A Question in Response to a Question That’s Actually the Answer

Mark 11:27-33, CEB - Jesus and his disciples entered Jerusalem again. As Jesus was walking around the temple, the chief priests, legal experts, and elders came to him. They asked, “What kind of authority do you have for doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?”

Jesus said to them, “I have a question for you. Give me an answer, then I’ll tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things.  Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me.”

They argued among themselves, “If we say, ‘It’s of heavenly origin,’ he’ll say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’  But we can’t say, ‘It’s of earthly origin.’” They said this because they were afraid of the crowd, because they all thought John was a prophet.  They answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things.”

 

                Jesus and His disciples come back to the temple to do some teaching and are met by the religious leaders who are looking for a way to discredit Him.  His influence has become a threat to their own.  So they ask a question, not because they want a real answer, but because the question will stir up the crowd no matter how Jesus answers it.  Even if Jesus simply refuses to answer, He will appear to the crowd as evasive.  This would undermine His authority as well.  Instead of answering or refusing to answer, Jesus offers a deal.  If the leaders can answer His question, then He will answer theirs.  The fun part about this is that the question Jesus asks is the same kind of question as the one posed to Him.  The leaders’ credibility will be undermined no matter how they answer.  The huddled discussion they have elaborates on why this is the case.  They realize they have been beaten at their own game, so they relent by saying, “we don’t know.”    

                This is the beginning of a very intense conflict that will play out throughout the next chapter of Mark between Jesus and these leaders.  Of course, the eventual result is Jesus hanging on a Roman cross.  However, the issues raised by these conflicts are essentially important.  After all, it is important to answer, “by what authority” Jesus conducts His ministry. And if we are paying close attention, Jesus’s non-answer is a brilliant answer to the authority question.  Mark, is trying to point this out in his account.  By asking the leaders about the baptism offered by John, Jesus is, in effect, answering the authority question.  Great irony is discovered when we realize that the leaders own “strategy meeting” points out why.  Jesus’s authority is confirmed when John baptizes Him.  As Jeus comes up out of the water, the voice of God proclaims from heaven, “You are my Son, whom I dearly love.” (Mark 1:11)  If these religious leaders (the same group that will condemn Him to death in just a few days) admit that John’s baptism was of heavenly origin, then they would also answer their own question about Jesus’s authority.  The leaders care nothing about that; they care only that Jesus’s authority has come to challenge their own and they will not have it. 

                As I have said at least a couple times before in our journey through Mark’s gospel, we more properly hear the message Mark wants us to hear when we put ourselves in the place of the religious leaders.  Instead of making them the villains who we could never be like, we would do well to ask ourselves how Jesus’s authority impinges upon our own. 

 

Question:  If Jesus is indeed Messiah and Lord of all, what claim or authority does He have on our lives?

 

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, we admit that is hard to submit to Your authority sometimes, because in doing so, we have to let go of our own authority and power.  Where we are blind to this, point it out for us. Where we are too stubborn to relent, make us humble.  You are God and we are not.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for religious leaders at the highest levels of authority today (Bishops, District Superintendents, etc)

 

Song:  Stubborn – Michael English

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTAnVc1HDFE

The Dance

Mark 6:6b-13, NIV - Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.  Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.

These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.  Wear sandals but not an extra shirt.  Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town.  And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

They went out and preached that people should repent.  They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

 

  This story forms the basis for the now common arrangement between Christian leaders and the people they serve.  The leaders depend on the resources of those they serve.  Pastors and even some other church staff often live in accommodations provided by the church they serve and they are compensated by the tithes and gifts given by those same congregation members.  It is interesting, given that the leaders are challenged to depend on the resources of those they serve, that they are also instructed to challenge those who support them to repent or change their ways.  It is quite the delicate dance that Jesus sends His apprentices into – expect support from the same people they are charged to challenge. 

