{"id":2680,"date":"2025-08-29T10:17:53","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T15:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/?p=2680"},"modified":"2025-08-29T10:17:53","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T15:17:53","slug":"august-29-september-5-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/2025\/08\/29\/august-29-september-5-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"August 29 – September 5, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Friday, August 29<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 Corinthians 2.12\u20143.3: Paul proceeds to tell of his recent missionary trip to Troas (on the western coast of Asia, the region of ancient Troy), thus taking up the narrative broken off at the beginning of this chapter. He had hoped to meet Titus at Troas, to learn from Titus what had transpired in Corinth. Paul\u2019s disappointment at failing to find Titus at Troas caused him, reluctantly, to abandon his ministry there and to sail over to Macedonia. We readers find Paul\u2019s distress understandable. Until he should meet Titus and learn what had transpired at Corinth, Paul would be distracted, uncertain how the congregation reacted to his \u201cletter of tears.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But why did Paul go over to Macedonia? This is not difficult to discover. If we think of him languishing at Troas for some days, perhaps even weeks, we imagine it would have been natural for him to sail over to Macedonia, from which, after all, Titus was expected. We should bear in mind that the currents and wind patterns between Troas and Macedonia made an eastward voyage longer and more difficult than a westward voyage. Because the Black Sea is normally colder than the Mediterranean Basin (on the average of ten degrees), the faster evaporation in the latter causes a strong southwest current to run through the Dardanelles, seriously influencing the speed of travel between Asia and Macedonia. A trip from Troas required only two days (Acts 16:11), whereas the reverse might take more than twice that long (20:6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul proceeds to bless God for this fortunate outcome, typical of the divine solicitude for man\u2019s salvation. That is to say, in the recent difficulties at Corinth, the Lord had displayed the power of the Gospel itself. For both Paul and the Corinthians the Gospel had become a matter of empirical evidence and concrete experience. God had \u201ctriumphed over\u201d them (thriambevonti hemas<\/em>). This note touches the epistle\u2019s major theme: God\u2019s power made perfect in man\u2019s weakness. Paul will speak incessantly of this \u201cmanifestation\u201d (phaneroein <\/em>\u2014 verse 14; 3:3; 4:10,11; 5:10,11 (bis<\/em>); 7:12; 11:6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psalms 144 (Greek & Latin 143): I take this psalm to be a description of the present reign of Jesus our Lord, the Son of that very David to whom it is ascribed. By this I do not mean Christ\u2019s reign solely in heaven, where He is enthroned at the right hand of the Power. This is not a psalm about heaven; it contains too much indication of conflict for this to be the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This psalm has in mind, rather, the reign of Christ over the faithful on earth, His dominion over our hearts. This is a psalm about life here below; heaven is the place above the present fray. It is the place from whence we hope to receive our help: \u201cLord, bow the heavens and descend; touch the peaks, and make them smoke. Flash forth Your lightning bolts and scatter them. Let fly Your missiles, and dismay them. From high above extend Your hand. Snatch me up and rescue me, from the flooding waters\u2019 torrent, from the hand of foreign sons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On earth the reign of Christ in His saints is an experience of the both war and peace, which two components dominate, respectively, the first and second halves of our psalm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inasmuch as \u201call who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution\u201d (2 Tim. 3:12), the Christian life is properly thought of as combat. Thus, Jesus, as King, is also a military leader, God\u2019s final answer to that ancient petition \u201cthat our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles\u201d (1 Sam. 8:20). Thus, in this psalm we bless Him for teaching our hands to do battle and our fingers to make war, and for delivering us from the evil sword. In the words of the traditional Latin anthem, Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat\u2014<\/em>\u201cChrist conquers, Christ reigns, Christ rules.\u201d Such were the words sung by the martyrs, their blood poured out for Caesar\u2019s pleasure. Those men, women, and children were not in doubt as to the identity of the true King.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, the Christ who appears in the first half of our psalm is the One described by St. John: \u201cNow I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. . . . He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses\u201d (Rev. 19:11\u201314).