Matthew 17:9-13

Matthew 17:9-13

And while they were coming down out of the mountain, Jesus commanded them while saying, “You all should speak to no one about the vision until the Son of Man should be raised out of the dead.”  And the disciples asked Him while saying, “Therefore, why do the scribes say that it is necessary for Elijah to come first?”  And the one who answered said, “In one case Elijah comes and will cause restoration in all things.  But in another case I say to you all that Elijah already came and they did not recognize him and they did in him whatever they desired.  In this same way the Son of Man is also about to suffer under them.  Then the disciples understood that He said this to them regarding John the Baptizer.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

I think it important to once more talk about why Jesus would tell the disciples to say nothing.  Of course, the standard answer is always present.  The more people talk about Him and the supernatural things happening around Him, the more likely the moment of His death advances.  Jesus wants to die on God’s timing, not mankind’s timing.  However, I think there is a second reason here.  As the death of Jesus draws more and more near, His disciples are also more and more in jeopardy.  The disciples will face their own persecution; we know that much from the book of Acts.  But Jesus wants to make sure that they have as much time as possible to prepare and make sure their identity is coming from the Father before the time of persecution falls upon them.

What do you think of Jesus’ motives here?  What does this tell us about our need as human beings to know the proper time to speak and the proper time to not speak?

Second Thought:

We’ve heard about the Hebrew belief that Elijah will come prior to God’s Messiah, but I don’t think I’ve ever referenced from where that belief comes.  If you look at Malachi 4:5-6 you will see the main verse from which this belief is derived.  These are essentially the last words of the Hebrew Scriptures.  God promises that prior to the great Day of Judgment that He will send Elijah again in order to prepare the people.  In other words, the Hebrew people are looking for Elijah to come and prepare the way of God’s Messiah to make sure that anyone who wants to listen can be ready for the message of Christ.

What does it mean to you that this promise is the last words of the Hebrew Scriptures?  Do you think that there is importance upon this idea because it is at the end of the Old Testament?  Do you think that there is one Elijah who comes or does God said “many” Elijahs into the world to prepare all people in all times in all places? (See verses 11-12)  In this case, what people were the Elijahs that God sent into your life to prepare your heart for Christ?

Third Thought:

Of course, the Bible is clear that in the specific context of the disciples that the Elijah who was sent before Christ was in fact John the Baptizer.  John was tasked with preparing the people in the time of Christ’s physical coming so that they would be ready to hear the message.  He told people to repent.  He told them that someone more powerful than him was coming.  He is the one who pointed to Christ first, and he pointed to Christ’s actual physical coming to earth.  In this same manner, John the Baptizer sets a great mold for us to step into.  We are not Christ to the people around us.  But we can point to the true Christ.  We can be like John the Baptizer and point people to God’s grace in Christ and our need to repent of our sinfulness.

What do you think it was like for John the Baptizer to come before Christ and point people with confidence to Christ?  Do you think that you can follow in His example knowing that Christ did come and He did die and He did extend God’s grace to us?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 17:14-21

Matthew 17:5-8

Matthew 17:5-8

While He was still speaking, behold!  A radiant cloud overshadowed them.  And behold!  A voice, while speaking out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I took pleasure.  Listen to Him.”  And while the disciples listened they fell down upon their face and were being extremely frightened.  And Jesus drew near, and after touching them He said, “Be raised up and do not fear.”  And after lifting up their eyes they saw no one except only Jesus Himself.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Behold!  Twice Matthew uses this term to make sure we pay attention.  God is doing something extraordinary here.  A radiant cloud appears and then a voice comes out of the cloud.  Think back to another point in Israel’s history where a cloud was rather important.  Remember the Exodus story?  For 40 years God dwelled among the people in the cloud.  God led them when the cloud moved.  When the cloud settled the people would stop, assemble the tabernacle, and the cloud would enter the Holy of Holies.  Let’s not forget that Jesus’ name in the Aramaic is Yeshua, which is actually the name Joshua.  God led Him people out of Egypt by a cloud and through Joshua His people came into a literal Promised Land.  Now one more we have a cloud guiding God’s people and we have a spiritual Joshua getting ready to lead God’s people into a spiritual Promised Land.  The foreshadowing is incredible!

Have you ever connected this story with the Exodus story before?  Why is it a neat connection to make with respect to what God is doing in both stories?

Second Thought:

The message from the cloud is extremely important.  As we did yesterday, let’s not forget the context.  Jesus asks the disciples who He is.  They confess that He is God’s Messiah.  Jesus begins to clearly teach them that as God’s Messiah, He must go to die.  They – through Peter – reject that message.  In the very next story we hear God the Father reinforce that Jesus is correct in what He’s doing.  The transfiguration story is done immediately after Jesus begins to teach the disciples clearly about the crucifixion because from a human perspective the plan sounds so crazy.  What human being would ever consider a plan in which Jesus goes to Jerusalem to die a good thing!  In hindsight, of course, we realize it is an awesome thing.  But before it happened, Jesus’ plan had to sound absolutely ludicrous.  Thus, God comes to Jesus after sending Moses and Elijah to Jesus to make sure that the disciples understand.  This is God’s plan.  Jesus is following the plan.  It’s a crazy plan from a human perspective, but from God’s plan it is the most loving thing that He could ever do.

