Showdown!
A reading for Tuesday, April 21, 2015: Luke 4:31-37.
It's like an old west showdown. Picture the scene... Jesus is teaching in the synagogue. All are impressed, smiles all around. This rabbi is most impressive.
When suddenly, a man approaches. A man of trouble and arrogance. "Who do you think you are Jesus?" says this man. "What power do you think you have?" The man claims to know that Jesus is the Holy One of God, which is to say the man does not recognize the power of God in the world to deal with trouble and arrogance.
And Jesus deals quickly with the matter, proving that God is sovereign over all things... including trouble and arrogance. The man (or the demon) is quickly dispatched.
The world is still full of the same trouble and arrogance. A quick survey of the news demonstrates just how many still do not recognize the power of God and our dependence on God for life. There are still many around us who would challenge us and our faith in the grace of God to overcome all things. "Who do you think you are?" they ask. They are looking for a showdown.
Lord, deal mightily with anything that challenges your authority to bring peace and justice to all people. Rebuke trouble and arrogance to silence, and deliver us from evil. For we pray in the power and the authority of your Holy Name. Amen.
It's like an old west showdown. Picture the scene... Jesus is teaching in the synagogue. All are impressed, smiles all around. This rabbi is most impressive.
When suddenly, a man approaches. A man of trouble and arrogance. "Who do you think you are Jesus?" says this man. "What power do you think you have?" The man claims to know that Jesus is the Holy One of God, which is to say the man does not recognize the power of God in the world to deal with trouble and arrogance.
And Jesus deals quickly with the matter, proving that God is sovereign over all things... including trouble and arrogance. The man (or the demon) is quickly dispatched.
The world is still full of the same trouble and arrogance. A quick survey of the news demonstrates just how many still do not recognize the power of God and our dependence on God for life. There are still many around us who would challenge us and our faith in the grace of God to overcome all things. "Who do you think you are?" they ask. They are looking for a showdown.
Lord, deal mightily with anything that challenges your authority to bring peace and justice to all people. Rebuke trouble and arrogance to silence, and deliver us from evil. For we pray in the power and the authority of your Holy Name. Amen.
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