Category: Podcast

GRACE: FREE TO US, COSTLY TO HIM

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

crucifixion

God’s grace is free to us, but it was not free to Him. It was very costly. It is free in the same sense that a diamond is free to the girl who is getting engaged. It is freely given, but it cost the giver a great deal. And like the diamond engagement ring, it is offered not just as a trinket, but as an invitation into a lifelong relationship that will change the course of our future forever.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer:
Download Matthew Part 97

Matthew #97  Matthew 27:11-50

[This is a slightly longer message than usual. Be prepared, if you are listening, to take 35 minutes or so. If you are reading, please be ready for just a few more words than normal.]

At this point, I want to consider the extreme suffering of Jesus – all of which was for us. Some of you will read this long after I post it. In “real time,” as I write, it is only a few weeks until Christmas. This may seem like a weird topic to cover during this season of joy and goodwill. But consider this: I have already mentioned that in Jesus’ life on earth, every single moment that included physical or emotional pain, was suffering on our behalf. Even a stubbed toe was suffering that Jesus did not have to experience, but that he endured for our sake. So, in a way, his atonement for our sin began with his birth.

Of course the atonement could not be complete without his death. He came into the world for exactly this purpose: to die, to receive in himself what we deserved. Let’s consider what that meant for him, physically, spiritually and emotionally. As always, many other sermons might be preached on these same verses. I am choosing to focus on just the one thing, although I do think it is the most important thing in this text. By the way, even if you don’t normally “share” things online, I think this would be a good one to share.

Jesus was killed by torture. There is really no other way to say it. It began with three beatings during the course of about eighteen hours. First, Jesus was taken to the high priest’s house – and you can bet they weren’t gentle in the taking. Most likely they pushed him and perhaps even struck him on their way there. After the mock trial, he was surrounded by an angry mob, and beaten with fists (Matthew 26:67-68; Mark 14:65; Luke 22:63-64). At least some of the blows were to his head. This kind of beating alone would probably put most of us in the hospital, at least overnight. Picture an LA street gang finding the member of a rival gang alone, and deciding to teach him a lesson. You can imagine several people holding the poor man up, while others took turns punching him. It is possible that Jesus sustained a concussion from this, and certainly he received multiple bruises; possibly even broken ribs or teeth. Remember, there was no pain medication in those days.

Next, they took him to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, who did not live in Jerusalem, but was there to try and keep the peace during the Passover festival. A standard Roman response to suspected trouble makers was to have them “scourged.” Pilate had this done to Jesus. In common language, this means he was whipped – that is, beaten with an instrument designed to inflict pain on human beings. Instead of one “tail” to the whip, it had several strips leather. At the end of each strip was fastened rocks or bits of glass or even pieces of lead. So each strike of the whip caused multiple gashes, laying open the flesh, and bruising the muscles as well. Most probably Jesus was given the 39 lashes, which had been known to kill people occasionally. Remember, Jesus had been beaten up by a mob, just hours earlier. In addition to his other injuries, Jesus certainly lost a lot of blood from the whipping, and perhaps sustained more broken ribs. Between these two beatings, the overall physical shock to his body was enormous. Coming so close together, there is no doubt that many men would have died from the combination of these two traumas.

After that, Jesus was turned over to the Roman cohort for crucifixion. Before they did their job, however, the entire cohort had fun mocking him; a cohort was made up of about 500 brutal, hardened soldiers. They jammed a crown made of thorns on his head. They took a staff most likely made out of a cane stem (something like bamboo, but smaller in diameter) and gave it to him, and then took it away and used it to beat him over the head. This cane rod would probably not have created any serious injury, unless it was used to strike Jesus on the face, and thus open up cuts on his cheeks. Even so, they were likely hitting the crown of thorns, driving thorns into his head, and the direct blows themselves would have been very painful.

But all that stuff – physical punishment which could easily have killed many men – was only preliminary to the suffering which killed the Son of God. After these severe beatings, they strapped a big beam to his back and made him carry it a mile or two. The beam was likely equivalent to a 4”x4”, perhaps six or eight feet long. Considering what he had been through, it was no wonder he needed help. When they got to the place, they put metal spikes through his hands, into the crosspiece. Though tradition pictures these as going through the palms of the hands, it is more likely that they put the spikes through his wrists between the two bones of the forearm, so that the flesh would not tear away and drop him from the cross. Either way, that alone would have been painful beyond belief. His legs were slightly bent, and then they pressed his feet, one on top of the other, and drove a spike through them into the upright beam of the cross. Tradition pictures a kind of triangular piece of wood for his feet to rest on, but this is doubtful. Then they raised it up.

At this point, Jesus had two choices. He could let the weight of his body hang from his wrists, tearing away at the flesh, and rubbing on bare bone. Or he could straighten his legs, and push up against the spike driven through his feet, inflaming the wounds there, and grinding against broken metatarsals and tendons. Each movement probably drove splinters into his raw, lacerated back. If he had an itch, he couldn’t even scratch it. If he had to go to the bathroom, it would be right there in front of everyone.

Over time, victims of crucifixion spend more and more time hanging from their arms, since pushing up on the spike through the feet was intensely painful, and required effort. As Jesus’ body weight pulled on his arms, and kept them above shoulder-level, his lungs gradually began to fill with fluid, and breathing became difficult. The only relief for this came from thrusting against the spike in the feet. By pushing himself up this way, he could straighten his body and breathe more freely. But the pain was such that no one could endure this for long. It also required strength and energy. He was undoubtedly weakened by his beatings to start with, and as his body grew weaker through this torture, he got less and less air. In this position, fluid also collected around his heart, putting pressure on it. As a result the organs slowly got less blood and oxygen.

Incidentally, this was why, late in the day, they broke the legs of the other men who were crucified alongside Jesus. By breaking their legs, it became impossible for them to straighten up and get air, and so they died more rapidly.

Jesus was taken to the Roman governor early in the morning. He was put up on the cross before noon, possibly as early as eight or nine in the morning. He endured this suffering until it killed him, about eight hours later. It killed him, either by filling his lungs with fluid and suffocating him, or by the pressure of the fluids surrounding his heart, which could have caused it to stop.

This was actually a relatively short time for death by crucifixion. When we read the gospels, we find that Pilate was surprised when he heard that Jesus had died by late afternoon. But then, most people being crucified were not beaten three times within hours before they were put on the cross.

But the suffering wasn’t only physical. He also went through emotional and spiritual agony.

First, he endured the anticipation of suffering. He knew, long before what happened, what was waiting for him. When I have some special event approaching in the future, anticipation is almost half the joy of it. I enjoy the feeling of looking forward to a good thing coming. But the reverse is also true. If you know about something you dread that is coming up, part of the negative experience is anticipating what you don’t want to go through. It is clear that Jesus knew about his approaching suffering, and that he dreaded it. That is why he said hours before he experienced any physical torment:

“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matt 26:36-39)

He also experienced humiliation. He was the King of the Universe, the very One whom everyone around him professed to worship. And yet, in order to accomplish his purpose, he had to allow them to mock him, to spit on him, to humiliate him as if they were right and he was wrong. There was a physical aspect to the humiliation as well. It is a terrible experience to be a man, and be struck, and yet not be able to strike back. Also, they almost certainly stripped him completely naked when the put him on the cross, again a humiliating experience.

In addition, Jesus experienced abandonment. All his followers ran away and left him to his fate. His faithful lieutenant, Peter, denied him publicly. But even worse, he was abandoned by God. 2 Corinthians 5:20 says this:

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

God the Father abandoned Jesus the Son in a way that he has never abandoned any human being, ever, nor ever will. The bible teaches us that if we choose to reject God’s grace through Jesus, then ultimately God allows us to do that. In other words, God doesn’t reject us, but he gives us the freedom to reject Him. If we choose that, we will experience what it is like to be without God – but it will be our doing not His. He does not willingly forsake us. But in the case of Jesus on the cross, it was the opposite. Jesus never turned away from the Father. He followed him obediently, and perfectly to the end. But when the Father made Jesus into sin – for our sake – He turned away and abandoned him. He had to, if Jesus indeed took our sin on himself. This is why Jesus cries out:

46About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Elí, Elí, lemá sabachtháni?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt 27:46, HCSB)

Now, I want us to consider something. When I think about the horrible suffering that Jesus experienced, it’s hard to contemplate. But there are many other things in this life that are hard to contemplate as well. For instance, it is hard to contemplate the horror of rape. It is hard to truly grasp the awfulness of murder. We don’t like to think this way, but even the sins which we think aren’t so bad are so far removed from God’s holiness that they are as fully horrific to God as the suffering Jesus experienced. The extremity of Jesus’ suffering shows us the extremity of our sin. All this is the depth of God’s love for us. This is picture of the true horror of our sin. This crucifixion is the gulf that would exist between us and God if Jesus had not taken our place.