Do you think that it was important for the disciples to hear this reinforcement?  Do you think that this reinforcement was important to the disciples for their whole lives?

Third Thought:

Once more we see Jesus come when He is needed.  The three disciples fall down, afraid.  The presence of the Father has never been nearer in their life and they respond as we all should when God draws near.  They collapse in fear realizing that at this moment they are small and insignificant.  Yet, this is precisely the moment that Christ demonstrates what Christ came to do.  He goes to them.  He touches them.  And He causes them to be able to stand.  Isn’t that what He does for all of us?  Who among us can stand upon our own righteousness in the presence of God?  But because of Christ, we will all be able to stand.

How does this lesson make you appreciate the work of Christ?  When you think of Christ’s work, do you think of it in the broad perspective of all humanity or the personal perspective of how it changes your specific life?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 17:9-13

Matthew 17:1-4

Matthew 17:1-4

And after six days Jesus takes Peter and James and John his brother and leads them into a high mountain to be by themselves.  And He was being changed in appearance in their presence and His face shone as the sun and His garments became white as light.  And behold!  Moses and Elijah was being seen by them while talking together with Him.  And after answering Peter said to Jesus, “It is good for us to be here.  If you desire, we will make here three tents: one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Make sure to understand the theological context of this story.  Moses and Elijah are in this story for one specific reason.  Moses is the law-giver.  He is the one who received the Law from God.  Elijah is considered the greatest of all the prophets – even though no book of the Bible bears his name as does Isaiah of Jeremiah or some of the Minor Prophets.  Therefore, what we can see happening here is that the representatives of the Law and the Prophets are symbolically giving their approval of what is about to happen to Jesus.  They are affirming that Jesus is on the right path.  They are affirming that Jesus’ ministry and His upcoming death are that to which they point.  This is a very significant passage as it pertains to Jesus’ fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Why is it important to see Jesus as fulfilling the Hebrew Scriptures?  How does the appearance of Elijah and Moses add credibility to Jesus’ testimony and ministry?

Second Thought:

We get a great glimpse of Peter’s reaction.  Peter latches onto this event.  Remember that in the immediately prior story we heard Peter denounce Jesus’ testimony about going on to Jerusalem to die.  Peter rejected that truth and here we see him latch onto this experience.  This shows the humanity that is found within us all.  We all want to deny that life will have its hard and dark moments.  We all want to hang onto the moments of joy and glory.  It is just our nature.

If you were Peter, would you have done anything differently?  If you saw Jesus’ change and then saw the appearance of Moses and Elijah, would you want to stay in that moment for as long as possible?

Third Thought:

As an interesting note of interpretation, in the prior passage we heard Jesus speak that some among the disciples would not taste death until the saw the Son on Man coming in His Kingdom.  Many theologians point to this story – which interestingly appears in the very next section of the Gospel – as fulfillment of Jesus’ promise.   Here we see Jesus is changed.  Literally the Greek word is metamorphoomai (μεταμορφόομαι).  This is the root word for our English word metamorphosis.  It is in this moment that we see Jesus changed from glory to glory.  Jesus had set aside His heavenly glory to come to earth.  But in this moment Peter, James, and John are the privileged few who get to see Jesus coming in the glory of His Kingdom.

What is Jesus’ kingdom to you?  What does it mean to you that Jesus died on the cross after this event?  How does this point to the fact that God is about sacrificial love, not domination?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 17:5-8

Matthew 16:24-28

Matthew 16:24-28

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and let him lift up and carry his cross and let him follow me.  For whoever should desire to save his life will lose it.  But whoever should lose his life because of me will find it.  For what will a man be accomplished in if he should gain the whole world but he should be suffering the loss of his soul?  Or, what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father with His angels.  And then He will recompense each according to his deeds.  Amen, I say to you that some are the ones who have stood here should surely not experience death until they should see the Son of Man who comes in His kingdom.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus tells us that the disciple should do three things in this passage.  They are not easy concepts to hear:

1. Deny himself.  Denial means giving something up.  What does Jesus tell us to give up?  Jesus tells us to give up ourselves.  We are to give up our earthly desires and our worldly pursuits.
2. We are to lift up and carry our cross.  Crosses are used to make sacrifices.  In other words, the disciple who desires to follow Jesus lives a life of sacrifice.  This is the natural next step after we deny ourselves.
3. Finally, the disciple follows Christ.  Once we give up ourselves we have to do something.  If we aren’t pursuing our own agenda, we need to pursue something.  Thus, we pursue Christ.  We follow Him.

