FROM TODAYS DAILY REFLECTION: “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands.” - Mark 9:43 ...Jesus was not advising his followers to sever their hands and feet. He was using a rhetorical technique known as hyperbole (from the Greek word hyperbole, meaning “going beyond” or “excess.”) Informally, hyperbole is called exaggeration. It makes a point strongly, colorfully, and memorably. When people say, “I could eat a horse,” they are emphasizing the greatness of their hunger, not telling you of their preference for horse meat. Besides using exaggerated imagery, Jesus revealed his hyperbolic intent by saying, “If your hand causes you to sin...” (9:43). Jesus did not literally believe that hands cause us to sin. In fact, earlier in Mark, he had taught that sinful actions have their origin in the human heart (7:20-23)... QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: Have you experienced Christian community in which sin was emphasized too much? Too little? What helps us to keep a proper perspective on sin? Is there sin in your life that you need to take more seriously, confessing it, and turning from it? PRAYER: Gracious Lord, your teaching about sin is incisive. It calls me to take my sin seriously. Forgive me when I rationalize my sin or treat it as if it were no big deal. By your Spirit, help me to confess my sin to you and turn away from it. O Lord, thank you for caring so much about sin . . . and about us sinners . . . that you came to take upon yourself the penalty for sin so that we might be set free. Help me to live in the freedom of your salvation each day. All praise be to you, Lord Jesus, my Savior, the Savior of the world. Amen.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 10:30:00 +0000
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