Today's Reading: Matthew 24: 29-35
**For a simple and good way of Daily Devotion method please click this link: Subject Shifting Devotion.pdf.
Please click this link to read Matthew 24: 29-35
Bible Study
Today's passage is perhaps one of the most difficult passages in the Bible that many people misinterpret. Many people thinks that Jesus is talking about the end time, about what in going to happen to the universe and the world. Let's learn from Bishop N.T. Wright of what Jesus really means:
Here'a a bit from the prophet Isaiah. 'The sun will be darkened, the moon won't shine, the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly powers will be shaken.' What does that mean?
For Isaiah, and for those who read him in the first century, the one thing it didn't mean was something to do with the actual sun, moon and stars in the sky. That would make a quite different tune. This language was well known, regular code for talking about what we would call huge social and political convulsions. When we say that empires 'fall', or that kingdoms 'rise', we don't normally envisage any actual downward or upward physical movement. Matthew intends us to understand that the time of the coming of the son of man will be a time when the whole world seems to be in turmoil.
But what will this 'coming' itself actually be? What will Jesus' 'royal appearing' consist of? Matthew takes us back, in line with so much in Jesus' teaching, to the prophet Daniel again, and this time to the crucial passage in 7:13 (verse 30 in our present passage). They will see, he says, 'the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven'. Now in Daniel this certainly refers, not to a downward movement of this strange human figure, but to an upward movement. The son of man 'comes' from the point of view of the heavenly world, that is, he comes from earth to heaven. His 'coming' in this sense, in other words, is not his 'return' to earth after a sojourn in heaven. It is his ascension, his vindication, the thing which demonstrates that his suffering has not been in vain.
What is it, then, that will demonstrate that Jesus has been vindicated by God? Three things.
First, his resurrection and ascension.
Second, the destruction of the Temple.
Third, the news of his victory will spread rapidly throughout the world.
All this is spoken to Jesus' disciples so they will know when the cataclysmic events are going to happen. Watch for the leaves on the tree, and you can tell it's nearly summer. Watch for these events, and you'll know that the great event, the destruction of the Temple and Jesus' complete vindication, are just around the corner. And be sure of this, says Jesus: it will happen within a generation.
Wow! Thanks to Bishop Wright's clear explanation that we have a better understanding to this difficult passage. So, if you were one of Jesus' disciples, what did you hear? And, as a disciple of Jesus in the 21st century, what have you got?
Here'a a bit from the prophet Isaiah. 'The sun will be darkened, the moon won't shine, the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly powers will be shaken.' What does that mean?
For Isaiah, and for those who read him in the first century, the one thing it didn't mean was something to do with the actual sun, moon and stars in the sky. That would make a quite different tune. This language was well known, regular code for talking about what we would call huge social and political convulsions. When we say that empires 'fall', or that kingdoms 'rise', we don't normally envisage any actual downward or upward physical movement. Matthew intends us to understand that the time of the coming of the son of man will be a time when the whole world seems to be in turmoil.
But what will this 'coming' itself actually be? What will Jesus' 'royal appearing' consist of? Matthew takes us back, in line with so much in Jesus' teaching, to the prophet Daniel again, and this time to the crucial passage in 7:13 (verse 30 in our present passage). They will see, he says, 'the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven'. Now in Daniel this certainly refers, not to a downward movement of this strange human figure, but to an upward movement. The son of man 'comes' from the point of view of the heavenly world, that is, he comes from earth to heaven. His 'coming' in this sense, in other words, is not his 'return' to earth after a sojourn in heaven. It is his ascension, his vindication, the thing which demonstrates that his suffering has not been in vain.
What is it, then, that will demonstrate that Jesus has been vindicated by God? Three things.
First, his resurrection and ascension.
Second, the destruction of the Temple.
Third, the news of his victory will spread rapidly throughout the world.
All this is spoken to Jesus' disciples so they will know when the cataclysmic events are going to happen. Watch for the leaves on the tree, and you can tell it's nearly summer. Watch for these events, and you'll know that the great event, the destruction of the Temple and Jesus' complete vindication, are just around the corner. And be sure of this, says Jesus: it will happen within a generation.
Wow! Thanks to Bishop Wright's clear explanation that we have a better understanding to this difficult passage. So, if you were one of Jesus' disciples, what did you hear? And, as a disciple of Jesus in the 21st century, what have you got?
Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage of scripture we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe"
Spiritual Journal
What I heard from Jesus today is: Be prepared for Jesus' victory!
What I got from Jesus today is an encouragement for us who have been working so hard for Jesus Kingdom ministry and fighting so severe in the present spiritual warfare for Jesus everyday. Sometimes we would be tired and tends to be pulled to the darkness of discouragement. We need to be certain that the victory of Jesus would be so near as right at the door!
So, be encouraged and prepared for Jesus' victory!
So, be encouraged and prepared for Jesus' victory!
Dear Lord Jesus,
Lead us to be able to live everyday's life full of hope and expectation for your victory to come soon. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Please click this link to worship with us -
The Potter's Hand
Chinese praise song - 陶造我生命 Mold My Life
You can subscribe to my podcast feed here:http://feeds.feedburner.com/discipler123