How good are you at denying yourself?  Do you think you can live sacrificially if you don’t deny yourself?  Do you think you can say that you are actually following Christ if you don’t deny yourself and live sacrificially?

Second Thought:

Then we hear another very famous passage.  “What is accomplished by gaining the whole world if we lose our very soul?  What is the point of gaining every temporal thing that will eventually fade away?  What in this world can give us happiness forever?  Jesus tells us this because He knows that amount of challenge that He just gave in the opening sentence of this passage.  When confronted with the difficulty of Jesus’ opening challenge, it would be easy to say, “I can’t do that.”  But the deeper truth is that nothing else is worth pursuing!  Even if we cannot completely accomplish complete self-denial, self-sacrifice, and following Christ there is no other pursuit that has the same level of payoff!

Do you find the challenge in the first thought deep and difficult?  Is there anything worth pursuing other than following Christ?

Third Thought:

Then, Jesus adds a promise.  He is coming back.  Jesus is going to put God’s power on display.  Jesus is going to come and hand out reward for those who follow Him.  Of course none of us can obey fully.  We are sinful!  Neither can we follow at all without His help.  But even still, He is coming back.  He is coming to give each of us the recompense that our following Him will earn.  What a wonderful promise!

Do you hear the promise in Jesus’ words?  Why is this promise necessary considering the level of challenge that Jesus uses to open this passage? 

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 17:1-4

Matthew 16:21-23

Matthew 16:21-23

From that time Jesus began to make it clear to His disciples that it is necessary for Him to go into Jerusalem and to suffer much from the elders and the high priests and scribes and to be killed and to be raised up on the third day.  And after Peter took Him aside he began to rebuke Him while saying, “May God be merciful to you, Lord!  This will surely not be for you!”  But the one who turned said to Peter, “Depart behind me, Satan!  You are my stumbling block because you do not fix your attention upon the things of God but rather the things of mankind.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

We often miss a very important word here in this passage because we rush to the interaction between Peter and Jesus.  The Bible tells us that it is at this time that Jesus began to make things clear.  Here with Jesus’ disciples He begins to get very clear and very bold in His proclamation.  He tells them that He is going to Jerusalem.  He tells them that He is going to suffer.  He even tells them that He is going to die.  He tells them that He is going to be raised up on the third day.  But it is at this point that Jesus becomes very clear.  When the path of God becomes short and inevitable, there is no reason to do anything except be pointed and blunt and clear.

Have you ever been in a very serious time in your life for change?  Why is it easiest to be blunt and honest in such times?  Why would Jesus want to be especially clear at this point in His ministry?

Second Thought:

As we now turn to Peter’s reply, let’s look at how he begins.  We often lose this expression and focus on how he ends.  But Peter begins by saying, “May God be merciful to you, Lord!”  Notice that Peter is speaking because he wants to see Jesus receive mercy.  Peter isn’t speaking because he wants to counter God’s plan; Peter is speaking because He wants to see mercy come to a person that he loves.  He doesn’t want to see the person he loves suffer.  His motivation here is kind and gentle-hearted.  However, he is still wrong.  We see here that sometimes even in seeking mercy we find ourselves contrary to God’s will.  There is a time and a place for mercy.  In fact, I would think that it is more often than not a time of mercy.  However, there are times when the hard and difficult is the road God wants us to walk.  What would Job’s story be without the hardship of Satan’s test?  What would Jesus’ ministry be without His death and resurrection?  What would Paul’s witness be without the persecution, imprisonments, shipwrecks, and stoning?  Often our message is strongest when like Christ we endure and conquer the worst that the world can throw at us.  This is the point Peter misses when he mistakenly puts mercy above God’s will.

Do you ever put mercy above God’s will?  Why is this an easy mistake to make – especially regarding people we care deeply about?

Third Thought:

Jesus’ rebuke of Peter makes this point especially clear.  Look at what Jesus tells Peter about his words.  He’s not focused on God’s will.  He’s focused on his own desires.  he’s focused on keeping Jesus from pain and suffering.  But what Peter doesn’t recognize is that he has also placed himself in between Jesus and God’s plan for bringing salvation to the world.  So Jesus rebukes Peter.  In fact, Jesus even calls Peter Satan because in this moment Peter is a stumbling block to Him!  Can you imagine such a comment?  What we see here is that if we are going to be in God’s will we need to focus on Him and His will rather than what we assume should be His will.  There’s nothing wrong with wanting the best for people – until it causes us to focus on our own desire and lose sight of what God is doing in the world.  We need to have our focus on God.

