Lessons From Judas Iscariot — Mt. 16:47-56;17:1-5

The final verses of Matthew 26 and the beginning of Matthew 27, Scripture tells us of the final hours in the life of Judas Iscariot, the man who had thought that money was all that mattered.

I believe there is a consensus that what Judas Iscariot did was very wrong:

— Turning over an innocent man for money is dishonorable…

— And when you add to this that the Man had been a close friend and companion for three years, a perfect friend Who had never acted in any way aside from being loving, caring, kind and good; this makes the act all the more contemptible…

— And when you add to this that the Man was the Son of God Who had come with the remedy for all the people of the world, people doomed to sin, despair and death; the idea that anyone would exchange Jesus Christ for mere petty cash is reprehensible.

If there is a line between ordinary human failing and sin, and extraordinary evil, surely Judas Iscariot crossed that line… And when Matthew tells us that Judas ended up hanging himself, doesn’t this give us more closure than a different ending might have?  Don’t we all say to ourselves, “That’s right.  You can’t do that and get away with it…”

But is “Don’t cross the line,” really a scriptural message or the intention of these passages?

What is it that God would want for us to learn from Judas Iscariot?

*******

(Verses from Matthew 26 and 27, in the NIV, can be read online at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2026&version=NIV and https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2027&version=NIV, respectively.)

1)  (V. 24)  During the Last Supper, Jesus revealed that He would be betrayed – this was not a surprise to Him – but He warned the traitor that no one sells out to evil and godlessness except at great harm to himself:

“²⁴ The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

— Judas, hearing but not heeding Jesus’ words, slipped out of the room to put his plan into action.

— Perhaps, since the moment when Jesus had been anointed with a year’s wages’ worth of perfume, Judas had become more and more fixated on money, and how good it felt to have money and the more the better!

— Apparently, compared to the teachings of Jesus and His miracles, which Judas didn’t much care about, thirty pieces of silver had some real value…

— So, at this time Judas actualized evil, an evil which at one time must have seemed a most far-fetched and improbable fancy.

2) (Vv. 47-50)  As Jesus prayed in the garden, Judas and the enemies of Jesus arrived:

“⁴⁷ While He was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. ⁴⁸ Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: ‘The one I kiss is the man; arrest Him.’ ⁴⁹ Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ and kissed Him.

⁵⁰ Jesus replied, ‘Do what you came for, friend.’  Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested Him.”

The account in Luke 22 adds a question: “ ⁴⁷ … Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, ⁴⁸ but Jesus asked him, ’Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?’”

— Judas addresses Jesus as “Rabbi”, offers his greeting, goes up and kisses Him.

— And Jesus addresses Judas as “friend” and tells him to do what he came for …But then Jesus questions why Judas had to stoop so low as to feign friendship as he carried out this despicable deed.

— Did Judas really think he was going to fool Jesus or anyone else by approaching Jesus in a seemingly friendly way… while accompanied by a mob of armed thugs?

— This act seems to define who Judas is and what he “came for”.  In Jesus’ world, many did not believe, and some made no effort to conceal their hostility and dislike.  But only one person was brazen enough to come up with a concrete plan and take decisive action; only one had “come to earth” to do this deed.

3)  Matthew gives us the concise description of the end result – Jesus being led away by the guards — but he was not among those immediately with Jesus as He prayed.   John, however, was right there, and he gives a more detailed account:  no one overpowered Jesus; He went willingly:

John 18: 3-8 tells us,

“³ … Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

⁴ Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to Him, went out and asked them, ‘Who is it you want?’

⁵ ‘Jesus of Nazareth,’ they replied.

‘I am He,’ Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) ⁶ When Jesus said, ‘I am He,’ they drew back and fell to the ground.

⁷ Again He asked them, ‘Who is it you want?’

‘Jesus of Nazareth,’ they said.

⁸ Jesus answered, ‘I told you that I am He. If you are looking for Me, then let these men go.”

— Apparently, even after Judas had approached Jesus and kissed Him, there was some hesitation among the guards.

— Jesus asks them, not what they want, but Who they want.  They respond “Jesus of Nazareth”.

–… And when Jesus responds, “I am He,” they involuntarily cringe back and fall to the ground.

— This happens twice.  They succeed in taking Jesus only when He commands them to
let the others go.

— The fact that Jesus went willingly seems to imply an interesting thing… The actions of Judas Iscariot were completely immaterial!  The guards didn’t coerce Jesus… And the man who brought the guards did not cause Jesus to be captured or any of the other events which happened after that.

4)  (Vv. 51-56) Jesus reiterates this as Peter (according to John’s account), takes out his sword and springs into action,

“⁵¹ With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for His sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.

⁵² ‘Put your sword back in its place,’ Jesus said to him, ‘for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. ⁵³ Do you think I cannot call on My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels? ⁵⁴ But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?’”

John 18:11 adds that Jesus also reminded Peter, “¹¹ … ‘Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given Me?’”

— Jesus had already shown that this armed group could not even approach Him unless He permitted it.  Twice, they had fallen to the ground as He uttered the words, “I am He.”

— But apparently, as He stepped forward to go with them, Peter felt like this was a matter of human force, and that it was up to him to do something, so he grabs his sword and takes a wild swing, cutting off the ear of the servant of the high priest.

— Jesus, the Great Healer even as He is going to His death, puts the severed ear back on the servant’s head, completely restoring it.

— And then He calmly tells His disciples, God has legions of angels which He can summon anytime He desires!  Neither He nor we are not at the mercy of the forces in this world!

— But it is important to know that whatever methods we deploy against others in this world are the methods we will find being used against us.  The just and impartial God of this universe does not allow unequal advantage to exist for long!

— God is the sovereign Ruler of all reality and it is His will which “be done on earth as it is in heaven”.  We do not need to use force to protect ourselves or attain anything else we desire in life!

— Hebrews 4:3 reminds us that “…(God’s) works have been finished since the day of creation.”  Anything we might do, and any way we might respond to circumstances cannot alter what God has already determined as His good and perfect plan for all reality.

— So, to honor God is to willingly submit to His plans without feeling like up to us to wrest our destiny from life in our own strength.  Jesus reminds Peter of the correct response, living as subjects of God’s kingdom:  “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given to Me?”

4)  (Vv. 55-56)  Jesus was guilty of doing nothing evil.  He reminds the crowd that He has nothing to hide; it was they who wanted keep their deeds hidden from the public eye:

“⁵⁵ In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, ‘Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture Me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest Me. ⁵⁶ But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.’ Then all the disciples deserted Him and fled.”

— Again, it was not necessary for anyone to use force against Jesus – force is useless against the power of God!

— It was not even necessary for Judas to use treachery against Jesus – Jesus had never been fooled and knew exactly what Judas was up to all the time!

— But this was the way God had determined that His Son would die on this earth to rescue humanity from our lostness and sin.  The suffering of an innocent Savior had been a theme throughout the prophets, and Jesus acknowledged and accepted God’s plan.

—  Jesus had peace as He faced death, but His human disciples, still weak in faith as all humans are apart from God’s help, fled.

5)  (Mt. 27:1-2)  The religious authorities now had Jesus in their custody.  Having sidestepped the awkwardness of taking an innocent man in the public eye, they are now free to carry out “justice” with the authority our institutions are presumed to have:

“¹Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. ² So they bound Him, led Him away and handed Him over to Pilate the governor.”

— The religious authorities believed that it was better not to have Jesus or His teaching around…

— But although you can silence a person, you cannot silence truth – a truth which now included the facts that the authorities had rejected Jesus and were willing to execute Him unjustly.

6)  (Vv. 3-5)  Matthew alone tells us about how the story of Judas Iscariot ends:

“³ When Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. ⁴ ‘I have sinned,’ he said, ‘for I have betrayed innocent blood.’

‘What is that to us?’ they replied. ‘That’s your responsibility.’

⁵ So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.”

— God alone can forgive sin – the Pharisees themselves knew this, as we see when Jesus forgave the sins of the paralyzed man before healing him. (See Mt. 9:1-8)

— Here, at this rather advanced stage, Judas acknowledges that he has sinned.

— But when he goes to confess at the temple, the priests there offer him no remedy.

— Apparently, they didn’t state even the obvious doctrine that offering a sin sacrifice was God’s provision for the people Israel when they had done wrong!

