Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

Daily Bread 2011 – Monday January 31st, 2011 – Matthew 21:6-9 Verse of the Day: “The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” What Does This Mean? The beginning of Matthew 21 recounts for us, Matthew’s version of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, also known as Palm Sunday. The gospel of John gives us the specifics of the cut branches being “palm branches”. The palm branch was a symbol of triumph and victory in Jewish tradition, and is treated in other parts of the Bible as such (e.g., Leviticus 23:40 and Revelation 7:9). Because of this, the scene of the crowd greeting Jesus by

Daily Bread Together – Monday – Matthew 20 Verse of the Day: 20:24-28 “When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” What Does This Mean? The disciples begin to misinterpret what it means to have kingdom power. Because they were so steeped in a patriarchal, authoritative worldview, they saw their partnership with the King of kings as opportunity to wield more power. Many of the Jews had been oppressed for so long the thought of having real power was very enticing! And yet Jesus explains the “upside down nature of God’s kingdom” and how unlike in the world wher

Daily Bread Together – Monday – Matthew 19 Verse of the Day: 19:4-6 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” What Does This Mean? In this passage we see God’s intention for marriage. It is in the context of the Pharisees who were trying to trip him up again with the intricacies of the Mosaic Law. In this particular Law in Deuteronomy (which is said was added because of their hardness of hearts) there is an exception made for a man to divorce a woman if she is unfaithful to him. They reasoned if he said it was okay they could trip him up for being too permissive, and if he said it was forbidden they could say he wasn’t abiding by the Old Testament Law. Instead of entering into their flawed logic, J

Daily Bread Together – Monday – Matthew 18 Verse of the Day: 18:10-14 “The Parable of the Wandering Sheep” “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish. What Does This Mean? As Jesus has given the disciples the invitation to be part of the coming Kingdom through the Church, he reminds them at the beginning of the chapter to be humble. The disciples ask him “Who is the greatest in the kingdom?” It is natural for us after having been conferred this great privilege to start thinking of all of this in

Daily Bread Together – Monday – Matthew 17 Verse of the Day: 17:1-5 “After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” What Does This Mean? After six days, suggests that after working together with Jesus, He decides that the disciples need to get away and get some rest. For Jesus this often meant retreating to the mountains to be alone with His Father. As Jesus went up to a high mountain, “he was transfigured”, me

Daily Bread Together – Monday – Matthew 16 Verse of the Day: 16:15-20 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. What Does This Mean? Jesus asks the disciples the $64,000 question, “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus had shown through his preaching, teaching and healing that He was the exact fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies, and yet Jesus wants to know that the disciples “know” who He is. Peter’s confessi

Daily Bread Together – Monday – Matthew 15 Verse of the Day: 15:8-11 “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.” Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” What Does This Mean? As the Pharisees continue to try and “trip up” Jesus, he continues to expose the shallowness of their devotion. He acknowledges that they say a lot of things in their worship, but their hearts are far from him. The Pharisees had many rituals and a lot them had to do with what they could and could not eat. We call this today “kosher” laws, or dietary laws. Studies have been done that show that eating “kosher” food is indeed a good thing. Again God gave his laws to help and protect the Jewish people. Good eating was the key to longevity in a culture where death often came early

Daily Bread Together – Monday – Matthew 14 Verse of the Day: 14:18-21 “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children. What Does This Mean? As Jesus continues to teach his disciples on how to participate in God’s kingdom coming on earth as it is heaven, he begins to give his disciples a more active way of being involved. In this case, there are thousands clamoring for Jesus, despite his intention of getting away to a quiet place. The disciples want to send them away, but Jesus sees it as a teachable moment! Jesus responds bluntly, “You give them something to eat.”

Daily Bread Together – Monday – Matthew 13 Verse of the Day: 13:3-9 “Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.” What Does This Mean? Jesus taught many things by parables. “Parable” comes from the Greek word, “parabole”, which means to put two things side by side for comparison purposes. Parables use natural events that happen everyday to illustrate universal, spiritual and/or moral truths. In this parable Jesus uses the farming metap

Daily Bread Together – Monday – Matthew 12 Verse of the Day: 12:11-12 “He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” What Does This Mean? As Jesus continues his ministry of preaching the Word about God’s kingdom, and then revealing it through healing and many other works of power, the Pharisees start to get very suspicious of him. The Pharisees were the ones who were in charge of making sure that the Jewish Law was kept. But the problem was they were so steeped in legalism, they missed the true purpose of the Law, which was to give life not take it away. Jesus uses examples of the disciples eating when they were hungry on the Sabbath, and his own healing of a man who had a shriveled hand to illustrate how far their legalism had gone. Jesus points out there own erroneous thinking by using the example

Daily Bread Together – Monday – Matthew 11 Verse of the Day: 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” What Does This Mean? As Jesus has done a significant amount of challenging the disciples, he now invites into the “easy yoke” of following him. A “yoke” was what attached the oxen to hitch the load they were carrying. A “well-fitting” yoke was much easier on the oxen and made it much easier for them to carry the burden of the load. Jesus translates this to the burden of following him, and how it is meant to be easy and light, not hard and heavy. There is a weariness and burden that comes from always trying to do enough good stuff to merit God’s approval. Jesus is telling us to take His yoke upon us and learn from the way He has already carried our burdens to the cross. Importa

Verse of the Day: 10:5-8 The Workers Are Few 5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. 5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. What Does This Mean? As mentioned yesterday, Jesus now begins the transition from primarily doing the ministry to equipping His disciples to carry on what He started. And what was the principal message that He told

