Seventeenth century nonconformist minister Matthew Henry in his commentary on verses two and three of Psalm 82 wrote “A gift in secret blinds their eyes. They know not because they will not understand. None so blind as those that will not see. They have baffled their own consciences, and so they walk on in darkness.”
There is an ancient tale which provides a marvelous insight into today’s readings and in many ways to how easy it is to take offense when none was intended.
There is an indefinable quality to candlelight. Bright neon lights illuminate with such unforgiving harshness, revealing every flaw and imperfection. The flickering flame of candlelight glows with a gentle warmth that fills the soul with grace.
Today we are presented with two announcements concerning parousia, the “coming” of the Messiah.
No matter how great the desire to foresee the future, to know what lies in store tomorrow and beyond, to anticipate and to know what yet awaits for gain or loss, prescience is for God alone. Life is a journey which requires countless course corrections without benefit of either map or direction.
Dreams, either good or bad, are ethereal, discarnate spirits so insubstantial as to deny memory of their purpose. Seldom do we retain what it was which we have dreamed beyond the vaguest sense of satisfaction or disquietude. Thus such vaporous memory gives us pause to question any mention of it or of its probative value, that is, what truth might our dreams impart.
Have you ever tried to have a deep personal relationship with God? If you have then you know just how difficult a task that can be. It should be easy, one might surmise, since God is pure love and he created each of us out of that love and he sustains us out of his love. So why should we find it so difficult to respond to his love?
What is it that attracts so many to horror films? Is it the adrenalin rush from being frightened? Whatever it is that compels us to actively and purposely place ourselves in such circumstances is beyond easy or ready comprehension. Yet we do it over and over again.
Has there ever been a time or an age with such discord, hatred, trial and tribulation? Terrorism, persecutions, racism, murder violence, armed conflict, famine, earthquakes, flooding, hurricanes … the list is endless.
Sadducees were the chief religious authorities among the Jewish people. They were strict adherents of the Torah, the Law of Moses, or the Pentateuch, that is the first five books of both the Hebrew and Christian Bibles.
