Blind Guides

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

BLIND GUIDES

Matt 23:16-22

16 "Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.' 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.

NIV

The third woe deals with oaths and that is something that needs to be examined in light of the rest of the scripture regarding oaths. What we specifically what to remember is what Jesus said, as Matthew recorded for us, which is back in the fifth chapter. Jesus explicitly said that we are not to make an oath either by heaven or by the throne of God, or by the earth or its footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. Jesus went on to tell us that we should not even swear or make an oath by our own head, for we cannot make one hair either black or white. He said to let our yes be yes and our no be no, so then this woe was dealing with people who did not pay attention to what Jesus said anyway. That is why he calls them blind guides. Any false teacher or preacher is a blind guide, and we have our fair share of them in the religious world of today. We dare not call it the church of today, for those blind guides, cannot be a true part of the church or the community of faith for they guide others to being blind to the truth, but rather they lead them astray for their own self-aggrandizement, and self-fulfillment. This is what Jesus said about the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. We should be careful that we do not teach that someone should swear to God or make an oath or promise God that they would do this or that, or not do this or that. There is no question that we cannot be sure we would ever keep our promise one hundred percent, one hundred percent of the time. We are going to fail at some point and what kind of trouble that could cause us, because we promised and then broke our promise or oath. Anyone who says that we would promise God anything is a blind guide. 

Grace And Truth Over Time

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

GRACE AND TRUTH OVER TIME

Matt 23:15

15 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

NIV

That is right in their faces. Jesus makes it clear that it is important to find those who need to be converted, and it would seem we need to travel over land and sea to find converts. Certainly, we support those who have been called to travel to foreign lands as missionaries, but that leaves us out of any personal responsibility to share the gospel message as we travel through life. All of us may not have the gift of being a witness with words, but we certainly all can be a witness with our lives. What we should be aware of, however, as we do find someone who wishes to convert, at least change from being a non-believer to a believer. These people could even be among the religious groups in our world but have not yet heard that one must be born again in order to see the kingdom of God. It may be semantics when we encounter a person who has some knowledge of God but does not have the truth needed to be among those who will see the kingdom of God. Nevertheless, there is also a danger that when we do encounter someone who wishes to follow Jesus, that we do not overburden them with so many rules and regulations, they become discouraged and walk the other way, thinking this is just another religion which they only see as hypocrites. This is what Jesus was saying about the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. They may find a convert, but then make that person so overwhelmed with the law, only to find they cannot meet all the laws demands and then become discouraged, or worse yet, become like the Pharisees. No, we must be sure that we exhibit the truth but with grace. We remember Henry Clouds' formula: truth plus grace, over time, equals changed lives. This simply means that even with all the truth and all the grace we can muster, a person will need time to digest the truth and come to their own understanding of how the Lord would have them live out their gospel in their lives. In essence, this is the sum of discipleship. Sharing truth, in amounts they can digest, rather than trying and expecting them to be just like us all at once, or twice as much. 

Hypocrites Not Allowed

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

 HYPOCRITES NOT ALLOWED IN

Matt 23:13

13 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.  

NIV

The first of the seven woes. This deals with being hypocrites. What we see in plainer language of our day is that these teachers of the law and the Pharisees closed off the kingdom of heaven from the average joe on the street. In other words, unless you were someone of special interest or of superior breeding or social or religious standing, the kingdom of heaven was too weighty, too important, and only understood by the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. It was sort of that “Us four and no more” type of thinking. They pretended to be religious and pious, but in fact, they were anything but that. In fact, one of the following woes, Jesus tells them they appear clear on the outside, but at filthy on the inside. Appearances are important to them, but the truth of the gospel holds no meaning to them. The worse part this woe is that they are keeping the gospel message from gaining truth. Their refusal to accept Jesus as the Messiah was pushed onto others. They told them lies. Jesus makes sure they understand that men like them, hypocrites will not enter the kingdom of God. It is so important that we do not become stumbling blocks for others. This does not mean we should avoid the truth, or allow false teaching to go unchecked, but at the same time, we should not cause others to be closed off to the kingdom of heaven. All are welcome at the table of the Lord, and all are welcome to enter the kingdom of heaven through faith in Jesus Christ. We should be careful to live out our faith in front of others. We should be careful to walk as we talk, and not talk the walk but fail to walk the talk. We cannot say we are one thing and be something else. It does not matter what say we believe if we are not believing it and seen living it, nothing matters for the word "hypocrite" stands out more clearly than any other word. Living by faith, means living by faith, and not by sight. We do not live by what is seen, but by what is unseen, and so then we cannot live trusting in anyone or anything other than Jesus, and we are able to invite others to join in the faith. 

Be Humble or Be Humbled

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

BE HUMBLE OR BE HUMBLED

Matt 23:1-12

23:1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3 So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. 5 "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.' 8 "But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ.   11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

NIV

This is only the beginning of Jesus’s teaching about the teachers of the law and how the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. We are going to be seeing the seven woes next, but for now, let us consider this idea of practicing what we preach. This is not exclusive to preachers, although those who have been called to that task, should take special note as to living life by the same standards they preach, whatever those standards are. Nevertheless, anyone who claims to be a Christian and professes they follow Jesus should be warned enough here regarding living out the life according to the witness we give to other men. We also need to be careful not to do our acts of righteousness before men, so that we can have some amount of praise, even those types of comments like, “See how much he does” “He is a good man, he serves in so many ways”, or something to that nature. Preachers need to be careful because they can become puffed up, because of the adoration given them for their fine words, or sermons. This does not just apply to preachers, but to all who are in the ministry. It would be good for them to not burden themselves with too many identifiers, showing off their titles as a sign to men. Jesus calls out the Pharisees for doing all that and more. But he warns us to heed the words of God spoken by such people, but not to make an effort to emulate them, but rather look to Jesus as our master, and if we are to try to live like anyone, it would be to live as Jesus did, to walk as Jesus walked, to have the love and compassion for people in need, both the believer and the non-believer alike. We would do well to recall that Jesus did not come for the healthy, as the healthy are not in need of the physician, but he came for those who need a healing of their spirits. He came for the sinner, who we were indeed the chief of sinners, and so as we walk as Jesus did, we too should be looking to the sinner and their need for the knowledge of Jesus. He is the one teacher, the one Son of God who brings light, truth, and life into the world. He is the only one worthy of praise, not men who are like the Pharisees. Jesus makes sure we should reserve the word, father, only for our Heavenly Father. It also behooves us to remain humble before our God and before men. If we try to exalt ourselves in any way, we will indeed be humbled. Therefore, the central theme of these words of Jesus is to be humble or be humbled. 

