Tag: Gospels

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Spiritual Superstition?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“After they had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret. When the people recognized Jesus, the news of his arrival spread quickly throughout the whole area, and soon people were bringing all their sick to be healed. They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭14‬:‭34‬-‭36‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Matthew and Mark have this story in their gospel accounts. These miracles were one of 37 miracles of Jesus written. In chronological order, these come in at number 21.

What is interesting is Matthew and Mark both mention the immediate recognition of Jesus and this fascinating idea that people were clamoring to touch the “fringe” of Jesus robe. The touching of the fringe was first mentioned earlier in the gospels when a woman was seeking healing for her issue of blood. She had been suffering for 12 years. She had heard about Jesus’ healing ability as well, and thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭5‬:‭28‬.

The timeline Jesus’ miracles means that the gospels connect Jesus first visit to the shoreline of Galilee (healing of the mad naked man) and Jesus return to the other side of the shore of Galilee where he healed the woman’s physical condition. Jesus’ popularity had risen dramatically along with this idea that folks could touch his robe and be healed.

Here’s the shocker. Touching Jesus’ robe came out of a very old story, almost a “wives’ tale,” about the future Messiah. It wasn’t Jesus robe they were reaching for, it was wasn’t even the fringe of his garment. What they were reaching for was Jesus prayer tassels!

The tassels (Greek:kraspedon) of Jesus’ garments, which is mentioned in Numbers 15:38. A Jewish male wore these on each of the four extremities of his cloak. How did touching anyone’s prayer tassels lead people to believe they could be healed? Most likely that came from Malachi 4:2 where it says, “the Sun of justice shall arise, and health in his wings.” Malachi was speaking about the future, coming Messiah! Since no one really knew exactly how to interpret the word “wings,” in Hebrew it’s kanaph: wing, extremity. It can also be interpreted as “corner, edge, edges, ends, fold, or garment!” Thus, the belief began – the Messiah would have supernatural healing abilities in his “wings.” Mothers believed that their son one day, might actually be the Messiah, began making their young men these prayer tassels (which were a physical object lesson to remember to pray) These tassels were then made a little longer and over time a more vibrant blue. By the time of Christ, Mary would have made her son his own prayer tassels, and also made them a little longer and the blue a little more vibrant.

The woman with a desperate physical need wholeheartedly believed that the true Messiah would carry this healing with him and by touching his prayer tassels, would be healed. Veronica made her way through the crowd, violating the social health laws (she wasn’t allowed to be around anyone because of her bleeding), and snuck up behind Jesus. Jesus wasn’t even aware that she was there, nor did he feel her touch his tassel. He did, however feel power go out of him! Jesus declared her healed because of her faith and did not mention that the story, the superstition of the Messiah’s prayer tassel, had special properties on its own. It wasn’t Veronica’s faith in the tassel, it was her faith that Jesus was THE Messiah. He’s the one all the stories of God’s redemption were about. Her faith was in Christ!

The point, the story of being healed by touching Jesus robe, went out far and wide. By the time Jesus arrived on the shores of Gennesaret, months later, people were clamoring to touch his tassels! Here’s the surprise… “and all who touched him were healed.” Do I believe in superstitions and stories that may appear to have magical powers of healing? Not particularly. However, I am fully aware of God’s grace and mercy towards us. God can do what He wants. I’m not so quick to put down the wild ways God works to capture the hearts of humans.

Prayer

Dad,
Whether it’s Jesus’ pictures on toast, trees or clouds or prayer tassels, I believe you will do some crazy things to convince our stubborn, unbelieving hearts that you are real and that you love us. I am happy to serve a mysterious and supernatural God!

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Keys to the cypher.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“Then, leaving the crowds outside, Jesus went into the house. His disciples said, “Please explain to us the story of the weeds in the field.” Jesus replied, “The Son of Man is the farmer who plants the good seed. The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one. The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the harvesters are the angels.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13‬:‭36‬-‭39‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus told many parables, stories with hidden meaning. These stories were perplexing and mysterious. The curious, the learner would listen and think about these words and concepts for days, maybe even weeks. This is one of the ways Jesus revealed himself as God as well as shared the soon coming Kingdom of God, which he ushered in back then. The Kingdom is both here and still yet to be fulfilled, even today. This is also a mystery. Matthew writes, “Jesus always used stories and illustrations like these when speaking to the crowds. In fact, he never spoke to them without using such parables.” Vs. 34‬.