The cross is also justice for sin. This is what makes forgiveness possible. We can’t just wave our hands and say “it doesn’t matter.” When we hurt others, it matters. When we offend God, it makes a difference. There are a lot of people who like to say, “It’s OK to do whatever you like, as long as you don’t hurt anyone.” But what if you hurt God? He has told us, in the bible what matters to Him, what drives a wedge between us and him. Why is it OK to hurt him, but not anyone else? A sin that is only against God is just as much a sin as something which hurts another person.

Jesus, by his suffering, has endured what sin deserves – all sin. I can forgive the person who did something horrible to me because there was punishment and suffering for the evil that was done. It was made right, and justice was done for that sin, to Jesus, on the cross.

23For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 24They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. 26God presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus. (Rom 3:23-26, HCSB)

No other faith takes sin or forgiveness seriously enough. You can’t just wave your hand and say, “it doesn’t matter,” as Buddhism does. One reason Buddhist monks dedicate their lives to separation from the world and to meditation is that you have to concentrate very hard and remain very isolated to believe that the suffering caused by sin in this world doesn’t matter.

You can’t say, “You’ll make it up next time you’re re-incarnated,” as Hinduism does. Since nobody is perfect, all you would do is rack up more “karma-debt” with each new life. Even Islam and Judaism say, essentially: “Well, you do your best, and God forgives the rest.” But why? On what basis can God allow un-holiness into his holy presence? If he could do such a thing, it means that God isn’t really holy, and therefore that moral standards are not actually real; in short, that anything goes. We like “anything goes” if it means we can do whatever we want, but it becomes intolerable when someone else can do whatever they like to us with no consequences. If there is no moral standard, we live a world of senseless brutality, and all kindness and love mean nothing. Even what think of as moral good is meaningless. If nothing is evil, nothing is good either.

That is why it was necessary for sin to be accounted for. Justice must be done. Sin must have consequences. If not, there is no such thing as goodness or grace. If not, we cannot survive in the presence of a holy God. It is only through this extreme suffering of Jesus that sin could be dealt with. The Lord has made a way to take away the power of sin, and still allow goodness and grace and love to flourish.

There is one more thing about the cross. Scripture tells us that there is a mysterious spiritual truth: when we trust that Jesus did this for us, it was not only he who died there. We too, died with Jesus to sin.

Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life. For if we have been joined with Him in the likeness of His death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin’s dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, since a person who has died is freed from sin’s claims. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him, because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die again. Death no longer rules over Him. For in light of the fact that He died, He died to sin once for all; but in light of the fact that He lives, He lives to God. So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  (Rom 6:3-11, HCSB)

This cross that killed Jesus also killed our sin. This is now also our death. This is why we can be free from guilt – our sins were punished with this severe and just punishment. About a year ago, I was speaking with a murderer. I mean it, this man was just released from prison after doing time for murder. He was marveling at the fact that he could be forgiven. It was this horrible crucifixion death that punished his terrible sin of murder, and he is putting his faith in Jesus that this is so. He doesn’t need to feel guilt anymore, because his murder was paid for – not by his ten years of prison time, but by the death of Jesus. I think when we feel guilt, it is usually because we have not considered how fully our sin was punished on the cross. The extreme suffering of the Perfect Man was enough for you, for me, for the world.

As we consider all this, I want us to be very aware of one thing. God’s grace is free to us, but it was not free to Him. It was very costly. It is free in the same sense that a diamond is free to the girl who is getting engaged. It is freely given, but it cost the giver a great deal. And like the diamond engagement ring, it is offered not just as a trinket, but as an invitation into a lifelong relationship that will change the course of our future forever. A single woman doesn’t accept a diamond ring from the man she loves and then go on in her life without him, except for maybe occasionally remembering him fondly. No, the diamond is not just a gift – it is an invitation to a new life. When she accepts that gift, she also accepts that invitation, and enters a new relationship, a relationship that is strengthened and reaffirmed daily as they make their lives together. The acceptance of that gift is life-changing.

What Jesus did for us on the cross – the grace that God offer us – is far more precious than any diamond ring that ever has, or ever will, exist. It should not be received any less casually than a marriage proposal. To receive this gift is also to accept the invitation to a new life. It is to give your life to Jesus, to commit to Him for forever, to live in a daily relationship with him. It is life-transforming.

If you’ve never received that gift, never really accepted that invitation to a new life, now is the time. Pause and do it now. There are no special words, just your willingness and acceptance and surrender to God’s love.

Let us thank him for that gift today!

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PETER AND JUDAS?

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, Uncategorized4 Comments

peter-denies

Peter is my hero. He seems to mess up more than any of the other disciples, but he is my hero because of what he does after he makes mistakes. Every time, he repents, and goes back to Jesus in humility and faith. It’s not about how often you fall down: it’s about what you do after you fall. And Peter always does the right thing after he falls. He’s a terrific example for us.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer:
Download Matthew Part

Matthew #96. Matthew 26:69-27:10

There is a lot going on here. Matthew tells the tale as it happened, so we are jumping back and forth between various events. So far, I have not spoken about the physical suffering that Jesus experienced, beginning with his arrest. I will continue to put that off until another message, and this time, instead, we will concentrate on Peter and Judas.

In the book of Acts, Luke describes the fate of Judas in these terms:

18Now this man acquired a field with his unrighteous wages. He fell headfirst and burst open in the middle, and all his insides spilled out. 19This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that in their own language that field is called Hakeldama (that is, Field of Blood). (Acts 1:18-19, HCSB)

This is not necessarily incompatible with Matthew’s account. I will warn you that there are some gruesome thoughts in this paragraph. Here’s one way to reconcile the two. It may be that the body of Judas hung, unattended, until it began to decompose. Then, whenever it fell down “bursting open” would be a normal sort of thing to happen. At that point, the field in which it happened would have been, for Jews, ceremonially contaminated by contact with the dead body. For the Jewish religious rulers, the ideal solution to both the money (which they couldn’t use for themselves or the treasury) and the contamination, would be to buy the field as a burial ground for foreigners, since it was no good to Jews anyway. The one slight variation to this theory could be that when Judas went to hang himself, he did so at the edge of some sort of cliff, and instead of succeeding, the rope broke, and he fell to his death. After that, the same logic takes over for the rest of it.

In any case, I don’t think we have to imagine the entire sequence of Judas as happening on the very same night when Jesus was tried. I believe Matthew included it here to wrap up the history of what happened to him, but I tend to think it did not all occur on the same day Jesus was crucified. After all, the religious leaders were busy with that, and then with the Sabbath, and it is doubtful they would have taken time to debate about what to do with the money on that very day. I would say it is likely that Judas changed his mind and committed suicide within a week or two of Jesus’ crucifixion.

A lot of people use this passage to “rehabilitate” Judas, so to speak. They point out that Judas felt regret because, he says, “I have betrayed innocent blood.” Using that, many people speculate the Judas betrayed Jesus because he thought that the betrayal would provoke Jesus into some spectacular action that would then prove he was the Messiah. In other words, Judas really believed in Jesus, and just thought he needed a little “push” to start the war with the Romans. The argument boils down to this: Judas had really good intentions, and just went about it the wrong way.

However, both John and Luke tell us that it was Satan who motivated Judas to betray Jesus (John 13:27; Luke 22:3). I think that pretty conclusively ends the argument that he was just a misunderstood man with good motives.

I don’t think it is an accident that Matthew puts the story of Peter’s betrayal next to the story of Judas’ end. We have very important similarities, and also very important contrasts between the two disciples. It’s true that Judas’ betrayal is premeditated. Jesus gave him at least two opportunities that very night to repent. However, you could say the same thing about Peter. Jesus warned Peter about what was coming. When Peter denied Jesus the first time, you might say it was the heat of the moment. But there was time before his next denial, and time again before the third. After each one, Peter might have re-considered. He too, was given every chance to do it differently, and yet he too, in his own way, betrayed Jesus.

