Year 3, Day 181: Matthew 7

Judge Not …

This is perhaps one of the most abused passages in the Sermon on the Mount.  “Judge not lest ye be judged” may one of the most wrongly quoted and misapplied verses in the whole of the Bible.  It’s not that there is a translational issue.  There is a contextual issue.

The words that Jesus says literally read “Y’all don’t judge, in order that y’all shouldn’t be judged.”  {Y’all is not my ‘southern’ coming through, it is meant to illustrate that this is a plural command rather than an individual command.}  The word judge is a courtroom word.  It means to judge someone into condemnation.  Jesus is telling us point blank that it is not our job to tell someone that they are going to Hell.  That’s actually God’s job.

Where people get this wrong is that they apply it so that it means, “Don’t look into my life and tell me I might be doing something wrong.”  That isn’t what Jesus is saying.  In fact, elsewhere in the Bible Jesus tells us that we are to watch out for one another.  The apostle Paul tells his disciples on numerous occasions that we should go to one another and correct them when they need it.  We are to name sin when we see it!  What we aren’t supposed to be about doing is telling people they are going to Hell.  For as long as they are alive, there is still time to repent.  As disciples of Jesus we are directed to focus on identifying sin and drawing people out of it rather than focusing on the condemned nature of a person who still has time to repent.

This is actually what Jesus means when he talks about the dogs and the swine.  The gift that God has given to us is not wisdom to judge into Hell but rather wisdom to know mercy.  He has given us wisdom to know love.  We should focus on drawing people out of their sin so that they can genuinely know God’s mercy.  When we focus on the condemnation of others, we are ignoring the greatest gift God can give to our hearts.

Ask and It Shall Be Given

Here is another often misapplied passage.  Yes, Jesus says, “ask, and it will be given.”  People read these verses and think in some “Prayer of Jabez” mystical manner that if they just pray the right way they can convince God to give them what they want.  The key to finding balance in this passage is in verse 11.  The Father longs to give good things to those who ask.  The Father doesn’t long to give anything; the Father longs to give good things.

When our mind is with God, then we will ask for the things of God.  When we ask for the things of God, we shall receive because God’s will is done!  Therefore, Jesus is not giving us a “Prayer of Jabez” mantra to get what we want.  Jesus is subtly telling us to shape our mind to His will and then we will want and receive what God wants us to want.

One of the Scariest Triple Stories in the Bible

I find Matthew 7:12-23 to be the second scariest set of verses in the Bible – only to be outdone by Matthew 25:1-46.  There is some seriously blunt teaching going on here.  I’ll be honest.  Unless you are ready to get on your knees and confess, skip over my blogging on this section.  It’s not for the faint of heart.  But you may just skip over it at your own peril.

Jesus tells us about a wide and narrow gate.  The wide gate leads to destruction and it is easy to find.  The narrow gate leads to life and it is hard to find.  When Jesus says “easy,” He is actually using an engineering word describing a road that is broad, spacious, pleasing, and with few bumps – a well made road.  When Jesus says “hard,” Jesus is using a derivative of the Greek word for persecution – a bumpy road that persecutes you.  The first hard teaching is this: if you are “living the life,” there is a good chance you’re not on the narrow way.  Jesus tells us quite clearly where the fun, pleasing, and bump-free life leads.

What’s more scary is the words that Jesus uses to talk about who finds each gate.  Many find destruction.  Few find life.

• The Greek word for “many people” is polus (πολύς).  Polus means “a great many” or “a vast majority.”  It is the root of words such as metropolis, which is a word that means “a measure of a great many people,” or Annapolis, which means “the many people of Anne.”  {The city in Maryland was named after Anne Arundel, the wife of Lord Baltimore.}  Polus – great many people – is the word that Jesus uses to talk about those who find destruction.
• The Greek word for “few people” is oligos (ὀλίγος).  Oligos means “a very small number” or “few in quantity.”  It is the root word for words such as oligarchy, which means “rule by the few,” and oligemia, which means “having little blood.”  Oligos – a very small number of people – is the word that Jesus uses to describe those who find the narrow gate.

I’m going to be blunt here.  When Jesus talks about those who will find eternal life, he uses a word to indicate and incredibly small number.  When Jesus talks about those who will find eternal destruction, He uses a word that means the vast majority.  This really makes me question whether a half-hearted confession and a seldom-applied faith life really qualifies one to call themselves a follower of Jesus.  What was it we said yesterday about the Two Masters?  Oh yeah.  You can’t serve two masters.  God wants to be the first in line to occupy that slot.

Then Jesus goes into a section about false prophets.  But this teaching isn’t really about just spiritual leaders.  It is about being able to tell a truly spiritual person from an imposter.  The truly spiritual person will bear spiritual fruit.  The fake will bear no fruit – or worse, bear bad fruit.  Jesus says that we will know spiritual people by their fruit.  Bearing fruit is a normal process of everyone who is spiritual.  Know fruit, know Spirit.  No fruit, no spirit.  That’s blunt.  That’s also rather scary.

If we’re not feeling the need to fall on our knees and repent yet, Jesus hits us with a third teaching that is designed to shake our knees and get us to think.  There will be people who at the time of judgment before God will say, “Lord, did I not call upon Your name?  Did I not do things in Your name?”  Jesus will reply, “I never knew you.  Get away from me.”  If the first two do not make you stop and think, this one will.

