Getting Confused by the Bible

Mark Twain, an atheist, said, "It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand." As a Christian, I agree. Usually, the Bible speaks with crystal clarity, calling me to align myself with God, His will, and His grace given in Christ. The Bible's clear calls to action and changes of mind, will, and heart can be really disturbing, demanding that we either heed them or ignore God altogether

But as my study of the background of this Sunday's Gospel lesson, has proven once again, sometimes it really is the stuff I don't understand as I read Scripture that flummoxes me.

Suffice it to say that I ran across something in Matthew's gospel which, over the years, I had never noticed before. And it has flummoxed me.

I may write about it here sometime...but I still have some studying and praying to do before that.

But that's the way it is with the Bible. It's God's Word, holy and amazing. The Bible is, as I often say, God communicating in "baby talk" to us. It contains dense truths from God Himself that we don't always get or that it takes years for us to get.

It only makes sense then that, despite how God deigns to make Himself known to us in the Word that, as we dig into it, it brings new surprises...some immediately liberating, others thought- and prayer-provoking.

Right now, I'm a bit confused.