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.

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 (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!

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Until next post,

Peace

Vires ad novem die – strength for a new day

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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.

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( 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.

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Until next post,

Peace

Vires ad novem die – strength for a new day.

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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!

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 (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!

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Until next post,

Peace

Vires ad novum die – strength for a new day.

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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.

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(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.

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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.

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Until next post,

Peace

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

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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.

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(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.

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Until next post,

Peace

Vires ad novem die – strength for a new day

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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.

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(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.

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Until next post,

Peace

Vires ad novem die – strength for a new day.

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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.

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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.

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End Time Descriptions and Prescriptions, Part 1 – Matthew 24:4-31

In Matthew 23, Jesus has had one final dialogue with the Pharisees, a dialogue which reveals they are still completely closed-minded to the message of a sovereign Creator God who rules all reality, a God Who loves all He has created, extending forgiveness to all who have sinned.

As Jesus walks away from the temple, the fact that His disciples comment on the magnificent structure makes me think that Jesus has rejected the temple as a place of worship and truth, as those in the temple had rejected Him.

In response, Jesus, perhaps rather abruptly, announces that the temple is slated for destruction – not one stone will be left upon another (v. 2).

Apparently, His disciples don’t immediately reply – but later, perhaps after discussing this among themselves, they seem to have concluded that this must certainly coincide with Him “coming back” in a new, different and more powerful way, a coming which would indicate the end of the age, the apocalyptic events mentioned by the Old Testament prophets.

With the 20-20 vision of hindsight, we know that the temple was indeed destroyed in 70 A.D., a mere 4 decades after this discussion – and that this was actually not “the end of the age”.  Civilization continued — children were born, lived and died in the same fallen world, governments came and went.  As we can see, the disciples did not have a clear understanding of what their future held…

And even Jesus Himself, in v. 37, states that He does not know the exact time when God’s purposes for this world will be fulfilled.   The conclusion I draw  is that God’s Word has told us what is beneficial for us to know – and if it hasn’t been revealed to us, then it isn’t beneficial for us to know.

In the next portion, however, Jesus will tell His disciples what is important for them — and us — to know about the future, and He gives them instructions on how to respond.

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(Matthew 24:4-31 can be read online at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+24&version=NIV.)

1)  (Vv. 4-8)  “⁴ Jesus answered: ‘Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. ⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of birth pains.’”

— Description:  Many human “messiahs” will show up – those who may claim new knowledge or new power to save the world.  There would be political turmoil and overwhelming natural disasters.  Jesus knew that this is the world that would confront believers.

— Prescription:  Jesus states that these things must happen.  We are not to be deceived into thinking either that God is not in control or that we should expect a human “rescuer”.

— In fact, Jesus says that these are the beginnings of birth pangs… We know that giving birth is a painful process, but that the pain has a point, the birth of something new!

So what is being born here?  In this context, all that suffering could very well serve to make the people of the world tired of the futile effort to create a good society without the help of God.

— And the suffering caused by living in a godless world can also be God’s tool to develop faith, good character and hope in believers.

* In Romans 5:3-4, Paul states, “ ³ … we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

* In Daniel 12:9-10, in a vision regarding end times, Daniel is told that some details are not for us to know, but the end result of end times is that “¹⁰ Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.”

My conclusion is that a world fit to live in must be populated by people who acknowledge and obey God – and that the sorry state of a world governed and populated by the hopeless and the godless is one of the tools God uses to bring people to Himself.

2)  (Vv. 9-14)  In addition to governance in turmoil, believers will also experience personal attacks and persecution:

“⁹ Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of Me.

¹⁰ At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹ and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹² Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, ¹³ but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.’”

— Description: In an unbelieving world, Christians will be hated because they profess faith in Jesus, the Son of God.  We are not to be surprised if our “fair-weather brethren” fall away in hard times.  Prophets will lead some people to believe there is a different form of “truth”.

— Prescription: Do not fall for “other truths”; stand firm!  And perhaps the faith and obedience to God and loyalty to Jesus Christ believers demonstrate when persecuted is a “gospel”, a testimony to truth, that the whole world will witness and understand.

3)  (Vv. 15-21)  Government will become actively “anti-God” and “anti-Christian”:

“¹⁵ ‘So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. ¹⁸ Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. ¹⁹ How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! ²⁰ Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.’”

— Description:  The “abomination that causes desolation” is mentioned in Dan. 9:27, Dan. 11:31 and Dan. 12:11.  These were prophecies Daniel made regarding a time, future to him, when government would prohibit daily worship at the temple, and blaspheme the true God by desecrating the altar with a false god.