There are two key phrases that help us identify why people think they are saved but will be told in the end to go away.  The first one is that only those who do the will of the Father will be saved.  You see, it’s about agenda.  There are many people who go to church on Sunday and even come to a Bible Study or a midweek service because they also really just want to live their own life at other times.  They think that if they can just be holy for a few hours a week that they can then be the way they really want to be during the rest of the week.  They are attempting to justify spiritual schizophrenia.  Jesus is saying, “I care about your whole motivation.”  If you do something in Christ’s name but not as a response to God’s will, it doesn’t matter.  Jesus calls that behavior “lawlessness.”  Jesus isn’t looking for spiritually schizophrenic followers.

This naturally leads us into the second dimension of why these people are turned away.  Jesus doesn’t know them.  God is about relationships.  Jesus isn’t about weighing good actions versus bad actions.  He already knows that the bad outweighs the good in all of us.  Jesus – and the Father – is about relationship.  Either you are His or you are not His.  You can’t be part His and part not His.  You are either chasing after righteousness – with the occasional stumble followed by repentance – or you are not chasing after righteousness at all and instead chasing after your own desires.  Don’t fool yourself; God won’t be fooled in the end.  Jesus is telling us that if you’re not all-in with Jesus, you’re not-at-all in with Jesus.

Wise and Foolish Builders

Jesus then tells us that everyone who hears His words and receives them is like a wise builder who builds on stone.  When Jesus is our foundation – when we are all-in with every dimension of life – we cannot be shaken.  Even if death should come, we can rejoice in Christ for we know we shall live forever.

Yet, those who hear Jesus’ words but don’t take them to heart is like a foolish builder who doesn’t look for bedrock.  Life comes along and knocks the building down and the person is left with nothing.  When death comes, there is nothing to look forward to in eternity except judgment.

With that Jesus finished the Sermon on the Mount.  The people were amazed.  In fact, the Greek word there can mean overwhelmed.  I’m guessing you know that feeling right about now.

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{Leandra, if you are reading this … BLOCK PARTY!}

Year 3, Day 180: Matthew 6

True Righteousness in Generosity, Prayer, and Fasting

I think the key to understanding verses 1-8 and 16-18 is found in a small phrase in verse 1: “in order to be seen by them.”  Today we get to talk about motivation as a part of righteous ministry.  Far too often I hear people lift up this passage as an excuse for never doing anything public.  That isn’t Jesus’ point.  Remember, almost everything that we have recorded from Jesus’ ministry was public and “before others.”  There is nothing wrong with doing anything in private.  There is nothing wrong with doing ministry in public – as long as it is for the right reasons.

Jesus is telling us to be careful in public ministry so that our motivation is not “to be seen by others.”  In other words, Jesus is telling us to be careful to not fall in love with the praise and the accolades.  Trust me, that is very easy to do.  Who doesn’t love a good pat on the back once and a while?  Who wouldn’t love an “atta-boy” every day?

Jesus is saying that we need to be careful to do mission for the right reasons.  God should get the glory, not us.  We should do mission so that people feel the presence and love of God.  We should do mission so that people see God through us and so that they can imitate and innovate upon our example.  {For a Biblical understanding of this, see the example of Barnabas in Acts 4:34-37 and how everyone knew about his giving but it was never about giving praise to Barnabas.}  It never is about us receiving praise and glory.  That isn’t why we do mission.

In fact, Jesus tells us point blank.  When we do something for the sake of getting praise and we get praise, then we’ve gotten our reward.  God won’t reward us, because we’ve already gotten what we wanted.  Even the largest monetary donation done for the reason of personal glorification won’t be seen as a righteous act by God.

This teaching really takes me back to the story of the woman at the temple who drops in a few small pennies {See Mark 12:41-44}.  Jesus praises this woman over and above the pomp and circumstance over the large donations.  Here is a woman who gave what she could because of her relationship with God.  It didn’t matter what anyone else thought of her or her gift.  That’s what Jesus is talking about as we open chapter 6.

The Lord’s Prayer

Notice the thrust of the Lord’s Prayer.  When Jesus teaches about prayer, there are two foci:

1. First is giving praise to God.  His name is hallowed – a word that means to regard as holy (different/separate).  Our priority is God’s agenda – His kingdom coming on His time and according to His way.  Our reference point is heaven, God’ dwelling place.  We ask for what God knows we need.
2. Second, our focus is on relationships.  We ask for our relationship to be restored with God.  We ask God to restore our relationships with one another.  We ask that our relationships in the future would be according to His desires and not according to our temptations.  We ask him to protect us from falling into relationship with the Evil One – or just plain evil.

I think it is pretty cool that the Lord’s Prayer mimics the thrust of the two Greatest Commandments.  Love the Lord your God … love your neighbors as yourself.  God and relationship are the main two foci of each great teaching.

Treasure

In the next section of verses the Lord links together the heart and the eye.  First He tells us to lay up our treasure in heaven.  For where our treasure is, there our heart will also be.  This is so true about humanity.  We say we are all about the right things.  But you can really tell who a person is by how they spend their time and how they spend their money.  What is the old expression?  Talk is cheap.  You can judge a person’s heart by what they do with time and money.

