Matthew 9:14-15
This section is about fasting. John the Baptist's disciples wonder why Jesus' disciples do not fast and Jesus tells them that his disciples will fast but that now is not the time for fasting. Jesus equates fasting with mourning: "How is it that... your disciples do not fast?" The response: "How can the guests... mourn while he is with them? ... When the bridegroom will be taken away from them; they they will fast."
I've always wondered why we should fast and I've heard some pretty good reasons. However, I think this discussion makes it the most clear for me: I fast because I am in mourning. So, when I don't fast, it is because I am not in mourning. The problem is that there is a lot to be in mourning about in this world. I should mourn that people are still treated worse than animals. I should mourn that children are robbed of their innocence. I should mourn that people are lost and headed toward an eternity of divine judgement. I should mourn that the earth is being raped of its resources and that God's creation has been so devestated by the sin and greed of humans. The reason I don't fast is because I don't have God's heart for the world and so I don't mourn. The other reason is that I really like food and lack discipline.
Father, help me to see people and your creation through your eyes and help my heart to break with the things that break yours. Then give me the discipline to express my brokeness and mourning through fasting.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Who do you hang with?
Matthew 9:10-13
The key words in this passage are: tax collectors, sinners, and righteous. Jesus uses the word picture of a doctor - he's not there for the healthy but for the sick. Jesus compares this to his own ministry: he didn't come for the righteous but for the sinners. This helps to define Jesus' mandate according to Matthew. Matthew is proving that Jesus is the Annointed King of Israel that was promised in the OT but that he came with a different agenda than everyone expected him to. He didn't come to have political power or to influence the influencers. He came to make the sinners righteous.
Jesus makes a cryptic statement to the Pharisees, quoting from Hosea 6:6: "Go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'" I think Jesus is reminding the Pharisees that there was something more at stake than keeping all the ceremonial laws of the OT. Jesus points this out another time when he reminds his audience that the two greatest commandments are to love God with all you have and are and to love your neighbour as yourself. It was more important for Jesus to be there with sinners who needed God's mercy than to keep himself ceremonially clean.
The priorities of Jesus are clearly seen again: in Matthew 8 it was that people are more important than pigs, at the beginning of Matthew 9 it was that people's souls are more important than their physical needs and here it is that people are more important than religious ceremonial rules. I know my priorities are supposed to be God, family, ministry but what if my priorities were simply God and people (recognizing that people includes my family)? Everything I do should be to bring glory to God and to show love to people. This doesn't mean that I won't spend anytime in the office or any time setting a nice environment - set up and preparation can be one way that I show love to people. However, I must not let my preparation become more important than the people.
The key words in this passage are: tax collectors, sinners, and righteous. Jesus uses the word picture of a doctor - he's not there for the healthy but for the sick. Jesus compares this to his own ministry: he didn't come for the righteous but for the sinners. This helps to define Jesus' mandate according to Matthew. Matthew is proving that Jesus is the Annointed King of Israel that was promised in the OT but that he came with a different agenda than everyone expected him to. He didn't come to have political power or to influence the influencers. He came to make the sinners righteous.
Jesus makes a cryptic statement to the Pharisees, quoting from Hosea 6:6: "Go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'" I think Jesus is reminding the Pharisees that there was something more at stake than keeping all the ceremonial laws of the OT. Jesus points this out another time when he reminds his audience that the two greatest commandments are to love God with all you have and are and to love your neighbour as yourself. It was more important for Jesus to be there with sinners who needed God's mercy than to keep himself ceremonially clean.
