Matthew 11:16-19 - Seeing the World As We Are

 

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric October 15, 2021

Seeing the World as We Are

 

Matthew 11:16-19, The Voice - What is this generation like? You are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out, “When we played the flute, you did not dance; and when we sang a dirge, you did not mourn.”  What I mean is this: When John came, he dressed in the clothes of a prophet, and he did not eat and drink like others but lived on honey and wild locusts. And people wondered if he was crazy, if he had been possessed by a demon.  Then the Son of Man appeared—He didn’t fast, as John had, but ate with sinners and drank wine. And the people said, “This man is a glutton! He’s a drunk! And He hangs around with tax collectors and sinners, to boot.” Well, Wisdom will be vindicated by her actions—not by your opinions.

 

In the passage for today, Jesus is lamenting the resistance to God’s kingdom that he mentioned in his defense of John that we read yesterday.  John was labeled demon-possessed because he didn’t do what the people expected.  Jesus Himself was labeled a glutton and a drunk for eating and drinking with the wrong sorts of people.  This may sound like nothing more than Jesus venting about the hard time he and John have had as they have pursued their mission, but I invite us to see the deeper principle that he is describing because it is still being played out two thousand years later as God’s kingdom continues to unfold. 

                People naturally struggle with being called to a new way of living.  John called people to repent because the Kingdom of God was coming.  Some people did, but most continued as if nothing had happened.  Jesus announces that the Kingdom has arrived and the people repeatedly ran Him out of town.  As we’ll see in tomorrow’s passage, he performed miraculous works in multiple towns with barely any response.  Ultimately, we know that Jesus and His Kingdom were rejected forcefully when He was nailed to a cross.  When you call people to change the way they are living, even when embracing that change can help them, they often respond drastically to keep doing what they have been doing.

                I point this out as if it is only others that act this way; it is not.  I act this way too.  I often react badly when others, however lovingly, tried to point out an error in my thinking and/or doing.  When God first called me to be a pastor, I pursued at least three other vocations before I became open to what God was offering.  Almost always, when I am confronted with a truth that requires me to change my thinking or behavior, my first instinct is to fight it or go in the other direction.   Over the years, I’ve gotten better at recognizing when this instinctive reaction has been triggered and I sometimes am able to override it with some clear thinking and engaged faith.  But that first instinct to resist has never gone away in me.  And in my decades of observation of others, I know I’m not the only one with this issue.

                The Kingdom of God is still unfolding; the revolution that John announced and Jesus catalyzed is still calling us to live differently than we are now.  We’ll talk more about this tomorrow, but for today consider this question.

 

Question:  What is something you know God wants you to do differently but, as of this moment, the resistance instinct in you has won out?

 

Prayer:  Have mercy on us, Savior.  Help us confront the resistance to Your kingdom that persists in our spirit so that we may embrace the life that truly is life.  Amen

 

Prayer Focus:  Spend some time confessing your own personal struggles with doing what you know is right to God today.

 

Song:  Man in the Mirror – Michael Jackson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PivWY9wn5ps&t=23s

Matthew 11:6-15 - If John Had Doubts About Jesus, What Chance Do I Have?

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric October 14, 2021

If John Had Doubts About Jesus, What Chance Do I Have?

 

Matthew 11:6-15, NIV – “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”  As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind?  If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces.  Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.  This is the one about whom it is written:

“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,

    who will prepare your way before you.’

Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it.  For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.  And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.  Whoever has ears, let them hear.

Yesterday, we talked about Jesus responding to John the Baptist’s question about whether Jesus was the Messiah.  John seemed to be wavering in his belief, and Jesus gives him some scriptural reassurance to reinforce his faith.  As he finishes giving John’s disciples the message to deliver to John who is in prison, he makes the statement at the beginning of our passage for today.

“Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” (Mt 11:6)

This is a transitional statement that is for John and for the crowd that Jesus is now turning to address. The crowd has heard the exchange between John’s disciples and Jesus and will need some reassurance of their own.  If the great John the Baptist is having doubts about Jesus, then who wouldn’t have doubts? So Jesus talks to the crowd about John.

                The interesting thing about Jesus’s remarks to me is that Jesus does not even address John’s doubts (or the crowd’s for that matter).  He simply talks about the greatness of John and John’s ministry.  Though we (two thousand years later) may miss it, he is drawing a contrast between John (“among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater”) and the man that imprisoned John, the King Herod Antipas, whose public symbol was a reed (“a reed swayed by the wind”).  At some point though, you might expect Jesus to say something like, “John was great, but even the greats have doubts sometimes.”  Jesus does not make any such statement.  What he does with the crowd is similar to what he did with John/John’s disciples.  After affirming John’s greatness, Jesus quotes scripture. 

