Eddie

IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT’S GOING ON — Trust that God Knows

September 27, 2024 by Eddie Leave a Comment

There’s a familiar Q&A exchange between Jesus and His disciples in Luke 9:18-22. Jesus asks them, “Who do the crowds say I am?” And then after they answer, He redirects the question to them and asks them “But what about you? Who do you say I am?” And then Peter declares that Jesus is the Messiah.

Most commentaries will focus either on this declaration of Peter about the identity of Jesus as the Messiah, or on our response to the question “Who do you say I am?” In fact, I myself have spoken about this question in a previous episode of Pathways of Hope, using the version found in Matthew 16.

For today, I want to focus on something else. Today’s gospel ends with a twist. First it starts with the good news about Jesus confirming that He is the Messiah. But in v21 it says: “Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone.“

What’s going on here?

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ARE YOU READY TO EXTEND KINDNESS AT A MOMENT’S NOTICE?

September 9, 2024 by Eddie Leave a Comment

You’ve heard this story before: While Jesus is teaching on a Sabbath in the synagogue, he does something that the Pharisees think is against the rules of the Sabbath. This one is in Luke 6:6-11. As usual, there are Pharisees and teachers of the law overseeing everything that goes on inside the synagogue. And in the middle of his teaching, Jesus is getting ready to heal a man with a crippled hand. But before he does this, he stops and looks at the Pharisees who are waiting for a chance to accuse Him of breaking the rules and regulations according to the Law of Moses.

Jesus, knowing that the Mosaic Law forbids all forms of work on a Sabbath, remembers the several occasions when the Pharisees condemn Him for healing on a Sabbath. So, Jesus flips around and challenges them with a question: “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” (v6)

Basically, he’s asking them, not about the healing per se, but about whether there is a law against doing good.

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THERE IS A COST TO FOLLOWING JESUS: Give up your idols.

August 19, 2024 by Eddie Leave a Comment

There was a rich young man who consulted Jesus about what good he had to do to gain eternal life. The young man was earnest; and he really wanted to be perfect. He was religious in practice, and was interested in finding peace. He knew about Jesus, and believed that he came to the right person to get the best advice, and was even very respectful in addressing Jesus. Read about it in Matt 19:16-22.

But when Jesus spelled out to him the conditions of discipleship, and what he had to do to follow him, the young man got an instruction that he did not expect, was discouraged and walked away.

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HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU’RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK? Maybe you’re lost and you don’t know it.

August 13, 2024 by Eddie Leave a Comment

Jesus asks a rhetorical question, “If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains, and go and search for the one that is lost?” (Matt 18:12 NABRE) It’s rhetorical, because the answer is obvious. Of course, he will go and look for the sheep that went astray!

And the lesson Jesus points out is this, He says: “God, your Father in heaven, is like that shepherd. He does not want any of these little people to be lost, not even one of them.” And who do you think Jesus was referring to as the people who are like the lost sheep?

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EVIL EXISTS WHERE THERE IS GOOD — sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference

July 30, 2024 by Eddie Leave a Comment

The parable of the weeds among the wheat (found in Matt 13:36-43) is about a situation when a farmer’s enemy secretly plants bad seeds in the field where this farmer has just planted good seeds of wheat. And as both of these types of good and bad seeds germinate and grow, the smart farmer tells his workers to leave these alone until harvest time because at this early stage and until the kernel of wheat actually appears, it is hard to distinguish the weeds from the wheat, because they all look the same at this stage.

Although this makes practical sense from a farming point of view, the disciples are curious what Jesus means, because Jesus starts off the parable by saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like this.” So, Jesus explains that the one who sowed good seed is Himself, the Son of Man, and the good seed are the people of the Kingdom; the enemy of Jesus is the devil and the weeds are the evil people. Now, Jesus points out that at the end of the age there will be a reckoning. The good news is that everything and everyone that causes sin and does evil will be thrown into hell, while the righteous will be welcomed into the kingdom of heaven.

When I think about this lesson, the obvious thing that comes to my mind is that I’m not surprised that evil exists where there is good. We see it not only in this world; we see it even in ourselves, right?

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