Look inside this book.Where the Bush is Burning: A Daily Devotional by [Thomas Tice]

Tag: Matthew 26
The Christ, The Son of God

The Christ, The Son of God

By |

But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God! 

Matthew 26:63-64 

Christ was unambiguous about His identity. Our text tells us that, for the most part, He was silent before the false witnesses and the high priest. When He refused to comment on the accusations leveled against Him, the high priest, in exasperation, put Him under oath to declare His identity as ‘the Christ, the Son of God.’ At that point, Christ uttered these words, ‘It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ This is as clear a declaration of His identity as it can be. The high priest understood exactly what He was saying. His response was to tear his clothes and accuse Christ of blasphemy. Thus, there is no real question regarding Who Christ claimed to be. It is not a matter of whether He claimed it, as much as it is of whether we believe it. The religious leaders of the Jews did not. The disciples did. The disciples went forth over the whole earth with the message that Jesus Christ is Lord. We are proclaiming that same message. He is the Christ, the Son of God. We rest by faith in Him.  

Our Gracious God and our Savior, 
we rejoice that You are who You claim to be. 
We praise You that we have the privilege 
to make You known.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

He Waits For Us

He Waits For Us

By |

For it is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom. 

Matthew 26:28-29 

Christ controls His future and ours. On the night before He went to the cross, as He was in the upper room with His disciples, He instituted the communion feast. He took the bread, broke it, and distributed it among the disciples saying, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ After that, He took the cup and gave it to them saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you.’ Our text is His next statement. For our purpose today, we are dwelling upon the second portion of the text, ‘but I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.’ Christ is the Host at His communion feast. He instituted it with an eye to the future. As the perfect host, He has determined to wait until all His guests are gathered together before He participates in the feast again. This shows us the magnanimous nature of our Savior. He will not be wholly satisfied, or willing to enter fully into the celebration of eternity until all the ransomed people of God are saved to sin no more. This is a joyful thought for us who are still journeying through this world. The Master of the Feast waits for us until the appointed hour. 

Our Gracious Master and our God, 
we rejoice that You are preparing all things for our future. 
We look forward to that day, 
when we shall sit with You in the kingdom. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
The Christ, The Son of God

The Christ, The Son of God

By |

But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God! 

Matthew 26:63-64 

Christ was unambiguous about His identity. Our text tells us that, for the most part, He was silent before the false witnesses and the high priest. When He refused to comment on the accusations leveled against Him, the high priest, in exasperation, put Him under oath to declare His identity as ‘the Christ, the Son of God.’ At that point, Christ uttered these words, ‘It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ This is as clear a declaration of His identity as it can be. The high priest understood exactly what He was saying. His response was to tear his clothes and accuse Christ of blasphemy. Thus, there is no real question regarding Who Christ claimed to be. It is not a matter of whether He claimed it, as much as it is of whether we believe it. The religious leaders of the Jews did not. The disciples did. The disciples went forth over the whole earth with the message that Jesus Christ is Lord. We are proclaiming that same message. He is the Christ, the Son of God. We rest by faith in Him.  

Our Gracious God and our Savior, 
we rejoice that You are who You claim to be. 
We praise You that we have the privilege 
to make You known.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

He Waits For Us

He Waits For Us

By |

For it is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom. 

Matthew 26:28-29 

Christ controls His future and ours. On the night before He went to the cross, as He was in the upper room with His disciples, He instituted the communion feast. He took the bread, broke it, and distributed it among the disciples saying, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ After that, He took the cup and gave it to them saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you.’ Our text is His next statement. For our purpose today, we are dwelling upon the second portion of the text, ‘but I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.’ Christ is the Host at His communion feast. He instituted it with an eye to the future. As the perfect host, He has determined to wait until all His guests are gathered together before He participates in the feast again. This shows us the magnanimous nature of our Savior. He will not be wholly satisfied, or willing to enter fully into the celebration of eternity until all the ransomed people of God are saved to sin no more. This is a joyful thought for us who are still journeying through this world. The Master of the Feast waits for us until the appointed hour. 

Our Gracious Master and our God, 
we rejoice that You are preparing all things for our future. 
We look forward to that day, 
when we shall sit with You in the kingdom. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
A Good Work

A Good Work

By |

But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, Why do you trouble woman? For she has done a good work for Me.  

Matthew 26:10 

Christ sets high value on works done out of pure love for Him. The passage from which our text derives narrates the story of a woman who entered the house of Simon the leper with an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil. Other accounts of this incident set the value of it at almost a year’s wages. In his account, John indicates Judas Iscariot was the most vocal critic because he was the treasurer of the group, and a thief. Christ defended the woman, reasoning that the disciples had opportunity to do good to the poor always, but that He would not be available much longer. He went on to say she was anointing His body for His burial. He set His seal of approval upon her service to Him by saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.’ This woman, whom John identifies as Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, demonstrated pure love for Christ. She had sat at His feet, witnessed Him raise her brother from the dead, and loved Him thoroughly. Thus, to her, this was not an extravagant gift. Christ set high value on her good work. He recognized the purity of her love and devotion. What can we do out of pure love for Christ? Surely there must be something. 

Our Gracious God and our Savior, 
we rejoice that You see those who have pure love for You. 
We praise You that You will reward their love.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Meta