I Can't He Can!
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Readings for Today:
Psalm 22:22-28
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm22&version=NIV
Genesis: 40:1-41:16
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis40&version=NIV
Matthew 14:1-14
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew14&version=NIV
Psalm 22:22-28- New International Version (NIV)
22 I will declare your name to my people;
in the assembly I will praise you.
23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or scorned
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
Genesis 40:6 When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”8 “We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”
Genesis 41:11 Each of us had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own. 12 Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream. 13 And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was impaled.”14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh. 15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”16 “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”
Matthew 14
John the Baptist Beheaded
1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, 2 and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”3 Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4 for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.6 On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much 7 that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” 9 The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted 10 and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. 12 John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
Today’s readings remind us on how those who served God were absolutely dependent on God for their work for Him. Joseph started out as the dreamer his brothers despised and his parents rebuked, but his dream interpretation was all about him and the benefits it would bring him. But as he moved from the center to the fringe and allowed God to be the main character in the story, we see in the passage today he acknowledges, “I cannot do it but God can. Do not all interpretations belong to God.”
Then we see the ultimate model of humility in John the Baptist, the one who came out of the desert preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And also it was John, who said, “I must decrease so He can increase.” Well today, John is beheaded for his testimony in a grisly scene, where Herod’s daughter asks for the head of the John the Baptist. Herod’s fear of John’s power and authority and his fear of losing public adulation caused him to do this most heinous thing.
In Joseph and John the Baptist we see men who were willing to say, “I can’t but God can, and I think I will let Him.” Where do you need to give up control in your life so you can be a door for God’s kingdom to come through you? It will likely be a place where you must decrease so God can increase!
Gracious God, save your people from weak resignation and incline our hearts to speak your word of grace with boldness as we interact with others within our various communities. Amen.
Readings for Today:
Psalm 22:22-28
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm22&version=NIV
Genesis: 40:1-41:16
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis40&version=NIV
Matthew 14:1-14
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew14&version=NIV
Psalm 22:22-28- New International Version (NIV)
22 I will declare your name to my people;
in the assembly I will praise you.
23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or scorned
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
Genesis 40:6 When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”8 “We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”
Genesis 41:11 Each of us had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own. 12 Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream. 13 And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was impaled.”14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh. 15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”16 “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”
Matthew 14
John the Baptist Beheaded
1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, 2 and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”3 Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4 for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.6 On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much 7 that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” 9 The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted 10 and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. 12 John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
Today’s readings remind us on how those who served God were absolutely dependent on God for their work for Him. Joseph started out as the dreamer his brothers despised and his parents rebuked, but his dream interpretation was all about him and the benefits it would bring him. But as he moved from the center to the fringe and allowed God to be the main character in the story, we see in the passage today he acknowledges, “I cannot do it but God can. Do not all interpretations belong to God.”
Then we see the ultimate model of humility in John the Baptist, the one who came out of the desert preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And also it was John, who said, “I must decrease so He can increase.” Well today, John is beheaded for his testimony in a grisly scene, where Herod’s daughter asks for the head of the John the Baptist. Herod’s fear of John’s power and authority and his fear of losing public adulation caused him to do this most heinous thing.
In Joseph and John the Baptist we see men who were willing to say, “I can’t but God can, and I think I will let Him.” Where do you need to give up control in your life so you can be a door for God’s kingdom to come through you? It will likely be a place where you must decrease so God can increase!
Gracious God, save your people from weak resignation and incline our hearts to speak your word of grace with boldness as we interact with others within our various communities. Amen.
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