So what was different? Why is it that Judas committed suicide, while Peter went on to become the leader of Jesus’ church?

I think it boils down to the essence of what the Bible teaches: repentance and faith. [By the way, before we get into this, let me say that I am not talking in general about people who commit suicide. I am talking about Judas, specifically.]

Let’s start with repentance. Matthew says that Judas felt remorse for what he did.  The word is metamelaytheis. It is only used six times in the New Testament: the HCSB translates it three times as “changed his mind,” here as “remorse” and twice as “regretted.” The ESV translates it here as “changed his mind.” Though it is related, it is not the same word as “repentance.”

At some level, Judas felt bad about what he had done. So bad, in fact, that he committed suicide. But in all his bad feeling, he never turned back to Jesus. He regretted, but he did not repent.

Regret eats away at you. It doesn’t help you change, or lead you to anything positive. You just sit there, wishing you had done differently. Regret means you wish it hadn’t happened, but it doesn’t mean you are sorry, or that you are willing to change. That is why “regret” is one of the favorite words used by politicians in meaningless “apologies.” Over and over, you hear some Pol, caught in a scandal, say something like, “I regret what happened,” or “I regret that people were hurt.” This isn’t the same thing as saying, “I’m sorry,” or, “It is my fault; please forgive me,” or, “I am going to change.”

Since both Luke and John tell us that Judas was deeply influenced by Satan, I think we can assume that this regret was deepened, worsened, and played on demonically, over and over.

There may be something else, too. The regret of Judas was focused on the fact that he had done something wrong. Maybe you could put it this way (please pay attention to the italic emphasis):

Peter sat there, thinking, “I’ve betrayed Jesus!”

Judas sat there, thinking, “I’ve betrayed Jesus!”

What I’m getting at is this: It could be that Judas was more upset about the fact that he screwed up than the fact that it was a sin against Jesus. For Judas, it was about himself. He had regret, but not repentance. He did not humble himself before God. Though he regretted the incident (deeply) there is no evidence that he repented.

For Peter, it was that he had hurt the man he had come to know and love. The point wasn’t that he screwed up (Peter might have been used to that by now!) but that he had hurt Jesus. He wasn’t just sorry that he had made a mistake – he was sorry he had hurt his Lord. Regret is self-focused, but repentance is God-focused.

By the way, some of you have mentioned that I seem to enjoy picking on Peter. Actually, Peter is my hero. He seems to mess up more than any of the other disciples, but he is my hero because of what he does after he makes mistakes. Every time, he repents, and goes back to Jesus in humility and faith. It’s not about how often you fall down: it’s about what you do after you fall. And Peter always does the right thing after he falls. He’s a terrific example for us.

It takes humility to repent. When you repent, you are fully owning the fact that you are wrong, and in addition, humbling yourself by asking for forgiveness. You are putting yourself in a position of need in relationship to the person you hurt. You are saying that you need their forgiveness, and that you have no right to be forgiven, and no power to make them do so. You are, in a sense, offering them power over you. Peter was very humble. He knows what he is talking about when he writes, years later:

God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. 6Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7casting all your care on Him, because He cares about you. (1Pet 5:5-7, HCSB)

The second difference between Judas and Peter was faith. Despite the fact that Jesus predicted it all, neither Judas nor Peter understood what was happening when Jesus was put to death. But somehow, though he couldn’t see how, Peter believed that Jesus could overcome. He believed that Jesus would have mercy on him, and forgive his failure.

Judas, clearly, did not believe he could be forgiven. I believe he could have been. I believe that Jesus, with his question in the garden “Why have you come?” was inviting Judas to repent, even after his deed was done. Even after, Judas had the same opportunity that Peter had. But the truth was, he simply did not believe in Jesus, which is why he betrayed him in the first place.

So how do we apply these things to our lives today? I’ll offer a few thoughts, but let the Holy Spirit take you wherever he wants with this. Here are my thoughts:

The Bible says we have all sinned:

9What then? Are we any better? Not at all! For we have previously charged that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin, 10as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one. 11There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12All have turned away; all alike have become useless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one. (Rom 3:9-12, HCSB)

We aren’t any better than Judas or Peter. We all stand on the same ground. The question is, will we be more like Judas, or Peter? Obviously, we want to be like Peter, but how?

  1. Seek repentance, and beware of regret. Regret doesn’t help you in any way. It leaves you with nothing. Repentance motivates, and brings you back to the Lord. If you find you are regretful but not repentant, I encourage you to ask God to help you repent instead. Repentance means you change, you turn away from your sin and toward God, even if that means sacrificing other things to do so.
  2. Seek humility. You cannot repent without humility. In repentance you admit your faults, you admit that your actions (or inactions) are wrong, and you are truly sorry for them. In addition, you give God (and sometimes other people) power over your life by admitting that you stand helplessly in need of his (and possibly their) forgiveness. To do that, you need humility.
  3. Believe that Jesus’ death was truly enough to make up for your sins. Trust what the Bible says:

Everyone who believes has God’s approval through faith in Jesus Christ.  There is no difference between people.  Because all people have sinned, they have fallen short of God’s glory.  They receive God’s approval freely by God’s grace through the price Christ Jesus paid to set us free from sin. (Romans 3:22-24, God’s Word Version)

Sometimes when I see people struggling to accept that God really forgives them, I ask this: “Are you saying that what Jesus suffered wasn’t enough for your sin? Are you saying he should have suffered more? Are you saying that what he did was somehow incomplete? If not, then stop messing around, and believe you are forgiven. Take him at his word, and receive his forgiveness.”

Peter humbly took Jesus as his word. More than that, he trusted the character of Jesus, that somehow, he could make it all OK. And that’s exactly what Jesus was doing at the very time that Peter betrayed him: making it all OK for anyone and everyone who will trust him.

THANKFULNESS

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

thankful-kneeling

The older I get, the more I am inclined to believe that thankfulness is a key part in receiving the grace and love and joy that are offered to us through Jesus Christ. When we thank God, we are, in a way, reaching out and receiving what we thank him for. We are agreeing with what the Bible says about his graciousness and love toward us; we affirming something true about the nature of God. We are saying, “Yes, I have received your love and grace,” and as we declare that to be true, it somehow becomes more real to us.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer:
Download Thanksgiving Message

THANKSGIVING

[I preached this two years ago, and if anything, it is even more relevant today. In case you didn’t memorize at the time, here, once again, are some helpful, Biblical thoughts about giving thanks].

Thanksgiving has become an American holiday and tradition, but it does originate from deep, Christian spiritual roots. One of the things that I find interesting is that many of significant Thanksgiving celebrations early in the history of America took place in the middle of very difficult times.

The “original thanksgiving” took place in the New England settlement of Pilgrims during the sixteen-hundreds. It is true that at the time they celebrated, they had a good harvest. But they had just gone through an incredibly difficult year in which large numbers of the Pilgrims had perished from disease and malnutrition. From a simple cataloging of bad events versus good, they had much more to be upset about than to be thankful for. Yet they held a three day feast, thanking God for his blessings.

The first national day of thanksgiving was proclaimed by the brand-new American government in 1777. It is true, at the time many people were elated by the American victory over the British at Saratoga. But also at the time of the proclamation, the British still occupied the capital city of the new country (which was Philadelphia at that point) and also held New York City and several significant southern cities. The war was far from over, and times were still quite desperate, and yet they called for a national day of prayer, thankfulness, and repentance toward God.

Considering this history, perhaps it is appropriate that Thanksgiving became an official national holiday during the middle of the Civil War. Once again, the war was far from over, and many desperate times and terrible battles were both behind and ahead. Yet President Lincoln wrote of the many blessings that persisted in spite of war, and said:

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.

It isn’t my intention to give a history lesson. But I want to point out explicitly that the early Americans seemed eager and able to thank God, even in the middle of significant hardship. In fact, the American Thanksgiving tradition arose more from hardship and war than from peace and prosperity. Even more, I want to point out that this idea of thanking God at all times, even in difficult circumstances, is a biblical practice.

Job chapter one records a series of calamities that befall Job, a righteous man. At the end of it all, this is what he did:

20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

and naked I will depart.

The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;

may the name of the LORD be praised.”

Psalm 69 was written by someone who felt he was “poor and in pain.” His appropriate response was to thank the Lord:

But as for me — poor and in pain — let Your salvation protect me, God. I will praise God’s name with song and exalt Him with thanksgiving.  (Ps 69:29-30, HCSB)

Paul says, “Good, bad, normal, it doesn’t matter. Give thanks all the time.”

