no pit and no sheep to fall into it!

#Matthew 12:13—And Jesus presents this as the Work of Charity. Healing is a perfect thing to do on Sundays. By doing these three Works we honour the truth of verse 8 and the Lord of the #Sabbath.

#Matthew 12:18—His Father delights in Jesus: we should, too. No more needs to be said.

#Matthew 12:20—God has compassion on all His creatures. That applies especially to the bruised and wounded. We need never fear His hand. For example, God will not violate our personality. He made our personality.

#Matthew 12:30—No-one can sit on the fence. Bob Dylan: ‘Everyone has to serve someone.’ Are we for Christ or not?

#Matthew 12:30—And George Bernard Shaw, atheist: ‘What is a perfectly free person? Evidently a person who can do what he likes, when he likes and where he likes, or do nothing at all if he prefers it. Well, there is no such person; and there never can be any such person.’

#Matthew 12:36—When Jesus says we will have to give account of every ‘careless’ word, the Greek word is ‘argon’, which in chemistry is an inert gas which will react with nothing. God hates to see us inactive or lazy with His gifts.

#Matthew 13:3—The #Parables: this is the great chapter of parables (seven in total). They are ‘earthly stories with a heavenly meaning’. Are we ready for Jesus to let us into heavenly secrets? If not, why not?

#Matthew 13:7—Seed among thorns: in the end, the distractions of secular life are painful as well as choking. We truly gain nothing by wandering away from Jesus.

#Matthew 13:30—‘Let both grow together’ - and the difference between them will become more and more obvious with time. Let us be ever more unlike the world (and like Jesus), though still in it.

#Matthew 13:47—What makes a fish good? The Greek word for ‘good’ means not merely suitable but also fitting, honourable, honest, fine, beautiful and even precious.

#Matthew 13:48—What makes a fish bad? The Greek word for ‘bad’ means not just unsuitable but actually rotten and harmful. It has no life in it at all.

#Matthew 14:13—This was Jesus! He had compassion even in his own grief at the terrible death of #JohntheBaptist, of which Jesus had only just heard. This powerful miracle is the only one not personal to Jesus that is in all four gospels.

#Matthew 14:16—None of us ever needs to leave Jesus to find what we need. We find it all in Him.

#Matthew 14:19—Jesus acts in power even when we have no expectancy of it!

#Matthew 14:28—What about this for an invitation from Jesus?! ‘Come where it is most dangerous!’ So Peter walked on the storm that was ready to kill him.

#Matthew 14:28—Coming close: the Jewish #Mishnah required a disciple to follow so closely on his master’s heels that he would be coated with his master’s dust on the road. Peter was just as true a disciple, following his Master everywhere.

#Matthew 14:30—When Peter fell, who did he cry out to? To a boat with many strong friends and experienced sailors? No—to a village carpenter in the other direction; but He was Jesus.

#Matthew 15:5—The Pharisees did not understand at all that God’s real work for us is always kind. Matthew chapter 15 is a whole chapter on #Kindness.

#Matthew 15:21—So Jesus left the hard-hearted and went to those who did not know him.

#Matthew 15:23—Jesus turns no-one away—not even when we want him to!

#Matthew 16:18—The gates of hell sound alarming at first—but gates are not offensive weapons! Hell is on the defensive against the body of Christ. The gates of a city were where its power and authority was revealed. Hell has none over those belonging to Jesus.

#Matthew 16:19—In the Greek this does not mean that Heaven does what Peter says and forgives whoever Peter tells it to; it means that Peter is confirming what Heaven has already announced. We must depend on Heaven’s authority, too.

#Matthew 16:22—Peter’s words are a paradox—‘Never, Lord!’ makes no sense. Saying either of those words cancels out the sense of the other. Peter had an unhappy habit of saying ‘no’ to Jesus. [John 13:8; Acts 10:14]. We should always try to say yes.

#Matthew 16:24—It’s easy for Christians to wear crosses. But we must still be ready for crosses to wear Christians, too.

#Matthew 17:4—Peter always had to say something! Better that than nothing. And he wanted to stay on top. We all would.

#Matthew 17:9—Why did Jesus silence them? Because they had the truth but had not yet learned to live it enough.

#Matthew 18:19—This promise that God will answer our prayers is in the context of His authority. And who can defy that?

#Matthew 19:21—They say that in full time Christian work nowadays, the wages are out of this world! We need to remember those who have to live on them in this world.

#Matthew 19:25—The disciples were astounded by the camel & needle story. They thought material prosperity indicated God’s blessing and thus spiritual health. The Bible never claims this (except in Job 22:21, where the speaker is Eliphaz, one of Job’s friends whom God rebukes).

#Matthew 20:28—He is indeed the Servant King. That is why it is a joy and no burden to us even to be the least of servants in His kingdom.

#Matthew 21:19—The fig tree symbolized Israel, whose people failed to deliver to their Lord when He came to them. [They failed the Messiah, Mic 7:1 & Hos 9:10, instead of welcoming the heavenly Bridegroom, Song 2:13).

#Matthew 21:22—We will receive what we ask for in His name. This reminds me of the old black-and-white film where the policeman hammers on the door and shouts “Open up in the name of the law”. If he was certain that the power of the law would back him, how much more Jesus for us!

#Matthew 22:5—Some of the lost are criminally careless, for they have turned away towards anything but the Light of the World. Let us never close our eyes and turn away from Jesus, even briefly or by mistake.

