Luke 7

With the healing of the centurion's slave, Jesus confirmed the centurion's faith and recognition of His authority by healing without even having to see the slave.  While Jesus was willing to, the centurion in humility did not consider himself worthy to speak to Jesus directly nor to have Him come under His roof, that of a Gentile and Roman.  What a wonder that one is actually able to amaze Christ with our faith.

Then, when He raised from the dead the only son of a widow, He showed His deep compassion for this widow, who in so much grief during the funeral procession was not recorded as even having noticed Jesus nor asked for any help.  Yet, Jesus gave the son back to the deeply grieving woman.  What a reminder of His amazing power and His great love and compassion, His seeing our needs sometimes even before we turn to Him for help.

And His compassion is especially touching as we see how He encourages John the Baptist, who is in prison and in need of reassurance.    Jesus clearly demonstrated evidence through His Works that He is the Messiah, and He reminded John to stand firm, for "Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of [Him].”

Jesus then spoke to the crowd and affirmed John's ministry as a prophet who was not swayed by the wind and did not dress in expensive clothes or indulge in luxury.   He also showed that the Pharisees and Scribes rejected both John and Jesus, "but wisdom is proved right by all her children".  And when Jesus called John "great", it is a reminder that the Christ's definition of greatness is different from what the world considers great.

When He was invited to dine at the house of a Pharisee, he taught through a parable that the sinful woman who washed his feet, kissed them, and anointed Him with perfume recognized her need for forgiveness and loved Him more than the host did.  The chapter closed with an illustration that the woman was saved by her faith, received forgiveness of sins, and had peace with God.

More Cooking

I was craving Indian food this week, so, I decided to try making some:

• Tandoori Chicken - For the marinade, I just mixed plain yogurt with Garam Massala and Cayenne Pepper.  Then I broiled the chicken.   It turned out fairly well, and had good flavor.  But, I wasn't quite  able to get the blackening that I assume comes from using a Tandoori oven; and I could look into whether there's any natural ingredient that needs to be added to give it the red color.
• Indian Pilau Rice - I pan fried some garlic and shallots, then mixed in basmatti rice with cumin, tumeric, cloves, sesame seed, salt, and pepper.   Then added some water and cooked.  It came out fairly well, and will probably go well with the chicken.

I also made the Mediterranean stew again, but unlike last week, I didn't use olives and raisins.  I just cooked the chicken with broccoli and carrots.   I think the olives and raisins make it more interestings; but, this still turned out fairly well.

I also made some Asian dishes:

• Green Beans with garlic and black bean sauce.   Pan fried the garlic first, then added the green beans and the black bean sauce with some soy sauce.   Then simmered with some broth till done.   It turned out really well.  This might now be my favorite way of cooking green beans, and is really good served with pan fried tofu with sesame oil and soy sauce
• Miso Teriyaki Salmon - I broiled salmon marinated with Miso, Teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey, ginger, and green onion.  The sauce was really good; but, it's important to use fresh fish (frozen just isn't the same)

The other dishes were pretty regular - snow peas with fish and soy sauce and green onions; herbed chicken, soup base, etc.   I'm going to look forward to meals this week.   With all the different spices I used in cooking this week, it will definitely be flavorful meals.

1-Mar:  Made a miso salad dressing that was quite good - mixed miso with rice wine vinegar, honey, sesame oil, sesame seeds, and orange juice.  Then served over spinach and sliced carrots.

2-Mar:  I pan fried some Swai fillet pieces that were just seasoned with lemon pepper, sea salt, and herbs. They turned out really well... it may have been the new pan or the higher heat.  I imagine that they would have been good served over the green beans with black bean sauce.

Luke 6

Even though Jesus provided evidence to the Pharisees and Scribes that He was Who He said He was - the Messiah, the Son of Man, and God; but, they were hard-hearted and started "looking for a reason to accuse Jesus", especially related to the Sabbath.    Jesus taught them through reference to an example from the OT on the life of King David; and also through the healing of the man with the withered hand, that He is "Lord of the Sabbath" and that doing good supercedes the extraneous restrictions imposed by the religious leaders.  The Sabbath was to be holy, set apart for the Lord, for HIM; yet, the religious leaders turned it into a legalistic burden to observe, and the true meaning and purpose for the Sabbath was overshadowed by this.

Then, when Jesus called the twelve apostles, He spent the whole night prior to that in prayer to God.   What a reminder of how essential prayer is.  And when we look at the twelve, not one of them were theologically trained like a Pharisee or Scribe; yet, we know that they become the leaders of the Early Church and carried on the message and authority of the gospel as Apostles.  We have the benefit of knowing the role the twelve played and will play (prophesied to sit on the throne to judge the 12 tribes; and to have their names on the foundation of the walls of New Jerusalem); yet, I wonder whether these twelve, at the time they were called, could've imagined how God would use them.  It reminds me that when God calls me, I need to just follow and allow Him to use me as He Wills.

He then preaches what is commonly called the "Sermon on the Plain" or "Sermon on the Plateau".   It is similar to the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5; so, could either be Luke's condensed version; or that Jesus taught the similar message at different places and different times.   In this passage, He talked about 4 Blessings in parallel with 4 Woes, contrasting those blessed with eternal rewards from the Kingdom of God versus those who are content with their earthly rewards already received.

This passage is a reminder to keep our focus on God and on the eternal perspective; and not to be distracted by man-made restrictions or earthly things.

It is clear that what Christ is teaching in the sermon is not common to human nature and is likely different from what was typically taught.  Loving enemies, Blessing those who curse, Turning the other cheek, etc.  Yet, we do it because as sons of the Most High, we are to reflect the character of our Father in Heaven; and we have Jesus's example of doing these things in the events surrounding His crucifixion.   Also the section was summarized with the Golden Rule, which was once again different from other philosophies and religions, in that this was not expecting anything in return nor trying to prevent anything negative coming back. 

The verses on not judging or condemning, but forgiving and giving could refer to either response from others or from God in return.   And that section is a reminder that the spiritually blind cannot teach the blind, and that we must address the sins in our lives first and to bear good fruit, before we can effective speak.

Jesus concludes the sermon with an illustration that those who hear and obey are like the man who built his house on a strong foundation so that it would stand through the storms; but, those who hear and do not obey are like the man who built his house without a foundation so that it collapsed when the torrents hit.   What a reminder, that the Word of God is our foundation to help us to stand firm in the midst of the storms of life, if we hear and obey.

We are able to live contrary to our sinful natures when we are living as sons of the Most High. 

Also, as we've been studying through these passages on Christ's Ministry, there are several verses and examples that show that when the Truth is spoken, it will offend those who are comfortable with the lies of the Enemy.  It is like the demon who could not stand it when Christ was teaching authoritatively in the synagogue, or when Christ warned them that they will be hated and persecuted just like the prophets before them.  With my critics, I am coming to think that if they are not offended, then maybe I'm not teaching the truth strongly enough.