Then Jesus tells us to not only be careful about our heart, but also about our eye.  For the erosion of the heart begins with the sight of the eye.  We long for that which we see other people enjoying.  We lust after things we see but cannot have.  If we really want to have an easier time laying up our treasures in heaven, we should be careful where we allow our eyes to stray.

Two Masters

Here is another famous teaching of Jesus.  You cannot serve two masters.  Combine this teaching with Exodus 20:3.  Not only can you not serve two masters, but God wants to be first.  If you can’t have more than one and God says it has to be Him, then God is really saying He is an only.  He wants your undivided attention.  He wants your undivided focus.  He wants everything you say, do, and think to reflect His character.

I don’t think I have to go too far out on a limb to suggest that we all fall short of this one.  We all can repent on this topic.  I don’t think any one of us can claim to be solely devoted to God as our only master.  It looks like repentance is ahead of me on this one!

Anxiety

The last topic in Matthew 6 is anxiety.  I love the verse, “which of you by being anxious can add even a single hour to your life?”  That pretty much says it all right there.  Today’s troubles will be enough.  Tomorrow’s troubles will come on their own and we won’t be able to avoid them.  Why waste time being anxious?  Easier said than done, I know.

So how does one avoid being anxious?  Jesus tells us the answer.  First, seek the kingdom of God.  Focus on God and what God desires. When we do that, many of the worldly things that we worry about go away.  Second, put your trust in God’s ability to provide for whatever is left over.  If it is of God, then God has the power and the desire to provide it for you.  So why worry?

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Year 3, Day 179: Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount

The next few chapters are probably the most well known sermon that Jesus ever preached.  When people think of Jesus and sermons, Matthew 5-7 is likely where people turn first.  The main thread running through the whole Sermon on the Mount is righteousness.  That’s the topic that we’ll chase for the next three days.

The Beatitudes

This is likely the most famous of the subsections of the Sermon on the Mount.  These sayings begin our quest for righteousness.  In these opening verses we find examples of what it looks like to live righteously.  This is not a exhaustive list, mind you.  This is a list of examples of righteous behavior:

• Humble with regard to one’s own capacity (Poor in Spirit): Righteous people know what they can achieve, know who gives them the ability to achieve it, and then go and do it.  When we are humble and turn to God for our strength, we shall see the Kingdom of God.  However, this idiom also speaks to the people who say, “I can’t do anything.”  Humbleness before God acknowledges one’s gifts humbly; it does not ignores them.
• Mourn:  Righteous people have a grip on reality.  We understand that because we live in a world of sin, things will go wrong.  We will make mistakes.  We will encounter death.  Relationships will be broken.  Mourning is a natural consequence of understanding human sinfulness.
• Submitted:  You’ll notice I didn’t use “meek” here.  I learned today that the Greek word πραΰς is an equestrian word.  It is used to describe a horse that is “broken.”  A broken horse is one that accepts guidance from a master and can be safely ridden.  That is what Jesus says here.  Blessed are the … broken.  Blessed are the submitted.  Blessed are those who allow God to rein them in.
• Hunger and thirst for righteousness: Righteous people look for opportunities to see righteousness on display.  They look for it in themselves; they look for it in others.
• Merciful: Righteous people allow their relationship with God to be the model for their relationship with others.  As we receive mercy from God, we give mercy to others.
• Pure in Heart: The Greek word here for pure is καθαρός.  It is the root of our word catharsis.  A cathartic moment is a moment of deep emotional cleansing.  Jesus is saying that the righteous truly know what it is like to have God work cathartically within us.  The righteous long for those moments of cleansing, difficult as they may be to get through.
• Peacemakers: I believe this is a spiritual word, not a worldly word.  Jesus is not talking about “world peace” here.  Jesus is talking about divine restoration.  Humanity rebelled against God.  From that point on, God is literally at war with humanity and the sinfulness within.  Righteous people are about proclaiming that God desires to be at peace with people.  Out of that comes the desire to be at peace with one another.
• Persecuted: Righteous people will be persecuted by the world because of who they are.  Unrighteous people will rebel against those who seek to change their default position.
• Reviled: Righteous people will not only be persecuted; they will be reviled and spoken about injuriously.  It is difficult to be righteous.  But the righteous are in good company.  The world has always reviled God’s prophets.  To be reviled by the world on account of one’s righteousness puts one in really good company.  Jesus Himself leads the group of people who are reviled.

Jesus Gets Blunt

One of the things that I love about Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is that occasionally He is awful blunt.  We’ll see it here.  We’ll see it especially in chapter 7.  Jesus doesn’t pull any punches in His words.  He doesn’t smooth things over or dumb-down faith.  If anything, He ratchets things up a bit.

Where is Jesus blunt?  Salt.  Light.  Salt preserves things.  God has sent His people into the world to preserve the world.  But if the salt isn’t going to preserve anything, what good is it – except for raising blood pressure?  Jesus is saying that if you are following Him then you are actively about preserving the world.  If you’re not going to be about actively preserving the world, don’t bother.  You’re just going to get underfoot.  That’s blunt.  Righteous people are about the business of spiritually preserving the world around them.