Privately, Jesus would sometimes pull his disciples aside to explain the parable, thus giving his followers the keys to the cypher. In this parable about the wheat and the tares, Jesus gives the key characters, unlocking the puzzle of who he was talking about. He describes himself as the planter of good seed. The field is the world in which we live. The seed itself, Jesus says is the people in the Kingdom. Many would suppose that the seed is the Word of God, but in this story Jesus says it is the people who believe and make up the residents of the Kingdom. The weeds are also described as people, but these are folks who belong to the evil one. Here, Jesus uses an interesting word for “evil one.” Sons of the evil one are the “ponéros: toilsome, bad,” derived from “pónos,” – pain, laborious trouble, pain-ridden, emphasizing the inevitable agonies (misery) that always go with evil. And finally, the weed planter is none other than satan, the “diabolos” – slanderer. Jesus goes on to describe, what many modern pho-theologians deny, as HELL. He says the weeds along with the weed-sower will be burned in the fire, thrown into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

There is a point to this entire chapter of parables. Those who want to find God, know God and have a relationship with him… will find and can KNOW, becoming a person of the Kingdom! Yes, it’s a narrow gate, a miracle, and it will cost one everything, but it is possible. God is not hiding so that one cannot find him. He wants us to seek, knock and pursue him. God is already waiting and already made a way!

Prayer

Dad,
I ache for those who are miserable and blame you for it. My heart breaks for those who have suffered or are suffering and see nothing but darkness and doom ahead. But, I also know that you are there for them, if they will turn and lean in to find you. Thank you for doggedly, constantly, consistently pursuing us by your grace. Come close to the broken, that they may be healed and find peace.

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Quit pulling up good grain.

Reading Time: 4 minutes

“Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew. “The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’ “‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed. “‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked. “‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13‬:‭24‬-‭30‬ ‭NLT‬‬

It may not seem like the most appropriate object lesson for Jesus’ series on the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is soooo TRUE.

Why are we risking the health of good wheat by chasing down bad weeds? First of all Jesus told his followers, the enemy sows weeds right among the wheat! This “enemy” has to have double meaning.

I am positive that people being people, means that your farmer neighbor might feel the need to passive-aggressively send you a clear signal that he’s tired of the loud, weekend bonfires you host way too often. Thus, having his field workers run willynilly through your fields flinging weeds (tares). My understanding is that tares look a lot like wheat when they begin to grow. Jesus must also clearly be stating that there is an enemy of all enemies, the slanderer, the liar is also sending his little demon imps throughout the world generously distributing weeds, in the form of well placed lies, right among the good seed of the gospel.

Since the early results of both the good seed and the impostered-lies seed look similar when starting out, it’s hard to tell right away. But as the farmer and expert field workers watch both wheat and tare grow to maturity, they easily spot the difference. The natural response would be to PULL THE WEED! Farmers hate weeds, we hate weeds. We only want to see the beauty and benefit of what we planted! Whether it’s food or flowers, we don’t want to be reminded of sin, evil, or purposeful perpetration scattered around our perfect field or flowerbeds!!!

We must pull the weed to satisfy our idea of how evil must immediately be eradicated! Get it out now. The kindness of Jesus telling the story comes out when he says the field workers asked, “should we pull out the weeds?” Now, there’s a lesson in great management. When in doubt, ask. Ask, until you learn the owner’s ways. The owner (personified as wisdom) answers, “No!” He says wait. Why wait? But but but…weeds are evil and despised, they’ll make more weeds and take over the whole field and destroy the whole world….🤯. Why wait?

Why not pull those evil broods of fakery? Jesus said, “because you’ll uproot the good wheat.” In trying destroy the evil stalk of satan, you’ll pull the good out with it! In what seems so counterintuitive, Jesus says, let them grow together – and wait until harvest! What, did he say, let them grow? Together? What? The thought of letting an evil seed grow is just not possible in my limited understanding of justice.

