Year 9, Day 198: Matthew 24

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Matthew 24 is a difficult chapter to read.  It is so easy to read Matthew 24 at fall into the temptation of predicting the end is near.  How often do we see people doing this very thing?  How often do we hear and see people using this tactic of fear against others to try and coerce them into godly behavior?  In fact, if we think about it, isn’t the act of doing so merely going to produce people who are unrighteous on the inside but appear righteous outside?  Didn’t Jesus condemn such life yesterday with the religious leaders?  Seeing this chapter as a chapter designed to allow us to predict the coming of the end of the world and thus instill fear into others produces the very thing that Jesus condemned in Matthew 23.

That being said, Jesus does tell us how to recognize signs.  In fact, in Jesus’ comparison to the fig tree Jesus tells us to do that very thing!  He tells us to watch out for betrayal.  He tells us to understand that the world will have elements that hate us.  He tells us that famine, earthquake, and war will all be present as we draw to the end of the age.  He tells us to be careful to not follow after false christs.

What is Jesus’ point if not to give us the ability to know the end of the age?  Look at where Jesus ends.  Jesus doesn’t tell us to go out and threaten people with the fear of Hell!  Jesus tells us to use this knowledge to get our own house in order.  After all, has there ever been a period of human history where a war wasn’t being fought?  Has there ever been a time in human history when we haven’t heard of earthquakes, the threat of famine, or droughts, or people turning on one another?  Jesus is telling us that because these things are ever present, we cannot know when the Lord will return.  If we cannot know, then it is vital to live our life as if He could return at any moment.

In the end, this should be unnecessary.  Shouldn't a disciple of Christ follow in His example?  Should we not live lives worthy of the grace we have received from Him?  Therefore, the warnings we receive from Christ are not meant as tools for us to threaten others with fear!  They are tools to help remind us to keep on the straight and narrow.

Jesus didn’t come to earth and scare people into belief.  He loved them into belief.  It is His disciples – in a very personal and secluded moment, mind you – who are the benefactors of this teaching.  Faith brings us to Christ.  Recognition of the evil within each of us and the world around us continual reminds us of why we need Him.

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Year 9, Day 197: Matthew 23

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Matthew 23 contains a long diatribe against the religious leaders.  The crucifixion is coming quickly.  He is almost done with His ministry and a few things need to be said openly.  Jesus has questioned the religious leaders before.  He has spoken parables against them.  Now is the time to speak openly about their error.

What is it with which Jesus has an issue?  Jesus is concerned that the religious leaders are giving off an appearance of righteousness but covering up what truly lies within.  Actually, I don’t think that is quite right.  Jesus is concerned that those who follow the religious leaders will develop the same traits.  Jesus is concerned that if the religious leaders put on holiness like a cloak to cover up the greed and power hunger that lives within then those who follow them will learn to live the same way.

In short, if you read through this list of woes, there is a strong sense that the inside of the religious leaders doesn’t match the outside.  Human sinfulness lies within while a coat of cultural purity masks its presence.  Jesus argues that their forefathers – the ones who killed the prophets and ultimately watched God’s judgment come upon them in the form of Babylon and Assyria – were just like them.

Here we get to the heart of Jesus’ argument.  Religious leaders, much like every other human being on the planet, have evil within.  All people are subject to the temptations of greed, lust for power, lust for popularity, lust for control, and the like.  Those who bury it within are prone to succumbing to its effects.  That’s what Jesus is talking about.  The only way to truly combat the evil within is to bring it to the surface so that we can do daily battle against it.  The religious leaders look perfect but are corrupt within.  Jesus is teaching His disciples to look real on the outside and the inside, acknowledging the struggle that truly exists between humanity and righteousness.

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Year 9, Day 196: Matthew 22

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The wedding feast is a haunting story if I’ve ever heard of one.  The king – the single greatest authority in the land -prepares a feast.  Yet, when the time comes, those under him can’t be bothered to attend because their lives are so busy or because they have a lack of interest.  I can’t imagine saying no to a king’s feast.  Jesus’ point, though, is that this happens all the time.  Every single person on the planet has been invited to a feast in the presence of God.  He wants to be in relationship with us.  Yet, how often do we all turn to God and indicate that we have better things to do, different plans than Him, or that we really can’t be bothered?  This is a haunting story because it exposes a characteristic in each of us – the faithful and the rebellious.  We are our own people and have our own ideals, dreams, and agenda.  Sometimes we clash with God when we should be focused on getting ready for the feast.