Where is your focus?  Have you ever lost for focus for what seemed like good reasons?  What can you do in your life to maintain your focus on God’s hand at work in the world around you?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 16:24-28

Matthew 16:17-20

Matthew 16:17-20

And after Jesus answered He said to him, “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but rather my Father who is in heaven.  And I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail over it.  I will give to you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.  And that which you should bind upon the earth will be having been bound in heaven.  And that which you should unbind will be having been unbound in heaven.  Then He commanded the disciples in order that they should tell nobody that He is the Christ.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Let’s look at Jesus’ response to Simon’s proclamation.  Jesus calls Simon blessed.  But look at the reason.  Simon isn’t blessed because He answered the question correctly.  Peter isn’t praised because he’s smart and he’s figured it out.  Peter is blessed because the Father has worked through him and Simon has allowed himself to be an instrument in God’s hands.  Jesus doesn’t praise Peter’s logic, ability to reason, or his skill at drawing conclusions.  Jesus praises that the Father spoke to Peter and Peter listened!  Jesus is praising Peter’s ability to follow the Father’s lead!

Do you see how Peter’s submission is what Jesus is praising here?  Why is it important to see that submission to the Father leads to praise?

Second Thought:

Let’s talk about the rock upon which Peter builds the church.  Jesus says, “Upon this rock I will build my church.”  Jesus doesn’t say “upon you” or “upon him.”  Jesus is speaking about the truth that Peter has declared.  The foundation of Christ’s church is not Peter but the words that came from the Father!  If you think about it, this should make much more sense than the perspective that Jesus is building the church upon Peter.  The foundation of the church is that Jesus is God’s Messiah.  The foundation of the church is that Christ came to finish God’s work.  This is that which we are called to come and submit.

What is your foundation?  What is the truth upon which your life is built?  Is Christ your Messiah?

Third Thought:

Now we turn to the keys.  There are many interpretations of this passage.  I personally believe to take the word key quite literally.  Keys are used to open things that are formerly unopened.  Keys open doors.  Keys open vaults.  So Jesus turns to Peter and says, “I give you the keys to the kingdom.  Whatever you should bind has remained bound and whatever you should unbind is having been unbound.”  Think about what Peter does in Acts.  Peter preaches to the Jews.  Then, after Philip does ministry among the Samaritans, Peter and John go and give the Holy Spirit to the Samaritans.  Peter is also present when the first Gentile is observed to have the Holy Spirit.  In other words, Peter is the one who symbolically is opening the door!  Peter is there as the Gospel spreads out from Judaism into the Samaritans and then into the whole world.  Jesus is not talking about church doctrine and dogma here – the last thing we need is another Law for humanity to hold people to.  Jesus is talking about the path of opening up the door to heaven in people’s lives.  And isn’t that what we are each supposed to be about?

What keys has Christ given to you?  Whose lives can you speak into and open up heaven within their being?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 16:21-23

Matthew 16:13-16

Matthew 16:13-16

And after Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples while saying, “Who does mankind say the Son of Man is to be?”  And they said, “In one case, John the Baptist.  In another case Elijah.  In another case Jeremiah or one of the prophets.  He said to them, “And you all, who do you all say that I am?”  And after Simon Peter answered He said, “You are Christ, the Son of the God who lives.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Once more we see Jesus withdrawing.  Caesarea Philippi was predominantly a Gentile region.  The time of Jesus’ crucifixion is growing steadily closer and He needed to have some personal time with His disciples.  They needed some time to be taught specific lessons.  They needed to have time to grow confident in what they believe.  They needed to have some time to ask questions.  Jesus knows that all of this needs to happen and as we’ve seen over the last week it doesn’t happen when Jesus is anywhere that the Pharisees and other religious leaders can reach Him.  So we see Jesus escaping for the sake of His disciples.

What can we learn about Jesus’ desire to have personal time with His disciples?  What does this tell us about Jesus’ desire to have them prepared for ministry?

Second Thought:

Jesus offers us a perspective on the world.  Of course, when Jesus asks who mankind says that He is, we should understand that the question is being asked primarily about Jews.  After all, why reason would most Gentiles at this time have to care about God’s Messiah?  Furthermore, what would Jesus’ disciples know of the Gentile answer to this question?  Thus Jesus asks the disciples what the Jews around Him think.  Here is the point of Jesus’ question.  After several years of ministry, does anyone even understand?  The people understood that Jesus was powerful.   By comparing him to Elijah and Jeremiah they were assenting to Jesus’ power and the fact that He was from God.  But Elijah and Jeremiah were forerunner to God’s Messiah.  The people saw Him as a prophet.  They saw Him as a teacher come from God.  But they did not see Him as God’s Messiah.  They were still looking for a Messiah that looked more like the Messiah they were expecting rather than the Messiah God desired to send.

Who is Jesus to you?  Are you open to Him or are you still trying to fashion Him to fit in your image?

