Today's Reading: Matthew 26: 57-68
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Please click this link to read Matthew 26: 57-68
Bible Study
Jesus was arrested and on trial by Caiaphas, the high priest. Here is a passage for us to learn when to keep silent and when to speak. Jesus remained silent at first and then said something to be judged as blasphemy. What really happened here? N.T. Wright says:
Realizing the radical difference between his world and that of Caiaphas, and the impossibility of explaining what he was doing and saying in words that Caiaphas would understand, Jesus remained silent. Until, that is, the high priest, anxious to secure some kind of quasi-legal conviction that he could take to the Roman governor the next day, put him on oath. Then, and only then, Jesus speaks; but he speaks in his own language, the language he has learned and lived for many years: the language of biblical prophecy...
How do you speak God's truth into a situation where lies and distortion, injustice and ambition, have created a world in which words mean different things? How can the church, faced with social, political, cultural and religious settings which have generated their own new language, continue to speak truthfully of Jesus? Those who have tried to speak the truth in dangerous situations will know that people seem almost bound to misunderstand them. How can individual Christians remain loyal to Jesus, knowing when to keep silent and when to speak in such a way that true wisdom may be heard?
Well, Jesus knew when to keep silent and when to speak, do you? How can you do that?
Realizing the radical difference between his world and that of Caiaphas, and the impossibility of explaining what he was doing and saying in words that Caiaphas would understand, Jesus remained silent. Until, that is, the high priest, anxious to secure some kind of quasi-legal conviction that he could take to the Roman governor the next day, put him on oath. Then, and only then, Jesus speaks; but he speaks in his own language, the language he has learned and lived for many years: the language of biblical prophecy...
How do you speak God's truth into a situation where lies and distortion, injustice and ambition, have created a world in which words mean different things? How can the church, faced with social, political, cultural and religious settings which have generated their own new language, continue to speak truthfully of Jesus? Those who have tried to speak the truth in dangerous situations will know that people seem almost bound to misunderstand them. How can individual Christians remain loyal to Jesus, knowing when to keep silent and when to speak in such a way that true wisdom may be heard?
Well, Jesus knew when to keep silent and when to speak, do you? How can you do that?
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: When to keep silent and when to speak?
What I got from Jesus today is a warning as well as a teaching to all of us. Lots of time we speak while we need to keep silent and we keep silent when we need to speak. What a waste!
What is the secret? The secret is the relationship between God and Jesus. The closer we are with God, just like Jesus, the better we know when to keep silent and when to speak.
What is the secret? The secret is the relationship between God and Jesus. The closer we are with God, just like Jesus, the better we know when to keep silent and when to speak.
Dear Lord Jesus,
Lead us to be closer to you that we know when to keep silent and when to speak. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
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