The next two stories – taxes and marriage – show the focus of the religious leaders.  They are trying to trap Jesus, and they go about it in a very worldly manner.  They ask Jesus about taxes.  Jesus responds by telling them that taxes are not something God is all that concerned about.  Let the world rule itself in worldly matters!  The Sadducees then come and want to talk about marriage, especially when it comes to producing heirs through remarriage.  Jesus brushes this question off as He did the one about taxes.  We are His bride, after all!  Which marriage is more important, one done in the world or one done in heaven?  Again, let the world rule over worldly matters and let the divine rule of the divine.

We then come to the greatest commandment.  Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind.  With whatever is left, love your neighbor.  Note that God doesn’t say anything great about pursuing our own dreams and looking out for number one.  Everyone can look out for themselves.  That’s just human nature.  It takes a divine perspective to be willing to put the other ahead of the self.

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Year 9, Day 195: Matthew 21

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The triumphal entry signifies the last week of Jesus’ ministry before the crucifixion.  It is a bittersweet story.  It marks the point where Jesus’ ministry gets more desperate, more direct, and more pointed against the religious leaders.  This also means that His teachings get easier to understand and inherently more challenging.  It also indicates that we’ll see the flaws in humanity more clearly.  After all, we start this week of Jesus’ life with a crowd shouting Jesus’ praise.  We’ll end it with a crowd shouting for His death.

Jesus goes in for the kill when some religious leaders come to challenge Him.  They want to know from where His power comes.  Jesus won’t tell them because they refuse to acknowledge the truth in their hearts about John the Baptizer.  While this is an impressive twist that Jesus does, I think the lesson in this story is that honesty is the best policy.  The religious leaders get nowhere because their inability to be honest.

What if the religious leaders had admitted that John was from heaven?  That would have opened the door for Jesus to ask some hard questions.  Why didn’t they believe if they thought he was from heaven?  That question would have led to a good place of analysis and faith eventually, though.  It would have been a hard question, but Jesus could have used it to lead the religious leaders to truth.

What if the religious leaders admitted that John’s power was human and not divine in origin?  They would have had to face the crowd and realize that their opinion was one in the minority.  Again, Jesus could have used that opportunity to show them the truth.  Jesus could have used that to open the door to discussion about why so many people disagree with them.

Instead, the religious leaders refuse to commit.  Because they refuse to commit, no fruit can be born in their life.  They don’t come to truth.  Their lives are left unchanged and they are allowed to go on existing in their own fabrication of reality.  Answering Jesus’ question would have been harder than not answering, but it would have had a much greater opportunity to end in truth rather than the lies they chose to believe.

This same thread is woven throughout the rest of the chapter.  The fig tree refuses to fruit.  It is denying its purpose.  Rather than grow fruit – a hard process that costs something, the tree simply produces leaves.  Because the fig tree is unwilling, like the religious leaders who were unwilling to acknowledge truth, it is cursed.

 Take the story of the two sons.  One seems unwilling at first but is willing in the end.  That son is praised.  The other son displays willingness on the outside but has a heart of stone on the inside.  That son is rejected.  We continue to see that we must be willing in order to bear fruit and do God’s will.

Lastly, there is the story about the tenants.  The tenants want to keep all the harvest to themselves.  They don’t want to face the reality that the owner of the land has the right to it – or at least some of it.  They don’t even respect the son of the owner of the land.  They try to live in denial of the truth.  They try to live in a world of their own making.  Instead of living at peace with the landowner and embracing a shared prosperity, they end up being killed and replaced.  The religious leaders who refuse to take a stand – and in doing so refuse to give Jesus an opportunity to lead them to a place of better truth – are about to be replaced with disciples of Jesus who come willingly from the ranks of fishermen and tax collectors.

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Year 9, Day 194: Matthew 20

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There is an interesting contrast in the final two stories of this chapter.  The mother of James and John comes to Jesus and requests the highest positions of authority for them.  Before condemning her, look at what is really going on.  A mother is looking out for her sons.  She’s looking out for them, not for herself.  That’s almost commendable, right?