“This is the one about whom it is written:

‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,

    who will prepare your way before you.’”

The quote is from Malachi where Malachi talks about one who precedes the Messiah, an Elijah-like messenger.  By invoking this prophecy Jesus is simultaneously proclaiming that John is that Elijah figure AND that He (Jesus) is indeed the Messiah.  This is confirmed when at the end of our passage for today when Jesus says, “if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.”

                The implicit message of Jesus here is not a prescription to get rid of doubts, but an invitation to believe in the midst of doubts.  In fact, that is the very root of real faith itself.  Believing is easy when there is no cause for doubt.  But Jesus acknowledges that there is great cause for doubt (“the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it”).  Because of this, doubts will always be with us, but the invitation of the Kingdom is to keep on believing anyway.  The reasons for our doubts will fall away, but the Kingdom is forever.

                This sets up the last observation for today.  It concerns Jesus’s surprising statement, “whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than [John the Baptist].”  Why would anyone be “greater” than John, much less the “least in the kingdom?”  There is a lot that could be said here, but you’ve already endured a lot of explanation today, so I’ll keep it brief.  At this point in Matthew’s story, there is great confusion about the true nature of Jesus’s identity even among Jesus’s followers (and John the Baptist for that matter).  They hear Jesus proclaiming the Kingdom, but they aren’t ready for the “mind grenade” that it will come through Jesus’s death and resurrection.  They expect to see Jesus become an earthly king, not a crucified messiah.  There is no possible way for them to comprehend what even the most casual believer in Jesus embraces now – that the Kingdom that Jesus ushers in necessitated His death.  It is His death that makes the full expression of the Kingdom possible.  The “least in the Kingdom” now know something John the Baptist could have never known before.  You and I know that that too, “if we are willing to accept it.”

 

Question:  How do you choose to believe in Jesus and His Kingdom, in spite of doubts caused by all that is around us?

 

Prayer:  God, “we believe.  Help us in our unbelief”  (Mark 9:24) Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Choose a couple of specific people that you know that have not chosen to believe in Jesus yet.  Pray for them today.

 

Song:  Bill Gaither - I Believe, Help Thou My Unbelief

Note:  I have to confess.  I am not a huge fan of Bill Gaither fan (though my Mom adores him!), but this song deeply touches me and speaks to message for today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z__h1uiSC6I

Matthew 11:1-6 - Seeing the Forest for the Trees: John the Baptist Edition

 

Daily Devo W/ Pastor Eric October 13, 2021

Seeing the Forest for the Trees - John the Baptist Edition

 

Matthew 11:1-5, NLT - When Jesus had finished giving these instructions to his twelve disciples, he went out to teach and preach in towns throughout the region.

John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?”

Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen— 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.”  And he added, “God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.

 

Poor John is beginning to have his doubts.  The bold wilderness preacher has been keeping tabs on what Jesus is doing. He hears about the miracles, but he was expecting judgement. Remember back in chapter 3, just before Jesus’s baptism, John proclaims, “Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees.” (3:10)  What John is hearing about is not judgement.  Healing, resurrections, and the Word being preached are all well and good, but the Messiah is also supposed to bring judgement.  Are you the one to bring it or are we waiting for someone else?

Jesus’s message to John doesn’t seem to address the question because He simply tells John what John already knows – the miracles.  But Jesus is quoting prophecy in Isaiah:

“Blind eyes will be opened, deaf ears unstopped, lame men and women will leap like deer”  (Isaiah 35:5-6)

“He sent me to preach good news to the poor” (Isaiah 61:2)

John does already know these prophecies too, but we all need to reminded of things we already know when our heart seems to be set on something else.  John has been fighting with the authorities since he began his ministry and needs to know that those with whom he has been fighting are going to “get theirs.”  The reality is that the inbreaking of a new Kingdom does bring judgement on the old, but it does so by ushering in such good news that people begin to embrace the new with their whole hearts, dropping the old in the process.  Jesus’s message to John (and the crowd gathered) is that what John is hoping for is indeed happening, but maybe not in the way John imagined.   

