Another chilly day on tap! Be careful out there!


Here's yesterday's question and answer:
Weds, Jan. 14 On what did Jacob see angels ascending and descending during his dream? (Gen 28)
Genesis 28:12 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

And here's today's question of the day:
Thurs, Jan. 15 Which cities does Jesus denounce? (Matt 11) (This is kind of a trick question because Jesus mentions a number of cities, but he only denounces some of them.)


And here's today's reflection:

I've always been curious about the part of Matthew 11 that I asked the question about this morning. And now that I read it again, I find myself even more curious. So I opened up a commentary to read a little more about what was going on in these cities.

Jesus rebukes three town in the area of Galilee. They are rebuked not because of their lack of faith but because of their lack of repentance, which Matthew explains in verse 20: "Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent." Now, Jesus is not like a traveling salesman, performing miracles to make people believe in him. Miracles are never meant to simply certify Jesus' power; they are manifestations of God's will to save His people. A miracle is a testimony to God's power, not a litmus test of divinity.

So these cities observed Jesus' miracles--heard His testimony--and perhaps responded with faith, but they did NOT respond with repentance. Normally, those are two things we assume go hand in hand. But in this case, apparently not. These cities were like the seed dropped along the path, which sprang up quickly but was scorched in the sun because it didn't take root for water (in the parable of the sower, Matthew 13). Tyre and Sidon (v21) are two cities that were considered full of pagans. Jesus says if these two cities had seen what the Galilean cities had seen, THEY would have repented "long ago in sackcloth and ashes."

This kind of repentance--the kind of repentance God desires--is to take God seriously and to commit their lives to living as a part of His family and His kingdom, continually seeking to be holy as God is holy. That is repentance. Not a one time "I'm sorry," but a continual realization that God is placed "in the highest place, above all else" as the song goes, and a continual effort to realign my life (and yours) with God's expectations.

The other fascinating part of this little story is that Jesus is denouncing whole towns full of people and not individuals. In biblical times and even today, each town decides what is important and what is not, what it will value and what it finds useless. And the individuals in the town are influenced by the values of that town. So a town that does not value God (like these Galilean towns) will not encourage its residents to believe in God. Apparently that is the case with Capernum--perhaps they so valued their commercial financial success that the spiritual issues of the day were pushed to the margins.

Think of the town or community you live in. Does it value God? Does it encourage worship and service and fellowship? Do its residents? There will always be a Christian minority in every community. And it is up to them--to US!--to change the values of the community. Individuals can make a difference in a community. They can change the values of a community from one that esteems the almighty dollar to one that esteems the Almighty God. And in that way, towns across the world can avoid fate of Korazin, Bethsaida, and Capernum. Are you ready to be a part of God's revolution?

I'm praying for my community--are you?
Allison