#Matthew 22:6—Some of the lost are heartless, for they have looked toward the Father’s heart of love and seen in Him what they hate. That hatred spills onto all who do love Him. His Son the King of Kings will answer them, for Jesus felt their hatred too and feels our pain too.

#Matthew 22:21—The coin that the #Pharisees showed to Jesus bore the image of #Caesar. But we are in God’s image! So we should give ourselves to God, if we have not done so already.

#Matthew 23:3—Jesus tells us to obey those in authority over us. We should not necessarily follow their example! But Jesus certainly does not allow us to ignore those who use authority badly. We must change them by doing better than they do.

#Matthew 23:5—Jesus said of the #Pharisees that everything they did was done so that people would see it. That is our test: if no-one but God ever saw the good you do, would you still do it?

#Matthew 23:23—Jesus says that we should do the higher things—but without neglecting our simple duties! Jesus took nothing away from the #Law, and placed great value on little loyalties and duties that the world sees as trivial.

#Matthew 23:33—Jesus says to us, ‘I’ am the One who sends. We are all sent by Him, therefore those who meet us and treat us badly will face His #judgement. Ambassadors for Christ—On His Majesty’s Service.

#Matthew 23:39—Even among those who opposed Jesus, there would one day come those who began to bless Him. This is not the grudging obedience of those who will have to bow the knee, but the love of those who have finally learnt to appeal to Him and be saved [Psalm 118:25-6].

#Matthew 24:9—Jesus says that the world will hate us because of Him. He reveals Himself to be the pivot of #history. After all, it is His story!

#Matthew 24:44—A heartfelt warning: Jesus was addressing the #disciples, not the unbelieving world, when He said He would come when even they were not expecting Him. None of us should or can make artificial preparation for His #SecondComing, for He will find us as we really are.

#Matthew 25:5—In the #parables both of the #virgins and the #talents, the master was a long time coming—but he came! When #Scripture gives a double emphasis, we should become doubly alert: Jesus will return!

#Matthew 25:26—The wicked servant claimed he was afraid; but the master put his failure down to laziness, a much more unimpressive fault. That made him worthless, as we all will be if we only play it safe. Jesus calls us out of our comfort zones.

#Matthew 25:40—The King makes it everlastingly clear that ‘faith without works is dead’. It was ‘what you did’ that made a difference to others, even though ‘what you believed’ was where you must start.

#Matthew 25:46—This world may be the nearest that the Christian sees to #hell, and the nearest that the unbeliever sees to #heaven.

#Matthew 26:25—After all this time, Jesus was still only Rabbi (Teacher) to #JudasIscariot, not Lord. In his heart Judas never recognised Jesus as his Lord to obey. We must never slide into that terrible error.

#Matthew 26:27—In a #Jewish wedding, the groom made a covenant—a pledge; the couple drank a cup of wine; and the groom paid the price. As the #hymn puts it— ‘From heaven He came and sought us, to be His holy bride. With His own blood He bought us, and for our life He died.’

#Matthew 26:66—They said He was worthy of #death; but death was not worthy of Jesus. Therefore it could not keep Him!

#Matthew 27:45—Darkness by day at Christ’s death: the verse makes a poignant contrast with Luke 2:9 when there was light by night at His birth. Both revealed the glory of the Lord.

#Matthew 27:63—They were right to be alarmed at the prospect of the third day. #Exodus 19:16 shows us why, because it was the day when absolutely all the people trembled before God.

#Matthew 28:5—#Angels tell the #GoodNews just as humans do. We are part of a very great team!

#Matthew 28:8—Jesus rose! They ought to be hosing us down!

#Matthew 28:19—The last command of Jesus in Matthew is not ‘go’ but ‘make disciples’—wherever we are!

#MARK

The #GoodNews of #Jesus as the #Servant. For me it gives a new take on the old instruction to ‘Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest.’ Let’s read Mark!

#Mark 1:1—Mark starts with no small statement! He presents the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, no less. It was most likely dictated by Peter to Mark in Rome and has been called the gospel to the Romans.

#Mark 1:2—Ahead came #JohntheBaptist. As the old preacher’s advice goes, ‘Tell them what you’re going to tell them; then tell them; then tell them what you told them.’ Thus the prophets and John came before Jesus; the written Word of God and our witness come after Him. Tell the world!

#Mark 1:3—John cries out and demands our attention, even in the desert. The Gospel of Mark is, from start to finish, the urgent Good News.

#Mark 1:5—All of Judea went out to hear John. Yet again, we find that none could say they had not heard God’s call to repent.

#Mark 1:9—Jesus identifies Himself with the repentant. He was not a sinner but chose to stand where sinners stand, in humiliation and under the shadow of judgement. No wonder we love Him.

#Mark 1:11—Even Jesus was not loved by God because of what He had done. That’s obvious, because He had done nothing in His ministry yet at this point. We are loved by our heavenly Father for what we are. What we do is the result of that, not the cause.

#Mark 1:15—‘The #kingdomofGod is near.’ Where is that kingdom? It is the place where God is king. We should bow down and make it that in our hearts in the beginning.

#Mark 1:17—We sometimes feel that the time will never come. But one day God’s time always does come. Will we be ready?

#Mark 1:17—The disciples were fishing when Jesus called them; God often calls those who are busy. Are we busy, and if so, on good or evil?