— These priests didn’t care about the misery of a guilty man – and they didn’t care that Jesus was in their hands due to a miscarriage of justice.

— They didn’t acknowledge that God is sovereign, and that all in reality must answer to Him. 

— They certainly didn’t tell Judas that God  is the Creator of every person and every destiny.  While Jesus could acknowledge that His cup came from the hand of a good and holy God and drink it in peace; Judas had no such assurance regarding his destiny.

— To Judas’ guilt, the priests, supposedly spokesmen for God, said, “That’s your responsibility.” But in all honesty, how could these temple priests not understand that they too would have to answer for shedding innocent blood?

— Judas threw the money back in the temple – showing utter contempt for the temple and the money – then he went out and demonstrated utter contempt for the person he had become, and ended his life.

Discussion:

As we consider Judas Iscariot, we need to remember that God did not strike him dead; Judas died at his own hand.  According to his own worldview, Judas had sinned; he had betrayed innocent blood (Mt. 27:4).

…And according to the temple priests, what Judas had done with his life, the person he had become, the sinful things he had done, the harm to others — was his own responsibility.

While there are some who may claim to like being that “black sheep”, the charming rogue and scoundrel; at the end, Judas — the archetype of the heedless, the heartless, the amoral — confesses truth:  this is not really what he wanted to be.

It was “his responsibility” – but there was nothing he could do to change the state he was in – or even alter a single circumstance.  The money, which had been the focus, the driving force, the god of his life, was powerless to soothe his sickened spirit.

If ever there were a man on this planet who needed a Savior, it was Judas Iscariot.  But the only Savior Who had ever given hope of a God Who could transcend impossible circumstances was now in the hands of those who were beating Him and abusing Him with impunity, and would continue to do so until He was dead…

Without God and without hope, Judas could not live with himself.  He died before knowing that Jesus, demonstrating God’s transcendent power, would rise from the grave!

Dear Readers, nothing in our lives is a greater challenge to God than bringing Jesus back to life!  Judas had no hope.  He knew there was nothing he could about the terrible and sinful things he had done.  But the promises of Jesus Christ, our living Savior, stand open to everyone today!

We have these words of Jesus Himself, as penned by two disciples who believed a risen Savior:

*  “Come unto Me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” – Mt. 11:28

* “For My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” – John 6:40

Jesus is alive and His promises are alive!

Praise God that nothing is too hard for Him!  Any person, any circumstances, any life, can be given to the God Who is able to save!  Jesus invites everyone to look to Him!

*******

Until next post,

Peace,

“Vires ad novem die – strength for a new day

*******

Everyman in the Garden of Prayer — Matthew 26:31-44

Matthew is painfully honest as he describes the last days of Jesus’ physical life on earth:  the disciples – “everyman” in the account – have done little to distinguish themselves despite having heard all of Jesus’ teaching, witnessed His miracles and lived with Him, recipients of His kindness and grace, around the clock.

If any of this could save a person from ordinary, self-centered, self-interested life, these men would have been saved!  But we see no such transformation.  They continue in the pattern of everyman:

— When Jesus condemns a God-denying temple, their response isn’t to ask how this could be prevented, or why?  They do not express dismay or grief or surprise that what was supposed to be worship of the true God would be coming to an end, only a morbid curiosity:  When is this going to happen?

— When discussing the end of the age, the response is not sadness for the mayhem and destruction which would befall the planet – the end of the world — but asking how they could make sure they were safe.  And Jesus answers this question with a set of parables sternly warning against hypocrisy.

— When a woman gives Jesus an extravagant gift of perfume, a gift given from a heart overflowing with love and gratitude, everyman’s response was to gripe about “the waste”, and comment that the money could have been put to better use.

— …And when Jesus says this anointing was for His burial – His death, which He had told them would occur that very week, the response was not to grieve over the Friend and Teacher they would soon be losing in a very cruel and wicked way, but to go on with “business as usual.”

— Everyman had taken no initiative about celebrating the Passover or even trying to make this last week special for Jesus.

It is no wonder that all-knowing God – and His Son Jesus – realized that Jesus spending more time on earth with these disciples was not going to accomplish much of anything.  I’m sure it was with a sense of resignation that Jesus broke the bread and offered the cup.  One day, the disciples, like Him, would experience the kingdom of God, acknowledging and obeying God as the sovereign Ruler of all – but this would not happen apart from Jesus giving His life.

Today, we look at everyman in the garden of prayer.

*******

 (Matthew 26:31-44 from the NIV can be viewed online at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+26&version=NIV)

(Vv. 31-32)  Jesus was not disappointed or taken by surprise by any of the events which would follow.   He had known what would happen all along, but now it was important for His disciples to know what was coming, that these incomprehensible acts were part of God’s sovereign plan; so just before a world turns upon its Messiah, and His disciples turn away, Jesus forewarns them:

“³¹ Then Jesus told them, ‘This very night you will all fall away on account of Me, for it is written:

“I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.”’

³² But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.’”

— The disciples, as we all do – liked to see themselves as good people, brave people, loyal people…

—  But our Creator knows that, apart from Him, we seek our own self-interest. We don’t have the ability to live up to our own ideals.

— Jesus quotes the prophet Zechariah.  In the brief thirteenth chapter of his book, the prophet states that God will call the sword against His own people, how most will perish, but a third will survive to face more hardship.  But Zechariah explains that this hardship is the means to refining their faith and purifying their lives.

—  So what was the spiritual state of the disciples at this point?  Obviously, Judas Iscariot was no believer in Jesus nor respecter of God – but what we can say of the others is that they certainly did need some purifying and clarifying of their own understanding and faith.

— Foretelling the events of the near future, Jesus states that His disciples will fail; they will all fall away, but He will rise (from the grave) and go ahead of them to Galilee.

2)  (Vv. 33-35) Peter speaks for us all, and how desperately we want to be better than we really are:

“³³ Peter replied, ‘Even if all fall away on account of You, I never will.’

³⁴ ‘Truly I tell you,’ Jesus answered, ‘this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.’

³⁵ But Peter declared, ‘Even if I have to die with You, I will never disown You.’ And all the other disciples said the same.”

— Peter makes three declarations – that he will not fall away, he will not do as others do, he will not disown Jesus – even if he has to die.

— But Jesus, patiently and gently, tells him the truth about himself:  Peter, a mere human man, doesn’t have that kind of strength or faith – before the night is done, he will deny Jesus (at least) three times.  (I say “at least” because when you look at all the gospel accounts, they each give some examples of Peter’s denials in various settings – but not the same examples…)

— Peter was the spokesman, but all the other disciples shared in his sentiment, the wish to perceive themselves as good and honorable human beings, worthy disciples and friends.

3)  (Vv. 36-39)  Jesus takes His disciples to the garden, where He would prepare Himself for the very hard road ahead:

“³⁶ Then Jesus went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and He said to them, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ ³⁷ He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with Him, and He began to be sorrowful and troubled. ³⁸ Then He said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.’

³⁹ Going a little farther, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.’”

— Jesus needed to be undistracted as He went to His Father in prayer.

— …But He did take the three disciples closest to Him.  Being a human person, Jesus had feelings like any of us, and He wanted someone “with Him” as He faced this terrible ordeal.

— These three disciples will bear witness of Jesus’ prayers and His demeanor while under stress.

— He was overwhelmed with sorrow.  Undoubtedly, He knew He would die, and that the death would be the cruelest and most painful death possible…

— He knew that He would be abandoned and rejected by all – one hundred percent – all people who were friends, people who were family, people who had listened to Him teach, people whom He had healed, religious experts, the government of the land.

— But also, He must have known – and grieved — that the people of the world had ignored the life-giving truth of the kingdom, the sovereignty and love of God, and that they were going to suffer great guilt and misery themselves.

— He pled with God for the cup to be removed…

— But He acknowledged God’s authority, accepting God’s will, not His human desires, as the ultimate good.

4)  (Vv. 40-41)  Matthew, in humility, is reporting what, in humility, had been reported to him:  the disciples Jesus had taken with Him during this time of crisis had fallen asleep!

“⁴⁰ Then He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Couldn’t you men keep watch with Me for one hour?” He asked Peter. ⁴¹ ‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’”

— There really is no way to put a good face on this!  Jesus scolds the disciples for not being able to stay awake with Him for one hour!

