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I’ve been keeping up with the reading but my blogging has been a bit intermittent in Blogging Through the Gospels!

While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”
Matthew 17:5

This description echoes what happened at Jesus’ baptism. At that time, a voice came from heaven saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Throughout Jesus’s life, God gave evidence to man that He was well pleased with His Son.

I take this to mean that we are to both hear Him (as the Father commanded) and act like Him. Everything Jesus did was approved of by His Father. They acted as one.

Father, please help me to be like You. Like Your Son. Thank You for sending Jesus as an example of what You are like. Please guide me today, tomorrow, and after that. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

If you want to join us in the reading, please visit today’s devotional guide and jump right in!

For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.
Matthew 12:8

I had plans to write a fancy blog post about the Sabbath but right now I just have thankfulness in my heart. No grandiose thoughts, only a heartfelt thankfulness for being blessed with the Sabbath.

My husband worked some crazy hours this week. On Wednesday night, he was up until 1AM. Thursday night, he wasn’t finished with work until 3:30AM. We are tired. I don’t stay up quite that late, but I stay up as late as possible to keep him company. We try to sleep in as much as possible but the cats start bugging around 5AM.

So, when Friday night comes around, we are usually exhausted but ecstatic that Sabbath has arrived. Last night we collapsed into bed at 8 and slept for 12 hours.

Anyways, I am really having a hard time putting thoughts together. I said all of that to say that I am so glad that the Sabbath did not end with Christ’s death. We still have a weekly rest day, a day to spend in communion with God. We need the Sabbath every week. Christ knew we would need a day to recuperate and spend with Him. It was a huge gift to mankind and I am so grateful for it.

In my quest to learn more about God, I am finding more and more texts that I want to come back and study. I need to start a list! Right now I am trying to adhere to the reading schedule rather than diving into cross references and jumping ahead.

Today’s challenging verse

All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to who the Son wills to reveal Him.
Matthew 11:27

There are several jewels in this verse. Jesus is given all things by His Father. I’m not sure exactly what “all things” entails but I am sure it is huge. Power. Wisdom. Knowledge. Strength.

I have heard a lot of people say that God the Father and God the Son are almost polar opposites. That Christ is loving, gentle, kind. God the Father is harsh, judgmental, easily angered. And yet, here we see that everything Jesus possesses was given to Him by His Father. Can an unloving God give His Son such gifts?

There is another verse where Jesus says “if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” I believe part of Jesus’ purpose on this earth is to show people what the Father is really like. To overcome people’s perceptions of an overly harsh, judgmental, and angry God.

“…and the one to who the Son wills to reveal Him.” How do we know God the Father? By Christ revealing Him. Yesterday I briefly talked about what God’s will is. One aspect of Christ’s will is to reveal the Father. I love that thought. Jesus reveals His Father.

Father, thank You for sending Christ to this earth to witness about You. Please help me to better understand You, to come to know you more. Thank you for being such a wonderful God. Amen.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this text?

This is a really hard text for me but it’s a topic I need to continue studying.

Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.
Matthew 10:29

My Bible has a footnote that says that a copper coin, the cost of two sparrows, is only 1/16 of a day’s wage. Their value is so low and yet God knows everything that happens in their lives. netBible has a footnote on this verse that says the sparrow does not fall “to the ground without the knowledge and consent of your Father.” It goes on to show that the Greek word for apart means “without one’s will or intervention.”

This text shows that God cares about the little things. Everything happens with God’s knowledge and consent. Does that mean God causes the bad things? I don’t believe so. God allows the bad things in my life but He is by my side the entire time. God doesn’t prevent the hard things; in fact, sometimes He sends us to deal with hard things (see verse 16). But even when we fall, when we struggle, God knows about it. He doesn’t leave us to deal with it alone.

Lord, thank You for sharing hard truths with me. Please open my heart so that I can accept them. Facing difficulties is hard and I often shy away from them. But You are in control and I know You are always with me. Thank you! Amen.

I am blogging through the Gospels. Would you like to join me? You can jump in at any time! Here is this week’s reading schedule.

But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
Matthew 9:36

The people were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. It sounds like it could be describing our world today. Jesus looked at the people and was moved with compassion. I love that phrase. “He was moved with compassion.” My God is a God of compassion.

Thank You, Father, for caring for me. Thank You for being compassionate. Thank You for not looking on me when I am weary and scattered and judging my lack of faith. Thank You for having compassion on me instead! Please help me to turn to You when I am tired instead of feeling lost. Amen.

… and yet He still cares about the individual.

But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
Matthew 8:26, 27

If I am with Jesus, I have no need to be afraid. He is powerful, controlling even the winds and the sea. This is the same God that is willing and able to cleanse a Centurion’s servant simply because the Centurion had faith in Him (vs 13).

Today’s reading reminds me of a song I sung as a child.

My God is so great, so strong and so mighty
There’s nothing my God cannot do
My God is so great, so strong and so mighty
There’s nothing my God cannot do
The mountains are His
The rivers are His
The skies are His handiworks too
My God is so great, so strong and so mighty
There’s nothing my God cannot do
Father, help me to remember that You are in control. Thank You for caring about the big stuff and the little stuff! Thank You for displaying Your power and letting me see how big and powerful You are. Please be with me today and help me to be afraid of nothing, as You are here with me. Amen!