“Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29 Gentle – The Greek word in Matthew that we translate “meek” or “gentle” is praos. In the gospels, it is only found in Matthew. In classical Greek, the…
“Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29 Learn – The Greeks were famous for their tragic plays. Many of these productions underlie contemporary films and stories. They had a way of capturing the deepest issues…
“Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29 Learn – Do you have a degree in Jesus’ teaching? That’s not the same as a theological education. What’s the difference? The Greek verb manthano implies “an intellectual…
“Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29 Yoke – We think that it is paradoxical that God’s view of freedom is always in the context of being bound to Him. The image of the yoke…
“These things I have spoken to you that you may be kept from stumbling” John 16:1 Stumbling – But we did stumble, didn’t we? That’s the story of our lives. We are no different than those men and women who heard these words in person. They listened but did not understand. Jesus poured out a…
“No longer do I call you slaves; for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends,” John 15:15 Friend – “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sin and grief to bear”. That single verse from the old hymn is frighteningly powerful. Do we really…
“you are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but” Genesis 2:16 Free to eat – What did God have in mind when He made the garden and placed Man in it? Did He expect Man to be a passive recipient of its beauty? No, Man was given work to do. Did He…
“Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3 Theirs – Yesterday we discovered that Hebrew has no direct equivalent for our Greek-based idea of possession. In Hebrew thinking, we are tenants in the house the Lord built. We are stewards, servants and caretakers. Never owners. If this is…
“Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God;” Exodus 6:7 Take – Private ownership is one of the fundamental concepts of Western civilization and capitalism. It is so fundamental to our way of life that threats against it cause widespread panic. We can hardly imagine what life would be…
“But the righteous shall live by his faith” Habakkuk 2:4 Faith – Does faith confuse you? Do you wonder, “What does it mean to live by faith?” “How can I pay the bills by faith?” “How do I make sense of living by faith when my life is consumed with just living?” “Do I…