— And He warns Peter to pray for himself.  Jesus, of all people, knew Peter’s desire to do right, to be that hero… and of everyone’s inability to be the sort of people we desire to be.

— All we can say about this moment of great crisis is that the disciples simply weren’t concerned about it.  As it is with all we who are human and self-centered, the problems of others do not matter to us nearly as much as our own!

5)  (Vv. 42-44) Again, Jesus returned to prayer:

“ ⁴² He went away a second time and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may Your will be done.’”

⁴³ When He came back, He again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴ So He left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.”

— Jesus continues to commit himself to accepting God’s will, even though He is in great anguish over all that will stem from this only possible cure for man’s sin.  Luke 22:43-4 tells us that” His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground” and that an angel came to minister to Him.

— But the disciples, not understanding, empathizing or sharing His anxiety in any way, again fall asleep.

6)  (Vv. 45-46)  Jesus does indeed return to prayer one more time:

“⁴⁵ Then He returned to the disciples and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶ Rise! Let us go! Here comes My betrayer!’”

— The time for spiritual preparation had passed and the time for acting was at hand

Discussion:

Matthew wrote his gospel, the account of what at saved him from his former life of self-centered, aimless, empty godlessness.  We acknowledge that as the narrator of this account, he had every liberty of choosing which events to put in and which to leave out.

He could have simply told us about the sacrifice of the perfume, but nothing about the disciples’ criticism and resentment towards the woman who offered it.  He could have simply mentioned that Jesus had indicated that one of His disciples would betray him, and then gone directly into the description of how Judas and the temple guards interrupted Jesus in the garden while He was praying.

But Matthew goes into quite a bit of detail about the human responses of human “everyman” disciples… because the gospel which saves must include not only the goodness of God, but the desperate need all humans have of a God Who understands our weaknesses and failures, yet continues to love, to forgive, to save us from the censure we so richly deserve for what we have done as individuals and as societies.

As we consider the final hours of Jesus’ life, we must swallow our pride and acknowledge that, without God, human beings are not very good or very holy.  But praise the Savior Who lived among everyday people for thirty-three years, saw us for what we are, and responded with kindness, patience, love, forgiveness –  grace which is the only salvation for we who sin!

*******

Until next post,

Peace

Vires ad novem die – strength for a new day

*******

Jesus and His Fickle Friends — (Matthew 26:17-30)

Last post, we began examining Matthew 26, the point in the narrative after Jesus’ cautionary parables about hypocrisy.  As the following events reveal a lack of passion for Jesus, unconcern about the crucifixion He announced, and outright treachery and greed of one who posed as a friend, I understand Matthew to be revealing, in a spirit of repentance, that the disciples had not acted in a way that revealed true love.

As in the parable of the sheep and the goats, we do not see outright evil in these men (Judas excepted); simply a lack of passion:  they are dutiful, decent, but not determined or driven!

We continue with the account of the Last Supper, as Matthew tells us what he sees as the important facts about this last Passover before the Cross.

*******

(Matthew 26:17-30 from the NIV can be viewed online at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+26&version=NIV.)

1) (Vv. 17-19)  It is interesting that Matthew begins this account by describing how they came to celebrate the Passover in the place they did:

“¹⁷ On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Where do you want us to make preparations for You to eat the Passover?’   ¹⁸ He replied, ‘Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, “The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with My disciples at your house.”’  ¹⁹ So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.”

— The disciples asked Jesus what He planned to do about the Passover.  Can we take this to mean that no one close to the group had invited them to join them?

— Perhaps we can read some “goat behavior”  of Jesus’ world between the lines:  don’t we usually make sure our family members and friends are not celebrating holidays alone?

— But apparently the group had no plan, so Jesus took care of the need in a wonderful and miraculous way – He knew that there was a man, a “sheep”, in the city, who would be glad to let the Lord use anything he owned, indeed, to let anyone use what they needed, a righteous man who was looking for an opportunity to do good.

— According to Mark’s account, (Mk. 14:13-15), the disciples were to approach this man —  a man they didn’t know and who didn’t know them – and ask him to take them to “the room he had already furnished for them”.

— The message the disciples were to tell the man: “(Jesus is) going to celebrate the Passover with (His) disciples at your home,” seems a bit presumptuous; but the Son of God Who knows all things certainly knew that the man was very willing, and perhaps had even been hoping that Jesus would ask him!

— So the “sheep question” of the day:  do we actively look for ways to do good to others, or do we dutifully comply only when asked?

2)  (Vv. 20-25)  During this Last Supper He would eat with His disciples, Jesus tells them there is a goat in the room:

“²⁰ When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. ²¹ And while they were eating, He said, ‘Truly I tell you, one of you will betray Me.’

²² They were very sad and began to say to Him one after the other, ‘Surely You don’t mean me, Lord?’

²³ Jesus replied, ‘The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with Me will betray Me. ²⁴ The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.’

²⁵ Then Judas, the one who would betray Him, said, “Surely You don’t mean me, Rabbi?”

Jesus answered, ‘You have said so.’”

— It was important for the disciples – and us — to know that Jesus was not taken by surprise, so He reveals the event before it happens.

— It is interesting that the disciples were “very sad” then, but apparently not previously. … It seems to me that they should have already been “very sad” because:

* (V. 2)  It was Passover, “when the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified”.

* (V. 12)  The perfume lavished upon Him at Bethany had been “for (His) burial”.

* (V. 18)  “His appointed time was near.”

— I also think it interesting that “sad” was their response, rather than shocked or furious.  Were they all feeling that their “love” for their Friend and Teacher wasn’t what it might have been?  Each one asks, not “Who is it?”  but “Is it I?”.

— And, even though a goat was in their midst, and had been for a long time — one who had no great affection for Jesus and no enthusiasm for righteousness or for God our Heavenly Father —  no one had been able to tell the difference.

— We do note, however, that Matthew indicates a subtle change in the question, as asked by the eleven, and as asked by Judas:  The others say, “Surely You don’t mean me, Lord?”  but Judas says, “Surely You don’t mean me, Rabbi?”

— The NIV translation seems to make it very clear that Jesus has singled out Judas, first as the one who was dipping with Him in the bowl, and also by His affirmative answer when Judas asks the question: “You have said so.”

But apparently, even then, the disciples do not respond as if they understood what was going on.  It was only after the fact that they realized that Jesus had known all along.

— Jesus gives a very stern warning, and He gives it before Judas has been singled out:  “Woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man!  It would be better for him had he not been born.”

— What does it benefit anyone who has lived life, but never understood that there is a God Who has lovingly watched over them through every day and directed every circumstance?

— …We know that, after Jesus arose from the dead, the other disciples finally understood and believed.  From that point on, they were fearless witnesses.  But Judas died having rejected Jesus, discounting every miracle he had seen and all the teaching he had heard, every kindness he had been shown; he died rejecting the existence of a sovereign God Who loved him.

3)  (Vv. 26-30)  This is the last supper Jesus would share with His disciples.  I think we can assume that, had He continued working with the same people in the same way, nothing would have changed…  So in love, He did what was necessary to help these men, and all people, to finally understand and believe:  He gave His life.

“²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to His disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is My body.’

²⁷ Then He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸ This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹ I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.’

³⁰ When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”

— Whatever is eaten or drunk ceases to exist independently in the world – but does become a part of whoever consumes it.  Jesus indeed ceased to be a physical being in this world.  He was willing to give His life so people could know God and be forgiven for our sins.

— During Passover, a lamb was slain so people could live.

— God made a covenant with Moses: when people brought sacrifices in acknowledgement of their sins and shortcomings, God would accept this offering, rather than exercising justice, eliminating the one who has failed, disgracing the holy and perfect nature of the Creator.

— By accepting the death of an animal as a substitution, God frees the worshiper from the fear of punishment for wrongdoing.

— It was this covenant which Jesus reminded His disciples about:  God has declared that the wages of sin is death.  But God has also made a covenant with man, so that if a sacrifice is made, the sin can be punished, but the life of the sinner spared.

— The disciples did not comprehend what Jesus said then, but they would later, after His death and resurrection.

— It must have been a confused and somber group that sang a hymn and then went out to the Mount of Olives.

Reflection:

In Matthew 25: 31- 46 Jesus tells us about the sheep and the goats.

 There are only two types of person:  The sheep are blessed by God.  We receive God’s kingdom, designed and created just for us from the beginning of the world. In this kingdom, we do what is right – we are generous, kind, helpful and loving to all.