#Mark 1:27—They were amazed. Mark’s gospel is often the story of how Jesus amazed people. Do we present Him to others so that He amazes them?

#Mark 1:35—Verses 14 to 34 have been called ‘A day in the life of Jesus.’ So what does He do the next day? He gets up very early, to pray! Are we as awake next morning as He was?

#Mark 1:41—Jesus was filled with ‘compassion’. Another translation of the word is ‘indignation’. Do we feel godly indignation in the face of #suffering?

#Mark 1:42—#Leprosy was a disease that literally ate through from the outer (unclean) world to the inner (holy) nature—a peculiarly horrible disease. But the touch of Jesus could break through and bring #holiness into view.

#Mark 2:7—In #Jewish theology sins could not be forgiven even by the #Messiah. Jesus never hid His claim to be deity. Do we proclaim it as we should?

#Mark 3:5—Again we find Jesus deeply emotional about #suffering—and about the lack of response of others to it. No wonder Mark reports the #anger of Jesus.

#Mark 3:12—Jesus did not advertise His identity. Why not? Two reasons? So that it did not hinder His #healing mission to the humblest; and so that He would only be recognised by the world in the context of His #Cross and #Resurrection.

Mark 3:13—Others in the Bible went up #mountains to meet with God. But Jesus is God; so He ascends this mountain to exercise His authority, as He calls His followers. From the beginning He is Lord.

#Mark 3:14—The purposes of Jesus for His #apostles give us two keys for the Christian life: that we need to grow close to Him by being with Him, and that we need to learn by working with Him and for Him.

#Mark 3:15—Jesus gives His disciples authority. They can now do the work which was previously His alone. What a call for us!

#Mark 3:21—Jesus was misunderstood by believers as well as unbelievers (for Mary was there too). So He understands when it happens to us.

#Mark 3:23—Jesus uses His strongest language here, leading to a warning against blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. Why? He is outraged, when what is utterly good is slandered to claim it is utterly bad. Give us grace, Lord, never to mistake when Your voice and hand are at work.

#Mark 3:29—Christians should not worry about #blasphemyagainsttheHolySpirit. #JohnBunyan in his autobiography Grace Abounding agonised long, thinking he had committed that sin—until he realised that the Word and the Spirit would not still be speaking to him, if God had left him!

#Mark 3:34—When we became Christians, our spiritual #ancestry took a 90 degree turn. Our human parents are now alongside us (hopefully as our closest supporters), but our Father is in heaven above, and all His true adopted children are our family now.

#Mark 4:3—The #ParableoftheSower was the one Jesus saw as central to understanding all the other #parables. It reveals His willing heart, for He sows everywhere and cascades His seed of grace (like rain on both the just and unjust) even upon those in whom it will bear no crop.

#Mark 4:9—The #parables of Jesus divide people into those who can understand and those who can’t. Let’s pray that we will understand.

#Mark 4:10—It was the disciples who realised they needed to know more, not the crowd. We must always be willing to go deeper with Jesus.

#Mark 4:12—These words from Isaiah 6, the words of God to Isaiah, sound like a final condemnation—the people hardened their hearts to Isaiah’s words— but while there’s still life there’s hope: Isaiah went on to speak many words of hope. Keep sowing!

#Mark 4:14—#Evangelism should be God-centred, not people-centred. We should sow for the Sower in order to give honour to God and reveal Him to the world, not in order to count the crop, which may not appear where we sow.

#Mark 4:17—‘#Persecution comes because of the word’—knowing that, let us always speak God’s word and Word to the world.

#Mark 4:20—All sizes of crop are acceptable and good, and honour Him who is the Sower of our lives. God intends that each of His children will fulfil their sovereign place, each of a unique kind, in the spreading of His kingdom.

#Mark 4:21—If we have a part in the #GoodNews, we must never conceal the light of it or fail to bring it.

#Mark 4:25—All who are born again, are hearing the #GoodNews, can see the #KingdomOfGod—because they hunger and thirst after righteousness. Let us always do that.

#Mark 4:27—The Jews thought the #KingdomOfGod would come suddenly, and so rejected Jesus because everything did not change when He appeared. The harvest will come suddenly; but before that happens we must learn that growing is a slow process, like childhood. God is not hurried.

#Mark 4:39—In the Bible the #sea is often a symbol of chaos. #Adam wasn’t given rule over the fish of the sea, The world of #Noah was swamped by it and the new earth in #Revelation will have a River but no sea. Yet Jesus rules even over the sea. What a glorious King!

#Mark 5:6—On arriving in the region of the #Gerasenes beyond Galilee, Jesus steps outside Israel. But we and the disciples find that the place to meet with God now is not back in #Israel or #Jerusalem, but at Jesus’ feet. He is Lord everywhere!

#Mark 6:32—Jesus will not allow the woman with bleeding—or anyone else—to think that the healing He offers is mechanical, or impersonal. He wants to show His great love to the woman, in response to her faith. We must always seek to encounter who He is, not what He does.

#Mark 6:38—#Jairus trusts Jesus enough to allow Him to ruin the funeral! Christ will ruin every funeral for those who let Him!

#Mark 6:41—It is only the blessing of Jesus that produces the #miracle of the #feedingofthefivethousand. Without Him, it could not have happened. And it was 5,000 men, so probably more than twice that altogether.