Verse for the Day: 9:35-39 35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” What Does This Mean? Verses 9:35-39 form a literary form called an “inclusio”, as these verses are identical to verse 4:23 and form a book end for this section of teaching. They mark the end of a section where Jesus is illustrating what God’s kingdom looks like coming to this earth. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount illustrated the principles for how we can participate in this kingdom. Then, in chapters 8 and 9, Jesus demonstrates the Kingdom coming through teaching in the Synagogue (the Jews) and proclaiming o

Verse of the Day: 8:5-8 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed What Does This Mean? There is a lot of irony in this chapter. Jesus healing ministry shows no discrimination between Jew and Gentile, male and female, leper and centurion. The centurion was a Roman soldier in charge of no less than 100 men. They were generally disdained by the Israelites for their presence in the Holy Land in order to keep the peace for the Roman Emperor. Yet this man seeks Jesus and shows his character and faith by finding Jesus and letting him know that his servant lay at home suffering from being paralyzed. Jesus acknowledges this humble centurion and asks if He can come and heal his servant at his home. Notice

Daily Bread Together – Monday – Matthew 7 Verse of the Day 7:24-25 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. What Does This Mean? As Jesus is teaching his disciples on how to participate in God’s kingdom which He has ushered in, importantly they will have to practice what he is teaching them. He uses the analogy of a house being built on a rock to emphasize the importance of building one’s life on the foundation of His Word. When is the foundation of a home tested? When the storms come! It as the rain falls and then accumulates and rises that the foundation is tested. If the foundation is built on the rock, it can withstand the pressure that storms bring. In the same way, as we apply Jesus’ principles to our lives we are building it on the rock

Daily Bread Together – Monday – Matthew 6 Verse of the Day 6:9-13 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ What Does This Mean? As we continue in Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount”, Jesus describes what life in the kingdom looks like. He teaches on three spiritual disciplines that the Jewish community would have been familiar with, but he adds a twist to re-define how they can be practiced. As he re-imagines what it means to give, pray and fast; it seems as though these disciplines have been distorted in the community. Importantly, in each example, he emphasizes that they should not be done to draw attention to one self. There is always the temptation for pride to set in, as we begin to do the t

Daily Bread Together – Friday – Matthew 5 Verse of the Day Matthew 5:13-16 – Sermon on the Mount “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. What Does This Mean? Matthew chapters 5-7 comprise what is commonly called the “Sermon on the Mount”. There is a similar grouping of Jesus’ teaching in Luke usually called the “Sermon on the Plain”. Some have called this material some of the finest grouping of teaching on ethics the world has ever seen. In verses 13-16, Jesus challenges His disciples with how they can appl

Verse of the Day Matthew 4:1-3 – Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” What Does This Mean? Note that Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. An interesting paradox! We will see many paradoxes through the bible. Paradox are events that don’t seem to make sense at first, but upon further reflection can provide a deeper interaction with the truth. In this case we wonder why the Spirit would lead Jesus to be tempted by the devil. Obviously Jesus was better off with the Spirit than without the Spirit on this occasion. And one can assume that through this testing Jesus’ will undergo will make him stronger and more prepared for the mission God has given him. In this situation, Jesus had gone into the wilderness to fast

Daily Bread Together – Wednesday – Matthew 3 Verse of the Day – Matthew 3:1-2 “In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” What Does This Mean? There is in a Jewish tradition history of water baptism which was ritual of cleansing for converts to the Jewish faith. John the Baptist came from a community that had separated itself from the mainstream in preparation for the Messiah and also the end of the world. He comes from the prophetic tradition as evidenced by his clothing and what he ate. The message he brought was one of repentance. This is an important word for us and many miss its meaning and significance. The word comes from the Greek word “metanoia” and means to have a change of mindset, sort of like our word “paradigm shift”. Importantly for John this mindset was a preparation for God’s kingdom drawing near in the person of Jesus. One of the means for this kingdom to come to

Daily Bread Together 2011 – Matthew 2 Verse of the Day – Matthew 2:10-11 “When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.” What Does This Mean? Matthew is the only gospel that mentions the journey of the Magi (aka “Wise Men”), who came in response to the star (they were astrologers from Persia). Back in the 6th century B.C., Daniel played this role (Rab-Mag, Chief of the Magi) and became a leader in both the Babylonian and Persian empires, after his success in interpreting dreams for the Persian Kings. Later in his life, Daniel made many prophecies relating to the rise and fall of earthly powers and eventually the apocalypse. As these Magi followed the star, they found the baby Jesus and gave him gifts befitting a King. “Magi” is plural, meaning there was more than one of them, but t

Welcome to Daily Bread 2011. You can also find the Daily Bread on my blog at: pastormikeandersons.blogspot.com We will be reading through the New Testament again this year taking five chapters a week, Monday - Friday to get from Matthew - Revelation. I pray as a you read a chapter each day that God will draw your attention to a verse or a few verses that will speak His truth into your life. As we respond in obedience to God's call on our lives through His Word, we will live the abundant life in 2011! This is the life we were meant to live! Let's get started! Verse of the Day: Matthew 1:23 "The Virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him "Immanuel" ("which means God with us")." What Does This Mean? One of the unique aspects of Matthew's gospel is his connecting the birth of Jesus to the Old Testament prophecies. This would lead us to believe that Matthew's gospel is written to a Jewish audience. Matthew begi