Unfortunately, no.  It’s not commendable.  Jesus rebukes them.  He then adds challenge onto them.  He tells them that they will drink the cup that Christ’s to drink without guarantee that they will sit at the right and left hand of Christ.  Instead, they should focus on serving as Christ has come to serve.  How’s that for a reversal?  Their mom wants them to be granted positions of honor and they end up being told to go out and serve.  Thanks, mom.

The last story of this chapter is almost the complete opposite.  Jesus is walking through Jericho when a couple of blind folks start crying out.  They are told to be quiet, but they cry out even louder.  Jesus takes notice and asks what they want.  They ask to be healed.  They ask for something for themselves.  Sounds selfish, right?

Fortunately, no.  Jesus doesn’t see it that way.  Jesus has compassion.  He heals them.  Underneath the self-centered desire to be healed, He senses hearts that want something to follow.  He heals them and disciples are born.  They follow Christ.

What does this tell us?  It tells us to stop judging books by covers.  It tells us that external appearances seldom tell the whole story.  It tells us that discipleship is a higher goal to pursue than fame, reputation and standing.

It’s always neat to see not just the points of individual stories but to gain insight from the context of putting stories beside each other.  It shows how masterful storytellers in the ancient world truly were.  It shows the depth of wisdom found within God.

Before stopping, look at the opening text for this chapter.  Here is the story of the laborers in the vineyard.  These laborers do unequal work, but they all receive the reward that the master of the vineyard promised for their work.  Is it fair?  From the human perspective, no.  From the perspective of God, yes.  They each get the reward they were promised.   Some worked harder, but they all got the promise.

Remember that this story preceded the two stories already talked about.  That means that this story foreshadows the other two.  The workers focused on human fairness – like the mother focused on human reward for her sons – are disappointed.  Those workers who focused on the perspective of God – like the blind guys who wanted sight but  were willing to follow Christ – see the reward.

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Year 9, Day 193: Matthew 19

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Matthew 19 brings three stories: 2 massive bookends and a tiny little story about children smashed in the middle.  Considering the study of the past three or four days, I’m not surprised by this arrangement in the least.

In the first story, the religious leaders challenge Jesus about divorce.  Jesus argues about divorce and says that it was only given to people because of the hardness of their hearts.  I think a fair paraphrase for this is that people would rather live in the world they understand than live by faith.  Jesus tells the religious leaders that the reason they have a law about divorce is because they are unwilling to live by faith.

This has an interesting consequence upon the disciples.  They begin to think that it is better not to marry.  After all, what married couple can claim to have never once contemplated divorce or separation?  Jesus turns to them and offers a different kind of challenge.  He doesn’t agree with them because he doesn’t want to demean God’s gift of marriage to us.  What He does is put the challenge upon the disciples.  He agrees that if a person is unwilling to live by faith, then maybe it is best to not get married.  But if a person is willing to live by faith – and thus live in a world where answers ae not easy to come by – then marriage is completely accessible to us!

In the last story, a rich man comes before Jesus and asks what must be done.  After challenging the man on the Law, a challenge the man shrugs aside, Jesus tells him that he needs to sacrifice some of his stuff.  The man walks away sad because he has a lot of stuff.  The man prefers to live in a world he can shape and control rather than live in a world of faith.

This, too, has an effect upon the disciples.  They hear this teaching and immediately wonder who can manage to enter the kingdom of God.  After all, who doesn’t like their stuff?  Who doesn’t like to live in a world of their own control?  Who doesn’t like to live in a world with answers and confidence?  As Jesus says, “With man, it’s impossible.”  One cannot scientifically and logically enter the kingdom of God.

With God, it is possible.  When we are willing to live by faith, we can see how heaven is given to us.  When we place our faith in God, He can bring us to the kingdom of heaven.  It involves faith, not science.

This brings us back to the small little story in the middle.  Jesus tells the disciples to let the children come.  Look again at the sheer size of the stories in this chapter.  Adults unnecessarily complicate things.  The discussion about divorce and the kingdom of heaven are long and complicated.  The story with children and the fact that heaven belongs to them is short, simple, and sweet.

This leads me to wonder why it is so easy – and often imagined necessary – for adults to want to live in the world of the first two stories when we could simply live in the world of the middle story.  Life in faith is easy.  Life in science and logic is complicated.  It’s a choice we all make; some of us better than others.