Third Thought:

 However, Peter gets it – and by assumption and association we can say that the Twelve get it to some degree.  Peter says that Jesus is the Christ.  In Greek the word Christ is Christos (Χριστός).  It is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word for anointed one, which is what the Hebrew people used to speak about the Messiah.  Peter acknowledges that Jesus is the Christ.  he is the Messiah.  Now, that doesn’t mean that Peter understands what God sent Jesus to do.  We’ll see over the next few days just how much Peter doesn’t get about what God is doing.  But even though Peter doesn’t get what God is doing in Jesus with respect to crucifixion and salvation, Peter does know that Jesus is the Messiah.  We don’t have to know the full mind of God to believe that God is at work and then follow His hand at work.

Is Jesus your Messiah?  How do you live that truth out to the world?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 16:17-20

Matthew 16:5-12

Matthew 16:5-12

And after the disciples came into the other side, they forgot to take bread.  And Jesus said to them, “See and be on the lookout from the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”  And they were reasoning among themselves while saying that, “We did not take any bread.”  But after Jesus knew this He said, “Why do you reason among yourselves, you ones of little faith, you ones that have no bread.  Do you all not yet understand?  Neither do you remember the five loaves of bread of the five thousand and how many baskets you all took up?  Neither do you remember the seven loaves of bread and how many hampers you all took up?  How do you all not understand that I did not speak to you all regarding bread?  And be on the lookout from the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”  Then they understood that He did not say to be on the lookout from the leaven of the bread, but from the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Let’s look for a second at what Jesus chastises the disciples about.  Look carefully at His words.  He says, “Why do you reason among yourselves?”  Jesus doesn’t have an issue with lack of understanding.  His disciples seldom get anything the first time around.  They certainly don’t understand the big things like His crucifixion until it is explained in hind-sight.  What Jesus seems to take issue against the disciples is the fact that they are keeping their confusion to themselves.  Rather than coming to Jesus, admitting that they don’t understand, asking for help, and getting the help that they need the disciples try to reason it out so that they don’t have to admit to Jesus that they are confused.  This shows self-centered thought.  This shows that in this instance the disciples care more about how they appear than actually knowing the truth.  This is actually quite common among human beings.

Have you ever been too embarrassed to get the help you need?  Why can our own selfish opinion about our appearance of intelligence actually get in the way of our discipleship?

Second Thought:

As long as Jesus is correcting the disciples, Jesus reminds them a simple truth.  The disciples shouldn’t be worried about temporal food.  At the very least, the disciples should realize that Jesus is not concerned about temporal food.  If Jesus can feed multiple thousands of people with what seems like an incredibly small amount of food, then why would Jesus be concerned about feeding Himself and His disciples?  Jesus shows the disciples that they not only missed the boat on what Jesus was saying, they missed the boat on remembering His perspective, too!

Do you ever mistake God’s perspective?  Do you ever convince yourself that God really cares about temporal things more than He does?  Why do we as human beings convince ourselves that God cares about the temporal things more than the eternal things?

Third Thought:

What Jesus actually is talking about is the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.  Remember that they came out to trap Him.  They had just come out to try and take some powerful demonstration from God and twist it against Him.  Jesus tells His disciples to beware of this kind of thinking in addition to being on the lookout against this kind of people.  This is sound advice even into today’s culture.  Even in today’s culture we have people who are willing to take God’s action and twist it against God’s people.

Where in your life do you know that you need to heed Jesus’ advice?  Who are the people around you who look to squash what God is doing in you?  Are you ever one of those people who look to take God’s work and turn it against the person doing the work? 

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 16:13-16

Matthew 16:1-4

Matthew 16:1-4

And after the Pharisees and Sadducees drew near while attempting to entrap Him in a mistake, they requested for Him to show a sign out of heaven for them.  And the one who answered them said, “After becoming evening you all say, ‘Fair weather, for the heaven is red.’ And early in the morning you all say, ‘Stormy weather today, for the heaven is red while becoming dark.’  On one hand you all know to judge the appearance of heaven.  But on the other hand, are you all not powerful enough to judge the signs of the time?  An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign.  And a sign will not be given to it except the sign of Jonah.”  And while leaving them, He went away.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

The Pharisees and Sadducees come to Jesus and demand a sign.  They just want Him to do something amazing so that they can pick it apart and show why Jesus can’t be the Son of God.  They aren’t looking for the power of God to be put on display in their life.  They are looking for a way to denounce Jesus according to their own human logic and reasoning.  How often does this happen in the world today – and how often I am even guilty of this myself!  We see the power of God on display, but because it is coming from a source we don’t like we seek to discredit the act.

Are you guilty of trying to discredit God’s power put on display through someone that you don’t think should be wielding God’s power?  Why is humanity like this?

