Thrown Down

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

THROWN DOWN

 

Matt 24:1-2

24:1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." 

NIV

We know, without question, because we look at this in hindsight as well as we have the complete truth as explained by Jesus. He was looking at the temple of God, the second rebuilt temple which was not as glorious as the temple Solomon built. Nevertheless, he also was speaking prophetically about the temple itself, as it was destroyed, and laid bare in AD 70 by the Romans. However, he was also speaking at another time about destroying the temple and he would rebuild it in three days, which he was referring to his body. Still, here he speaks of what is to become of the temple of God. This speaks volumes to the Jews, in the sense that Jesus was to replace the temple, the whole of the system of sacrifice that took place at the temple. Because we have Jesus, we have no need for the temple, and this should speak to us regarding the value that we place on our church building. It might be possible that we put too much concern about our buildings and not enough concern about our spirits. We spend enormous amounts of money on the upkeep of our buildings and maybe we forget to spend enough time on the upkeep of our spirits. True, God required the Israelites to build a tabernacle while they wandered in the wilderness, and he instructed David to store up many precious metals so Solomon could build a temple suitable for the Lord God to dwell among his people. But we now are the temple of the Holy Spirit, we are the ones who God dwells among and within. So then should we not pay attention to this temple, and the upkeep of it, not so much in the physical sense, as in diets and fades, and exercise to ensure the body is in good form. This is not always possible as the aging process will soon begin to erode any of those efforts. However, the spirit does not age, but it can slowly erode if it is not exercised through faith in Jesus. This is the temple that will not be torn down leaving no stone upon another. Again, we cannot get diverted by giving too much attention to the building we use to gather in. True; we should not allow it to crumble around us, but we have seen too many places adorned past the needed amount. Then we are left with this temple of the Holy Spirit and doing our best to not allow it to be thrown down by the ways of the world.

Blessed is He Who Comes in the Name of the Lord

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

               BLESSED IS HE

Matt 23:37-39

37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'" 

NIV

These are prophetic words of Jesus that will come to pass at some point in time. Paul makes it clear in his letter to the Romans, that all of Israel will be saved. Some day the Jews will say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”. Of course, Jesus is also quoting psalm 118, so he combines words that have happened or were prophesied in the past with his prophecy of what will happen in the future. It seems hard to believe that all of Israel will be saved, but then again, nothing is impossible with God. They are his chosen people; however, we Gentiles are also chosen to have heard the gospel, and all who confess with their mouths and believe in their hearts that Jesus was raised from the dead, will be saved. It is also interesting that Paul makes the point the circumcision of the flesh does not make a person a Jew, but it is those who have circumcised their heart that makes a person a Jew. In the days of Israel being the chosen of God, the sign of being Israel, was circumcision, as Gentiles were not circumcised. Although in those days it was a spiritual ritual done on the eighth day of an infant boy's life, today it seems more of a general practice done within the first several hours of a boy's life, and it seems this is done more as a health issue, than any other. Of course, for whatever reason, there are still those who are not circumcised. Nevertheless, none of that determines who is Israel. Again, Paul makes it clear that those who circumcise their hearts are true Israel. Without becoming too graphic, circumcision exposes the most sensitive part of the male body, and this same truth is aimed at our hearts. We expose the most sensitive member of our body, our heart, and allow Jesus to cut away whatever hides or hinders our heart from the truth, from him. So then, is it possible that when that whoever says, “Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord” is the one who also says that they confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that He was raised from the dead, are those who are true Israel, and they are the only ones who will be saved. Therefore, all of Israel will be saved, for all who are saved, all who have circumcised their heart, are Israel. Yes, old Jerusalem killed the prophets and did indeed kill Jesus. Although it is true that soon after Jesus was crucified, buried and raised from the dead and later ascended back into heaven, that the temple was destroyed, as he will say next, a day is also coming when there will be a new Jerusalem that will come down out of heaven on a new earth and we who have circumcised our hearts will live forever with our Lord there, always praising him and enjoying the blessings of God. No one else will be saved but only those who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. If Israel is meant by the nation of Israel, then they will have to change their ways, and have their hearts circumcised before God. In the meantime, we, Gentiles have become Israel. 

Tread Carefully

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

TREAD CAREFULLY

Matt 23:33-36

33 "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, nwhom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation.