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Year 9, Day 192: Matthew 18

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I love the opening story in Matthew 18.  Over the last few days, a challenging concept has arisen.  How does the follower of Christ balance their human understanding with their inability to fully understand God?  How does a person simultaneously live in the realm of science and logic while also living in faith in the unknown?

As a demonstration, Jesus marvelously answers the question about the greatest person.  The disciples wonder who the greatest is, expecting Jesus to pick one of them.  Instead, Jesus seeks out a child and lifts up the young one.  What is Jesus doing besides risking malcontent among His followers?

Jesus is making a point.  What is it that a child does better than an adult?  Children are masters at surviving in a world of unknown.  Children actually know very little.  They don’t really understand food preparation.  They don’t know where their clothing comes from, much less how to make it.  They don’t get economics, science, legality, the complexity of human interaction, the implications of humans upon the environment around them, etc.  Children don’t get quite a bit; yet they thrive.

What is Jesus’ point?  Children do what they can.  They also readily put their faith in people who understand more.  Yes, they make mistakes, but they rebound well and aren’t typically very afraid.  The truth is that if you want to look at a person who lives in both the realm of understanding and the realm of non-understanding, look at a child.  This is why Jesus says, “Whoever humbles himself like this child is like the greatest in the kingdom.”  Those are Jesus’ words.  It’s a gravely challenging concept to most adults.

Much of the rest of the chapter is about sin, temptation, and forgiveness.  Woe to people who lead others astray.  Woe to the person who is unable to have joy when a sinful person comes into relationship with God.  Woe to the person who cannot find it in their heart to forgive.

The last two are especially troublesome.  Human beings love to harbor grudges.  We hate the ethical implications of things like deathbed confessions.  How many of us struggle to think that a despicable person can be reformed simply by experiencing God?  We love to condemn people for their past without seeing their present.

Don’t get me wrong.  Human beings can be incredibly deceptive.  I’ve seen people fake repentance just to take advantage of those who desire to be forgiving.  However, fear of being taken advantage of is no excuse for human inaction or forgiveness.  If we really believe in an afterlife, if we really believe in a gracious and generous God, can a person take me for more than God can give?  If I forgive and a person isn’t truly repentant, can not God deal with that?  On the other hand, if I withhold forgiveness and a person is repentant, what does that say about me?

Life really is simpler as a child.  The child is the greatest in the kingdom.  We make life so much more complicated with our adult need to understand.  We complicate life with our fear, especially our fears when it comes to dealing with other people.  Can it be any wonder that when Jesus is asked about the greatest that He lifted up a child in their midst?

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Year 9, Day 191: Matthew 17

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The transfiguration confirms the study from yesterday.  Human beings – even devoted followers of Christ – will always be caught between our desire to live in the predictable world of logic and science and our need to live in the unpredictable world of faith and God.  We find comfort and stability in science and logic.  We find personal fulfillment and genuine belonging in the realm of faith.

In the transfiguration, Peter James and John are confronted with a vision.  They see Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus.  Again, they have a choice to make.  Do they embrace the unknowing and follow or do they try to bring it back into the realm of understanding and science and logic?  Peter, much like he did in the last chapter, tries to bring it into the realm of understanding.  He suggests that they build tents to stay there.  He isn’t doing this because he is rebellious, he is simply trying to participate in what God is doing.  He’s doing it in an attempt to be proactive.

The problem, though, is that he is actually acting out of his lack of understanding.  Instead of waiting upon God in faith, he is trying to act and show his faith.  This is where the issue resides.  We should act out of our understanding and wait upon the Lord in our faith.  God cannot expect us to act upon our lack of understanding, so when He wants us to act He will provide understanding.  This is actually what we see Jesus do in response to Peter’s suggestion.  Jesus gives Peter more information so he can see why His suggestion was wrong.  Jesus tells Peter that this vision isn’t meant to keep them there, it was meant to help them understand the future events.

This is a deep concept with which human beings routinely struggle.  Even people of great faith who want to be in a deep and meaningful relationship with God often struggle with this.  We prefer to act than to be accused of inaction, which makes complete sense.  The problem, though, is that when we act without understanding we are likely to choose an action that is not beneficial.  Greater faith doesn’t necessarily help this issue because even with greater faith we still do not fully grasp the mind of God.

