My Daily Pause

The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple – 1860 – William Holman Hunt (1827–1910)

Study.

He did it through study.

After being discovered in the temple studying and talking with the teachers, (Luke 2:46-49) he went home submissive to his earthly parents and…

… Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. – Luke 2:52

The implication is that Jesus, in becoming a man, had to go through all of the growth and phases of becoming an adult. He studied with the teachers and earned their respect as he learned. He grew into manhood just as any child would, by following his father’s lead.

Jesus, the ultimate example and master teacher, even showed us the way to grow in stature in God’s eyes. His expectation for us is to be perfect (Matthew 5:48) and he showed us the path to get there.

Just because people are not perfect and will never be sinless does not excuse us from trying. Depending on your Bible version, 2 Timothy 2:15 says to study (KJV), or to be diligent (NKJV), or do your best (ESV), to be approved by God.

As we work our way down the path toward perfection, we can be encouraged in knowing that Jesus went down the same path, and did the same work!

Most of the time, a difficult Scripture can be worked through logically.

Matthew 9:38-41 is one of those challenging scriptures that have as many explanations as there are teachers of the word. It is an extraordinary example of why we do not take any person’s word without comparing it to what the Bible says.

The disciples experienced a tinge of jealousy when they saw someone who wasn’t a member of their group able to cast out demons in Jesus’ name. The person could have been a follower of John or he could have been one of the 72 (Luke 10:1 ff) after he completed his commission.

Jesus forbid them from stopping him.

Trying to figure out how to apply this teaching has challenged Christians since the gospel was written. Comparing what people teach about it with logic and other Bible passages gives us a good start on how to treat it. Here are a few thoughts I have about what the passage does and does not do for the Christian:

What it doesn’t do:

• …allow a church to overlook her members living in a sinful way – we cannot use it as a way out of having “difficult discussions” with fellow Christians
• …excuse error and false teaching just because it is in Jesus’ name – we still have to call out and avoid false teachers
• …relieve us from trying to teach someone the better way – we are always responsible for teaching the one true gospel

An excellent example of these points can be seen in Priscilla and Aquila. They did not allow Apollos to keep teaching the baptism of John. (Acts 18:24-28)

What it does do:

• …tells us not to be judgmental of others solely because they are not among “our group” – this is vastly different from identifying a specific sin and helping someone correct it.
• …allows us to give others that believe differently enough room to continue to learn and eventually correct their beliefs – the same goes for us! Don’t forget to allow the possibility that we have it wrong.
• …discourages the feeling of jealously of what others are doing at the expense of what we have going for ourselves – The disciples were sitting at the Messiah’s feet but were more worried about what another was doing!

The Parable of the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30) and Hebrews 5:12-6:7 among others can help us resolve these discussion points.

So Here’s the Point

A key part of faith and loving Jesus is keeping his commandments. (John 14:15) When we are reading and studying the Bible, we can never use any of his teachings to get around that basic concept. Some of the improper applications of Mark 9:38-41 try to do just that.

In the same way, what we believe a passage of scripture says should never be in conflict with what another passage says. We can use this simple logical method to make our Bible study a more rewarding experience.

Jesus feeding a crowd with 5 loaves of bread and two fish – Early 1600’s – Bernardo Strozzi

Something awesome was happening!

The people were even willing to starve to see it!

The one thing that really helps me see the details and nuances in the Scriptures has to be the number of times I have read through it in recent years. I like how every time I pass through certain events, I see new details that I have never noticed.

The feeding of the four thousand (Mark 8:1-10) makes me slow down and study it more every time I get to it. On one hand, it seems like a repeat of the earlier feeding of the five thousand, but upon closer inspection, a number of differences in the situation pop out:

• The people had been following Jesus for three days
• The disciples never offered to feed the crowd, Jesus had to initiate it
• They started with more food, but had less left over

Those three days must have been something special to keep the crowd together that long! What would it take for you to drop what you are doing and follow someone you had only heard rumors about?

The word of God is like that. The more we are exposed to it, the more we can get from it. The more we get from it, the more we want. That’s pretty much what Paul meant in Romans 10:17

I would love to have witnessed the feeding of the four thousand. I’m not a fan of camping, but I would sure have spent the three days out there with Jesus.

But we are even more fortunate than they were…

…we have the Bible.

…we can set aside time for it in the comfort of our home

… in time we can become mature Christians by studying it

Find out what made those people want to stay out there with Jesus – Start a Bible reading plan today!

1. Read 2. Study 3. Repeat

A quick attempt to find it through a search on Google has come up empty, so maybe I am the first to notice the irony of Matthew 24:4. Matthew 24 is quite a difficult passage describing the destruction of Jerusalem and Christ’s return. As I do my study on it and consult the commentaries I have at my disposal, Matthew 24:4 keeps jumping out at me:

(Take heed) See that no one (no man) leads you astray. – ESV (ASV)

Take heed that no man (no one) deceive you. – KJV (NKJV)

There are as many varied explanations of Matthew 24 as there are commentaries apparently. Which the one is the one that will not lead me astray?

Put the commentaries down because the key to understanding a passage like Matthew 24 is lots of Bible study. There is no way to properly understand a difficult passage without solid grounding in the easier to understand portions of the Bible. People get away with diverse teaching of the Scriptures because in general, we are not reading and studying our Bibles like we should. We are not catching them in the act!

Reading and studying.

Did you see the emphasis? The word “and” is in bold, italics and underline.

Daily devotional reading is an excellent habit and a required part of developing our Bible knowledge. The “study” part is even more important to the development of a full understanding. When we take the time to answer the who, what, when, where, and why of a passage, we begin the process of building a well-grounded foundation for understanding the Bible.

What works as a complete Bible program for me looks something like this:

• Daily reading schedule – Dedicate a certain amount of time for a straight reading of the text
• Reflection on what was read – I choose to write about what I have read each day in this blog, you might choose to do a word study, or write a journal entry, or discuss with a family member.
• Formal Bible study attendance – as in … go to your congregation’s offerings at every opportunity
• Analyze what was taught in sermons and Bible classes – Don’t take another solely at his word.

It is definitely a challenge to work out the routine and the details. The main thing I tell others to do is to just get started.

What is one thing you can add to your Bible study habits to take yourself to the next level?

Jesus at the House of the Pharisees – Tintoretto (1518–1594)

As I make notes about the opening verses of Matthew 12, I see an amazing picture being drawn. With a quick reading of Matthew 12:1-8 this is what jumps out at me:

• The Pharisees nitpicking Jesus actions
• The Pharisees holding their interpretations of the law more sacred than the law itself
• The Pharisees excusing David’s sinful actions but condemning Jesus’ perfectly legal actions
• Jesus demonstrating his superior knowledge of the law
• Jesus using logic to silence the Pharisees

The leadership of the Jews thought they had a pretty good excuse for resisting Jesus. I say they were in fear for their way of life. They had an opulent setup that had no future if Jesus really was the Messiah. It must be the nature of people to not want to change, because they sure haven’t changed yet.

The enemies of Christ are still around and they still fear for their way of life. They’re even using the same old tactics against him:

• People nitpick Christians’ beliefs at every turn
• People want to hold what they “feel” is right more sacred than God’s word
• People are tolerant of sin but intolerant of obedience to God’s word

It is up to us to stand firm against those that are trying to bring down Christ. We are in charge of using our superior knowledge and logic to counter those who want to silence God.

Would you have known how to argue against the Pharisees in the Matthew 12:1-8 event? What can you change today to get better at defending God’s word?