Second Thought:

Using this thought, we can move forward to another deeper thought.  What is the purpose of signs?  Signs don’t usually change people’s minds.  Signs simply verify what a person already presupposes.  For example, if a faithful person sees Jesus healing someone of a disease, it will be proof in their eyes that Jesus is who He says He is.  But if someone who despises sees Jesus heal someone of a disease, it becomes proof that Jesus is in league with Satan.  For this very case, see Matthew 12:22-32; we studied it not too long ago on this blog.  But Jesus’ point here is that people see things and those things merely confirm what they already know.  A red sky at night is good.  A red sky in the morning is bad.  We know that.  So when we see a red sky, we see it as confirmation of what we already believe.  This is an important thought to realize.  we as human beings like to think that if God’s power was on display more often and miracles were more common then more people would believe in God and the world would be a better place.  But we fail to remember the human element.  Most people will take external input and process it in their head in such a way as to support their presuppositions.  You don’t change hearts by external revelations of power.  You change hearts by modeling why a changed heart leads to a better life.  You don’t make Christians by performing miracles.  You make Christians through discipleship.

Have you ever wish for God’s power to be on display more often?  After reading Jesus’ reaction to a request for more miraculous deeds, do you think more miracles would actually help anything?

Third Thought:

The last sentence is pretty profound.  Jesus leaves them.  He just flat out leaves them.  They came to harm Him.  They came to trap Him.  They came with evil intent, so Jesus leaves.  He doesn’t stick around and try to win them in debate.  He doesn’t stick around to try and win them over through love.  He leaves them and moves on to a people who do want to learn and who are willing to listen.

Have you ever been guilted into doing something for someone because another person tried to convince you that “God doesn’t leave anyone?”  How can God always be present for anyone who turns to Him yet at the same time leave people who aren’t ready in order to focus upon the ones who are?  How can you mimic this quality in your life?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 16:5-12

Matthew 15:35-39

Matthew 15:35-39

And after commanding the crowd to sit down upon the earth to eat, He took the seven loaves of bread and the fish and after giving thanks He broke them and gave them to the disciples.  And the disciples gave them to the crowd.  And all ate and were being satisfied.  And they picked up that which was in abundance of the pieces – seven full baskets.  And the ones who ate were four thousand men in addition to women and children.  And after dismissing the crowds He got into a boat and went into the region of Magadan.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Let’s talk apologetics today.  There are many scholars that want to make the feeding of the 5,000 into the same story as the feeding of the 4,000.  However, in the few verses that make up the story, we have the following differences:

• 5,000 vs. 4,000
• Jews in one story vs. Gentiles in the other
• The context of the 5,000 was preaching vs. the context of the 4,000 was public healing
• 5 loaves/2 fish vs. 7 loaves/few fish
• 12 baskets - kophinos (κόφινος) vs. 7 hampers – spuris (σπυρίς)
• Crowd with Jesus 1 day vs. crowd with Jesus 3 days
• Springtime (sat upon grass) vs. summer (sat upon ground)
• People respond by trying to make Jesus king vs. virtually no greater public response

In just a matter of 8-10 verses we have 8 major differences.  In fact, we have more different in this story than we have the same.  To make these stories the same is to miss God’s hand at work.  Jesus performed multiple signs of God’s power.  Jesus puts the power of God on display to Jews and Gentiles.  Jesus ministered any time of the year.  People respond to Jesus in different ways.  To teach that these stories are the same story and somehow got split into different stories is to miss much of what God has to say through their differences!

How does this comparison remind us to take God’s Word at face value?  Why do we get into trouble when we try to outthink God’s Word?

Second Thought:

I’d like to repeat a thought we uncovered during the feeding of the 5,000.  All the people were fed.  All the people were satisfied.  God’s power does not disappoint.  God’s power is enough for me.  If we rest in God’s hands and truly embrace God’s ways, He is enough.  There is satisfaction found in God unlike any other satisfaction found in the world.

Are you satisfied?  Do you believe God is enough for you?

Third Thought:

I’d like to return to the last bullet point in the first thought.  There is practically no response to Jesus miracle here.  Don’t get me wrong.  4,000 people came out to bring crippled people to Jesus.  They came out to Jesus.  The came to see the healings.  They came to be healed.  They came to be a part of an incredible display of God’s power.  But even after all of these incredible things we don’t see an incredible response.  We don’t see the disciples having to linger to guide these newfound new disciples.  Sometimes we don’t always see the fruit of God’s power up front.  Often even in the moments of God’s crazy power on display people are still timid and need to process what they’ve seen and heard.  Even when the Son of God heals crippled people and feeds a multitude from 7 loaves of bread people need time before responding.