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Christ is also the Prince of Peace, the latter being the theme of the second half of our psalm. This part describes \u201cthe blessings of those whose God is the Lord.\u201d However literally or figuratively we are to understand the sons like ripened shoots, the daughters like pillars in a temple, the full storehouses, the many sheep and fattened cattle, they all refer to the tranquility and prosperity of a well-governed realm. Such is the Kingdom of the Christ celebrated in this psalm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday, August 30<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 Corinthians 3.4-18: Paul has \u201cconfidence before God\u201d (pepoithesis pros ton Theon<\/em>), an expression that has no linguistic equivalent elsewhere in the Bible). He has this confidence \u201cthrough Christ,\u201d not from any self-sufficiency (verse 5). The infinitive logisasthai <\/em>is better translated \u201cto claim\u201d than \u201cto speak\u201d: \u201cWe are not sufficient to claim anything\u201d (compare 2:17). Paul\u2019s competence comes from the God who commissioned his ministry (verse 6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Apostle introduces here his contrast of letter and Spirit (cf. Romans 2:27-29), which he will elaborate through the rest of this chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is perhaps most surprising in the first six verses of this chapter is Paul\u2019s confidence in the Corinthian church, where he sees the activity of the Holy Spirit as the fulfillment of the prophetic promises in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The Corinthians themselves are a testimony to the power and fruitfulness of his own ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul them proceeds to contrast the Gospel ministry–the ministry of the Spirit–with the ministry of the Mosaic Law, a theme that runs through the rest of this chapter. Because \u201cthe letter kills,\u201d he calls the Mosaic ministry \u201ca ministry of death.\u201d For someone that spent all his previous life in the study of the Torah, this is a very strong assertion. Paul is referring to his own experience; it had been his zeal for the Law that had led him into the sin of persecuting the Christians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Apostle also introduces now the expression \u201cglory,\u201d which as a noun or a verb (\u201cglorify\u201d) appears thirteen times in the remainder of this chapter. Even the ministry of the Law, he says, was possessed of glory. How much more the ministry of the Spirit? Compare the same form of argument in Romans 8:32).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul felt the \u201cboldness\u201d (parresia<\/em>) displayed in what he had just written with respect to the Mosaic Law. After all, he had just referred to the dispensation of the Torah\u2014the ministry of Moses himself\u2014as \u201cthe ministry of death\u201d and \u201cthe ministry of condemnation.\u201d This was certainly bold speech for a rabbi who had spent his whole life in the study of the Torah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nor do these words of Paul convey the entire truth. Indeed, Paul was still working his way through this subject when he wrote 2 Corinthians. A year or so later he would give a more developed, nuanced treatment of this matter in his dialectical argument in Romans 9\u201411.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This boldness in speech Paul contrasts with Moses, who veiled his face so that the Israelites could not behold the fading glory of his countenance (verse 13; Exodus 34:30-35). In this context, in which the word \u201cveil\u201d (k\u00e1lymma<\/em>) appears four times, the \u201cunveiled face\u201d serves as a metaphor for boldness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The expression eis to telos<\/em> should not be understood as expressing purpose (\u201cin order that\u201d) but as expressing effect (\u201cwith the result that\u201d). Otherwise, Paul would be accusing Moses of deceiving the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fault, however, was not of Moses but of the Israelites. Here Paul has in mind less the Israelites of Moses\u2019 time than the Israelites of his own day, those from whose synagogues, all over the Mediterranean basin, he and his companions had been expelled. These were the Israelites to whom the true face of Moses remained veiled. Satan, \u201cthe god of this world\u201d (4:4), continued to harden their thoughts (noemata<\/em>). This veil has become, in Paul\u2019s argument, an internal covering of the mind, which prevents the correct understanding of \u201cthe Old Testament.\u201d This is the only place in the Bible, we may note, that uses this last expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cabolishing\u201d (katargeitai<\/em>) of which Paul speaks here refers to the veil, not the Old Testament. This is clear in verse 16, where Paul refers to the removal of the veil from the heart. No part of God\u2019s Word is ever abolished or \u201cout of date\u201d (Matthew 5:17; Romans 3:31).