Rejoice always! Pray constantly. Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  (1Thess 5:16-18, HCSB)

And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts. Be thankful. Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.  (Col 3:15-17, HCSB)

Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving.  (Col 4:2, HCSB)

The older I get, the more I am inclined to believe that thankfulness is a key part in receiving the grace and love and joy that are offered to us through Jesus Christ. I have long known that when I confess my sins to the Lord and repent, what really helps me to feel forgiven is the act of thanking him for that forgiveness. When we thank God, we are, in a way, reaching out and receiving what we thank him for. We are agreeing with what the Bible says about his graciousness and love toward us; we affirming something true about the nature of God. We are saying, “Yes, I have received your love and grace,” and as we declare that to be true, it somehow becomes more real to us. I think this is one of the reasons that the New Testament is so clear about the fact that whenever we pray, part of our praying should involve thankfulness to the Lord. Thankfulness breeds faith and grace.

Thankfulness also leads to peace and contentment. Philippians 4:5-7 teaches that thankful prayer is an antidote to worry:

Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  (Phil 4:5-7, HCSB)

Yes, it is good and proper to ask God for what we need, and to share our burdens with him. It is also important to thank him as we offer up those prayers. Through turning our burdens over with thankfulness, we experience the peace of God, which is beyond understanding. The fact that it is beyond understanding means that sometimes we will experience peace when our circumstances suggest that we shouldn’t be able to do so. It is thankfulness, at least in part, which leads to this sort of peace in all circumstances.

I have found that thankfulness (and the benefits of peace, grace and faith which come with it) can be encouraged by some self-discipline. Sometimes, it is helpful to just make myself start thanking God. I don’t like mornings, and I’m not usually very happy until after mid-morning. But, stepping into the shower grumpy and irritated, I can begin by thanking the Lord for running hot water, and then soap, and then a towel. I can thank him that I have my own bathroom. That reminds me that I have my own house to live in, and it is plenty for my whole family. I can go on, and thank the Lord for warm, clean socks, and the existence of coffee, and then for my wife and children. You see how it goes: once we get started, there are an endless stream of things to thank the Lord for. I think one thing that is Biblically appropriate is to frequently thank Jesus for his sacrifice for us, and for his promise of eternal life to us.

Thank the Lord today and this week, and let him encourage thankfulness in your heart!

FACING TRIALS

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, Uncategorized1 Comment

The Bible

We are all capable of being very self-righteous and very blind – you aren’t safe from it just because all your friends tell you that you are open minded. A whole set of things that is called “open minded” is, in fact, just a new set of beliefs that is actually closed to alternative views. That leads me to the other application. This passage may be an encouragement to you when you are unfairly judged and insulted by our culture, and people who have bought into the new cultural values.

 

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer:
Download Matthew Part 95

Matthew #95.  Matthew 26:57-66

We are continuing with the last night of Jesus life before the crucifixion.

None of this happened quite the way the enemies of Jesus had planned. Originally, they did not want to kill Jesus during the festival of unleavened bread, which started that very day, with the Passover (Matthew 26:5). Judas surprised them by delivering Jesus to them on Thursday night. It wasn’t ideal, but they decided to go with it. However, the timing forced them to have their trial that very night, because they wanted Jesus to be sentenced to death by the Romans before the Sabbath began, on Friday night. Otherwise, they would have violated the Sabbath by doing business with the Romans.

I want to pause and absorb this. In putting an innocent man to death, they were very concerned that they not break any of their man-made rules about the Sabbath. It gets even worse. It is almost fascinating to see how far the Jewish religious rulers were willing to go to keep pretending that what they did was righteous. It was wrong, by Jewish law, to hold a trial at night. But their desire to be done before the Sabbath forced them to do so. Even so, in order to maintain their sense of personal righteousness, they waited until after daybreak to pronounce the verdict, so they could claim that technically, it was not done at night (Mark 15:1).

Another rule of Jewish law was that everything had to be established by two or more witnesses:

15“One witness cannot establish any wrongdoing or sin against a person, whatever that person has done. A fact must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. (Deut 19:15, HCSB)

But the trial of Jesus was assembled so hastily that no one had time to brief the witnesses and coordinate their testimony. After several came forward with various accusations that did not match each other, finally two came forward who claimed that Jesus said something about tearing down the temple, and rebuilding it in three days. Mark records that even these two did not fully agree with one another (Mark 14:59). Jesus did, in fact, say something much like this, though the “temple” he was referring to was his body.

18So the Jews replied to Him, “What sign of authority will You show us for doing these things? ” 19Jesus answered, “Destroy this sanctuary, and I will raise it up in three days.”

20Therefore the Jews said, “This sanctuary took 46 years to build, and will You raise it up in three days? ” 21But He was speaking about the sanctuary of His body. 22So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this. And they believed the Scripture and the statement Jesus had made. (John 2:18-22, HCSB)

During his trial, his accusers took this to be a statement by Jesus that he was God, since only God could accomplish a feat like destroying the temple and rebuilding it in three days. In other words, they thought it was blasphemy.

In all of this, Jesus did not defend himself. This fulfilled Isaiah 53:7

7He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, He did not open His mouth. 8He was taken away because of oppression and judgment; and who considered His fate? For He was cut off from the land of the living; He was struck because of my people’s rebellion. (Isa 53:7-8, HCSB)

Apparently there was still some question about whether or not the testimony of these two was good enough, therefore the High Priest asks Jesus directly if he is the Messiah. Jesus’ reply is quite clear:

64“You have said it,” Jesus told him. “But I tell you, in the future you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

 65Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? Look, now you’ve heard the blasphemy! (Matt 26:64-65, HCSB)

You can see that up to this point, the High Priest was a bit concerned about the quality of the evidence. But now he says: “Why do we still need witnesses?” In other words, everyone present (which was certainly more than two or three) heard Jesus’ words, giving them the required number of witnesses that would agree.

Here’s an interesting thought though: Jesus’ words would have been blasphemy only if they were not true. It’s only blasphemy to claim to be the Messiah if you are not the Messiah. It’s only blasphemy to claim to be God if you are not God. There’s no doubt that Jesus’ words would have been shocking and offensive to the Jewish people of time. But neither the  High Priest, nor any of the Sanhedrin (religious ruling council), bothered to investigate whether or not the statement of Jesus was true. They didn’t review the evidence of his miracles, or consider the record of his teachings. They simply pronounced him guilty because he threatened their world view. Their self-righteousness blinded them to the truth.

When I seek application from this passage, it runs in two different directions. First, how often are we like these religious leaders? How often do we refuse to let Jesus threaten our world-view? How often are we so self-righteous that we are blinded to the truth right in front of us?

Whenever we begin to be more concerned with our way of doing things, or our particular rules, than we are about God himself, we are in danger of becoming like the Sanhedrin. For instance some religious people might be so against dancing that they forget that some kinds of dancing might honor the Lord (as David did, when he danced in worship). Some of us might get so wrapped up in “honoring the Sabbath,” that we make Sundays the most burdensome day of the week. We might hold such strong views about baptism or communion, or worship styles, that we forget the very purpose of those things. Sometimes we mix up cultural conservatism and Christianity. The two share some (but not all) values, however they aren’t the same thing. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that to be a Christian, you must vote a certain way, or belong to a certain political party. To be a Christian, Jesus alone commands all your allegiance.

By the way, blind self-righteousness is not the exclusive domain of those who go to church. Our culture is in the midst of a transition to a new set of values, and many who embrace the new values are just as self-righteous and blind as traditionally religious people; sometimes, maybe more so.

After the Presidential election of 2016, a friend of mine made an angry post on Facebook, accusing all Trump supporters of being racist, misogynistic, dishonest and greedy. She then said, in the very next sentence, that she wanted to live in a world where people respected and cared for each other, regardless of how different they were, completely missing the irony that she herself disrespected, made assumptions about, and judged, those who voted differently than her.

The point I’m making is that we are all capable of being very self-righteous and very blind – you aren’t safe from it just because all your friends tell you that you are open minded. A whole set of things that is called “open minded” is, in fact, just a new set of beliefs that is actually closed to alternative views. That leads me to the other application. This passage may be an encouragement to you when you are unfairly judged and insulted by our culture, and people who have bought into the new cultural values. Bible-believing Christians have been mocked for many years in most areas of popular culture. If you bring this up with non-Christians, however, you are likely to be insulted as a whiner, and told you are the one in power, and you are the one oppressing others.

