Jesus is hungry but feeds others; He grows weary but offers others rest; He is the King Messiah but pays tribute; He is called the devil but casts out demons; He dies the death of a sinner but comes to save His people from their sins; He is sold for thirty pieces of silver but gives His life a ransom for many; He will not turn stones to bread for Himself but gives His own body as bread for people.
Interpretation
This quote illustrates the selflessness and sacrificial nature of Jesus, emphasizing His role as a servant leader.
The quote reflects the paradoxical nature of Jesus's life and mission, demonstrating how He embodies humility and sacrifice while also holding a position of divine authority. Through His actions and choices, He prioritizes the needs of others over His own, serving as a model for love, compassion, and leadership, illustrating that true greatness comes from serving others.
In practice
During a sermon about kindness, you might quote this to illustrate the importance of helping others even at our own expense.
Both God's love and God's wrath are ratcheted up in the move from the old covenant to the new, from the Old Testament to the New. These themes barrel along through redemptive history, unresolved, until they come to a resounding climax - in the cross.
It is a cheap zeal that reserves its passions to combat only the sins and temptations of others.
Many of us in our praying are like nasty little boys who ring front door bells and run away before anyone answers.
There is a certain kind of maturity that can be attained only through the discipline of suffering.
The kingdom of heaven is worth infinitely more than the cost of discipleship, and those who know where the treasure lies joyfully abandon everything else to secure it.
Failure to believe stems from moral failure to recognize the truth, not from want of evidence, but from willful neglect or distortion of the evidence.
It may seem bizarre, but in my opinion science offers a surer path to God than religion.
You have a right to experiment with your life. You will make mistakes. And they are right too.
Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.
The whole realm of morality and ethics is something that has escaped the attention of women, by and large. And it needs the attention of intellectual women most desperately.
The world has been created for everyone's use, but you few rich are trying to keep it up for yourselves. For not merely the possession of the earth, but the very sky, the air, and the sea are claimed for the use of the rich few... The earth belongs to all, not just to the rich.
Humanity, you never had it from the beginning." That was my motto.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.