Sometimes you get something from what isn't recorded...
I am nearing the end of this series of sermons on the book of Matthew - 2 years and 2 1/2 months worth. Next Sunday will be the last and I have a plan for the Sundays leading up to Resurrection Sunday but I need to take some time in prayer for the next book after that.
This Sunday was the passage that Matthew records about the cover up plan. He is the only Gospel writer that gives us this information. He skips over many of the eye witness accounts of Mark, Luke, and John to give us the lie that was going around the neighborhood of Jerusalem.
I think it was given to let us compare the two sides of this event of the resurrection. You either believe the 500+ people who were eye witnesses of the risen Lord at different times and different settings and some living at the time of the recording for that 40 days that Jesus was here after the resurrection or I believe the account of the guards who say the disciples came in and stole the body of Jesus while they were sleeping with their eyes closed but still knew it was the disciples but didn't go after them because maybe they were faster carrying away a dead body. When you put them side by side - which Matthew allows us to do because of this account - it lets us see the truth emerge even more.
I was so encouraged this Sunday to see a young man "getting it" when we laid the two accounts side by side. It has been so gratifying and important for me to take on this task of teaching through this book. The challenge will be to put together a sermon for this Sunday that will pull the book together and send us off to do the "Great Commission."
I am in deep prayer lately for all those other things that are surrounding my life. Our third child is interviewing for a job that would put him in another part of the country. We know he needs to move on but it has been a joy to have him around for these couple months. I am also in deep prayer about the direction God has given us to pursue. I have met nothing but rejections up to this point but the resolve has not left me. I keep waiting for that one opportunity to give me a second look. I keep going forward because of confirmation through His Word and instruction from godly men that I desire to be where God wants me for this stage of my life.
This search has surely helped me solidify what I believe and see in Scripture.
Adam
This Sunday was the passage that Matthew records about the cover up plan. He is the only Gospel writer that gives us this information. He skips over many of the eye witness accounts of Mark, Luke, and John to give us the lie that was going around the neighborhood of Jerusalem.
I think it was given to let us compare the two sides of this event of the resurrection. You either believe the 500+ people who were eye witnesses of the risen Lord at different times and different settings and some living at the time of the recording for that 40 days that Jesus was here after the resurrection or I believe the account of the guards who say the disciples came in and stole the body of Jesus while they were sleeping with their eyes closed but still knew it was the disciples but didn't go after them because maybe they were faster carrying away a dead body. When you put them side by side - which Matthew allows us to do because of this account - it lets us see the truth emerge even more.
I was so encouraged this Sunday to see a young man "getting it" when we laid the two accounts side by side. It has been so gratifying and important for me to take on this task of teaching through this book. The challenge will be to put together a sermon for this Sunday that will pull the book together and send us off to do the "Great Commission."
I am in deep prayer lately for all those other things that are surrounding my life. Our third child is interviewing for a job that would put him in another part of the country. We know he needs to move on but it has been a joy to have him around for these couple months. I am also in deep prayer about the direction God has given us to pursue. I have met nothing but rejections up to this point but the resolve has not left me. I keep waiting for that one opportunity to give me a second look. I keep going forward because of confirmation through His Word and instruction from godly men that I desire to be where God wants me for this stage of my life.
This search has surely helped me solidify what I believe and see in Scripture.
Adam
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