Skip to main content

Lent Day 26


Scripture Reading

Matthew 22:41-46


The religious leaders of Jesus' day had been asking him questions in order to trap him in a lie or blasphemy. In this passage the Pharisees are asked a question that every person must answer at some point in their lives. "What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" The Pharisees answered according to what the Jews believed about the lineage of the Messiah. They knew that God had promised David that the Messiah was to be one of David's descendants. Jesus responded to the Pharisee's answer by quoting scripture in which David calls the Messiah (Christ) his Lord. Jesus' question confuses the Pharisees. What Jesus was pointing out and what the Pharisees refused to see was that the Messiah was not only a descendant of David, he was David's Lord. 


The question for each of us is what do we think about the Christ? Are we silent and confused like the Pharisees? Do we acknowledge God with our lips but nothing in our heart testifies that we know him? Can we, like David, call him our Lord? The truth that Jesus is the Christ is a truth that each of us must either accept or reject. After we have acknowledged Jesus as our Lord we must live each day of our live for him. Today Jesus is asking you the same question he asked the Pharisees, "What do you think about the Christ?" 


Prayer: Lord, I confess that Jesus is the Christ, the long awaited Messiah. I believe that he is your son, a descendant of David, and David's Lord, as he is my Lord. May my life reflect the Lordship of Jesus today and everyday. Amen.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Lent Day 43

Scripture Reading Matthew 26:14-25 Have you ever betrayed someone? Betrayal...even the word evokes horrible images. Betrayal can take the form of unfaithfulness to a spouse or love one, lying or telling partial truth. It can take many different forms. Have you ever spoken cruelly about someone behind their back or have you chosen to not stand up for someone who is the punch line of an ugly joke? Have you ever broken a promise to a friend or family member? I am guilty of all these things. We are quick to cast stones at Judas. Obviously, with good reason, he betrayed Christ into the hands of those who would crucify him. Judas was a part of God's plan for the world's redemption. I have to ask myself, in what ways am I like Judas? What in my life, in words, in heart and in actions, is betraying my devotion and love for God? What am I willing to "sell" my relationship with God in exchange for something else? There is always something that competes for our loyalty to Christ...

Lent Day 32

Scripture Reading Matthew 13:31-32 Jesus loved to use parables to teach people the truth of the kingdom of God. When Jesus taught using parables he was taking an example from the everyday life of his followers and using it to explain something about heaven or what it means to be a Christ follower.  In this very short parable, which is followed by an even shorter one, Jesus compares the Kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed. As Jesus says in the parable, the mustard seed was the smallest seed used by farmers during that time. The amazing thing about it was that it would grow and become quite large. The comparison that Jesus is making is that the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven starts out small but grows into something very large.  Think about it this way, the kingdom of heaven began with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, but through God's plan of redemption through Jesus' death on the cross it has grown to include millions of people throughout the cent...

Lent Day 34

  Scripture Reading Matthew 7:21-27 The kingdom of heaven belongs to those who do the will of God the Father. It's interesting that Jesus says that there will be some who will have done miracles, cast out demons, and preached in his name who will not enter heaven because they didn't have a relationship with God. It seems that there are some who will appear to be followers of Jesus but really aren't. Perhaps it is also possible that there are some who by most standards one would not consider a Christian but who are actually busy doing the will of God and thus will be allowed entrance into the kingdom of heaven. It is not left up to us to make those decisions, our responsibility is to be doing God's will as we serve him on this earth.  Jesus illustrates his point by telling the story of the wise and foolish builders. Do you remember the children's song about this story? "The wise man built his house upon the rock/the foolish man built his house upon the sand/the ...