He Is Lord

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

HE IS LORD

Matt 22:41-46

41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 "What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" "The son of David," they replied. 43 He said to them, "How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him 'Lord'? For he says, 44 "'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet." '    45 If then David calls him 'Lord,' how can he be his son?"  46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

NIV

It is certain that Jesus meant to show them just how ignorant they were regarding the prophecies about the Messiah. It is interesting how they thought themselves to be so pious and so knowledgeable, putting on such a show in front of normal people. We think that type of thinking has existed throughout the course of mankind, and it continues to exist even today. There will always be those who appear to be believers; however, they consider themselves above others, either through their amount of education or the number of things they do. Jesus asked them a question to prove how their thinking is flawed. Jesus is the descendent of David in the sense that both Joseph and Mary were descendants of David and in the human sense, Jesus would be the son of David, except Jesus is not all human, for He is fully human, but also, He is fully God. Therefore, David spoke of Him as Lord, which did not mean divine but that He was superior to David. A son cannot be superior to his father. This is the question Jesus wants them to answer. This is the problem with those who believe in the world instead of God. They believe mankind, can destroy this planet, that they can have an effect on anything. This type of thinking is the same as the Pharisees, thinking a son can be greater than the father. God is the Father of all mankind, and He created this planet for man to thrive on and it will sustain man with all he needs to live until God decides to destroy it. Man cannot be greater than the Father. Jesus makes it clear, that although he is in the line of David and will sit on the throne of David forever and ever, He is divine and greater than the greatest king of Israel. David proved that by calling him, Lord. We need to see our humanness in the sight of our Heavenly Father and understand we are His creation, and He is the Lord, the Almighty Lord which we are completely indebted to humbling ourselves before Him, totally dependent on His grace and mercy and His reconciling us to himself. We can do nothing to achieve life without Him. The Pharisees thought they could attain righteousness through the Law. However, Jesus showed them they could not and needed the Lord who was the Lord of David, the Son of David who is the Son of God. We would do well to see our weakness as men and understand nothing we can do, no amount of obedience to the law can bring us righteousness. Yes, we serve the Lord because we love him and we want to do that which we have been called to do, but our behavior, our activities are but a response to His great love for us. Still, none of that which we do brings us righteousness, or should bring us praise from men, should as the Pharisees had sought. We are to humble ourselves before men and God and see Jesus as our Lord, and all that means. He is Lord. 

Just The Two

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

JUST THE TWO

Matt 22:34-40

34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'   38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'   40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." 

NIV

It is interesting the Pharisees were questioning Jesus about which was the greatest commandment in the Law. This Law was the Law of Moses or that which was given to Moses by God, which would include the Ten Commandments as well as many of the other Laws that were given throughout the Old Testament, such as in Deuteronomy and Leviticus. It would appear they wanted Jesus to pick out one of those Laws as being greater than any of the other Laws. They still did not get the reason for the Law, in the first place, which was to show them they could not find righteousness through the Law and thus needed a Savior, who was standing right there in front of them. It is also interesting their interest in the Law as their source of being righteous, and professing Abraham as being their father, who lived before the Law and simply believed God, and his believing God was counted onto him as righteousness. We would do well to remember that as well, when we have created so many rules and regulations, we think are scriptural, or that we want to follow all the Old Testament laws, especially the Ten Commandments. However, Jesus does not refer to any of the Old Testament other than to say what he says is the greatest is what all the Law and the Prophets hang on. In other words, if we could fulfill these two, love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul, and with all our mind, and love our neighbor as ourselves then we would fulfill all the Law and all the words of the Prophets. So, then we would not need to go back and get any of those laws to try to obey. If we loved God with all heart, soul, and mind and loved our neighbor as ourselves then we have done it all. The problem is how do we do those two things, or how well are we doing them? It would seem right to think that accepting Jesus, the Son of God, as our Savior, would be showing our love to God. Sometimes we think we could be distracted by thinking we can show him ours by how many “Good deeds” we do. The problem with that is non-believers can do “Good deeds”, only they are humanitarian in nature, but, nonetheless, they are still “Good deeds”. Our motives are different, but the deeds could be the same, so how does that work? No, the way to please God is to believe in the one He sent, in fact, believing in the one He sent is the work, or good deed, that God requires. That is simple enough, but this loving our neighbor is another story. There are just some people who are not easy to love. Sure, we should not have much trouble with our fellow church members, but even there, sometimes there can be conflict, jealousy, envy, gossip, judging, unforgiveness, or some other attitude that would not be in the loving category. Then there are those people we encounter out in the world. Some of them can be downright nasty folks, and how are we supposed to love them? Yet, they too are our neighbors in the sense Jesus uses that word. We think we have some more work to do just accomplishing those two commands. Yet with the help of the Spirit, we could do it. 

Not Being In Error

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN

NOT BEING IN ERROR

Matt 22:23-33

23 That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 24 "Teacher," they said, "Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for him. 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. 26 The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. 27 Finally, the woman died. 28 Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?" 29 Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 31 But about the resurrection of the dead — have you not read what God said to you, 32'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living."  33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.

NIV

It is interesting that those who did not believe in the resurrection should ask Jesus about what happens after the resurrection. Obviously, they were trying to trap Jesus and they were not even hiding it. Jesus has no problem correcting them, in fact, telling them they are in error. That is our first lesson. We should make sure we know the scriptures and the power of God so that we will not also be in error. The problem is that we the people of God have too many different ideas as to what the scriptures mean. Therefore, we have so many denominations with varying statements of faith. We know the scriptures, but we cannot agree on some of them. Then we have so many commentaries, again with varying views, based on their denominational bias, followed by a plethora of authors, all having something to say about how the scriptures mean this or that, or how we should live according to this or that truth. Are we to believe any of them, or is it possible to use them simply to gain some insight into one direction of thinking? However, who we do have is the Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth, so with His direction, we can know the truth and the power of God and not be in error. We also have this wonderful assurance that God is and not was. That is God is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, and the God of us. Although Jesus used the fathers of Israel or at least the famous ones to whom Israel points, we are just the same as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the eyes of God for they were given a promise and we too have been given a promise. Are not all men just as important to God as any one man? Are not we all seen as equal in the eyes of God? Sure we put some importance on some more than others, based either on their amount of education, knowledge, wealth, or deeds. We have all sorts of qualifiers to give one person more praise than another, or for that matter to even think more highly of ourselves based on one of those factors. The fact is we all are sinners and in need of a Savior and in the resurrection, there will be no differences, as we all will be like the angels. This is not that we will have wings or something, but God created them as eternal beings, and so shall we be, eternal beings to live in the presence of our God forever and ever, Amen. We will most likely know each other, and fellowship with one another, but not in the sense of marriage, other then we all will be the bride of Christ, living all together as one people of God, knowing him fully and his power completely forever and ever, Amen. 

