Jan 12th Bible reading

Today's readings bring up some interesting points for me.

First, there's the story of Jacob stealing Esau's blessing. This has always been something of a troubling passage for me. Jacob, at his mother's direction, tells some bold-faced, flat out lies. And he seems to be rewarded for it. This has always bothered me. Why didn't he receive punishment, instead of blessing. But a comment made by Nigel on the main post helped to clarify something for me. Jacob achieved the result that God had planned, but the way he did it resulted in Jacob's exile from his family for many years. God didn't punish Jacob. His actions brought with them their own punishment, which I think is generally true of much of what we would call "sin."

Which segues nicely into the Matthew passage ;)

Jesus caused a scandal among the religious leaders of his day by associating with sinners. He was even called a blasphemer for saying that someone's sins were forgiven. I rather like that. Mike's commentary says that Jesus would in fact have been blasphemous, if he weren't God himself. But I'm not sure I agree. I may be misremembering, but I think I remember another spot where the disciples, who clearly are not God, are told to forgive sin as well. Rather than saying that Jesus' words and actions were blasphemous (implying against God), I think it more accurate to say that they were in opposition to the religous traditions of the day. An important distinction, in my opinion. I'll bet most of us could name some present-day religions traditions which perhaps should be challenged, but which may just result in a charge of blasphemy. For instance, and I know many people will disagree with me, I think that the position of "the church" on homosexual individuals is wrong and un Christ-like. Regardless of how you feel about the act of homosexuality, we're still talking about people here. People who may be sinners, but then, who isn't? See the Eklektos homepage for a ministry my wife is working on in this regard.