Matthew 6:1-5 Give Out of Love, Not Out of a Longing for Recognition from People.

Jesus speaks pointedly to his audience on the mount. He is talking about giving away to the poor and needy.

He emphasizes giving out of a desire to honor your Heavenly father and condemns those who give just for the praise of men. He asks us to give in such a way that it doesn’t matter to us whether anyone knows about it or not.

He calls the Pharisees hypocrites here. That term came from Greek actors who wore different masks to to suit whatever role they were performing in a play. Jesus tells us that these kind of men will get their praise and reward, but it will only come from men, and God will not honor that kind of giving.

This passage convicts me. I don’t think I give this way, but I do think I long for the approval of men. Not just any man, in fact I want the approval of Godly men, but too often I am content to stop there. I don’t long for God’s approval the way I should. I have to remember God will reward what He sees in secret.

Wes

 

Matthew 5:43-48 Love. It’s all about Looooovvveee Maaaannnnnn. (said like a hippie)

Loving those who hate you.. this is a characteristic that only a Christian can truly claim. Maybe others could claim that they bear with their enemies.. or that they don’t retaliate against their enemies, or maybe they even try to be kind to their enemies and do things for them.. but loving them. Well that’s entirely different. This kind of love can only be given to us by God. It is a supernatural kind of love.

Jesus goes on to explain reasons why we should love our enemies and pray for them. We want to be called sons of our Father. For he loves even those who are unjust. There is common grace that he allows for everyone. He blesses the just and unjust with the same rain and the same sunshine.

It’s easy to love those who love you back. How much greater is God’s love then, when we understand that he first loved us. When we were in love with ourselves and our sin, he brought us to him in love.

Wes

 

Matthew 5:27-42 Don’t be lustin, don’t be divorcin, don’t be swearin, don’t be retaliating!

It seems like the lust, divorce, and swearing stuff is pretty straightforward. The part in these passages that kills me is the don’t be retaliating part. Jesus asks his people to not fight back in the same way the world would expect us to. In the way it comes most natural to fight back. Instead, he commands them to “turn the other cheek…give him your cloak as well… and to walk with him two miles.” Can you imagine living in a world where everyone did what Jesus had commanded us to do? It would be upside down (or rightside up). During this time, Roman soldiers had the privilege of asking any citizen to carry their equipment for them up to a mile’s distance. Jesus is telling us to not just go the minimum when we serve others (unwilfully in this case) but to go above and beyond and truly serve them. The first mile is our duty, the second is our love. Thoughts on any of this passage?

Wes

P.S. Jesus isn’t emphasizing what not to do. I feel like he’s emphasizing what TO do. Really this post should be “guard your heart in Christ Jesus and think on lovely pure things, Stay true to the one you’ve committed to spending your life with, be encouraging and loving in the words you use and be honest and straight-forward, and react in a manner that shows our love.”

 

Matthew 5:21-26 Hold your tongue young man! Reconciliation. Come to terms or go to jail.

The opening phrase of this passage is one that you will get used to.. “you have heard it said… but I say.” I love this about Jesus’ teaching. He speaks with so much authority. He is intensifying all the old rules and ratcheting them up a notch. Like I said before, Jesus is concerned with the heart, not the outward appearance. He speaks harshly here about anger. Jesus understands the dangerous and destructive ends of anger. Anger is not a mark of a kingdom person. Colossians tells us to put away anger, wrath, malice… etc. It is a characteristic of the old self. Jesus next hits on the matter of reconciliation. This passage speaks to me. I hate being at odds with people. He says that for me as a believer, if I have wronged my brother, my first resonsibility is to reconcile with my brother before I even offer worship to God. Powerful stuff. The ways Christians interact with one another is important to God. As members of his kingdom, we are to be lovers of peace and should yearn to be in good standing and relationship with one another. Wes

 

Matthew 5: 17-20 The Law… Consider it fulfilled.

This passage is so powerful.