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Septuagint text of Exodus 34:34 throws light on this removal of the veil. It speaks of Moses taking the veil from his face when he \u201cwent in before the Lord to speak to Him.\u201d It was in turning to the Lord that Moses\u2019 veil was removed. Thus, says St. Paul, as soon as a man turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. This interpretation is important as it indicates Paul understood Jesus to be \u201cthe Lord\u201d to whom Moses went in to speak. The Lordship of Jesus is, in fact, at the base of all Paul\u2019s reflections here (cf. 4:5).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunday, August 31<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corinthians 4.1-15: Paul\u2019s explanation of the \u201cveil\u201d on the face of Moses pertains to his own experience. This is why he shifts from the third person to the apostolic \u201cwe\u201d at the beginning of chapter 4. His observations lead him back to the dominant theme of this epistle\u2014power made perfect in infirmity. The \u201cclay jars\u201d means \u201cin our body\u201d (verse 10), \u201cin our mortal flesh\u201d (verse 11), \u201cin us\u201d (verse 12). Human beings, according to Genesis, are framed from the clay of the earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonetheless, Paul\u2019s references here do not indicate a spirit\/material contrast. The whole human person suffers the pangs of mortality, the soul as well as the body. Of himself, and considered entirely within his own resources, man is like the clay jars in which Gideon\u2019s army carried the victorious flame. The contrast here in Paul is between human weakness and divine power, not between the body and the soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Paul the apostolic experience was like a sustained sense of being put to death, but not quite. This sense of mortality, repeated in so many circumstances of Paul\u2019s life and travels, is seen through the interpretive lens of the \u201cdying\u201d (nekrosis<\/em>) of Jesus. The death and resurrection of Jesus are the paradigm of power made perfect in weakness (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:25-31).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul\u2019s preaching is based on that faith. He understands what happens in his life through his deep communion with Christ (1:5; 13:4; Galatians 6:17; Philippians 3:10-11). This is the source of his \u201cboldness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psalms 150: Originally crafted by a descendant of Cain (cf. Gen. 4:21), musical instruments do not, perhaps, look very promising when first we learn of them. Moreover, there has often been something a bit problematic about such music, morally considered. When King Nebuchadnezzar employed \u201cthe sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music\u201d (Dan. 3:5) for his idolatrous purposes, it was not the last instance when instrumental music served to deflect men from the worship of the true God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, in fact, God rather early designated musical instruments as appropriate to His own worship in the tabernacle and the temple. And, once again, in the final book of the Bible we find heaven to be a place resonating with the sounds of trumpet and harp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, as an added irony, instrumental music is eventually limited so exclusively to heaven that the damned are forever deprived of such music! The sinful descendants of Cain, the very inventors of harp and flute, will never hear them again, inasmuch as the \u201csound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore\u201d (Rev. 18:22). These things are now reserved for the blessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflecting on that final hour of perfected humanity, the last of the canonical psalms calls forth the voices of all these instruments for the eternal worship of the true God. He is forever to be praised with the voice of the trumpet, the psaltery and harp, timbrel and dance, strings and bells, loud-sounding cymbals, cymbals of jubilation. \u201cLet every breath praise the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday, September 1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joshua 22: After wandering in the Sinai and Negev deserts for most of a generation, the people of Israel had now arrived at a place called Shittim, just east of the Jordan River and only about ten miles from Jericho. Then came a new crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a moral crisis, involving some Israelite men of slack discipline with certain Moabite women of relaxed virtue. Fornication was the problem, that term understood both literally and in the figurative sense of their falling prey to the idolatrous worship of the Moabite god, Baal of Peor (Numbers 25:1-3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The seduction of these Israelites, moreover, was not a mere boy-meets-girl happenstance. It resulted, rather, from a deliberate machination on the part of the Moabites, plotting to weaken the military resolve and moral will of the Israelites.  