But the goats are cursed by God, separate from His presence, His love, His provision.  They live in the sort of misery crafted by a protective God as just punishment for the devil and his angels, who have dared to act against God’s beloved children.  Goats are not generous, kind or helpful.  They love themselves, not other people and certainly not God.

At the end of life, when all the evidence is in, each person will have to answer with honesty:  was there a God and did He show kindness, mercy, and care?  Or did He curse our lives? Did He provide?  Does He love people?  Does He forgive us when we have failed badly?  Does He forgive us even when we have even acted in outright malice?  Or are we on our own when we fail in a merciless world?

Jesus came, taught, lived with us, cared for us, died at our hands, and rose again… And He did this so we can know we are loved by God, and that He the Creator and the sovereign Ruler of all reality!

*******

Until next post,

Peace

Vires ad novem die – strength for a new day

*******

Tell-Tale Feelings — Matthew 26:1-16

As we read  the final chapters of Matthew’s gospel, Matthew, disciple of Jesus and narrator of this account, does not paint a very flattering picture of himself or his fellow disciples.  But I think we must acknowledge that the disciples are “everyman”, the representatives of ordinary people, who think our thoughts and play our role.

As Matthew writes this account, I sense his shame as he recounts the questions the disciples asked Jesus;  and embarrassment at the graceless way they had responded when a woman, filled with love for her Savior, lavished a year’s salary in worship and adoration.

So in Matthew 26, we see Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, as He coolly and calmly faces the last hours of His physical life, trusting fully in God His Father.  But this week also reveals what was in the heart of man, a shameful account Matthew which tells with honesty.

*******

( Scripture used is from the NIV, which can be read online at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+26&version=NIV.)

1)  (Vv. 1-5)  Matthew introduces the final days of Jesus’ physical life:

“When Jesus had finished saying all these things, He said to His disciples, ² ‘As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.’

³ Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, ⁴ and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. ⁵ ‘But not during the festival,’ they said, ‘or there may be a riot among the people’”

— As he recounts these events, Matthew states that Jesus was fully aware of what would happen, that He had told the disciples and they had understood: during Passover, He would be crucified.

— He also gives us some information which must have been revealed later: in the palace of the high priest, the chief priests and elders were plotting how to kill Jesus, and they had decided it would be better not to do it during the Passover…

— They were afraid this would cause unrest among the people.

2)  (Vv. 6-13)  The priests and elders were secretly scheming to crucify Jesus – but Jesus was talking freely about what would come:

“⁶ While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, ⁷ a woman came to Him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on His head as He was reclining at the table.

⁸ When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. ‘Why this waste?’ they asked. ⁹ ‘This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.’

¹⁰ Aware of this, Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to Me. ¹¹ The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have Me. ¹² When she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. ¹³ Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.’”

— The woman poured the perfume on Jesus as an act of love. Nothing is too expensive or too extravagant when love is being expressed!

— The disciples’ response, however, indicates a relationship which has become a little stale!  Had it been their habit to deny themselves material pleasures and to give money to the less fortunate?  (Interestingly, we don’t usually see Jesus giving money to the poor – usually He shows them compassion and heals them of whatever is causing their neediness.)

— We note, however, that the “knee-jerk reaction” of the disciples is to focus, not on how wonderful and compassionate Jesus is, and how very worthy of our love and worship; but on how wonderful and expensive the perfume was and how much money it could be sold for!

— Indeed, although the indignation of the disciples was directed towards the woman, it seems like the words would be equally hurtful to the One Who was being denounced as unworthy of sacrifice and love!

— Jesus defends the woman and again announces that this anointing was in preparation for His burial – and that indeed, He would not always be there with them.

3)  This exchange raises some questions:

* Did the disciples really understand that within little more than a day, Jesus would be dead?

* Had the disciples really understood what Jesus meant when He taught them that there is no way to prepare for “last days” except by living every minute according to our deepest beliefs?

* And most seriously of all, when we examine how the disciples felt about Jesus, and a woman giving Him a very expensive gift, how could anyone say this was an attitude stemming from love? This question is just as condemning for us as it is for the Twelve!  What do our daily actions and attitudes really say about our priorities?

4)  (Vv.14-16)  Perhaps there was one among the disciples who understood exactly what Jesus had  meant, and one who was willing to act on his beliefs:

“¹⁴ Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and asked, ‘What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him over to you?’  So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. ¹⁶ From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand Him over.”

— Perhaps, it was in this instant, when Jesus again announces His death and His burial… and the other disciples seem utterly unmoved, completely unfazed, that Judas realized that he didn’t really love Jesus much himself.

– …But he certainly cared about money.   John’s gospel tells us that Judas used to steal from the purse (Jn. 12:9), and in Mark’s gospel (Mark 14:5), we see that the perfume was worth “more than a year’s wages”.

— Perhaps, the minute the bottle had appeared, in Judas’ mind it was sold, the money in his pocket, along with every opportunity available to the vastly and stunningly rich; a beautiful vision dashed to pieces as the woman broke the bottle and poured out every drop.

In a moment of absolute clarity, Judas understood exactly what mattered to him – and what didn’t — and at the earliest opportunity, he slipped out to make a deal.

Concluding thoughts:  This is the gospel written by Matthew, but perhaps we can see it as an account of the salvation of Matthew.  The Matthew in the account is the one who eagerly questioned Jesus about the kingdom.  The Matthew in the account wanted to make sure that he was looking his best when “the last days” came – and this was the Matthew who heard Jesus’ convicting parables warning that life is not about “looking good” at one particular moment, but about acknowledging God and an living every moment in His presence.

The Matthew in the account was also the one who flinched when perfume worth tens of thousands of dollars was poured over Jesus’ head, but who didn’t flinch when Jesus announced –again – that He would be crucified and buried and that it would happen during this very Passover week!

But the Matthew who wrote this gospel has repented of it all.  The Matthew who wrote the gospel loved Jesus with all his heart, and perhaps even shed tears as he penned the account of the man he used to be, and how Jesus had died for this man, loved him and forgiven him for everything he did — and didn’t — do.

*******

Until next post,

Peace

Vires ad novem die – strength for a new day.

*******

Diagnosis: Goat Syndrome — Matthew 25:31-46

Today, in Matthew 25:31-44 we examine the final of Jesus’ parables recorded in the gospel of Matthew, the last of those challenging earthly stories given to urge the disciples to examine their lives carefully.

Jesus had left the temple, turning His back on the hypocritical Pharisees who had desecrated a holy God, portraying Him as the gullible God, a God Who could be taken in by mere appearances, tricked into bestowing some sort of benefit on those who didn’t truly worship or serve Him.

Jesus emphasized to His disciples that God knows the character of people, and is fully aware of how they think and act all the time.  No one can deceive God about what their true motives are – and to enter into God’s kingdom, to live in the peace of His sovereignty — we must not deceive ourselves either!

*******

 (All Scripture used is from the NIV, which can be read online at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25&version=NIV.)

1)  (V. 31)  The disciples had asked Jesus when He would come, and He had responded with a question of His own: why do they ask?  Why should it matter when? If they were to know a day or an hour, would it affect their behavior?  Should it?  

This scenario, a brief account of a shepherd’s ability to discern two different types of animal, is the concluding parable of His response:

“³¹ When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne.”

— First of all, we should consider when the Son of Man will come in His glory and when He will sit on His glorious throne.

— While we cannot know details of the future God has planned for us, one thing we can know for certain is that God Himself has always been seated upon the throne, orchestrating every event on this earth according to His good and perfect purpose.

— And since Jesus is the human image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15), I don’t think we should be expecting a change in administration or policy!  Our future and our present are equally in the hands of God Who rules with absolute power, holiness, justice, wisdom and love.

2)  (Vv. 32-33)  We acknowledge that God knows all. Being eternal, He knows everything past, everything present, everything future.  In a divine assessment of all in creation, God will not be examining mere isolated events, but rather the constant of character, that inner quality which determines how an individual responds to any situation.

“³² All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.”

— Every person from every nation must answer to our Creator for how we have lived.  Do not doubt that the expectation is, “Be holy as I am holy” (see 1 Peter 1:16).

— The shepherd of this parable knows his animals.  Some are sheep and some are goats, and He sorts them into their respective groups.  God likewise is able to discern different types of character.

