“He came to his own and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:12). This brief statement summarizes what we have been reading about Jesus in this chapter in Matthew. Excuses abound but Jesus is not daunted by his unreceptive audiences. He turns to prayer and in these few verses we get a glimpse into his intimacy with the Father. Much of the resistance to his message of the kingdom have come from those who think they know better.
Read More rejection, receptiveness, burden
Psalm 69 is a lament. David is in a place of deep desperation. No human strength is left. Crying has left his throat aching and his sight blurred. He is going down for the last time. Yet, in the face of his enemies, he praises His faithful God. In similar moments of despair many have cried out gut-wrenching prayers for God to save them. We stand in the line of the faith-filled who have called upon the Faithful One.
Read More rejection, desperation, hopeThe stories of those from Samaria is an interesting little thread through the Gospel narrative. The Samaritans and the Jewish people had some pretty significant theological differences. Which is why it would have shocked Jesus’ disciples that he chose a “good” Samaritan as the hero of one of his most famous parables.
Leprosy wasn’t just a chronic and debilitating disease.
Read More rejection, outsider, leprosy, thanksgivingBoy, do we ever need Jesus to help us with our assumptions.
Zacchaeus knew he was a loser. It likely started when he noticed he was always picked last because he was short. So, suffering with “short man syndrome”, he decided to get the upper hand by sticking it to them. And as a chief tax collector, he did. Let them look down on him if they wanted to. He didn’t care and he didn’t need them.
Read More rejection, acceptancePaul and Barnabas travelled into the Roman province of Galatia. The church that they start in Iconium is likely among the churches Paul would later address in his letter to the Galatians. They speak so effectively here that significant numbers of people believe their message about Jesus.
Read More memory, rejection, choice, opposition
When my father died several years ago, it was quite unexpected: he was vacationing with my mother in Jamaica. As it turned out, he died of what was a very treatable condition; but because he received the poorest of treatment in a very low-level hospital he had no chance.
Read More good, Jews, rejection, gentiles