* Some historians believe this was literally fulfilled when a statue of Zeus was erected in the temple by Atiochus IV Epiphanes…

* But I think we can generalize: Jesus is telling His followers that, in a godless world, governments may become fanatically anti-God and anti-Jesus.

— Prescription: Jesus does not encourage believers to expect some sort of supernatural intervention or rescue.  When this sort of government is in place, Jesus urges His followers to flee for their lives, away from the city and into the mountains.

— We are not to cling to any part of a society sold out to wickedness.  At this point, the believer shares nothing in common with the government.

— Description:  Jesus is telling us so we will know, that the future holds times of unequaled challenge, persecution and distress…

— Prescription: …And the response is to realize that God knows all about these circumstances, and to remember that He is always sovereign.  This is not a surprise to Him!

4)  (Vv. 22-25)  Jesus warns us against looking to human leaders for rescue.

“²² If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. ²³ At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. ²⁴ For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵ See, I have told you ahead of time.”

— Description: Of course, people of faith will be longing for relief, longing for God to put godlessness to an end.  Many “messiahs” will show up, promising that very thing.  Some will even appear to have supernatural power.

— Prescription: But Jesus warns believers not to be taken in.  He mentions these false messiahs so we will know that this is not how He will act in those times.  However, believers can be reassured knowing that God will cut those intensely terrible times short for our sake.

5)  (Vv. 26-29)  When Jesus reveals His full glory, the whole world will see!

“²⁶ So if anyone tells you, “There he is, out in the wilderness,” do not go out; or, “Here he is, in the inner rooms,” do not believe it. ²⁷ For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ²⁸ Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.”

— Description: It will be very tempting to search for a messiah in some secret spot…

— Prescription: But Jesus tells us that, when the Son of Man reveals Himself, it will not be in some secluded spot to an isolated group of people.  Lightning anywhere in the sky is seen everywhere; and all vultures in a region know where a carcass is, not only the few birds which saw the animal fall.  All believers everywhere will know when Jesus comes.

6)  (Vv. 29-31)  After the turmoil of God-hating government, some sobering supernatural signs will appear to the whole world.  Quoting from Isaiah 13:10, Jesus says:

“²⁹ Immediately after the distress of those days

‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

³⁰ Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. ³¹ And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”

— Description:  The heavenly bodies demonstrate a realm far from man’s influence and control.  If the sun and moon go dark and the heavenly bodies are disrupted, people will realize that they are completely helpless to do a thing about it.

I see this as being like the handwriting on the wall in Belshazzar’s palace (Dan. 5:1-5), a sobering demonstration of God’s supernatural presence and power.

* People will mourn when they confront the reality of a holy, sovereign God.

* The Son of Man, with a full revelation of His sovereignty and holiness will gather all believers from every place.  The fact that this is done by angels means that it is useless to try to figure out how it will happen: angels transcend the physical limitations of this world.

— Prescription:  We are to remember that God rules. One sobering day, every person on this earth will confront that reality, and godlessness and wickedness will come to an immediate end.

Conclusion:  At this time, the disciples seem to be grasping for some sign of a sovereign God.  They may have been puzzled by the fact that the Pharisees still rejected Jesus – and His only response had been to walk away.

But trusting in the sovereignty, wisdom and love of God, we acknowledge that all things serve His purpose — even stress, chaos, wickedness and godlessness in the world around us.  Jesus describes the troubles we will see – and He prescribes that we remain faithful through it all 🙂!

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Until next post,

Peace

Vires ad novem die – strength for a new day

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Introduction: Jesus Teaches about God’s Kingdom — Matthew 24-25

Note from the blogger:

It has been many weeks since I’ve posted. Our family has relocated and we celebrated the holidays in our new community. Frankly, I did not have time for concentration and contemplation that it takes for me to write — those long hours for pondering and wondering, waiting for God’s insight as I strive to understand what God’s Word is saying to me and to communicate it clearly…

Throughout all that time, God has certainly encouraged me in other ways – but now, finally, I am ready to return to writing and posting :-)!

For those new to A Daffodil in God’s Garden, what I do is share my explorations as I try to understand the Bible’s message for me… And since my own questions and responses are part of the process, I include them. Yes, it’s personal, subjective and not necessarily scholarly (although I do try to be accurate and honest). I write this blog and share my thoughts because God always encourages me – and I hope my thoughts encourage others!

Since I have been studying Matthew, I’m just going to start blogging where I am — Matthew 24 and 25.

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(All Scripture references are taken from the New International Version, which can be found online at https://www.biblegateway.com/.)

Setting the stage:

Matthew gives us an eyewitness account of the events he observed during his three years as a disciple. He also shares what Jesus has taught about the kingdom of heaven… although we get the sense that the disciples did not truly understand what being the Messiah Jesus’ way actually meant.

