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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Saturday, July 20, 2019
Today's Passage : Today's Passage:Jesus Calls Matthew Bible Verse :Matthew 9:9-13 "As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”" Message:
Everybody hates tax collectors; but there have never been tax collectors hated to equal Roman tax collectors in conquered territories. Some of them were private contractors: they would pay a set amount to Rome and then collect every penny they could, keeping the excess as profit. Taxes were very heavy and were not used for the benefit of JudeaJudea was the name given to the Roman colony consisting of the conquered kingdoms of Israel and Judah, with bits of other nations added.. The people of Judea were halfway to being slaves. And on top of that, Matthew was a Jew — a collaborator with the conquering Romans, a turncoat, a traitor.
Matthew's call is only the beginning of it. Jesus and his disciples go on to eat dinner with an entire array of sinners. This simply was not done by good Jews. The majority of Jews in Judea followed the law of Moses; it was a strictly orthodox religion, with fixed, prescribed rules covering most aspects of life. The Pharisees, Sadduccees, and other political-religious sects may have competed with each other, but all of them kept the law. And one very basic law was: they could not eat with unclean people.
There were also a great number of Jews who were not necessarily atheists or idolators, but who did not really keep the law, called “people of the land” by the stricter Jews. These are the people referred to as “sinners” in today's passage. While eating with them was not quite as horrifying to a religious Jew as eating with a Gentile, it was forbidden.
As we said in the last lesson, Matthew 9 revolves around the early accusations against Jesus. In the first section, he is accused of blasphemy. Here, he is accused of immorality. The Jews, primarily the Pharisees (who predominated in the north and more rural areas), were beginning to build a case against him. But in each instance when they make an accusation, Matthew shows us that it is Christ's goodness and mercy that underly the alleged sin.
Christ came into the world to save sinners. (1 Timothy 1:15-16) He uses the accusation, then, as a teaching opportunity, to reinforce this critical part of his message.
The concept was not, actually, unknown to the Jews: Jesus cites in his defense a passage from Hosea, “For I desire steadfast mercy [or love] and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6) Time and time again, Jesus fulfills the law of Moses, by bringing the spirit of the law into full view while breaking an empty, technical aspect of it.
Meditation : Prayer : Now, oh Lord, I pray that you may lift up the light of your countenance upon me, and give me peace; in my going out and in my coming in; in my sitting down and my rising up; in my work and in my play; in my joy and in my sorrow, in my laughter and in my tears; until that day comes which is without dawn and without dark.......Amen |
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