Old Testament Text
1. Jacob dies. After Jacob dies the brothers fear that Joseph will take revenge. Joseph's response, "Am I God, that I can punish you? You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good..." Joseph reassures them of his good intentions towards them and their families.
2. Joseph dies. Prior to this Joseph reassures them that God will lead them back home. And, like his father he wants to be buried "back home."
3. Yeah! Genesis is done.
4. The Israelites flourished.
5. There is a new king in Egypt, Thutmose I. This king doesn't know anything about Joseph or what he did to save Egypt during the famine. The new king and his advisers feared the growth of the Israelites. Feared that they might unite with the enemies of the Egyptians. They oppressed them and enslaved them.
6. Moses is a descendant of the tribe of Levi.
7. It was the daughter of Thutmose I, Hatsheput, who found Moses floating in the basket of reeds. She recognized that he was a Hebrew child. Probably circumcised according to ritual. He was ultimately nursed by his own mother.
8. He was given the name Moses= "I lifted him out of the water."
New Testament Text
9. "Who do you say I am?" Who do you say Jesus is?
10. What does this run of verses mean? Peter is the rock, "keys to the kingdom", binding and loosing. There are many scholarly explanations for these. From my readings, I think that Peter was chosen to open the door of the Gospel to each of the two major groups of people of his day-
- Jews (Gospel sermon at Pentecost) and
- Gentiles (chosen to speak to Cornelius, the first Gentile to become a member of the body of Christ.)
11. The binding and loosing are more difficult to understand. It refers, we believe, to binding demons and curses and loosing blessings. We are only able to do these things as an extension of Christ. We are called to be the kingdom. To reflect Jesus in our world.
12. Take up your cross...
13. If you hang on to this life and earthly possessions- you will lose them. We all die, in the flesh. If you give up these things...you will save your life...your soul.
14. What Jesus wants us to give up is not our life, but our self-centeredness...our self!
15. The transfiguration observed by Peter, James and John. Moses and Elijah join Jesus there.
Psalm
16. "The unfailing love of the Most High will keep you from stumbling."
Proverbs
17. Proverb 5 warns us against adultery.
18. Today's section warns specifically against being taken in by an immoral woman
...sweet as honey,...smoother than oil,...bitter as poison...as dangerous as a double-edged sword.
See you next post...
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