In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus’ message may strike us as difficult to understand. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus’ message is one of peace and Christian brotherhood, of reconciliation with our fellow human beings and with God, whom we are asked to call Father. Today Jesus speaks of variance and contradiction. Jesus tells us that he has not come to bring peace, but a sword [ … ]
Daily Bible Verses | The Gospel Of Saint Matthew
Daily Bible Verses | Christian Mission | Jesus Instructs His Disciples | Faith And Christian Prayer | King James Audio Bible
No matter how great the world’s lies may be, we are assured by Jesus, truth will triumph. For this reason, these verses of the Gospel of Matthew teach us, we need not be afraid, though the going can get very rough indeed, and our Christian faith will be tested, our love always coerced to turn into the opposite of love, and so we need always the more love to counter this threat [ … ]
Daily Bible Verses | Speak The Name Of Jesus | The Mission | Jesus Reassures The Apostles | Challenges To Come
‘I speak the name of Jesus.’ As the Discourse of the Mission continues, Jesus prepares his disciples to face danger. They are to be as sheep. In this way again they are to imitate Jesus – to act in persona of Jesus – as they preach and heal, as they prefigure the saving sacrifice upon the cross. There is to be contention, contradiction [ … ]
Daily Bible Verses | The Discourse Of The Mission | Jesus Instructs His Disciples | Power Of Exorcism | Trust In God
The Discourse of the Mission continues as Jesus mandates his disciples to preach the good news that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. This is a wonderful, new message. For other Jews, the Kingdom to come remained far in the future. It would come after they had done their own part. The Pharisees believed that the Kingdom would come once the Law were perfectly observed, the Essenes when the country would have purified itself. For Jesus, the time is already fulfilled. Independently of any good works the people could do, the Kingdom of God is here already, as a completely gratuitous gift of God. What is now required is to teach the people to perceive this fact. This will mean to look at the world in a new way [ … ]
Daily Bible Verses | Discourse Of The Mission | Power Of Exorcism | Our Neighbours | The Apostles Are Sent
Jesus’ great Discourse of the Mission begins in these Gospel verses with the calling together of the twelve disciples and the summative naming of the twelve. These twelve apostles are mandated; they are sent to establish the first foundations of Christ’s Church, and they are empowered by Jesus to exorcise unclean spirits and to heal the sick, to perform the very miracles of Jesus as a sign that the Kingdom of God has come. Through exorcism, the apostles are called to an imitation of Christ, and so in this way to establish the Christian community [ … ]
Daily Bible Verses | An Exorcism | The Dumb Devil Cast Out | Jesus As Exorcist And Healer | Sheep Without A Shepherd
Matthew’s account of Jesus’ healing of the dumb man through exorcism, by casting out the demon possessing him, is brief, and in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus does not respond to the Pharisees’ malicious accusation, as if to say, their evil is evident and does not merit response. Rather, Jesus pours immense effort into his Galilean ministry, teaching and healing, and bringing the people to God [ … ]
Daily Bible Verses | Faith Heals | Jesus’ Miracles | The Raising Of Jairus’ Daughter And Curing Of The Woman With The Haemorrhage | Prayer Healing
The two miracles, which occur almost simultaneously in these Gospel verses, shed light upon one another, as Jesus brings two people back to their communities, the woman with the issue of blood, a haemorrhage, because this would render her impure and so outcast, and the girl from death. Two aspects of the Law regarding purity are juxtaposed, and with them sin and death [ … ]
Daily Bible Verses | Jesus Calls Matthew, A Publican, A Sinner, A Tax Collector | Sinners Called To Repentance
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus preached a message of love and acceptance. He called everyone to a new way of being, which would be true to God’s will. As the narrative account continues from chapter eight through nine, we see Jesus putting into practice the lessons he has taught. Jesus accepts lepers, foreigners, women, the sick, the possessed, paralytics, the unclean, and now a tax collector [ … ]
Daily Bible Verses | Jesus Heals A Paralyzed Man | Prayer And Blasphemy | Lead The Sinner To God | Miracle Healing
For the Jewish people, the sickness of the paralyzed man was a symptom of underlying sin. It was a punishment, a consequence of one’s own moral evil or of one’s parents. We can imagine the social consequences for the paralyzed man, in the light of the various exclusions which were applied to disabled people [ … ]
Daily Bible Verses | The Demoniacs In The Country Of The Gergesenes | Jesus’ Power Over Satan | Miracle Prayer Healing
Jesus has crossed the Sea of Galilee, entering into Gentile territory. The King James Version speaks of the country of the Gergesenes, however ‘Gaderenes’ or ‘Gerasenes’ are more usually spoken of in other ancient sources. The two main towns in the area were Gerasa and Gadara. The events reported in these Gospel verses could have happened close to both of the towns [ … ]
Daily Bible Verses Advent & Christmas | Epiphany Of The Lord | 3 Kings | Three Wise Men | King James Audio Bible KJV