  This is not an especially innovative arrangement, for most businesses operate similarly; those in business depend on their customers’ resources.  The argument could even be made that often businesses have the added task of convincing their customers to change their ways in order to purchase the business’s product or service.  However, Jesus takes it to a higher level.  Not many business owners stay in their customers’ houses. Further, it’s one thing to convince a customer to part with her money so that she can buy the latest product she didn’t think she needed.  It’s quite another to stay in someone’s house, call into question the morality of your host, and expect that the host will still house and feed you.  This is why it is generally not a good idea to talk religion and politics at the annual family Thanksgiving.

  However, this is indeed the task Jesus gave His apprentices.  He confers upon them His authority over impure spirits, but He knows that, even with that authority, the disciples will sometimes still be rejected.  He prepares them for that with the instruction to, when that happens (and it WILL happen), “shake the dust off your feet.”  This instruction forms the basis of itinerant ministry.  Do the dance of hospitality and challenge until you are rejected or the support runs dry; then move on to the next place. 

  As one who has been in itinerant ministry for three decades now, I have come to realize that this dance is not just the dance of ministry.   It is the dance of love.  When you serve others out of love, that love often garners support.  After all, who doesn’t want to be loved?  However, loving someone sometimes requires us to challenge the very people we love, even at the risk of being rejected.  Looking at it from the other side, sometimes love comes to us in the form of challenge; we need to change.  Sometimes, the very people we would like to “throw out of our house” are the people to whom we need to be listening.  Real ministry and real love are not “soft.” If you’re doing it right, you’ll find that both are rather risky.  They are both our call nonetheless.

 

Questions:   Is there a challenge from someone that loves you that you need to hear?  Is their a challenge you need to make to someone that you love?

 

Prayer:  God, teach us the dance of ministry and love. Even when we don’t get the steps right, keep us dancing.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Spend some time asking God to place on your mind specific people to pray for.

 

Song:  Bold as Love – John Mayer (Jimi Hendrix cover) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qIunneAx6Y

“As One w/ Authority”

Mark 1:21-28 - They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.  The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.  Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out,  “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

“Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!”  The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.”  News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

 

This is Jesus’s public synagogue teaching debut in the book of Mark and he makes a big splash.  Like the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964, people immediately realize they are experiencing something brand new.  They describe their surprise because Jesus teaches “as one with authority.”  You see, before Jesus, the Rabbi’s, scribes, and other spiritual leaders speak from the authority of what has been written by others, namely what we now call the Old testament and the many Rabbinical Writings written about the Old Testament scriptures.  Jesus may reference those documents, but He speaks as one who has His own innate authority that matches and even exceeds those of the scriptures.   He then demonstrates this unique authority by commanding demons to “hush” and come out of the man they had possessed.  Shockingly, the demons obey.  The people are amazed by this because they have never encountered it before.  It is as if God is speaking directly to them and commanding demons in that very room.  It seems like that because that is exactly what is happening. 

 

This text raises a monumental issue for the Judeo-Christian tradition that is still being wrestled with today.  Do the teachings of Jesus have more authority than that of the Old Testament?  Hundreds of very long books have been written that attempt to answer that question.  I have read several of them over the years, but I do not aspire to answer the question definitely.  I have a personal conviction and I simply share it with you here.  I believe Jesus’s teachings do deserve primary consideration within the scriptures contained in the Old and New Testaments. 

 

I believe this for at least a couple of pretty unscholarly reasons.  Nevertheless, they are reasons.  First, Jesus Himself seems to think that His authority is greater than what was written before.  In several places within the Gospels, Jesus quotes scripture and then personally supplants it.  Often, it goes something like this; “You have heard it said …,” (fill in the blank with a known scriptural quotation), “but I say . . ..”  Jesus goes on to introduce a new teaching that supercedes or changes the previous scriptural teaching.  My second reason is that if I believe Jesus to be God in the flesh, than it makes sense that what He says carries more authority than what someone else wrote about their experience of what God said.  If I hear my brother relay something to me that my Dad said, but then I personally hear my Dad say something different on the same issue, I tend to trust the first person experience over the hearsay. 

