January 23, 2010 Daily Reading

God has chosen to deliver his people from slavery in Egypt by using Moses. Huh? Moses? Are you serious, God? You want to use a murdering shepherd who can’t speak well and who doesn’t want the job?

Yes, apparently that is exactly who God decided to use. And, God even manages to persuade Moses. Apparently, the whole burning bush scene didn’t convince Moses of God’s power, so God had to persuade Moses that he was powerful enough to accomplish his goals through Moses.

Now that Moses and Aaron have agreed, everything is fine, right? No. Apparently, the people don’t like God’s choices of leaders, and they’re not too sure about leaving Egypt. (But, I’m sure that once the miracles start up everything will change… yeah, right.)

God, are you sure you know what you’re doing?

Which brings us to our New Testament reading. The twelve are still having problems understanding Jesus. They can’t get their mind off of their physical circumstances long enough to understand that Jesus is talking about more than (bread).

But, there is a flash of hope! Peter does understand that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God”! Great for Peter! Jesus even says that he is going to build his assembly based on people like Peter. What joy! What a blessing! What success!

Then Jesus has to start talking about dying. That just ruins everything. I mean, how can Jesus rule a kingdom if he dies? Peter sets Jesus straight… and apparently, in spite of Peter’s misunderstanding, Jesus still plans to build his church around people like Peter… Peter… who sounded more like the devil than like God.

Jesus, are you sure you know what you’re doing?

Yes. He knows exactly what he’s doing. Why? Because he is able. That’s all it takes. We will fail. We will lack the abilities. We will be rejected. We will make mistakes. We will disappoint and be disappointed.

But, God’s plan does not depend upon us being perfect. God’s plan depends upon him, and how he chooses to work through us. Are we willing to allow him? Or are we going to keep giving him excuses like Moses did?

A Little Greek

Ἀπὸ τότε ἤρξατο ὁ Ἰησοῦς δεικνύειν τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ ὅτι δεῖ αὐτὸν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα ἀπελθεῖν καὶ πολλὰ παθεῖν ἀπὸ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων καὶ ἀρχιερέων καὶ γραμματέων καὶ ἀποκτανθῆναι καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἐγερθῆναι. (Matthew 16:21)

This sentence marks an important transition in Matthew’s Gospel. First, we see that it is at this time that Jesus begins to tell his followers about his death, burial, and resurrection (Ἀπὸ τότε ἤρξατο ὁ Ἰησοῦς δεικνύειν – “From that time, Jesus began to tell…”).

Also, there is a very small word in this sentence that is very important. The word is δεῖ, which is usually translated “it is necessary” or “one must”. It is a very strong imperative – command. Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection were not just good ideas… no, it was necessary.

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