The priorities of Jesus are clearly seen again: in Matthew 8 it was that people are more important than pigs, at the beginning of Matthew 9 it was that people's souls are more important than their physical needs and here it is that people are more important than religious ceremonial rules. I know my priorities are supposed to be God, family, ministry but what if my priorities were simply God and people (recognizing that people includes my family)? Everything I do should be to bring glory to God and to show love to people. This doesn't mean that I won't spend anytime in the office or any time setting a nice environment - set up and preparation can be one way that I show love to people. However, I must not let my preparation become more important than the people.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Get Up And Go
Matthew 9:9
The key word in this verse is follow. Jesus commanded Matthew to follow and Matthew followed. It doesn't get much simpler than that. I'm sure there was probably more interaction between Jesus and Matthew. I'm sure that Matthew probably at least knew about Jesus and had heard about, if not witnessed, his miracles and teaching. None of that changes the fact that Matthew was obedient immediately.
This is a bit of a theme through Matthew: when Joseph was told to stay with Mary, he got up the next morning and obeyed; when Joseph was told to go to Egypt, he got up immediately and obeyed; etc. Immediate obedience is something I'm trying to teach my son. Just this morning he wanted to watch a video rather than eat breakfast and I told him "no". He kept going toward the tv and turned it on. We had a "talk", he apologized by giving me a hug and I put him down. Out came the pointer finger and away he went towards the tv. I told him "no" but he figures if he doesn't look at me he can't hear me. It's cute now but it's only going to lead to more trouble down the road unless we can teach him obedience now.
I wonder how God feels when he tells me to do something and I ignore him, thinking that if I don't look at him I can't hear him. I like to think that I am fairly obedient but, honestly, I am only selectively obedient. I know Jesus at least as well as Matthew did when he obeyed Jesus' call to follow. It's not a matter of how much I know, it's a matter of how much I trust. God, give me an obedient and trusting spirit so that when your Son says, "follow me" I will get up and go.
The key word in this verse is follow. Jesus commanded Matthew to follow and Matthew followed. It doesn't get much simpler than that. I'm sure there was probably more interaction between Jesus and Matthew. I'm sure that Matthew probably at least knew about Jesus and had heard about, if not witnessed, his miracles and teaching. None of that changes the fact that Matthew was obedient immediately.
This is a bit of a theme through Matthew: when Joseph was told to stay with Mary, he got up the next morning and obeyed; when Joseph was told to go to Egypt, he got up immediately and obeyed; etc. Immediate obedience is something I'm trying to teach my son. Just this morning he wanted to watch a video rather than eat breakfast and I told him "no". He kept going toward the tv and turned it on. We had a "talk", he apologized by giving me a hug and I put him down. Out came the pointer finger and away he went towards the tv. I told him "no" but he figures if he doesn't look at me he can't hear me. It's cute now but it's only going to lead to more trouble down the road unless we can teach him obedience now.
I wonder how God feels when he tells me to do something and I ignore him, thinking that if I don't look at him I can't hear him. I like to think that I am fairly obedient but, honestly, I am only selectively obedient. I know Jesus at least as well as Matthew did when he obeyed Jesus' call to follow. It's not a matter of how much I know, it's a matter of how much I trust. God, give me an obedient and trusting spirit so that when your Son says, "follow me" I will get up and go.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Which is easier?
Matthew 9:3-8
Just to recap: some men carried their paralyzed friend to Jesus who responds to their faith by forgiving the man's sins (rather than healing him, as everyone hoped). The key words and ideas in this next section are: authourity and forgiveness of sins. Jesus compares (contrasts?) forgiving the man's sins with telling him to get up and walk. He demonstrates his authourity to forgive sins by his authourity to command the man to walk.
Matthew includes a phrase that captured my attention: the crowd is filled with awe - which is common at the miracles of Jesus. However, it is the healing that fills the crowd with awe, not the miracle of forgiven sin. This speaks to me because I am drawn the the outwardly spectacular and need to be reminded that the act of God forgiving a person's sin is the most spectacular and awe inspiring thing that could ever happen. How much more awe inspiring that he would forgive my sin!
