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  • You are here: Blogs Directory / Education / Eric Rajaniemi's Blog: James 1:22; Romans 1:20 Welcome Guest
    Eric Rajaniemi's Blog: James 1:22; Romans 1:20
          Have you always had questions about different passages and books of the bible? Me too. Let's explore everything together and find out what God's Word actually says. Are you ready for a life-changing experience? Are you? Then come on!
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    Wed, Feb 29th - 6:56PM

    STUDY IN MATTHEW



    "And, behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with Him.  Then answered Peter, and said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if You will, let us make here three tabernacles; one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah (17:3-4)."

       Moses represented the Law, and Elijah represented the prophets. Moses had actually died but no one knew where his remains had been buried by God, and Elijah had left this world in a chariot of fire. Luke informs us that Jesus and these two others were discussing His "decease" which would be accomplished at Jerusalem (Luke 9:30-31).  The Law and the prophets bore testimony to the death of Christ Jesus.  

       Good old Peter had to speak his mind once again!  Most of the time prior to the Day of Pentecost Peter said the wrong thing.  Here Peter ought to have kept quiet.  God spoke from heaven and informed the disciples to listen to His Son.

    "While he yet spoke, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; you listen to Him (17:5)."

       Jesus is the final authority in matters of revelation.  All that Moses, Elijah, and the other prophets had to say was wonderful.  The Son of God came to earth as the final revelation of God to mankind.  No man or woman has ever heard a voice speak from out of a great cloud and inform everyone else around that they are His beloved child and that He is well pleased with them and for everyone else to listen to what they have to say.  Here is the only Person of whom God has uttered these important words.  Christ Jesus, the Messiah, is the only person who has been well pleasing to God.  For this reason we must be in Christ by faith.  Christ is the only One in whom we can gain acceptance in the eyes of God.  Through faith in Jesus each of us is able to become accepted in the Beloved One of God and join the Body of Believers in Christ.

    "And when the disciples heard the voice, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.  And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.  And when they had looked up, they saw no man, save only Jesus (17:6-8)."

    Each of us ought to have a motto.  Perhaps it ought to be: "Jesus only," or even "Not I, but Jesus."  

    "And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell this vision to no one, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead (17:9)."

       Why wait?  Because it needed to become part of the gospel account.  He has been tested for three years and is now on a one-way path to His goal: the cross.  God required a sacrifice without any blemish or sin, and Christ Jesus is the only One who could die this substitutionary death for all of mankind.  

       The hope of mankind is not in science or education or enlightenment.  These all let us down.  They have created pollution, fierce weapons of mass destruction, intellectual snobs, and spiritually minded people out of touch with reality.  Automobiles are a wonderful invention allowing people to be independent and travel wherever they desire.  But they spew pollution into our air, the factories where the raw materials are smelted and machined into their various components also poison our drinking water.  More problems have been created than solved with this invention.  Science does not have the ability to be our ultimate hope for it is severely limited by finite people who implement it.  The Hope of Mankind is in the name of Christ Jesus.  Be sure to know Him for He is your only hope.

       That is all for tonight beloved for thunderstorms are moving into this area.  Grace and peace be yours!

    ~Eric


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    Mon, Feb 27th - 7:01PM

    STUDY IN MATTHEW



       As can be seen, the last verse of chapter sixteen ties directly into this next chapter.  Stating that some of the disciples within earshot would not experience death before they got to see Him coming in His kingdom, Jesus was not referring to the Millennial kingdom as some assume.  The Transfiguration is that picture of the Son of man coming in His kingdom glory.  How can we be sure that this is so?  Simon Peter was one of the three apostles who was present and in his second letter he wrote of that experience: "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.  For He received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the holy mount (II Peter 1:16-18)." When Christ Jesus was glorified on the Mount of Transfiguration with His three disciples present, verse 28 of chapter 16 was fulfilled.  This transfiguration of Jesus was a miniature picture of the kingdom.  

       Three of the other gospel accounts cover this event with John not mentioning it at all.  I will state bluntly that this transfiguration does not prove, nor set before us, the deity of Christ.  It does set before us the humanity of Christ.  The Gospel of John emphasizes the deity of Christ and therefore logically omits this account of transfiguration.  

