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Remember, within the cultural framework, the mindset of Judaism, forgiveness, and healing demand a sacrifice! Indeed sometimes Jesus told the healed person to take the appropriate sacrifice to the temple and offer it. But not always, and not here!Do you see the sacrifice lying beneath the surface here, a question begging to be asked?Who is this man who claims to forgive sins? And how can He? By what mechanism does He do ...

This morning I read Deuteronomy 6:4-5, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."I wondered how did this passage speak the Gospel truth to me. Before I finished my prayer, God's answer was on my heart. He opened my eyes to see that glorious and wonderful news that all Scripture speaks this truth into our ...

A few years after Jesus spoke these words, He would display just how to love our enemies, that though we, being his enemy, rebellious in sin, he would still go to that cross and pay the price FOR us!And most stunning of all, He would pray for his enemies, for us, on that cross!So while not 'overt' in pointing to the cross, it is a powerful pointer for those willing to pause and ask themselves what on Earth this new teacher ...

Again, as in verse 17, this all points to the cross. How can we have that perfect righteousness? There is no way we can earn it. We know that this is an impossible mountain we cannot climb.It must be a gift. Someone must live perfectly and yet die on our behalf to save us from eternal death - the Lamb of God! (Isa 53!!)What tension there must have been in the minds of the hearers here. Jesus is not revealing the ‘how’ just yet, but he sure is getting their attention. I think that many, trembling at his words, followed him with their weight of sin and guilt, knowing in their gut that this man had the answer, indeed, was the answer, and would somehow, oh, somehow, show them how to be rid of the crushing burden they were ...

Again, this verse used to trouble me. At first, and for many readings, it appeared to me to affirm that the law would be universally in place until the end of time. For me, this felt like a huge cliff overhanging me with oppressive gloom and hopelessness. If the law was the measure for all time, then I was doomed, lost.But no! Look again with your gospel glasses - ‘Until everything is accomplished!’ - this is pointing to the cross! Yes, EVERYTHING that was of eternal import was accomplished at the cross. Oh, ecstatic joy, the perfect sacrifice for sins was finally made! What joy to think that the bloody, brutal, and endless service of sacrificing animals was now over! And my own bloody, brutal and endless striving to measure up is over ...