NIV

Here is where we need to tread very carefully. This is the strongest language we have heard from Jesus toward those teachers of the law and the Pharisees. It is without question that Jesus knew their hearts. It did not matter their appearance of righteousness and piety for inward, within their inner man, or as some would say, their hearts, lay evil filled with deceit. They had evil intentions toward Jesus, and he knew they would continue to have that evil within toward those Jesus would send with the gospel message. We know that Stephen was stoned, and James was crucified as were many others who spread the gospel. Many were martyred by the Jews, persecuted by them, as we know how Saul was so blatant in his efforts to exterminate the followers of Jesus, until, of course, he was met by Jesus and converted and had his name changed to Paul and became one of the most powerful messengers of the gospel. However, Jesus knew their evil hearts, and condemned them to hell. He passed judgment on them right there and then. We, however, have no such authority and that is why we must tread so carefully amount both the people in the community of faith and the people of the world. We have been given a command to love both our neighbor and our enemy if we can call the people of the world an enemy. If they are not followers of Jesus then they are enemies of God, although he loves them the same as he loves those who have accepted his Son. Nevertheless, it is not up to us to judge any man, for that matter, not even ourselves. All power, all authority, all judgment is reserved for Jesus and Him alone. In fact, there is but one way to escape the condemnation of hell, and that is through faith in Jesus. Unless a person is born again, they will not see the kingdom of heaven, but will experience the wrath of God and will be thrown into the lake of burning sulfur. Still, once again, we cannot know any of the future for all people, each must decide for themselves and change their heart, or their inner man from being bent toward evil to following Jesus. So, we walk through this life with care and concern for all people, wanting none to perish as we, ourselves, walk with Jesus being tender in heart, humbling ourselves before him. 

Remembrance

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

REMEMBRANCE

Matt 23:29-32

29 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!

NIV

It was not uncommon to decorate the tomb of someone in an effort to give them honor for the life they lived, for their character of righteous living. Jesus is condemning their actions in doing this because by their actions they are also saying that if they had lived during those times they would not have taken part in the shedding of the blood of the prophets, but in fact, that is exactly what they are going to do. This is what Jesus meant by telling them to fill up the measure of the sin of their forefathers. They were going to take part in the shedding of his blood, a prophet, yet more than a prophet, the Son of God, the prophet of all prophets. How does that, if it does, apply to us? We as a people certainly honor our forefathers in some ways. The more famous of them have statues built in their honor. Of course, in more modern times there has been turmoil in our nation with some folks thinking those memorials should be broken down and have done so to dishonor those forefathers, thus judging their lives as sinful and broken. They would want to rewrite the history of our nation, judging those of the past by their standards of today. Yet, in their acts of dishonoring those individuals by smashing their memorials, they have taken part in the same hatred and prejudices they judge those forefathers of. But do we take part in any way in that kind of thinking? Certainly, we do not want to dishonor our dead forefathers who belong to our lineage. It is interesting that we have always heard of the goodness of that person in the coffin at viewings or some would call a wake. It does not matter if that person was sinful, or even a Christ-follower, they were still a great person, deeply loved and appreciated by all. It simply would be bad taste to dishonor the dead by telling of their sin, yet by honoring their memory, do we take part in their ungodly behavior? Surely, those of faith, members of the community of faith should be honored for their lives, yet they did not live a sinless life either, nor do we. So, is it right to claim their godliness and honor them, a sinner saved by grace? Yes, for that is true and we face the truth about ourselves as well in doing so. However, it is still not up to us to judge the lives of any of those who have lived before us, that is reserved for God. Those who dishonor and destroy and those who honor and decorate those who died before us make those judgments based on man’s views and not on God’s view. It is right to remember those who lived before us, especially within our family, but let us not judge their lives, but simply acknowledge their part in our lives. Even those who have had statues built in their remembrance played some role in the formation of our way of life, whether through good or bad deeds, as judged now. However, the dead are still dead, and we who are still alive will also be remembered at some time in the future. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have been remembered as those who had Jesus killed, although in doing so they accomplished the will of God so that we would be reconciled to him and redeemed by the blood of Jesus. Still, the question remains, how will we be remembered? 

