Matthew 11:20

Matthew 11:20-30

Jesus concludes with some remarks about rejection in such a way as to remind a disciple to fear God. Jesus' ministry has not resulted in community-wide change. Certainly there were pockets of change or individual change, but not the kind of repentance of Nineveh. Two towns Chorazin and Bethsaida were singled out. But we have no record of Jesus doing miracles there. What ever He did do should have been enough. Because of their privileged position they should have repented. Jesus compares them to the arrogant and pagan Tyre and Sidon.

As bad as that was, it is worse for Capernaum. This was the epicenter of Jesus' ministry in Galilee. They are contrasted to Sodom. This would have been highly offensive to Jesus' hearers. Sodom is the ultimate expression of the grossest forms of evil, yet their condition is better than that of Capernaum. Evil done in ignorance is still evil. Evil done in spite of the knowledge of God's will is inexcusable. The hardening of the heart to the Spirit’s call to repentance causes us to reject forgiveness and that is unforgivable.

In contrast to the hardhearted, Jesus draws the disciples in. It is not the mind that makes a disciple. It is the trust that even a babe can have. There are some key points that a disciple must have. First, there's the simple trust of a babe that does not have the barriers that arrogant intelligence erects. Second, there is the unity of the Father and the Son. So, the invitation of the Son is an invitation to the Father. It is also the invitation to come. To be set free from the burdens of rules and doubt and fear of always struggling to measure up. The life of the disciple is not idle indolence rather the joyful work of love.

"By Your mercy Lord, direct and dispose my heart to always be drawing closer to You, and ever more faithfully living in your will. AMEN"

Matthew 10:21-42

Matthew 10:21-42

Nowhere in Jesus's description of the life of the disciple do we find comfort, ease and wealth as a by-product or even a promised reward. As His is sending the disciples out Jesus describes the result of the radical loyalty and obedience of being a disciple. The disciple’s full and undiluted commitment to the person of Jesus will result in a division between a disciple and all others. The nearest and dearest to a disciple who do not share this loyalty will be estranged from the disciple.

This estrangement will go down to the closest relationships and when faced with the estrangement the disciple chooses Jesus. The result is everything from name-calling to death. But there are fates worse than death, so don't be afraid. Rejection by the Messiah because we reject Him is something to truly fear.

Jesus is the point of the division. All other divisions are secondary and of little or even no importance. Jesus is the point of decision and division. The closest loyalty, like that of father, mother, and parent-child, is secondary to our commitment to Christ. Jesus did not come as a great unifier. He did not come so that we could all just get along. The message of the Gospel is not the “Peaceable Kingdom”. Those things are by-products of the Gospel, and only among those who are loyal to Jesus. Jesus came to call people to Him in complete and radical loyalty. Efforts to bring peace apart from Christ are a waste of time.

The way to life is not the path of least resistance, which may cause us less grief. Nor by self-assertion, which may give us more stuff. The way to life is a radical following of Christ in which everything else is held with an open hand even life itself. In such a life, even the smallest thing, such as a cup of water, has Eternal meaning.

"Lord, help me to be so loyal to You that I will choose You above everything and everyone else. Including me, myself and I. AMEN"

An undiscovered truth

 Undiscovered truth

I love it when I discover something in Scripture that I've never seen before even if I'd read the passage a dozen or a hundred times. that moment that something that slipped by is noticed and it helps you reshape an important part of your understanding. That happened to me just this week.

 I've read the book of Exodus and The Exodus story more times than I care to count. but I discovered something that I had never noticed and it has a profound impact on how I think about one of the disciplines of the Christian Life. In fact I misunderstood something really important in The Exodus narrative.

In order to demonstrate this discovery I need to ask a question. How did  Moses know that God had sent him? Think about it for just a moment but be careful and don't be too sure of your answer. Usually we will answer that question with the burning bush or a reference to the signs and wonders that God performed through Moses in Egypt. We would begin by thinking of the first call or about the rod turning into a snake or the plagues that descended up on Egypt or the crossing of the Red Sea. But God gives a different answer.  An answer given before the signs occurred and after they have taken place.

Exodus 3: 10-12: And now come, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”  But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”  And He said, “Assuredly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.”

