10-4-20 Trinity 17
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.”
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.”
Jesus told his disciples that he saw the devil falling from heaven like lightning. God created the devil a good and beautiful angel in the beginning. But the devil rebelled and God cast him from his presence along with all the other angels who followed him.
There are things worse than death. There are things that we should never, ever put a price on.
Some punishments you can bring on yourself. But it’s also true that people suffer all sorts of horrible things not because they did anything, but because they were born a sinner into a sinful, corrupt world.
We should have no doubt at all that the parable of the Good Samaritan is about Jesus. Jesus is the Good Samaritan. The popular misunderstanding is to make this parable a simply moral tale, like Aesop’s Fables, telling you what to do to lead a good and prosperous life, but this can only be done by ripping the parable completely out of its context.
Usually when Jesus performs a miracle he does it by speaking. He just says it and it happens. This is what happened right before our Gospel lesson, with the Syro-phoenician woman. Jesus just says, the demon has left your daughter, and that’s what happens.
It’s common to hear scoffers say that the Church is full of hypocrites. But, is that what the Church is? That doesn’t sound right.
The Lord proclaimed his name to Moses in Exodus 34. And today’s Gospel reading is one of the best images we have depicting this name and character of the Lord.
Jesus isn’t against money. He’s not against people making it or having lots of it. He does say, “How difficult it is for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.” But, he follows this immediately by saying, “With man this is impossible. But with God all things are possible.” A rich man can enter into the kingdom of heaven. But not the lover of money, rich or poor. Jesus means it when he says, “You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Jesus’ command to beware of false prophets isn’t a suggestion, it’s the most necessary thing in the world, like drinking water and eating food. It’s necessary for your life.