Lessons from Matthew; Part 6

Chapter 24

v. 27 Just as the lighting flashes in the east and shines in the west, so will it be when the Son of Man comes.

v. 36 However, no-one knows the day or the hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.

v. 42 So you, too must keep watch! For you don't know what day the Lord is coming!

v. 44 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.

Matthew 25

v. 21 The Master was full of praise. "Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you more responsibilities."

v. 40 And the King will say, "I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you were doing it to me."

Matthew 26

v. 2 (Jesus) As you know, Passover begins in two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.

v. 7 While he (Jesus) was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of perfume and poured it over his head. 

v. 13 I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman's deed will be remembered and discussed.

v. 26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to his disciples saying, 'Take this and eat it, for this is my body.'

v. 27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, 'Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.'

v. 39 He went a little further and bowed with his face to the ground, praying : My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.

My Take

Jesus tells us how he will return.

We do not know when he will return, must we must stay ready. Our lives should reflect this readiness.

When we help the ones that are the least, we help Jesus. Which brings the question, "Who is the least?" Since we are not to judge, I believe we should help EVERYBODY! I have a loooong way to go. God, help me!

Jesus predicts his own death.

The act of the woman who poured the expensive perfume over Jesus' head is so important, her deed will be told wherever the Good News is preached. I wonder the reason. Could it be she gave all she had? Could it be she was obedient to God? Could it be she prepared Jesus' body for burial? Could it be for another reason?

Jesus explains Communion and its significance. The breaking of Jesus' body and the blood pouring from his body is the New Covenant between God and people. Now, people other than Jews can be saved in our belief in Jesus.

Jesus prayed tremendously hard! He knew what awaited him. In the end, he said 'yes' to God and 'yes' for us! THANK YOU, LORD JESUS FOR SAYING YES!!!

Lessons from Matthew; Part 5

Matthew 20
v. 16 So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.
v. 27 And whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave.

Matthew 21; Jesus' Triumphant Entry
v. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it.
v. 8 Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and cut branches from trees and spread them across the road.

Matthew 22
v. 22 His reply amazed them, and they went away.
v. 33 When the crowds heard him, they were astounded at his teachings.

Matthew 23
v. 12 But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
v. 23 ...justice, mercy, and faith...you should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.
v. 24 Blind guides! You strain your water so you won't accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!
v 28 speaks of inside is hypocrisy and lawlessness
v. Jesus, speaking of Jerusalem, wanted to...as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let me.
v. 39 ...blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord.

My Take:
Jesus is Lord! He fulfilled the scripture concerning the Messiah.
Jesus taught us how to live. We need to be humble. We should worship Jesus as God.
Let us be amazed and astounded at the teachings of Jesus!
Let us seek to show: justice, mercy, and faith!
Our teachers of God's Word, our pastors, and others should be blessed if they come in the name of the Lord.

Lessons from Matthew Part 4; Am I Listening?

Prelude: James 1:19; Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.

With this directive from God, let it serve as the backdrop for the following lessons from Matthew.

Matthew 16:26a; And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your soul?
How much time, money, focus, and effort to we spend on things of this world? If we are not careful, we will seek to win something of this world. God has called us to seek Him first. to love Him above all else. to keep our focus on Him.
So why do we live like we do as garden variety American Christians? Let's refocus on God and not the world.

Matthew 17:26b; ...if you have the faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, move from here to there and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.
Let me recommend the book Mead Mountain by B K Del. It might give you a fresh look at this verse.

Matthew 18:12; If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won't he leave the ninety-nine others on the hill and go out to search for the one that is lost.
I need no other illustration of God's love for me. just me. and just you!

Matthew 19:25; The disciples were astounded. "Then who in the world can be saved?" they asked.
Matthew 19:26; Jesus looked at them intently and said, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.
Am I listening? It is not the church! It is not the preacher! It is not the type of songs at Worship!
It is God and God alone who saves!!

Lessons from Matthew Part 3; Are You a Water-Walker?

Matthew 14 and 15 certainly challenges us to have faith over fear, with the most dramatic part of Peter walking on the water after he saw Jesus being a water-walker.

The underlining faith question is do we believe God's word. This is applicable today as it was 2000 years ago. With that said, I direct your attention to Jesus' answer of what to do about feeding the 5000 ((men) I predict there were about 12,000 to 15,000 people in all, which is easily the size of Vidalia.)
In Matthew 14:16, Jesus tells the disciples, "You feed them." This is a major call to faith. I wonder if they even considered Jesus' response. But there was a dab of consideration.
Matthew 14:17 reads  But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish. Hmmm. If the disciples were thinking earthly, this statement would not have been made. I mean, that might feed 5....Nah, not even 5! But 5000?!

Lesson 1; God uses what we have. Matthew 14:18; Jesus says, "Bring them here." He went on to bless the food, feed the 5,000 (or 12,000 to 15,000). There were 12 baskets left over.
So, what little do you have that God can use? That He can multiply? That He can miraclize?

Seven verses later, Matthew 14:25, About 3 AM, Jesus came toward them, walking on the water.
Peter sees the Water-Walker and he wants to become one! (Matt 14:28)
Sure enough in verse 29, Peter walked on the water! Uh oh! Verse 30; But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. "Save me, Lord!" he shouted. Verse 31; Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. "You have so little faith," Jesus said. "Why did you doubt me?"

