Posts by Josh Moody

Ezra 6, Proverbs 4, Luke 14:1-14, 1 Timothy 3:1-10   Luke 14:1-14: (14:1-6) It’s another Sabbath encounter. Some background here may help. Because the Israelite people had been sent into exile for breaking God’s law, worshipping idols, and breaking the Sabbath, the Pharisees—known for their purity—were focused on ensuring that such liberalization of God’s intention could not happen…

Ezra 4-5, Proverbs 3, Luke 13:22-35, 1 Timothy 2 Luke 13:22-35: (13:22-30) A person comes to Jesus with an apparently important and genuine question: will only a few be saved? But while it is an important question, it could be used to hide from the yet more important question: are you yourself saved? Jesus will not let this…

Ezra 3, Proverbs 2, Luke 13:10-21, 1 Timothy 1:12-21 Luke 13:10-21: (13:10-17) A woman who is disabled has been so for 18 years. Can you see her? Bent over, unable to straighten herself, pain etched into the lines on her face, brought low in her broken body. Jesus speaks, lays hands on her, and she is “immediately” healed.…

Ezra 1-2, Proverbs 1, Luke 13:1-9, 1 Timothy 1:1-11 Luke 13:1-9: (13:1-5) Jesus is confronted by a very real human tragedy of barbaric proportions. Pilate had not only killed some Galileans, but in some symbolic, gross fashion, had mingled their own blood with the blood of the ritual religious sacrifices. It was a way of attempting to not…

2 Chronicles 34-36, Psalm 150, Luke 12:49-59, 2 Thessalonians 3:14-18 Luke 12:49-59: The passage this morning contains summaries of three separate pieces of Jesus’ teaching. First, the necessary divisiveness of Jesus’ ministry of the cross (12:49-53). These words about Jesus coming to “cast fire on the earth,” or that he had come to bring about “division,” are surprising.…

2 Chronicles 30-33, Psalm 149, Luke 12:35-48, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 Luke 12:35-48: Stay dressed for action and keep your lamp burning. These are the words that ring through this paragraph like a peel of bells awaking us from our sleep and calling us to action. There is hard, cold, truth: you do not know when Jesus will return.…

2 Chronicles 28-29, Psalm 148, Luke 12:22-34, 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 Luke 12:22-34: This is perhaps some of the most relevant teaching for our anxiety-driven, pressurized, stressed society today. Jesus tells his disciples not to worry, but he does not just instruct them to do something; he also explains to them why and how to do it (12:22-34). In…

2 Chronicles 25-27, Psalm 147, Luke 12:13-21, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17   Luke 12:13-21: At the heart of so much human interaction and tension in this world is squabbles about and passionate drive towards attaining money. Few things, then, are more disturbing than when a family becomes split about an inheritance matter. Someone in the crowd following Jesus has…

  2 Chronicles 22-24, Psalm 146, Luke 12:1-12, 2 Thessalonians 2:6-12   Luke 12:1-12: Having so strongly critiqued the Pharisee, Jesus now exposes the heart of the matter. The real center of the problem for the Pharisee is “hypocrisy” (12:1). This is the “leaven,” the part that seeps through everything else and gives power to everything else. Hypocrisy…