Indeed, there is reason to believe that the scheme had been concocted in the mind of the religious philosopher Balaam, who was at that time in the service of the Moabite king (cf. Revelation 2:14).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeing it happen, the young priest Phineas discerned the peril of the hour, for an earlier experience had taught him the hazards of moral compromise. If he was sure of anything at all, Phineas was certain that God\u2019s punishment of sin was invariably decisive and might very well be swift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phineas had been hardly more than a child when he saw the divine retribution visited on two of his priestly uncles, Nadab and Abihu, for a single offense in the service of God. Nor had those been insignificant men who were thus punished. On the contrary, Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron and his heirs in the priesthood, were men of stature and respect among the people. They had accompanied Moses, their very uncle, as he began his climb of Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:1), and had partly shared in his vision of the divine glory (24:9-10).  Nonetheless, Nadab and Abihu had been instantly struck dead, devoured by a fire from the divine presence for just one moral lapse (Leviticus 10:1-3). The memory of that swift retribution had seared itself into the memory of young Phineas. He knew by experience that Israel\u2019s Lord was a morally serious God, not some feather of a deity to be brushed away at one\u2019s convenience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time of the Moabite crisis, then, the reaction of Phineas was utterly decisive and equally swift. Responding to the Lord\u2019s decree to punish the offenders (Numbers 25:4-6), he resolutely took the matter in hand and thus put an end to the divine wrath already plaguing the people (25:7-15). For his part in averting the evil, Phineas came to enjoy great respect in Israel. Not long afterwards, for instance, he was the priest chosen to accompany the army advancing against the Midianites (Numbers 31:6). After the Conquest, Phineas inherited land among the Ephramites (cf. Joshua 24:33) and continued to be consulted by Israel, especially in times of crisis (cf. Judges 20:28). He would be remembered throughout the rest of biblical history, furthermore, as the very model of zeal in God\u2019s service (cf. Psalms 105 [106]:30; 1 Chronicles 9:20; Sirach 45:23).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we knew only of Phineas’s decisive action at the time of the Moabite trouble, it might be easy to think of him solely as an energetic, resolute, executive sort of man, but this would be an incomplete perspective. Phineas was also a thoughtful person, able to consider a delicate question in its fully nuanced complexities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This latter trait of his character was revealed in the crisis later created by the construction of an altar to the east of the Jordan River by the Israelites who lived in that region (Joshua 22:10). Regarded as a rival altar outside of the strict confines of the Holy Land, this construction proved so provocative to the rest of Israel that there arose the real danger of civil war (22:12). Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed, and the decision was made to establish an eleven-member committee of inquiry to investigate the matter. Phineas was the head of that committee (22:13-14).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Probing into the construction of that altar, Phineas\u2019s committee concluded that it was not intended to be used as such, but would serve merely as a monument to remind all the Israelites of their solidarity in the worship of their one God. Civil war was thus averted, and Phineas, once so swift unto bloodshed, was thus in large measure responsible for preventing it (22:21-34).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday, September 2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 Corinthians 5:15-21: As in 3:1, Paul again fears lest his comments be understood as self-promotion, which would be most unseemly. He wants the Corinthians to know his heart, nonetheless, and not emulate those who judge by appearances. The Apostle is implicitly admitting here that he has not always \u201clooked good.\u201d Some of his experiences have been ecstatic (verse 13; 12:1-7), a point on which, it would appear, certain opponents have been critical of him. No matter, says Paul, such experiences have been God-ward. When, however, he speaks rationally, it is man-ward. Paul made the same distinction the previous year (1 Corinthians 14:2,28). It is not clear in the present text whether Paul has been criticized for his ecstatic experiences or for his apparent lack of them. Either sense will fit the context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verse 14 means, \u201cthe love of God grabs us\u201d (or \u201cgrips\u201d us\u2014synechei<\/em>). This is the love manifest in his dying for us (Galatians 2:20). \u201cAll have died\u201d in the sense that those who are gripped by the love of Christ no longer live for themselves but for Him who purchased them with His blood (verse 15; Romans 5:10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we have in Christ is a new existence, no longer \u201caccording to the flesh.