However, that's not the phrase that captured my attention. Matthew says that the crowd praised God, "who had given such authourity to human beings." I suppose you could argue that Matthew and/or the crowd mean that God has allowed Jesus to come and that Jesus was the gift. In essence, the phrase would read: "who had sent Jesus to human beings." There may be some merit to that for sure. That is certainly what the ESV says, "They praised God for sending a man with such great authourity." However, most of the other translations leave it the way the TNIV puts it. At face value it seems that Matthew and/or the crowd see the work of Jesus and praise God (which is what Jesus says should happend when he says that we are the light of the world) and somehow realize that in Christ, this authourity would be available to all humans.
Just to recap: some men carried their paralyzed friend to Jesus who responds to their faith by forgiving the man's sins (rather than healing him, as everyone hoped). The key words and ideas in this next section are: authourity and forgiveness of sins. Jesus compares (contrasts?) forgiving the man's sins with telling him to get up and walk. He demonstrates his authourity to forgive sins by his authourity to command the man to walk.
Matthew includes a phrase that captured my attention: the crowd is filled with awe - which is common at the miracles of Jesus. However, it is the healing that fills the crowd with awe, not the miracle of forgiven sin. This speaks to me because I am drawn the the outwardly spectacular and need to be reminded that the act of God forgiving a person's sin is the most spectacular and awe inspiring thing that could ever happen. How much more awe inspiring that he would forgive my sin!
However, that's not the phrase that captured my attention. Matthew says that the crowd praised God, "who had given such authourity to human beings." I suppose you could argue that Matthew and/or the crowd mean that God has allowed Jesus to come and that Jesus was the gift. In essence, the phrase would read: "who had sent Jesus to human beings." There may be some merit to that for sure. That is certainly what the ESV says, "They praised God for sending a man with such great authourity." However, most of the other translations leave it the way the TNIV puts it. At face value it seems that Matthew and/or the crowd see the work of Jesus and praise God (which is what Jesus says should happend when he says that we are the light of the world) and somehow realize that in Christ, this authourity would be available to all humans.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
But I wanted to walk...
Matthew 9:1-2
The key words in these verses are: faith and forgiven. Matthew is showing his audience that not only did Jesus have authourity over the physical world, sickness and the spiritual world but he had authourity over spiritual issues like sin. He had been given the authourity to forgive sin which meant that not only was Jesus the Messiah, Jesus was God. Jesus proved his authourity to forgive sin by demonstrating his authourity in these other areas.
I do have to wonder, though, if this man and his friends felt a little cheated. They had carried him who knows how far so that Jesus could heal him and the first words Jesus says are, "I'm impressed with the faith of your friends. Be encouraged. I forgive you." Put me in that situation and I would be thinking, "That's great, Jesus, but what about my legs?"
This is a reminder to me that the greatest work of Christ was to forgive sin so that people could have a restored relationship with God. This doesn't mean that he emphasized the spiritual need to the neglect of their physical needs, as the evangelical church in recent history is guilty of doing to a certain extent. But the swing of the pendulum to only look after the physical needs and social conditions of people is not an accurate picture of Jesus' agenda either. I must remind myself that it is good and necessary to look after orphans and widows in their distress but it is also very necessary to tell them about Jesus so that they will not have to face an eternity of distress under God's wrath. God, help me to be faithful in both acting out and proclaiming the good news message of Jesus.
The key words in these verses are: faith and forgiven. Matthew is showing his audience that not only did Jesus have authourity over the physical world, sickness and the spiritual world but he had authourity over spiritual issues like sin. He had been given the authourity to forgive sin which meant that not only was Jesus the Messiah, Jesus was God. Jesus proved his authourity to forgive sin by demonstrating his authourity in these other areas.
I do have to wonder, though, if this man and his friends felt a little cheated. They had carried him who knows how far so that Jesus could heal him and the first words Jesus says are, "I'm impressed with the faith of your friends. Be encouraged. I forgive you." Put me in that situation and I would be thinking, "That's great, Jesus, but what about my legs?"