In the Church world, in our understanding of the gospel and God’s righteousness, we do this all the time. We hate evil. We hate lies. We hate fake, slick, propaganda and small amounts of truth laced with deception! I’m sure this doesn’t extend to ALL EVIL, but think about how much damage we do to the gospel and the Church when we don’t obey Christ’s illustrative object lesson. We hunt down error and evil like weed-seeds sown across the globe. We have whole sects of heresy-hunters scouring every recorded sermon, every book written, every tasty sound bite lifted from some obscure interview. Their job, as they see it – PLUCK EVIL where ever it be found! And, in doing so, we often uproot the young, sprouting seeds of the gospel.

Dear heresy hunters: you can’t stop evil by pulling it out for everyone to see without uprooting the young shoots of gospel good. Heresy existed then, it exists now. Evil seeds existed then, they exist today. Be careful when examining the fields of belief across our land. Let the harvesters sort out the weeds later. Let the Bible do its work. Let the local pastors sort out the weeds from the wheat. Folks are already hoping from one church to another because they are absolutely obsessed with the perfect church with the perfect theology. It’s not helping matters that some are policing every sermon of those they believe are receiving too much attention or have too large a following. Quit trying to foster a christian cancel culture by sowing seeds of disunity. Thank you.

Dear believers: read the Bible for yourself. Listen to the Spirit of God who primarily speaks through the Word of God. The Holy Spirit can and will lead you into all truth, if you’ll listen and obey. Don’t get caught up in church’s or denominational differences, listen and follow the core beliefs of Christianity. We are one Church under Jesus Christ. And don’t mistake various preferences of churches as contrary to the gospel, but just as practics of how things work within that particular community of faith.

Prayer

Dad,
Am I wrong for wanting unity in the body of Christ? Of course solid theology and doctrine is important, but at the expense of sacrificing love and the commands of the one anothers? We are all under the one banner of Jesus, right? Forgive us God. Help us in these last days to be one in the Spirit.

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The mystery of a good story.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“His disciples came and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?” He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. That is why I use these parables, For they look, but they don’t really see. They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13‬:‭10‬-‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus’ stories, his parables are fun, sticky and multifaceted. You can read them once or a hundred times and get so much out of them. Here, Matthew records the story of the farmer sowing seed. Or, is it a story of the receptivity of the soil? Hmmm. After he tells the story, he says one his often quoted phrases, “Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

One of the brave followers of Jesus simply asks him straight out, “Why?” Why stories? Why parables? If you search Rabbi teaching methods, you’ll find a mixed bag. Yes, parables were common and there were hundreds of them. And, parables we’re used, but Jesus stories were by far the ones more durable in antiquity.

The curious disciple’s question yielded an answer from Jesus. Which was rare, compared to how many questions Jesus retorted back to his audience. Jesus said that his disciples, his apprentices, were given a special pass to understanding what he called the “mysteries” of God. Wow. The mysteries, the secrets of God?

Jesus used this word, mystḗrion (the root of the English term, “mystery”) . But, in the Bible, a “mystery” is not something unknowable. Rather, it is what can only be known through revelation, i.e. because God reveals it. So, parables were a teaching style to engage the listener, creating a curiosity so the listener would WANT to learn. Which is so cool! When someone comes to hear a lecture, a teaching, a speech or a TED-talk, they are supposed to be listening with all five senses. They should see, hear, feel, touch and even taste. Sure the last two may need some help with an object in hand, like a fresh apple off a tree. But Jesus is telling them (and us), there is another sense that should be brought to the event. One should bring a spiritual sense of what is happening and what God is up to. I wouldn’t call it a sixth sense, because that gets confused with some metaphysical mysticism.