What do we do?  We learn that when we are in a position of lacking understanding, we need to wait and inquire of the Lord.  We need to see conscious waiting and calling upon the Lord as action.  Those who will be accused of inaction are not those who are actively trying to discern the will of God.

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Year 9, Day 190: Matthew 16

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Matthew 16 teaches an important lesson about humanity: we have difficulty seeing – much less believing – truth.  Nearly every story in this chapter is about this fundamental principle.

In the first story, the Pharisees and Sadducees come to Jesus and demand a sign.  The religious leaders themselves give us a great demonstration about our human difficulty.  We can readily interpret the word around us.  We know when it is going to storm.  We know when winter is turning to spring or summer is becoming fall.  Human beings are great at mastering the physical, tangible world around them.  In other words, we are masters of logic and science.  However, we struggle to understand deeper matters.  Humans struggle with faith – belief in that which we cannot understand.  We constantly ask for signs, which takes faith from the realm of that which we cannot understand and places it into the realm of that which we can see and predict.

In the second story, Jesus warns us to be careful of this.  The Pharisees and Sadducees indicate that they will only be willing to believe in that which they can see and know.  In other words, they will only believe in that which they can control and predict.  If there is one thing that is true about God, His omnipotence and omniscience means we can neither control Him nor predict His actions.  This is why we always say that God’s hand is best seen in hindsight.  If we take a position where we will only believe what we can completely understand, we risk taking up a position similar to the Pharisees and Sadducees when it comes to relationship with God.

The next pair of stories give us a perfect portrait of how this struggle exists even in someone who desires to believe and have faith.  In the first story, Peter declares his faith.  He confesses that he is willing to go beyond the level of understand of other people.  Rather than think that Jesus is Elijah or even John the Baptizer reincarnated, Peter confesses to believe that Jesus is the Son of God.  This confession gets praise from Jesus.  In the story that immediately follows, Peter then hears about Jesus’ impending judgment and death and rebukes Peter.  Even though Peter does believe, he struggles against his lack of understanding.  Rather that live out his faith, he chooses to live out what he understands.  Peter rebukes Jesus and tells Him that what He said will never happen.  Because Peter doesn’t understand and chooses to act against his understanding, he ends up on the wrong side of Jesus.  We see a perfect example that when a human chooses to only dwell in places where they completely understand everything, we risk missing God or worse.

The final story shows us why this is an important discussion.  Jesus tells us that we are to pick up His cross and follow.  He tells us that those who seek to save their life will lose it, but those who lose their live for His sake will save it.  Again we are faced with a struggle against understanding.  It makes no sense to be willing to lose our life.  It makes no sense to willingly give up our hopes and dreams and replace them with a pursuit of what God wants for us.  Yet, that is precisely what Jesus suggests.  If we choose the path of understanding, we will continue to pursue our own goals and dreams and risk missing out on God completely.

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Year 9, Day 189: Matthew 15

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Imagine living in Judea at the time of Jesus.  Imagine being able to see Jesus, listen as a mute man suddenly speaks, see a blindman take his first view of the world, or hear as deaf man gets his first taste of sound!  It would be an incredible thing to witness.

I would imagine that such a spectacle would provide Jesus with many followers.  After all, if you can get close to a person who can cure blindness, why would you ever leave His side?  Remember what just happened in the last chapter.  Remember that at the crucifixion, Jesus is crucified with only a handful of mourners at the cross.  Humanity is a largely “what have you done for me lately” group.

In this light, it makes sense to hear the religious leaders get offended at Jesus’ teaching.  Rather than seeing a miracle, the Pharisees focus on what people are doing wrong.  They accuse Jesus’ followers of breaking with tradition.  Of course, the hidden undertone of this passage is that if the disciples can’t follow tradition, how can Jesus honestly be teaching what is right?

In response to this, Jesus teaches about what makes a person righteous and what shows the unrighteousness in a person.  Jesus teaches that exterior things cannot make us unrighteous.  Nothing I can come in contact within this world can make me lose righteousness!  My heart is good enough at that all on its own.  It is the sinfulness within me that defiles.

This brings us back to the human response.  Why are the Pharisees unable to see Jesus’ miracles for what they are?  They are impure within.  Why are the people whom Jesus heals and commands to say nothing unable to keep quiet?  It is the hardness in their own hearts. 