He says the same thing about light.  Light eliminates darkness.  Light illuminates darkness.  But if light is never going to go into darkness and instead only stay where it is lit, what good is it?  What good is a flashlight on a bright sunny day?  No.  If we aren’t going to let our light shine before the world so that God may be glorified, why bother even having a light?  That’s blunt, too.  Righteous people are actively involved in bringing the light of God to the dark world around them.

The Law

Again, Jesus is blunt.  Whoever relaxes even one of the commandments of God will be called least in the kingdom.  Jesus did not come to get rid of the Law.  However, Jesus did not come to assert that obeying the Law was the goal, either.  Jesus specifically says that unless you exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees that you cannot be in the Kingdom of God.

Of course, most of us hear that and we immediately say, “What chance do I have?”  Let’s not miss Jesus’ point.  When Jesus says “exceed,” He isn’t talking about “greater deeds.”  He’s talking about “more categories.”  Let me explain.

The Pharisees wanted to hold everyone up to the Law and say “measured up” or “fell short.”  The Pharisees wanted to use the Law as the final say with respect to God’s judgment.  Jesus is saying, “That’s a great starting point, but there is more to it than that.”

Jesus cares about relationship.  God cares about relationship.  The reality is that none of us will ever measure up to the Law.  So unless there is more, Jesus is right.  None of us can enter the Kingdom of God.  But there is more.  As I said, God cares about relationship.  God cares about our response to sin.  God cares about our righteousness.  God cares about our repentance.  All of us will fail when measured against the Law.  But some of us will humble ourselves and respond to God in repentance.  Righteous people learn to look past how we measure up to the Law and appreciate those who live life in continual repentance.  {Remember my post for Matthew 3.  Repentance is a long process of change, not a simple feeling of remorse or a fake feeling of regret.  I’m not proclaiming cheap grace here.}

Other teachings

This post is already getting long – a common occurrence when I blog about the Gospels.  So I’ll try to keep the rest short.  Jesus speaks about anger, lust, divorce, and oaths.  Notice that Jesus doesn’t make any of those topics easier; He actually makes them more difficult!  Here is Jesus’ point in each of those sections.  Again, our internal relationship with God and each other is more significant than our sinfulness.  When we think in anger, think in lust, desire a divorce, or feel the need to swear an oath we have a problem within us.  That problem is the heart of the matter.  That problem is where the brokenness lies.  Yes, the sin – the consequence – of that brokenness is important.  But the brokenness within us is even more important.  If we don’t fix the brokenness within, we’ll simply reply the same sin again and again.  Fix the brokenness within, and the sin doesn’t even come out the first time.  Trust God within, and righteousness will come out.

We then close this chapter with two lessons on how we treat those who come against us.  Jesus tells us to not retaliate.  Jesus tells us to be open to inviting even more persecution in.  These are both hard teachings.  Who among us wants to be struck only so that we can offer the other cheek?  That’s insanity!  Yet, it is precisely what Jesus Himself does.  Jesus walks into Jerusalem and allows Himself to be arrested so that He can die for the sake of the people and demonstrate love.  Now that’s insanity.  But that is what love is about.  Any worldly person can love those who love you back.  Only the righteous person can love the person who hates them.

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Year 3, Day 178: Matthew 4

Temptation of Jesus

Matthew 4 opens Jesus’ ministry proper.  What is the first thing Jesus encounters?  Satan.  Jesus encounters Satan when His flesh is weakened from fasting.  But Jesus encounters Satan when His spirit is strengthened by His fasting.  What is the lesson here?  For spiritual people, the spirit is stronger than the flesh.  We may not always live it out because of our sinful nature.  But it is still nonetheless true.

Satan’s temptation is very thorough.  It begins with an assault of the physical.  That is where most of us regular human beings are actually quite weak.  Satan goes to Jesus, knows that He is hungry, knows that Jesus has the power to turn the stones into bread, and he tries to get Jesus to comply.  It is a physical temptation pure and simple.  It is an attack on the humanity of Jesus.

Jesus resists.

Satan then tries to attack Jesus’ divinity {as well as His spirituality}.  Satan knows that God has a plan for Jesus.  Satan also knows that God’s plan is coming out of His absolute will.  This means that God will see His Son crucified upon the cross.  So Satan asks Jesus to throw Himself off of the temple to try and force God’s hand at work.  Satan even employs God’s own word as a tool.  Satan is attempting to pit God against Himself.

Jesus resists.

The third temptation is an attack upon Jesus’ ego.  Here is another area where human beings fall.  Our emotional and psychological side does not like to be challenged.  Satan tells Jesus that if He would just bow to him then Satan would give Him dominion over the world.

Jesus resists.

This is such a neat passage because it shows how Satan will attack us on all fronts.  Satan will even use God’s Word to pit us against the Father.  Yet, we can resist Him.  When we focus on worshiping God alone, the temptations of Satan will flee our presence.

The Kingdom of God is at Hand

Jesus heads to Capernaum.  There He takes up residence while He begins His ministry.  In doing this, Jesus fulfills more scripture.  The people of Naphtali and Zebulun (Region of the Sea of Galilee) have seen a great light.  Jesus has come and dwelled among them.  It would start with them.