#Mark 6:42—Why do some people try to explain this miracle away, when no-one could explain Christ’s Resurrection away (unless they denied it entirely)? The #feedingofthefivethousand is a key miracle, found in all four gospels. Jesus is Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all.

#Mark 6:45—Once Jesus has revealed Himself, he immediately sends His followers on ahead. Are we on the move ahead of Him, witnessing everywhere to His #SecondComing?

#Mark 6:48—Jesus walks on the water but the disciples think He is a ghost. They should have known from the Old Testament that it is God who treads the waves underfoot. Also they had not understood the “5,000” miracle. We must be careful to recognise God’s work when we see it.

#Mark 7:21—Jesus lists things that make us unclean—and they include both things that people think and things that they do. James 1:15 says that desire produces sin and sin death. Lord, protect us from even starting down slippery slopes.

#Mark 7:28—The Syro-Phoenician woman could have listened carelessly and reacted with anger, as so many do. Instead she paid careful attention to Jesus, understood His love and believed in Him. Let us do the same.

#Mark 7:37—Jesus “has done everything well”. The fame of famous people is always qualified by the memory of the mistakes they made—even in the Bible. But Jesus alone lived a perfect life—and so He is the perfect answer for us all.

#Mark 8:24—Why does Jesus heal this man in two stages? Surely it is a lesson for His disciples, who have repeatedly been showing that they only have partial vision! [See 8:18]. Let us learn from all He does and shows us.

#Mark 8:27—Caesarea Philippi was a pagan centre, the “birthplace” of the god Pan. It was there, surrounded by the glory of worldly religion, that the humble Carpenter chose to ask His disciples the biggest question. Have we eyes of faith to see God’s Son when the world does not?

#Mark 8:34—Jesus speaks of the #Cross long before His crucifixion. A cross was a Roman torture object that meant nothing to His disciples yet—except that they knew one thing: anyone who went past carrying one was not coming back. Is our commitment to Jesus wholly one way?

#Mark 9:2—Jesus called His closest disciples to go with Him up the Mount of #Transfiguration. We are called with Him to take part in His glory. Are we committed to the climb?

#Mark 9:14—After a single moment of glory, Jesus is willing to empty Himself again and return again to the demon-possessed and shadowed valley of the world below. Are we as ready to leave the mountaintop again when we should?

#Mark 9:24—The demon-possessed boy’s father knew that he had doubt mixed with his faith. But he did the right thing: he appealed to Jesus!

#Mark 9:29—We may not understand the opposition or the principalities and powers that face us. But however we interpret the problems we face, we must never think we need not pray.

#Mark 9:37—Even a small child matters! There is no person so insignificant that their actions do not matter to God or that God cannot use. And He may use the small to rebuke the great!

#Mark 9:41—Even a single cup of water matters! There is no kindness so small that it does not matter to God, or goes unnoticed by Him. Let us never imagine that only great acts matter.

#Mark 10:2—The Pharisees wanted to talk about #divorce. Jesus responded by talking about #marriage. Let us always look toward heaven’s beautiful model, not hell’s broken one.

#Mark 10:27—The first meaning that we usually take from this Bible verse is about what is possible FOR God; but surely it is when we are WITH God that all is possible.

#Mark 10:27—There are things God cannot (or rather, does not) do because He is God! He will not stop loving us; He will not act against His own nature; He will not look on sin; and He will not forgive those who reject all forgiveness—because His best gift to them is free will.

#Mark 10:43—‘Not so with you!’ With these few words Jesus turns the whole value system of the world upside down. When the early Christians reached Thessalonica [Acts 17:6], they were accused of exactly the same act. Pray that the world may complain about us doing it, too!

#Mark 10:50—See how challenged and inspired the #blind man was by Jesus! His first act was to leave behind his cloak, which was his only other protection and which was the sign to passers-by that they should give him alms. He planned to beg only from Jesus now! Let us do too!

#Mark 11:3—The #figtree story is about readiness on ‘the day your God visits you’ [Mic 7:4]. The Old Testament shows that figs bear a small early crop [Song 2:13, Mic 7:1]. Jesus was looking for it as a promise of things to come; finding none, He gave Jerusalem a stark warning.

#Mark 11:22—‘Have faith in God’ means literally, ‘Have the God kind of faith!’ Let us look for the God kind of things everywhere.

#Mark 11:24—A person will receive whatever they ask for! Is there a sharper promise in the Bible? Let us always ask with great care, and great prayer, from our great Father.

#Mark 11:32—Jesus asks the priests and teachers a question; and their main concern is not the truth but how their answer will look! We must never be more concerned how the world sees us than how Jesus sees us.

#Mark 12:13—The Herodians and Pharisees hated each other—but joined to attack Jesus because they hated Him more. Yet they still had to admit His goodness! If we had only the testimony of Jesus’ enemies about Him, we would still see that He was the only perfect man who ever lived.

#Mark 12:15—The Jews were themselves divided on whether they should pay #taxes to #Caesar, and expected to trap Jesus with their question. To avoid chaos, He had to answer yes—the politically unpopular response! Have we that courage? But He did it so well no-one could object.

#Mark 12:17—They were amazed at the answer Jesus gave to their hard question. He can answer all our life questions—so let us take them to him. As someone said, Jesus can mend any #brokenheart—as long as all the pieces are in His hand.

