Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - WordAction - The Foundry Publishing House of Kansas City, Missouri, United States - The Global Church of the Nazarene for Sunday, 21 January 2018 "For All People" by Jonathan Twitchell - Matthew 12:13-21

Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - WordAction - The Foundry Publishing House of Kansas City, Missouri, United States - The Global Church of the Nazarene for Sunday, 21 January 2018 "For All People" by Jonathan Twitchell -  Matthew 12:13-21 
Matthew 12:13 Then to the man he said, “Hold out your hand.” As he held it out, it became restored, as sound as the other one. 14 But the P’rushim went out and began plotting how they might do away with Yeshua. 15 Aware of this, he left that area.
Many people followed him; and he healed them all 16 but warned them not to make him known. 17 This was to fulfill what had been spoken through Yesha‘yahu the prophet,
18 “Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,
my beloved, with whom I am well pleased;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will announce justice to the Gentiles.
19 He will not fight or shout,
no one will hear his voice in the streets;
20 he will not snap off a broken reed
or snuff out a smoldering wick
until he has brought justice through to victory.
21 In him the Gentiles will put their hope.”[Matthew 12:21 Isaiah 42:1–4]
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In Matthew 12, we read the story of a man with a shriveled hand. We don’t know much about him, but we can make some guesses: Only a few people made an effort to talk to him. Many looked away. Most tried to ignore him altogether and pretend he wasn’t there. Yet, the Pharisees tried to make an example of him. Drawing everyone’s attention to him, they asked Jesus if it was right to heal on the Sabbath or not. I can’t begin to imagine the man’s embarrassment as the religious elite created an awkward situation in an effort to trap Jesus.
Jesus knew they were attempting to trap Him, and in doing so, they were further marginalizing this man because of his disability. Jesus appealed to their own laws about pulling sheep out of pits, and pointed out that this man was worth much more than any sheep. In doing so, Jesus not only healed the man’s hand, He also restored the man’s humanity.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is about justice, reconciliation, mercy, and peace. It's about openness towards the outsider, and recognizing that all may come and put their hope in the LORD.

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Hymn for Today: "Your Love Compels Me by Doug Holck Copyright 1982 by Pilot Point Music (ASCAP), Box 419527, Kansas City Missouri 64141, United States. All rights reserved.
Your love compels me Lord
To give as You would give
To speak as You would speak
To live as You would live
Your love compels me Lord
To see as You would see
To serve as You would serve

To be what You would be
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Thought for Today: And it is all from God, who through the Messiah has reconciled us to himself and has given us the work of that reconciliation,(2 Corinthians 5:18).
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Please pray: For the development of Christian leaders in the Netherlands.
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