What is God's

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

WHAT IS GOD’S

Matt 22:15-22

15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. "Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" 18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax." They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?"  21 "Caesar's," they replied. Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."  22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

NIV

First, Jesus did not say that it was not right to pay the tax, as we know that he did. In fact, we remember the time that he told Peter to go catch a fish, and the first fish he catch would have enough coin to pay the tax for both Jesus and Peter. However, the tax is not so much the issue here, for we all have to pay taxes in one way or another. The whole of the truth which Jesus is telling them and us is that we need to give to God that which is God’s. Now, we should know what belongs to God. That is simple enough to know that we belong to God. Therefore, we should give ourselves to God. It would also be right to give God praise, glory, and honor, for he deserves all that. We do make a fairly big deal about giving God some part of the coin with the inscription of the government on it. That would be in our tithes and offerings. We also work day in and day out for that coin. Still, all that belongs to God must be given to God and that is all of who we are and what we do for we are to labor as onto the Lord, and love Him with all our soul, spirit, mind, and strength. What is difficult is to labor in our daily lives and not get too invested in that daily life. Sometimes we can become so distracted with life itself that we may not be totally invested in giving ourselves to God. We might even get too busy in the doing of “Good deeds” that we look too much at them and not enough at offering ourselves to God. The point Jesus is making is that nothing is more important than giving to God what is God’s. There is no question that praise, honor, glory, faith, and obedience are due to God, but we also are due to God. The question is, how do we give all of ourselves to God and still live in this world with all its requirements? There are so many of the ordinary things of life that are needed to survive, some source of income, a place to live, food, clothing, transportation, and all those comforts we are so used to having, that would be in the soft goods category. Our daily lives can become so complex, we wonder how we do all that and still continually offer ourselves to God, as a living sacrifice which is our reasonable act of worship. We can do all those right things, but it still comes down to setting ourselves aside and picking up our cross, and following Jesus. But the question remains as to how we do that in the midst of our daily lives. Yet the fact is that all we are, all we have, and all we do should belong to God. 

The Wedding Feast

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

THE WEDDING FEAST

Matt 22:1-14

22:1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. 4 "Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.' 5 "But they paid no attention and went off — one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 "Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 "But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless. 13 "Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 14 "For many are invited, but few are chosen." 

NIV

There are three people represented here in this parable of Jesus. God is also there as we can well see represented by the king. Although, as Jesus usually does, He uses the customs of that day, this wedding banquet is the one that will take place in the kingdom of heaven. We have those who were first invited, which we could say were the Jews, but within this parable, these who are invited can be all of creation, who at this point are sinners. They refuse, but God is insistent and keeps inviting, telling the sinner, that He has killed the lamb, that the lamb of God has been slain, everything is ready for your salvation, come to the wedding feast of the Lamb. But they paid no attention. The sinners who refuse say, we have no time for religion, we are busy with our life of trade, of making money, being concerned with their own self-interests. Can we not see that those who live like that refusing to come to the wedding feast, will be ultimately burned up? The second people here are those who accept the invitation of the king. We could see them as the Gentiles, as described as the good and bad, versus the Jews. But, they are still all sinners, some who live fairly normal lives, not being murders, thieves, or other breakers of civil laws. Others that are invited are the bad, the breakers of civil law. However, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and are invited to come to the wedding feast of the Lamb. It is interesting that on that day when people arrive at the wedding, they are given white robes, wedding clothes to wear. These robes are provided by the King. Oh, we can see this is surely the kingdom of heaven and for those who overcome, which means endure to the end, will be given white robes washed in the blood of the Lamb. Now, we do have to deal with this last person who arrived and had not taken the white robe but stayed in his street clothes. Could he be the hypocrite in the church? The one who appears to accept the invitation, but still wants to be engaged in his worldly desires. This could also be seen in the spiritual sense as this person shows contempt for God. Salvation can be his through the provision of the Lord, and he could have taken it, and worn the white robe, but instead, he wants to come to the wedding in his filthy rags of self-righteousness. We see the result of this type of faith in good works. Oh, how glad we are that we have been invited, that we accepted the messenger who came to call us to the wedding feast. How thankful we are that we have that white robe washed in the blood of Jesus. That we are in the wedding feast and enjoying being in the presence of the King of kings, the Lord of Lords, forever and ever, Amen. 

The Cornerstone

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

THE CORNERSTONE

Matt 21:42

42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: "'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?

NIV

Although these words of Jesus were within the parable about the landowner who rented out his vineyard, we left these words without comment. They, in themselves, are worthy of consideration. Within the rendering in the Greek text, this would read as the head of the corner, or the cornerstone. The style of building many of the formidable buildings of that day was to find the best stone, a beautiful stone, and hone it to square, using it as the first stone at the first corner of the foundation stones. If the cornerstone is perfectly square, then the whole building will be. Here, Jesus calls himself that cornerstone, showing them and us, that he is the foundation of the church. God chose Israel as his people and sent them His Son to be the foundation of their faith, for them to build their faith on Jesus. God, in His infinite mercy, gave them the law to prepare them for His Son. It was impossible for them to find their righteousness in the law, but they could not accept His Son and refused to give up the law. In fact, did they not only reject the cornerstone, but they also discarded and tried to destroy it. However, God, again in his infinite mercy, sent Jesus to be the cornerstone of all men’s faith, every church, or what we would call the universal church, which consists of all men who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. This means that we have Jesus as the cornerstone of our lives. All that we are is based on Jesus, and everything we do should be based on Jesus. He sets the corner of our lives. If we have Jesus as the foundation of our lives, then our whole lives will be all square. No law, no manmade rules or regulations can give us that foundation. The Jews thought all the law and the prophets were their foundation, their heritage, their destiny was all built on the traditions of men, rather than the truth of God. We too must be careful to always see Jesus as the foundation of the church, which is we the people who have been given the right to be called the children of God because we did not reject the cornerstone but set it firmly in our hearts. It is what the Lord has done, and it is marvelous in our eyes. He has given us the cornerstone. 