What is interesting is that Jesus brings light to a people sitting in darkness.  This can be taken on two levels, and I think it should be taken on two levels.  First, I believe this passage is talking about the nature of sin.  The people were caught up in their sinfulness, as we all are.  They were dwelling in sin when they saw the light of Christ entering into their life.  This is an incredible depiction of the human condition.

However, I think there is a more geographic side to this phrase.  The Sea of Galilee was a mixed land.  It had places of very dense Gentile population.  The Gentiles were darkness to the Jews – separated from God.  Living in Galilee would be far different than living in the vicinity of Jerusalem.  Quite literally, we see Jesus begin His ministry by going to a region that is both Jew and Gentile.  This is an incredible depiction of the true mission of Jesus.  He will save those in the world who will receive Him, Jew and Gentile alike.

The First Four

As Jesus goes about His life in the vicinity of Galilee, He finds four fishermen – a pair of brothers.  His call is simple.  Jesus looks to them and says, “Come, follow me.”  It is a simple invitation.  Yet it is an incredibly deep invitation.  It is an invitation that speaks to both the simplicity of ministry (following someone else who is in charge) as well as the complexity of ministry (submitting to a spiritual mentor).  Jesus calls us to Him.  He asks us to trust Him, but in trusting Him we must submit to Him.  In submitting to Him, we are given the freedom to let Him be responsible for being in charge.

Jesus also says, “I will make you fishers for men.”  Jesus looks to the disciples and tells them of their value.  Jesus isn’t going to ask them to forget their past life and adopt something completely new.  Rather, Jesus is asking the disciples to take their skills and their personality and apply them in a new direction.  Rather than fish for fish, they will find ways to “catch” human beings.  Humbling ourselves to the beckoning of Jesus does not have to mean that we throw ourselves away.  Christ redeems us so that He can use us.

Crowds

I used to love the crowds as a kid.  I used to think it would have been neat to just be among the crowds when Jesus healed a sick person.  As I’ve matured and studied the scriptures, however, I find that I don’t like the crowds all that much anymore.  Thousands of people heard Jesus preach.  Thousands more saw Jesus perform miracle after miracle.  Yet who followed Him but a handful of disciples, a few named women, and maybe a few dozen unnamed followers.

That being said, Jesus still had compassion on the crowds.  He still taught the crowds in an attempt to draw out a disciple or two whenever possible.  He still had mercy on the sick and the lame.  Jesus did not let their lack of faith hinder the fact that God’s power is on display.  Neither should we.

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Year 3, Day 177: Matthew 3

Repent

 When we think about John the Baptizer the word repent should always be first in line.  John called people out of their sinful habits.  They didn’t always listen, but he still called them.  John pointed to sinfulness and named it.  John told the people of a better way to live.  John focused people on changing who they want to be and becoming the person God sees them to be.  That is John the Baptizer.

John wanted more out of people than just remorse for sin.  John wanted more than just regret.  John wanted people to “bear fruit in keeping with repentance.”  In John the Baptizer I find much in common with my favorite Bonheoffer quote: “Those who believe obey; those who obey believe.”  True repentance is inseparable from true bearing of fruit.  True bearing of fruit is inseparable from true repentance.  You don’t get one without the other.  You can’t get one without the other.

What does it mean to repent?  Of course, the word literally means “turn around.”  Repentance is change.  But I think so often we dislike the process of repentance that we end up glossing over it and moving on.  Repentance is more than just confession and struggling to live a new way.  Repentance is a deep process that begins with the call of God and involves a ton of internal soul searching.  Man is not changed with a mere glossed-over thought.  Man is changed in a soul searching process.

1. Repentance always begins with the call of God.  God breaks into our life and desires to teach us. 
2. Before we do anything else, we need to make an observation.  We need to realize God is speaking to us.  We need to realize God has something to say.  Unless we acknowledge God, we can never change.  We need to see, hear, and experience that which God is speaking.
3. The next step – often overlooked – is the choice to listen.  We can either choose to listen to God and humble ourselves or we can choose to ignore God and put up the walls.
4. Once we decide to listen, we have to ponder, contemplate, or reflect what God is doing in our life.  We have to weigh consequences.  We have to acknowledge consequences.  We have to come to terms with what is happening by our own choices and what God is calling us to instead.
5. Then we should discuss it with spiritual people around us.  Often God speaks to us through other people.  Even more often, God reaffirms us through other people.  We need to take our reflections to those we trust and through whom God speaks to us so that we have an opportunity to hear God’s wisdom come from somewhere else besides ourselves.
6. Then, we have to ask ourselves two very important questions.  What is God really saying to me?  What am I going to do about what God is saying?

You see?  That is a process.  That is so much more than just sorrow, regret, or remorse.  That is repentance.  That is how change is born in our lives.  Anything less and we’re just walking our own human-design shortcut rather than walking through what God intends for us.

John’s Baptism

John’s baptism – often spoken modernly as water baptism – is a declaration of repentance.  It is a time in the life of an individual and a congregation where the human condition of sin and our need for repentance is lifted up.  John’s baptism is about bringing people to the point of realizing their humanity.

John teaches us that Jesus’ baptism is a whole different thing.  John teaches us that Jesus will baptize us with the Holy Spirit.  It is not a baptism of water, but of fire.  It is clear that in John’s mind that these two baptisms are not one in the same.  In fact, the symbols used for them speak to just how they cannot be the same.  One is symbolized by water.  The other is symbolized by fire.  When can fire and water exist at the same time?

