ReDiscovering God

Jesus rests in the tomb and then early Sunday morning the women are coming to the tomb to finish the job of embalming His body when there is a great earthquake, the guards faint and an angel tells them Jesus is not here, go tell the disciples to meet him in Galilee. As they are leaving Jesus meets them and they fall at his feet, clinging to Him. The guards are bribed to say they had fallen asleep...

Jesus is turned over to the soldiers to be crucified. They treat Him terribly, mocking, and hitting Him. He is then taken to be crucified. The taunt to 'save yourself' comes at Him from every side. After responding to the criminal at His side assuring him that he would be with Jesus in paradise, Jesus cries out to the Father "why have you forsaken me?" It is evident that Jesus felt forsaken by His...

In Chapter 27 of Matthew Judas realizes he has made a terrible mistake in betraying Jesus. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that Jesus would allow himself to be arrested. He comes in to the leaders and confesses his wrong doing and makes restitution as best he could by returning the money they had paid him to betray Jesus. And Yet the guilt and shame is so overwhelming he goes out and take...

Jesus predicts his Betrayal again as they are at the Last Supper. It is so amazing that even though Jesus knows Judas' heart He still washes his feet and includes him in this last meal together. It is just a matter of hours and Judas will betray Jesus. Jesus then predicts Peter's denial of Jesus. And then Matthew takes us with them into the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prays with the Father fo...

As we unpack this chapter we note that Jesus references his imminent death seven times in this chapter and three times in the book of Matthew and yet because it went against their narrative they miss this entirely and his death catches them totally by surprise. One wonders what Jesus could have shared with them if they had come to believe what he was wanting them to understand. Then in Bethany Jes...

In Matthew 25 Jesus tells three parables as the cross is looming in his consciousness. Each one demonstrates the primary ethos of the Kingdom of Heaven is mercy. We discover there is a very close relationship between the oil referred to in the parable of the ten girls and mercy. Then in the three servants we discover that one of them saw his master as being without mercy which illustrated that we...

In Matthew 24 Jesus responds to the disciples who want him to notice the beauty of the temple buildings and he responds with the news that all these buildings will soon be completely demolished. He then sites many things that will happen before the destruction of Jerusalem and/or His Second Coming. We have mistakenly taken these signs to urge his followers to be faithful because his return is clos...

In Matthew 23 Jesus exposes these church leaders for who they really are by using some very harsh words, calling them hypocrites, blind guides, whitewashed tombs, snakes, and sons of vipers. However, it is essential that we understand the tone of Jesus voice. As he concludes he reveals his heart. He is like a mother hen wanting to save her chicks from the coming destruction. He is calling out to t...

In this 22nd Chapter of Matthew the Pharisees try to corner Jesus regarding taxes, the Resurrection and then the Commandments. It was a challenge for Jesus to always be on the lookout for the traps they would set for Him. Jesus was quick with His responses that left them with nothing to say. Yet He wants us to follow his example of loving as he loved is more important than being quick witted. The...

In this episode of ReDiscovering God Matthew includes the story Jesus told of the Wedding Banquet. Jesus is clear that everyone is invited to the wedding banquet and in the end only those who didn't really want to be there were not there. It seems evident that the man who was there without the wedding garment was perhaps feeling as he looked around at the people who were in attendance were nor his...

In the second half of Matthew 21 the authority of Jesus is challenged by the religious people who fled from the temple when Jesus arrived and sent everyone out that had made it a market rather than house of prayer. Jesus then tells the story of the two sons who the father asked to work in the vineyard. Jesus is illustrating the first shall be last and the last first yet again. The tax collectors a...

Jesus now enters Jerusalem riding on a donkey. The contrast is significant of the Roman Kings that ride in on a war horse and now the Messiah - King of the Jews comes riding on a donkey, his feet no doubt almost dragging in the dust. Everyone flocks out to see and welcome Him into the city. They expect him to set up an earthly kingdom and conquer the Romans. But he instead goes to the temple and d...

