This was the gospel reading last Sunday. This was one that I thought about and at first didn't see the signifcance in the story. In this verse Jesus asks his disciple" Who do people say that the Son of Man is? They give various answers. Then he said to them "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." And Jessus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it."
Our Pastor's sermon pointed out that Simon Peter's answer "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." made in public could have put him in danger yet he said it anyway. In those days emporers referred to themselves as Gods. To say that Jesus was a Son of God would have been interpreted as him saying Jesus was of the ruling class. This would have really threatened their ego and their power. Simon Peter could have been arrested for honest answer. Simon Peter showed great faith in proclaiming Jesus as the Son of the living God. And Jesus was saying he will build his church on this rock of great faith. I love that he goes on to say "the Gates of Hades will not prevail against it" To me it's a promise that if we have faith, Hades can not prevail against us. I'm still not totally sure about the last part of the scripture that refers to the the keys of heaven. From my research it seems to be Jesus giving authority to Peter to act in his behalf. Because of his faith he is a trusted servant of God. He is being given the responsibility and power to lead/teach according to the wisdom of Jesus and the Father. Jesus is showing he has great faith in Peter. This scripture came up in my meditation the other day. I thought about the significance of Simon Peter's answer not coming from flesh and blood but was revealed by the Father in heaven. His response was like intuition....knowing that this was the truth, the right answer, without being told. It seems to me that this thing we call intuition, our inner knowing, could just be the Father in heaven whispering in our ear. And when we follow our intution, even when we think it's crazy, it is a demonsration of our faith. I remember Joyce Meyers talking about the day she heard God talking to her. She was just doing everyday tasks when she was told she had a mission. Of course she thought this was crazy. She wasn't qualified to preach. But she had faith that this message, this inner voice, was speaking the truth. I am so glad she followed that voice; having faith in the message and faith that she could do it with God's help. I love her style and find her teachings inspirational and relvent to everyday life. She is helping so many people. Especially those that aren't comfortable in a standard, more formal. church setting. I think our dreams are also whispers from God. When we have a strong desire to create something, a goal we would love to acheive, this may be our opportunity to show our faith in God. Trust in his whisper and have faith he has blessed us with the skills, knowledge, ability and talents needed for the job. Take another look at the dream you keep shoving aside. How could it change your life? How could it change someone else's life? How amazing would it be to finally make it happen? God believes in you. Have faith in his guidance. Faith and belief make all things possible. If you would like to hear the sermon Rev Lauren Cain gave on this scripture you can view it on Grace Lutheran Church of Pottstown's Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/GLCPottstown
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I found this to be an interesting scripture. There's a lot happening here. Let's start with the way Jesus responed to this womana plea for help. She is shouting, "Have mercy on me Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon." First he ignores her. But the woman persists. Then he says to the deciples, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel". The women was a Canaanite. The Canannite's were definately not of the House of Israel.
