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New Site Software and Design

We have moved our site from Wordpress to a new content management system, Drupal. We are still in the process of redesigning the site with the new tools available. It will be a little while before we get it the way we want. Currently, links within the site to other posts or pages will not work correctly. This will take time to correct. Please be patient.

A Question from a Reader

Taking a break from our normal posts, a reader asks:

Why do we ask Gods forgiveness of our thoughts? If we have thoughts of evil but do not act on them,have we sinned? Because Christ rejected the tempations from the devil,does that in its self mean that Christ had evil thoughts, and if he did were the thoughts sinfull, if he did not act on them? In other words how did Christ know that the things that the devil tried to tempt him with were sins?

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Summary of Chapter 21

At the end of some chapters, we can often see how Christ's statements ties together into a larger pattern. Chapter 21 is particularly difficult of overviews because it contains the largest range of topics for Christ words so far in the Gospels. His statements in this chapter touch on:
- Getting an ass on which to ride into Jerusalem
- Chasing money lenders out of the temple
- That babies cries are the perfect form of prayer
- Faith can move mountains
- Refusing to address where his authority (and John's) comes from

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One Last Thing on Matthew 12

Another interesting theme of the chapter: in an earlier post about Jonah, I mentioned the Greek concept of people being motivated by the belly (physical desires), heart (feeling for others), and mind (mental desires, mostly money). In the beginning of this chapter, Christ adds another component to this triun of motivation: religion. The Greeks operated from the belly, heart, and mind, but the Jews were also driven by religion.

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Matthew Chapter 12 Summary

I spent a long time last night thinking about the lesson arc of this chapter and all its themes. For me, there is something almost miraculous how much is hidden in Christ’s words so I never feel like I have all their meanings. In the next chapter, Christ tells his apostles that everything he says is a symbol for something deeper. This chapter is a perfect example of symbols within symbols connected with symbols.

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