\u201d Before his conversion Paul had known Christ \u201caccording to the flesh\u201d\u2014that is, not according to faith. All that, however, is now gone. Paul will not know anyone except in the faith of Christ. The love of Christ gives the believer a new way of knowing people. Being \u201cin Christ\u201d is a new mode of existence (verse 17; Galatians 6:16). Paul\u2019s vocabulary here seems borrowed from the second part of the Book of Isaiah (for example, 43:18-19; 48:5; 65:17; 66:22), which he will cite presently in 6:2 (Isaiah 49:8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Christian ministry is essentially a ministry of reconciliation, in which the reconciliation effected on the Cross is applied and brought to bear on the lives and hearts of human beings (verses 18-19; Galatians 1:12-16). Paul makes such an application now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The expression that Christ was made \u201csin (hamartia<\/em>) for us\u201d is open to more than one meaning (verse 21). It may mean that Christ, though not a sinner, assumed the condition of a sinner in order to represent all sinners. It may also mean that Christ became a \u201csin offering\u201d (which is the meaning of hamartia<\/em> as it appears in the Greek text of Leviticus 4). In either case the meaning is soteriological. By Christ\u2019s becoming \u201csin,\u201d we become \u201cthe righteousness of God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wednesday, September 3<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luke 3.1-22: Postponing his infancy\/childhood stories until Advent, we now commence Luke\u2019s Gospel at chapter 3, where he records the testimony of John the Baptist. This part ends with John\u2019s baptism of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Luke\u2019s account of it, that event is contained in a single, condensed, and tightly constructed sentence:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now it happened, when all the people were baptized, and Jesus\u2014having been baptized\u2014was praying, that heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form like a dove, came down upon him, and there was a voice from heaven: \u201cYou<\/em> are My beloved Son; in you<\/em> I am well pleased (3:21-22).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this Lukan account, six details of the baptism seem especially worthy of attention:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, John the Baptist is not mentioned in the scene at all; Luke, having already spoken of John\u2019s arrest (Luke 3:20), leaves him out of the baptismal story completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, the baptism itself is not Luke\u2019s central concern. Indeed, it has already happened and is mentioned only in a subordinate expression: \u201chaving been<\/em> baptized.\u201d Luke\u2019s focus is directed, not to the baptism, but to Jesus\u2019 experience<\/em> of the Father and the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third, Jesus\u2019 baptism is not isolated from that of the other people: \u201c. . . when all the people were baptized . . .\u201d The evangelist\u2019s stress on this point indicates Jesus\u2019 solidarity with the rest of humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This emphasis is important to Luke\u2019s theology of the Incarnation. In the immediate context, Jesus\u2019 organic solidarity with the human race is addressed by Luke\u2019s inclusion\u2014immediately after the baptism\u2014of the Savior\u2019s genealogy, in which his ancestry is traced all the way back to Adam (Luke 3:23-38). In other words, the mention of \u201cthe people,\u201d in this baptismal scene, pertains to Luke\u2019s larger interest in the humanity of Jesus: He is at one with the whole human race, descended from the fallen Adam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourth, only Luke speaks of the Savior at prayer in the baptismal story: \u201c. . . Jesus\u2014having been baptized\u2014was praying<\/em> . . .\u201d This is the first of many times Luke describes Jesus communing with God as other human beings commune with God\u2014namely, by prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fifth, Luke emphasizes the visible way the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus: \u201c. . . the Holy Spirit, in bodily form<\/em> (somatiko eidei<\/em>) like a dove, came down upon him . . .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Luke has already made the activity of the Holy Spirit thematic in his version of the Gospel, a particular theological note attends the Spirit\u2019s appearance here in the baptismal scene\u2014namely, the baptism is portrayed as Jesus\u2019 public anointing<\/em> by the Holy Spirit. Jesus will soon speak of this \u201canointing,\u201d when, in the first words of his public ministry\u2014and quoting the Book of Isaiah\u2014he announces, \u201cThe Spirit of the Lord is upon me, \/ Because He has anointed me\u201d (4:16; Isaiah 61:1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Spirit\u2019s baptismal anointing of Jesus is theologically decisive for Luke. It is, in fact, the chronological starting point of the apostolic message (cf. Acts 1:21-22). In respect to Jesus\u2019 baptismal anointing, moreover, Luke will later quote St. Peter\u2019s assertion that the Gospel itself<\/p>\n\n\n\n