Lesson 2; Keep our eyes on Jesus and not the strong winds and waves! Have complete faith in Jesus. Wow! Peter is a water-walker! That took a lot of faith! There are just a few times that I have had water-walking faith. But, when I did, there was NO doubting God! What happened to make Peter sink? He allowed himself to become afraid because he trusted the power of the wind and waves more than the power of Jesus? Have you ever done that? You are not alone. However, Jesus calls us to have water-walking faith---trust God more than His creation!!

Chapter 15 reveals a lady of great faith! of persistent faith!
Matthew 15:27; She replied, "That's true Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fell beneath their master's table."
Matthew 15:28; "Dear woman," Jesus said to her, "Your faith is great. Your request is granted." And instantly her daughter was healed.

Lesson 3; Have humble but persistent faith! This woman would not let it go! We should also continue to seek God as she did.

One chapter later from the question of how to feed the 5,000,  the disciples are faced with almost the same dilemma.
Matthew 34-38 There are 4,000 (men) to feed. What should they do? They produce seven loaves and a few fish. Jesus blesses the food and feeds them all!
Lesson 4; When Jesus teaches you a lesson, be a learner and faithful follower.

How can I have this water-walking, willing to give what I have, humble and persistent, good-learner and faithful follower...type of faith?!
We must allow God to change our hearts. After Jesus was questioned about His disciples not following the age-old tradition of washing their hands, here are key elements of His response.
Matthew 15:18; These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
Matthew 15:19; Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.
Matthew 15:16; "Don't you understand yet?" Jesus asked. 17. Anything you eat, passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. 18. But the words you speak come from the heart--that's what defiles you. 19. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. 20. These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you."

Lesson 5; Obey God over People If you are faced with a conflict of God's command and a person's command, always go with God. No matter the cost! God will provide for you!!

Lessons from Matthew; Part 2; The Kingdom of Heaven

In Matthew, Chapter 13, Jesus illustrates the tremendous importance of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Illustration 1
Verse 22 is part of the Parable of the Farmer sowing Seeds.
"The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God's Word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced."
* I fight being a worry wart! God does not approve of worrying. As a matter of fact, our faith in God can be wrecked if we allow worry to be our god.
* So often many of us think if we could get a large sum of cash, we would be set for life. I think this speaks to the inward struggle of we being in control or allowing God to be in control.
We must desire God above all else, and we must obey Him. Lord, have mercy and help me!!

Illustration 2
Verse 44
"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field."
* Let us be sold-out Christians to our Lord Jesus!

Illustration 3
Verse 31
"Here is another illustration Jesus used: The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches."
* First, don't ignore the small requests God makes of us. Big stuff can happen!
* Next, let us not look down on anyone! The people society deems as small, may be God's giants!

'86

Last Saturday, Kentucky defeated Florida in a football game for the first time since 1986! This got me to thinking about the state of the world in '86.

The World
* The Soviet Union was 5 years away from dissolving.
* The Berlin Wall was still there!

The Nation
* Reagan was president.
* We were in the middle of a decade that saw no war or depression for the USA. This would be the only such decade from the first decade of the 20th century through today.

The State
* The Braves were still terrible.
* The Hawks were good.
* The Falcons had a great start, only to end average.
* Georgia Southern was about to win its second 1AA National Title
* Georgia was feeling the post-Hershel years. Vince was about to hang up his coaching shoes.

Me
* I was still preparing to be a teacher.
* I was yet to coach a VRD All-Star Softball Team, a VHS Sport, or a JRT Sport
* I was living in my seventh residence of the decade, Brookington Apartments

What do you remember about that time period?

Lesson from Matthew; Part 1

My last blog spoke of fighting doubts about the Christian faith. It certainly is worth the fight! God wants us to trust him, obey him, and love him. I believe we must continually seek God. Seek his face. Seek his will. Seek his love. Seek his presence.

We doubt-fighters have a famous teammate, found in Matthew 11. His name is John the Baptist.
In verse 3...While in prison, John sent his disciples to ask Jesus, "Are you the Messiah we've been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?"

This trips me out! Earlier, John declared that Jesus was the Lamb of God! He yelled it. I believe he was sure of it because God, the Father had revealed it to him. So how could he doubt.

Then, I see my spiritual reflection in the mirror. After God has saved me. Baptized me with his Holy Spirit. Healed me. Allowed me to know his sweet presence. Fought spiritual battles for me. Given me joy! Used me to witness for him. I still sometimes fight doubts. How can it be?!

As we look at verse 4, Jesus utters these words to John's disciples. This is a message to John. He may have texted him if it were our day. "...tell him--the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor."

I believe John received these words prayerfully. With his knowledge of the Old Testament, John had to know this was the affirmation he sought. Maybe he was afraid in that prison and he needed these words to encourage his withering faith.

Related lessons from Matthew 11...
Verse 19: But wisdom is shown to be right by its results.
Verse 20: We need to repent and turn to God. (God's message that John preached.)
Verse 25...revealed these thing to the childlike
Verse 28: Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." (Hopefully, Jesus' words gave John rest, because he would never leave that prison.)
Verse 29: Jesus said, "I am humble and gentle in soul." (As we seek God, I charge us to remember this.)

GLORY be to God!!! He has made us a little lower than the angels! He has put us in charge of all creation. O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! (Psalm 8)