As human beings go, we are a loveable species.  God loves us enough to send His Son to die for our sake so that we can be in relationship with Him.  As loveable as we are, though, we have one obnoxious quality.  Our hearts love the sinfulness we can do rather than the righteousness that God gives to us.  We sin because of what lies within, not with what lies without.

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Year 9, Day 188: Matthew 14

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At first glance, this chapter seems like a fairly positive one.  Yes, John the Baptizer dies.  But it is followed with two great stories.  We get the feeding of the 5,000 and its familiarity.  We also get to see Jesus walking on water.  These are not only familiar stories, but favorites.

Personally, though, I think that this chapter is a bit of a dark horse.  Of course, we see John the Baptizer ruthlessly killed.  He is killed because he is speaking the truth.  He is killed because he is taking a stand on sexuality.  I’m not sure if there is any other topic among human beings that will cut as deeply as a person speaking about another person’s sexual habits.  It’s never easy, but it is often necessary.  I give John credit for speaking the truth and willing to put his life on the line.  It’s sad that human leadership would rather dispose of the dissenting voice rather than listen to truth.

The second major story in this chapter is the feeding of the 5,000.  What an incredible miracle!  Jesus takes a simple meal for a single person and distributes it to a mass of humanity.  This is the power of God on display like we see in no other place in the Gospels.

Look at this story through a different lens though.  Jesus hears about John’s death and intends to go into the wilderness for some time to mourn and think.  He wanted to be by Himself.  However, the crowds find Him and bring out their sick to Him.  In spite of His desire to be alone, He heals.  He then does the miraculous feeding.  If we turn to John’s account of this story in John 6, we can see that the result of this event is much arguing and doubt – even among those who were following Jesus.  Jesus loses many disciples this day.  It was an event Jesus didn’t intend, and the world turned what should have been a great miracle into a dark day for Jesus’ disciples.

Then we have the story about Jesus walking on water.  Once more we can see Jesus doing something miraculous.  However, instead of being focused on Jesus, Peter asks Jesus to join Him.  I can’t really fault Peter; I’d think it cool to walk on water, too.  The result, however, is that Peter ends up diminishing the experience.  He sinks.  He shows his humanity.  He demonstrates why it is that Jesus has to rescue him.  Like the miraculous feeding, Jesus’ miraculous walk should have been an incredible display of God’s power.  Instead, it is an opportunity for human beings to come in and muck up what God is doing.

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Year 9, Day 187: Matthew 13

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The stories in this chapter are some of my favorite in the Bible.  They appear in a variety of the Gospels, so they are certainly common stories that the early followers of Christ also found important.  For me, though, these stories changed my understanding of discipleship.  It is this chapter – and the corresponding chapter in the other Gospels – that have given guidance and direction to mentoring and discipleship like no other.

What has made this change?  The discussion on the purpose of parables is phenomenal.  Jesus teaches in parables so that people won’t understand.  Jesus uses parables to weed people out.  Jesus teaches in parables to discover who it is that wants to truly follow and who simply wants to give lip service.

There is more to it, though.  Jesus isn’t trying to keep people in the dark.  The way Jesus teaches draws out questions.  Good mentoring is like good teaching.  The best teachers in the world don’t tell facts.  That’s simply creating human encyclopedias.  The best teachers ask questions that cause students to discover the world around them for themselves, which leads to even deeper questions.  Jesus uses parables to sort and draw more out of His followers than He could ever get by simply spitting facts at them!

At the end of this chapter, the religious leaders prove that they just don’t get it.  They take offense at Jesus’ teaching.  Instead of being drawn into greater thought, they duck behind the walls of their making and shut down.  Once more we see the contrast in leadership.  Jesus teaches in a way that invites people out of their shell.  The religious leaders are content staying within their shell.

Before leaving the chapter, a new discovery happened for me today.  Clearly I’ve read these words often as this is a significant chapter for me.  The power behind the soils parable, the weeds parable, the mustard seed is amazing.  Yet in the middle of this chapter there is a clear teaching that gets overlooked.  Twice Jesus reminds us that it is the angels who will be sent out by God to sort the good from the evil.  It isn’t our job to sort them out, it is God’s angels!  Our job is to simply help people to find relationship with God.  Our job is to help people see truth.  Our job is to love the world.  God – and His angels – will sort it out in the end.