 

I like the illustration that Adam Hamilton uses to support the same idea.  He says that the teachings and commands of Jesus serve as a filter or “colander” to sift through the whole of the scriptural writings.  This by no means invalidates the Old Testament or the other New testament authors, but all of that should be interpreted in the light of the revelation of Jesus.  As Hamilton himself states, "It is Jesus who serves as the final Word by which other words of scripture are to be judged."  (p. 177, Making Sense of the Bible)

 

Jesus is my scriptural colander.  You don’t have to agree with me, but I do invite you to think about it. 

 

Question:  We all pick and choose “our favorite scriptures.” On what basis do you decide what your favorite scriptures are?

 

Prayer:  God, I thank you for becoming a human being and speaking your Word directly to us.  May your teachings guide all that we do and how we live. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for God to bless people you have a hard time agreeing with today.  I know it’s hard, but do it anyway. 

 

Song:  The B-I-B-L-E – Kids Worship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8qgSZsL6k0

As One With Authority. . .

“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.

“But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”

When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst into applause. They had never heard teaching like this. It was apparent that he was living everything he was saying—quite a contrast to their religion teachers! This was the best teaching they had ever heard.    Matthew 7:24-29

 

As promised, we talk about how Jesus leads us into hope.  The scripture above is a wonderful explanation of that.  Let me give you the more traditional rendering of those last couple of verses:

 

“When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching,  because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” (v. 28-29, NIV)

 

“As one who had authority.”  You know when you encounter someone who has natural authority.  My Father-in-law was one of those people for me.  Many tales are told of his seemingly inherent authority that most people never questioned.  He was once in an airport taking a huge box with a dental chair inside through customs in order to take it to Haiti on a mission trip.  When the customs official went to stop him, he simply raised his hand toward him and said aloud, “it’s okay.”  The official let them through without inspection.  That doesn’t ever happen. I know.  But it did for my Father-in-law.  That’s just one story. Our family has dozens more.  But I won’t bore you with them.

Ok, you talked me into one more.  When Bob, (my Father-in-law) was a little kid, he was riding in a car with his mother and two aunts.  Bobby, as he was known then, decided that everyone was in the wrong seats in the car and they needed to stop.  Unbelievably, his mother stopped the car, they all got out and Bobby told them all where to sit.  This actually happened.  Bobby was “one who had authority.” 

As one who knew and revered Big Daddy (what everyone called my father-in-law after he had grandkids), I can only imagine the disciples experience of Jesus that day as he experienced His teaching.  I revered Big Daddy because he was usually right, but Jesus was ALWAYS right.  I followed Big Daddy’s advice because it was practical and down to earth.  However, no one’s instruction has ever been more down-to-earth and practical than the advice Jesus gave.  You can build a life on that kind of instruction.  Of course, that was Jesus’s teaching that very day.  You SHOULD build your life on that teaching, because Jesus teaching is a solid rock on which to stand.  If you’re going to build your hope on something, it should be that.  Hey wait. I think that’s a song.  More on that in a minute.  But right now, Jesus leads us into hope when we build our lives on His teaching.  There….my promise is kept.  See you tomorrow.

 

Prayer:  Jesus, our hope is built on you.  To the extent that it isn’t, help us rebuild the foundation.  We want to weather the storms.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for God to raise up leaders who lead “as one with authority.” 

 

Song: 2 songs today:  Phil Wickham (Living Hope)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-1fwZtKJSM

My Hope is Built

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p4OrSEPGvI

Two Kinds of Authority

 

Two Kinds of Authority

February 8, 2022

Matthew 21:23-27, NRSV -  When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”  Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.  Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’  But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.”  So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

 

                Have you ever felt like someone who was “not qualified” was moving in on “your” territory?  The Chief Priests and Temple Elders were having such an experience.  They find Jesus teaching people about God’s ways in the Temple and they question His right to be doing such a thing.  The reality is that unless the Priests and/or Elders had themselves given Jesus official authority to teach in the Temple setting, Jesus has no “official” authority to do so.  They are not questioning Jesus to find out who told Him He could teach.  They were asking Jesus about His authority so as to discredit him in front of those He was teaching.  There is no answer Jesus can give that will not escalate the situation. The Priests and Elders are not being inquisitive. They are being sinister.

