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Thank you all for making it a great Finishing Well Christmas at The Grand last week! Monday the 16th Matthew 12:30-50 The Problem with the PHARISEES We pick up where we left off last week with the Pharisees becoming more of a problem for Jesus. They questioned His authority on the Sabbath and then accused Him of being the prince of demons since He was able to cast out demons. In the final 4 paragraphs of this chapter from verse 30 thru 50 there are the topics of … The unpardonable sin / Words that reveal character / The desire for signs / And changed relationships. There are a lot of RED LETTERS in these passages! Here are 7 memorable sayings of Jesus in today’s reading... If you’re not FOR Me you’re AGAINST Me…. Speak against the Holy Spirit and it won’t be forgiven in this age or the age to come… The mouth speaks from that which fills the heart…. You will give an account for every careless word you speak…. No sign will be given to you except the sign of Jonah…. The last condition of that person (concerning demonic influence) will be worse than the first…. Whoever does the will of My Father in heaven, He is my brother, sister and mother… Let’s touch briefly on some of those today…… Jesus said you’re either working WITH Me or AGAINST Me. It was in a response to their accusation that He was a major demon casting out demons, which makes no sense at all why that would happen. Pharisees who work against the law of grace need to be confronted and Jesus was willing to do that. Always remember that “the heart of God defends the personhood (unity/trinity) of God”. God will defend His Son and they both will defend the work of the Holy Spirit. He goes on to say that there is an unforgivable sin…..the work of the Spirit is God’s final attempt and the last offer from heaven. This was the constant violation of the religious people of the day. The y denied the work of God’s Spirit. They had resisted the prophets, Moses and every deliverer God sent, but there comes a point when God is done offering and moves on. He did with the Jews, including the Gentiles and Jesus introduces this thought of “limits” very firmly. Now of course, we can repent and be restored to God, so don’t worry. If you’re reading this you haven’t gotten to that point! It’s not done in a moment of frustration, but rather it’s a chronic condition of disbelief and disrespect of God. IDLE WORDS I was named for my great grandfather on my mother’s side, George Stultz. I know. The name indicates my love for hot dogs and sauerkraut! He owned a livery stable and was an undertaker. He had 3 daughters. If he hadn’t I might’ve wound up in that career path. My Mom said he had a favorite saying as he left the family he would work with for funerals. It was this passage Jesus spoke. He would say, “now let’s remember, we’ll all give an account one day for the careless words we say to one another”. Maybe we need to remind ourselves of that truth. By our words we will be justified and by our words we will be condemned. May we choose wisely and represent the God we love and serve well! Then in vs 38-45, Jesus confronts the Pharisees because they wanted a sign. So here’s your sign”, in the spirit of Bill Engval, the comedian who would hang out with Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy (get ‘er done). They always wanted more from Jesus to use against Him. And He cuts them off saying the only sign they’ll get is Jonah’s, which was him being in the belly of the whale, just as one day the Son of Man would be in the heart of the earth for the same time! Jesus let’s them all know He didn’t have time for their doubts, since they weren’t really doubts, they were digs! He then teaches with a hypothetical of a demon being cast out and a person being empty. And when that demon swings by to visit again and brings with him 7 more unclean spirits, the empty person is worse off than he was before! A strong reminder to fill our lives with Scripture, prayer, fellowship and service! And Jesus finally has to deal with His unbelieving (at that point) family. Him being the Messiah was a little much for them to grasp initially! And He clarifies the WHO IS MY FAMILY question directly, by saying His Family consists of those who DO THE WILL OF MY FATHER IN HEAVEN. Today, there might be a little residual Pharisee in all of us. I love Larry Osborn’s book, “Accidental Pharisee”, which says it’s something many of us can fall into if we’ve been in God’s Family a long time. A critical spirit of other churches, careless words, wanting more evidence of what God’s up to, or assuming we’re all in close with Jesus simply because we’ve been around Him a lot. May we have a “Pharisee within us be Gone” mentality today as we push thru the gospel and head toward Christmas! God wants us to humbly serve and accept one another as brothers and sisters in His “forever family”. Take a moment to reach out to someone with ENCOURAGING, not careless words today. And BE the family of God to another follower of Jesus, even if you don’t know their name! Tuesday the 17th Matthew 13 The Power of Parables I love watching Saddleback Kids’ STORIES of the BIBLE online with our grandkids. Our grandsons’ (Carter, Izaiah & Zeke) favorite is “the “FIERY FURNACE”, better known as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. There is power in a story….and the more familiar it becomes, the more it gets ingrained into the fabric of their lives. Jesus was a Master Storyteller. Parables are simply “earthly stories with heavenly meanings”. And today Jesus goes “seaside” with large crowds as He was in a boat and taught them MANY lessons, the Bible says. Now He uses in this chapter, the parable, itself, the explanation of WHY, the symbolism of the main characters, then He continues on with not just the SOWER, but the WEEDS, the Mustard Seed, the LEAVEN, the EXPLANATION of the Weeds, the HIDDEN