Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:1-5)? I am so glad the disciples ask Jesus the question. I think I would be too scared to ask. Jesus takes a child and uses the child as an object lesson. In the ancient world, children were low in the social hierarchy. They were weak and defenseless and had no rights. They could not stand up and demand anything, unlike today. As so often misinterpreted, Jesus is not telling us to be a child but He is showing us how children in this culture were insignificant. Jesus is calling us to become insignificant and to become dependent on Him. To become great in the kingdom of heaven is to become a minister to the insignificant. I call this the paradox of insignificance because we seek to make a name for ourselves and God calls us to be insignificant. We are called to repent and the difficulty with repentance is that it would make us insignificant. It would mean that we can’t make it on our own. In repentance, we learn to humble ourselves like a child and become dependent on God to save us. We are called to serve and to serve means we will be inconvenienced or made insignificant. The paradox of insignificance means we learn to be pick up our cross and die to ourselves for the sake of others. In the paradox of insignificance we see Jesus on the cross. Are you willing to become insignificant and dependent on God? It is difficult and there ain’t no easy way around it (Matthew 7:14).
Posts Tagged ‘Discipleship’
Day 28: Matthew 17:14-18:6 — The Paradox of Insignificance
Thursday, January 28th, 2010Day 20: Matthew 13:1-23 — A Parable
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010In Matthew 13:1-9, Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea and told a parable. The transliteration of parabolḗ, or a parable is literally something cast alongside another thing to clarify it. So Jesus will often tell a parable and compare a real life truth with the truth of the Kingdom of God. In Matt. 13:10, the disciples want to know why Jesus tells parables. Jesus answer is interesting. Look at Matt. 13:11-17. It is interesting that Jesus states it is given to the disciples to know the secrets (mystḗrion) of the Kingdom of heaven and for those who are not disciples they are not given the secrets of the Kingdom of heaven (Matt. 13:11). In Matt. 13:18-23, we have a further explanation of the Parable of the Sower. However, I want to focus on Jesus’ discussion with his disciples. Jesus seems pleased that the disciples seek clarification of the parable (Matt. 13:16-17).
Is Jesus telling us that a true disciple sees, hears, and does something after experiencing the miracles and teachings of Jesus? If we are not seeking clarification of Jesus’ teaching and seeking His teaching and council in our lives, could it be that we don’t really understand or perceive? Many people have seen and heard the story of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection without it doing anything for their lives. Have you really seen or heard the story? Have you turned or has your heart grown dull? When was the last time you passionately sought the will of God? Jesus is calling us to understand with our hearts and turn from sin so that He might heal us (Matt. 13:15). May we turn our hearts today and experience healing from our Lord! “Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear” (Matt. 13:16).
Day 14: Mathew 10:1-15 — “Committed Christians”
Thursday, January 14th, 2010Matthew 10:1-42 is called the “Mission Discourse.” It is the second major discourse of Jesus in Matthew. Here Jesus commissions (Matthew 10:1-4) and instructs the twelve (Matthew 10:5-15) by sending them out with His message and power. Yet, this passage is connected to the last chapter. In Matthew 9:37, Jesus tells us about the plentiful harvest and the need for workers. Notice how Jesus sends out workers:
- He identifies the need. He was going throughout cities and villages teaching, preaching, and healing (Matthew 9:35). He saw crowds without leaders and He saw the need of the harvest.
- He had compassion on the people (Matthew 9:36).
- He advocated prayer to receive more workers (Matthew 9:38).
- He called disciples to work and empowered them (Matthew 10:1). Jesus doesn’t pray and then let it go. Jesus gets in there and does something about it. Jesus doesn’t ask for “volunteers,” He calls disciples to go out and accomplish the mission. Jesus requires what I call, “committed Christians.”
I have this pet peeve about using the word “volunteer” in the church. We ask for volunteers to help us with the harvest. Jesus doesn’t do this. The Kingdom of God is not a democracy that seeks our input or relies on the leftovers we have to offer. The Kingdom of God is run by the sovereign God who has all power and authority. He calls and empowers us to do the work of the Kingdom. Many will claim that this was the twelve being sent out to Israel and it is not applicable to us today. Yet, I think God’s plan has always been to seek Israel and then to expand it to all nations. So, Jesus fulfills God’s plan by seeking Israel and then in Matthew 28:16-20, Jesus will give the “Great Commission” which fulfills ultimately the plan of God to go to all nations. In the context of Jesus sending out the twelve, He gives them some very difficult instructions. Read Matthew 10:34-39. Jesus requires some committed people to work in the Kingdom.
Questions:
Do you believe your faith is based on what you are willing to volunteer or what God has called you to do? It seems to me that we no longer are concerned about obeying God but finding a way that we can all get along, what do you think? If you believe in “volunteerism” in the church, how do you deal with Matthew 10:38-39?
Day 4: Matthew 4:1-11 – “I don’t think Jesus got the Memo, we are not into self-sacrifice!”
Monday, January 4th, 2010As we are reading through the Bible this year, you have no doubt noticed that we are reading from the Old and New Testament each day. Up to this point, I have focused on Genesis. Today, I am going to switch over to our Matthew passage. Today, we are reading Matthew 4:1-22 where Jesus is tempted (Matt. 4:1-11); Jesus begins to preach (Matt. 4:12-17); and Jesus calls the first disciples (Matt. 4:18-22).
I wonder if we can apply the temptation narrative to our lives? Traditionally, this text is used to designate three strategies for resisiting temptations. This is good but I still wonder if there is not more here. Is Jesus teaching us to resist temptation or are we living the temptation and we need to be corrected?
Have you ever noticed that Jesus has a thing about us learning to give up ourselves for God? He talks about discipleship; He preaches about the cross; He calls us to deny all we have; He models washing others’ feet to teach us to serve; He instructs us in the value of our spiritual family being more important than our physical family. I don’t know about you but the Jesus of the Bible seems intense. I don’t think Jesus got the memo, we are not into self-sacrifice! Let’s look at these three temptations again.
Temptation #1 – Matt. 4:1-4: A lesson that teaches doing God’s will is more important than our physical needs. Jesus was offered food to satisfy his physical needs. Jesus makes it clear that our physical survival is not more important than God’s will. I wonder, if Jesus had to choose between being my close personal friend and doing the will of God, where would I stand? I think Ol’ Randy gets thrown under the bus. What do you think? Do you think we have captured the true Jesus in our self-serving, comfortable seats, where we come into worship demanding that our wants and desires get met? Jesus says, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Temptation #2 – Matt. 4:5-7: A Lesson at the holy city where Jesus is tempted to jump and use God’s protection in a self serving way but He refuses. Do we use prayer and God’s word to our advantage in a false idea of using God to protect our own? Has God become our “bell hop?” Is God here to be at our every beck and call and to resolve whatever struggle we face? Are we demanding the angels come and keep us from stumping our toes? Jesus says, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Temptation #3 – Matt. 4:8-11: A lesson about wealth, fame, and worship. Jesus responds that worshiping and serving God is more important than worshiping and serving ourselves. Jesus says, “Away from me Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
What do you think?