Why do we like to think people should respond immediately?  In your life, how quick are you to respond in the moment?  Why is it best to not only process new events but also give people time to process them?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 16:1-4

Matthew 15:32-34

Matthew 15:32-34

And after Jesus called His disciples He said, “I have compassion upon the crowd, because they have already remained by me three days and they have nothing that they should eat.  And I do not desire to dismiss them hungry, lest they should become weary in the road.”  And the disciples say to Him, “From where in this wilderness is there so much bread for us so as to satisfy such a great crowd?”  And Jesus says to them, “How much bread do you have?”  And they said, “Seven.  And a small amount of fish.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus has compassion.  But notice that He has compassion upon the crowd in a very temporal manner.  Jesus is concerned about their hunger.  It is okay to be concerned about a person’s physical needs – especially because it is often through the meeting of a person’s physical needs that we gain an opportunity to meet spiritual needs, too.  That’s what Jesus is up to here.  By being concerned about their physical needs, Jesus can demonstrate that there are other things about which the people should care, too.

What needs are there around you that you can use to show people that you care?  How can you go about meaningfully meeting those needs?

Second Thought:

I can only imagine the reaction of the disciples.  They cannot imagine feeding such a huge crowd.  In exasperation they ask how in the world they would get enough food.  And then Jesus asks the question.  “How much bread do you have?”  And I can only imagine the eye rolls of the disciples as they think, “Here we go again!”  But there is a great lesson to learn.  It is so easy for us to look back upon this story and wonder how the disciples could not see this coming so soon after the feeding of the 5,000.  But aren’t things always clearer in hindsight?  Staring at a huge crowd and knowing I’m human, I can’t say that I wouldn’t have reached the same conclusion as Jesus’ disciples.  It’s easy to see God’s hand in hindsight.  It is often difficult to see God’s hand at work as we look into the situation as it actually happens.

Why do we miss what God is doing so readily?  Why should we be alert but also realize that this is just a part of being human?

Third Thought:

Seven loaves of bread.  A small amount of fish.  Out of this Jesus meets the needs of people as we’ll see tomorrow.  But once more God reinforces a very deep theological point.  It is not our greatness that is important.  It is not the magnitude of our gifts that are important.  What is important is that God is great and He can do anything with whatever we have to offer.

What do you have to offer God?  What is He able to do with what you have?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 15:35-39

Matthew 15:29-31

Matthew 15:29-31

And after Jesus moved on from that place, He came beside the Sea of Galilee.  And after going up into the mountain He sat down.  And great crowds drew near to Him while having the lame, blind, crippled, mute, and many others with them.  And they put them beside His feet and He healed them.  Therefore the crowd was amazed while seeing the mute being able to speak, the crippled while being made fit, the lame while being made to walk, and the blind while being made to see.  And they glorified the God of Israel.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Once more Jesus goes away to find some alone time.  Once more the crowds find out about Him and come and seek Him out.  This is really an interesting pattern that we see happening with Jesus, isn’t it?  When the world senses something of value, they come!  When we have something to offer that is valuable, people come to get it.  Jesus could heal people, and the world is full of people who needed to be healed!  The world is still full of people who are in need.  Our job is to figure out how we can discern what God has empowered us to provide so like Jesus we can help draw people to the Father.

What do you have to offer?  How can you offer this in a way for people to experience it?

Second Thought:

The crowd is amazed.  They sit in awe as Jesus does the miraculous.  The power of God is not just valuable; it is also inspiring.  It is amazing to see what God can do in life.  We should not be quick to forget the awe-inspiring moments of God in our life.

When have you been awed by God?  When have you forgotten the times of awe in your life?

Third Thought:

Let’s not look past the last sentence of this passage.  “They glorified the God of Israel.”  Why would Matthew say this as opposed to saying that they glorified God?  The reason is simple.  Matthew wants us to remember that Jesus is still in Gentile land!  Even though He is near the Sea of Galilee, He is still in a region largely dominated by Gentiles and these are Gentiles coming to Him.  What is the point?  Nobody is outside of the ability to glorify God when they see Him at work in the world.  You don’t have to be a particular culture to know God and glorify Him.  All that needs to happen for a person to glorify God is to see God at work in the world.

How can you be a part of putting God’s power on display?  Where is God’s power on display in your life?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 15:32-34

Matthew 15:21-28

Matthew 15:21-28

And after Jesus departed from there He went a considerable distance into the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And behold!  After a Canaanite woman from that region came out she was crying out while saying, “Have mercy on me, Son of David!  My daughter is being badly possessed by a demon.”  But He did not answer to her with a word.  And after His disciples came near they were asking Him while saying, “Dismiss her, because she cries out behind us.”  But after answering He said, “I was not being sent except to the sheep that have been ruined of the house of Israel.”  But the woman who came knelt in worshipful allegiance to Him while saying, “Lord, help me.”  And the one who answered said, “It is not good to take the bread of children and throw it to the dogs.”  And she said, “Yes, Lord.  For even the dogs eat from the crumbs of that which fall from the table of their lord.”  Then, after Jesus answered He said to her, “O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be done for you as you desire.”  And her daughter was being healed from that hour.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus goes a great distance away.  This is an easily missed point, but in the scheme of the Gospels it is a very important point for several reasons:

• Jesus is escaping the tension of the Pharisees that had been building over the last few sections of study.  Jesus knows that if He pushes too hard too quickly, then the Pharisees will want to crucify Him before His disciples are ready for Him to die.
• Jesus goes to Tyre and Sidon.  Even though Jesus says that He was sent to the Hebrew people in this passage – and is merely testing the woman, His greater message is that the message is for all people.  Jesus goes among Samaritans.  He goes among the people of Tyre and Sidon.  He goes among the Gentile populations of the Decapolis.  Jesus is about reaching all of humanity.
• By putting some distance between Himself and the Hebrew people, Jesus will be able to have some bonding time for Jesus and His disciples.