Produce Fruit

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

PRODUCE FRUIT

Matt 21:33-46

33 "Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. 35 "The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. 'They will respect my son,' he said. 38 "But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.' 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 "Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?"  41 "He will bring those wretches to a wretched end," they replied, "and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time." 42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: "'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? 43 "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."  45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet. NIV

It is not difficult to understand the meaning of the parable as long as we do not get too involved in trying to determine what everything Jesus describes. In other words, all we need to know is that the vineyard is Israel and all the servants are the various prophets that were sent to Israel, whom they killed, which is true. As far as the fence, the winepress and the watchtower, they could be part of the parable because Jesus used the things of that culture to explain a truth. It would have been customary for a landowner to build some type of wall around his property. Having traveled through Israel, it was interesting to see the Bedouins using a circle of stones as a marker, or fence around land they were allowed to claim as their own. It also would not be uncommon for those who planted vineyards to have some kind of tower. However, the point Jesus was making is that Israel did not recognize the landowners right or claim on his own vineyard and to expect it to produce fruit for him. They knew the right answer to the question of Jesus, but they were not producing the fruit for the Lord, and so he rents out the kingdom of God to those who will produce the fruit. Of course, we know that Jesus is the vine and we are the branches and we need to be producing fruit in our lives, which is in essence the Spirit producing his fruit in and through us which is explained in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. When it comes to the harvest time, the time to gather all the people, it is those who produce the fruit who are in the kingdom of God. It is also interesting that He has put His hedge of protection around and watches over us. Still, it is incumbent upon us to yield to the working of the Spirit, and be living experiencing His fruit in our lives. There should be evidence of this love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control manifested within us. Sometimes we can get too entrenched in doing “Good deeds” that we become almost burdened down with them to the point there is no joy and peace, or we are not gentle or patient, but rather dogmatic in our efforts of doing good. Sometimes we forget the purpose of this fruit of the Spirit is for the benefit of others to be able to enjoy the fruit manifested in us, in fact, we might even forget the Lord enjoys seeing all the fruit in us. He wants his share of the harvest, that is, he wants us. If we want to be in the kingdom of God, or given the kingdom, we do need to producing fruit. Sure, salvation is a free gift of God, but as Israel did not yield to the Spirit, they killed prophets, they left their first love, and turn from God to live the traditions of men. The kingdom was taken from them and given to those who believe in the Son of God who share the fruit of the vineyard with him, who share their lives with Jesus. 

The First Son

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

THE FIRST SON

Matt 21:28-32

28 "What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.' 29 "'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. 30 "Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go. 31 "Which of the two did what his father wanted?" "The first," they answered. Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

NIV

The question is, who are the sons in this parable? Who do they represent? It seems right because the chief priests and elders came trying to challenge Jesus about by whose authority did he do these things, that now Jesus turned the tables on them and gave them a challenge to answer. It is reasonable to see the chief priests and the elders as the second son because they professed to know God and performed religious acts, or at least what appeared as religious acts, but refused to accept Jesus as the Savior, the one and only way to enter the kingdom of God, to do the work God required. Then it is the tax collectors and prostitutes, the publicans and sinners, as it were, who was the first son who lived a life so unpleasing to God and refused the religious life, refused to live uprightly, but when they heard John the Baptist or the teaching of Jesus and repented of, they ways, they were the ones who the father wanted. Have we not experienced the life of the first son? Have we not lived a rebellious life against God? However, praise God, we heard and we witnessed the truth of God and repented and did the work that God requires, we believed in the one He sent, we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and we can be assured we did what the Father wanted. The problem that could occur is that once we became a believer, as years go by, we can become entrenched in religious activities rather than continuing to do the work that God requires, believing in the one He sent. Somehow, we might become too involved in believing our “Good deeds”, our religious activities make us a better son, or that all these deeds are the work God requires. Sure, we should be doing good in life, and perhaps that is in some way considered as worship, or in response to the love of God in our lives. It is true that we should walk as Jesus walked, living a life of devotion to God and benevolence and beneficial to our neighbor. However, when we look at this parable it still comes down to who is it that repents and believes in Jesus. That is the fullness of gaining eternal life. The rest of our lives are spent simply loving God with all our being and loving our neighbor as ourselves, being thankful we are the first son. 

By What Authority

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

BY WHAT AUTHORITY

Matt 21:23-27

23 Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. "By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked. "And who gave you this authority?" 24 Jesus replied, "I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25 John's baptism — where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or from men?" They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Then why didn't you believe him?' 26 But if we say, 'From men'-we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet." 27 So they answered Jesus, "We don't know." Then he said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 

NIV

It is interesting why the chief priests and elders asked Jesus by what authority he was going such great miracles, or teachings although Matthew simply records, “these things”. They were priests by the authority of Moses, being of the tribe of Levi. As far as they were concerned, He had no civil or ecclesiastical authority as a Jew. Although he was indeed seen as a prophet, the chief priests and elders were not satisfied with that, so they questioned him by what authority is he doing these things. Of course, because Jesus was having such an influence upon the people, it would be natural for those who are supposed to be the influencers would be jealous and even filled with hatred toward Jesus. We do not know the tone of their voices when they questioned him. But it would seem right to believe their tone was not friendly, but with an indignant, superior attitude. We should not be too judgmental of them, as it is but the human nature which drives their question. We have been faced with the same situation and might face it more often than we want to admit. We have been the authority in our lives before meeting Jesus. We decided what we would do, and how and when we would do it throughout our lives. We have been the number one influential person of ourselves. When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior that should have changed, just by the fact we are calling Him Lord. That alone should indicate that He has become our Master or Lord, and now He is the one who makes the decisions in our lives. He has become the influential person in us. The problem is that we may, at times, ask by what authority are you changing me, or keeping me from doing what I want to do when and how I want to do it? It may also be that at times we simply do not recognize His authority and we go ahead with our plans, listening to our own heart and mind, our own desires. When Jesus asked the chief priests and elders whether John’s baptism was from heaven or man, they were stumped, again because they did not want to admit it was from heaven, but because of their fear of losing the authority over the people, they could not say it was from men. So, they said they did not know. Once again, their human nature trumps the truth. We must be aware when our nature wants to take charge over the authority of Jesus. How do we combat our human nature? How do we force it to listen to the voice of the Spirit within? How do we avoid asking by what authority, by implication, ignoring the authority of Jesus? No, we must be aware of His supreme influence in our lives, and listen to the truth, for He is the light, the way, and the truth. 

Faith Without Doubt

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

FAITH WITHOUT DOUBT

Matt 21:18-22

18 Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. 20 When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked. 21 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." 

NIV

It is interesting that Mark records this same event regarding the fig tree, but he states that Jesus cursed it this morning, and then in the evening they left the city again and returned the next day and found the tree withered. Whenever, immediately or the next day, it happened, the point is that it happened and it was, as always with Jesus, a teaching moment. It is noted this fig tree was beside the road which would have been on public land, and hence available to anyone traveling the road. This is important as Jesus did not take from someone or would have had the tree had figs. There are all sorts of commentators that what to spend a great deal of time on the tree and no figs, but just leaves, and how that set the time of the year and why that was important. Still, that is not the point of this teaching moment of Jesus. He knew full well what time of the year it was and the pattern of bearing figs for the trees. It was not that Jesus was hungry, as some would suppose, for Jesus and his disciples when they left the city could have gone back to Bethany or Bethphage, both just a few hours walk and spent the evening eating and enjoying more fellowship with friends. However, Jesus used this tree to teach his disciples, and us, about having faith and not doubting. Although over the years some believers have misused the parallel account of Mark, as a name it and claim it philosophy. We will not call it theology for that type of belief is not based on the study of God. The basis is on prayer. Yes, Jesus said that we can say to this mountain to go throw yourself into the sea. Yes, we could say to the fig tree, be cursed. But Jesus is making that reference in conjunction with whatever we ask in prayer. However, the point is still the same. We must ask, or say with one hundred percent faith, leaving all doubt, all unbelief behind. This may not be quite as possible as it sounds. We do live and have lived all our lives in this physical world, which is, for all practical purposes, based on science and what is possible for a man to achieve, including some things that man cannot accomplish. One of those impossible things is to move mountains or cause a tree to wither with our words. We have invented machines and chemicals for those purposes, so our words or faith are not needed. Living in this environment and modern culture may have stunted our ability to have that type of faith. Still, being a follower of Christ, should we not take Him as His word and believe without doubt, that we will receive whatever we ask in prayer. This then would be faith without doubt. 

