Our episode today provides a significant contrast with the glory of the mount of transfiguration. All the gospel writers are careful to record the stories together. They wanted us to note the differences between the two scenes. (5 Minutes/1300 Words)
Here, Jesus goes through Sidon perhaps on a brief missions tour, before heading to the region of the Decapolis. Once there, a group of people begged Jesus to lay his hand of healing on a man who was deaf. If you are new to Jesus today, you might be wondering if this was his normal mode of healing. It wasn't. He healed in many different ways, and this healing was one of his most creative! (4 Minutes/1100 Words)
God had promised Abraham, centuries earlier, that in him *all the families of the earth would be blessed*, and Jesus came to bring that multi-national blessing by his blood (Genesis 12:3). Our episode today is a foretaste of his plan. Though the disciples didn't yet understand it, the Jewish Messiah is for everyone! (4 Minutes/1000 Words)