Have you ever needed to get away?  Have you ever needed some alone time with people you trust?  Why is this important?

Second Thought:

One of the things that I love about this story is that the disciples want to dismiss the woman.  She’s annoying.  She’s a Canaanite.  From their perspective, she’s not worth their attention.  They tell Jesus to dismiss her.  But Jesus has other ideas.  God usually does.  God doesn’t care if someone is annoying.  God doesn’t care if they aren’t like us.  God is interested in reaching anyone who will respond to His presence.

Have you ever overlooked people whom God does not overlook?  Why do we have a knack for doing this as human beings?

Third Thought:

My favorite aspect of this story, however, lies with the woman.  Jesus plays with her.  Jesus insinuates that she isn’t worth his time by comparing her to a dog.  But the woman is okay with that.  She doesn’t need to assert herself.  This isn’t about her!  This is about her daughter and her relationship with God.  Because her perspective is correct, she isn’t about asserting herself.  She can be humble before Jesus.  Jesus responds to her humbleness.  Jesus heals her daughter.  I find this woman to be one of the most amazing women in the Gospels because of her natural humility.

How would you react to someone making an inference to you being a dog?  How good are you at expressing humbleness?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 15:29-31

Matthew 15:10-20

Matthew 15:10-20

And after calling the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand!  The thing that goes into the mouth does not defile the man.  But rather this thing that comes out of the mouth defiles the man.  Then the disciples came while saying to Him, “Have you known that the Pharisees who heard the word were being offended?”  And the one who answered said, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be pulled up by the roots.  Forgive them.  The blind are guides of the blind.  And if the blind should guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”  And after answering, Peter said to Him, “Interpret this parable for us.”  And He said, “Are you all still without understanding?  Do you not perceive that everything that goes into the mouth moves on into the stomach and is being cast out into the place of defecation?  But that which comes out of the mouth goes out of the heart.  And this defiles the man.  For evil reason comes out of the heart: murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, blasphemy.  These are the things that defile the man.  But to eat by unwashed hands does not defile the man.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus gives us a great teaching that speaks directly forward to the inclusion of the Gentiles into the kingdom of God.  Jesus tells us that it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person but rather what comes out is what defiles a person.  In other words, I cannot be corrupted by being in the presence of sinfulness.  I am not made sinful by being around people who are sinful.  Rather, what makes me sinful is the sin that dwells within me.  True, I can allow myself to become sinful by being in the presence of sin.  But that is still a problem within me, not an external problem.  I will be held accountable to that which lies within my heart and my being.

Have you ever been afraid of doing ministry because you might become sinful yourself?  Do you ever see Jesus act as though this train of thought is valid?  Was Jesus ever afraid to come in contact with sinful people?

Second Thought:

Peter comes to Jesus and once more asks Jesus to explain the parable.  Here we get another glimpse of the true discipleship pattern.  Jesus is teaching the crowd in parables – and only the Pharisees truly get what He is saying because they know that Jesus is contradicting them.  But the disciples don’t fully understand what Jesus is saying.  So they come to Jesus personally and ask.  This is what discipleship is all about.  The disciples don’t fully understand, so they come for a greater understanding.

Where do you go for understanding?  Do you ever go to get help on what you should understand?  How does Jesus deal when his disciples seem slow to understand?

Third Thought:

In the middle of this section, Jesus lowers a huge boom upon the Pharisees.  He calls them blind.  He calls the people who follow them blind.  He doesn’t really care that the Pharisees are offended.  What is it to Him if those who are not following the Father are offended by the truth?  Those who are in the Father need not fear the Father.  Those whom the Father did not plant will be pulled out of life by the Father – roots and all!  What I find deeply interesting is how Jesus says we should relate to such people.  The word that Jesus uses is aphiemi (ἀφίημι), which is the same word that Jesus uses as He is dying upon the cross and says, “Forgive them.”  {See Luke 23:34} Jesus doesn’t just say, “Let them be.”  Jesus tells Peter to “Forgive them.”

Why is it fair to call those who are offended by Jesus’ words blind?  Where in your life have you seen people being offended by those who seek to imitate Christ?  How do you typically respond to such people?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 15:21-28