"Yes"

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

“YES”

Matt 21:14-17

14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant. 16 "Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him. "Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read, "'From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise'?"  17 And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

NIV

Jesus never stops healing those who are in need. Although he has come to Jerusalem to fulfill his ultimate purpose, being the sacrifice of God for the sins of the world, he always will heal those who come to him. Isn’t that even the purpose of his going to the cross? Isn’t the cross the grand consummate healing of all of us? By his stripes we are healed, by His blood we are cleansed, and through his death, burial, and resurrection we are made whole and through our faith in him, we are given eternal life. Yes, we are the children of God who are shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David”. It is also interesting the chief priests and teachers of the law were indignant. It always seems that when someone’s authority over the people is threatened, they become upset and show an indignant attitude toward the person responsible. We see this within our two-party system of governance, the one all upset and indignant when the other party is in control. But here Jesus speaks to them and puts them in their place. Although Jesus is quoting from the Psalms, there is another interesting observation. They ask him if he hears what these children are saying, and Jesus simply says, “Yes”, followed by quoting the psalm. The thought occurs to us that Jesus is always hearing what the children of God are saying. Therefore, when we praise Him, when we come to him with a need, when we ask him, he hears us and he says, “Yes” and he has told us that if we come asking in his name, it will be done. It is that simple and sometimes we make it far more complicated than what Jesus intended it to be. We are going to see Jesus tell his disciples and us that very thing when they encounter the fig tree very soon. Jesus tells them and us that if we believe, we will receive whatever we ask in prayer. Jesus says, “Yes”, and we do not believe we have ever heard him say “No”. God has ordained that we, as His children, should have praise on our lips. Jesus lived and walked to give us an example of how we should live, and He always was giving all the praise and glory to His Father. This is our life, as children of God, praising our Lord. This is our life as the children of God always hearing our Lord saying, “Yes”. He said, “Yes” when we asked for the forgiveness of our sin, He says “Yes” whenever we ask him for our daily bread, which again can be seen as our daily walk with Jesus. He said that whatever we ask, if we believe, he is going to say, “Yes”. 

Cleansed

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

CLEANSED

Matt 21:12-13

12 Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 "It is written," he said to them, "'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a 'den of robbers.'" 

NIV

There are a few things of interest here. First, according to the gospel of John, Jesus cleansed the temple once before. John records this event shortly after the miracle of Jesus turning water into wine at Cana. He went to Jerusalem for the Passover, and this is when he made a whip from cords and drove them out. John records that Jesus said at that time, “Get them out of here, “How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market”. So, what Matthew records for us are the second time Jesus cleanses the temple as well as Matthew leaving out some details that Mark and Luke include. What appears to have happened is that after this entrance into Jerusalem, Jesus and the twelve returned to Bethany for the evening, and on the way, he cursed the fig tree, which in the morning upon the return to Jerusalem the tree have withered, and Jesus teaches his disciples a lesson. However, let us get to this moment of Jesus cleansing the temple. Although Jesus is cleansing the physical temple in Jerusalem, there is a spiritual truth we should see here. Because we have been called the temple of God. Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, makes the point regarding what does the temple of God have in common with idols. He makes the point that we are the temple of the living God. Then, it would make perfect sense to consider that Jesus cleanses the temple of the living God, which then means that Jesus cleanses our hearts. He drives out the merchants, the material selling and buying of things, the money changers, the greed of the material world. Jesus is saying that we, as the temple of the living God should be devoted to prayer, or being in constant communication with God. Prayer is not always some moment when we wax on with elegant words for some special need. However, prayer is a time of speaking to God, as well as listening to God. When we examine many of the times the men of the bible prayed, the Lord answered, and that would have meant they would have needed to listen for his answer. All too often we pray but immediately move on to the next moment of our day. Prayer is also considered as worship. In the time of Jesus, the temple or the synagogue was the place Jews went to pray, although the temple was also the place for sacrifices to God. We, being the temple of the living God, are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices which is our reasonable act of worship, and being the temple of the living God, we are a place of prayer. This would mean we should be in constant communication with God. Therefore, because Jesus has entered our hearts, we are a cleansed house of prayer. 

Stirring Others

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

STIRRING OTHERS

Matt 21:8-11

8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!" 10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?" 11 The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."

NIV

Jesus rode on the donkey from Bethphage down the Mount of Olives, across the Kidron Valley, and up into Jerusalem. There must have been some amount of a crowd that followed Jesus from Jericho to Bethany including the two blind men he had given their sight to. It is only about thirteen miles from Jericho to Bethany which would not prohibit the crowd from following. However, as it may have taken a little while to make that trip on a donkey from Bethphage to Jerusalem some of the crowd could have run ahead, as Matthew tells us, and others followed along with him. Those who went ahead were preparing the way, telling others, so as many as wanted to be ready, laying their cloaks on the road and cutting branches from the palm trees, which then this would become our Palm Sunday service, celebrating the triumphant entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. The word “Hosanna” became known as a declaration of adoration. It is made up of two Hebrew words which together would mean excited to be free or made free. This would fit well yelling “Hosanna to the Son of David” as they thought Jesus was going to free them from the oppressive Roman rule of their land. There were those who did not know what all the fuss was about or who was all the fuss about, and those who were part of the crowd that followed Jesus told them who Jesus was. This is our story, at least it should be, and not just on Palm Sunday. We should be living with that excitement day in and day out for indeed Jesus did set us free. He set us free from sin, but also from the penalty of sin. We should be living out Hosanna to Jesus every day, every minute of our day. As the gates of Jerusalem were open to Jesus, and people were declaring their adoration to him and telling others who he is, so we opened the gate to our heart and ask Jesus to enter in, to be the Lord of our lives. Being set free we cannot remain silent and sedate about this. We must have so much joy in our heart that it would overflow into our daily life, our attitude, our behavior, our expression of praise. We are excited to be a follower of Jesus, it is not a task or a duty to be observed, but this excitement of being set free, of having Jesus within spurs us to this declaration of adoration, all the while telling others who are stirred by our excitement who Jesus is. 