#Mark 12:26—Abraham , Isaac and Jacob are not named randomly by God or Jesus: their lives reveal the works of the Persons of the #Trinity. The Father created Abraham from a nobody; the Son was obedient unto death; and the Spirit breaks & changes us. Only then is #Israel complete.

#Mark 12:44—The widow, giving her two mites, gave it all. What we do not give to God reveals more than what we do give.

#Mark 13:2—Jesus’ prophecy was perfectly fulfilled. The entire #Temple was pushed off its platform hill by the #Romans in AD 70; and a few of the immense blocks that fell are still there on the smashed pavement (I have stood by them). We can take Jesus at His word in every age.

#Mark 13:32—We cannot know the day or hour of the #SecondComing when Jesus will return. Someone said that we should live as if Jesus died yesterday, rose again this morning and is coming again tomorrow!

#Mark 14:6—The woman with the perfume could comprehend both Jesus and His work—He was visiting a leper at the time—so what she did was far better than those who criticised her did.

#Mark 14:7—When Jesus said that we will always have the poor with us, He was not stating the obvious or resigned to the status quo, He was pointing out society’s disobedient failure to distribute God’s blessing fairly—which could & should have prevented all #poverty [Deut 15:4].

#Mark 14:20—We should identify with Judas Iscariot for the safety of our souls, and learn from his crime. He joined with a noble motive, he went a long way, he evidently got disillusioned and angry and decided to do it his own way, and he left the Church. Is Jesus truly our Lord?

#Mark 14:22—Jesus, who is the Bread of Life, invites us to ‘Take, it, this is my body’. In obeying Him we show that we are part of the Body of Christ and thus part of what happened to it: our old selves have been crucified with Christ [Rom 6:6]; we now share in His resurrection!

#Mark 14:22—Jesus used the #Passover bread, not the lamb, in the new ceremony He instituted—because the sacrifice of the Lamb of God would soon be over and there would be no need for Christians to repeat any blood sacrifice ever again. He has done it all!

#Mark 14:27—Sheep do not defend their shepherd! In the same way, we are saved by Jesus without doing any good work ourselves—He did it all, and rose again to prove it.

#Mark 14:51—The mysterious young man who fled naked from Gethsemane is believed by most people to be Mark (John Mark) himself. If so, he not only shows that he was a witness but also shows his humility by showing that he fled just like all the rest.

#Mark 14:62—Jesus declares Himself to them—but still keeps to the title Son of Man as well as showing that He is also the Son of God. How wonderful, that at this moment of profound trial Jesus still chooses to identify Himself first with frail humanity.

#Mark 15:5—Jesus did not defend Himself before #Pilate, not because He was guilty but because His people were. He loved us that much as He ladid down His life.

#Mark 15:18—Having been condemned by His own people, the #Jews, Jesus lets Himself also be mocked by the non-Jewish #Roman soldiers. This He knew what it was to suffer #Anti-Semitism too. He suffered for us all.

#Mark 15:20—Jesus was led out of #Jerusalem to His #crucifixion. As the #scapegoat, He was expelled from the community in order that it might have forgiveness offered to it. Are we prepared to be expelled for love’s sake as He was?

#Mark 15:34—Jesus hung on the #Cross for 6 hours. Why only that long? Crucified men could survive a couple of days. It was because He had given all—He had used every scrap of His strength for others.

#Mark 15:37—Jesus laid His life down at the moment He chose, and announced that to the whole world. It was not murder but willing sacrifice: He was not robbed of His life but gave it.

#Mark 15:45—The Roman #centurion’s confirmation to his brutal master Pontius Pilate that Jesus had died is of huge weight. As a professional #executioner, his own life would surely have been forfeit had he let a condemned prisoner escape. Jesus died for us, without doubt.

#Mark 16:1—Women are the witnesses in this earliest account of the Resurrection. No Jew could have faked such evidence, because it would have been laughed off the field. Jesus rose! The evidence and faith prove it independently of each other. We can rest in certainty on both.

#Mark 16:20—His Word was confirmed, as the apostles went out, by His works and #miracles. Thus Christians don’t follow signs; signs follow Christians!

#LUKE

The #GoodNews of #Jesus as Man. And a gospel for women in particular.

#Luke 1:1—God has not only fulfilled His work of grace towards humanity, but has also made it known in far too many ways for anyone to be in any doubt about it. The #GoodNews is true!

#Luke 1:3—Luke writes to Theophilus, evidently a non-Jew, to show that the place of the Gentile Christian in God’s kingdom is soundly based on the teaching of Jesus. The #GoodNews is for the whole world!

#Luke 1:9—Zechariah may have felt his life was nearly over; but it was God’s long-awaited time, so he was chosen. With God, we are always just beginning!

#Luke 1:11—Zechariah was doubtless very nervous in case something went very wrong. Instead, something went very right—an #angel appeared! Zechariah feared the worst, but God sent the best. We should always keep our eyes more on God’s power than on our frailty.

#Luke 1:13—God had not forgotten the prayer that Zechariah had prayed, probably long before. He never, never forgets our prayers, even if we have sadly done so.

#Luke 1:14—#JohntheBaptist would be a joy and a delight to Zechariah and Elizabeth. God’s news for those who follow Him faithfully is always #GoodNews!

#Luke 1:18—Despite his age, experience and seniority, Zechariah was not ready for God when God was ready for him. A pity, and a lesson to us all.