When Moses was given the law by God on Mount Sinai, God showed the Nation of Israel what it looked like to live a life of righteousness before God. sadly though, they…. and all of mankind…. could not fulfill this law. God’s standards are too high. We could never complete the law.

So Jesus did.

He came and fulfilled what we could not. He kept humanity’s side of the bargain for us. What a beautiful plan God had for us.This is ultimate faithfulness. This is a kind of grace unimaginable. This is mercy. This is steadfast love. This is God loving his creation.

Wes

 

Matthew 5. The sermon on the mount! Blessed are the… Be salty and be Bright!

Again, these chapters are loaded. Chapters 5-7 are essentially the outline of what it looks like to be a true Christian. This is what we strive to talk like, be like, pray like, worship like, marry like, love like.. etc. So Jesus goes up onto the hills because he sees all these huge crowds following him (end of chapter 4 we saw the crowds forming). He sits down to teach them (this is pretty common for Jewish teachers to do) and boy does he teach. Blessed are the poor in spirit. – these are those who realize their need for the help of God. The kingdom of heaven goes to those who confess their absolute bankruptcy in light of God. those who mourn – those who know they are poor pitiful people who sin. …are the meek. These are people who are gentle. They don’t insist on their own way. (this is a picture of true love found in 1 Corinthians 13)Despite their gentleness, they will inherit the earth. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness – these are people who recognize God is the source for righteousness. They want to see that righteousness in their own life. Merciful-self explanatory. Pure in heart – those whose intentions are pure and they seek after purity. They will ultimately be satisfied. The jews were bad about setting extra rules and being legalistic and keeping to the rituals, but Jesus hits on the issue by saying blessare are the pure in HEART. love him. peacemakers – people who promote God’s ultimate peace will be called sons of God. awesome compliment. persecuted… those who are persecuted for their faith will be blessed. The last one is basically saying.. if you choose to live this life and follow after me, than you will be ridiculed and all these things. But Jesus says we’re blessed for it. The light of the world. Jesus says that you are the light of the world. The you here is plural. He is speaking to his disciples. When one man does something good it can be shrugged off as a good deed or just a noble man. But when a whole group of people continually lives like this, then they shine a bright bright light into the world. When people see this love and passion of Christ-followers, God is glorified by the watchers. Thoughts? Wes

 

Matthew 4. Fasting, Temptation, John is Arrested, Repent! Fishing for Men, Jesus Heals everybody

goodness.. these chapters are starting to get loaded. Before I forget. Tomorrow we’re just gonna read Matthew 5:1-17. There is so much to cover in these next few chapters.

But now for chapter 4.

So Jesus enters into the wilderness and there he fasts for 40 days and nights. Pretty incredible. Sources say that 40 days is about the longest a human can fast without permantly harming their body. Permantly.. So Jesus was definately suffering out there. And just like Satan.. he comes and tempts him when he is weakest.

Satan goes after Jesus’ physical needs. Jesus stands up to him and shuts him down with scripture. (All three verses he quotes are from dueteronomy) He tries to tempt him in other ways and Jesus just keeps shutting him down. He sets an example for us and how we can resist temptation. Go first to God’s word.

John (Jesus’ cousin) is arrested and Jesus goes to the Sea of Galilee. Presumably to get some alone time after hearing of the news about John. It’s interesting that He starts his ministry after this. John is arrested but his message of Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand is taken right up by Christ. John had done his job and now it was time for Christ to begin his ministry.

Jesus calls his disciples. In those days, all the young boys were trained up to learn and know the Torah since they were 5. Once they reached adolescence, if a rabbi thought any of these kids was good enough he would take him up under his wing and tell him “follow me.” The young boys would ahve always dreamed of this moment and would drop whatever they had to follow the rabbi they loved. All the boys who didn’t get asked would carry on doing whatever profession their family did.