— …And we might also notice that in this parable no animal becomes anything; each animal is what it is and the shepherd knows what it is and sorts it accordingly.

3) (Vv. 34-36)  The sheep are the righteous:

“³⁴ Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.’”

— These righteous “sheep” do right things:  they give to the hungry, thirsty and poor; they welcome the lonely and minister to the sick and imprisoned.

— While these are specific actions, we can transfer this attitude of kindness and helpfulness to any setting.

4)  (Vv. 37-40)  The righteous were surprised by this praise because they did not recall ever seeing their King in any of these circumstances:

“³⁷ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? ³⁹ When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.’”

— Additionally, it didn’t matter who needed help or kindness.  Those who have a kind and helpful character are helpful to even the humble, anonymous stranger.

— With a righteous person, their actions reflect who they are, not who the other person is!

— …But part of acknowledging God is acknowledging that every person in this world is created by Him and loved by Him.  We should treat the world with the reverence due its Creator.

5)  (Vv. 41-43)  Unfortunately, in this next section, we see that some people flunk the character test:

“⁴¹ Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.’

⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help You?’

⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’”

— We should note that these unrighteous ones were not condemned for actively harming anyone, but for not actively seeking their good.

— The laws of our land are generally designed to deter hurting, killing, stealing and lying – if one doesn’t do those things, the government is content… But this does not demonstrate true compassion or love.

— The righteous person actively shows kindness, trying to do good wherever they are, helping whoever needs help.  The unrighteous simply don’t have that attitude.

— Jesus has sobering words for the unrighteous:

* They are to depart, to be separate from Jesus.

* They are described as cursed.

* Their eternal state is to suffer in the tormenting fires prepared as punishment for an evil enemy who dares to plot harm against mankind, mankind created in God’s image and loved by Him.

Discussion:

— I find this a very sobering and convicting parable.

— Obviously, the point of the parable is not that we need to step up the legalistic effort!   God would certainly know whether our true motivation was to help the suffering… or to help ourselves!

— Nor is the point to make us feel hopeless and condemned about failing to meet God’s standard for righteousness. The point of the parable is that we need to understand the kingdom of God.

…So we will look at these verses in a different way:

1)  We begin by looking at the very beginning of this parable — and I am italicizing a few words:

“³¹ When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.”

— We must acknowledge that God is eternal. 

— God’s status as sovereign king does not change.

— And God’s knowledge of people is perfect.  While we may be deceived about the true nature of some people, and even our own character, God, Who knows the end from the beginning, has never been ignorant about any of it, not for a moment.

— Therefore, we should consider that since what God is assessing has been eternally known to Him, there is not a chronology of cause and effect, merely an association of certain facts about different sorts of people.  We could call this association a syndrome.

2)  We begin by looking at the sheep syndrome, facts about those in right relationship with Creator God.

— We are blessed by God the Father (v. 34).

— We inherit God’s kingdom, lovingly prepared for us with our greatest good in mind (v. 34).  We will be victorious.

— …And this plan has been in effect since the creation of the world (v. 34).

— We have eternal life (v. 46)

— We are in God’s presence, at His right hand (v. 33).

— In this world, we live in peace and joy, and we are kind, generous and helpful to everyone (vv. 35-36)

3)  And now, the goat syndrome, facts about those who are not in right relationship with Creator God:

— They are cursed (v. 41), (but note, it doesn’t say by whom…)

— They experience eternal fire, participating in a punishment prepared for the devil and his angels, the tormenters of those God loves (v. 41).

— They have no expectation of eternal life, but will go away to eternal punishment (v. 46).

— They depart from God’s presence (v. 41).  They are separated from God’s goodness and His power.

— In this world, the unrighteous fend for themselves. They are not kind, generous or helpful – unless it seems to benefit them. (vv. 41-44 – I see the question in v. 44 as an admission that they may have helped a king who had power to help them in return.)

Conclusion:

The features of each syndrome go together.  What a person believes about their present, their future and their Creator cannot help but affect how they live day to day. Likewise, how we live day to day expresses and exposes the belief we have about our God and our future.

Jesus came so we could know truth; the truth that God is in charge, that He loves us, that He has paid the penalty for every sin; the truth that He lovingly cares for every detail of our lives.  This parable is Jesus’ challenge to His disciples and to us to carefully evaluate whether we are actually living in truth. Do we are live in the faith and confidence that God is in charge, or do we think and live like those who have no hope?

Jesus promises that “…Whoever comes to Me I will never drive away.” (Jn. 6:37).  He invites anyone languishing in the faithless, joyless, hopeless life caused by “goat syndrome” to come to Him for relief!

*******

Until next post,

Peace

Vires ad novum die – strength for a new day.

*******

Is “Enough” Enough? — Matthew 25:14-30

Last post, we examined the parable of the Bags of Gold, or as it is commonly known, the parable of the Talents. Before exploring the final portion of Matthew 25, we are going to take one final look at this parable.

*******

(Scripture quoted is from the NIV, and can be read online at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25&version=NIV.)

In this parable, the master gives three servants, proportionate to their ability, three different amounts of gold to manage.  One receives five bags, one receives two and the final servant is given one bag.

The first two servants each went right to work and doubled their gold, but the third servant went and buried his in the ground.

When the master returned, he praised the first two servants, inviting them to share his pleasure in them, and promises them more opportunity in the future…

But the third servant is severely chastised.  Not only is the bag of gold taken away from him, he is expelled from the household, condemned as wicked and lazy.  The master cries, “Throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!”

I imagine that those listening may have been surprised by the master’s vehement response.  After all, the servant didn’t lose the money, spend it himself or run away…  As I noted last post, this response seems to contain much more emotion, passion than the circumstances of the story seem to call for, emotion and passion obviously felt by Jesus, the teller.  So it behooves us to make sure we understand just what it is that Jesus feels so passionate about.

So we will revisit the portions of the parable regarding this servant.

1)  (Vv. 14-15)  Jesus gives the scenario:

“¹⁴ Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.”

— From v. 14, we see that the man entrusted his wealth to his servants.  At the heart of this verb is the word trust.  He trusted them to act on his behalf.

— We can do the math – 5 + 2 + 1 – and know that the man gave 8 bags of gold to his servants.  But Jesus doesn’t start by mentioning this specific quantity; He describes what was given to the servants as “the man’s wealth”, meaning all of it.

— In v. 15, we also notice that the servants were given different amounts based on their ability.  From this, we can see that apparently all three were seen as proficient to some degree… but the third servant had accomplished much less than the other two.  He achieved only half as much as one of his colleagues and a fifth as much as the other.

If we take Jesus’ words about this “performance review” at face value, the first servant was outstanding, the second was good, but the third – let’s just say, he was not an impressive individual!  So a question to consider is why he was even on the payroll.

2)  (Vv. 16-17)  Next we look at how the servants respond:

“ ¹⁶ The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. ¹⁷ So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. ¹⁸ But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.”

— The first two quickly go about managing and deploying the wealth that had been entrusted to them, and each doubled his money.

— We don’t know how long the master was away, but we do know that being successful in business requires diligence and persistence.  Doubling one’s money doesn’t happen in a single day, but over a period of years.

— And it requires involvement and active participation, paying attention to how the business is doing, making adjustments when things aren’t working.  These are the tasks which must have occupied the first two servants during the time the master was away.

— But the third servant didn’t try to do anything with the gold except to make sure that nothing happened to it, making sure that when his master comes back, it would still be there.

— This is a rather defensive attitude – the servant seems concerned only about not getting in trouble, not doing anything bad.  Apparently he figured so long as he didn’t actually lose any of the money, all would be fine.

— A question we might then ask is, after spending a half hour or so digging a hole and burying the money, what did this servant do for the years his master was away, all those years the other servants were working hard, doubling their money?

— We figure that, whatever this servant may have done with his time, it had nothing to do with his master. 

3)  (Vv. 24-25)  The third servant watches as the others bring their money, doubled, to the master.  He watches how the master praises them. He watches, feeling increasingly uneasy about his single, pathetic, dirt-covered sack.

Perhaps, he had been hoping the others would simply give back what they themselves had been given. And maybe he had even assumed that they had intended to keep the profit for themselves!

At any rate, he doesn’t simply give the money back – he figures he needs to explain, to make an excuse for why he is giving back only what he had been given:

“²⁴ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’”

— First, we observe that the very act of giving an excuse is a de facto admission of guilt, of having fallen short.

