Theme: Peter’s Walk
This week we see how to turn failing faith to robust faith.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 14:22-36
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.
Theme: Peter’s Walk
This week we see how to turn failing faith to robust faith.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 14:22-27
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.
Theme: Peter’s Walk
This week we see how to turn failing faith to robust faith.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 14:28-31
And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came t
Theme: Peter’s Walk
This week we see how to turn failing faith to robust faith.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 14:28-31
And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesu
Theme: Peter’s Walk
This week we see how to turn failing faith to robust faith.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 14:32-36
And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
Theme: Our Foundation
In this week’s lesson we reveal the Rock of the Church.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 16:13-20
“When Jesu
Theme: Our Foundation
In this week’s lesson we reveal the Rock of the Church.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 16: 15-18
“But what about you?” h
Theme: Our Foundation
In this week’s lesson we reveal the Rock of the Church.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 16: 17-20
Jesus re
Theme: Our Foundation
In this week’s lesson we reveal the Rock of the Church.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 16:17-20
“Jesus replied, “Blessed
Theme: Our Foundation
In this week’s lesson we reveal the Rock of the Church.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 16:17-20
“Jesus replied, “Ble
At the end of the preceding chapter John has spoken quite sharply about the need to love, saying, “If a man says, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not seen?” But it is entirely possible that a person might try to escape this demand by asking, “And who is my brother? Just whom precisely am I to love?”
In John’s understanding, the potential child of God is first made alive by God, as a result of which he comes to believe on Christ, pursue righteousness, and love the brethren.
When a birth takes place the individual involved is not born into isolation, nor is he a totally unique individual in the sense that his characteristics and attributes have no connection with those who have gone before. For one thing, he is born into a family and into family relations. For another, he possesses at least some of the characteristics of the one who has engendered him. Spiritually, this means that the child of God exhibits those characteristics about which the letter has been teaching.
The second thing that John is probably thinking of is suggested by this passage. Here he is writing of the new life which Christians have from God and of the resulting love which they bear to Him. Without this life and love the commands of God, even in the form in which Christ gave them, could be burdensome. But now, the life of God within makes obedience to the commands possible, and the love which the Christian has for God and for other Christians makes this obedience desirable.
The third of John’s tests is expressed in these verses as belief. Indeed, it is with this concept that the section both begins and ends (vv. 1, 5); between belief that “Jesus is the Christ” and belief that “Jesus is the Son of God” is found John’s discussion of both love and obedience. The implication is that, just as it is impossible to have love without obedience or obedience without love, so also is it impossible to have either love or obedience without belief in Jesus as the Christ and the Son of God.
It would be a miracle greater than the Jewish crossing of the Jordan or the falling down of the walls of Jericho if Rahab, the Amorite prostitute, knew Latin. This was because Latin didn’t come to Palestine until the Roman conquest, which was about 1000 years after the days in which she lived. But if Rahab had known Latin, Rahab might well have described her situation in Jericho as “Rahab contra mundum,” which means “Rahab against the world.”
Rahab’s story is set in the midst of a greater story, and this greater story is that of the conquest of the land. And, moreover, it’s entwined with another story which is also part of that greater story, and that is the story of the sending of the spies.
Continuing the idea from yesterday’s study, isn’t it striking that in this story of judgment, the first thing is not of judgment, but of an act of mercy as God reaches out to save this pagan woman. It should direct our attention to the mercy of God, in Rahab’s case and in other cases as well.
Do you know that this woman is praised twice in the New Testament for her faith? One of the places in which she is praised for her faith is the great eleventh chapter of Hebrews, which contains a roster of the heroes and heroines of the faith. It says of her there in verse 31, “By faith, the prostitute, Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” It’s a short reference, but it’s a good one. And it’s as long as the references that are given for Jacob, and Joseph, and a number of the others who are mentioned.
I started out by saying that this is a story of God’s mercy, which indeed it is. When the spies arranged to save her life, they said that she was to tie a scarlet cord in her window. That was to mark the house, such that no one would touch it when the Israelites came. It was a powerful symbol of her deliverance.
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