Jesus tells his followers that those who listen beyond their physical eyes and ears will see and hear God at work! The parable becomes like a whisper when someone wants you to lean in, get close, so you can focus, blocking out all other distractions because you really want to learn and understand. Those learners, those curious, will be given the gift of understanding the mystery and have an abundance of knowledge. Jesus wanted his students to be the kind of people who don’t just show up to hear what the speaker would be saying or doing, but to be extra curious of understanding of what God is doing. Our job, in almost any situation we find ourselves in, is to fully engage with every physical sense we can to be attentive, but also be fully aware that God is always up to something MORE and spectacularly, spiritually, mysterious!

Prayer

Dad,
You are always at work. I miss seeing that so often because I am distracted by so many other things. Things that I think are important, but in comparison to your eternal perspective, they are not. There was an old phrase I remember hearing, that may not be true at all. Someone was said to be “so spiritually minded that they are no earthly good.” I am often distracted by so many “earthly good” thoughts or deeds that I miss the spiritually minded completely. I think your vantage point is so much better than ours! Help me see, as often as I can, your mysteries of heaven.

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Our craving for the supernatural.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority.” Matthew‬ ‭12‬:‭38‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I no longer think miracles are the epitome of necessary proof needed to believe. I know, we would think that an undeniable miracle happening to us or a family member would just be THE thing, the moment that sweeps away our doubts about the reality of God and His desire and ability to intervene in our human affairs. Jesus seems to suggest otherwise!

The guys supposedly working FOR God demand a show of proof to settle the open case of “by who’s authority do you do or say these things.” Remember, one group tried to accuse Jesus of working for Beelzebub! Jesus pulled some lessons from history using some famous people as an object lesson. He used the Prophet Jonah, but really drew a verbal picture of a court scene where the people of Nineveh were called to judge the generation Jesus lived in at the time. Nineveh, that vile, cruel people group who took pleasure in torturing their enemies. Jesus mentioned that even they recognized their sin and at one point, repented! Those folks would testify that the current generation was WORSE than they were! It would be like Hitler getting up on the stand and saying, “and you thought I was evil…” check your own hearts! Then Jesus name-drops another very famous name out of history – Queen Sheba. This powerful, beautiful, smart and accomplished woman came to test Solomon’s wisdom, where she found him the most wise person person on the planet (1 Kings 10:1-13 And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions. “She exclaimed to the king, “Everything I heard in my country about your achievements and wisdom is true!” Jesus personifies Sheba getting on the stand and testifying that Solomon’s wisdom cannot even come close to the Son of God’s wisdom.

Both of these examples showing the disparity in what Jesus called, “this generation.” When the wicked testify against the mindset and attitudes of the Pharisee’s wickedness and the queen of Sheba testifies how little their knowledge has translated into wisdom – it is supposed to be crystal clear! We are not better, we are worse.

We have not gotten better with the knowledge of good, we’ve gotten worse with practicing evil. We’ve not increased in wisdom, as philosophers and atheists have predicted, we’ve increased in foolishness. Why? Because we may know more about our world, our history and even ourselves, but we have used that knowledge to consume things unto ourselves.

Teacher, show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority? So we can mock it, criticize it and get back to our own will and own way? Jesus says, a miracle will not fix us! “Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign…” Jesus closes this thought with a haunting illustration of what happens if we should happen to figure out how to “clean ourselves up.” An evil spirit comes back to find the place clean and invites his friends 😱. What should we ask for…? Jesus, we want you to forgive us and show us mercy!

Prayer

Dad,
When I was younger, I really thought that people just needed to see you working in supernatural ways, performing a miracle to convince them that you are real. I know better now. After multiple times of hearing the promises to believe based on a miracles and not a simple faith, I’ve seen too many folks forget and go back to life as usual. The supernatural is just not sticky enough to hold our hearts in place! Faith and a relationship with you is what keeps us. I am impressed by the miracles of mercy, but more impressed by your faithfulness through the highs and lows of this life.

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Division is demonic!

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Then a demon-possessed man, who was blind and couldn’t speak, was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he could both speak and see. The crowd was amazed and asked, “Could it be that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah?” But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭12‬:‭22‬-‭24‬ ‭NLT‬‬

What did the Pharisees know about Beelzebub?