TREASURE, & then a visit back to NAZARETH. The point of all this type of teaching was a testing to see if they had “ears to hear”. Did they want to know about Him as the Savior of the world? In the initial parable of the Sower, Jesus makes it really clear that we are to have the “right condition of soil in our hearts”. And the Word of God can be stolen, scorched, choked out, or it can be productive bringing an abundant crop! It all depends on the CONDITION OF THE SOIL OF OUR HEART! The “Kingdom of Heaven” parables remind us that the kingdom of God is precious and extremely valuable for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. The Kingdom is worth pursuing! And at the end of the teaching, Jesus returns to His hometown of Nazareth, only to find that “a prophet is not without honor, EXCEPT IN HIS OWN COUNTRY. The old saying of “familiarity breeds contempt” really kicks in when Jesus comes back with a following! And notice the final verse of the chapter……”He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief”. Today we have the opportunity to show the Lord we believe. Notice the intensity of Jesus and His deliberate way of His “being on mission” and accomplishing what He set out to do. He drew people in with stories. If they stayed with Him, they learned even more as He took them as deep as they were willing to go with Him! May we be willing to learn & share with others the powerful teaching of His stories! It’s all about the heart. It’s all about the Kingdom. It’s all about giving HONOR to Him, for He alone is worthy, Christ the Lord! Sorry, I went into a Christmas carol without knowing it! Love you guys, gr Wednesday the 18th Matthew 14 “Moments of Grieving, Feeding & Helping” We move today in this chapter to a powerful commentary Jesus has on the life of His cousin, John the Baptist. Let’s title these 3 paragraphs today….. Grieving for a Ministry Partner (vs 1-12) Jesus had already given a tribute to John the Baptist in our reading last week. Now we get a “play by play” of his death. Jesus had to be feeling the gravity of this. The one who had cleared the path for Him to preach and teach and open the doors of the Kingdom was now gone. Jesus would be next and He was painfully aware of that. Notice the honor of John’s disciples in doing the best they could without a funeral. And did you catch the fact that Jesus WITHDREW as soon as He heard the news about John? Privacy was a very rare thing for Jesus to experience. This leads us up to the time for the next miracle…… Feeding a Big Crowd (vs 13-32) He’s at it again. After a long sermon, the crowd gets a little restless & hungry & Jesus, who is a little tired at this point, tells His disciples to get them something to eat! The “slim pickin’s from Long John Silvers” surfaces and Jesus feeds everyone. 12 baskets leftover. Everybody eats. But notice in verse 22, how Jesus COMPELS the disciples to get ahead of Him while He sends the crowds away. This is a picture of a Messiah who needs a little distance between the weekend services! He needs a moment. Just enough time to catch His breath. Because another “moment” is about to happen… Helping a Struggling Friend (vs 22-36) Jesus needs some time away. But the reprieve from the crowd & disciples appears to be all too brief. He goes for a walk (on the water without sinking), the disciples see Him, and Peter does what Peter does. He dives in wanting the full experience without the full faith! And after a few steps toward Jesus, he sees the wind and waves and sinks like the “rock” of a nickname he was given! Now it’s time for Jesus to do what Jesus does. He helps him up. And gently confronts him for not trusting enough to keep on walking. But notice the response of the disciples. They don’t ridicule Peter. He was the only one with the courage to ask for permission to get out of the boat! They move to a whole new “posture” of praise & worship! Years ago at church camp, I had a friend who wrote a song called “Peter on the Water”. It was a real simple song that caught on quickly, especially at campfire, since it was an “echo song”. Peter on the water (echo) Sinkin’ in the sea (echo) Took his eyes off Jesus (echo) Fallin’ desperately (echo) Turned to the Master, saved from disaster Peter on the water (echo) We had a lot of fun with that song. And since it was an echo song, you can write a ton of verses that work. But the truth is we are very much like Peter. We try, then we see the wind. We sink. We cry for help. And Jesus reaches out His hand to us. And that’s OK. At least we’re getting out of the boat! Thursday the 19th Matthew 15 “FIDDLER on the Roof” / “MESSIAH in the House” The opening song of “Fiddler on the Roof” is very powerful and sets the tone for the rest of the musical. It’s the song, “TRADITION”. Jewish culture was very strong and it was hard to “go against the grain” for families, if you remember some of the movie. Jesus was dealing with a culture that majored in the minors. They emphasized the “letter of the law” but missed the “heart of the law”. This time He and His disciples got in trouble because they “broke the tradition of the Pharisees” by not ceremonially washing their hands before they ate. I know. How could they? What a bunch of rebels! So Jesus spanks them pretty good by quoting Isaiah’s prophecy about them being people who “Praised God with their lips but their hearts were far from Him.” He goes on to say they only taught traditions from men, not guidelines from God, and tells the crowd its not what “enters” the mouth that defiles a person but what “exits” the mouth, meaning the words we say. And notice how the disciples get a little squirmish, telling Jesus that the Pharisees were offended by what He said? Jesus doesn’t say, “they’ll get over it”. No, He says if God didn’t plant them in the Kingdom, then they won’t last in the Kingdom! Then He calls them “blind guides”. Then Peter speaks up and asks to “stay after