The whole structure and flow of the Gospel change with this paragraph. “From that time on…” Matthew used the same expression in chapter 4:17 as the Gospel began to move from John the Baptist to Jesus. Now it moves to the culmination of the story that Matthew wants to tell. The immediate future does not look bright.
Peter is front and center and will stay there for the next several years.
Read More Kingdom of God, self-interest, discipleshipI always thought I would like gardening. Until I became master over some gardens. Then I quickly realized how labour-intensive it is, how on-your-knees it must be, how the dirt jams in under your fingernails and stays for quite some time. Perhaps because I am not a natural gardener, but a sweaty, hot, grumbling gardener, everything that grows under my imperfect watch is a miracle, worthy of celebration.
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Most of us have grown up being told to make our beds. It is a chore. But it begins the day with a small accomplishment, restoring order to the chaos of the bed on which we rested the night before.
Our God is a God of order and distinction, separating the day from the night, the land from the sea, male from female.
Read More order, Kingdom of God, renewal