The woman heard what he said, but, she did not give up and go away. She came and knealt before him saying, "Lord, help me". Jesus did not offer to help her, nor did he respond with any compassion. He says, "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." Now that's really harsh. However, in this time period many considered the Canaantites to be an inferior people. So Jesus's response would not have been surprising. But that is not an excuse. His response was pretty mean way to treat someone asking for help. Maybe he was just emphasizing the point that the people of Israel were his priority. As our pastor pointed out in her sermon, his response is not even close to what we would expect from Jesus. I can feel a little empathy for Jesus. He had just healed a bunch of people and defended his deciples and his traditions from the outraged Pharisees and scribes who had come to question and discredit him. The man must have been exhausted. We all have experienced a time when somebody ask us to do something, we are tired and cranky so the words that escape our mouths are harsh. But this is Jesus! We put him on a pedestal. He is the Son of God! We expect a lot more from him. Now wait a minute.....Let's ease up on the judgment.... Remember....Jesus was also human. Jesus was also being true to his mission. He stated the facts. His purpose was to save the people of the House of Israel. If he were to help an outsider, that would take his time and attention away from the many people he was sent to help. So....with that mission in mind he did not feel obligated to help this woman. After receiving such a cold repsonse many would just walk away disappointed; maybe even disgruntled. Not this Canaantie woman! She was determined to get help for her daughter. She had faith that Jesus was the answer! She was persistent! She didn't let Jesus off the hook. She says "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." She humbled herself. Her response, her persistance and her faith, caused Jesus to rethink his position ; Maybe even re-think his mission. He realized this woman was determined to find help for her daugher. She believed Jesus was the only one that could help her. She had faith in him, the Son of God. So he answered her! Jesus says to the Canaanite woman, "Women, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish". And her daughter was healed instantly, I love listening to sermons that add some history and real life context to the scriptures. As I listen I begin to see how the lesson from the scriptures can be applied to my life; To everyone's lives. This lesson made me think about the times I was harsh with someone because I was tired or busy. It made me want to do better. Words do hurt people and in more ways then we know at the time we say them. It made me think about all of the judgement in this world. The women was an outsider; considered inferior. Nobody is inferior. Everyone deserves to be seen. The most inspiring part of this story is the woman's faith and determination. She had her own mission. That mission was to get help for her daughter. She gave it everything she had and her persistance paid off. I admire this Canaanite woman with faith. I want to be more like her ..... commited, determined, persistent and having faith. Holding the belief that anything is possible. If you would like to hear the sermon Rev Lauren Cain gave on this scripture you can view it on Grace Lutheran Church of Pottstown's Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/GLCPottstown is John 6: 1-15 The story of the boy with 5 loaves and 2 fish.
I helped out in Sunday School this morning. It was a fun time with the little ones. The message for our Sunday School class was about sharing. It was about the miricle of Jesus feeding so many people with just 5 loaves and 2 fish. This is a pre-school class and learning about Jesus and sharing are great lessons for our children to learn. I though about this bible story. It's a well know story. One I never really thought about. But I was curious. So when I got home I decided to google the story. I was looking for pther message or lessons from the story of the boy who shared his lunch. This young boy stepped up and did his part. He gave what he could. He probably thought it was not enough but he gave all he had. Jesus took this boys gift, blessed it and shared it with the crowd. Nobody went hungry and there was more than enough for the crowd to eat. The boy's small gift was more than enough. As I read the various articles about this story, it made me think about the lessons from the Own Your Future Challenge hat I particpated in this week. I thought about sharing our gifts. We may feel what we have is insignifican; it's not enough; it will have little or no impact. The boy may have felt that way about is gift of 5 small loaves and 2 fish. It probably seemed like not enough but he gave it anyway. This story shows that what we bring to the table is important. We need to share our gifts and talents even when we feel they are not enough. You never know how God will use your gift and what mpact it will have on the lives of others. You never know who needs what you have to share. You may be surprised by how many people you can help with the gift that you don't think is good enough. Share your gifts and have faith that your gift will make a difference to someone. Does the Book of Revelation Predict the Future? With all the crazy stuff that has been happening in our world, it feels like the whole world has gone mad! This craziness is why I was inspired to write about the book of Revelation. I have seen numerous posts referring to Revelation and the end time. Many think we are in that time right now. I get it....It is easy to think that the chaos of our present world is the very thing John's visions "predict" in Revelation. But does Revelation really predict the future?