The truth is, our culture has begun a radical shift away from Biblical values and morals. Christian thinking and Christian values are increasingly being pushed to the fringes of society. It is becoming more and more acceptable to mock and insult Christians. We are accused of being “haters” for simply believing what the Bible says about sexual morality. We are accused of being sexist and racist and homophobic and narrow minded. Examples of sexist and racist Christians can be found, of course, but in general, our culture is becoming inclined to believe those things of all of us, whether or not it is true.

I believe this will get only worse for some time to come in Western Culture. There is a vast temptation to join with this cultural shift so that the people around us don’t think badly of us. Many Christians have already given up the Bible as a significant source of truth, because they don’t want to look bad in our current culture.

It is helpful for us to remember Jesus, who was accused utterly unfairly. The accusations against him, and against first Century Christians, were exactly the reverse of the truth. But they came anyway. How will we handle such things when they come to us? I believe the example of Jesus should be a comfort to us. The accusations against him were unfair and unjust. They were lying. But Jesus did not fight back. As Peter writes:

21For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in His steps. 22He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth; 23when He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He was suffering, He did not threaten but entrusted Himself to the One who judges justly. 24He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness; you have been healed by His wounds. 25For you were like sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls. (1Pet 2:21-25, HCSB)

Peter encourages his fellow believers repeatedly as they face the ridicule and slander of those who reject Christian truth:

1Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, equip yourselves also with the same resolve — because the one who suffered in the flesh has finished with sin — 2in order to live the remaining time in the flesh, no longer for human desires, but for God’s will. 3For there has already been enough time spent in doing what the pagans choose to do: carrying on in unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry. 4So they are surprised that you don’t plunge with them into the same flood of wild living — and they slander you. 5They will give an account to the One who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. (1Pet 4:1-5, HCSB)

Once more:

12Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you. 13Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah, so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelation of His glory. 14If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. (1Pet 4:12-14, HCSB)

Let the Holy Spirit apply his Word to your life today.

HOW DO YOU KNOW GOD LOVES YOU?

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

gethsemane2

All of the suffering that Jesus endured (and we haven’t even got to the worst of it, yet), he did for you. Every moment of his life, every stubbed toe, headache, splinter or cold, every time he was tired, hungry, lonely or in pain – it was all voluntary, and all of it was for you.Sometimes God is a mystery, and it seems like he’s distant, like he doesn’t care about us. The actions of Jesus show us definitively and conclusively that he loves us.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer:
Download Matthew Part

Matthew #93.  Matthew 26:31-45

With these verses, we enter the time period  that is often called “the passion of our Lord.” I don’t like the expression, because it comes from people showing off their ancient language skills, and frankly, it doesn’t really make sense in English. Here’s why people call it “the passion.” One of the Greek words for suffering is “patho;” it is often found in the form “pascho.” In addition, one of the Latin words for suffering is “passio” (and Latin was used almost exclusively in the Medieval Church). From these, we get our English word, “passion.” However, the meaning of “passion” in English has changed. These days “passion” does not mean “suffering.” Even so, now you understand why the suffering of Jesus is called his “passion” by silly people who don’t care if they are understood by the general population.

As always, I want to remind you that several legitimate, Biblically-sound sermons might be preached on any given passage of scripture. In these last few chapters of Matthew especially, we could easily spend several weeks finding new and important things in just one passage. We could talk about prayer, or the weakness of the disciples. As I’ve prayed and studied this time, however, what the Holy Spirit has impressed upon me is to focus on Jesus, and his suffering for us.

I want to make sure we have the correct understanding of the suffering of Jesus. It would be easy to say, “You know, I don’t know what the big deal is. Jesus was God, so how hard was it, really, to go through the crucifixion?” I am going to explain this as non-theologically as possible. In some ways, maybe what I say will be simplistic, but I think it might help us.

When Jesus entered Mary’s womb, not only was he gaining his human body, but he was also leaving heaven, and all of its advantages, behind him. Paul describes it like this, writing to the Philippians:

5Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus, 6who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. 7Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, 8He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death — even to death on a cross. (Phil 2:5-8, HCSB)

You may have heard the expression, “I’ll take you on with one hand tied behind my back!” In a real sense, that’s what Jesus was doing. In taking on human flesh, Jesus also voluntarily left behind all the power and privilege of his divine nature. He kept his own divinity “tied behind his back,” so to speak. He voluntarily limited himself to complete dependence on the Father.

So, for example, when Jesus did miracles, he wasn’t doing them with his own divine power as God-the-Son. Instead, the Father was doing them through Jesus, as Jesus trusted the Father and allowed Him to work. When Jesus knew what was coming in the future and prophesied about it, it wasn’t because he was making use of his own divine knowledge as God-the-Son. Instead, he knew these things only because the Father chose to reveal them to him. In the same way, there were some things that the Father did not choose to reveal to Jesus – such as the time of his return to earth (Matthew 24:36). Jesus chose to do and know only what the Father directed. The apostle John records several times when Jesus referred to this state of things:

19So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. (John 5:19-20, ESV2011)

36But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. (John 5:36, ESV2011)

28So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own. But just as the Father taught Me, I say these things. 29The One who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, because I always do what pleases Him.” (John 8:28-29, HCSB)

All of this was completely voluntary on the part of Jesus. He did not have to do it. Without sinning or doing any sort of wrong, he could have said, “You know what, Father? I’m tired of living without indoor plumbing. Take me home.” He could have said, “I’m sick of being insulted and mocked by these ignorant, rebellious, arrogant people. Let’s pull the plug on this operation.”

Of course, if Jesus had done that, we would all be destined to burn in Hell for eternity. But that’s what we deserve, anyway. It would not have been wrong for Jesus to leave us to that fate. His entire life on earth was by his own choice, and it was all done for my sake and yours. Every headache, every splinter and stubbed toe, every moment of loneliness, every hunger-pang – every single moment of it was voluntary. He never would have had to experience fatigue, or sickness or grief or pain. Every time he was misunderstood, mocked, insulted or mistreated, it was his own choice to remain on earth and endure it – for our sake. Sometimes, we consider the suffering of a little baby who was born with a disease, and think how terrible and pointless that such a young an innocent child should be afflicted. Yet Jesus was more innocent than even a newborn baby. His suffering was even less deserved.

So first, we understand that the voluntary and innocent suffering of Jesus began at the moment of his birth, and continued throughout his entire life. As I said, every stubbed toe and every headache, cold, splinter, or fever, was undeserved suffering. And now, in Matthew 26, Jesus is coming to the very worst of it all. Let me make this clear – not only did Jesus suffer tremendously for our sake, and not for himself in any way – but at any moment, he had the option of ending it, and not going through the suffering. This must have been an enormously appealing option during the worst of his afflictions, and one that he could have taken without doing any wrong. Part of his suffering, therefore, involved denying himself the righteous option of getting out of it.

I think that sometime between when Judas left to get the temple soldiers, and when Jesus entered the Garden of Gethsemane, was the beginning of the final, and most intense suffering of Jesus on our behalf. Once more, I want to make it clear that every single moment of his time on earth was a voluntary hardship, and part of his overall suffering for us. But, of course, there is no doubt that the last eighteen hours or so, were an incredibly intense conclusion, without which, the other suffering would have been pointless.

This last, intense suffering starts with betrayal, weakness and abandonment among Jesus’ closest friends. It’s easy to look at Jesus as above all human emotion, but I don’t think so at all. He willingly subjected himself to everything it means to be human.

17Therefore, He had to be like His brothers in every way, so that He could become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18For since He Himself was tested and has suffered, He is able to help those who are tested. (Heb 2:17-18, HCSB)

And so, though we look at Judas through the lens of twenty centuries, Judas was, in fact, one of Jesus’ best friends. It must have been very, very hard for Jesus to realize that someone whom he has spent so much time with, someone he had invested so much in, had utterly rejected him.

Next, came the knowledge that his other followers, though they didn’t deliberately betray him, were ultimately going to abandon him in his hour of need.