I’m going to go out on a limb that most of my traditionally liturgical friends are simply not going to appreciate.  But I believe it is Biblical, so I’m going to take this stand.  So often in liturgical churches we hear about water baptism and the baptism of the Holy Spirit as occurring at the same time.  I think that’s wrong – no, a better word for it would be rare.  I don’t ever recall meeting a person or hearing a Bible story where they happened at the same time.  I’m sure God can make it happen that way; I just don’t encounter it that way very often.

Most people I know encounter water baptism at a much younger age and greater spiritual immaturity than they encounter the true spiritual baptism of the Holy Spirit.  {If they encounter it at all, that is.  And that is a whole different spiritual conversation.}  I know I was baptized at a far younger age than when the Holy Spirit truly entered into my life and I submitted to God.  This is true for most of the people I talk to as well.  Although, it need not be this way.  I do know some people who submitted to and received the Holy Spirit first and then responded in water baptism to the presence of the Holy Spirit.

In fact, in the Bible we can see the two baptisms happening at different parts in lives all over the Bible.  Jesus’ own disciples were baptized with water first – most by John the Baptizer – and they did not receive the Holy Spirit until after Jesus was raised from the dead.  Paul received the Holy Spirit on the road to Damascus and wasn’t water baptized for several days afterward.  The disciples Paul meets in Ephesus were baptized with water long before they are baptized with the presence of the Holy Spirit when they met Paul.  When Peter is at Cornelius’ house he realizes that these Gentiles have received the Holy Spirit already and then they are baptized with water.  I can continue, but I think I’ve made my point.  There are plenty of stories in the Bible that support not confusing water and Spirit baptism.  There are plenty of stories that support not combining those two baptisms into one experience.  When we do, I believe we potentially deprive the Holy Spirit of His power for the vast majority of people.

John the Baptizer and Jesus

I love this encounter with John the Baptizer and Jesus, because it makes for such an incredible portrayal of what I was just saying.  When Jesus comes to John to be baptized, John flat out confesses that it is he that needs the baptism of Jesus!  John knows that he needs the Holy Spirit.  Jesus has no need to repent!  But John has every need to receive the Holy Spirit.  Here is the man who is most associated with water baptism confessing just how much superior the baptism of the Holy Spirit is than water baptism.

Often when I read about John the Baptizer’s confession I read it in a sense of humbleness.  John is submitting to the Christ.  He absolutely is.  However, as I’ve worked through the theology earlier in this blog I have come to read John’s words as words of desperation.  John is saying to Jesus, “I’ve done all I can do, but I can’t do what you can do.  I, we, need desperately what you can do.”  It is submission, but it is submission through confession.  John doesn’t just submit.  John confesses his own weakness and submits knowing his unworthiness.  That’s awesome; it’s one of the reasons I love John the Baptizer’s witness among the people.

Jesus’ Baptism

As I close this blog, let’s take a look at Jesus’ baptism.  Note that Jesus’ baptism is not about repentance.  Jesus has nothing for which He needs to repent!  Jesus’ baptism is about affirming His call.  Jesus’ baptism is about being a witness to His ministry.  It is in some senses of the word an inauguration.  This is the moment that Jesus’ public ministry begins in earnest.  This is God’s Son, His Messiah, and the Father is pleased with the work that His Son has come to do.

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Year 3, Day 176: Matthew 2

Magi From the East

I love all of the Christmas stories.  You have the shepherds in Luke.  You get the magi in Matthew.  I like how it worked out that way.

You see, Luke was written to Gentiles.  Matthew was written to Jews.  So what is Matthew saying to a Jewish audience by focusing on wise men from a distant land who come and worship at the feet of a baby?  Matthew is being quite blunt here.  Matthew is saying that the wise religious leaders of the Hebrew people were dullards.  They just didn’t get it.  They were slow to comprehend – if they got anything at all!

The magi – who have no special connection or heritage tracing them back to God – get it.  They manage to find the house where Mary and Joseph are staying.  They manage to come and be some of the first people to worship the Messiah.  {The shepherds of Luke’s story were truly the first, though.}  These people who have no special connection whatsoever to the Hebrew faith manage to be capable of coming and worshiping at the feet of Jesus.  He was a simple, little baby.  They managed to worship.

What of all of the wise prophets in Herod’s court who had access to all of the temple scrolls and the lineage of Abraham?  They missed the boat.  They didn’t see Him coming.  For the record, that’s a theme we’ll get used to in Matthew.

Speaking of the Magi, they bring gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Two of those are items that when burned give off a rather pungent smell.  They are items typically burned when in the presence of a dead body, as dead bodies tend to give off their own pungent smells.  I love the connection to the death of Christ that God brings to the birth of Christ.  We can truly say that Jesus came to die.  The wise man brought spices of burial as gifts to the God-made-man.

I’ve got one more pretty cool note before moving on.  The word Bethlehem means “House of Bread.”  How neat is it that this savior of the world – the Bread of Life from heaven – would be born in a place named for being a place of bread.  I love that God paid that much attention to detail.

