Every Day with Jesus

The Sermon on the Mount (Jesus’ teaching from Matthew 5–7) is variously understood. Some see the commands as ‘impossible’, but valuable as a benchmark. Other see them as indicating what will happen in heaven when we are all perfect. But it seems reasonable to assume that Jesus was addressing His disciples (5:1) and the crowds (7:28) and expecting the words to have meaning for here and now. 

This is one of the most misquoted psalms in the Bible. Many seem to imagine that the hills are somehow a reminder of God, and so looking at the hills is a reminder of who He is. The reality is that for the traveller looking to the hills, is a fearful thing. We might say: ‘I look at the busy, dangerous road.’ 

Have you ever found yourself to be reading a verse one way only for someone to suggest an alternative? Our verse for today is a classic used for Christians who are conscious of messing up. It may be quoted in churches with a liturgical tradition, where ‘confession’ is a part of a typical church service and especially at a communion service. 

It was some forty years ago that I recall a preacher at church talking about a movement of God taking place in Uganda. I remember little of what he said, but the phrase ‘walking in the light’ was evidently very significant. 

The start of John’s letter focuses on his testimony of being with Jesus when He was physically alive. This is in part to counter a notion that was developing in popularity that Jesus was never a physical being. So, the ‘him’ in our verse is Jesus. Of all the things to say that God is, John chooses ‘light’, because he knew this was important for his hearers at this point. 

The Christian church’s track record on looking after women has not generally been great, which is a big surprise given that women were there at the resurrection of Jesus and given the task of proclamation, and women were there at Pentecost being empowered to share. 

There are places in some European countries which remain ‘unfinished’ because then a tax on a finished building doesn’t need to be paid. But, by and large, unfinished building is not a good look and suggests poor planning. 

If you join the army, it will be necessary for you to wear army uniform and obey army rules. If you sign up to an apprenticeship with a plumber, you will need to do the required work to make the grade. If you want to be a disciple of Jesus, you will need to take up your cross and follow Him. 

Anyone in sales knows that there is a tricky balance to be made between offering the product at an enticing price, and showing the customer that the product has high value. With some products, selling it at too low a price will mean it is not valued. Similarly, when asking for people to join something, do you emphasise the challenge and cost or the benefits? 

There is a massive irony to the last part of this verse. Even by the time of Jesus, ‘walking humbly’ was hardly a characteristic of the people of God. 

A policeman stops your car when you are travelling 40mph in a 30mph zone. Justice is being given a speeding ticket, mercy is just being given a warning, and grace is the policeman giving you his theatre tickets…! 

Minor prophets get a bad rep. Most people do not know of them or, when they read them, they are uncertain what they are saying. But the little-known Micah has two verses that most Christians know. 

The homecoming scene has been the finale to many a film: the lost child is reunited with her parents; the broken marriage is resolved; the hero who has won the day and cheated death is brought back into the safety and warmth of the family. 

It is estimated that the ‘observable universe’ is a sphere with a diameter of about 92 billion lightyears and a volume of about 410 nonillion (410 thousand billion, billion, billion) cubic lightyears! 

Preachers are commonly telling congregations that there is a problem with Christians not reading their Bibles. 

The Hebrew writer contrasts the Old Covenant and New: the one spoken to ancestors through prophets versus that spoken to us by God’s Son. He will go on to amplify the wonderful elements of the New Covenant in the epistle, which is clearly written to people with a Jewish background tempted back into Judaism, in part because they would be less likely to be persecuted. 

We might have been tempted to have sent Jesus thousands of years ago, soon after Adam and Eve sinned. But in God’s purposes it was necessary for the pages of the Old Testament to unfold so we would see the failure of humanity to live up to God’s ways even though they had received clear instructions and reminders. 

The writer’s musings on life cause him to start to bring God into the picture (see 2:24), and so he is now reflecting, more helpfully, on seeing things as brought by God, with a series of fourteen couplets which contrast one another, and are perhaps the best-known part of the book. 

Solomon’s reflections in Ecclesiastes cause him to reflect on many areas that seem to be fulfilling. He is especially gloomy about work, finding that for all the short-term benefits, the fruit of what he has done will be left to others who may or may not deserve it. 

Not everything in the Bible is true. What?! Let me qualify that. Some of the statements in the Bible reflect conversations where what is said is not true, and this is especially true in the book of Ecclesiastes. It starts as ‘The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem’, which most agree fits for Solomon, writing probably at the end of his life. 

A student in history might be satisfied to learn about the Elizabethan age, a geographer might be pleased to understand the way a landscape is formed and a physicist how gravity operates. The teaching experience is complete when the student has learned information. Paul was pretty unconcerned whether Timothy had memorised which kings of Israel were good and which were bad or how many of the minor...

The source of information is pretty important. You might be less inclined to trust a newspaper report than a university-peer-reviewed research paper. Instructions on a tin of chemicals have rather more weight than a tweet from an annoyed football fan. We ask, ‘What authority do they have?’ 

As has been pointed out many times, the Bible doesn’t say: train up young people in the way they should go’ (Prov. 22:6), it says train up children . Evidently Timothy’s parents (and grandparents) knew the verse, for he had been taught the Scriptures from infancy. The introductory words on Timothy in the book of Acts (16:1) suggest that it may have been just his mum doing the teaching. 

Those demonstrating expertise in any walk of life have a certain authority when it comes to teaching others: witness the popularity of ‘how to’ books written by experts in the field, and video training courses by master craftsmen and women. This is no less true in spiritual life, and Paul uses it as an exhortation to Timothy to stick with the faith ‘because you know those from whom you have learne...

Whether you are a Christian or not, it seems obligatory to use the words RIP (Rest In Peace) in a text, Tweet or Facebook post when news of the death of a loved one or celebrity is broadcast.