Most of us have not experienced the kind of physical pain that Jesus did. We haven’t experienced the depth of emotional suffering – but we have experienced some of the same kinds of things. Our friends did not betray and leave us while we were dying (you couldn’t be reading this, otherwise), but if you live very long, you will experience that loneliness that comes with feeling that someone has abandoned you, or failed to care for you the way you expected. Jesus experienced that with an intensity that was incredibly deep. No one stood beside him in his hour of need. His closest friends couldn’t even stay awake while he agonized in prayer, and they abandoned him shortly after.

Not only was Jesus abandoned by his disciples, but also by God himself. We know that at some point, God-the-Father withdrew his presence and support from Jesus. We know that the arrangement was that God laid upon Jesus all of the sins of the world – our sins, and treated him as our sins deserved:

 He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2Cor 5:21, HCSB)

God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. (Rom 3:25, HCSB)

This necessarily meant separation from the Father. For all of eternity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit had lived in unbroken fellowship and one-ness. Even when Jesus came to earth as a human, though the relationship had to be different, there still was fellowship. But sometime during this night – I think, perhaps, not long after Judas left the supper – the Father deliberately withdrew his presence. For the first time in eternity, Jesus was completely separated from God – in a way that no human being has yet experienced. Romans 3:25 above says that God withheld the full punishment for human sin, and laid it all on Jesus. That means that no one has felt the full consequences of sin to the extent experienced by Jesus. No one has been cut off from God in the way Jesus was. No one has yet been so thoroughly rejected by God, as Jesus. The Bible says that at the end of time, those who do not repent and trust Jesus will also experience the hell of eternal separation from God. But until that time, only Jesus has experienced what that is like.

I think that the intensity and grief of Jesus’ prayers in the garden reflect that this separation had either begun, or had happened by that point.

So, what do we do with all of this? What does it mean for us? First, I think we can be quite confident that Jesus understands everything you may be going through when you struggle in your relationships with other people. He’s been lonely. He’s been betrayed. He’s been abandoned. The people closest to him didn’t seem to care.

Jesus also understands what it feels like to be abandoned by God – in ways that we may never feel. He can empathize with every kind of relationship-pain we might suffer.

Another thing I take away is this: Jesus is for you; he loves you. All of this that he went through (and we haven’t even got to the worst of it, yet), he did for you. Sometimes God is a mystery, and it seems like he’s distant, like he doesn’t care about us. The actions of Jesus show us definitively and conclusively that he loves us.

Let the Holy Spirit speak to you today.

BLOOD OATH

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, UncategorizedLeave a comment

blood-drop

Jesus is taking the meaning of the Passover covenant and saying that it is fulfilled in his own life and death. We are saved and delivered from bondage to sin by His death, not the death of a lamb. We have fellowship and a good relationship with God through Him. By our own failings, the covenant was broken, but He made up for that in His own blood. Just as the people of Israel were saved from death and delivered from slavery by the first Passover, so we are saved from eternal death and delivered from slavery to sin by Jesus Christ. Their entry point into relationship with God was the Passover; so our entry point into relationship with God is the “second Passover” – the crucifixion.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer:
Download Matthew Part 92

Matthew #92. Matthew 26:20-30

26As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take and eat it; this is My body.” 27Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks, He gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you. 28For this is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29But I tell you, from this moment I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it in a new way in My Father’s kingdom with you.” 30After singing psalms, they went out to the Mount of Olives. (Matt 26:26-30, HCSB)

Our text for this week is Matthew’s remembrance of how Jesus celebrated the Passover with the disciples the night before he was crucified. I want to focus on the meaning of what Jesus said and did at that meal. In order to do so, I think it is important for us to understand the cultural and historical background of the Passover.

Let’s start with the history. Sometime around 1800 BC, the family of the patriarch Jacob moved from Palestine to Egypt to escape a great famine. Jacob’s family was well received by the Egyptians, because one of his sons (Joseph) had risen to become the highest official in Egypt apart from the king. Jacob’s family (there were about 70 of them when they came to Egypt) maintained a distinct ethnic and religious identity in Egypt. This was most probably because they were committed to the worship of the one true God, and so avoided the ways of the Egyptians, who worshipped a pantheon of false gods and idols. Over the years, the family of Jacob became a numerous race and they were known as Hebrews. Sometimes they were also called the Israelites, or the “children of Israel” because Jacob had been known as “Israel” during his lifetime.

During the next four hundred years, the Egyptian attitude of tolerance for the Israelites turned to fear. They began to oppress them and made them into a slave-race in order to build great monuments in Egypt. The Israelites cried out to God, and God called Moses, whom he used to deliver the people of Israel from slavery and bondage in Egypt.

The deliverance, however, was something of a process. Pharaoh (all Egyptian kings were called Pharaoh) would not willingly release such a vast resource of cheap labor, and so he repeatedly refused the request of Moses for freedom for the Israelites. Each time Pharaoh refused, God struck the Egyptians with a plague. This happened ten times.

What is not well known about the ten plagues is that each plague struck at a specific “god” that the Egyptians worshipped. For instance, the plague of darkness made a mockery of Ra, the Egyptian “sun-god.” The fact that the God of Israel could make darkness come over Egypt at His whim, showed that Ra had no power, and was in fact, a false god. Likewise, the plague of frogs struck at the god and goddess of fertility (Hapi and Heqt respectively) who were symbolized in Egyptian worship by frogs. Each plague struck similarly at the false religion of the Egyptians, showing the powerlessness of their so-called gods.

After God thoroughly judged the false gods and false religion of the Egyptians, Pharaoh still refused to let the Israelites leave. It was this stubborn refusal that brought about the tragedy and triumph that was the Passover. The Passover was, in fact, the tenth plague. This plague brought about the death of every firstborn male in Egypt. In order to protect the Israelites from the death of their own firstborn males, God gave the people special instructions through Moses.

The people were told to kill a young lamb, which was to be the substitute for the death of the first son. The lamb in question was supposed to be an animal without disease or blemish, one that ordinarily would not have been eaten. The blood of the lamb was daubed on the top, and each side, of the doorposts (interestingly, though they didn’t know it, the Israelites were tracing the sign of the cross in the air as they painted the blood). The blood of the lamb was the seal on their households that protected them from death. Death “passed over” the houses that were protected by the blood of the lamb. After slaughtering the lamb, they roasted it and ate it. Along with the lamb they had vegetables, and a flat bread that was baked without yeast. The reason the bread was without yeast was that God told them to be ready to leave in a hurry – they didn’t have time to wait for bread to rise.

That very night, God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Pharaoh, in sorrow at the death of his firstborn son, called Moses in the middle of the night and told him to take the Israelites and get out. Not only that, but the Egyptians showered their wealth on the Israelites as they left, hoping to appease the wrath that had killed their firstborn sons. And so they left as free men and women.  Not only that, but they entered freedom with great riches at their disposal.

Later, God told the Israelites to remember the Passover each year with a special meal commemorating their deliverance. To this day, Jews celebrate the Passover with that in mind.

It is helpful also to understand the cultural background of animal sacrifice, because some of the words of Jesus make use of this. In the very ancient middle east, during the time of the first Passover, when two people, or two entities (like, for instance, two nations) made a solemn agreement, they usually sealed the agreement through the sacrifice of one or more animals. The idea behind it was something like this: “This agreement is so important to me, that it requires the shedding of blood. In fact, if the agreement is broken, more blood will be shed – either mine or yours.” So the killing of animals solemnized and formalized ancient agreements. We might call these sorts of agreements “covenants.”

If the two parties to the agreement were equals, the expectation was that whoever broke the agreement would deserve to shed his own blood to “pay” for the broken agreement. The death of the animals symbolized this. If the covenant was between a greater and lesser party (say, a king, and a nobleman who owed him allegiance), then the lesser party would be expected to shed his own blood if the covenant was broken – no matter which party broke it. Again, this was symbolized by the killing of the animals to formalize the covenant.

There was often another piece involved as well. In addition to the shedding of blood as a declaration of the seriousness of the agreement, usually the two parties would then eat together. Most often, what they ate was the animal (or animals) that had been killed as part of the covenant. This eating together indicated that the two parties now had fellowship with one another. There was now a positive relationship present. The meal was a celebration of that good relationship. So solemn agreements – covenants – were formalized by the killing and eating of animals.