began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed<\/em> Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him (Acts 10:37-38 emphasis added).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sixth, in Luke\u2019s version of the baptism\u2014as in Mark\u2019s\u2014the voice of the Father addresses Jesus directly<\/em>. It does so twice: \u201cYou<\/em> are my beloved Son; in you<\/em> I am well pleased.\u201d We take note of the vigorously repeated I\/you<\/em> structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proclamation of Jesus\u2019 sonship hardly comes as \u201cnews\u201d to Luke\u2019s readers, of course, who recall the announcement of Gabriel to Mary:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us insist that this experience of identification did not come to Jesus as \u201cfresh information.\u201d The Father\u2019s word here should not be understood as Jesus\u2019 \u201ccalling,\u201d in the sense familiar to the Hebrew prophets. Jesus already knew<\/em> he was called, and he already knew the identity of His Father. Eighteen years earlier, he had asked his parents, “Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about the things of my Father<\/em>?” (Luke 2:49 emphasis added)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the baptism, the Father\u2019s voice expresses, rather, a heightened reassurance to Jesus, the sign that his ministry should now begin.  As the Apostle Peter remarked of this scene, \u201cGod was with him\u201d (Acts 10:38). The Father\u2019s word is the encouraging answer to Jesus\u2019 prayer at the baptism. It conveys the Father\u2019s presence and loving approval. In short, Luke\u2019s version of the baptism lays the accent on Jesus\u2019 personal experience of communion with his Father, a communion sustained right up to the death scene, where Jesus twice invokes God as \u201cFather\u201d (Luke 23:43, 46).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thursday, September 4<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 Corinthians 6:1-10: In the previous chapter Paul had exhorted the Corinthians to be reconciled to God (5:20), right after proclaiming that God in Christ had reconciled them to Himself (5:18). That is to say, there is a sense in which the reconciling work of God for man does not preclude, but rather calls for, man\u2019s own act of being reconciled to God. Even this latter act, however, is something man can do only under the influence of divine grace. This is indicated by the passive voice of the verb: \u201cBe reconciled<\/em>.\u201d What God does, then, does not preclude the work of man. On the contrary, it invites and enables the work of man. It is a \u201ccooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul continues this theme of \u201ccooperation\u201d (in Latin) or synergism<\/em> (in Greek) in the exhortation that commences the present chapter: \u201cIn cooperation (synergountes<\/em>), therefore, we exhort you not to receive the grace of God in vain.\u201d The cooperation here appears to be twofold. First, Paul cooperates (literally, \u201cworks together with\u201d) God, inasmuch as he is God\u2019s ambassador (5:10; 1 Corinthians 3:9); his preaching is authorized and enabled by God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, the Corinthians are not to let God\u2019s grace go \u201cfor naught\u201d (literally, \u201cunto empty\u201d\u2014eis kenon<\/em>). Not receiving God\u2019s grace in vain is a specification of \u201cbe reconciled.\u201d That is to say, what God does for man is not the complete story; man must also do<\/em> certain things, so that God\u2019s grace will not be \u201cin vain.\u201d In the several verses referring to his own experience, Paul hints at what some of these things may be. They form a pretty tough narrative of what it is to \u201ccooperate\u201d with God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As indicated by the aorist tense of the Greek verb \u201cto receive,\u201d Paul is not thinking of repeated, continuous conversion; he is summoning the Corinthians, rather, to a decisive act made in the \u201cnow\u201d of the divine summons. It is this act of decision that renders any day \u201cthe day of salvation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul then turns to a description of the conditions and circumstances of his ministry. This section, apologetic and given in answer to the critics of that ministry, contains the second such description (cf. 4:8-9), and two more will follow (11:23-29; 12:10. Elsewhere, cf. 1 Corinthians 4:10-13; Philippians 