Grains of Sand

Google Images If it were anyone else but God, we’d suspect him of being self-absorbed. As we begin Exodus 6, God speaks to Moses and makes a series of claims and promises that ought to have silenced the self-doubt of our not-so-intrepid leader of the fledgling nation of Israel. If you read Exodus 6:1-8, God uses the “I” eighteen times (depending on the version you are reading). “ I am the Lord ” He says, and then goes on to tell Moses what He is going to do. Now Moses has been in a funk because Pharaoh won’t listen to him, and the Israelites are angry with him because their work load has increased due to his “intervention” with the Pharaoh on their behalf. But notice that Moses himself doesn’t listen too well—or should we say that he may be listening but he is not hearing. After all God claims and promises, what is Moses’ focus? “ But Moses said to the Lord, ‘If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips '” (6:12). Th...

Google Images It’s never what you expect. The women went to the tomb early that morning. The body of Jesus had been hurriedly, though lovingly, placed there. Joseph and Nicodemus hadn’t had a lot of time to plan a funeral since the Sabbath was approaching when Jesus died and they had to get the work done quickly so that they would not be in violation of Jewish law. The women hoped to be able to add more spices to the grave clothes, though they wondered how they could do that with the stone rolled over the entrance. Perhaps the guards would take pity on them and help them with that task. But by the time they got there, everything had changed. The stone was moved. The body was gone. An angel stood guard. “ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said ” (Matthew 28:6a). They were instructed to go and tell the disciples what they had witnessed and heard and then to go to Galilee to see Him. According to both Mark and Luke the disciples didn’t believe them even though Jesus...

Google Images It’s the oddest encounter. Some men bring a paralyzed friend to Jesus (Matthew 9:1-8). We assume that they have brought him because they want Jesus to make him walk again. I say “assume” because, even though it turns out the Jesus does heal the paralytic, something else happens in between that might indicate that something other than physical healing was on their minds. “ Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, ‘Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven’ ” (vs. 2). From what we have recorded for us in Scripture, when the sick came to Jesus He simply healed them. But this case is different. It wasn’t until accused of blasphemy by the teachers of the law who were watching Him that Jesus physically healed the man on the mat. It seems that He did so to prove a point—that the One who could physically heal also had the authority to spiritually heal. The man on the mat is almost incidental! But what about the man...