Josh1Eight

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. (Matthew 23:37 NLT) The title of this passage in my Bible reads "Jesus criticizes the religious leaders". I think that may well be greatest understatement in the entire Bible. Jesus isn't giving a mild commentary of his dislike of the Pharisees. And what you say has set Him off? Jesus is outraged at the effects the hypocrisy and religious oppression of the Pharisees has had on the people, His people. Verse 37 puts it all in perspective. Jesus compared the anger He felt towards those who were harming His children to a mother hen longing to gather in her chicks to protect them from danger. While first off that may sound like a weak illustration, listen again to what He's saying here. If you're a glutton for punishment, you should attempt to sepa...

Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God...haven’t you ever read about this in the Scriptures? (Matthew 22:29, 31) If the Gospels had been written like a sitcom, this chapter would be a classic episode. Now that Jesus had gained quite a following and was now a threat to those with the most power to lose, three of the most influential political and religious groups in Jerusalem suddenly descend on Jesus hoping to ambush Him like a bunch of shady reporters in hopes of getting a sound bite they can use against Him. But like a skilled debater, Jesus single-handedly dismantles their arguments in a matter of seconds and then shifts to the offensive with a few questions of His own by turning the tables back on his opponents (kinda like that angry Temple clearing in John 2 but with more sarcasm and less rage). But I think the best part of the story is when He shuts down the Saduccees' no-resurrection theory with responses...

"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see." (Hebrews 11:1) ..."If we already have something, we don't need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don't yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently." (Romans 8:24-25 NLT) The Bible is clear: faith is made up of the things we hope for but do not yet possess. For instance, when we have hope in God's promises yet to be fulfilled, we confidently believe they will happen and that God will take care of things. But until we see it actually happen, those promises remain shrouded in our hope in who God is and His ability to make good on what He has said. But it's easy sometimes to get impatient waiting on a hope we cannot see. We secretly wish God would just show up help us out already. But say God answers you today and your hope finally became reality. Then what? What follows is typically not good. As soon ...