#Luke 1:28—#Mary was highly favoured by the Lord—Luke’s gospel especially speaks to women, holding them in the respect that #Jewish culture did not. (Tradition has it that this story was recorded by him from the lips of Mary herself, when Luke visited Jerusalem and located Mary.)

#Luke 1:34—A #virgin would bear a child! What other message could startle every human being with any awareness at all, from every culture, age and class? God started His announcement of the #GoodNews with an event to stop anyone in their tracks. Let’s revisit His Good News!

#Luke 1:37—Nothing is impossible with God! But #Gabriel never says that nothing is impossible ‘for’ God: this is not about God’s omnipotence. Gabriel says that nothing is impossible ‘with’ God (Greek = para). We can do anything if we stay alongside Him in His victory procession.

#Luke 1:37—Who else but Mary ever had the last word in a debate with an #angel? Gabriel simply had nothing more to say to her! Let’s try our best to fulfil all of God’s will for us.

#Luke 1:48—The #VirginMary is humble; she knows that even she falls short of God’s standard, and she acknowledges that she is only what He has made her. A great example to us.

#Luke 2:1—‘In those days’—the before and after. After God’s Son came down to us, our world was altogether changed. Even the date changed, when Jesus came into the world! Do we live in His new world and Kingdom?

#Luke 2:1—Caesar #Augustus styled himself Son of God, and was called Saviour of the World. This verse starts a progression (verses 1-7) from the highest status to the lowest. Jesus appears right at the bottom of the heap. Would we want to be found there with Him?

#Luke 2:7—As Jesus came willingly—despite the shock of #childbirth—into our world, so we are called to go willingly into the worlds of others.

#Luke 2:8—It is said that when Jesus was born, #shepherds were the lowest of the low, the butt of the best jokes, and their witness was not accepted in court because it was assumed they would lie. Yet it is certain that shepherds heard the Good News first!

#Luke 2:9—There was light at night for the birth of Jesus, thanks to the angels, but darkness by day for His death. A challenging #symmetry—are we people of the Light, and aware of Him at all times?

#Luke 2:12—The shepherds were told they would find Him lying in a #manger. Who would be so childlike as to look for the King of Kings in such a humble place? Do we follow in their footsteps, or overlook Christ because of our cleverness?

#Luke 2:32—#Simeon’s great words about God’s prepared salvation come from #Isaiah 49:6; but he would have also known that 49:7 speaks of the Lord’s servant being despised and hated. Salvation would come through the #Cross.

#Luke 2:43—#Joseph and #Mary left Jesus behind! Who would seem less likely to make that mistake than them? If they could do it, let us never think we would not.

#Luke 3:4— In the #Roman empire, it is said that each was responsible for mending the road outside their own home—ready for when the Emperor passed by. We must fill in all the ravines and flatten all the barriers that we are responsible for, before our King of Kings comes.

#Luke 3:23—Jesus was about thirty years old—it is thought from #Numbers 4:3 and #Ezekiel 1:1 that the ministry of a #priest began at 30 after an apprenticeship from age 25 [Num 8:24]. Jesus in every way conformed to our proper practice; let us shape ourselves after Him.

#Luke 3:23—Matthew and Luke list different fathers for #Joseph. Probably Luke emphasized Christ’s ancestry through #Mary while Matthew highlights Christ’s legal line of descent. Compare #Obed in Ruth 4:10&21, whose biological father was Boaz but whose legal father was Mahlon.

#Luke 4:16—It was Jesus’s steady, regular custom to attend, as we should on the Lord’s Day.

#Luke 4:19—Jesus stops reading the #Isaiah passage abruptly in the middle of a verse, and does not read the following words about ‘the day of vengeance of our God’. Thus God showed His #mercy through His Son—yet hints that His #justice will follow without a break, in the end.

#Luke 4:26—Jesus points to God’s past love for non-Jews in order to show that going to the synagogue doesn’t make one an inward believer or true Jew. I must see even more clearly that being in church doesn’t make me a Christian—any more than being in a garage makes me a car!

#Luke 4:43—The people of #Capernaum could not hold on to Jesus or keep Him to themselves; we all suffer that temptation! But as #JimElliott wrote, ‘Why should anyone have the right to hear the good news twice when there are people who haven’t heard it once?’

#Luke 5:13—Was Jesus willing? He was willing twice over—to touch the leper as well as to heal him. Sometimes Jesus gives us two #miracles where we only asked for one!

#Luke 5:29—I love #Levi! When he followed Jesus, did he do it quietly and secretly? No! He was unafraid to let the world know. What an example to us.

#Luke 6:13—Jesus did not choose men just to be followers; from the start He designated them #apostles—men commissioned and sent. They were sent as soon as they were chosen. So are we.

#Luke 6:16—Judas Iscariot was called to be a disciple, not a betrayer. Jesus looks for the best right from the start, even from the worst of men.

#Luke 6:32—It is not enough to love only those who love you, when in offering such limited love you know you will receive a return. Such a quid pro quo is not God’s boundless love; His has the potential to change the hearts of all, even the most evil.

#Luke 6:38—Give to God, and you will be taken aback by His response! You can’t out-give God. He has a bigger scoop!

#Luke 7:9—Jesus is amazed at the #centurion! Christ became #human, emptying Himself of His perfect knowledge—and thus accepted the miseries of human existence; but He delighted in its joys too, and was clearly thrilled to receive such a wonderful surprise.