                We all need that reminder sometimes.  We all get discouraged and long for vindication from time to time.  In those times, it can be easy to begin to fixate on our enemies being exposed for what they are.  But Jesus’s words here remind us that our focus should not be primarily on our enemies, but on what God is doing.  Good things are happening, but we will overlook them if all we are thinking about is what is not happening.  It was a good Word for John and it is a good Word for us as well.

 

Question:  Is it possible that you are missing something important that is happening right now because you are focused on something that is not happening?

 

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, help us not to confuse our expectations with Your Will.  Gently remind us today of the goodness in our lives to which we should be paying attention.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people in prison today

 

Song:  Accentuate the Positive – Dr. John

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTMWNWrE3Uc

Matthew 10:40-42 - What is a "Prophet's Reward?"

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric October 12, 2021

What is the Prophet’s Reward?

 

Matthew 10:40-42, NIV - Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.  Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.  And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

 

                There’s a lot to unpack in these three verses, so let’s dive right in.  First, remember that this passage is part of Jesus’s instruction to the twelve as He sends them out on their first mission. Jesus has just told them pretty forcefully that they will encounter stiff resistance as they seek to represent Him to others.  But He ends these instructions with a positive; there will be people who will welcome them and welcome the message of Jesus.  And Jesus is trying to communicate what a beautiful thing that is.  He explains that welcoming the apostles is the same as welcoming Jesus and welcoming Jesus is welcoming God.  People who receive the messenger and the message receive God into their lives and that will become the greatest source of greatest blessing.  

                Jesus teaches that “whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward.”   It begs the question, “what is a prophet’s reward?”  The short answer is that it’s hard to pin down exactly what the prophet’s reward is.  Jesus doesn’t expound here or anywhere else that we know of.  However, there are some important things to notice about what Jesus does say.  Some scholars believe Jesus is alluding here to a story in 2 Kings 4 where the prophet Elisha encounters a Shunammite woman who shows him great hospitality.  The woman is childless and her hospitality to the prophet is rewarded with a her giving birth to a son.  The son dies suddenly at a young age, but is brought back to life by Elisha after the boy’s mother goes to get the prophet.  Two amazing miracles are experienced by this Shunammite because of her hospitality to God’s messenger.        

                Does this mean that whoever exhibits such hospitality will personally experience miracles.  From my experience, the answer is “not always.”  However, what I can say from experience is that, to the extent that you are open and welcoming of God into your life, you will be able to see God so miraculous things.  Every prophet in the Old Testament had a front row seat to see God’s activity – serving people on behalf of God puts one in proximity to God serving people through the one who serves.  In my two-plus decades of serving God’s people, I have seen dozens of miraculous things happen that I can only describe as God’s activity.  It is truly humbling when it happens and the blessing that I have experienced for just being present and open when it happens defies words. Being open to God and God’s message is a way of opening yourself to the wonders that God does among us. 

                I encourage you to notice one other thing about Jesus’s words about the “reward.”  The prophet, the one who receives the prophet, the righteous person, the one who receives the righteous person, the disciple (“these little ones”), and the one who so much as gives that disciple a cup of cold water ALL receive a blessing/reward for their openness.  I don’t think it’s as necessary to pin down exactly what that blessing/reward is as it is to recognize Who is offering it.  Whether you are a prophet, a righteous person, disciple, or just someone who is hospitable to a disciple, you will be rewarded/blessed for your openness to God and God’s message. 

 

Question:  Miraculous things happen all around us all the time.  Are we open enough to God’s message and activity to see them?

 

Prayer:  Open my eyes that I may see glimpses of truth thou hast for me.  Open my ears that I may hear

voices of truth thou sendest clear. Open my mouth and let me bear gladly the warm truth everywhere.  Open my heart and let me prepare love with thy children thus to share. Amen. (prayer from the lyrics to “Open My Eyes That I May See)

 

 

Prayer Focus:  Spend some time reflecting on and thanking God for the miraculous things you have been  blessed to experience over your lifetime.

 

Song:  Open My Eyes – Jesse Manibusan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI3tQLnD8yM  

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric October 12, 2021

What is the Prophet’s Reward?

 

Matthew 10:40-42, NIV - Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.  Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.  And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

 

                There’s a lot to unpack in these three verses, so let’s dive right in.  First, remember that this passage is part of Jesus’s instruction to the twelve as He sends them out on their first mission. Jesus has just told them pretty forcefully that they will encounter stiff resistance as they seek to represent Him to others.  But He ends these instructions with a positive; there will be people who will welcome them and welcome the message of Jesus.  And Jesus is trying to communicate what a beautiful thing that is.  He explains that welcoming the apostles is the same as welcoming Jesus and welcoming Jesus is welcoming God.  People who receive the messenger and the message receive God into their lives and that will become the greatest source of greatest blessing.  