Not enough! This demonic confrontation was unusual because there’s a clash of demonology and theology among the Pharisees. Who knew more about both, Jesus or the religious leaders? The Pharisees may have just tossed out a simple rebuke and rebuff by casually, almost jokingly saying, “yeah, this guy obviously works for Satan!” They were all rilled up because the people were asking if Jesus could be the Messiah. Jesus didn’t think it was funny.

Jesus used the misinformation and verbal distraction to correct and teach truth on the subject. Just think about this, the Pharisees dropped the “official” title of the chief liar and slander – Beelzebub! It was used 8 times in the New Testament and it comes from an ancient combination of two words, Baal and Zebub, literally lord of the flies! In this story is the technical name of Satan, the chief of evil spirits. Well, that settles the argument about where flies come from, right? 😁

Jesus lays out some common sense truth. How or why would Satan cast out Satan? The sad observation that the demon inside this man was doing an excellent job of torturing him and keeping him bound and enslaved by being blind and mute. Why would Satan kick himself out? Jesus makes such a strong case, not only about how evil works, but why it is so effective still today. Jesus says, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart. And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is divided and fighting against himself. His own kingdom will not survive.”

Ah, it’s not just satan’s kingdom that wouldn’t survive, it’s our towns and families that won’t either. Truth boom 💥 – division is a demonic weapon. Division is just more lies from the lord of flies. Jesus zeroes in on the real issue. It’s not just mis-identifying the work of God as demonic. It’s flat out telling the Pharisees – you’re on the wrong team brothers! They said they worked for God, but Jesus being God, says “nope, they are not working for me.”

When folks start calling freedom and deliverance satanic, it makes me wonder who’s team they’re on. As believers we MUST be unified under the banner of Christ! We need to stop gossiping and heresy-hunting about every preacher, leader we just don’t agree with. We need to stop the denominational divisions and nitpicking of preferences and polity within THE CHURCH. We are all one whether some admit it or not. Like the warning to the religious leaders then, we need to quit falling prey to the ploys of Beelzebub. Get on team Jesus and behave like a united family!

Prayer

Dad,
I need to be reminded that you are coming back for the bride of Christ, the one without spot or wrinkle. I feel like we’ve got a lot of spots and wrinkle and I’m looking for the day we, as Your Church, not just look good, but behave good! Help us Oh God! We need you to judge us, purify us, prepare us for your return. Maybe that’s really what’s going on right now. As so many are exciting the Church and many are walking away from their faith, maybe this is exactly what you want to happen. I still pray, in hope, that you will pour your Spirit capturing the hearts and minds of those who have fallen for the lies and save them.

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Who is still plotting to kill Jesus?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Then the Pharisees called a meeting to plot how to kill Jesus.” Matthew‬ ‭12‬:‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I know it sounds absurd! Weren’t the Pharisees the good guys? Didn’t the religious leaders work for God? How could things get so turned around to the point where they believed that Jesus (God in flesh) was the enemy of God?

For sure, the silence of heaven, when God did not speak for 400 hundred years, was difficult. The Jewish religious experts knew about this because the Talmud teaches, “After the last prophets Chaggai, Zechariah, and Malachi died, the Divine Spirit of prophetic revelation departed from the Jewish people.” And the last book in the Old Testament, Malachi, is the only prophetic book that ends not in deliverance but judgment; in fact, it ends with the word curse, Mal 4:5. One: God was not happy with the stubbornness of His people. Two: the promise to keep their end of the covenant would not be fulfilled.

In short, after 400 years, the Pharisees no longer remembered what God was like! And, the transition from protecting the ways of God to controlling people blinded them from seeing who God was. Jesus did not come in a cloud by day or fire by night. He came as an innocent, helpless baby, born in the most common circumstances of that day.

This is why some religious leaders are still plotting to kill today. They don’t recognize God working! They don’t understand what God is doing among us, so they desire to return to old, extracurricular practices and religious structures to protect what was once cherished, clear and simple. It was never Biblical, but it was an easy interpretation of the “law” or rules that suited the times of change.