— Then, this servant calls his master a “hard man”.  Is this really true?  According to the introduction of the parable, each servant was given an amount of gold commensurate to his ability.  But given that this master had servants of all different levels of ability and kept them all on, that he had retained the one uttering this excuse even though the others were much better, is he really a “hard man”?

— Given that this master had demonstrated a great deal of patience and mercy, is being “afraid” really a valid response?

— By returning the sack of gold, this servant seems to think that he is “in the clear”, that he owes nothing further to his master: “See, here is what belongs to you.”

— But given that this master had patiently tolerated this man’s subpar performance year after year, don’t you think at the very least, some gratitude is due him?

4)  (Vv. 26-27)  The master was infuriated – and I don’t think it was just about the money!

“²⁶ His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.”

— First of all, he corrects the statement that “what belonged to him” was the same amount of money he had entrusted to the servant years earlier.  Banks, then and now, pay interest because with the use of money, one can make more money.  At the very least, this servant owed what the master would have gotten by putting the money in the bank.

—  Next, as a servant of the master and a trustee of his wealth, it was his the moral obligation to look after his master’s best interests.  There is no way anyone would say that this man’s actions reflected this.

— And finally, as we noted earlier, if this servant had received grace and mercy from this master repeatedly through the years, this careless treatment of the master’s wealth reflects not love or loyalty, but complete indifference and ingratitude.

— I labeled this account of fearful defensiveness and appalling irresponsibility an excuse… And since this is a fictitious scenario, we don’t know what the “reality” behind any of the actions might have been…

But what if this excuse had actually been a lie?  The way the master phrases the question:  “If you knew, then you should have…” implies that perhaps he didn’t buy the excuse.

What if, like the others, this servant too had invested the money and made more money, but unlike the others, he had kept the profits for himself?  What if he had given the money to bankers and lived off the interest?

— Whatever the backstory may have been, however, the facts are that this servant did not apply himself to working on his master’s behalf, but somehow felt that by not doing anything bad, he had done enough.

— In fact, we can say that this servant hoped to remain in this household.  He didn’t lose the money, he showed up when the master returned to town, he even scrambled, trying to save face when it was apparent that he had fallen short…

5)  (Vv. 28-30)  The master deals decisively with this servant who had no love and loyalty for him, who did the very least he thought necessary:

He orders, “²⁸ ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags.29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

— Obviously, this master has work to be done, so he relieves this lazy and wicked servant of his duties and delegates them to one who will take care of business.

— Then Jesus the wise Teacher (rather than the fictitious master) notes that, to those who have, more will be given… but those who do not have, even what they have will be taken away.

— It is important to note nothing is being taken away from someone who has it.  The basic and fundamental reality regarding this third servant is that he did not have.  Anything that may he may have been observed to have owned was merely associated with him, but not possessed by him.

— He had the appearance of being a servant, the appearance of being a part of the household, the appearance of managing the affairs of his master…

— But when the master unveils the truth: that this servant does not care about him or his estate and does not put any time, effort or thought into caring for this household; all appearances are stripped away.

— And perhaps it is the voice of Jesus the rejected Savior which commands: “Throw that worthless servant outside into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!”

Conclusion:

Because the servant had no gratitude or appreciation for his master, he did not apply himself to his master’s work.  And having no gratitude or appreciation implied that there was nothing to be grateful for… Since, in the servant’s eye, the master had done nothing, the master gave him the reality his actions attested to: nothing – no home, no position, no wealth – and the wretched misery of being utterly helpless and hopeless.

Apart from the Master’s provision, we have no resources of our own.  If there is any good thing in our lives, it is because God has given it to us.  Have we thanked Him?  Do we spend our time honoring God and doing things in this world on His behalf?  Treating others in this world as God would want them treated? Sharing the truth of God’s hope and encouragement with those who are struggling?

May our actions show the world that we have a wonderful God and that we are very grateful for the love and mercy He has shown us!

*******

Until next post,

Peace

Vires ad novem die – strength for a new day

*******

Real Servants Serve; Real Believers Believe — Matthew 25:14-30

In Matthew 25, Jesus gives three parables to help us who claim to believe, parables to help us understand that true belief must affect our entire life. These parables are Jesus’ response to the disciples’ question of when He will come and what the sign of His coming will be.

God is always here, always in charge, and true believers should always acknowledge His presence, living to please Him.

Today we look at the Parable of the Bags of Gold, or as some translations call it, the Parable of the Talents, a sobering parable about the implications when we fail to serve.

*******

(Scripture quoted is from the NIV version, and can be viewed online at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25&version=NIV.)

Before we begin looking at the parable itself, a brief digression:

This parable is commonly known as the Parable of the Talents.  According to Webster, the modern English word “talent”, which refers to special aptitudes or abilities a person may have, is actually derived from this parable.

At the time Jesus spoke, however, He was referring merely a certain quantity of gold, and nothing else… a resource the master gave to his servants to manage.

*******

So how does true faith in an eternal and sovereign God affect how a person responds to the opportunities that come their way?

1)  (Vv. 14-15)  Jesus sets the stage:

“¹⁴ Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.”

— The master is entrusting his wealth to his servants…

— But apparently, he expects the servants to do something with the wealth, because he gives to each according to his ability.

— What happens with the master’s wealth depends on what the servants will do, because the master himself will not be managing it.  He has delegated this job to them.

2)  (Vv. 16-18) The servants respond in different ways:

“¹⁶ The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. ¹⁷ So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. ¹⁸ But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.”

— We see that two of the servants go right to work and double their master’s money…

— But the third servant buried his in the ground to hide it.

3)  (Vv. 19-23)  The master returns and evaluates what his servants have done.  Two of them have earned praise…

“¹⁹ After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

²¹ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²² The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

²³ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”

— When Jesus told the parable, He quite intentionally introduced differing amounts of gold into the story.

— He makes a point to acknowledge that not all servants are equally able.

— Yet, each servant who worked hard and doubled the wealth gets the same words of praise:
“Well done, good and faithful servant!  You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.”

— Indeed, even though the master gave differing amounts to these two servants, in the end, his wealth doubled from 7 to 14 bags – as it would have regardless of how he had allocated it among diligent servants.

4) (Vv. 24-27)  But the third servant is condemned as wicked and lazy:

“²⁴ Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

²⁶ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.”

— It is easy to see how this was lazy – the servant did nothing except bury the bag of gold.

— But, had the servant put the money in the bank, this would have been lazy as well… yet apparently acceptable to the master.

— …And, humanly speaking, I give this servant some credit:  he did not spend the money on himself and he didn’t lose it in foolish speculation.  He didn’t run away with the money.

Honestly, I think most earthly masters, while perhaps not delighted, would not have been incensed by this outcome.

5)  (Vv. 28-29) But the master in this parable is furious!  He proclaims:

“²⁸ ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. ²⁹ For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

— The master makes the sound executive decision to take this responsibility away from the one who has failed and give it to the one who has demonstrated competence.

— Our modern truism states that, to get something done, give it to a busy person!

— But v. 29 is perplexing:  the master states that “whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken away from them.”

— And v. 30 is chilling: “Throw that worthless servant outside into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Discussion:

— It seems to me that the words – and the emotion – Jesus puts into the master’s response are an overreaction to the human situation presented… So to me, this suggests that the emotion belongs to Jesus Himself, regarding the actual truth He is trying to depict in the parable.

— We also remember that the context of this parable is Jesus warning His disciples against hypocrisy.  The preceding parable addressed celebrants in a wedding banquet who were so unserious about celebrating that they missed the banquet!

—  So v. 29b may give us a clue: “…Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken away from them.”

— According to this statement, the underlying truth about this servant’s condition is that he “does not have”.  And so what he did seem to possess – the money to manage, the title, the position in the household – is taken away.  He is thrown out into the darkness.

— And, in v. 26, we see that this servant also “does not know”.  Had the servant known his master to be a demanding man, at the very least, he would have put the money in the bank.

— Perhaps, just as it is the definition of a “celebrant” to celebrate, it is the definition of a “servant” to serve.

— This servant was certainly associated with the household – but his actions reveal that, not only does he fail to serve his master’s interests, but also dares to offer an offensive excuse, insulting both his master’s character and intelligence.