1) In Matthew 21, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey as the people waved palm fronds and shouted hosannas, but the mood quickly changed: Jesus headed straight for the temple, where He “cleaned house”, driving out the merchants and the money-changers.

Jesus and the Pharisees had often disagreed, and the final dialogues He had with them in the temple did not change this at all. They were not willing to honestly consider the truths He taught about Creator God, the God Who knows all, understands every motive of every person, and treats all with justice and compassion. The Pharisees preferred their own system, a religion of appearances, based on rules and loopholes, prejudice and privilege.

2) Chapter 24 continues after the final of these fruitless debates:

“Jesus left the temple and was walking away when His disciples came up to Him to call His attention to its buildings. ‘Do you see all these things?’ He asked. ‘Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.’”

— In Mark 13:1-2, we learn a few more details about this conversation:

“As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!’

‘Do you see all these great buildings?’ replied Jesus. ‘Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.’”

I have to ask myself why the disciples would make a comment about the temple, which they had all seen many times… And I have to wonder whether, as Jesus was leaving, there was an air of both literally and figuratively, walking away from the entire system taught and promoted at that temple. No longer would the temple at Jerusalem be the focal point of worship, the location people sought out as the source of knowledge and teaching about God.

3) At that time, the disciples did not ask Jesus any more questions… But later, they come back for clarification, and what they ask reveals what they understood about the kingdom of God:

(Mt. 24:3)  “As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. ‘Tell us, they said, ‘When will this happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?’”

— Note that the disciples do not ask why – it is clear that the Pharisees have rejected Jesus and rejected truth, and that nothing is likely to change.

— The question of when is logical enough: given that Jesus had entered Jerusalem as Messiah and King, it was certainly His prerogative to eliminate this disappointing place of worship at any time that would suit His purpose.

— But the other details in the disciples’ question also indicate that they have some assumptions about the kingdom of God, assumptions which Jesus will address in the remaining sections of chapters 24 and 25:

— First, “What will be the sign of Your coming?”

If the disciples are waiting for a sign of Jesus’ coming, this implies to me that they do not believe that this had already occurred. This question also indicates that they do not see their time as the beginning of this hoped-for age.

— And secondly, “… (What will be the sign of) the end of the age?”

This portion of the question indicates that, in their minds, they have paired the destruction of the temple with the end of the age — perhaps reflecting the teachings of the Pharisees regarding the Messiah.

In His response, Jesus will put end-time information in its proper perspective — but there is a warning for all believers here: if the disciples could see our present world — their “future” — they would realize that they didn’t truly understand what would happen.

— Jesus’ disciples had only an imperfect concept – and Jesus Himself states even He does not know the exact time when God’s purpose for this world will be completed.

In Mt. 24:36, He says:

“‘But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.’”

— Were it beneficial for us to know an exact day or hour, we can be certain that God would have revealed it. So, since God has chosen not to reveal this information, it is not beneficial for us to know it…

But as we continue examining Matthew 24 and 25, Jesus does reveal the information which is helpful to we who believe, information which describes circumstances we will experience and prescribes the attitudes we are to take.

We will begin examining these in the next post.

Until then,

Peace,

Vires ad novum die – strength for a new day
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An Infinite God and and the Disputes of Man — Matthew 17:14-20

Numbers and mathematics are useful for quantifying and assessing the finite quantities of our material world.  But mathematics does not lend itself well at all to the spiritual realm, which is binary in nature:  in God’s kingdom, we either believe God or we do not; He is either all to us or nothing; He either controls all or He does not.

Having the right perspective on Who God is is very important as we consider how He would want us to resolve disputes, perhaps the motivation behind a the disciples asked Jesus, the question of who was greatest in the kingdom of heaven, that perfect realm where God rules all.

Jesus had approached this question from two different angles:

1)  (Mt. 17:3-4)  — The one who acknowledges total dependence on God is the greatest:

“ ³I assure you,” He said, “unless you are converted and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child—this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

2)  (Mark 9:35)  — The one, or actually the One, Who serves all is the greatest:

“³⁵ Sitting down, He called the Twelve and said to them, ‘If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.’”

The principle Jesus cites in both answers is that there is no power apart from God’s power.  Little children certainly do not control their own destiny by exerting their own power.  Their well-being depends entirely on others who care and provide for them.

God’s power is the only factor relevant to our well-being; all we need to understand is that God Himself  serves all and cares for all – and because God rules, we can live in peace and security.  Human ability, human achievement and human goodness, and how we stack up compared to other humans  does not enter into the equation at all!

The disciples indeed, however, had asked the question because they were concerned about looking after themselves, defending their interests.  

