For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Luke 14
Why are the contrasts Jesus is making important? Jesus kept intentionally healing on the Sabbath in front of the Jewish religious leaders. Perhaps He did so because it was such an obvious demonstration of their hypocrisy. If the whole point of the law is to love God and love people, then refusing to do good for someone in need on the basis of the law completely misses the point.
It seems, actually, that most everything the religious leaders did was to honor themselves, not God. Jesus seems to stress this point with His comments about both taking the place of honor when invited to a feast and hosting a meal where you invite only those who can and likely will pay you back. It all makes me think that I really need to examine my intentions. I want to make sure I am putting the spotlight on God and not on myself.
Gen. 27-28
How does God use our sinful nature to further His will? People will be people. And that’s usually not a good thing. God knows this. In ways that we could never comprehend, God knew our thoughts, our words, our actions before they ever were and He wove even the worst of them into His great plan to redeem us to Himself. God knew that Jacob would supplant Esau. I am certain He could have made a way for Jacob to rise above Esau without all the lies and deceptions. But, things being what they were, He instead chose to redeem all the bad behavior for good. God is truly amazing that way.