Story
Tiny rant
"The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood" Excuse me? Since when did Jesus become our homeboy? I'm sorry, but I do not like The Message. Man, that just burns me.
/tiny rant
I dont know, this chapter was a little too touchy, feely for me. Once again, a bit too euphemistic for my taste. "That's one reason divorce is so painful - because it rips a single, deeply threaded story apart into two." I don't know, seems to me that divorce is so painful because it is a sin against God, it's selfish, it devastates the lives of everyone involved, especially children, and it leaves scars that aren't easily healed.
"He (Jesus) told stories because he knew humans are rarely interested in the truth unless it's wrapped up in a story." Really? Not interested? I'm not really seeing that God's self-revelation, i.e. The Bible, was written with the tastes and preferences of humans in mind. The Word tells us exactly why Jesus spoke in parables:
And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" Jesus answered them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. "For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. "Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. "In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, `YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.' (Matthew 13:10-15)
And to follow up Matthew 13:34, which the author cited:
This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: "I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES; I WILL UTTER THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD. (Matthew 13:35)
I guess I just have a hard time with making things up, or augmenting Scripture, when we have the entire beauty of the truth set right before us.
Or maybe I'm just in a bad mood this morning. :)
"The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood" Excuse me? Since when did Jesus become our homeboy? I'm sorry, but I do not like The Message. Man, that just burns me.
/tiny rant
I dont know, this chapter was a little too touchy, feely for me. Once again, a bit too euphemistic for my taste. "That's one reason divorce is so painful - because it rips a single, deeply threaded story apart into two." I don't know, seems to me that divorce is so painful because it is a sin against God, it's selfish, it devastates the lives of everyone involved, especially children, and it leaves scars that aren't easily healed.
"He (Jesus) told stories because he knew humans are rarely interested in the truth unless it's wrapped up in a story." Really? Not interested? I'm not really seeing that God's self-revelation, i.e. The Bible, was written with the tastes and preferences of humans in mind. The Word tells us exactly why Jesus spoke in parables:
And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" Jesus answered them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. "For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. "Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. "In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, `YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.' (Matthew 13:10-15)
And to follow up Matthew 13:34, which the author cited:
This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: "I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES; I WILL UTTER THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD. (Matthew 13:35)
I guess I just have a hard time with making things up, or augmenting Scripture, when we have the entire beauty of the truth set right before us.
Or maybe I'm just in a bad mood this morning. :)
posted by Anonymous at
9:45 AM
5 Comments:
Gayla, I just love you! I agree, he was a bit fast and loose over this chapter but it doesn't seem to bother me the way it does you. I just take what I can from the chapter and move on.
But it's so nice to hear someone speak the truth (tiny rant and all) and I agree - I'm not fond of The Message version of the Bible either!
By
HeyJules, at 10:49 AM
Gayla, excellent comments and very right on. Couldn't have said it better.
By
Pilot Mom, at 12:08 PM
Gayla, You go girl!
By
mark pierson, at 6:41 AM
I agreed with you on this one - didnt really get where James was going alot of time
By
dangermama, at 2:55 PM
Okay, albeit I'm a bit behind, but frankly I've seen the Message reach some who struggle to grasp KJV of God's Truth. I don't think it's such a bad starting point and I think legalism is often a road to judgment and death.
I use several versions of Scripture for studying and while I don't think the MEssage always captures the essence, it does offer me something. I think the gospel was offered to everyone, not just the well-read (seeing as how many of the Greeks couldn't read at ALL).
By
kpjara, at 9:29 AM
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