4:12; Romans 8:35,38-39). In all such descriptions we see Paul feeding on his inner communion with God in Christ. That is what separates these \u201cautobiographical lists\u201d from the Stoic and Jewish apologetic lists with which they are sometimes compared (cf. 4:10-11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday, September 5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luke 4:1-13: Students of Holy Scripture have long recognized that Matthew and Luke describe Jesus\u2019 temptations in a way that contrasts His obedience in the desert with the disobedience of ancient Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both evangelists, in spite of the differently arrangements of their narrative sequences, apparently relied on a common source, according to which our Lord quoted the Book of Deuteronomy in response to each of the three temptations. This sustained appeal to the final book of the Torah\u2014invoked as a weapon to resist temptation\u2014summons the memory of Israel’s moral failings during its forty years of desert wandering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The immediate context of the accounts furthers this purpose: The parallel between Jesus\u2019 Baptism and the passage through the Red Sea is followed immediately by the correspondence between the temptations of Jesus and Israel in the desert. (Mark also adheres to this sequence.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus meets the first temptation\u2014\u201cIf You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread\u201d\u2014by declaring, \u201cMan shall not live by bread alone.\u201d This verse is lifted from the middle of Deuteronomy 8:1-6, which refers to ancient Israel\u2019s murmuring at the loss of their (alleged) better diet in Egypt (Exodus 16; Numbers 11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus answers the second temptation\u2014the promise of world domination in exchange for fealty to Satan\u2014by affirming, \u201cYou shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.\u201d This verse appears within Deuteronomy 6:10-15, in reference to Israel\u2019s repeated disposition to seek advantage by worshipping alien gods (12:30-31; Exodus 23:23-33).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus responds to the third temptation\u2014\u201cThrow yourself down from here\u201d\u2014by proclaiming, \u201cYou shall not tempt the Lord your God.\u201d This text, Deuteronomy 6:16, refers to Israel\u2019s constant disposition to tempt the Lord in the desert (cf. Exodus 17:1-7).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all His temptations in the wilderness, then, the faithful response of Jesus is placed in direct contrast to Israel\u2019s infidelity during those forty sinful years of wandering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 Corinthians 6.11\u20147.1: The Apostle takes up in this section a very practical matter\u2014marriage. This subject is so unexpected in the context that some scholars speculate that it slipped out of place in the manuscript transmission. This speculation, I believe, is unwarranted. It seems more reasonable to suppose that the harmful effects of \u201cmixed marriages\u201d may lie at the heart of the problems that Paul is having at Corinth. This would explain why the treatment of this subject appears in this apologetic section of the epistle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a previous letter to Corinth, a year or so earlier, Paul had been obliged to deal with the problems that arose when a man or woman, after their conversion to Christ, was consequently abandoned by an unbelieving spouse (1 Corinthians 7:12-17). His directions at that time had concerned only marriages formed prior to someone\u2019s conversion. However, a different sort of problem has since arisen at Corinth. Now there is question of a Christian taking a non-Christian wife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul perceives a problem already addressed specifically in the Scriptures of God\u2019s People. Although in earlier periods of biblical history relatively little attention had been given to marriage with pagans\u2014especially when a Jewish man married a non-Jewish wife\u2014Israel\u2019s religious leaders became more pastorally sensitive to such situations during the Babylonian Captivity (587-538) and the following centuries. Paul\u2019s position is essentially that of Ezra and Nehemiah: Don\u2019t!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friday, August 29 2 Corinthians 2.12\u20143.3: Paul proceeds to tell of his recent missionary trip to Troas (on the western coast of Asia, the region of ancient Troy), thus taking up the narrative broken off at the beginning of this chapter. He had hoped to meet Titus at Troas, to learn from Titus what had … Continue reading August 29 – September 5, 2025<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2680"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2680"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2681,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2680\/revisions\/2681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}