       Christ's transfiguration, in my opinion, is not only the proof of His humanity but it is also the hope of humanity.  The Man whom we see glorified here, is the kind of person that you, beloved, will be someday if you are a child of God.  "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is (I John 3:2)."  Ah, the glorious prospect of being just like Christ is before every person in this world!  It is but a matter of acceptance.

    "And after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain set apart, And was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and His clothing was white as the light (17:1-2)."

       The face of Christ Jesus shone like the sun.  Can you even picture what that could be like?  Light shone from within Him rather than upon Him.  Perhaps, just perhaps, this is what clothed Adam and Eve originally in the Garden of Eden before their fall into sin.  Upon sinning both looked down at themselves and realized that they were naked.  The implication is that they were not naked before, they could not see that they walking around naked.  Perhaps glory light clothed them.  It is a thought.  But what we are seeing here is the humanity of Jesus that was transfigured into the glory of God.  

       Now, the word metamorphosis is what translates into transfiguration and it means "a change of form or structure."  Caterpillars routinely transfigure themselves into either moths or colorful butterflies.  But one day this body that I have today, filled with increasing amounts of infirmity and aging, will one day be transfigured, and even those who are alive on the day of the coming of Christ will be also changed, transfigured.  This is the hope of humanity.  

    That is all for tonight my friends.  Grace and peace be yours from our great God and Savior Jesus Christ!

    ~Eric


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    Fri, Feb 24th - 7:50PM

    STUDY IN MATTHEW



       For the first time Christ Jesus announces to His disciples His death and resurrection.  This was about six months before the actual crucifixion.  Why did He choose this moment to inform them all of what was coming?  The disciples were obviously not prepared for it, even at this time, to judge from their reaction.  Five times Jesus repeated the fact that He was going to Jerusalem to die.  In spite of repeated instruction, His disciples failed to grasp the significance of it all until after his resurrection.  

    "From that time forward Jesus began to show to His disciples, how that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.  Then Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him, saying, Be it far from You, Lord: this shall not happen to You (Matthew 16:21-22)."

       Here are where all unbelievers live.  "It is not right, nor fair, to expect God to have to have His only Son be killed just to forgive sin!"  But this is what Christ Jesus chose to do for you and me.  This is the gospel: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried and raised again.  You must know who He is.  You must know what He did for you.  If you know these two things, and by faith believe and receive Christ, then you are saved.  This spiritual fact had never been revealed before except to Nicodemus at the beginning of our Lord's ministry in John 3:1-16.  

       In essence Peter showed how little he comprehended of what his Lord and Master had just told him and his fellow disciples.  Peter only saw the injustice of the Messiah being killed.  He did not connect the Messiah with the Tabernacle nor the Temple.  He forgot his history where Moses had lifted up a serpent in order that whoever lifted their eyes up to gaze upon it would be saved from death and anguish out in the desert wilderness.  Peter did not want to be separated from Christ ever.  

    "But He turned, and said to Peter, Get you behind Me, Satan: you are an offense to Me: for you savor not the things that be of God, but those that be of men (Matthew 16:23)."

       To deny any of the facts of the gospel is simply satanic.  People may be completely unaware that they are being this way, but it is none the less true.  Peter was rebuked for correcting Christ, for arguing against Him going to die.  It is satanic when any person in the pulpit will deny these truths.  The substitutionary death of Christ is the only thing that can save us.  Look at how much Peter changed later on: "Who His own self bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live to righteousness: by whose stripes you were healed (I Peter 2:24)."  That is where each and every saint must get to in their hearts and minds.  

    "Then said Jesus to His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me (Matthew 16:24)."

       What this verse states is anyone who chooses to go after Christ Jesus needs to deny himself.  It is a difficult thing to do, denying yourself.  Try denying yourself tasty dessert, or hot, crispy, fried chicken, or a scrumptious chef's salad, or any other favorite food item. It simply isn't that easy.  To deny myself is to put self out of the picture and put Christ in the place of self.  I can't carry the cross of Jesus, but I must pick up and carry my own cross.  Each of us have a personal cross which we must be willing to bear, something that we struggle with.  

