Shared Blog

1. The "expert" Pharisees failed to recognise Jesus as the long awaited Messiah.
2. Jesus showed the ignorance of the Pharisees about the Scriptures.
3. Jesus' yoke of discipleship was a light burden compared with the Pharisees' oral laws.
4. The Pharisees, experts on keeping the Law, virtually broke all 10 Commandments!

Earlier we saw John the Baptist seeking confirmation about who Jesus was.  We noted that John had not seen any of the judgment that is foretold about the Messiah.  In this passage we certainly see Jesus giving judgment on the unbelieving Galilean cities. 

The people had the preconceived racially proud views of how God would send the Messiah to raise up Israel over other nations. Their hard hearts could not accept a Messiah who did not fit in with their view of how the Messiah should act. He should dance to their tune.

Jesus makes it clear that we must always confess Christ as denying him may have eternal consequences. But it is more than confessing Christ with our words. We must confess Christ with our lives, our deeds, our time and our priorities.

We observed that Jesus included among his unusual group, rough unlearned fishermen, a despised tax collector, an outlaw zealot and even a man, who would betray him

Jesus was looking for their declaration of faith in him, the very means of their healing; eg v.22 “your faith has made you well.”

Jesus was doing something new with his teaching, healing and atonement of sin. The Old Testament prophesied about this.

But Jesus made the cost of discipleship clear, that such worldly expectations would hit a brick wall.

The Centurion recognized that Jesus had power from God over illness and demons. Just as the centurion could command authority over men by a mere word, so too could Jesus exercise authority over illness and demons by a mere word, even over long distances. Jesus was astonished at the centurion's faith.

But when winter came and its banks overflowed with water from the swollen River Jordan, it was a different matter.  Wise builders in this locality would dig down to the underlying bedrock and build their foundations upon that.

Jesus has warned his disciples about the dangers of temptation about choosing their rewards and treasure.  Now he warns them about temptations in their dealings with others and avoid hypocrisy. 

Jesus warned importantly about how to give, pray and fast.  The hypocrite Pharisees were choosing earthly rewards rather than heavenly rewards.

The Lord's Prayer perhaps should be called the disciple's prayer since this was the form of prayer he wished his disciples to use.

Heavenly Father,  We thank you for your great love for us that you sent your precious son, our Lord Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our salvation.  We thank you for his emphatic warning about the real dangers of letting our lives be taken over by the desire for human praise rather than living our lives for you and the reward of eternal life with you.  In Jesus' Name Amen.