class” while Jesus explains things a little better for them. Break it down Jesus, break it down! And He does. But not until He’s expressed His frustration that they don’t see the obvious. He boils it down to the simple fact that “God prefers clean HEARTS over clean HANDS”. Alrighty then. Now we can move on. And they did. Make sure and read the next paragraph of the “healing of the Canaanite woman”. She’s Gentile and it’s not their turn yet to get any attention from Jesus, but she does by respectfully letting Him know she’s willing to wait and “catch the crumbs off His table” if allowed to. I love seeing Jesus “in the moment” individually with people treating them with the same love but in the context of their faith! And the next paragraph of the chapter shows the incredible, inexhaustible Jesus healing nearly around the clock! He heads to the hills for more reprieve but they follow Him “uphill” as He heals the limping and the blind. It reminds me of another Christian story/song of the 80’s about Jesus by Carmen which said…… There was a man there vexed with demons….that made him scream and shout….but just one touch of Jesus’ hand….and those demons came right out He healed a girl that was crippled….her back was all bent and sore…..and do you remember that old blind man? Well he ain’t blind no more! Jesus was doing what Jesus does. The MESSIAH WAS IN THE HOUSE! And those who recognized Him as such were drawn to Him and couldn’t stay away! And chapter 15 ends with Jesus feeding 4,000 this time (plus women and kids). And there are 7 baskets leftover. I wonder why? Maybe because Jesus is a “waste not” kind of Messiah. Or maybe because He wanted the disciples to learn to “share” (12 of them & 7 baskets) the next day and be reminded of His power and love simply by eating “leftovers”. Just remember that Jesus can give US leftovers, but we should never give HIM leftovers! Just ask Cain how that went for him! Abel gave the “fat portions”, while Cain gave “some” of the grain. Jesus was always teaching His followers. Lesson after lesson. Moment after moment. Conversation after conversation. Miracle after miracle. Day after day. May we continue to be “learners” and “followers” every day with Him. Even at Christmas time when the holiday hustle is at it’s peak. Bless you Finishing Well family. May we continue to have “ears to hear and eyes to see” concerning the things God wants to teach us! Friday the 20th Matthew 16 “Here’s Your SIGN” / and “Here’s the DEAL” In our reading today, Jesus faces both groups, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. One was conservative, the other one rather liberal. Much like our political influences today. Again, they ask for a sign, and Jesus had to repeat Himself to them concerning the sign of Jonah. He then warns His followers to beware of the LEAVEN, which was a baking ingredient…. yeast which infiltrates all the dough and causes the bread to rise. The religious leaders had so many traditions that they held on to that Jesus didn’t. And even His disciples struggled with understanding Jesus’ confrontation of them. Peter Steps Up The next passage today is a classic in verses 13-20. Jesus asks His disciples what the word on the street was about Him. Who do people think He really is? After some of them gave answers they’d heard people say, like Elijah or John the Baptist coming back from the dead, Jesus “goes direct” and asks THEM who THEY think He is…..and here’s where Peter steps up. He says the Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. We take our public confessional moments at baptism many times asking people to repeat that after us or simply acknowledge with a YES that they believe Jesus IS who He says He is. And the “Messianic” awareness is now among them all! Foretelling of His Death Jesus in the next 3 verses lets them know in great detail just what He is in for…..and the crazy thing is, Peter tries to talk Him out of it! Just a few verses ago, Peter was at the head of the class….and look and see now he has to be seriously reprimanded because he doesn’t want Jesus to die. It’s good to be reminded that we might have the right answer, but we might not ALWAYS have in mind what God’s plan really is! We have to keep letting Jesus lead the discussion and direction of our lives! This Will Cost You More than You Can Imagine In the final 5 verses of this chapter, Jesus pours on the RED INK in His words. Take up your cross and follow Me. Wanna save your life? Then you better be ready to LOSE it for My sake! What good is it if you GAIN the whole world and LOSE your own soul? It really gets intense! That’s because it is intense! It’s NOT just a matter of life and death….it’s a matter a ETERNITY! Jesus turns the corner saying He IS the Messiah…and He is about to GIVE HIS LIFE for the sins of the world….and we can’t just give a “nod to God” on the weekend or wish one another a “Merry Christmas”….those things have their place & can be good but unless we’re serious about His Kingdom, we’ll wind up having a NICE LIFE and a godless AFTERLIFE. And that’s not what Jesus came to do. I know this feels like we’re diving into the deep end of the pool. And you know what…..we are! That’s where we discover whether we can swim or not! Keep on believing, following, and seeking His Kingdom…..and we will find ourselves FINISHING WELL together! Next week we’ll sprint thru chapters 17-21 as we celebrate Christmas. Then the following week, we’ll end the year and Matthew’s gospel all at the same time. Praying it’s a great “last weekend before Christmas” for each of you! Remember, this is the time of year that acts & words of love are a little more acceptable to those not yet convinced Jesus is the Savior of the world. May we take advantage of this season with a little less inhibition and a little more boldness on His behalf! Bless you this weekend and talk to you Monday….gr
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