The Epiphany is an extraordinary event in the Bible, whereby we hear of the gift and revelation of Christ to all mankind. The three wise men have long studied the heavens; they have been looking for signs, for truths to guide them. They are of the east, of the orient, not of the Jewish people. They have seen the new star that is there to signify Christ and have come on pilgrimage to seek, to find and to worship Jesus [ … ]
Parable Of The Two Sons | Parables Of Jesus | King James Audio Bible KJV | Daily Verses | Advent
The parable of the two sons is clearly, and explicitly, an attack by Jesus upon the chief priests and the elders of the Jewish people. In the parable, Jesus places before the Jewish authorities an astonishingly blunt analogy of their rejection of God the Father and of Jesus. There is no room for quibbling or intellectual sophistry here: one son does what his father wants; the other says he will and then doesn’t [ … ]
Daily Bible Verses | The Greatest Commandment | Jesus And Pharisees | Jewish Law | Love God | Love Thy Neighbour | King James Audio Bible KJV
In Jerusalem, Jesus teaches in the Temple and is tested by the Sadducees and the Pharisees. These are tests concerning Scripture, concerning the Law, and concerning Jesus’ identity, i.e. concerning Jesus being God the Son [ … ]
Parables Of The Hidden Treasure, The Pearl, And The Net | King James Audio Bible | KJV | Love Revealed
The three parables follow one upon another, and they are addressed in Matthew’s Gospel to the disciples, rather than to the crowds. The parables of the hidden treasure and of the pearl clearly develop upon the same theme, and then the parable of the net follows and expands upon their meaning, magnifying it, while also relating to the disciples’ apostolic mission. We are taught through each parable of the supreme value of the gift of grace and of the Kingdom, and also of judgement, the rightful valuing of our gifts such that we live in accordance with God’s will [ … ]
Daily Bible Verses | Jesus Faith And Trust In God | Jesus Calming Of The Storm | Scriptures
The miracle of the calming of the storm made a powerful impression on Jesus’ disciples. It is recounted by all three synoptic Gospels. In each Gospel, Jesus warns his disciples of the troubles to come. Jesus tells his disciples that to be Christians is going to be difficult, hard work, at times fatal [ … ]
Preparations For The Last Supper | Judas’ Treachery Announced
In these Bible verses, Matthew recounts the betrayal by Judas in a slightly different way from yesterday’s reading from the Gospel of John. Firstly, we see Judas go to the chief priests to see what they will give him to betray his Lord. This is calculating treachery, the love of money putting such evil into Judas’ heart as will outweigh all love and all obligation. Through Judas, we see the absolute evil to which greed and the love of money can drive a person [ … ]
Daily Bible Verses For Lent | The Mother Of The Sons Of Zebedee | You Will Drink My Cup | Jesus Journeys To Jerusalem
As the disciples accompany Jesus on the way to Jerusalem, so we are asked to unite ourselves to Jesus in his passion and death, so that we may share in his resurrection and accompany Jesus in his glory as Holy Week culminates in Easter [ … ]
Daily Bible Verses | Jesus And The Rich Young Man | Give Away Everything You Own And Follow Me | Jewish Law | Eternal Life
The young man of today’s Gospel verses is very rich. He has followed the commandments, and yet he and Jesus both know that he is not yet perfect. In addition to what the young man already knows of the Ten Commandments, there is now the possibility of perfection, which is to follow Jesus, to release oneself from the bondsmanship of earthly possessions – to sell it all, give it all to the poor, and follow Jesus. It is a sad tale. The rich young man goes away unhappy. If this is the condition for finding perfection by following Jesus, he cannot do it [ … ]
Daily Bible Verses Advent & Christmas | Virginal Conception Of Jesus | Emmanuel | God Is With Us
According to Jewish law, couples became engaged around one year prior to marriage, and this engagement was most solemn and binding – an act of divorce would be needed to break the relationship. It is during this period that Mary is found to be with child of the Holy Ghost. She has done nothing wrong, she is a virgin, Christ’s conception is miraculous, but on the surface of things this was a terrible state of affairs, for Mary and Joseph also [ … ]
Daily Bible Verses | Jesus Christ The King | Parable Of The Wise And Foolish Virgins
Christ prepares to be crucified. This may seem very strange as we look forward to Advent, and these really are the events of Holy Week. And yet this declaration of Christ’s coming again can be seen as a wonderful culmination of the Church year. Christ’s promise of resurrection and eternal life marks the summit of Christian faith. The declaration of Christ the King, our knowledge Christ is King, is a wonderful thought to carry through the coming weeks of Advent as we prepare to celebrate Christ’s birth [ … ]
Daily Bible Verses | Woe Unto You, Scribes And Pharisees, Hypocrites | Ye Are The Children Of Them Which Killed The Prophets
Jesus’ critique of the scribes and the Pharisees continues in today’s Gospel verses. The accusation is constant: they are hypocrites. The imagery in part remains constant: these hypocrites put on outward shows of purity, and yet their hearts are corrupt and their behaviour is corrupt. This imagery now develops. Woe unto you! For you are as painted tombs, all white and purportedly pure and true on the outside, while within the dead flesh rots […]