The Parable of the Vineyard workers is an amazing example of the lavish unfairness of God. In this parable Jesus includes the Gentiles which was unthinkable for the Jews. This story takes on increased importance when we remember it is following what Jesus taught in chapter 19 regarding Peter's question, "What will we get, we have left everything?" This story is about rewards rather than the Gift o...

In an attempt to trap Jesus the Pharisees ask Him a question about divorce. Jesus responds and tells them that divorce was never part of God's plan but only allowed because of the hardness of their hearts. God seems to specialize in concessions because there are many times He works with us where were are instead of insisting we conform to the high goal He has for us. We note that the situation for...

The story of the Unforgiving Debtor has been misunderstood by many forever. Floyd joins us and expands our understanding of this passage that Jesus told and at the same time the teaching Jesus made regarding forgiveness. Don' t miss this amazing discovery as we Rediscover this Awesome God!

We begin this chapter with a discussion as to who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus brings in a child and tells them they must become as little children. Then the importance of a person that has wondered away is illustrated by the story of the lost sheep who Jesus searches for while the flock is left in the open fields. He is making the point that He will risk the safety of the flock...

In chapter 17 Jesus follows his declaration of six days earlier when he told them of his impending death, with this trip up the mountain to meet with God. Three disciples are accompanying him as he is suddenly transformed with God's presence. The disciples see Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah and Peter exclaims his willingness to build three shelters for them. In doing so he reveals his idea th...

Jesus predicts that He would die and be raised again but the disciples just could not understand such a concept. They knew the Messiah would live forever. The Bible told them so. As a result they were not prepared for what Jesus was telling them would happen. No one expected Jesus to die and once He die no one expected He would be raised again. Peter even protested the idea and Jesus called him an...

In Chapter 16 Jesus intentionally takes the disciples to Caesarea Philippi where he asks then the important question: Who do you say that I am? Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit declares that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus declares that He will give the keys to the kingdom of Heaven. We take a close look at what that actually means. The pdf for this episode is available at www.rediscoveringgod.ca...

Jesus addresses bad traditions that the Jews were very careful about following and then proceeds to give a case study in how to show mercy at the expense of tradition by travelling between 30 and 50 miles to the region of Tyre and Sidon where he is met by a woman with a request to heal her daughter who is possessed by a demon. Jesus leads her along to demonstrate to the disciples their thinking. T...

In response to Jesus' teachings, the people of Nazareth question where He gets His power to do miracles and because they know His family and where He is from they refuse to believe in Him. Then John is beheaded and Jesus retreats to find some time alone, only to be followed by a crowd of people. He heals their sick and eventually at the end of the day He feeds some 15 to 20 thousand people. They a...

In Chapter 13 Matthew includes 7 parables of the Kingdom to give us insights into what Jesus' kingdom is like, how it is spread and the tremendous value of the kingdom. It is so great we would sell everything we have to obtain it. We discover the importance of staying curious about new ideas that we hear that at first may seem heretical but upon further understanding and reflection may be good see...

Jesus is asked for a sign and He refers to the life of Jonah as a sign of his authority. As we unpack this idea we realize how fitting the life of Jonah is for the life of Jesus. Jonah takes responsibility for the sailors and offers his life for their salvation. But the fish that had swallowed him can't keep him in and throws him up on land after three days. Likewise Jesus takes responsibility for...

Matthew describes Jesus as being above the regulations about the Sabbath as he defends his disciples against the criticisms of the Pharisees. Then Jesus heals on the Sabbath revealing the heart of the pharisees who had placed the care of animals over that of people. After Jesus healed and cast a demon out of a man the people exclaim he must be the messiah. Jesus had just performed one of the four...

In Matthew 11 John sends some disciples to Jesus bringing a message from prison. Are you the One or should we keep looking for someone else? No doubt John is questioning why Jesus has not delivered him from the grasp of the Romans. Jesus declares that John is the greatest of the Prophets and assures him that the Gospel is being preached to the poor and sited many miracles that would assure John th...