#Luke 7:11—Jesus also shows His humanity in being able to be boosted by others. Surely it’s no coincidence that immediately after being thrilled by the faith of the #centurion Jesus goes in power to #Nain and does one of his greatest miracles.

#Luke 7:20—John the Baptist expected to hear about his kind of Messiah, an avenging #Lord. We might prefer more of a #Saviour #Messiah. But God sent us both a Saviour and a Lord, because we needed both. Let us accept Jesus as both.

#Luke 7:35—‘Wisdom is proved right by all her children’—are we amongst them? This is a favourite verse of mine; God’s #wisdom from above is down-to-earth, pragmatic, intelligent, balanced and courageous—the opposite of this world’s hasty judgement and childish anger.

#Luke 7:50—The sinful woman’s God-given #faith has saved her—and ‘has’ is past tense, as in John 5:24. Our salvation is completed by God before we can do anything other than to keep looking at him.

#Luke 8:24—The disciples got into the boat with Jesus and sailed into at storm. Being with Jesus did not exempt the disciples from the storms of life!

#Luke 8:43—Some followers of Jesus have been hurt by circumstances, hurt by people or hurt by #religion, and so retreat and lead mediocre lives. The woman subject to bleeding had had a hard life—but fought her way through the crowd because her eyes were on Him.

#Luke 8:46—In our crowded world, we all need to touch Jesus and feel His power.

#Luke 8:50—#Jairus must have been desperately frustrated as he tried to get Jesus to his daughter; but he had just seen proof that faith in Jesus works. As in the previous chapter, one act of faith inspires another.

#Luke 8:55—Like the faith of the #centurion, the faith of the woman who touched Him encourages Jesus! After the former He raised the widow’s son from the dead; after the latter, Jairus’ daughter. We can give Jesus nothing that He needs; but our faith can delight and touch Him!

#Luke 9:30—Moses represented the Law and Elijah the Prophets. Moses’ work was completed by Joshua and Elijah’s by Elisha. Jesus (the same name as Joshua & Elisha) fulfilled the purpose of both, and reveals His heavenly splendour. Heaven celebrates both justice and mercy.

#Luke 9:33—Peter’s plan was to stay on the mountain. Jesus’s plan was to move on! And Jesus set out downwards: grace descends to the lowest place where it is needed most.

#Luke 9:62—Putting your hand to the plough: Christian conversion is dramatic in effect; it is the equivalent of leaving home, even if we don’t actually leave it physically.

#Luke 11:8—The man who is woken by his friend’s knocking in the night helps his friend partly to protect his own reputation—to prove he deserves the label of friend. Let us always be ready to be a friend to others as Christ has proved He is the most precious friend to us.

#Luke 11:9—Ask, seek, knock—but not for ourselves; it’s obvious here in this context that we are asking, seeking and knocking for the sake of others.

#Luke 11:33—We must not hide our light under a bowl. Why not? Because it is not ours to hide! Jesus is the light of the world and we hide Him from the world at our peril.

#Luke 12:2—The Pharisees showed that pretence covers up; but Jesus shows that truth reveals.

#Luke 12:5—Jesus spoke more about hell and judgement than everyone else in the Bible put together, because He knew its pain. It was said of DL #Moody that he ‘had a right to preach about hell because he so clearly did so from a weeping heart.’

#Luke 12:17—Why did the rich man not give away his excess crops? He had no good reason to keep them for the moment—but his future was his possessions. God has only judgement for those who have only their own interests at heart.

#Luke 12:48—We will be judged only on what we know about. God is not merely a just Judge but one who stretches His mercy toward us as far as it will reach. However, that does not reduce our duty to find out things that we should know in our call to protect others.

#Luke 13:11—I love the ‘bent over’ woman in the #synagogue -because she was there! Despite her suffering she kept going to the synagogue. She had not given up! She was still there, keeping in touch with God!

#Luke 13:12—Jesus set the woman free from her ‘infirmity’. The word #infirmity in Greek literally means ‘lack of strength’. Let us all grow strong as we meet Christ: Jesus gives us the power to.

#Luke 15:1—The ‘Compassion Parables’: Jesus addresses those who need #compassion, and they flock to Him. Do we show the love that makes people flock to us?

#Luke 15:3—Jesus shows a stunning sense of humour. He tells of a shepherd so stupid that the man left 99 sheep to rescue just one. Did the crowd roar with laughter? Then comes Jesus’ stunning punchline: God in His almighty love for lost sinners acts as ‘foolishly’ as a shepherd!

#Luke 15:3—In this parable God is represented by a woman! The Jews would have been shocked. Luke’s is the gospel that especially honours #women.

#Luke 15:20—This story of the father running would have shocked Jesus’s hearers. It was unthinkable for a father to run to his son. For 1,000 years this translation ‘ran’ was felt improper. Perhaps he ran to forgive his son before the brother or anyone else could attack him.

#Luke 15:28—Both sons were alienated from their father. Both had only the father’s things in mind. The older brother should have negotiated between the other two, but he failed. Thus the Jews should and could teach us more about Jesus, but they also have failed.

#Luke 15:28—The younger brother was brought home at the older brother’s reluctant cost. We are brought home at Jesus’s willing, loving and bountiful cost!

#Luke 16:5—The shrewd manager gave away his master’s property. A tongue-in-cheek interpretation might be that we should be generous to others, as the dishonest servant was—because we also are giving what costs us nothing!