Egypt

I love the story of the flight to Egypt, too.  Joseph is warned in a dream.  Again we see Joseph being able to exercise compassion.  He takes His family to Egypt, where they are saved while they wait for Herod to die.

What’s so cool about this story?  In the Exodus, God led His people out of Egypt after they were spared from the famine that hit Canaan many years prior.  They rebelled.  Now, Egypt will once more protect God’s servants.  Once more God will use Egypt to save His people.  But this time, when Jesus comes out of Egypt, there will be no rebellion.  Jesus will grow up and lead people to God.  Jesus will mature and disciple people in truth.  Jesus will become the man who takes upon the sin of the world and instead of rebelling, He will redeem us.

Slaughter of the Innocents

While Jesus is in Egypt and when the magi go home without telling Herod, the king becomes enraged.  He wanted to come and take care of Jesus.  He wanted to eliminate the competition as it were.  Since Herod wouldn’t have the opportunity to kill one baby, he made the decision to kill them all.  Every child under the age of 2 died in Bethlehem.

This seems like such a sad passage.  It is.  But it doesn’t have to read that way.  Yes, there was incredible pain there.  Yes, there had to have been parents who were inconsolable.  Their child had been slaughter for no fault of his own.  What misery an act such as this evokes!

Yet, it need not be complete misery.  Those innocent children died in the same way as Jesus: through no fault of their own.  Now, I’m not saying that they weren’t guilty of original sin.  Of course they were.  But Jesus would die to save the world.  These innocents died protecting Jesus.  Their life was laid down so that Jesus’ life could be laid down in the future.  It was a horrible act, but it is not an act without spiritual symbolism.  This doesn’t make it right in any way.  But their sacrifice was not lost on God.  Of that I am sure.

Imagine what eternal life will be like for those children.  They know that their life was laid down for the sake of Jesus.  Could there be any higher calling in Christendom?  They gave the ultimate price for Jesus, the Messiah.

Return to Israel

Joseph and Mary return to Israel when they hear that Herod is dead.  However, they don’t go back to Bethlehem.  Instead, they go to Nazareth in Galilee.  Joseph still desires to protect his boy.  Prophecy is fulfilled.  Born of Bethlehem; called a Nazarene.

As we close this chapter, we get a sense of humbleness.  Jesus was born in a manger.  Innocents died for Him.  He spent His early years in a foreign land.  When He came back, He lived in a back-water town called Nazareth.  He lived in a region of Israel known for producing ruffians and rebels.  This is not a great start to life for a king.  But Jesus would be no ordinary king.  Jesus would rule humbly out of these humbling conditions.  He would bring salvation by following this path of humbleness before God that existed from the moment of His birth.

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Year 3, Day 175: Matthew 1

I Hate Genealogies

I really do.  It’s been a while since we’ve had to study a genealogy on this blog, and I really dislike reading them.

Yet, every single time I say that, God points out something to me.  You see, I couldn’t help read through that genealogy and think about the genetics that made up Jesus’ human lineage.  Jacob: the deceiver.  Judah: who had a child conceived through his daughter-in-law.  David: a child conceived with a woman he stole from another man, whom David had executed.  Solomon: a man of many wives who eventually fell into the worship of foreign gods.  Manasseh: one of the most evil kings to have ever lived (although he does repent in the end).  That’s quite a laundry list of not-so-reputable deeds to bring forth heirs.

Of course, there are the good people on the list, too.  Abraham: progenitor of faith.  David: Man after God’s own heart.  Hezekiah: preserver of the Law.  Josiah: re-discoverer of the Law.  These are bastions of the faith.

So what is it I learned from this genealogy that once I approached with not-the-world’s-best-attitude?  One’s genealogy does not make the man.  The people who have come before us have had their struggles and their successes.  But we are not made by them.  We are in control of our own actions and our own being.  Jesus was not bound by His genealogy.  We shouldn’t be, either.  In my ending to my blog yesterday in Ezekiel I find an incredible tie to Matthew.  One need not be born of a certain people or have a certain heritage or have a certain bloodline to be in a relationship with God.  All things – even our heritage – can be redeemed by Christ.

Conception

Imagine, if you will.  You are a hardworking man.  You’ve saved up enough money to make a legitimate claim to be able to care for a family.  You’ve built up a family business to make yourself attractive enough to another family so that you might be betrothed to one of their daughters.  It has taken hard work, courage, and attention to detail.  But eventually it has happened.  Another family has given their daughter to you.

Then she goes out and gets herself pregnant.

I give Joseph a lot of credit.  As seen through his eyes, he shows great compassion in planning to dismiss her silently.  He could have begun a smear campaign against the whole family of Mary.  But he doesn’t want to hurt Mary or the family.  He plans to dismiss her quietly.  We don’t know much about Joseph.  But he seems quite compassionate.

Then God comes on the scene.  God explains something to Joseph.  Mary didn’t go out and get herself pregnant as it appears.  God came to her and imparted an incredible blessing upon her.  What is happening within Mary is of the Lord.  Joseph does not need to be afraid.

Matthew is clear on this point.  Mary has conceived a child with the Holy Spirit.  Literally, Jesus is God-With-Us (Immanuel).  Again we see Joseph do the honorable thing.  Joseph maintains Mary’s purity until after Jesus was born.  Again we see a man of grace and compassion.