So Jesus apparently used this opportunity to discuss how to resolve disputes we may have with other believers.

Again, this is a bit of a non sequitur — but apparently this was the topic Jesus addressed, and how our narrator Matthew remembers the conversation as going.

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(Matthew 18:14-20 can be read online at http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+18&version=HCSB.  This post references the Holman Standard Christian version.)

1)  (Vv. 14-17)  Jesus stresses that Creator God loves every single person He has created – even the weakest and least able among us.

Perhaps, as Jesus considers how deeply God cares for every person, the related topic of restoring those who have sinned comes to mind… Or perhaps, in Jesus’ mind, those who have sinned are in the same category as the “little ones”, the weak and helpless:

“¹⁴ In the same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones perish.

¹⁵ ‘If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private. If he listens to you, you have won your brother. ¹⁶ But if he won’t listen, take one or two more with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established. ¹⁷ If he pays no attention to them, tell the church. But if he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like an unbeliever and a tax collector to you.”

— God is Lord of all creation.  He is not willing that any perish… But Jesus does not deny that among the people of this world, there are many broken relationships. When we are angry with each other and see other people as enemies and not friends, those people are certainly “lost” to us.

— The first step in reclaiming a friend is to communicate; to go to that person and explain what is causing you to feel so much at odds with him or her.

— Perhaps, your sincere desire to clear up the problem is all that it will take to reestablish mutual goodwill and resolve the misunderstanding.

— The second step:  If you and the other person cannot see each other’s point of view, then Jesus tells us to bring some other people in to establish the facts of the disagreement.

— By this instruction, Jesus affirms the intellect God has given human beings and our ability to reason accurately.  What Jesus is saying is that, given the facts, there is always a just way to resolve differences; that given the same information, reasoning people will be in agreement about what is fair and right.

— The third step is to make the issue and that person’s response to remediation public.  Most likely, what the congregation of believers has to say about the issue will not be different from what the smaller group of mediators had said… But we all know that making a public statement involves a much greater level of commitment than harboring a private grudge!

— Bringing the dispute to the church is a way to require a decision.  At this point, the hatchet will either be buried or remain brandished, but at least, there will be no question about the facts or where anyone stands!

— The fourth step: according to the teaching of Jesus, the One Who thoroughly understands the heart of man, is an assessment.  Given that  reasoning people with the same true information will reach the same just conclusion, if it is found that the other person doesn’t actually value truth or justice, that person should be regarded as an unbeliever, because in essence, that is what they are!

— God is holy, true and just – if an individual has no respect for these, what sort of  fellowship or agreement can they expect to have with God or His followers?

2)  (Vv. 18-20)  Heaven is that realm where God’s will is perfectly fulfilled.  Perhaps, the realm of time and our lives is where we see God’s work, as He takes what is imperfect and metamorphoses it until finally, all things are as He has always conceived them.

When it comes to our community with each other in this temporary world, as well as our peaceful resolution of disputes, Jesus gives us this promise:

“¹⁸ ‘I assure you: Whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven. ¹⁹ Again, I assure you: If two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven.²⁰ For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them.’”

— God will do what is good and just for all.  God’s perfect kingdom of heaven has only goodness, justice and holiness in it.

— If we have established a peaceful agreement with others on this earth, God will not place any additional constraints or penalties on us in heaven.

— If we are in agreement with each other, when we mutually acknowledge a desire for something which reflects God’s good character, God will respect our desire and bring it into reality.

— God is certainly present and He is fully aware of our needs, our desires – as well as our reasoning about His character, the basis for our requests.

— We assume that, just as two witnesses establish the validity of facts, two praying individuals also establish the universal desirability of a request.

Discussion: As Matthew gives his account of Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom of God, he and Jesus seem to be abruptly shifting gears.  We go straight from humble acknowledgement of God’s absolute power over all reality to how to resolve disputes with others who are more or less our “equals”.

Perhaps the point here is that acknowledging God’s absolute power over all is the perspective which allows us to approach inevitable differences and disputes in a wise way.  We should meditate on the following truths, gleaned from this passage:

— God created all and He loves all.  He especially cares for those who are weak, who are at a disadvantage in our society.

— Nothing exists apart from God’s power.

— God is absolutely good, holy and just.

— When it comes to other people, we must acknowledge that everyone’s well-being is important to God.  What is truly “good” must be good for all.

— As God rules reality in a good and righteous way, He promises to do those things which all of us who honor His good character agree is good.

— When we have resolved differences and forgiven any who have offended us, God makes no further demands on either party.

As we continue this passage about the kingdom of an infinite God next post, once again, we will grapple with what is finite, what is infinite and how we should live.

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Until next post,

Peace

“Deus regit – God rules!”

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