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Year 9, Day 186: Matthew 12

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In this chapter, Jesus returns to His conflict with the leaders of the day.  There are more examples of contrasting leadership styles.  There is certainly more conflict between Jesus and the leaders.

This conflict, as with most conflict, arises from a difference of opinion or understanding.  Take the first major conflict.  What is work?  What is the Sabbath?  The religious leaders say that work is anything that causes major effort.  Jesus disagrees, arguing that the will of the Lord – demonstrating love and compassion – is not work.  Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath to prove His point.  Naturally, the religious leaders condemn the action because in their mind, Jesus disobeyed the Law.  The miss Jesus’ greater point.  Doing the work of the Lord is not work.  The Sabbath wasn’t created to spare us from work, the Sabbath was created to make sure we always had a day where we could turn to the Lord and make sure the world didn’t consume us.  It is interesting that people consumed by their place in the world should miss that point.

The religious leaders turn to Jesus and then accuse Him of conspiring with Satan.  They argue that He is able to command evil because He is in league with evil.  From a human perspective, it makes sense.  How often do we see people in power and argue that the only reason that they are in power is because they have conspired with evil?  However, Jesus makes a divine point.  If Jesus is in league with evil, then destroying His own will only hurt His house.

To settle the issue, Jesus speaks words that remind me of the prophet Isaiah.  At one point, Isaiah looks to those that accuse him and says, “We’ll only know who is right after the fact.  If Assyria and Babylon don’t take us into captivity, then clearly I wasn’t from God.  But if they do, then the people who speak about peace are leading you astray.”  In that same tone Jesus turns to the people and teaches them to recognize people by their fruit.  If you see someone who engenders trust and who seems to speak wisdom, they likely are worth listening to.  However, if you see someone who causes conflict and engenders a spirit of distrust, they probably are with discounting.  God’s people should be recognizable by the spirit about them.  How are the people to decide between Jesus’ logic and the logic of the world around them?  They are to look at the influence of Jesus and the religious leaders and decide who has the best influence.

Jesus ends the chapter with a bit of a warning.  He speaks about a house cleaned of evil and warns that evil will return.  He’s talking about the Jewish religious leaders.  Prior to Babylon and Assyria, the religious leaders were corrupt.  God cleansed them in captivity.  Yet, several hundred years later after cleansing the house, the leadership has spoiled again.  Evil will continue to come back to roost if we are not active in resisting its return.

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Year 9, Day 185: Matthew 11

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I’ve always loved this particular story with John the Baptizer. It’s hard to understand.  It makes John look incredibly human.  In other words, there is so much in this chapter to which we can relate!

Begin with John’s humanity.  The very man who started Jesus’ story by declaring Him the one who was prophesied now looks at Jesus and asks if He really is.  Why do I love this story when it makes John look so wrong?  John is relatable.  How many times in life do I run across something that makes me doubt, question, or at least pause in my faith?  John the Baptizer – Jesus’ own cousin and the very man who baptized God’s Son – had those same doubts.  Jesus didn’t walk away from him.  He won’t walk away from me when I have the same kind of doubts, either.

Next, we get to the part of the story where Jesus says the least in the kingdom is greater than John.  Is Jesus insulting John?  Perhaps, but I don’t think that is the main thrust of Jesus’ comment.  Jesus might be chastising John for his doubt, but I think Jesus is making a greater point about leadership.  The least will be the greatest.  This is a theme all throughout Jesus’ teaching.  It is also a theme all throughout His actions.  Jesus heals.  He teaches.  He takes in disciples.  He does all of it as a service to humanity, not to elevate His status.

This leads to the end of the chapter.  What does Jesus say to people in the middle of doubt?  What does Jesus give to those who spend themselves serving and being the last in the kingdom?  Jesus invites people to rest.  He doesn’t cast John away.  He doesn’t tell people to burn themselves out by overworking.  He invites them to come rest in Him.  He offers the an opportunity to recharge so they can go back out restored and refreshed.

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Year 9, Day 184: Matthew 10

Theological Commentary: Click Here

In Matthew 10, Jesus begins to instruct His own disciples.  The instructions that He gives them are rather significant.  There is much to learn here about how leaders train leaders.

First, notice that Jesus tells His disciples to start by staying to their own kind.  It’s good to practice where you are familiar.  There are all kinds of things that can go wrong in leadership, especially when the number of variables are increased.  When we limit the number of variables, we have a better chance of success.  To develop good leadership, Jesus wants His disciples to be able to experience success.