With this understanding, now we can see this: the Passover was the formalizing of God’s covenant with his people. God was saying to his people: “I will stand by this covenant that I am making with you. If necessary, blood will be shed in order to satisfy this agreement.” So the people killed the lambs, and celebrated the agreement with the Passover meal. In addition, as I have already mentioned, the death of the lamb protected the people of Israel, and delivered them from slavery in Egypt. I also want to point out, that this covenant-agreement between God and his people came before the laws which were given at Mount Sinai (the 10 Commandments etc.). God made a similar covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15), and the Passover was, in a sense, a reiteration of that covenant; only this time it was made with all of God’s people as a whole. My point is, this covenant was established before the people had done anything to please God or follow his laws. It is a covenant of God’s promise to save and deliver his people; a covenant of Grace. It was the entry point into their relationship with God.

Each time the people of Israel celebrated the Passover, it was, in a sense, a renewal of the covenant that God had made with them. The shedding of the blood of the lamb reminded them of the seriousness of the agreement. The eating was a celebration of their fellowship with God, and with each other.

Now we have a better basis on which to evaluate the words of Jesus. There are two moments within the Passover meal when bread is formally broken and shared by all those present. The first is towards the beginning. Part of the broken bread is taken and hidden away, and is afterwards called the “afikomen,” or “bread of life.” Later, that piece is taken out and shared among all of those present. It is probably this piece – the bread of life – about which Jesus said: “Take and eat it; this is my body.” What Jesus is doing is putting himself into the middle of God’s covenant with his people. He is saying: “This meal, this covenant-agreement, is about me.”

His next action makes it even more clear. He takes the cup, and says: “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Jesus is clearly saying that the original Passover-covenant between God and his people is established not by the sacrifice of lambs, but by his own sacrificial death. He is taking the meaning of the Passover covenant and saying that it is fulfilled in his own life and death. We are saved and delivered from bondage to sin by His death, not the death of a lamb. We have fellowship and a good relationship with God through Him. By our own failings, the covenant was broken, but He made up for that in His own blood. Just as the people of Israel were saved from death and delivered from slavery by the first Passover, so we are saved from eternal death, and delivered from slavery to sin, by Jesus Christ. Their entry point into relationship with God was the Passover; so our entry point into relationship with God is the “second Passover” – the crucifixion.

Just as the first Israelites celebrated their fellowship with God by eating the Passover lamb, so, in Communion (also called “The Lord’s Supper” or “the Eucharist”), we celebrate our fellowship with God that is made possible by the death of Jesus.

Just as the Passover was a renewal and reminder for the Israelites of God’s covenant with his people, so our own celebration of the Lord’s Supper is a renewal, reminder and acceptance of God’s covenant with us through the blood of Jesus Christ.

This is the meaning of Communion. This is why Paul says:

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1Cor 11:26, ESV2011)

Now, one more thing. Some people get caught up in arguments about what, exactly, happens, when we take the bread and wine. The Roman Catholic view is that the bread and the wine essentially turn into the physical presence of Jesus (i.e. the bread and wine turn into the body and blood). After all, Jesus said “This is my body…this is my blood.” In our Matthew text for today (and also the parallel text in Mark), he does not add “do this in remembrance of me.” The Reformed view (most Baptists, Evangelical Free etc.) is that the bread and the wine simply remind us of the presence of Jesus: all it is, is a remembrance. The Lutheran view (which I subscribe to) is that the bread and the wine are somehow used as a means to bring us the presence of Jesus.

A helpful way of understanding this is to picture a radio. When you turn it on, what happens? In the Catholic view, when you turn it on, the radio becomes music. In the reformed view, when you turn it on, the radio reminds us of music. In the Lutheran view, when you turn it on, the radio becomes the vehicle which brings us music.  Thus, in the Lord’s Supper, we don’t believe that the bread and the wine actually change into flesh and blood. Neither do we believe that it is only a symbol – a reminder of Jesus’ sacrifice. Instead, we believe that through eating the bread and drinking the wine in faith, Jesus comes to us. The bread and the wine are vehicles of God’s gracious presence. He uses them to come to us in a special, tangible way. We don’t pretend to know how, but he has promised his presence with the bread and the wine. All we need to do is to receive it in faith. And so, though we don’t explain it perfectly, we believe that when you get the bread and the wine, you are getting Jesus too. You are renewing the covenant which he made with you, a covenant established by his death and resurrection. You are celebrating the fellowship you have with God, and with one another.

An additional thought. Jesus taught his disciples to do this. After his resurrection, they did that, and taught the next generation to do the same. That generation carried it on to the next, and so on. What this means is that in every celebration of the Lord’s Supper, we could trace it back, hand to hand, person to person, generation to generation, to the very supper that Jesus had with Peter, James, John, Matthew and the others. There is a real-life historical connection to Jesus every time we take Communion. It connects us to all of Christianity throughout the ages, and to the physical life on earth of Jesus Christ himself.

What a gift! This is one reason the early Christian church made Communion (“the breaking of the bread”) central to their life and worship (Acts 2:42). Perhaps we should do the same.

The accidental betrayal?

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

betrayal

When Jesus predicts his betrayal, his disciples don’t doubt his words. But each one doubts himself. Each one thinks: “I know I love him. How could I ever do that to him? And yet, I know, I really do know, what is inside me. I know I’m capable of it. But please don’t let it be me.”

They were making a mistake. What they were actually afraid of was failing. But what Jesus was talking about was not failing. They were not going to accidentally betray him. The betrayer knew what he was doing when he did it. It was deliberate, and pre-meditated; a clear choice to make a break with Jesus.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer:
Download Matthew Part

Matthew #91.  Matthew 26:14-25; 31-35

In chapter 26, Matthew begins to tell of the events that led up to the death of Jesus. The story of Judas is told in bits and pieces, because it was happening behind the scenes, at the same time as other events.

The chief priests and the Jewish religious ruling council (also called the Sanhedrin) decided to eliminate the Jesus problem. They were probably provoked by Jesus’ triumphal entrance to Jerusalem. Remember, though Matthew (and we) take a long time to get through the events of Jesus’ last days, we are talking about less than a week. Jesus rode into town on Sunday. During the next few days, he cleared the merchants out of the temple, and taught several parables that directly confronted the ways of the religious leaders. It was on Wednesday that the religious rulers gathered and decided to get rid of him:

3Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4and they conspired to arrest Jesus in a treacherous way and kill Him. 5“Not during the festival,” they said, “so there won’t be rioting among the people.” (Matt 26:3-5, HCSB)

They had two major problems. The first was that Jesus was extremely popular with the crowds: the Sunday afternoon entrance to Jerusalem had proved that. It was easy enough to find him when he was teaching people, but if they arrested him in public, in front of the people, it would provoke a riot, and get the religious leaders into trouble with the Romans, who had the ultimate political authority in Jerusalem. The Romans did not tolerate public uprisings. So they needed a way to lay hands on Jesus in some quiet, out-of-the-way location.

The second problem is that they did not technically have the authority to put Jesus to death. Matthew’s narrative explains how they overcame that issue, later on.

In stepped Judas, who declared himself willing to solve the first problem for them. He said he would take them to Jesus when the Lord was in some quiet, unpopulated location. For his service, he agreed to take thirty pieces of silver. This is equivalent to about $15,000 in 2016 America. The amount seems to be prophetic, but we won’t get the full understanding of just how until chapter 27:

12Then I said to them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed my wages, 30 pieces of silver. 13“Throw it to the potter,” the LORD said to me — this magnificent price I was valued by them. So I took the 30 pieces of silver and threw it into the house of the LORD, to the potter. (Zech 11:12-13, HCSB)

There has been a lot of discussion through the centuries about the motives of Judas. When we get to chapter 27, we will see that he felt a certain amount of remorse about what he did. I intend to preach an entire message on that, so I won’t go into it here. I will say, however, that John records that Judas was a thief, who helped himself privately from the common funds used to support Jesus and the disciples in their ministry (John 12:4-6). In addition, all of the apostles attribute bad motives to him. Luke records that he was influenced by Satan (Luke 22:3) and John agrees with this (John 13:2, also verse 27).

In the meantime, the Passover meal is prepared. Jesus and his disciples go to celebrate it. The Passover is most definitely supposed to be a happy time – a time when God’s people remember and celebrate what God has done for them. But Jesus, at some point during the meal, makes his statement that one of the twelve would betray him.

