Today, I am reading and commenting on  Matthew 25-26.

To me, this passage is one of the most frightening and most heartening passages in the New Testament.  Every time I read this I fear I am the guy who buried his one bag of gold, that I did not make good use of the talent which God gave me and will be condemned for that on Judgement Day.  On the other hand, I also see how Peter denied that he even knew Jesus and yet was forgiven.   So, it really comes down to, no matter how bad we have messed up so far, God will forgive us if we return to Him and seek to do better going forward.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Matthew 23-24.

I really believe that chapter 23 here is very important and that we do not pay close enough attention to what Jesus tells us here.  The New Testament contains many warnings against hypocrisy, but here Jesus gives us a guideline which will help us avoid it.  That guideline has two sides to it.  On the one hand, we should not ask others to address us with titles which elevate us above them.  On the other hand, we should not address others with titles which elevate them above us.  Specifically, Jesus tells us not to allow anyone to call us “Teacher”, because we should have only one Teacher.  And we should not address anyone as “Father”, because God is our Father.  In my opinion, Jesus makes it clear that we should not address anyone with a title which puts them between us and God, nor should we allow anyone to address us with a title which puts us between them and God.  When you start elevating people, or allowing yourself to be elevated, you begin the process which causes the appearance of righteousness to be more important than the reality of righteousness.  We will begin to see ourselves as above others rather than as their servants.

One of the most difficult parts of understanding chapter 24 is that we need to realize that the disciples question was actually three questions.  Nevertheless, Jesus answer tells us a lot about God’s plans for the world.  Point one, the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ, will be preached throughout the entire world before Jesus returns.  Point two, many will come claiming to be Jesus Returned, and many more will prophesy falsely in His name claiming to be announcing His return.  Some of them will perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive many.  We should not believe such false prophets and false messiahs because no one will need to announce Jesus’ Return: it will be obvious to all.  Finally, Jesus warns us that no one will know in advance the date and time of Jesus’ return.  Since we cannot know in advance when He will come back, we should make every effort to be doing the work He has given us all of the time.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Matthew 21-22.

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey colt He was declaring that He had already won.  The passage from Zechariah which Matthew quotes here refers to a king returning to his capital after winning a war, and not just any war but a war of rebellion.  We often think about the Crucifixion or the Resurrection being the moment when Jesus was victorious over Satan, but this passage suggests that His victory came when He rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.  Palm Sunday was when Jesus committed Himself to accept being arrested and crucified and when He accepted that He was victorious over Satan.  In the same manner, we are victorious over sin when we accept that doing the right thing will lead to suffering and do it anyway.  I want to add two points to that.  The joy which comes from suffering for doing the right thing exceeds the pain of that suffering.  And the Resurrection shows us that the joy is lasting, but the suffering is temporary.  I realized I have a third point.  If we do not do the right thing for fear of suffering, the shame we will feel is also lasting.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Matthew 18-20.

I love today’s passage.  It starts with Jesus’ disciples asking Him who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus’ response to that question tells us that they were asking the wrong question.  So, the disciples asked who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven and Jesus replied by saying that unless you become like little children you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.  Later in today’s passage we have the story about the rich man who turned away after Jesus told him to sell everything he had and give it to the poor.  After that happened Jesus said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.  I have heard many people try to explain this so as to make it something which is possible, however, when the disciples asked Jesus, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus answered, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  Which gives us another insight into both what it takes to get into the kingdom of heaven and what it takes to be great there.  Finally, near the end of the passage, Jesus tells the disciples that whoever wants to become great among His followers must be the servant of others.

I doubt I can add anything to understanding this than others have said about this passage, but what do I conclude this tells us about being great in God’s kingdom.  First, to even get into it we have to be like little children, trusting and dependent.  Second, we cannot think that we can buy or earn whatever we want.  Finally, we need to put other’s wants and needs ahead of our own.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Matthew 15-17.

As is often the case, there is a lot of things in this passage of note and I was planning on touching on many of them.  So, I went back to the first story in this passage to begin.  And I was struck by the question Jesus’ disciples asked Him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”  Jesus was not even a little bit apologetic about offending the Pharisees.  His response to His disciples made it clear that He was not concerned about offending them.  I want to note that this was not the first time where Pharisees had confronted Jesus over details in a way that suggests they were looking for something “wrong” rather than listening to see if He was correct.  In His response to His disciples Jesus makes it clear that He is not going to spend any time worrying about offending people who are busy looking for reasons to be offended.  The Pharisees were not worried about offending Jesus, or His disciples, but Jesus was supposed to worry about offending them?  But Jesus’ reason for not worrying about offending them was even more basic: in their hunt for reasons to find fault they had lost track of the basics.

Jesus’ response to the Pharisees here goes back to what He said in the beginning of Chapter 7 of this Gospel when He told us, “Do not judge,…”  There He went on to talk about addressing the major issues in our own lives before we confront others over minor issues in their lives.  Here He points out that the Pharisees are focusing on a minor issue in other people’s behavior while overlooking a major issue in their own lives.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Matthew 13-14.

I am going to skip over the Parable of the Sower today because I don’t feel like I have anything new to say about it (which will not always stop me, but for today) and start with the Parable of the Weeds.  There is a phrase used by soldiers and others who favor using violence against evil, “Kill them all and let God sort them out.”  That phrase is diametrically opposite to the point which Jesus made with the Parable of the Weeds.  Jesus made the point that when we cannot distinguish the good from the evil it is better to leave the evil alone than to harm the good.  In fact, a principle generally observed in U.S. law, and that of many other nations, that it is better for 10 guilty people to go free than for one innocent person to suffer judgement derives from this.                                                                                          Jesus made a secondary point in that parable, one which was important enough that He told a second parable which focused on that secondary point.  In the Parable of the Weeds Jesus tells us that after the harvest, the weeds will be burned while the wheat will be gathered into the barn.  Then in the Parable of the Net, Jesus speaks of a net which gathers all kinds of fish.  The good fish would be collected and the bad fish thrown away.  He explicitly tells us that the good fish represent those who are righteous and the bad fish those who are wicked.

Jesus tells two other parables here which I want to comment on because I think their message is no longer thought about enough.  In one He talks about a mustard seed and in the other He talks about yeast.  Both parables tell us not to be disheartened because we think we are insignificant.  A mustard seed is tiny, but it grows into a large plant which dominates its surroundings.  When you make bread, the yeast is completely overwhelmed by the volume of the other ingredients used, but the yeast completely transforms the dough.  So, each of these parables makes the point that we should not think that our actions are of no significance because both the mustard seed and the yeast appear insignificant to those who know not what they are, but both have a big impact.  However, each parable has a secondary point.  Some of us are called to be like the mustard seed, which changes its environment through determination and consistent effort.  And some of us are called to be like the yeast which changes its environment by transforming what is around it (or, in our case, transforming those who are around us).  And perhaps some of us are called to do both.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.