    "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it.  For what profits a man, if he shall gain the entire world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give up in exchange for his soul?  For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to his works.  Truly I say to you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in His kingdom (Matthew 16:25-28)."

       Any person who is unwilling to assume the risks involved in becoming a disciple of the Lord's will, in the long run, lose their life eternally.  It is also seen here that our bodies and our souls are not one and the same thing.  It makes no sense to replace soul in the above verses with body.  But it does make sense if soul is something apart from our physical body.  Thus we know that that which truly identifies us for who we are is the soul, and it can be lost and traded away.  

       People point to this passage as supporting their claims that Jesus has nothing to do with a person making it into heaven since He said that we all will be rewarded according to what we do.  This interpretation arises from only reading this one verse and ignoring all of the others in context to it.  Rewards definitely come according to what believers have done in their lives and what they have done with the Word of God.  Verse 28 sometimes is said to belong more with the next chapter than with this chapter.  Why? Because the next chapter contains the account of the transfiguration of Jesus and it explains what He was talking about here in verse 28.  

       Next time I shall begin chapter seventeen where we will see the account of the transfiguration up on the mount.  Much debate can rage on about what this account represents.  We will also read about a demon-possessed boy and the faithless disciples of Christ.  I hope to have you join me next time, right here!  May you choose to count the cost of following Christ, pick up your cross, and follow Him where ever He goes.  I pray that you hear Him calling to you in your sleep, and you respond by saying, "Here am I, Lord!"  May we all be Samuel's, and be willing to serve God all of our days.  Grace and peace.

    ~Eric


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    Sun, Feb 19th - 6:03PM

    STUDY IN MATTHEW



    "And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but My Father which is in heaven.  And I say to you, That you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (16:17-18)."

       Only the Holy Spirit can make Christ known to any person.  I can't make Him known to you. I can't call Christ "Lord" except by doing it by the Holy Spirit which dwells within me.  Only the Spirit of God can take the things of Christ and reveal them to you and me.  What Simon Peter declared had come to him through the Holy Spirit, not through any human sort of understanding.  Peter hadn't learned it by being with Christ, just consider the apostles' questions put to Christ Jesus.  
     
       Verse eighteen bears close scrutiny.  On what rock did Jesus build His church?  There are those who claim that it was built upon Simon Peter.  Upon checking into the grammar of the verse it can be seen that the Greek demonstrates that Peter (Petros) is a little rock while "this rock" comes from (petra) which means bedrock.  Thus we see that Peter will become a rock of faith after the resurrection but that Christ Jesus is the bedrock upon which His church is rooted.  Others claim that Christ is building His church upon the confession that Simon Peter made here.  That does not hold water either.

       Who is the Rock?  The Rock is Christ Jesus.  It is Christ's church and so it is built upon Him.  If in doubt, we need only read Peter's own explanation found in I Peter 2:4; "To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious." "...Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believes on Him shall not be confounded (I Peter 2:6)." The church is built upon Christ: He is the only foundation.  "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 3:11)."  Christ Jesus is the chief corner stone upon which the entire foundation is laid.  Christ also used the future tense in verse eighteen, it was something yet to come.  

       The "gates of hell" refers to death.  The Greek hades was used for hell, which is the sheol from the Old Testament.  These both refer to the unseen world and means death.  This is the world which can't prevail against Christ Jesus' church of believers.  One day Christ shall descend from heaven with a shout, riding upon the clouds.  Why the shout?  The shout like the voice of an archangel and a trumpet is to notify the dead in Christ to rise in newness of life, just as He shouted for Lazarus to come out of the grave.  

    "And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (16:19).  

       What are these keys of the kingdom of heaven?  Were they given only to Peter?  I would have to say that if they were only given to Peter then it would be in contradiction of much other scripture containing statements made by Christ Himself.  Jesus gives these keys to those who make the exact same confession of belief as did Peter.  If you are a child of God, you have the keys.  The keys were the badge of authority of the scribes in the Temple who interpreted the Scriptures to the people (Nehemiah 8:2-8).  Every Christian today has the Scriptures and, therefore, the keys.  If we withhold the Word, we "bind on earth"; if we give the Word, we "loose on earth."  No single man or denomination has these "keys" to the exclusion of all others.  You and I have a responsibility to loose the keys of the kingdom of heaven so that people can be saved.