— And given this attitude, it was hypocritical and tantamount to thievery for this servant to continue in a position he was not fulfilling.

— He was not a servant.  He didn’t serve his master, attend to his business, respect him or care about his estate.  He was merely held an irrelevant title – which was stripped along with every other vestige of being a part of this household.

Conclusion:

As we have noted, a servant is defined by serving… as a follower is defined by following and a believer is defined by believing.  What good does it do to assume a title when the title belies the reality?

Returning to the observation that the master in this parable overreacts in what appeared to be a business setting…  It is said that the opposite of love is not anger, but indifference.

I believe that the emotion in this parable reflects a Master Who cares, a Master deeply hurt, when those whom He has loved and nurtured and taught don’t know Him, don’t trust Him, don’t serve Him.

*******

Until next post,

Peace

“Vires ad novem die – strength for a new day”

*******

Full Commitment, the only Proof of True Belief — Matthew 25:1-15

In Matthew 24, Jesus’ disciples had asked Him about end times: how they will recognize His coming, how to be ready when this time comes…

Jesus answers their questions.  From His answer, we know that it is important for us to realize that the future holds great challenge, but that nothing  godless people may do on this planet invalidates the promises that God has given, nor negates the fact that He is in charge. True believers must continue in faith no matter what.

But after Jesus gives them information about the end times, He gives some very stern parables which warn against thinking that the future matters, but the present does not.  No one can live for the future apart from living for the present – because God is the God of the present, the God of the living, not the dead; and we must worship and obey Him in the present.

As we look at the three parables in this chapter, they all address a lack of commitment or resolve. Saying we believe something, but not following through is the essence of hypocrisy… and in the end, hypocrites fare no better than any other sort of unbeliever.

The unfortunate outcomes of these three parables are

• Being told to go away, unknown by the bridegroom (v. 12).
• Being thrown into outer darkness, the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth (v. 29).
• Being sent away to eternal punishment (v. 46).

So we will examine these three parables so we can understand just what it is that Jesus wants us, His followers to avoid.

*******

(All Scripture used is from the NIV, which can be read online at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25&version=NIV.)

We begin with the Parable of the Ten Virgins, a parable which seems perplexing, harsh and perhaps unfair…

1)  (Vv. 1-5)  Jesus sets the stage:

“ At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish and five were wise. ³ The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. ⁴ The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵ The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.”

— I see the role of these virgins as being celebrants, friends who are there to honor and encourage the bridegroom.

— Of course, the objective is to provide a huge showing of support, a great festive display, when he arrives.

— In v. 2, it tells us that “five were foolish and five were wise”… but I think we must understand that the point isn’t to differentiate between the intellectual capacity of these friends, but to differentiate between their actions.  Some acted wisely and some did not.

— The wise ones brought extra oil, but the foolish ones did not.

…Then, in the long time it took the bridegroom to arrive, they all fell asleep.

2)  When the bridegroom finally arrives, suddenly they all wake up, and those who were unprepared found they had a problem – no oil.  Some solutions are proposed:

— The unprepared friends asked the others to give them some oil, but those who still had oil did not want to run out themselves.

— So they suggested that they go out to buy some new oil…

— But while the foolish and unprepared friends were out buying oil, the bridegroom came and they were not there.

3)  When they return to the banquet hall, the door had been shut, and when they pounded and cried out to the bridegroom, he does not open it, declaring that he doesn’t know them.

Discussion:

— We, and perhaps the listeners of Jesus’ day, would assume that friendship is based on a relationship which exists apart from whether or not one was present at the exact minute the bridegroom came.  Our natural response is to protest that the bridegroom should have recognized his friends and let them in, despite their “foolish” failure to bring enough oil to allow for an unexpectedly long wait.

— But according to this teaching, friendship with the bridegroom is equated with being present when He comes; and the result is equated with the intention.

— Those who are friends of the bridegroom will be there for his special event.  Those who are present intended to be there, and those who aren’t there didn’t intend to be.

— While we might try to make excuses for those who weren’t there, what it boils down to is a lack of commitment and dedication.

— I have a modern-day version of this parable: suppose a photographer is sent to get a shot of the space shuttle taking off.  But due to many delays, this ends up being much later than he or she had thought… so the photographer spends the time taking pictures of other things instead.

When the final countdown occurs, would anyone be willing to lend that photographer film?  Would he be able to run out and buy some?  What kind of reception will he get from his employer when he comes back from the launch with no photos?

A person who is determined and committed will do whatever it takes to get the job done. Those foolish “friends” were rejected because, had they been committed, nothing would have prevented them from being there for the bridegroom.

— …They would have brought extra oil.  Or as time went on, they could have put out their lamps if they were running short.  Or if they accidently used up their oil, they could have waited in the dark.

In condemning these foolish friends, Jesus is telling His disciples that full commitment is the only valid demonstration of true belief.  If you are not fully committed to something – anything – then you don’t really believe in it; it is not your top priority.

Conclusion:  We should take a good hard look at our lives.  Is worshiping God and acknowledging Him as sovereign Ruler of all, living in daily obedience to His character and His Word, our top priority?

If we find ourselves making excuses, being most casual about obeying what we feel God would want us to do, what is it that truly rules our lives?  Jesus urges all would-be disciples to examine ourselves, to honestly assess how committed we actually are to serving Christ as king. No genuine commitment involves tomorrow but not today.

*******

Until next post,

Peace

Vires ad novem die – strength for a new day

*******

Why ask “When?”? – Matthew 24:32-51

In the Old Testament, we have the account of God working with the nation of Israel. In Abraham’s day, He created the nation, establishing a territory for them, making promises and keeping them, protecting the nation, preserving it, demonstrating that, strong as the greatest empires of this world may be, He is stronger.  He is the sovereign and almighty God, and His purposes will prevail.

In the New Testament, we have an account of atheistic, human government which rejects the God of Israel, hates Jesus the Son of God, and is determined to dominate the entire world…  And what sovereign God will demonstrate through the end times is that the governance man sets up has no ultimate authority and no ability to establish and maintain government; it cannot keep the promises it makes, and despite every resource at its command, the end result will be war, famine, persecution, repression, corruption, ecological disaster – chaos.

As we see, this is actually pretty much the same message: God cannot fail vs. godlessness cannot succeed.  God’s Word gives us an account of governments – Israel in the Old Testament and the gentile world in the New – but to me, these seem to serve as mere object lessons for our lives as individuals.

God has created each of us and put each of us on this planet with a purpose known to Him.  He has also given us many promises for His guidance, provision, help and love.  We can be certain that His plans for us, plans made “before the foundation of the world” (see Eph. 1:3-6) will come to pass.  Equally certain is that when we try to run our own lives, disregarding God, ignoring His instruction, plotting our own course, we will fail.

I am certain that when the final godless government of planet earth takes form, no ruler will step up with plans to plunge the planet and all its inhabitants into chaos – but according to God’s Word, that will be the result.

Likewise, when people decide to live their own lives, ignoring God and rejecting His Word, the plan probably isn’t to mess up, to hurt those around us, to teach our children bad habits, to flounder around with no purpose, to pursue things which bring no fulfillment or satisfaction, to fail in ways that bring us shame, to look everywhere for security but find none.  This is no one’s goal, but without God, this is the result, intended or not.

When we acknowledge that there is a true and holy God and He is in control, when we acknowledge that He loves us and has good plans for us and He will take care of us, we can live in peace.  Jesus is the Messiah and this is His kingdom.

Today, we continue in Matthew 24.  Jesus’ disciples have asked Jesus about the end times – and He has told them about the final throes of a godless world, a chaotic scene that God, in His mercy, will finally put an end to.

But as always, He is most concerned that His disciples live in His kingdom – that is, live in faith that God is in charge and He will care for them.  So after answering their question of when life on earth will end, He addresses a more pertinent question; their motivation for seeking this knowledge.

*******

(Scripture quoted is from the NIV version, which can be viewed online at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+24&version=NIV.)

1)  (Vv. 32-41)  Jesus’ disciples have asked when these events will occur: “When will this happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and the end of the age?” (v. 3).

Jesus makes several points:

• There will be an observable trend towards godlessness. Vv. 32-33 state:

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.”

• When the “saturation point” for godlessness has occurred, this condition will not last for more than a generation.