The Pharisees were holding the line on certain Old Testament rules. This one was about rules regarding the sabbath. They wanted the people to stay within their designated boundaries and return to the “law” as they interpreted it. This new rabbi Jesus was a rebel! This lawbreaker would be treated like many traitors of God before him! This rabbi didn’t just break their rules, he encouraged others to join him. They must eliminate this rebellion against God! Matthew recorded this in 12:15, “But Jesus knew what they were planning. So he left that area, and many people followed him. He healed all the sick among them,”

Problem is, Jesus is God. What they called rebellion was in fact freedom. Who they saw as an enemy of God was in fact God’s son. What they called an insurrection would later be a resurrection!

Religion, religious practices and rules in addition to God’s principles are still used to control people and attempt to crush rebellion by using the Bible as the stick of correction. Jesus used this phrase so often, “you have heard it said,” referring to the strict, legal application of the Old Testament laws. But then Jesus, giving us the very character and heart of God, said, “but I say…”

We still have enemies of our soul within the community of faith and from without. God will do His work, bringing salvation and redemption to all humans. We should recognize His work, His character and stop plotting to kill the work of those who are being Jesus to our broken world. I know that no one would think they are outright plotting to kill Jesus today. But I do wonder about the motivations and movements of our spiritual and denominational leaders of the Church. Has God been silent and therefore they feel that they need to speak and act more vehemently against culture to protect God, His Church or His people? I don’t want to thwart God’s plans and ways of accomplishing His will by going backwards or religiously restricting us back to rules, rhythms and rituals that didn’t really work in the past. I want to hear God and move with Him.

Prayer

Dad,
I certainly do not want to be someone who knows you and kind of works for you (at least in the church community) yet becomes disconnected from you. I don’t want discouragement and frustration to fog or blur your purpose and plans for your Kingdom. I want to see your Spirit thrive and revive, heal and restore broken souls. I want to be a part of the revolution not try to constrain you working among us. Help us God, pour our your Holy Spirit once again.

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The law trap.

Reading Time: 4 minutes

“But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, “Look, your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath.” Matthew‬ ‭12‬:‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Any casual reader would come upon this story and think to themselves, what law? The religious leaders had made themselves into the religious police. Who protected and promoted God while He was silent? They did. Who protected the sacred texts and cultural ways of God when His people all but abandoned their faith? They did. They had earned the right to speak for God because they believed they were the only ones capable and righteous enough to do so! Thank you for your service Pharisees, but you missed one BIG truth. God didn’t need nor ask you to do that.

The job, the attitude, the title and authority… were all self appointed.

And because, they maintained the persona of “experts,” they spent much of their time being religious monitors for all of what was left of Israel. The average person must have loved and feared having them around. I say loved because they knew they were not as holy or righteous as they should be, so the Pharisees set the standard (unattainable as it was). Hated because they could never be as perfect or righteous as the religious leaders. They had to always be on guard against violating the religious laws and reaping the physical and cultural consequences of their behaviors. Imagine being under the thumb of TWO oppressive systems! One, the Roman oppression, filled with horrible treatment and atrocities, alone with massive taxation. Two, the religious oppression, also filled with glaring judgment and taxation.

The Pharisees delighted in catching and judging violations of “the law.” Granted “the law” had expanded far beyond the big 10 commandments and even beyond the cultural health codes that God had given to Israel to teach them and to help them survive the wild open plains of nomadic living. The religious legal code had swelled to over 613 codes and code violations that were supposed to “help” the righteous obey the original laws and codes God prescribed.

Matthew records one of many times the Pharisees “caught” rabbi Jesus or his followers “breaking” the law. Ah, but a Jesus wasn’t an ordinary rabbi. He wasn’t just trained to know the laws (and codes) of God. He was trained to actually KNOW God Himself. Who knows when Jesus knew who he really was. But, from a very young age (12), Jesus focused his life on one thing – he must be about his Father’s business! And he wasn’t taking about being a stonemason and carpenter.

Jesus was clearly capable of not only knowing God’s law, but perfectly comfortable talking about the intent of those laws and the inevitable “loopholes” that come with them. You see the Pharisees had forever found loopholes that served themselves and those loopholes were used to their advantage and the poor’s disadvantage. You don’t think this irritated God? Jesus had also found loopholes of mercy, which served the intent and principle of the law without violating it. Smart right? Yeah, righteously brilliant!