Joseph stands beside her.  Imagine what the people must have said.  “Sure, she conceived of the Holy Spirit” … wink, wink, nudge, nudge.  “Sure, she’s still a virgin.”  “She’s pulled the wool over his eyes for sure.”  I can hear the mocking.  I can hear the whispering behind Mary’s back as she carried the savior of the world inside her virgin womb.  I can hear people talking about how Joseph has been duped.  Mary was incredible to carry Jesus through it.  Joseph was faithful to stand by her side in spite of what surely must have been said.

Savior

We are told by Matthew that Gabriel speaks to Joseph about the purpose of this child conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit.  The child will save His people from their sin.  I am struck by this description.  “His people” are the ones who will be saved.

I feel the need to pause here.  Who are His people?  Surely the historical – the genealogical – answer would be the Hebrew people.  After all, is not Jesus a Hebrew?

But, is that really the answer?  Are the Hebrew people Jesus’ people?  I think as we progress through the book of Matthew – all the New Testament, for that matter – we find that Jesus does not identify Himself most with the Hebrew people.  Jesus identifies with spiritual people.  He identifies with those who desire to be discipled by Him.  He identifies most with the children of God – those who are obedient to the Father.  Jesus identifies with those who humble themselves and repent before the Lord their God.  After all, Jesus rejects His own family at times in this story – only to identify the spiritual people around Him as brothers and sisters in Christ.

It is these that Jesus’ death saves from their sinfulness.  It is these that receive the benefit of God’s grace.  It is these who can look expectantly to the return of Christ.

Christ has come to save His people from their sin.  May we be numbered among them!  Amen.  Come Lord Jesus.

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Year 3, Day 174: Ezekiel 48

Division of the Land

In this last chapter of Ezekiel, we have a fairly plain opening passage.  We see the land of Israel being divided up among the tribes.  Each tribe gets an allotment of the land as though the land was a giant tiered wedding cake.  One tribe is simply stacked upon the other.  Well, with one tier for the city, temple, and the prince, of course.

As I read through this passage, something else hit me.  Perhaps it is because in my other blog I am drawing close to the crucifixion story as I pursue truth in Mark.  What hit me was just how wrong the religious context of Jesus’ day was with respect to this portrayal of the land.

Think about it for a second.  In Ezekiel’s portrayal of the land, Jerusalem is to be 80% devoted to the workings of the temple.  Only 20% of the land is to be for the daily running of the city.  I know that I commented upon that much before.

However, think about the reality of Jesus’ day.  Certainly the 80% of the city being devoted to the temple wasn’t true.  The Roman influence upon the land wouldn’t let that happen.  However, even the part of Jerusalem that the Jews could control – the life in the temple – was being encroached upon by the world!  Remember the story of the money-changers in the temple?  Jesus drove out the worldly influence within His Father’s house.  In Jesus’ day, the world encroached upon the temple and not the other way around.

This causes me to pause today.  I find myself back to where I was when the allotment for the city was first discussed several chapters back.  How does my life rate?  Am I like the ideal and symbolic vision given here in these closing chapters of Ezekiel?  Am I an 80% kind of guy?  Or is my life like the reality of Jerusalem when Jesus was here on earth?  Is the world encroaching upon my life and it is only when Jesus comes in and starts tossing things out that I actually find myself being cleansed and following Him?

Gates

As we close Ezekiel, we come across yet another obscure passage.  There are 12 gates into the city.  That makes sense.  Each gate represents one of the 12 tribes of Israel.  Again, that makes sense.

What doesn’t make sense is the arrangement.  They are not arranged according to birth order.  They are also not arranged according to birth parent.  Remember that Jacob had two wives and sons from a total of four women.  They don’t seem to be arranged according to significance, either.  The arrangement appears to be a mystery to which only the Lord God Himself knows the answer.  Some things are beyond reach; I’m okay with that.

Presence of the Lord

This book ends on an incredible note.  The name of the city appears to be changed from “City of Peace” to “The Lord is There.” {Adonai (YHWH) Shammah}  This is a pretty cool note.

If we think about it, the Lord is telling us something pretty special here.  God is telling us that there will come a time when the Lord will dwell among His people.  Of course, the Lord has done this off and on throughout the history of the Hebrew people.  During the exodus, the Lord was with them in a pillar of fire and a cloud of smoke.  He filled the tabernacle when the people stood still and made camp.  He filled the presence of the Holy of Holies in the temple.

But in this instance, we are told that the name of the city – not the temple – is that The Lord Is There.  The Lord will dwell not just with the High Priest who can go into the Holy of Holies but with the whole of the people.  He will dwell in the city.

This sounds incredibly New Testament to me.  This sounds like a symbolic understanding of the Holy Spirit coming and dwelling with His people.  Yes, I know that the Holy Spirit dwells beyond the reaches of Jerusalem.  The point is not the geography.  The point is that God dwells with the people.  One does not need to be special, unique, or of a particular lineage to dwell with God.

I think I rather enjoy the focus of this book as it ends.  Ezekiel has been challenging to say the least.  I’m sure I’ve missed some things along the way.  But I love the way that this book looks forward to a new reality.  The Lord dwells among His people.  Amen.  Let it be so.  May His people be a people through whom the Lord can be seen!

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