    "Then He charged His disciples that they should not tell any man that He was Jesus the Christ (16:20)."

       Christ made this charge for the simple knowledge of who He is does not save anyone.  Salvation comes from knowing who He is and what He did, and accepting Him in your heart by faith.  Salvation does not come by infant baptism and confirmation.  It does not come by birth into a Christian family.  It does not come by giving copious amounts of money to the church.  It does not come by being a good person.  It does not come by never having killed anyone.  Narrow is the path and narrow the gate into heaven: only by Jesus Christ's righteousness can you get to the kingdom of heaven.  

       That is all on this snowy Sunday from here in the heart of Virginia.  May you be safe as you travel about.  May Christ richly bless you and all that you do.

    ~Eric


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    Thu, Feb 16th - 10:16PM

    STUDY IN MATTHEW



    "When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am (16:13)?"

       We need to remain sharp while we read, and study, the Book of Matthew.  This gospel is the key to the rest of the Scriptures and we must make sharp distinctions and note carefully what happens.  If we look on a map, we will find three Caesareas.  Caesarea Philippi is located to the north of the Sea of Galilee.  Christ Jesus is in the north, and He is going to turn and begin moving directly toward Jerusalem and the cross upon Calvary.  Before He begins this journey there are two things that must be clear in the minds of His disciples: (1) who He is, and (2) what He is going to do.  Beloved, these are the two things that all of us have to become clear on in order to be Christians.  Each of us must know who He is, and we have to know what He did.  Without this knowledge we can't exercise faith and become saved.

       Notice Christ's first question:  "Whom do men say that I am?"  Isn't this the basic question that gets debated still today?  It is debated face to face, on the radio, on television, and over the internet.  Jesus keeps asking this question and it continues to be answered, in fact it must be answered.  Jesus continues to be the most controversial Person who has ever lived on the face of this planet.  Religious leaders back then gave one answer to this question, the disciples gave a different answer, and the vast crowds of followers gave another answer.  Today we still see this sort of dispersal of answers to that basic question.  It has gotten no easier for people to answer the question.  People remain confused about Jesus the Christ.

    "And they said, Some say that You are John the Baptist: some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.  He said to them, But whom do you say that I am?  And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God (16:14-16)."

       Some people thought Jesus was a great teacher.  Some thought that Jesus was Elijah who could perform great miracles.  Still others thought that He must be Jeremiah the sorrowful prophet.  More thought that He was a prophet of God sent to speak to the people of Israel as in the times of old. 

       Jesus received the results of a straw poll of that day, and then He wished the disciples to tell Him who they thought He was.  Jesus put them on the spot, no more fence-sitting for any of them.  Who am I?  And Simon Peter stepped right up and answered for all of them.  You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.  Christ means "Anointed One" and is pretty much the equivalent of Messiah.  The Messiah was the One who had been predicted in the Old Testament, the One who would come to save the people.  Christ Jesus was the fulfillment of that entire line of prophecy.  We also see the phrase "Son of the Living God."  To avoid any confusion here, this term does not imply biological relationship but rather delineates the positional relationship that God desired for mankind to learn about.  Jehovah is a Living God and not a dead One.  Jehovah is alive, and it is He who quickens and restores life to those who have become spiritually dead in this world.  In His hands resides the authority and power to destroy my very soul, that which is the real me.  For this cause I ought to respect God and ought to also regard Him with awe.  Positionally Jesus came to earth as the Son, in obedience to His Father in heaven.  Why is this necessary?  Because each of us must relearn what obedience actually is and what it requires of us.  For the same reasons we each must relearn what love actually entails and what it requires of us.  Becoming a disciple of Christ Jesus requires each of us to undergo remedial education, to unlearn all of the bad habits and conducts of our previous life and then replace them with correct truth and holy conduct befitting one betrothed to the Living God.  For do not be deceived, each believer in Christ is the bride of He who is eternal.  The Body of Christ is all of the believers, and the Body is the Bride of Christ, having been cleansed and purified in order to be presented to Him as a virgin bride.  We are to become one flesh, just as a husband and wife become one flesh in marriage.  I do not speak of sexual intercourse here.  I am speaking of how in marriage both spouses merge their needs and seek to serve each other selflessly in love.  Through seeking to meet the needs of the other person a spouse gains love, respect, and appreciation of their mate.  Words are inadequate to fully describe or explain this concept and I apologize to all of you.