There is a lot to process in this about faith, and service in the midst of struggle but one point I had never noticed, maybe you didn’t either.  It is in worship that Moses would have the sign of God’s call on his life.  

We have become far too casual about worship.  Or should I say we have become far too casual about the priority of worship.  We certainly want to have God’s blessing on our lives, homes, families, businesses, cars, bank accounts blah, blah, blah. But His worship is not a priority.  By worship I mean both personal and corporate worship.  We will skip our morning devotions before we skip breakfast.  If we have to make the choice of being late for work or not spending time with God we will be on time for work.  “But God is forgiving, my boss isn’t”.  True; but God gives you each heart beat your boss trades money for effort.  (We can, if disciplined, have time with God and be on time to responsibilities.)  

Beyond our time of personal worship we can be pretty slack about corporate worship.  I once heard a lady say she had to skip morning worship because, “We were having homemade ice cream for lunch dessert, and you know that takes a lot of time”.  That is a far cry from the ancient church where it was understood that disciples would gather for worship unless they were dead, very sick, or in custody (which included slavery).  Our absence from our community of faith, be that small group or corporate worship, and neglecting our own time with God is an excellent barometer of our priorities.

Most importantly we will never really know God and what He is about in our lives unless we come to worship Him.   

The Big Picture

Wanting the big Picture?

If you have noticed I haven't posted a devotion for a few days. The reason is that the Bible reading plan I am using has passages selected for the first 25 days of each month. This allows you to catch up or study select passages more deeply at the end of each month. On Thursday I will return to posting a daily devotion from Matthew.

In the meantime I have also been reading in Acts. One of the problems I have is I ALWAYS want to see the big picture. But God almost never allows us that insight, for our benefit I might add. Nevertheless, we sometimes in not seeing the big picture we struggle with our perception, patience, and daily living. I think this could have happened to Paul.

Read Acts 16:1-15 before going any further.

Between the calling into ministry and circumcision of Timothy and the Macedonian call there is a scene that is profoundly important but little noticed. It is the occasion where Jesus is saying “No”. In versus 6-9 we see that the Lord directs Paul and his companions not to go somewhere and preach. They were traveling from east to west across the middle of what is now Turkey. To the north were cities and regions of unreached people. Nevertheless God directs Paul and company not to go there. They finally come to the region of Mysia that is located at the northwest edge of Turkey or what Luke calls Asia. Don’t miss this point, they were “Forbidden” by the Holy Spirit to preach the Gospel in this region. This seems both strange and emphatic. They come to the end of Turkey to the city of Troas, and are the apparently wait for instructions. Ultimately it is here that Paul receives what is known as the “Macedonian call”.

It must have been confusing for Paul and company to have been on a missionary journey and being told not to preach. Before the vision we can wonder if Paul was frustrated and confused. Paul: “Lord look at all these lost people let me tell them about your salvation”. The Lord: “No Paul don’t preach here.” It is not like the Lord gave Paul the big picture of the mission to northern Greece. All He told Paul was don’t preach. Certainly Paul faithfully trusted but we can wonder if he was also confused.

In hindsight we see to key reasons why the Lord refused to allow Paul to preach in that area. First the expansion of the gospel into the Greek and Roman world is one of the great moments in all of history. The transition from east to west, from the Orient to Europe was one of the great expansions of Christianity. Second we see a change of pronouns between verses 9 and 10. There Luke transitions from “they” to “we”. The fact that we are reading the book of Acts and that we have read the Gospel of Luke is in part due to the fact that the Lord prevented Paul from ministering in northern Galatea. Because we can never see the big picture we must always trust the one who does.

"Help me Lord to be faithful in this moment not matter how much I understand. AMEN"

Matthew 10:1-20

Matthew 10:1-20

Mercy is more than kindness; it is the validation of the message preached. The post-Christian man is in a different situation than the Heathen who has never heard the Gospel. The description of the 12 sent out expresses a wide gamut of people from the Zealot to the tax collector. But it is loyalty to the Lordship of Jesus that binds them together.

The scope of the mission is fairly small since it is limited to Galilee, but is expansive with both the message and the miracles of Jesus. The miracles of healing even include raising the dead. We need to ask, “Is the application of this commission for all the disciples or only for Jesus' immediate audience?”

