Thursday, November 14, 2013

The Bible Challenge: Day 318

The scriptures read are Amos 5, Psalm 111 and Matthew 13.

Amos 5. God pleads with Israel to seek him and live. Once again, he singles out the mistreatment of the poor as a reason to judge Israel. He hates their religious rites. He wants justice. If he has to be the one to bring it, it will not be pretty.

Psalm 111. I love the close harmony of the women singing this psalm.

Matthew 13. This should be called "The Parable of the Soils." They, not the sower or the seed, are the only things that vary and therefore account for the differences in the harvest. This says that as long as we are planting the seeds, we are not responsible for the response.

The parable of the wheat and the weeds says that God is merciful, which is why he won't weed his fields lest he uproot the good plants as well. He will wait until the end, when it is easy to distinguish between the 2 types of plants and separate them.

Then Jesus speaks of how its not the size of one's faith that is important. Then he talks of the hidden value of the kingdom, such that the wise man will trade everything for it.

Then we get the names of Jesus' brothers and the fact that he had sisters. Sadly, the familiarity of the townspeople bred contempt for Jesus.

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