       That is all for tonight beloved!  I pray that you humble yoursel before the Living God and ask Him to forgive you for falling short of His holiness.  Ask Him to enable you to renew your mind daily through His Word.  Thank Him for all that He has thus far done in your life.   Thank Him now for what He shall do in your life in the future.  Grace and peace follow you wherever you may go today!

    ~Eric



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    Mon, Feb 13th - 7:35PM

    STUDY IN MATTHEW



     "The world will never have lasting peace so long as men reserve for war the finest human qualities.  Peace, no less than war, requires idealism and self-sacrifice and a righteous and dynamic faith."

                      ~John Foster Dulles

      In chapter sixteen of the book of Matthew we find that the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees continues.  They come with the Sadducees, trying to tempt Him into giving them a sign. 

    "The Pharisees, also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired Him that He would show them a sign from heaven.  He answered and said to them, When it is evening, you say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.  And in the morning, It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowering.  Oh you hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky; but can't you discern the signs of the times (16:1-3)?"

       Back in chapter twelve the scribes and Pharisees asked for a sign and Christ gave them the sign of Jonah.  Here He draws their attention to the fact that, although they are very good at predicting the weather, they don't seem able to recognize the signs of the times.  In reality these religious rulers are trying to trap Christ, and Jesus is going to end up warning His own disciples to beware of them. 

    "A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah.  And He left them, and departed (16:4)."

       Christ had provided all kinds of signs for all of them, but they simply refused to accept them.  For the second time Jesus predicts the sign of Jonah (Jonas is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Jonah).  Remember that Jesus had told these religious rulers that just as Jonah had spent three days and nights inside of the giant fishes' belly, so too, the Son of man must be three days and nights in the belly of the earth.  The religious men refused to accept this as a sign. 

       Looking closely, we are going to be presented with three viewpoints concerning Jesus.  The Pharisees and Sadducees consider Him an imposter and do not believe that He is the Messiah.  The multitudes think that He is Joh the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or another of the Old Testament prophets.  At least they were complimentary, although they utterly missed the target.  His disciples present the third viewpoint.  They believe that Jesus is the Messiah (Christ), the Son of the living God. 

       The organized religious leaders asked for a sign, Jesus said that they already had been given a sign about Him from the prophet Jonah.  There was no discussion, no debate, no room allowed for them to argue with Him about it.  Jesus gave them His answer, and then He left them standing there.

    "And when His disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.  Then Jesus said to them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.  Which when Jesus perceived, He said to them, Oh you of little faith, why reason you among yourselves, because you have brought no bread?  Do you not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up?  Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets you took up?  How is it that you do not understand that I spoke about the bread, so that you should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees?  Then they understood how that He was not warning them about the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees (16:5-12)."

       In chapter thirteen we learned that leaven is always a principle of evil and never a principle of good.  If you are cautioned to beware of something, it will not be welcoming nor good.  Believers today need to heed this warning given to the disciples back then.  We all must remain on guard against false doctrines that seek to trap us and enslave us all over again into legalism and traditions of man. 

       If Christ had been simply speaking to them about physical bread, shouldn't they have recalled the recent demonstrations of His ability to provide enough food for everyone to eat?  The disciples were missing His point by a very wide margin.  It is why He rebukes them in verse eight by pointing out their lack of faith.  He also points out to them their lack of understanding, even though they have been personally witnessing all of these miracles being performed by Him.  Let us all be very sure to not repeat the mistakes of these first disciples of Jesus, we have no excuse to not understand what Christ was illustrating.