Jesus commissions and sends them all without a lot of provision. They embody the message and they embody the promise of divine provision. The call to trust and “seek ye first the kingdom of God” now has a practical application. What is needed will be available when it is needed. The time taken to acquire an extra tunic and extra pair of shoes or walking stick is time and effort that is wasted.

The culture of that day allowed a different kind of hospitality than what we experience today. However, the rejection of the message is always a disaster for any people. Disciples are not responsible for the decisions of those who hear the message once that message has been communicated. Disciples are a helpless group like wolves among sheep. How does a disciple survive? The disciple survives by the combination of cunning and purity. They are as cunning as a snake, but without ulterior motives. Jesus assumes the reality of persecution and opposition for us.

We find this combination odd and this expectation places the discipleship opposed by the powers and responding to them without power.

"Lord, help me to focus my life on being a disciple through which the message of the Gospel flows and is validated by acts of mercy. AMEN"

Matthew 9:27-38

Matthew 9:27-38

In Matthew chapters 5 through 7 there was a radical authority of Jesus's teaching. Then in chapters 8 and 9 we see His authority in healing. Now in healing two blind men. Jesus appears at first not to respond to their request. Their persistence is proof of their faith. If a person is easily dissuaded that is evidence that they don't have real faith.

Not telling would be a difficult task; it would be hard for people not to notice the change from blind to seeing. What was to be avoided was the unauthorized proclamation whereby Jesus' ministry and life would be co-opted for the purposes of lesser causes. Jesus next cast out a demon. Jesus heals the sick, but if the illness is the result of the demonic Jesus casts the demon out. We notice in this healing that Jesus is never distracted, but always deals with the root issue. The comment that nothing like this has happened in Israel indicates that the leadership had failed. They had failed to be connected to God so that the enemy had worked his way in. If nothing is happening in my life it is because I am disconnected. Faith requires persistent pursuit that will eventually result in God's agenda.

Jesus travels about on a massive healing tour and his reaction to the people was He felt compassion. He was struck by the pitiable condition of the people. When I experience some measure of success, is my reaction to it a keen awareness of the heart and the needs of people? Do I have the empathy to notice the people harassed and thrown down? Or am I so impressed with what is happening that I lose sight of hurting people? In the midst of a great event, Jesus has a gut reaction of pity for the plight of the people.

Jesus's response to them is to direct the disciples to plead with the chief Harvester for more workers. Harvest was often a picture of judgment, but in this case Jesus uses it as a picture of rescue from suffering.

"Lord, when things are good help me to never lose sight of the needs of individuals. When things are bad help me focus on the root issue of life, a right relationship with You. AMEN"

Matthew 9:14-26

Matthew 9:14-26

The distance between Jesus and all others grows larger and larger. He is not part of the main line of Judaism and now a distinction between John the Baptist’s followers and Jesus becomes clear. It is interesting that a movement that formed around John is not like John who was fully committed to Jesus. They were more committed to their message than the one they were called to talk about. Perhaps they wanted to restore Israel rather than follow the Lord.

Jesus does not reject fasting, but He rejected that fasting had merits in it. Jesus clearly fasted at times, but not as a part of works of righteousness. Rituals and rules cannot contain the Gospel. The Good News is so expansive that it cannot be understood wholly in rituals. There are occasions in which, because of the Gospel, we may engage in specific actions, but that is the gospel coming out, not the message of the Gospel itself. Fasting for specific reasons was the practice of the early church. Fasting because everyone else is or it is on a calendar is not enough. A ritual may express the content of our heart, but it must never be mistaken for it.

It is no accident that Jesus used the parable of the wineskins and then used two miracles to demonstrate this truth. To be touched by a woman with an issue of blood and to enter the house with a dead person made one unclean. This is an expression of the old wineskin-the Law. Jesus burst the law by healing and raising the dead. This is the new wineskin with the new wine. There is no way that the ritual of the Law could account for what Jesus did. This was a dramatic demonstration of what the gospel of grace is all about.

"Lord, thank You for rituals that remind me of the Good News, but help to realize that the Gospel is too great and too wonderful to be contained in any form or ritual. AMEN"