Then the king said to Zadok,
“Take the ark of God back into the city.
If I find favor in the LORD’s eyes, He will bring me back
and let me see it and His dwelling place again.
But if He says, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ then I am ready;
let Him do to me whatever seems good to Him.”
2 Samuel 15:25
________________
Cryptic this may seem - but I feel a little like David on the run at present, so this was a comfort when I found it during catching-up with the prophet Samuel...
L/T.
25 December, 2011
07 December, 2011
10 v. 28 .. (l'Évangile de Matthieu)
All year I've been plodding through Matthew's gospel, and at times I really do not understand him..
In chapter 10, Jesus sends His disciples out to "the lost sheep of Israel".
They are to preach that "the kingdom of heaven is near", just as He & John the Baptist began.
This preaching is to be accompanied by the same helping miracles Jesus did:
healing the sick, casting out unclean spirits, etc.
THEN..
..in chapter 28, Jesus sends His disciples to "all nations".
They are to go
~ baptising the disciples made in the name of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit;
~ teaching them to obey everything Jesus had commanded.
What is the reason for the differences?
At the risk of being accused of cessationism (although my personal experience of Jesus Christ as Saviour & Lord makes that impossible)
- why, in His second & more global commissioning from ch.28, does Jesus SKIP the part about miraculous doings (cf. ch.10)?
We know, of course, in the days of the early church, there were miracles aplenty. Through Simon Peter and John Zebedee, a lame man is healed at the gate Beautiful (ACTS 3, verses 1-10). The casting-out of a spirit from a slave girl in Macedonia sparks a crowd riot (ACTS 16, verses 16-24). Eutychus, who is picked up dead after falling from a window, comes back to life after Paul hugs him (ACTS 20, verses 7-12).
So it's obviously not as if Jesus didn't intend for His disciples *not* to do these things. Did He just assume they would do these signs/wonders and, therefore, in His ch. 28 commission, He deliberately concentrated on the preaching/teaching command
- because He knew that otherwise this word-focus might take a back-seat?
Why is His emphasis on baptism [presumably for repentance/the forgiveness of sins] and teaching obedience to His commands?
Why not "go and make disciples, baptising..teaching..AND healing.." (etc.)?
This is all conjecture, of course.
But if we want to take God's word seriously, surely these are things we should ponder?
L/T.
In chapter 10, Jesus sends His disciples out to "the lost sheep of Israel".
They are to preach that "the kingdom of heaven is near", just as He & John the Baptist began.
This preaching is to be accompanied by the same helping miracles Jesus did:
healing the sick, casting out unclean spirits, etc.
THEN..
..in chapter 28, Jesus sends His disciples to "all nations".
They are to go
~ baptising the disciples made in the name of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit;
~ teaching them to obey everything Jesus had commanded.
What is the reason for the differences?
At the risk of being accused of cessationism (although my personal experience of Jesus Christ as Saviour & Lord makes that impossible)
- why, in His second & more global commissioning from ch.28, does Jesus SKIP the part about miraculous doings (cf. ch.10)?
We know, of course, in the days of the early church, there were miracles aplenty. Through Simon Peter and John Zebedee, a lame man is healed at the gate Beautiful (ACTS 3, verses 1-10). The casting-out of a spirit from a slave girl in Macedonia sparks a crowd riot (ACTS 16, verses 16-24). Eutychus, who is picked up dead after falling from a window, comes back to life after Paul hugs him (ACTS 20, verses 7-12).
So it's obviously not as if Jesus didn't intend for His disciples *not* to do these things. Did He just assume they would do these signs/wonders and, therefore, in His ch. 28 commission, He deliberately concentrated on the preaching/teaching command
- because He knew that otherwise this word-focus might take a back-seat?
Why is His emphasis on baptism [presumably for repentance/the forgiveness of sins] and teaching obedience to His commands?
Why not "go and make disciples, baptising..teaching..AND healing.." (etc.)?
This is all conjecture, of course.
But if we want to take God's word seriously, surely these are things we should ponder?
L/T.
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