                Jesus teaches that “whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward.”   It begs the question, “what is a prophet’s reward?”  The short answer is that it’s hard to pin down exactly what the prophet’s reward is.  Jesus doesn’t expound here or anywhere else that we know of.  However, there are some important things to notice about what Jesus does say.  Some scholars believe Jesus is alluding here to a story in 2 Kings 4 where the prophet Elisha encounters a Shunammite woman who shows him great hospitality.  The woman is childless and her hospitality to the prophet is rewarded with a her giving birth to a son.  The son dies suddenly at a young age, but is brought back to life by Elisha after the boy’s mother goes to get the prophet.  Two amazing miracles are experienced by this Shunammite because of her hospitality to God’s messenger.        

                Does this mean that whoever exhibits such hospitality will personally experience miracles.  From my experience, the answer is “not always.”  However, what I can say from experience is that, to the extent that you are open and welcoming of God into your life, you will be able to see God so miraculous things.  Every prophet in the Old Testament had a front row seat to see God’s activity – serving people on behalf of God puts one in proximity to God serving people through the one who serves.  In my two-plus decades of serving God’s people, I have seen dozens of miraculous things happen that I can only describe as God’s activity.  It is truly humbling when it happens and the blessing that I have experienced for just being present and open when it happens defies words. Being open to God and God’s message is a way of opening yourself to the wonders that God does among us. 

                I encourage you to notice one other thing about Jesus’s words about the “reward.”  The prophet, the one who receives the prophet, the righteous person, the one who receives the righteous person, the disciple (“these little ones”), and the one who so much as gives that disciple a cup of cold water ALL receive a blessing/reward for their openness.  I don’t think it’s as necessary to pin down exactly what that blessing/reward is as it is to recognize Who is offering it.  Whether you are a prophet, a righteous person, disciple, or just someone who is hospitable to a disciple, you will be rewarded/blessed for your openness to God and God’s message. 

 

Question:  Miraculous things happen all around us all the time.  Are we open enough to God’s message and activity to see them?

 

Prayer:  Open my eyes that I may see glimpses of truth thou hast for me.  Open my ears that I may hear

voices of truth thou sendest clear. Open my mouth and let me bear gladly the warm truth everywhere.  Open my heart and let me prepare love with thy children thus to share. Amen. (prayer from the lyrics to “Open My Eyes That I May See)

 

 

Prayer Focus:  Spend some time reflecting on and thanking God for the miraculous things you have been  blessed to experience over your lifetime.

 

Song:  Open My Eyes – Jesse Manibusan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI3tQLnD8yM  

Matthew 10:1-4 - The Opportunity of Your Lifetime

 

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric October 4, 2021

The Opportunity of Your Lifetime

 

Matthew 10:1-4, CEB - He called his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to throw them out and to heal every disease and every sickness.  Here are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, who is called Peter; and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee; and John his brother;  Philip; and Bartholomew; Thomas; and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus; and Thaddaeus;  Simon the Cananaean; and Judas, who betrayed Jesus.

 

At the end of chapter 9, we hear Jesus asking his audience to pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send workers.  Immediately, we see here in the beginning of chapter 10, those prayers are answered as Jesus calls his twelve disciples.  Twelve is a significant number as there were twelve tribes of Israel that stemmed from the twelve sons of Jacob.  In the Book of Revelation, we see that the twelve foundations of the New Jerusalem are inscribed with the names of the twelve apostles. Also in Revelation, there are twelve gates, twelve pearls, and twelve angels.  Throughout the Bible, the number twelve is regarded as a divinely perfect number.  So Jesus calls twelve disciples.

                But what Jesus does next is even more significant.  He gives them the same authority He possesses.  The authority that we have seen in Matthew’s gospel thus far is now conferred upon his disciples.  Thus, the movement of God’s kingdom is now multiplied twelve-fold.  Matthew intends for us to see that this is how the kingdom works – through multiplication.  We don’t just invite others to be believers in Jesus – we invite them to be disciples – fully investing their lives in the mission of the Kingdom of God. 

                The fact that you’re reading this means that you at least believe that the story of Jesus is one worth investigating.  You should know, though, that the invitation is not just to investigate it or even believe that it is true, but to become part of the effort to bring the Kingdom of God to fruition here on earth.  There is no bigger cause in the universe, and you and I are asked to serve.  Spend some time thinking about that today.

