July 22 (Matthew 16:11)
How is it that you fail to understand that
I did not speak about bread? (ESV)
One day Jesus
used a metaphor and told His disciples to watch out for the yeast of the
Pharisees. The disciples immediately
began arguing with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. “I told you to bring bread!” “What, you didn’t bring it?” “I thought John picked it up before we left
for the day.”
Can’t you just
see the incredulous look on Jesus’s face as He snorts and shakes His head? “You’ve seen me feed five thousand and then
four thousand people with next to nothing,” He tells them. “How do you not get that I’m not talking
about actual bread?”
Jesus expected His
disciples to know when He was speaking literally and when He was speaking
metaphorically. He expected them to use
their brains. Sometimes the Bible
reports facts, sometimes it records prophetic visions, sometimes it presents poetry,
sometimes it speaks in metaphors. A
reasonable person, that is, one who uses reason, guided by the Holy Spirit, can
usually discern what is going on in a passage and what God is saying. And if not, there are plenty of others who
can help. They are called the body of
Christ, the church. This is not just the
church on the corner, but the body of believers across the world for the past
two thousand years.
God, when I pick up the Bible, I will start with the belief that You are speaking to me. I know that it contains history, but You were not just speaking to people of long ago. With that in mind, I will seek understanding using the intellectual gifts You have given me, my education, and the resources of other Christians, always submitting it all to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. May all of my reading draw me closer to You and equip me for doing Your will. In the name of Jesus, amen.
Copyright © 2018 by Steven R. Perkins
No comments:
Post a Comment
While I welcome comments, even those that disagree with something I have written, I will delete any comment that is profane, vulgar, threatening, or in poor taste.