Touch wood; don’t say that

Do you remember the old phrase that you hear people around you saying "touch wood"? Well it has pagan roots from the days that they worshiped the spirits of trees and things made from the wood. It has become so common that people of many faiths say it to repel a bad saying, especially death. Do you fear death? Is death defeat? If your paradigm is limited to the here and now then the answer would be yes. But Jesus saw it very differently. Besides talking about the bad teaching of the religious leaders of His time, He freely and frequently spoke of His death in this chapter.

Matthew 16:4,21

[4] A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." And He left them and departed. [21] From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.

Jesus was asked for a sign from heaven and He said none will be given except the sign of Jonah. Guess what He meant? Of course, 3 days of death and He returns after that. When this happened after He was crucified, the leaders did not connect the dots. They were more worried about their positions of authority and how they could keep the Jewish population from following Jesus. Peter was also rebuking Jesus about His mention of death, and had to be harshly told off by Jesus. Are you going to "touch wood" when death is mentioned? Turn to Jesus instead.

Father, I will turn my face to Jesus when I face anything.

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My Journey of Faith

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Sreedhar's Journey

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