He Comes With Peace

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

HE COMES WITH PEACE

Matt 21:1-7

21:1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away."  4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 "Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"   6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.

NIV

And so it begins, the end of what has been a wonderful time watching Jesus and listening to his teaching. However, so it begins, the beginning of something horrible to watch, and hear about. Still, so it begins, the wonderful events that will result in the forgiveness of our sin and our resurrection onto eternal life. But first, we have to travel this road with Jesus to see all this unfold as Matthew describes it for us. First, we watch as Jesus reaches Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Bethphage is just a very short way from Bethany where Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived and although Mathew leaves this out, John records this is the same time Jesus being on his way back to Judea stops there in Bethany and raises Lazarus from the grave. From John’s account, it looks like Jesus stayed there with them about six days and this is when Mary poured all that perfume on Jesus’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Now the time had come, and he leaves them and heads to Bethphage where he instructs his disciples to go into the village ahead of them. We cannot be sure, but the way it reads in Greek, it could be that they were coming into Bethphage, and this is the town Jesus told them to go ahead and find the donkey and the colt. It would be from there that he would ride further down the Mount of Olives into and across the Kidron Valley, and then up into Jerusalem. Having stood on that Mount of Olives and looked across the valley and clearly gazed upon Jerusalem, we understand this journey would not have taken that long as it was no more than a mile or so, that even walking at three miles an hour this trip would not have taken long. There are two truths for us today. The first is that Jesus again shows us his foreknowledge, his omniscience, knowing the prophecy, but also knowing that is what will happen for this is the reason he came in the first place. He knows exactly where the donkey and colt are and that the owners will allow his disciples to simply take them because the master needs them. Second, the donkey is extremely important as whenever a king would enter a city he would either ride upon a large horse, declaring his victory, and taking charge or authority over the city, or he would ride upon a donkey, declaring he was coming in peace. Because so many thought and hoped that Jesus was going to overthrow the Roman authority in the city and set up the kingdom of God, he still rode in on a donkey showing he was not the conquering king, although that is exactly who he was. Jesus was and in the conquering King for he conquered death there in Jerusalem. But he also established peace between God and man, as we are no longer enemies of God, but enjoy the peace of God in our lives because we are in Christ, and He is in us. So, the donkey is the right choice to demonstrate that Jesus comes in and with peace or to establish peace. It is also true that we should react to the coming of our Lord into our lives with singing and shouting, and we will soon see. But in the meantime, Jesus is coming with peace. 

Call Out to Jesus

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

CALL OUT TO JESUS

Matt 20:29-34

29 As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. 30 Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!" 31 The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!" 32 Jesus stopped and called them. "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked. 33 "Lord," they answered, "we want our sight." 34 Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.

NIV

There are two truths that stand out to us. One within this passage, the other combined with the idea of blindness. As these blind men called out to Jesus, there were those who told them to be still, to be quiet, not to bother Jesus. We are not sure why the crowd would be the ones who felt the need to rebuke these blind men. Was this the same crowd that had been following Jesus? Was this the same crowd who had been fed by Jesus with a couple of fish and a few loaves of bread? Was this the same crowd that had brought their sick to Jesus and he healed them all? Was this the same crowd that felt they had some special connection to Jesus and were considered his followers? So these two blind men were not part of this crowd, they were outsiders, they did not belong, they were not followers. Was there this mentality of us four and no more within the crowd? They did not want these blind men to bother Jesus, to disturb the status quo. However, the blind men would not be quiet, and they shouted even louder, and Jesus, being who he is, stopped and called them to come to him. Then those great words which ring throughout the ages, “What do you want me to do for you?” Of course, being blind, they wanted to see, and that is exactly what happened when they were touched by Jesus. We can hear those words of Jesus. He is always available, both asking what we want him to do for us and touching us allowing us to see. The idea is that unless we have been touched by Jesus we are blind, we cannot see our way. The Apostle John records that Jesus talked about a man who walks in the day has the light of the world to see and will not stumble, but if a man walks by night having no light, he stumbles. Because Jesus is the light of the world, once we have been touched by Jesus, metaphorically speaking, which is to accept Jesus into our heart, then we have the light within, and we can see the truth. But those who do not have the light are still walking or living in the dark and are stumbling or falling because of sin. Sure, we still sin, because of not being perfect, as Jesus is, but we see that sin and repent and have the assurance that if we confess our sin, he is faithful to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, declaring us holy and blameless in his sight. It is far better to call out to Jesus and hear him ask us what we want him to do for us than succumb to the crowd, as it is far better to walk in the light than in the dark. 

To Lead and Serve

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

TO LEAD AND SERVE

Matt 20:24-28

24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25 Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." 

NIV

It is alright to desire to be great among us? Why would Jesus even bring that up? Of course, in order to be great, or mega, which is the Greek word used here, one needs to be the servant of all the rest. Although the word for servant is the same word used for deacon, that would fit in the sense the deacons were to serve the tables, or see to the distribution of food, especially to the widows. We see this in explained in acts. However, it may not be meant here as one who is a deacon, is not the greatest of positions in the church, and none of the apostles became deacons, but rather ministers of the word of God, or pastors of the church. Therefore, it would be appropriate to think that the pastor of the church is the leader, as Jesus compared the servant here to the rulers of the Gentiles. When we examine the acts of the apostles, we see the apostles were the leaders of the church and they had the people select seven men to be the servants of food distribution or deacons who were known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. This should be the first and foremost qualification for any to serve the church as deacons. However, the apostles gave themselves to the spiritual needs of the church. This would describe the pastor as the servant of the church, giving himself to the spiritual needs of the church. This would then mean anyone who desires to become the pastor of the church, should consider himself the servant of the church, not the lord and master of the church, although having the authority in the church over the spiritual matters as well as governing under the guidance of God, for the church is not a democracy, but rather a theocracy. Still, as Jesus gave himself for the church, so should the ministers of the church. This is the same application Jesus makes about the first, or the person who is primary in succession or the leader, the pastor, who must be a slave to the church. This would mean, once again, being the servant of the church, giving himself over to serve the needs of the people. However, this does not mean the people, have authority over the pastor, as no one has authority over Christ and he compares the servant or the slave to himself, as he did not come to be served but to serve, to give himself for the church. Jesus has all the authority yet served the church. Thus, even though the pastor has been given the authority by God to minister, he is also to serve. In the post-modern church where we have multiple pastors with all sorts of positions, or titles, we believe Jesus is speaking to the one pastor, the lead pastor, the senior pastor who leads the church. Of course, all the others serve in the sense as to assist the senior pastor in his function as the head authority under God. However, we could also see this as the twelve serving together as one leadership under the direction of God, while the deacons took care of the administration of the distribution of food. Hence, the team of pastors would serve as one servant of the church. This is difficult in some sense to be in charge and serve, to lead and serve. But this is the task upon whoever hears the call of God to be great among us. 