Peter and Andrew clearly didn’t make the cut. So they were out doing what the rest of their family did, fishing. When Jesus calls them though, they drop their nets and follow him. This is a great chance of the free gift that Jesus offers. A great picture of second chances and redemption. It’s also an awesome picture of how I think we should respond to Christ’s calling. What he asks us, we should do. He bids us “come to me.”

Next Jesus goes into the region of Galilee and starts going on a healing frenzy. I love this about Jesus. He just can’t stand people being sick or hurt around him so he just heals everyone. I love him.

Wes

 

Have Mercy On Me, Oh God

Have mercy on me, oh God.

Have mercy on me, though I don’t deserve.

Have Mercy on me, oh God.

By your unfailing Love, By your unfailing Love.

 

Matthew Chapter 3. Camel Hair, Vipers, the Kingdom of Heaven, Doves, and a Voice from Heaven

Woo hoo this is a busy Chapter.

It opens up with John the Baptist, God’s chosen prophet to go before Jesus, calling out the people about the Kingdom of Heaven being at hand. This was saying that the time of the coming Messiah was upon them. When he spoke of the kingdom of heaven, he prefaced it with repent! Repent carries with it the connotation of turning away from something and going in a different direction. Here it is talking about one’s attitude and actions towards God. John wanted everyone to turn away from any distraction that might hinder their reception of Christ as the Messiah.

John speaks to the Pharisees and saducees pretty harshly. He knew these were some pretty self-righteous people and he warned them of the wrath to come if they did not accept the coming messiah.

John talks about his baptism in relation to the baptism that Jesus will eventually bring. His baptism will be with the Holy Spirit and with Fire. This is indicating that Christians will be given the holy Spirit and be tested and purified by a refining fire. Doesn’t sound too great to be tested by fire, but the coming out of the fire pure sounds awesome.

Jesus arrives on the scene!!

He asks John to Baptize him. Can you even imagine? Crazyness.

John does this and Jesus is our example for Baptism. This Baptism of Jesus also inaugurates his ministry and the redeeming work that God had promised since the beginning of time. A dove descends from heaven (the holy spirit) and God the father speaks from heaven saying he is pleased with his son. Things are looking great so far. Hold onto your horses because Jesus is just getting started.

Wes

 

Matthew 2. Wise Guys, Herods in a bad Mood, Run to Egypt, and Prophecies Fulfilled

So we got an interesting Chapter in this one.

The Wise men came to worship Jesus with all their attendants. It’s likely their journey would have taken over 40 days. Pretty Crazy stuff. The fact that there was a star is a fulfillment of an earlier prophecy by Balaam about a “star shall come out of Jacob.” They would have been familiar with prophecies like this from Jews who lived in Babylon and in the east. Jesus came into the world during a time called the dispersion. Jews had dispersed all over the known earth instead of staying in just Israel.

Herod was ticked off about this messiah being born because it represented a political threat to him and the other political officials in Judea at the time. The last thing he wanted was more zealots attacking him.

So he goes crazy! He orders every male under two to be slaughtered. Thankfully though… An angel came to Joseph and warned him before hand and told him to flee to egypt. God Is faithful.

There is alot of emphasis on prophecies being fulfilled in this passage. This would mean especially alot to the jewish Audience reading this book (it is generally agreed on that Matthew was written to the Jews). They would have all been very familiar with these prophecies, so think about how cool it would have been to see all them being fulfilled by a man during your lifetime. Pretty Exciting Stuff.

The Interesting Prophecy that Matthew quotes is in verse 15 when it says “This was to fulfill what the Lord has spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called my son’”. It’s cool because in Old Testament times Israel was often referred to as God’s son. But now, God’s true son is being rescued and delivered. Neato.

God’s Faithfulness seems to be a strong undertone in this chapter. Through the physical dangers and threats that Mary and Joseph faced, God was faithful, and to the people of Israel who were waiting for the day when someone would come along and fulfil these prophecies, God was Faithful, and even now, to those who put their trust in Him, God is faithful.

Wes