Second, notice that Jesus is very realistic about what will happen.  He tells them that they may be rejected.  He warns them that authority might not even see eye to eye with them.  He tells them that even their families might not understand what they are doing – after all, Jesus’ own brothers thought He was insane!

Third, Jesus also speaks of reward.  In fact, Jesus speaks of reward twice.  Note that Jesus tells His disciples to not ask anything of the people to whom they are ministering.  In other words, the burden of leadership is upon the leader, not the ones being led.  It is hard to speak truth and genuinely lead when one’s livelihood rests upon how well a person is received.

Also note that Jesus speaks about reward at the end of the chapter when He speaks about the Father.  Those who receive His disciples will also receive Jesus.  They will get a reward from the Father, because they are receiving a righteous person for the sake of being righteous.  In all of this, though, note that Jesus’ perspective is on righteousness. 

Godly leaders do what is right because it is right.  We receive those around us who are righteous because they are righteous.  We don’t lead because of what we can gain.  We don’t make friends because of what they can do for us.  We don’t lead because of the way that it can improve our status, our social standing, our position, or our popularity.  We lead because it is what righteous people do.

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Year 9, Day 183: Matthew 9

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Continuing to look at Matthew 9 through the lens of leadership, Jesus continues much of what He did in the prior chapter.  He works with a paralytic.  He has dinner with a tax collector and invites him int a discipleship process.  He readily goes into a house where someone has recently died.  He happily touches a woman who has a flow of blood that won’t stop, which would make her unclean.  Jesus continues to move among circles of people who need His help and have very little ability to increase His own social standing.  Jesus continues to show us that leadership is about other people, not increasing His own position.

What is interesting is that Jesus doesn’t see to mind when people don’t treat His leadership in the right way.  The woman touches Him without permission, drawing power away from Him.  The blind men blatantly ignore Jesus’ request to keep the healing quiet and tell everyone what happened.  Jesus gets accused by the religious leaders when he sits down to dinner with a tax collector.  He gets accused of working with demons when He performs a miracle.  So often people get upset when people don’t act as they should.  Jesus, on the other hand, seems to take it all in stride.

In fact, what does Jesus have to say about this fact?  Jesus looks to the crowds with compassion.  Instead of being upset, he has pity.  He tells His disciples that the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

What is Jesus’ point?  The world is full of people who could benefit from having a good leader in their life.  The problem is that there just aren’t many good leaders.  There aren’t leaders that are willing to put others ahead of themselves.  There aren’t many leaders who will lead without an eye for what is in it for them.  The world of Jesus’ day could use strong leaders; it still could.  Instead, the world gets selfish leaders who only think about their own agenda and their own goals.

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Year 9, Day 182: Matthew 8

Theological Commentary: Click Here

In this chapter, Jesus makes a transition from conflict with leadership to ministering among the people.  This doesn’t mean leadership isn’t important.  It means that Jesus will show leadership by doing, not in contrast to bad leaders around Him.  That’s an important note to make.  Good leadership is demonstrated to others, not just contrasted against.

How does Jesus demonstrate good leadership in this chapter?  Notice with whom it is that Jesus interacts.  Jesus interacts with the leper first.  What is a leper?  A leper is a complete social outcast because of his contagious nature. The leper is someone who brings status down, not up.  Jesus heals the man, showing value to him and elevating his status.  This is what leaders do.  Good leaders help others better themselves.

Jesus then meets the centurion.  The centurion would be a powerful man in the Roman community, but he would have been seen as an enemy in the eyes of the Jews.  Jesus interacts with this man, risking His own status in the Jewish community by helping the outside as He did with the leper.  In doing so, Jesus demonstrates respect for the man’s faith in both his verbal praise as well as by acting on the man’s suggestion to heal from afar.  Jesus continues to elevate other people in His ministry.

After all of this, Jesus gives an indication of what true leadership under God’s regime looks like.  He speaks about the cost of following Jesus.  Being a godly leader will often mean feeling like we don’t have a true home.  It means going to others and leaving our comfort zone.  It may mean leaving the security of our family to go out into the world.  The cost of following Jesus is being willing to let go of what makes us feel safe and trust that God can provide.  True leadership involves trust and faith rather than comfort.

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