This is a reminder to me that the greatest work of Christ was to forgive sin so that people could have a restored relationship with God. This doesn't mean that he emphasized the spiritual need to the neglect of their physical needs, as the evangelical church in recent history is guilty of doing to a certain extent. But the swing of the pendulum to only look after the physical needs and social conditions of people is not an accurate picture of Jesus' agenda either. I must remind myself that it is good and necessary to look after orphans and widows in their distress but it is also very necessary to tell them about Jesus so that they will not have to face an eternity of distress under God's wrath. God, help me to be faithful in both acting out and proclaiming the good news message of Jesus.
Monday, January 12, 2009
demonized pigs
Matthew 8:28-34
The sequences indicates that this episode in Jesus' life took place right after he had calmed the storm on the lake. While Matthew indicated that Jesus had freed people from demonization in a previous paragraph, this is a very specific story. I speculate that this was a pretty famous incident in Jesus' ministry and Matthew is reminding his Jewish readers about it and using it to further prove that Jesus truly was the Messiah - he had authourity over the spiritual realm as well as the physical (as seen by his commanding the wind and waves).
I'm sure there is significance in the demons being allowed to go into the herd of pigs. Some have speculated that it has something to do with Jesus making a statement about Jews profiting from the raising of unclean animals. However, that seems unlikely to me since Jesus didn't seem overly concerned with the ceremonial requirements of the Law and in a relatively short time was going to command Peter in a vision to eat so called unclean animals. I wonder if Jesus was making a point that the pig farmer and the people from the village were more concerned with the welfare of livestock than they were with the welfare of these two outcasts. Matthew doesn't say specifically why the townspeople asked Jesus to leave the region but it could very well be that they were worried he would destroy more of their economy.
So, the lesson is this: Jesus is more concerned about humans than he is about pigs. Am I?
The sequences indicates that this episode in Jesus' life took place right after he had calmed the storm on the lake. While Matthew indicated that Jesus had freed people from demonization in a previous paragraph, this is a very specific story. I speculate that this was a pretty famous incident in Jesus' ministry and Matthew is reminding his Jewish readers about it and using it to further prove that Jesus truly was the Messiah - he had authourity over the spiritual realm as well as the physical (as seen by his commanding the wind and waves).
I'm sure there is significance in the demons being allowed to go into the herd of pigs. Some have speculated that it has something to do with Jesus making a statement about Jews profiting from the raising of unclean animals. However, that seems unlikely to me since Jesus didn't seem overly concerned with the ceremonial requirements of the Law and in a relatively short time was going to command Peter in a vision to eat so called unclean animals. I wonder if Jesus was making a point that the pig farmer and the people from the village were more concerned with the welfare of livestock than they were with the welfare of these two outcasts. Matthew doesn't say specifically why the townspeople asked Jesus to leave the region but it could very well be that they were worried he would destroy more of their economy.
So, the lesson is this: Jesus is more concerned about humans than he is about pigs. Am I?
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Lord of the Wind
Matthew 8:23-27
The wind and the waves are prominent figures in this account. Also, the word faith is pretty key, in particular the phrase, "you of little faith." Matthew includes this account in order to show his readers that Jesus is not just Lord over illness and the spiritual world but that his authourity extends to the physical world. He can command creation. He is Lord of the wind and the waves. This, for Matthew and his Jewish audience, would have been further proof that Jesus was the Messiah, that he was the rightful King of Israel and the rightful Lord of all Creation.
I've always wondered how Jesus wanted his disciples to respond in this situation. They feel in mortal danger and they wake up Jesus to save them. To me, that demonstrates pretty significant faith: they realize that they are in trouble and that they can do nothing to get themselves out of the situation so they turn to their leader, someone, judging from their words, that they trust to save them. Were they supposed to trust that Jesus was in control even though he was asleep? Were they supposed to have a fatalist attitude that said, "well we can't do anything about this and since God is in control we'll just sit passively in this boat and let him do whatever he wants to do"? Maybe their lack of faith was in that they didn't really believe Jesus could do anything to save them but they wanted him to wake up so he could share in their fear and panic.
I just know that if I face a situation that is beyond my control I hope that I have at least as much faith as the disciples - enough faith to at least go to Jesus, whom I know to be in control and to be King over all, and ask him to save me.