Jesus’ killer lines to address the Pharisees’ hearts are amazing. “Haven’t you read?” Oh snap, isn’t that the coolest. Oh, my friends, you must have missed the part where God allows for special circumstances 😳. Again, principles can accommodate special circumstances without violating the intent of a law. He quoted David’s and Moses’s behaviors that clearly violated the strict reading of the religious law they had been propagating. Jesus’ name dropping of high-level and beloved leaders was no accident! I love that Jesus even admitted, David “broke the law.” And Moses, “allowed” the priests to break the law as well. Touché Jesus.

But even still, Jesus wasn’t trying to one-up the Pharisees, shaming them (even though they deserved it) or to just win a religious argument (too often done today). His intent was to soften the hardened hearts of the religious leaders who might hear the truth and be set free. He told them exactly where the law leads and why it is so ineffective. Quoting Hosea 6:6, Jesus tells them, “I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.”

The law shows no mercy. The law has no capacity for mercy. In fact, the law is and was used to show the legal and moral reasoning of why judgment MUST be pronounced on all who break it! The system of justice shows no mercy because it is impervious to excuses, causes or reasons for violating it.

People say they want justice for all, but that can hardly be true. We don’t want true justice for all because that would mean true judgment and death for all. None are perfect – we know this instinctively! We just want weird forms of justice on our opinionated, loopholed, lopsided views! Jesus sets up the inescapable truth, mercy is the only way out and He is the only one to show it, live it and prove it by His death and resurrection. We can only get mercy through Christ.

Prayer

Dad,
I would not, do want, to be judge by the law! I am fine living and thriving under your mercy and grace! However, seeing my own sinfulness and inability to not just keep the Old Testament Law, but knowing that I am sadly still making sinful decisions keeps my judginess in check. Of course I glare at bad drivers and get angry at bad fathers or husbands, but I also know how much I have failed and how desperate I am for your grace. Thank your for the work of Jesus on the cross for my sin and His resurrection power in me today.

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Shocker! Not every miracle leads to heart-change.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“Then Jesus began to denounce the towns where he had done so many of his miracles, because they hadn’t repented of their sins and turned to God.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭20‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Wait, what? Matthew writes a hard truth, rarely talked about in Christendom. Not all miracles, not all kindnesses of mercy lead to change. Ok, this is wild as well. Jesus fully did miracles just for the sake of compassion. What people did after that was totally up to them! Jesus didn’t take back the miracle if they didn’t follow him, didn’t repent or even turn their hearts to God.

I came across a few, very few examples of this in the gospels. One was the man by the pools of Bethsaida. Jesus healed him, restoring 38 years of lost use of his legs. What did the guy do? He turned Jesus in to the religious police because Jesus had the audacity to point out the fact that his legs weren’t the real problem at all – his heart was bitter and hard! The other story is the nine lepers (skin diseased) guys that didn’t come back to even thank Jesus for giving them their life back.

Matthew, being Matthew, wasn’t going to let this sad fact slide. There were complete cities that experienced miracles, but no life change! I always thought that miracles had to be a key reason people turned to God. God heals, they are grateful and recognize who He is and boom – they believe and CHANGE. But no! Here, Matthew tells us that these cities had plenty of healings, demons cast out and miracles, but they happily took the blessing and just continued to live their lives ignoring their creator.

Here’s the cities listed: Korazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. I’m not sure what had happened in Tyre and Sidon, but everyone knows what happened in Sodom. At judgment day, Sodom would look like the Vatican comparatively. And, believe me, the papal city is nauseously, religiously evil.

Jesus speaks to the cities and asks, “will you be honored in heaven? No, you will go down to the place of the dead.” Whoa! This blows my mind. For one, I thought miracles were right up there with the desperate “promise-pleas.” You know, the ones where we say, “if you… save me… rescue me… get me out of this jamb… I promise to serve you forever.” I figured that miracles are what people SEEK to prove God’s existence! Not so much, maybe?