                Jesus sees this for what it is and does not fall into the trap.  Instead, as He often did, he would answer a trick question with a question. 

                   Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?”

He promises to answer their question if they will answer His.  They deliberate.  Their deliberation confirms that they are only interested in how this looks to the people in the temple.  They realize that Jesus has turned the tables on them.  If they answer one way, they will look bad for not having heeded John the Baptist’s teaching.  If they answer the other way, they will be the ones that will be discredited in front of the people for John has the hearts and minds of the people.  So they lie and say they don’t know.  Jesus then dismisses them with, ““Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

                Then Jesus tells two parables aimed at exposing the intentions of the Temple leaders and issuing a startling indictment on them.  Those two stories will form the basis for our next devotional.  For today though, let’s stay with the authority issue.  There is an authority that comes from a position and then there is authority that comes from God.  When Bishop Corneilus Henderson laid his hands on my head in May of 1996 and said, “Take Thou Authority” as a Elder in the United Methodist Church, I was conferred the positional authority.  This is recognized by almost all who count themselves Methodists and that is the reason I am given the opportunity to lead a congregation that has never met me before.  This is positional authority.

                However, several times over the course of the few decades that I have served as a Pastor in the UMC, I have encountered others with the other kind of authority.  They did not have a Master of Divinity degree like me.  No Bishop had ever put their hands on these people’s heads.  They had no official position.  And yet, it was so clear so me and others that God had anointed them to lead in a specific way that normally would not be officialy recognized. 

                My favorite of this was a thirteen-year-old boy in one of my congregations who I quickly realized knew more about the Bible than me.  He was so humble about it though.  He would ask me questions for which I had no answer.  He would draw scriptural connections that had never occurred to me before, but were absolutely brilliant.  He didn’t just impress me.  He impressed the whole congregation – so much so that one of the adult Sunday School classes asked him to teach them.  An adult Sunday School class asked a 13-year-old to teach THEM.  By the time, this young man was a senior in high school, he regularly filled the pulpit.   He is in college now, but I can’t wait to see the things that God will do with this young man. 

                My point is that this young man had the God-given kind of authority, an authority that requires no degree, ordination, or official position.  We often refer to this authority as “an anointing.”  Too often though, people with this higher authority are often discounted and discredited as the Temple leaders attempted to do with Jesus.  I shudder to think that I may have been among the “discreditors” at times because I place too much emphasis on human authority and position.  I pray that this has never been the case and I guard against it all the time.  We all should.

 

Question:  Who are people that you have known that seemed to have “an anointing” from God?

 

Prayer:  Lord, help us to recognize your authority when it shows up in the people you’ve anointed among us.  May we value and allow them to live out their calling whether they have any official position or not.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for young people you know trying to figure out what they will do with their lives. 

 

Song:  Anointing Fall on Me – Ron Kenoly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8sX3IrCEWY

Matthew 10:5-8 - Demonstrating the Kingdom

Demonstrating the Kingdom

 

Matthew 10:5-8, NIV - These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.  Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.  As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’  Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.”

 

                Pretty much the whole of Chapter 10 is about Jesus sending out his first disciples.  So my first encouragement is to read the whole chapter at once to get a sense of the whole encounter.  We will spend a few days working our way through it, but it’s helpful to have the whole in mind as we walk through the particulars. 

                The first detail in today’s passage that is important is the people to whom he is sending the twelve.  This is a specific mission to the Jews, not the gentiles or Samaritans.  This seems exclusive of others and begs the question, “why would Jesus restrict the mission to only “the lost sheep of Israel?” It makes more sense when we remember the purpose of Israel in the first place.  In Genesis 12, God tells Abraham that he will become a nation and that nation will be a blessing to all the nations of the world.  God chose Israel for the purpose of carrying out His plan for the whole world.  The Jews had largely forgotten that purpose and had isolated themselves from other peoples.  Jesus’s first priority was to remind the Jews of their purpose for being chosen. 