The wind and the waves are prominent figures in this account. Also, the word faith is pretty key, in particular the phrase, "you of little faith." Matthew includes this account in order to show his readers that Jesus is not just Lord over illness and the spiritual world but that his authourity extends to the physical world. He can command creation. He is Lord of the wind and the waves. This, for Matthew and his Jewish audience, would have been further proof that Jesus was the Messiah, that he was the rightful King of Israel and the rightful Lord of all Creation.
I've always wondered how Jesus wanted his disciples to respond in this situation. They feel in mortal danger and they wake up Jesus to save them. To me, that demonstrates pretty significant faith: they realize that they are in trouble and that they can do nothing to get themselves out of the situation so they turn to their leader, someone, judging from their words, that they trust to save them. Were they supposed to trust that Jesus was in control even though he was asleep? Were they supposed to have a fatalist attitude that said, "well we can't do anything about this and since God is in control we'll just sit passively in this boat and let him do whatever he wants to do"? Maybe their lack of faith was in that they didn't really believe Jesus could do anything to save them but they wanted him to wake up so he could share in their fear and panic.
I just know that if I face a situation that is beyond my control I hope that I have at least as much faith as the disciples - enough faith to at least go to Jesus, whom I know to be in control and to be King over all, and ask him to save me.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Homeless for Jesus...
Matthew 8:18-22
The key words in this section are the titles attributed to Jesus. A teacher of the law calls him "Teacher" (which is probably "Rabbi"). Jesus calls himself the "Son of Man". A disciple calls him "Lord". Jesus contrasts foxes who have dens and birds who have nests to himself who has no place to call home. He then compares those who are physically dead to those who are spiritually dead.
The implication of Jesus' words are that if someone wants to follow him they must be willing to give up their home and any relational connections. Jesus is saying that following him must be the absolute priority and that nothing must compete for allegiance to him. This is pretty radical teaching.
For me, this means that I must love Jesus more than I love his blessings. Lets face, I really like his blessings: a great wife, a great son, a great job, a great house, a great faith community, good friends, good health, good food, etc. Even beyond the physical and emotional blessings of Christ, there are the spiritual blessings of comfort, confidence, direction, purpose, hope, etc. The question I must keep asking myself is, do I love Jesus more than I love his blessings? Would I be willing to give up my job, my faith community, my health, my son for the sake of Christ? I was doing ok up until my son... The point is that nothing must compete for my allegiance to Jesus.
The key words in this section are the titles attributed to Jesus. A teacher of the law calls him "Teacher" (which is probably "Rabbi"). Jesus calls himself the "Son of Man". A disciple calls him "Lord". Jesus contrasts foxes who have dens and birds who have nests to himself who has no place to call home. He then compares those who are physically dead to those who are spiritually dead.
The implication of Jesus' words are that if someone wants to follow him they must be willing to give up their home and any relational connections. Jesus is saying that following him must be the absolute priority and that nothing must compete for allegiance to him. This is pretty radical teaching.
For me, this means that I must love Jesus more than I love his blessings. Lets face, I really like his blessings: a great wife, a great son, a great job, a great house, a great faith community, good friends, good health, good food, etc. Even beyond the physical and emotional blessings of Christ, there are the spiritual blessings of comfort, confidence, direction, purpose, hope, etc. The question I must keep asking myself is, do I love Jesus more than I love his blessings? Would I be willing to give up my job, my faith community, my health, my son for the sake of Christ? I was doing ok up until my son... The point is that nothing must compete for my allegiance to Jesus.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Was OT prophecy really fulfilled?
Matthew 8:14-17
Matthew continues to pile on evidence that Jesus is not just an ordinary rabbi but is the Messiah. He doesn't just teach with authourity, as evidenced in the Sermon on the Mount, but he also acts with authourity over the physical realm, as seen by his healing of diseases, and the spiritual realm, as seen by his casting out demons. I don't know if Matthew meant to emphasize the method of healing or not but it stands out to me: he heals the centurion's servant without even being physically present, he heals Peter's mother-in-law in such close proximity that he touches her and he casts out demons through the power of his word. I think that Matthew is reminding us that it is not a formula that has the power to heal but it is Jesus.