This is heartbreaking to know that God is willing to do the miracle, rescue the near-dead, and save someone from devastating consequences and still see no heart-change. I am fully aware that God, having foreknowledge of everything, sees when the miracle is spurned, the promise won’t be kept – and He still pours out His mercy!!! Should I conclude that miracles are NOT “THE” key to salvation and a changed life? I am just sadly frustrated with all of this. Our humanity is a puzzle that cannot be solved!

Prayer

Dad,
Wow. I never want to find myself spurning your grace and mercy. I know that my sin is blatant and ever before you, but I recognize the miracles and the patience you extend to me because of your love. I cannot take you or any blessing for granted. I am so very thankful. Apparently miracles are not the only means for people to turn their heart towards you. It still takes humility and repentance – which is so very hard for our stubborn human heart.

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Little experience, big expectations.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Jesus sent out the twelve apostles with these instructions: “Don’t go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, but only to the people of Israel—God’s lost sheep. Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!” Matthew‬ ‭10‬:‭5‬-‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This seems to be Jesus’ leadership development plan. We want more training, more time. Jesus wants us to have more faith.

Faith is more for than just things we’ve hoped for, it’s on the job training, it’s experience in action. It’s doing, not just thinking. It’s Ignatius Loyola’s mantra to “live with one foot raised.” It’s Home Depot’s slogan, “How doers get more done.” One person writes, “John’s Gospel never uses the noun (“faith, belief”) πίστις (pistis), but only the verb (“to believe; to trust”). πιστεύω (pisteuō). Faith in the gospel of John is a verb, not a noun.”

Here in Matthew, when Jesus said, “go,” no one misunderstands or confuses the word “go” with anything like, “think about going,” or “plan on going,” or “eventually, you should go.” That’s hilarious- go means go!

In Season 3 of the series, “The Chosen,” Dallas Jenkins has this scene in Episode 2, “two by two.” The episode captures the reality of this moment we read here. The disciples are all in shock, dumbfounded! Jesus gives the itinerary ToDo list, saying, “this is what you will be DOING.” Heal the sick. Raise the dead. Cure those with skin diseases. And….dramatic drumroll please, CAST OUT DEMONS. Everyone has questions. In The Chosen episode, he answers them. However, here in the text he does not answer them. Matthew just dutifully writes, “Jesus sent out.”

I remind myself, Jesus fully intended his followers to completely emulate everything he did himself through the power of the Holy Spirit. I know, we are all a little rusty at some of these commands, er… opportunities. Heal. Raise, Cast out. Whew. I need more training? For what? I need more time? Why? Oh, because in my mind, in my experience, I AM THE ONE EMPOWERING these commands. That is completely ridiculous. I can’t heal, raise or cast out anything. However, Matthew told me in 10:1, “Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness.” Of course I knew you and I would gravitate towards the excuse clause, “called his twelve disciples.” I am not, you are not, in the original twelve apostles group, so none of this applies to us, right? Sure, I can rest thinking that’s my out. But if I believe that as an excuse, it means all those other cool promises are only for the people Jesus originally spoke to back in ancient days. Even the blessings? Promises? Yeah, you’d have to scratch those as well.

When Jesus also said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father” John 14:12. He didn’t mean, really mean, anyone, right? Wrong. He did mean anyone who believes. Anyone who is a follower of Jesus. They have the authority of Christ, under the direction of the Holy Spirit to do the works of God here, now, on this planet. How much of the Holy Spirit do I need to be obedient? It’s not about quantity or quality of God’s presence in me. It’s about this verb, believe (pisteuō) like John wrote. It’s about the faith verb, not about faith noun! It’s about more doing, less waiting. Experience is an excellent instructor of faith. Let’s just believe and do.

Prayer

Dad,
This idea of DOING faith, verses just having faith, haunts me and excites me. I think big thoughts and sometimes even talk big faith, ah, but doing it… No wonder you sent them off in twos. I’ve been with friends when either their faith or mine is boosted when we have done things together. Alone, in doing faith, is no fun! However, if I can’t find a faith buddy, I so want to just do it on my own sometimes. I have got to quick thinking an pd writing about this and just DO IT. Help me. Thanks for your encouragement and patience.