 

Question:  What does it mean to you to be invited to serve the Kingdom of the One God of the Universe?

 

Prayer:  Lord, help us see your invitation for what it is.  Help us see the unique role you have asked each of us to play in your Kingdom. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for a clear sense of purpose about what you can do to love God and love people.

 

Song:  Lead On King Eternal – Sara Groves

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7wd2_shSNw  

Matthew 9:27-34 - Becoming What We Believe

 

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric September 30, 2021

Becoming What We Believe

 

Matthew 9:27-34, The Message - As Jesus left the house, he was followed by two blind men crying out, “Mercy, Son of David! Mercy on us!” When Jesus got home, the blind men went in with him. Jesus said to them, “Do you really believe I can do this?” They said, “Why, yes, Master!” He touched their eyes and said, “Become what you believe.” It happened. They saw. Then Jesus became very stern. “Don’t let a soul know how this happened.” But they were hardly out the door before they started blabbing it to everyone they met.

Right after that, as the blind men were leaving, a man who had been struck speechless by an evil spirit was brought to Jesus. As soon as Jesus threw the evil tormenting spirit out, the man talked away just as if he’d been talking all his life. The people were up on their feet applauding: “There’s never been anything like this in Israel!”

The Pharisees were left sputtering, “Smoke and mirrors. It’s nothing but smoke and mirrors. He’s probably made a pact with the Devil.”

 

“Become what you believe.”  I love Eugene Peterson’s translation here.  Jesus asks the two blind men if they believe they can see by Jesus’s power.  They do and so Jesus allows them to become what they believe – men who can see.  It begs the question, “what do you believe you can be with the touch of Jesus?”

                Jesus tells the newly sighted men sternly not to tell anyone, having to know that they were going to tell everyone they met.  I wish I knew exactly why Jesus gave this instruction.  I have heard many scholars float many theories on the reason for the instructed secrecy, but none of them are compelling to me.  My best guess is that Jesus didn’t want to become known as simply a healer.  He wasn’t interested in becoming a spectacle for thousands who wanted to see the next miracle rather than hear the announcement that the Kingdom of God has arrived.  The healing Jesus wants to be known for is the ”healing” of the entire world. 

                Immediately after this, Jesus casts out another demon from a man who could not speak because of the hold the demon had on him.  The people’s reaction is that, “there’s never been anything like this in Israel!” They can’t be referring to the healings for there were plenty of documented healings in the Jewish scriptures (i.e…the Old Testament).  It seems more likely that the people were talking about the authority of Jesus.  It seems that nothing, not even demons can defy Jesus’s authority.  The people are noting that a human being seems to have Divine authority.  Certainly, as we have discussed in other passages, Matthew wants us to come to the same conclusion as the people.  There has never been anything on the earth like Jesus.  Have you, my friend, come to that conclusion?

                Finally, if the Pharisees were impressed by these events (and I believe that they were), they are even more concerned about the fact that crowds are coming to the conclusion that Jesus represents a brand new, never-seen-before revelation of God’s authority.  This is an Authority which challenges the Pharisees own authority. Lest we think we’re better than that, we would do well to consider the times in our lives when the next big thing overshadows that old thing that we have.  It’s hard to embrace Something, however wonderful it is, when that Something is personally threatening.  Make no mistake;  if we truly embrace Jesus, it WILL require us to let go of our own authority and power. 

                This brings us back to Jesus’s question to the two blind men, “do you really believe that I [Jesus] can do this [bring you sight]?” Jesus is asking the two men if they believe that Jesus has the authority to command their eyes to see.  The message here is that we can indeed “become what we believe,” but not by hard work and positive thinking.  We become what we believe when place ourselves fully under the authority of Jesus.  Tomorrow, we’ll explore some the implications of this.  But for now, consider again the questions above.

 

Questions:  What do you believe you can become with the touch of Jesus? Have you come to the conclusion that there is no one in history with the authority that Jesus has?

 

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, demons believe in your authority and shudder. Storms obey your every command.  Diseases and afflictions fall away at your touch and/or word.   Yet, we confess that we sometimes struggle to trust your authority.  “Have mercy on us, Son of David.”  Help us become what we believe by fully submitting to your Lordship.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for God to give you a vision and faith for what you can become by Jesus’s authority.

 

Song:  So Will I – Hillsong Worship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfVd5x9W1Xc