What Do You Want

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

WHAT DO YOU WANT

 

Matt 20:20-23

20 Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him. 21 "What is it you want?" he asked. She said, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom." 22 "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" "We can," they answered. 23 Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father." 

NIV

It is interesting that when Jesus took the twelve aside somehow, and we cannot be sure how long the time is between Jesus telling the twelve what he did, here comes the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, asking Jesus a favor, which has relevance to what he told his twelve. James and John had to have said something to their mother about what Jesus said and that she must have been under the impression that he was going to set up some earthly kingdom. We cannot be sure if she was thinking about a heavenly kingdom and what would happen after all of them died and went to be with the Lord in Heaven. It would seem more plausible that she was thinking about an earthly kingdom. But the point remains the same. First, when she came kneeling before Jesus, he asked, “What do you want”. Isn’t that just like Jesus, always willing to listen to the request of his people? Still, the question remains as to who will get to sit on the right and left of Jesus in his kingdom. It is also interesting that Jesus is not referring to any two people, but as we will see later in this gospel, Jesus explains fully how when he comes into his glory, the king will sit on his throne and those on his right, the sheep, will be given their reward, eternal life, and those on the left, the goats, will go to eternal punishment. All this has been prepared to happen by the Father even before the foundation of the earth. This is what Jesus meant by those for whom they have been prepared by my Father. It is not that the Father has handpicked two people to sit on the right and left of Jesus. There are one or possibly two truths here. First, both James and John would experience at some time the same that Jesus is going to. They would be persecuted and killed for their faith. Second, they would experience new life, being raised by back life after death. They would most likely experience both. This too we will experience, but maybe not the persecution or being killed, but we will die, and we will be raised to life, and we will be on the right side of Jesus. This is not because of anything we can do, other than accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior by faith. For no one can drink the cup that Jesus did, for he and he alone could be the one and only sacrifice for the sins of the world. There could be one more meaning about drinking from his cup, and that is in our time of communion. We do indeed drink from his cup, we drink the cup that represents his blood that was shed for our sin. However we look at all this, it still gives us hope and at the same time assurance as to what is to come. However, in the meantime, Jesus is still asking, “What do you want”? 

The Known Future

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

THE KNOWN FUTURE

Matt 20:17-19

17 Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, 18 "We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!" 

NIV

This cannot be any plainer than what Jesus said to the twelve he took aside. Yes, there is going to be suffering at the hands of the Gentiles. Yes, there is death that will happen to his body as it is hanging on the cross. That is the most gruesome form of death the Romans devised. It takes time for a person to suffocate having their hands stretched out and all their weight pulling downward. To make matters worse and draw the pain and suffering out, they placed a small foot stand so the criminal could lift his body up slightly taking the pressure off his lungs, but eventually, he becomes too tired, and soon he cannot catch his breath anymore and loses conscienceness and then dies for lack of oxygen. Sometimes, as in the case of when Jesus and the two were hanging, the Romans broke the legs of the two so death would come quicker, but Jesus had already given up his spirit, so his bones were not broken, to fulfill the prophecy. His disciples would have been aware of all this, having most likely witnessed other crucifixions during their lifetime under Roman occupation. There is going to be some response to what Jesus told his disciples about what is going to happen to him, but we will leave that for another time. Right now, what is interesting is that Jesus did not withhold the truth from them, and that should give us assurance no truth has been withheld from us. God does not withhold the truth, for he desires us to know all that is going to happen to us, just as he told his disciples what was going to happen to him, especially the part about on the third day he will be raised to life. There is no doubt that we are going to experience death. The difference is that we do not know when, as Jesus did, and we do not know how, as Jesus did. But the fact remains there is a time coming when we will lay this body to rest. We will take our last breath at some time in our future, but that will be a grand and glorious day because we will be raised to life. Maybe we might have to suffer, but surely not as Jesus did. We most likely will not be mocked and flocked, but it is possible that death could not come easy, as we could suffer from some disease or long-drawn-out illness before death frees us from this perishable and corruptible body. Still, the fact remains, death has no hold or grip on us, it cannot restrain us from the power of God to raise us up to life and life eternal. Therefore, Just as Jesus informed his disciples as to the coming events of his life on earth, we too have been informed as to the coming events of our coming death and life on earth. We know our future because God has not withheld it from us.

 

Being Equal

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

BEING EQUAL

Matt 20:1-16

20:1 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. 3 "About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' 5 So they went. "He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6 About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?' 7 "'Because no one has hired us,' they answered. "He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.' 8 "When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.' 9 "The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.' 13 "But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?' 16 "So the last will be first, and the first will be last." 

NIV

This is a whole parable, and it simply cannot and should not be looked at piecemeal. This parable is also self-explanatory regarding, first, the sovereignty of God and Second, the unparalleled lack of favoritism of God. Each man received the same amount of pay no matter how much work they had done or as to how long they had labored in his field. This gives us this truth, first, it does not matter how many years we have been both walking and working in the faith, our reward is the same as the one who just got saved and then steps into eternity. Of course, we who have been saved from the beginning of the day, as in the parable, work, and labor through the whole of the day because that is what we have been called to do. We were called to work in the master’s field, and our agreement to do so is for our daily wage, or we could say for our daily bread, who is Jesus, the bread of life. That is our agreement with God. We will do his bidding for the reward of being with Jesus. This is the same agreement the person who the master calls to work in his field in the last hour of their lives. It does not matter the length or the amount of our working for we do so not out of obligation but because we are receiving a wage, only that it is not actually a wage, but a free gift. Our reward is the free gift of eternal life, simply because we believe in Jesus. No amount of labor can change the reward. Although some might get the impression that each gets a different reward from the words of God that each will receive his reward according to their deeds, as the Lord said to John to write to the church in Thyatira. But it is not about the number of good deeds, that is not what he said. The Lord said he knows and searches the hearts and minds of men. He said that he would repay each according to what is in their heart and mind. The deed of accepting Jesus is repaid with eternal life. The deed of refusing Jesus is repaid with perishing, or as some would say, eternal torment in the lake of burning sulfur. If we have an ear, we will hear the truth about this working in the field, which indicates walking in the faith, and the fairness of God, giving each the same reward. 

