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For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.Eph 2:9 |
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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. Monday, January 31, 2022
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :The Question of Fasting [1] Bible Verse:Matthew 9:14-17 (ESV) "Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast [often], but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”" Message:
Two notes on the text/translation itself: First, it is not clear whether Jesus and his disciples did not fast at all, or whether they simply did not follow the extensive schedule of fasts decreed by Jewish ritual. We do know, however, that Jesus himself underwent an extraordinary starvation fast at the beginning of his ministry, from our reading of Matthew 4.
Secondly, “wedding guests” is a paraphrase or “dynamic equivalent” of the original Greek, rather than a literal correct translation. (This is done fairly often in Bibles, when an ancient term would make no sense to a modern reader.) The actual term, “children of the bridechamber,” refers to Jewish marriage customs of the time.
Instead of a honeymoon in Jamaica or Hawaii, a newly married couple in ancient Israel would stay at home for a week. During this time, their good friends and family would visit frequently, bringing gifts; it was a rolling party of joyful celebration, during which the couple would be treated royally — in fact, they were addressed as “king” and “queen”. The people who visited them were called “children of the bridechamber.”
Jesus knew he was only on earth for a short time. He knew that, soon enough, the day would come when his disciples would mourn; even after his resurrection, they would miss his physical presence. (In this regard, see John 14:25-27, when Christ promises that the Father will send a Spirit to comfort the disciples after he has ascended.)
It is right and good to celebrate when times are happy; we do not mourn simply because we will die some day. The nature of physical life is ephemeral. Should we be like the grim Greek philosopher Epictetus, who said, “When you are kissing your child, say to yourself, ‘One day you will die.’”?
Christ gives us a lesson in life as well as religion. We are to take our lives, filled though they may be with trouble and affliction, as a time of joy. For we live in hope of eternal life; and we are especially grateful to have a period on earth, to help and serve others and to live and spread God's word, that we might save ourselves and others.
We have said that Matthew 9 concentrates on the beginnings of opposition to Christ, and today’s passage hardly needs explanation in that regard. In the first two section, he was accused of blasphemy and immorality. Here, he and his disciples are accused of impiety.
Meditation : Prayer : Let me not forget you as I go forth into the world this day, blessed Lord; may my every word be a prayer, and my every act be testimony to your love and truth, and may I know your presence every second of this day......Amen |
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