Matthew connects what Jesus does here to Isaiah 53:4, following his usual formula of "this was to fulfill what was written..." He uses this phrase a lot. Keeping in mind that Matthew was writing to a Jewish audience to convince them that Jesus was the Messiah, this constant reference to the prophecies of the OT makes sense. However, as a Gentile living thousands of years later, I'm not sure that they would convince me. It seems like Matthew reads a lot into the text of the OT to make parallels between what it says and what Jesus does. In talking to Pastor Steve about this, he said something that made a lot of sense to me: Matthew and his audience would have been so familiar with the OT that they couldn't help but make comparisons between what Jesus did and what the OT said. The reality is that much of what Matthew says was fulfilled in Jesus was actually fulfilled soon after the prophecies were made (not 100% but a lot). In Bible College I was taught that this was because there were two fufillments of these prophecies: the more immediate fulfillment and then the actual, later fulfillment in Christ. This could be true but it raises the question: are the only prophecies to have double fulfillment the ones that are specifically mentioned in the NT? What is to prevent us from seeing double fulfillment in other OT prophecies?
Pastor Steve wonders if we don't understand how Matthew was using the world "fulfill". We take it to mean that Isaiah had Jesus and/or the Messiah in mind when he spoke these words. Maybe Matthew and his audience understood it as "this is just like what Isaiah talked about...". I need to do more study on that.
So, what do I learn from this? I am reminded that Jesus is King - not just of my heart and not just of the Church but of the whole world. He has authourity over all things physical and spiritual. What do I need to be afraid of? Nothing!
Matthew continues to pile on evidence that Jesus is not just an ordinary rabbi but is the Messiah. He doesn't just teach with authourity, as evidenced in the Sermon on the Mount, but he also acts with authourity over the physical realm, as seen by his healing of diseases, and the spiritual realm, as seen by his casting out demons. I don't know if Matthew meant to emphasize the method of healing or not but it stands out to me: he heals the centurion's servant without even being physically present, he heals Peter's mother-in-law in such close proximity that he touches her and he casts out demons through the power of his word. I think that Matthew is reminding us that it is not a formula that has the power to heal but it is Jesus.
Matthew connects what Jesus does here to Isaiah 53:4, following his usual formula of "this was to fulfill what was written..." He uses this phrase a lot. Keeping in mind that Matthew was writing to a Jewish audience to convince them that Jesus was the Messiah, this constant reference to the prophecies of the OT makes sense. However, as a Gentile living thousands of years later, I'm not sure that they would convince me. It seems like Matthew reads a lot into the text of the OT to make parallels between what it says and what Jesus does. In talking to Pastor Steve about this, he said something that made a lot of sense to me: Matthew and his audience would have been so familiar with the OT that they couldn't help but make comparisons between what Jesus did and what the OT said. The reality is that much of what Matthew says was fulfilled in Jesus was actually fulfilled soon after the prophecies were made (not 100% but a lot). In Bible College I was taught that this was because there were two fufillments of these prophecies: the more immediate fulfillment and then the actual, later fulfillment in Christ. This could be true but it raises the question: are the only prophecies to have double fulfillment the ones that are specifically mentioned in the NT? What is to prevent us from seeing double fulfillment in other OT prophecies?
Pastor Steve wonders if we don't understand how Matthew was using the world "fulfill". We take it to mean that Isaiah had Jesus and/or the Messiah in mind when he spoke these words. Maybe Matthew and his audience understood it as "this is just like what Isaiah talked about...". I need to do more study on that.
So, what do I learn from this? I am reminded that Jesus is King - not just of my heart and not just of the Church but of the whole world. He has authourity over all things physical and spiritual. What do I need to be afraid of? Nothing!
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