       Some people today will claim that they are spreading the "leaven of the Gospel."  It is a contradiction of terms.  Leaven can't be a picture of the gospel.  It is always a symbol of evil.  So these people who make such a claim are either ignorant of what leaven represents, or else they simply are not believers in Christ Jesus.  Avoid them, do not associate with them.

    I will stop right here for today, beloved.  Next time I will continue with the passage that gives us Jesus requesting a confession of who He is.  Until then, mercy, grace, and peace be with you all.

    ~Eric



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    Thu, Feb 9th - 6:30PM

    STUDY IN MATTHEW



    "And Jesus departed from there, and came close to the sea of Galilee; and went up a mountain, and sat down there.  And great multitudes came to Him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and He healed them (15:29-30)."

       I direct your attention to the numbers of people who came to Jesus.  Notice the kinds of people who were brought before Him to be healed.  Not just those born with diseases or genetic disorders, but also those who had been crippled through accidents were brought to be healed and made whole once more.  We also must recognize the fact that all of them were healed, not just a select few.  Everyone brought to Christ was healed and made whole again.  What a miracle!  The religious rulers who wished to kill Him could not deny that He healed people, for there were far too many and too many people had witnessed Him healing them.  We today must not forget these facts, for they are important to our understanding why the Pharisees and scribes resorted to the means of killing Jesus that they chose. 

    "Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb speak, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind able to see: and they glorified the God of Israel (15:31)."

       How would you have responded at witnessing such a massive amount of healing done right before your eyes?  You too would have chosen to glorify God, you would not have had much other choice left. 

    "Then Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with Me now for three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away hungry, lest they faint in the way.  And His disciples said to Him, Where should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude (15:32-33)?"

       We see here God's compassion for all of these people.  At face value, this simply seems to be a repeat of the feeding of the five thousand.  The point to this being included in the scriptures is to remind us of how slow the disciples were to understanding what Christ was capable of doing.  We too are rather slow on the uptake to realizing that nothing is impossible for Christ to accomplish.  Here in these verses we must recall that we are no longer in the section where Christ is pressing His messianic claims.  No, He is highlighting the fact of the peoples' rejection of His claims.  His own disciples remain mired in unbelief as they point out the same tired complaint of not enough food available to feed all of the people gathered around them. 

    "And Jesus said to them, How many loaves have you?  And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.  And He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and broke them, and gave to His disciples, and the disciples gave to the multitude.  And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that left seven baskets full.  And they that did eat were four thousand men, besides women and children (15:34-38)."

       It is simply a revelation that the disciples had not already learned the lesson.  Their reluctance to believe became a form of rejection of the Messiah.  Unbelief is sin as we learn in Romans 14:23.  In Hebrews 12:1 we are admonished to lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us.  What is that weight?  More than likely it is unbelief.  Our very own unbelief weighs us down and prevents us from trusting in Christ more than we actually do.  I wish that I believed Christ more than I do today.  I ought to believe Him fully, completely, but the problem resides with me. 

       So Christ Jesus fed the mulitude.  If just one woman and one child was with each man then we are talking about 12,000 people being fed.  No one went hungry.  Neither shall any of us go "hungry" today beloved.  God looks after those whom He calls His own.

    "And He sent away the multitude, and took a ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala (15:39)."

       Magdala is on the Sea of Galilee, but today it lies in ruins.  This chapter of Matthew has revealed that Christ's disciples were unable to keep up.  They were slow to believe and slow to understand.  Some today would claim that He was reaching the breaking point with these followers of Him, that between them and the religious rulers Jesus was caught between a rock and a hard place.  But in reality Jesus was being very patient with His disciples, just as He is very patient with each of us.  Each of us need to catch up to Him; we are far behind in our belief and understanding.

    Grace and peace be yours today!

    ~Eric



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    About Me

    Name: Eric Rajaniemi
    ChristiansUnite ID: ejroyal
    Member Since: 2007-09-08
    Location: Bedford, Virginia, United States
    Denomination: Born-again, Church of the Brethren
    About Me: I refrain from any denomination as much as possible since my faith has to do with Jesus Christ and not denominations. My wife and I are charter members of Lake Side Church of the Brethren for they desire to follow the New Testament precepts. I ... more

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