#Luke 16:14—This verse precedes the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The point of the latter is not riches: Abraham was wealthy too. The rich man, like the Pharisees, was only rich. He was in hell not for the evil he had done but for the good he could have done and did not do.

#Luke 16:20—The name Lazarus means ‘God has helped’—his name shows his status with God. The rich man had no name and no status with God.

#Luke 17:10—We are called not just to serve but to delight in serving Jesus! An unworthy servant does only what they are commanded.

#Luke 17:15—The Samaritan differed from all the other healed lepers by the fact that he did more than he was commanded—therefore he pleased Jesus.

#Luke 18:1—Jesus told the disciples they should always pray and not give up. Why? God outlasts all things! Our Father in heaven will never stop hearing us, and in the end He will give us all our heart’s desire.

#Luke 18:13—Obedience! The Pharisee focused on negative, legalistic and comparative obedience. The tax-collector hid behind none of these, only relational obedience to God. That is, he knew God!

#Luke 18:26—The #rich were considered blessed! So the disciples assumed that if the rich could not achieve it, no-one could. But are we rich with God? If so, all things are possible.

#Luke 18:27—Jesus repeats here the words spoken by Gabriel before His birth. All things are possible with God. The Bible does not say that all things are #possible without God! Never mind the possible, stay with God!

#Luke 18:38—We have to be poor before God before we can cry out and receive. Martin #Lloyd-Jones puts it bluntly: ‘It is perfectly clear in the pages of the New Testament that no man can be saved until, at some time, he has felt desperate about himself.’

#Luke 18:40—What a stunning Bible verse! Jesus is on the way to Calvary; yet at one single poor man’s cry He stops for them.

#Luke 19:2—#Zacchaeus would have known that Jesus had already chosen one tax-collector, Matthew. In the same way we know that God has already chosen and forgiven one very great sinner, Paul. Experience and knowledge of God creates hope.

#Luke 19:8—The Law, in Numbers 5:7, required #Zacchaeus to pay back an extra 20% to those he had wronged. In fact he paid back an extra 400%. Let us make restoration with as big a heart as he did!

#Luke 20:1—Even as the wolves gathered around Him, Jesus continued to preach the gospel. May we be His Good News people to the very end.

#Luke 20:37—#Abraham, #Isaac and #Jacob represent not just the resurrected but also the works of the Persons of the #Trinity: the Father creating from nothing, the Son obedient to death; and the Spirit in Whose life we must live, abandoning our worldly cleverness.

#Luke 21:28—We are called not merely to stand up as our Lord’s second coming approaches, but to lift up our heads too. Like mountaineers nearing a summit, we can lift our eyes from our steps and look ahead in expectation. Jesus has not merely run the race, He has won the victory!

#Luke 22:41—Jesus tells the disciples that they should #pray and then immediately does so Himself. He not only tells us what to do, He shows us too.

#Luke 22:45—The disciples were exhausted from sorrow because even without understanding Jesus, they felt with Him - because they loved with Him. Let us feel with the Saviour whom we love, too.

#Luke 22:61—The Lord turned and looked across the courtyard at Peter. Christ’s words cut to our hearts even when they come only from our memories.

#Luke 23:18—We, like #Barabbas, live because Jesus died. And like Barabbas there is nothing in us that deserves His sacrifice, but He died for us nevertheless.

#Luke 23:28—Daughters of Jerusalem is a phrase much used by #Jeremiah, especially in #Lamentations which is the grief poem of Jerusalem itself. Jesus used it deliberately and prophetically as a final warning.

#Luke 23:34—Jesus prayed for those who were most cruel for them. We should always put someone on our prayer list who we do not like or who even hates us, for He did.

#Luke 23:43—One of the #thieves on the #Cross was saved, so that none may despair; but only one, so that none may presume.

#Luke 24:5—The disciples were looking for the living among the dead. The angels were obviously surprised at that—and why not? Jesus had not remained in the grave; and nor shall we!

#Luke 24:13—On the road to #Emmaus, two relatively insignificant disciples were going to an insignificant place—yet they commanded His personal attention! We must never assume that what we do is beyond His heart.

#Luke 24:21—They ‘had’ hoped that Jesus was the One. They were still thinking of Him in the past. But Jesus is now!

#Luke 24:42—Their resurrected Lord ate a piece of fish in front of them. What clearer proof of His physical resurrection could He have given to a bunch of fishermen?

#Luke 24:52—The disciples returned from His #ascension full of great joy. Why did they not feel deserted at that moment? Because Heaven had not just closed to them, it had just opened!

#JOHN

The #GoodNews of #Jesus as God. And a focus on the ‘I am’ sayings of Jesus.

#John 1:1—John begins with statements revealing Jesus in the context of 1) eternity; 2) the Trinity; 3) deity.

#John 1:1—From the beginning, God the Father speaks! He speaks love into our world and lives through the #Word. We are not alone! Many fathers communicate poorly with their children but ‘Our Father who art in heaven’ is also with us and talking to us. Psalm 107:20.

#John 1:1—God the Father speaks the #Word—but not as we speak. Our words leave us; but to the #Greeks the #Logos was still in the mind as well as proceeding from it. So Christ was never absent from the Father, as sunshine is never separated from the sun even when warming us.

#John 1:2—John’s Gospel begins with seven days (1:29, 1:39, 1:43, 2:1), to remind us that the Creation was by the Word, which is why John’s language also echoes Genesis chapter 1.