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NASB | Matthew 22:42 "What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?" They *said to Him, "The son of David." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 22:42 "What do you [Pharisees] think of the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)? Whose Son is He?" They said to Him, "The son of David." |
Bible Question:
On the way to Emmaus they were talking about him, and a stranger joined them and listened. What were they talking about? "What things"? And they said unto him, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him". They thought he had been a mighty prophet, and that he was now dead. But they learned, and their hearts burned as they listened. By the end of the day they had corrected some of their thinking, and when they talked again, their talk was different. Their thoughts were different. And I'd like to talk about him, if you would. I've learned some things about him. So have you, I'm sure. You say it and you sing it in your meetings. Let us share our thoughts about him. What do you think about the One who is called Christ? |
Bible Answer: Dear Lockman Foundation: Please give us permission to go a step beyond Bible Study. We have been studying the Bible for a long time. Now we know so much! We know about God and Christ and Calvary and how to be saved, and we know what we ought to be doing to please God. But it seems we are stuck in the idea of studying. We can talk about things but we find it strange and inappropriate to do them. Please tell us if it’s OK to actually use our knowledge to do something on this forum. Take this present topic. Someone asks us what we think about Christ, but we find it impossible to answer. We continue to quote verses and make points, and we are ready to discuss, even debate, the minutiae. But we cannot put our bible knowledge into practice. Some of us are afraid we will offend you or defeat the purpose of this forum. Please give us your permission. Someone will respond here to say that we are supposed to stick to the Bible and not give our personal opinions. But it is not extra-Biblical opinions that this writer is seeking. Is there not room for opinion of Christ based firmly on what we have learned in the Bible. When the disciples were asked what natural men were saying about Christ, they reported the public opinions. But then he asked them what they thought and they gave the God-inspired “opinion”. Peter just said what God had shown him. Aren’t we allowed to do that here? Can’t we just say that we think he is wonderful, without going into another Bible study? Sure, we will refer to the Scriptures. But we find the need to praise the Lord, to actually do it, instead of studying it again. Ironically, it is the Bible itself that informs us we should actually do things such as praising the Lord and not just do a study on the idea. In 1Chronicles 16:36, for example, David encouraged the people to praise the Lord. As early as verse 8 he is saying, “Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people”. And thus he continues in his psalm until in verse 36, all the people said, Amen, and praised the LORD. But we today can talk about it and we cannot bring ourselves to do it. In 2 Chronicles 7:3 the children worshipped, and praised the LORD. They did not do a Bible study at that time. They praised the Lord. We have the words they said. They said, “For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever”. Now one of my brothers will take me to task for not capitalizing the words here (I cut and pasted it from the KJV, not to offend him but to make a point. There are other things to do besides commenting on words). Someone will say, “What you need to understand …” and lead us into another study or debate. I do not think we need to understand anything more before we do this. We need to do it. With understanding, yes, but with the understanding we already have. Some of us want to praise the Lord but we think all we are allowed to do here is study . For just a thread or two we would like to go beyond study to say what we think of Christ. Please give us permission here to actually praise the Lord with our words. Dear Lord, you are worthy to be praised. Please make us free to do it. Amen. |