3/13 Reading (Proverbs 26-28; Matthew 8)

Proverbs 26: Here are the ones I like from this chapter:

4 Don’t answer fools according to their folly,
   or you will become like them yourself.
5 Answer fools according to their folly,
   or they will deem themselves wise.
12 Do you see people who consider themselves wise?
   There is more hope for a fool than for them.
16 Lazy people think they are wiser
   than seven people who answer sensibly.
24 Hateful people mislead with their lips,
   keeping their deception within.
25 Though they speak graciously, don’t believe them,
   for seven horrible things are in their heart.
26 They may cover their hatred with trickery,
   but their evil will be revealed in public.
28 A lying tongue hates those it crushes;
   a flattering mouth causes destruction.

So the first two completely contradict each other. That’s kinda interesting. Other thoughts: wisdom, honesty, hatred

Proverbs 27: Here are the ones I like from this chapter:

2 Let another person praise you, and not your own mouth;
   a stranger, and not your own lips.
17 As iron sharpens iron,
   so friends sharpen each other’s faces.

Humility

Second one is because that is a key phrase we use in F3: Iron sharpens Iron!

Proverbs 28: Here are the ones I like from this chapter:

1 The wicked run away even though no one pursues them,
   but the righteous are as confident as a lion.
10 Whoever misleads those who do right onto an evil path
   will fall into their own pit,
   but the blameless will inherit good things.
11 Rich people think they are wise,
   but an insightful poor person sees through them.
23 Those who correct someone will, in the end, find more favor
   than those with flattering tongues.
26 Those who trust in their own reasoning are fools,
   but those who walk in wisdom will be kept safe.
27 Those who give to the poor will lack nothing,
   but those who turn a blind eye will be greatly cursed.

Confidence, honesty, insightfulness, speaking truth, wisdom, helping less fortunate

Matthew 8: It seems like this is the start of the miracles that Jesus reportedly performed. The first one is curing the man with a skin disease by touching him. The second is the healing of the centurion’s servant. The notes make it clear that a centurion was a commander of 100 soldiers and most likely a Gentile. This bit with the Gentile is interesting. Here it is (8:8-13):

8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I don’t deserve to have you come under my roof. Just say the word and my servant will be healed.9 I’m a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and the servant does it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was impressed and said to the people following him, “I say to you with all seriousness that even in Israel I haven’t found faith like this. 11  I say to you that there are many who will come from east and west and sit down to eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12  But the children of the kingdom will be thrown outside into the darkness. People there will be weeping and grinding their teeth.” 13 Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it will be done for you just as you have believed.”And his servant was healed that very moment.

I find this intriguing because Jesus must’ve known that this person was a Gentile and yet he praises him for his level of faith. Earlier in Matthew Jesus supposedly said something negative about the Gentiles. This is just an interesting contrast.

Next Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law, people who were possessed by demons, and everyone who was sick. Jesus then orders his disciples to “go over to the other side of the lake” (8:18). This was a discussion of what it took to follow him. He then calms a severe storm after his disciples woke him while they were on the lake. Jesus then healed two men possessed by demons.

This is an interesting chart from the NIV study bible notes on Bible Gateway (Adapted from Four Portraits, One Jesus by MARK L. STRAUSS. Copyright © 2007 by Mark L. Strauss, p. 218.). It came after verse 17 from this chapter (7 This happened so that what Isaiah the prophet said would be fulfilled: He is the one who took our illnesses and carried away our diseases.). Here it is:

MATTHEW’S FULFILLMENT QUOTATIONS

Ten Fulfillment Statements
1:22–23	Jesus’ virgin birth fulfills Isaiah 7:14.
2:15	The escape to and return from Egypt fulfills Hosea 11:1.
2:17–18	The murder of the male infants of Bethlehem fulfills Jeremiah 31:15.
2:23	Jesus’ childhood in Nazareth fulfills an unknown prophecy.
4:14–16	Jesus establishes his ministry in Galilee, fulfilling Isaiah 9:2.
8:17	Jesus heals disease, fulfilling Isaiah 53:4.
12:17–21	Jesus fulfills the role of the Servant of Isaiah 42:2.
13:35	Jesus speaks in parables, fulfilling Psalm 78:2; 2 Chronicles 29:30.
21:4–5	Jesus enters Jerusalem as the humble king of Zechariah 9:9.
27:9–10	Jesus is betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, fulfilling Zechariah 11:12–13.
Other Fulfillment Citations
2:5–6	Jesus’ Bethlehem birth fulfills Micah 5:2.
3:3	John the Baptist fulfills Isaiah 40:3.
5:17	Jesus fulfills the Law and the Prophets.
10:34–35	The division of families fulfills Micah 7:6.
11:2–6	Jesus performs Messianic signs, fulfilling Isaiah 35:5; 61:1, etc.
11:10	John the Baptist fulfills Malachi 3:1.
13:14–15	Parables conceal the truth from the hard-hearted (Isa 6:9).
15:7–9	Israel’s disobedience fulfills Isaiah 29:13.
21:13	The temple is a den of robbers (Isa 56:7; Jer 7:11).
21:16	Praise from the lips of children is predicted in Psalm 8:2.
21:42	The rejected stone becomes the cornerstone (Ps 118:22).
26:31	The shepherd is struck down and the sheep scattered (Zec 13:7).