Inheritance

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

INHERITANCE

Matt 19:27-30

27 Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?" 28 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

NIV

Peter responds to that statement of Jesus about how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, in fact, it is impossible with man to make his own way into the kingdom, but with God all things are possible, or it is God and God alone who makes the way for man to enter into the kingdom of God. So, Peter tells Jesus that they, the disciples have left everything to follow Jesus, so what then will there be for them. There is some confusion among our scholars of old, but then, of course, they also come from various denominational biases which could account for their differing views. Nevertheless, Jesus does respond to Peter’s question as to what reward will they receive, considering they are not like that rich young man who went away sad, because he could not leave everything behind to follow Jesus, but they did. What we first should note is the word renewal. The Greek word used here is only used twice in the whole of the New Testament, Titus being the other place. Titus used it to mean rebirth, as in born again, but this word translated as renewal, even as rebirth, as Jesus used, means the renewal of the earth, the new creation when everything has been said and done, and Jesus is sitting on his throne to judge the living and the dead, the time when he separates the sheep from the goats, and those who accepted him as their Lord and Savior, the sheep, will enter into his rest. Jesus tells them they will also have a throne. If we take the revelation of Jesus that was given to John, we find twenty-four elders sitting on twenty-four thrones. It is possible these could be the leader of each of the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles. This could be the meaning of what Jesus meant. We will only know for sure, when we stand before the great throne of our Lord and hear those words when he says, enter in my good and faithful servant. However, Jesus goes on to include all who left houses and family or their work for the sake of the kingdom. Certainly, Jesus did not mean that we all should become homeless and isolate ourselves from all our family becoming a hermit-like wandering soul, following some spiritual journey. There have been men over the years who have done that, such as various monks who have even taken the vow of silence. How do we, the average everyday type believer who lives in this country, who has a family, a home, along with many possessions leave everything behind to follow Jesus? It has to be a heart issue, for the disciples still had families, as we see Jesus went to Peter’s home and healed his mother-in-law. This heart issue is at the core, as the young rich man’s heart was where his treasure was, his wealth and not seeing Jesus as his treasure. It comes down to where is the focus of our lives, our stuff, or Jesus. Yes, we need the stuff, but Jesus said that if we seek first his kingdom if that is the focus of our lives, he knows we need the stuff, the things the pagans chase after, and that he would ensure that we have enough of the things of this world to make our way through it until the time comes for us to set down our bodies and join him in heaven. We will deal with the first and the last as we get into the parable about the landowner and those he hires to harvest. For now, let us simply understand that our reward is Jesus, as we focus our life on him and our reward will be eternal life. 

All Things Are Possible

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

Matt 19:25-26

25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?" 26 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." 

 NIV

Page two, the rest of the story. Jesus had just said that it is impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, using the illustration of a camel passing through the eye of a sewing needle. We have problems getting a tread to pass through that little eye and it is without a doubt that it is impossible for a camel to get through it. Now his disciples were greatly astonished, or vehemently astonished as a more wooden translation, and asked in so many words, “Well then, who then can be saved?” This could mean they were questioning their own salvation, although it is doubtful, they were as rich as that young man. Still, the idea strikes them that there are some qualifiers as to who can be saved and that could put them in jeopardy, as Peter makes that comment which we will get to. First, we need to ponder on what Jesus said. In a nutshell, Jesus was saying that salvation is not up to man, that is impossible. There is nothing a man can do to earn salvation. There is no way we can save ourselves. Not any amount of keeping the law or following all the commands of God perfectly will earn us the right into the kingdom of heaven. It is by faith that we are saved, least any one of us should boast. It would be impossible for us to stand around in the kingdom of heaven and say, “I got here because I did this”, “Well I got here because I did this and that, so you shouldn’t be here, because I did more than you” That is just so foolish on so many levels, it cannot even be considered. Even when we do things, such as serving others, or administrating or giving as an example, they are gifts of the Spirit being manifested in us and are not of our human flesh. This also applies to the fruit of the Spirit, those qualities are not from our humanness, but from the Spirit working within us, least we boast about our abilities or traits. We have heard people give some honor or credit or praise for doing things within the church, or being a certain way, like saying, “He or She is such a good person because they do so much”. No, we cannot take the credit for whatever, for it is the Spirit working in and through us. What good can any of us really do? Even our faith is a gift of God, for he gives every man a measure of faith, as Paul says in his letter to the Romans. That is why Jesus says that with God all things are possible. It is God and God alone who saves people, and it is up to him how people are saved and that is only through faith in Jesus. Therefore, any man, whether he is rich, poor, highly educated, or simple-minded, tall, short, fat, skinny, whatever nationality, race, or creed, can be saved through faith in Jesus Christ. God can do anything and everything at any time and any place he desires. This gives us so much peace of mind, and security to know it is all up to God, that we cannot be held accountable or are responsible for our salvation because of what we do or do not do, other than having faith in Jesus. That is the one and the only qualification for our salvation and that is based on what God did for us because he loves us, not only us, but the whole world, all people are his creation.

 

The Impossible

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

THE IMPOSSIBLE

Matt 19:23-24

23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 

NIV

Jesus and his disciples are going to have a conversation about what he said here, but for now, we think we should have some conversation with ourselves. There has been some speculation that this eye of a needle Jesus mentioned was a typical gate in a certain city’s wall. This was described as the large gate which was open all day long for the trade traffic, which included camels burdened with loads of goods. It was surmised the gate would be closed at night except for a small door, just large enough for one man to pass through at a time, this was supposed to be the eye of the gate or the eye of a needle. But there is no proof is the truth, but rather this phrase was a proverb in the old Jewish Talmud which indicated something that was impossible. This will bear out in the following conversation between Jesus and his disciples when he finished their talk by making the statement that with God nothing is impossible. However, we should consider this metaphor as to how Jesus meant it. The point Jesus was making is that when a man has wealth, and we first should ponder what he meant by a rich man, or someone with wealth, that is not poor. This is a relative word, especially in our time and culture. There is no question we have many poor among us. We merely need to take a drive through the city to see the homeless, some begging for money along the road. However, even among us who have homes, some are wealthier than others. We would certainly say those like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Tiger woods, or any professional sportsperson have far beyond more wealth than us, in fact in comparison, we would be the poor people. However, to that homeless man or woman begging by the road or sleeping in a cardboard shack, we who have a home, two or more cars, a job, or some form of retirement income, are indeed the wealthy. But what Jesus was talking about has no bearing on the amount or the lack of wealth a person has. His point is that when we put our trust in what we have, no matter how much that is, it does speak to those who do have, not those who have nothing. When we pay so much attention to the making and storing up of wealth for ourselves, putting our trust in our ability to provide for today and the many tomorrows to come, it is difficult to truly put our trust in the Lord to provide our daily bread, in fact, Jesus says it is impossible. Once again, this daily bread is not actually bread, but Jesus who is the bread of life. Wealth can inhibit our faith in Jesus. It is not to say a person of wealth cannot enter the kingdom of God, for everything is possible with God. Jesus is simply making the point that wealth can be an idol and that restricts faith in Jesus, or it causes a divided heart as in, trying to serve two masters, and that is impossible.