Dead or Alive

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

DEAD OR ALIVE

Matt 23:27-28

27 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

NIV

This woe isn’t much different than the last one which was about washing the outside of a cup, but the inside was dirty. The difference is between being filled with greed and self-indulgence and being nothing more than dead men’s bones and everything unclean, which Jesus defines as being full of hypocrisy and wickedness. We would find it hard to believe that within the community of faith, at least the one we are familiar with someone would appear righteous and not be a born-again believer in Jesus. That would be the difference between being alive inside or being full of dead men’s bones. However, again, it would be difficult to imagine that someone who attends church would be a hypocrite and full of wickedness. Yet, there must be the possibility that it could happen. Certainly, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees appeared, for all practical purposes, religious and pious individuals, trying to, or at least appearing to try to abide by the law. But these are the same individuals who were involved in the plotting to have Jesus killed. They had no such desire to know the truth as Nicodemus did, who was among their class. He found the truth to having life within through speaking with Jesus and being told that in order for a man to see the kingdom of God that he needed to be born again. This would be setting aside those dead bones or putting them in the grave and experiencing a rebirth of new bones within. We are told the old, those dead bones, are gone and all things are made new. We are a new creature in Christ. So then, if a person were born again, it would be impossible for them to be filled with hypocrisy and wickedness. There could be the possibility that some who attend church, who appears to be in the community of faith, are not born again, but merely religious people. Of course, that is not up to us to judge for, as Jesus says, we can only look at the outside of a person, while he looks at the heart. He is the judge whether someone has new bones, or still is filled with dead men’s bones. It was certainly that way for the people in the time of the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. The average Jew on the street or in the temple would see them as righteous and religious men, but Jesus saw their hearts and told them they were not what they appeared to be, but were filled with hypocrisy and wickedness, being dead inside because they refuse the life he offered. How grateful we have that life within, although we have not yet attained perfection, but we do strain toward the mark, the goal of our faith, the finish line, to enter the kingdom of heaven. Thank you Jesus for giving us life, and new bones, because we have been born again. 

Clean and Clean

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

CLEAN AND CLEAN

Matt 23:25-26

25 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

NIV

We all want our homes to look good and clean when we have guests stop by. It is important to have a nice-looking home because it gives a good impression. This is the same with our personal appearance. We want to look good, have good clean clothes and even perhaps something that is a bit fashionable, or at least not frumpy looking. We certainly would not go out with messy hair. Our appearance is our first impression when we meet someone for the first time. We have known attractive people, especially women who when they speak reveal their ugliness. The scripture is clear that as we think in our hearts, so we are. Jesus also taught that it is not what goes into our body that defiles it or makes it unclean, but it is what comes out, or want we speak, for our words are what is in our heart, or mind, the inner man. This is what Jesus is telling the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. They pay so much attention to the outside, their appearance, so as to impress others, but inside, their inner man is not right with God. Greed is vile as well as self-indulgence, giving in to their own desires gives way to all sorts of inner problems. It is not good enough to look good, we must give attention to our inner person, knowing that we have areas in our lives that fall short of the glory of God. We know we have sin within, and it bothers us that at times we simply give in to that temptation. We cannot hide it from God, and we should not try to deceive ourselves by thinking we have no sin. That would be like the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. Although it is true, we do not want to sin or do those things we do not want to do, and we fail to do those things we want to do, much as Paul admits. But the fact is we know what the inside looks like, and we still want the outside to look clean. Maybe we do not admit the precise temptations that give us the most problem, but the fact is we do have to admit that we struggle with the inner man and the temptations that face us. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and call God a liar for we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. None of us are goody two shoes, and we should not give that appearance or impression. The only way we are clean is through the righteousness of Christ. He has cleansed us with his blood. As long as we are in Christ and He is in us, even though those times we fall short, God sees us as clean. He has declared us holy and blameless in his sight because of the blood of Jesus. Let us do our best, with the help of the Spirit to live in a manner that reflects that truth, clean and clean.

                                                                                                                                       

Gnats and Camels

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

GNATS AND CAMELS

 

Matt 23:23-24

23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices — mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law — justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

NIV

Let us begin at the ending and then we will see the truth of the whole of this woe. To strain out a gnat and eat a camel is a common proverb the Jews would be familiar with, although it appears it is not a proverb of Solomon. Nevertheless, we must first determine the idea of the gnat. It is a very small water-borne creature. A person who would be very particular about his drink would want to strain out those almost microscopic gnats. Jesus was telling them they were paying such detail to the minute aspects of the law but overlooked the main points. Here is that lesson we should take to heart. It could be possible for us to spend a great deal of our attention trying to live righteously by abiding by all the rules and regulations of the law, or we might say the commands of God. This could get misinterpreted as appearing as though we are overly focused on doing “Good deeds” and forget about mercy, compassion, kindness, gentleness, and faithfulness which are wrapped up in loving God with all our being and loving our neighbor as ourselves. This is not to say we should not do good in our lives. If we want the “Good deeds” then we need to define just what do they entail. How do we define what makes those deeds good and what are the deeds that are good? But again, should we not be more concerned with the matter of our heart or the attitude of our mind or thoughts toward others that cannot be seen as a deed. Solomon voiced a proverb that implies that as we think in our hearts, that is who we truly are. it is the attitude of our mind, the thoughts of our inner man, who determine how we live within the community of faith as well as out in the world. We can do all the “Good deeds” we think we know are good and be rude, ignore someone, or fail to forgive their mistakes and miss the whole meaning of walking with Jesus. We can do all the right things, but if we experience any form of envy, jealousy, bitterness, resentment, or judgmental attitudes we miss the point and are straining out the gnats but eating the camel.