I am certainly not an expert when it comes to the bible, but lucky for me, Our Pastor is pretty good. I have been attending a bible study group led by our interim pastor. When the Covid stuff started, one of our members was concerned that this was the end time that Revelation talks about. Pastor Christian said he did not get the feeling that we should be concerned that the end was near. Since there have been many plagues throughout history, he didn't think this pandemic was much different. But he did ask if we would like to study the Book of Revelation. What a great idea! I would love to understand the mystery of the book of Revelation. An Apocalyptic Prophecy The last book of the bible is of the apocalyptic genre. In Greek apocalypse means "lifting the veil" or revelation. The book of Revelation is "lifting the veil" or revealing, divine messages to John so he can relate them to the seven churches in the Roman province of Asia. Let me start by saying Revelation is a very confusing and scary book. It's a tough read. It is important to understand that Revelation is of the apocalyptic genre. It uses highly symbolic visions to reveal events that will take place. John's visions are cryptic and can be very frightening. This type of writing does get the readers attention and makes for a more captivating read. Captivating the readers attention may be the best way to get the reader to pay attention, realize the importance of the message and take action. Are John's visions a continuous history of the church? Are they a template that can be applied to any time in history? Can we use his writings to be aware of past events and use them to truly see what is happening in our world today? There are so many events, Past and Present that can be tied to visions in Revelation. Were they meant to warn the existing churches of event that were happening at that time? It may seems that way since Jesus directed John to send his writing to the seven churches. Was the point of the text to inspire Christians to have faith in trying times? Do they represent the constant struggle between good and evil? Each vision seems to represent evil forces, even when they are disguised as typical behaviors or events in society. Are his visions a prediction of what is yet to come..... The end days in the future that will lead to Christ's return? Many of the visions demonstrate the need for faith and the promise that God is with us in difficult times. Four method of interpreting Revelation I was flipping through radios stations the other day and I heard a man talking about Revelation. Yet another reason I was inspired to write this. This book seems to be grabbing my attention lately. His talk was about the different ways people interpret the meaning of this book. 1.Some interpret the book as a historical view of the church's history from the beginning to the coming or Christ. In the "historicist" view, the visions are describing actual historic events, nations or people throughout time. Some interpret each chapter as a time in church history. However, many relate the visions in Revelation to their current time in history. For example, the reformers would say the Roman papacy was the anti-Christ with it's false doctrines and deceptions. 2.A second method says the visions represent things that happened during the time of the author. This "preterist" method supports the idea that the prophecies have been fulfilled and represent what was happening in the churches during the first century. The full preterist view is that Jesus's return to earth was a spiritual return not a physical return. Since John is describing current events, it is written in code to hide the criticism of the Roman government. For example, the state/government's demand that people worship the emperors was in conflict with church law. 3.A third method sees these visions as the ongoing struggle between good and evil in the church until the time of Christ's return. This "idealist" method of interpreting Revelation does not tie the visions to any specific events in history or in the future. They are poetry and symbolism...remember it's written in the style of the apocalyptic genre. The book is just showing the struggle with Satan which continues through time until the second coming. The book of Revelation assures us that God will conquer evil and make things right. 4.Then there is the forth "futurist" method which says these visions represent the future. They are things to come immediately before Christ's second coming. Does this book of the Bible predict the End Days? So do the visions represent history or are they a prediction of the end time? Are the end days going to be like a horror movie? It's really hard to say. I know you read all this for the answer. When you read and interpret the symbols, images and text, there are so many discrepancies that show up when you try to fit it into any of the four methods of interpreting Revelation. I don't think any one method fully explains the Book of Revelation. I think it is a combination of the four methods. In order to form your own opinion, research is necessary to interpret the crazy visions of Revelation. I found some bible study and commentary sources on line that were helpful. I am grateful for our church bible study. Our pastor has such a great knowledge of history and the bible. He is also a great teacher! He is able to take the confusing text, relate it to what was happening in the world at that time (history), clarify the biblical meaning of words used in the text, reference text from the gospels of the old testament that use the same or similar language and imagery and somehow it starts to make sense to me. I have had so many AH-HA moments during our bible study. I will be posting more about the book of Revelation. Our journey through the Book of Revelations has only just begun but my biggest take is this subject.....No matter what crazy, scary or heartbreaking events may happen in life......always, always always keep your faith. Jesus loves you and he will always be there for you. And all will be well (made right) in the end. |
AuthorKathy Kissinger is very focused on helping others get back to a more aligned life as their true self. Coaching through life's transitions is her specialty. Archives
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