In v. 34, He states: “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”

Although the disciples very well may have thought that “this generation” referred to their generation, we all know that many generations have elapsed since then.

In the account of Elijah and the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18, Elijah allowed the prophets to invoke their god all day long before finally stepping forward to demonstrate the power of the true God.  Perhaps it is the case that godlessness has not yet had a fair chance to demonstrate its efficacy.

• We can be certain, however, that God will not end this world until He has fulfilled every purpose He had for every individual when He created this world.

In v. 35, Jesus assures us: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.”

• But Jesus Himself states that the precise moment is impossible to predict:

Vv.  36-38 tell us: “³⁶ But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷ As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸ For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹ and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”

• And He also gives a more-detailed description of the “gathering of His elect…from one end of the heavens to the other” mentioned in v. 31. This supernatural event, performed by God’s angels, will be as inexplicable as it is sudden:

(Vv. 40-41) “⁴⁰ Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.”

— To be honest, I do not understand how anyone, believer or not, could be going about their daily routine after Jesus shows up with power and great glory and the trumpet has sounded… Or how anyone would be an unbeliever at this point!

But one related reality to consider is that, whether it is the world that ends while we are still alive or our lives that end while the world is still going on, life on this planet will end for each of us – and within a few generations or so.  And it is true that none of us knows when life will be over.

2) (Vv. 36-51) So Jesus counters the question of “When?” with “Why do you ask?”, and gives some words to warn against the motives which might underlie such a question.

— Starting at vv. 50-51 (the conclusion), Jesus mentions hypocrites:

 “⁵⁰ The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. ⁵¹ He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

A hypocrite, according to Webster, is “a person who claims or pretends to have certain beliefs…but behaves in a way that disagrees with those beliefs”.  In this context, Jesus is warning that false claims to believe in the sovereignty of God, the kingdom of God, but not actually trusting God or obeying God will result in regret – “weeping and gnashing of teeth”.

— The rest of this passage discusses the modus operandi of a hypocrite, the way a hypocrite thinks and lives.  Jesus gives us some things to consider:

• (Vv. 42-44) A homeowner guarding against a thief secures the house all night long.

“⁴² Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.”

— A homeowner dedicated to protecting his home will make sure it is secure at all times because a thief may come at any time… 

— It does not matter when the thief comes, he will find the house locked up and secured all the time.

• (Vv. 45-47) A faithful servant always does his work well, regardless of when his master will arrive:

“⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. ⁴⁷ Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”

— A faithful servant, dedicated to serving his master will attend to his responsibilities all the time.

— And it does not matter when the master comes; he will find everything in good order.

• (Vv. 48-51) But the unreliable servant seeks to live one way when he is supervised, but another way when he is left alone. To him, the time of the master’s arrival is very important!

“⁴⁸ But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. ⁵⁰ The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of.51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

— Obviously, it is the strategy of this servant to have everything “looking good” when the master gets there, but to do as he pleases the rest of the time…

— But this servant is not dedicated to serving his master, and his master – and our Master – will certainly not be taken in.  In the parable, all it takes is the master looking when (and where) the servant has not expected him to for the truth to be uncovered.

Conclusion:

We who claim to believe an all-knowing God should not think that we have the liberty of choosing when we “serve” Him and when we don’t!  Either we believe that God is in control at all times and honor Him, or we believe that we ourselves are the best judge of when to obey God’s Word and when to do something else.

Does the exact moment when our time ends matter?  If we truly believe God, we will be living in faith and obedience at all times.

*******

Until next post,

Peace

Vires ad novem die – strength for a new day.

*******

Truth is Truth, no Matter What — Matthew 24:1-31

(Chapter 24 of Matthew can be viewed online at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+24&version=NIV.)

Last post, we started looking at Matthew 24 and Jesus’ response to the question of end times – a topic brought up when the disciples, perhaps trying to defend a temple which Jesus had walked away from, comment on what a magnificent building it is.

Jesus, perhaps rather brusquely, responds, “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” (Mt. 24:2).  This temple and the Pharisees who taught there had failed. The role of this temple – to glorify the true God – would be fulfilled another way…

But the disciples take the conversation another direction: if the temple will be destroyed, they surmise, surely this would indicate the end of the age.  When would that be? What signs should they look for?  When would Jesus rule as Messiah?

In Mark 8:27-33, we see that Jesus had already told the disciples that He was the Messiah – and also that He would suffer many things, be rejected by the priests and elders, die, and three days later,  arise again.

They have witnessed a triumphal entry into Jerusalem, rejection at the temple, so it is logical that they might think that what they were hoping for from Jesus their Messiah still lies in the future.

But as Jesus taught the Sadducees in Mt. 22:32, “(God) is the God of the living.”  It is not beneficial for people to believe that God rules only in the future, or perhaps only in the afterlife.  God is sovereign now and He is in control now.  He cares for us now, and desires our trust and loyalty now.

He gave His disciples some practical instructions about living in a world governed by those who do not acknowledge God, who do not live as God’s Word prescribes, who do not trust God to address the needs of individuals or societies.  The only hope the God-ignoring have is human wisdom, human systems, human strength and human morality – all of which have historically proven to be a foundation most unfirm!

Yet, it seems, as human beings, we never stop trying to do it all ourselves – and God graciously and patiently allows the godless people of this world the opportunity demonstrate again and again that we cannot either live good lives or maintain a civil world apart from acknowledging Him.

In the Old Testament, we see that God made promises to Israel – and kept them.  This was despite every way that Israel failed and despite the opposition of powerful empires.  When we see that the nation of Israel still exists today, we see a demonstration that God is in charge.

God continues to teach the same lesson, but in a different way:  the people of our world cannot and will not succeed in governing apart from acknowledging God.

And the point of all these examples of God’s sovereignty over government is that is that this same God is sovereign over the lives of individuals.  Everything He has promised to us as individuals will come to pass – but we cannot and will not succeed in trying to run our lives our way, apart from acknowledging God.

So let’s recap some of the things Jesus told His disciples:

1)  There will be problems and crises all around us – wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, other disasters.

2) But we are not to expect a human savior or messiah to come and solve these problems.  Jesus is the Messiah.  He came to the world… But He did not fix problems, He fixed people.

3) There will be challenges in our personal lives.  Believers will face persecution and attacks from society in general, attacks from close friends and family members.  Even those we look to for encouragement, fellow believers, may fall away.

5) But truth is truth, regardless of who treats us badly or who fails to persevere.  No failure of any person in our lives in any way discredits Jesus or what He has told us about a sovereign God.

6) Some may preach a different gospel, an easier “gospel” perhaps – but no “gospel” supersedes or transcends what Jesus the Son of God has already clearly taught.

7) Truth is truth, and if it was truth when Jesus taught it and when He died rather than recant it; if it was truth when God affirmed it through miracles and the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, then it is still truth.  No circumstance of this world can in any way discredit truth.

8) Our own faithful response to these hard time will help others understand and believe the truth. This is a “gospel” that our world will understand!

9) Governments of this world will become intensely anti-God.  But even this does not disprove God’s sovereignty.  Jesus warns believers not to expect supernatural intervention, but to leave all behind and flee for their lives when this happens.

— Again, godless government does not work!  Surely, when people are persecuted, not because they harm others, but simply because of religious beliefs, honest onlookers will acknowledge that government has failed to do right.

10) Ultimately, governance man’s way will bring about such chaos that God, in His mercy, will cut those terrible times short.

11) We do not need to worry about somehow “missing out” on Jesus’ presence in those days – it will be obvious everywhere, just like lightning lights the entire sky – or vultures from all around swarm to a carcass.

12) God will disrupt the sun, moon and stars.  Even with all our ingenuity, we cannot exert influence over distant heavenly bodies, but God certainly can!  He will darken the sun and the moon and cause stars to fall from the sky – and people will realize that they have no power; they are not in control.

12) In Mt. 24:30, Jesus says that “the sign of the Son of Man” will appear in the heavens.  I don’t know what that sign will be, but the people of that day will understand exactly what they are seeing.

13) There will be no denying that God exists; when all the people of the world see the presence the Son of God in all His glory, they will mourn.

13) And, by powers we cannot humanly understand, all who believe will be gathered to Jesus.

*******

Next post, we will examine what Jesus says about true believers and hypocrites, as it relates to end time living.

Until then,

Peace

Vires ad novem die – strength for a new day.

*******