                This leads to the primary message Jesus gives the disciples to proclaim. “The Kingdom of Heaven has come near,” is that message.  This message is connected to the primary purpose of the nation of Israel.  Jesus is essentially saying, “what God told Abraham would happen is happening right now!”  He is inviting them to return to their purpose of being a blessing to all the nations.  The mission to the Samarians and the gentiles will come, but as we covered a couple of days ago, workers are needed for this massive harvest and those workers will come from the “lost sheep of Israel” recovering their purpose. 

                Another bedrock detail in this passage is the strategy of the mission.  Having been given the target of the mission (the lost sheep of Israel) and the message (the Kingdom of Heaven has come near), they are now given the method.  It is no surprise that the method is precisely what Jesus has been doing since His ministry started (healing, casting out demons, and raising the dead). Annouce that the kingdom of heaven has arrived, but also demonstrate the divine authority behind that announcement by performing the same Jesus has performed.  The disciples are disciples because they have seen the signs of the kingdom; now they are to do the same for others. 

                   I don’t know about you, but I’ve never performed these kinds of miracles/signs.  Most of us haven’t.  Some commentators have used this fact to support the notion that these first instructions are not for us, and they have a point.  If healing the sick, raising the dead, and casting out demons are the marks of a successful disciple, then most of us are utter failures.  But to come to that conclusion is to, as they say, “throw the baby out with the bath water.”  The mission is still the blessing of all the nations of the world.  Jesus makes that clear at the end of this same book of Matthew (28:19-20).  The message is still same; the Kingdom of Heaven has arrived.”  The methodology, however, changes constantly.  The first Apostles performed miracles.  For reasons I don’t pretend to fully understand, precious few are given those same methods.   For most of us, we demonstrate our announcement of the Kingdom in other ways – loving the unlovable, caring for the forgotten, and freeing the tormented.  For a world short on authentic love, care, and freedom, these methods are no less miraculous. 

 

Question:  How do demonstrate the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven with the way you live?

 

Prayer:  Lord, too often we disqualify ourselves from your mission for the world for illegitimate reasons.  Help us see the ways that we can demonstrate the arrival of Your Kingdom with the gifts that you have given us.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for God to bless strangers you see today. 

 

Song:  Take My Life and Let It Be – Brian Doerksen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ93HVuYd5Y

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 9:35-38 - The Lord of the Harvest

 

October 1, 2021 - The Lord of the Harvest

 

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”                             Matthew 9:35-38

 

A few quick things here.  First, Jesus takes time to see what is going on with the crowds around them.  In a group and even more so with a crowd, my tendency is to focus on what is going on with me.  Jesus has been working hard and accomplishing much, but He is still looking to the needs of others.  There will be a chance to take time for himself later but for now, He sees the people in their harassed and helpless state and has compassion (which means “passion, or love with”) on them. 

Second, and this builds on the first, we are the workers that the Lord of the harvest sends out.  All of us are responsible for helping harassed and helpless people find their way to the Great Shepherd.  It doesn’t mean everyone has to get a job working for a church (God forbid).  It means that whatever you do with your life, do it in a way that helps people find the Way, Truth and  the Life. The authority of Jesus that Matthew has been showing us from nearly the beginning of the gospel is now beginning to shift from storms, diseases, and demons to Jesus’s followers in the statement,  “the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”

The “harvest” represents people who are ready to hear and receive the Kingdom of God.  And Jesus assumes that bringing people to that point is not the job of the “workers.”  Harvesting, not growing is the job of the “workers.”  Workers don’t have to convert anyone – that is the Lord of the Harvest’s work.  Workers just bring them in and care for them.  Workers are their friends, their extended family, and the people who help them to know they belong to the Lord of the Harvest.  The Harvest eventually becomes more workers.    

 

Question:  How do you see yourself as one of the workers the Lord sends?

 

Prayer:  God, thank you for sending others into our life to bring us to you.  Help us to do the same for others. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people that need a place to feel that they belong.

 

Song:  Rescue the Perishing -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMFRt2aLuMI

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