Altar of Tudhoe Methodist Church “When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching because he taught as on who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law”  Matthew 7: 28 & 29 Jesus amazed everyone through his teachings. He did not entertain the crowd which had gathered around him, but taught them the truths of the Kingdom of God. It was not the humour, but the authority which endeared his teachings to the masses.  There were several teachers during the time of Jesus. They also talked about the commandments God gave to Moses and about God. But Bible says the crowd identified the difference between them and Jesus. Jesus spoke with authority. It touched them as many came asking him what to do and to clarify whether he was the messiah.   Jesus’ authority came from the fact that he was sent by the Father, and his message was from God and about God. This authority in turn gave credibility to Him and his message. But his messa...

Understanding the Scriptures “Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures”  Luke 24: 45 What do we need to understand the meaning of the Scriptures? Do we need to learn the original languages of the Scriptures – Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek? Is it based on the knowledge of the biblical background, and our ability to use Bible dictionaries or our understanding of recent scholarly discussions? Of course, these help to some extent in our understanding. But what makes us apply the Scriptures to our context and our situation? What makes us feel that these words are written for us and for our lives? Or should we rephrase the question and ask WHO helps in this process.  The Jews of Jesus’ time studied the Scriptures from their childhood. They had to memorise the Laws of Moses and keep in mind the large portions of Prophets and Writings. They always remembered their history through their annual festivals. In this way, even an average Jew was aware of what was writt...

“ Today I have made you a fortified city,  an iron pillar  and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land. ” Jeremiah 1: 18 God promised to make Jeremiah an iron pillar. This was an indication that Jeremiah would be given inner strength to face the challenges while he fulfilled his calling to be a prophet. In the earlier post Iron Pillar: Inner Strength , I mentioned that this was a promise by God to make Jeremiah emotionally and physically strong in life-threatening situations and that he should stand “ against the whole land – against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land ” (1:18). With that strength Jeremiah went onto fulfil his mission of proclaiming the destruction of Jerusalem, which was wrought by the sins of the people.    This image of inner strength represented by the iron pillar can also be extended further to indicate the call to be a support to others. Pillars do support big structures, even when they are hidden fro...

“ Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land. ” Jeremiah 1: 18   What exactly do we expect God to do when we are faced with challenges? As faithful Christians, we would normally desire a miraculous rescue from all the troubles with the help of God. Though we cannot deny God’s ability to perform miracles, God’s promise to Jeremiah that he would make him an iron pillar, points to another way God helps his people to deal with life’s problems.    Jeremiah was called to do a difficult and thankless job. He was asked to proclaim about the oncoming destruction of Jerusalem because of the sins of the people. Jeremiah’s situation becomes more complicated and embarrassing, because all other prophets were busy prophesying a message completely opposite to his, by saying, “ You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place”  (14:13). This makes him appear like a traitor wh...