As the questions come up, he says: “The one who dipped his hand with me in the bowl – he will betray me.” Matthew is giving us his own perspective of that night. John remembers it slightly differently. Speaking of himself, he writes:

25So he leaned back against Jesus and asked Him, “Lord, who is it? ” 26Jesus replied, “He’s the one I give the piece of bread to after I have dipped it.” When He had dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son. 27After Judas ate the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Therefore Jesus told him, “What you’re doing, do quickly.” (John 13:25-27, HCSB)

Obviously, the others didn’t quite catch the whole exchange. In fact, the way meals were eaten in those days, pretty much everyone would have been breaking off pieces of unleavened bread and dipping them into common bowls of charoset (an apple mixture), or meat broth, or spices. So it wasn’t like Judas was the only one to have done it during the meal. This, however fulfilled another prophecy from the Old Testament:

9Even my friend in whom I trusted, one who ate my bread, has raised his heel against me. (Ps 41:9, HCSB)

Just pause for a moment here, and picture the scene. These men have been with Jesus for three years. They have absolutely uprooted their lives for him. They’ve left businesses and families and lives back home, just to be with him. There have been compensations. Something about Jesus makes them feel that they are in the presence of true goodness. Something about him is just right, and it is very powerful. They know how much he loves them. They’ve seen miracles and heard the very words of God. They don’t always understand him, but they do love Him. And now, this man that they love like a Father – maybe even like a Master – is telling them that one of them will betray Him.

This is hard news. They still can’t quite accept that he is going to die. They are still holding on to the idea that all his predictions about his upcoming death were figurative, not literal. But this betrayal thing is serious.

The reaction of the eleven innocent apostles is beautiful and touching. Each one says in turn to Jesus, “Is it I, Lord?”

Notice that they don’t doubt his words. But each one doubts himself. Each one thinks: “I know I love him. How could I ever do that to him? And yet, I know, I really do know, what is inside me. I know I’m capable of it. But please don’t let it be me.”

They were making a mistake. What they were actually afraid of was failing. But what Jesus was talking about was not failing. They were not going to accidentally betray him. The betrayer knew what he was doing when he did it. It was deliberate, and pre-meditated; a clear choice to make a break with Jesus.

And that brings us to one of the reasons Jesus brought up the subject, and Matthew recorded it for us. Judas, like the others, asked “Is it I?” Of course, he was only trying to keep up appearances. He had already taken the money to do the deed. He knew it was himself. But Jesus shows Judas that he also knows. Jesus’ response is two Greek words: “You say.” It could be translated as either “So you say,” or “You said it.” John records that after this, Jesus told Judas:

Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. (John 13:27-29, ESV2011)

So Jesus clearly let Judas know that he knew. I believe that in this moment, Jesus was giving Judas one last chance to repent. He was giving Judas every opportunity to turn away from his betrayal – even just a few hours before Judas did his deed.

Let’s make all of this practical in our lives now. I have met many, many, Christians who are afraid that they will betray Jesus; in short, they are afraid that they will utterly reject him, and lose their salvation.

Now, of course, there are two schools of thought about this. One is that once you are saved, you can’t lose your salvation. Without debating the various verses, let me say that sometimes this results in people who think that they have a guaranteed ticket to heaven, even though they do not actually trust Jesus in their everyday lives. At one particular moment in their lives, they felt some emotion, and walked down the aisle, and “got saved;” maybe even baptized, too. However, it has been a long time since they have had much to do with Jesus. They live as they please; their lives are about their own ambitions and desires. God doesn’t really figure into their lives, not in a real way. They ignore the sin in their lives; in fact, sin doesn’t really bother them. The fact that their lives are distant from Jesus doesn’t really bother them.

Some folks might say these are Christians who have fallen away. Others might say that those folks probably weren’t ever true believers in the first place. I don’t think we have to quantify that. What may have happened in the past is needless speculation. All I know is this: If people can live in an ongoing pattern of sin without their consciences troubling them, then it is very doubtful that Jesus lives within them presently, and doubtful that they are saved at this point in time.

Now, I do think there are some genuine Jesus-followers who try to live in sin for a while, but it tears them apart inside, at least in the beginning, because they know they are sinning, and the Holy Spirit inside them keeps asking them to stop. If, however, a person is content to live in an ongoing pattern of sin, and it does not bother that person’s conscience, such an individual is probably not someone who genuinely trusts Jesus; at least not any more.

But I want to speak to the other group: these are people who have indeed trusted Jesus, and surrendered their lives to him. However, at times they are weak, and they fail. They worry that in their failure, they will utterly reject Jesus. I think this is something like what the disciples were feeling when each of them asked, “Is it I, Lord?”

But look at this from the outside. There was no way they could accidentally do what Jesus was talking about. What Judas did was pre-meditated and deliberate. In the same way, I do not believe that a genuine Christian can “accidentally” reject Jesus and turn away. Unfortunately we can (and do!) fail; sometimes frequently. But that is a different matter. Jesus addressed this at the end of the supper, when he told them that Peter would deny him, and the others would all desert him:

31 Then Jesus said to them, “Tonight all of you will run away because of Me, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. 32 But after I have been resurrected, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”

 33 Peter told Him, “Even if everyone runs away because of You, I will never run away! ”

 34 “I assure you,” Jesus said to him, “tonight, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times! ”

 35 “Even if I have to die with You,” Peter told Him, “I will never deny You! ” And all the disciples said the same thing.

Jesus knew they would fail. They didn’t reject Him, but in their moments of weakness, they did not stand by Him. It was a failure; a big one. It did need to be forgiven, and it was ultimately forgiven. Jesus instructs them to meet up with Him again in Galilee, after it is all over: in other words, “I know you are going to mess up, but come back to me. Don’t stay away from me. Come on back and meet me, and receive my grace again.”

It is good and right to try not to sin. But I do not believe that those of us who trust Jesus need to live in constant fear that we will somehow reject Jesus altogether. No matter what your theology tells about whether or not that happens at all, I think we can all agree that that sort of thing can’t happen by accident.

If you are still worried about these things, the only antidote I know is to actually trust the words of the Bible. Even if you don’t worry about this often, it is a wonderful thing to pause and meditate upon the many wonderful promises of God’s love and forgiveness:

1My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father — Jesus Christ the Righteous One. 2 He Himself is the propitiation for our sins .(1John 2:1, HCSB)

 13And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him and forgave us all our trespasses. 14He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross. 15He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; He triumphed over them by Him. (Col 2:13-15, HCSB)

31What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32He did not even spare His own Son but offered Him up for us all; how will He not also with Him grant us everything? 33Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the One who justifies. 34Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the One who died, but even more, has been raised; He also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us. 35Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written: Because of You we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. 37No, in all these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us. 38For I am persuaded that not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, 39height or depth, or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord! (Rom 8:31-39, HCSB)

 

 

LOVE IN ACTION

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

love-in-action

What Jesus and the apostles consistently taught is that love-in-action should be expressed first toward our fellow-Christians. It can (and should) overflow to our world-at-large, but it will only truly do so if we actually love one another. I realize that this is almost counter-cultural, at least to American Christians these days. But it is unquestionably what the New Testament teaches.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer:
Download Matthew Part 88

Matthew #88. Matthew 25:31-46

PLEASE BEGIN BY READING MATTHEW 25:31-46

Our passage for this time is a parable, and parables are usually intended only to make one or two main points. When we get down to it, the points Jesus is making are pretty broad and straightforward.

I do realize that other issues are raised by this story, but I want to start by taking the text for what it is. If we need to, I’ll address the other issues in the next sermon.

First, let’s remember our context. Jesus has been talking about the end of the world, and the fact that his followers need to be prepared for it. In verses 14-30, he tells a parable to illustrate what he means about being prepared: we should use our lives, and everything we have been given as managers. We don’t own what we call our “stuff,” and we don’t even own our lives; therefore we should invest what we have been given in the interests of the Master.

In the next parable – our text for this time – he is now giving us a specific example of what it means to invest ourselves in God’s kingdom. The example he gives is this: we should care for our fellow Jesus-followers.

I think many of us, when we read the passage today, have a certain picture of what this looks like. We think we are supposed to go out on the streets and find people who are hungry, or inadequately clothed, and give them food and clothing. We think we should go visit random people in jail or hospital. If we examine our thoughts carefully, we would find a disconnect between doing those things, and how we live our daily lives. Even at best, most of us probably picture dashing out and doing “homeless ministry” once a week, and then coming back to our “normal life.”

Those sorts of thoughts would have been strange to most Christians in New Testament times, but not for the reasons you might imagine.  Some of you may be a little unfocused, and perhaps you didn’t notice something important about Jesus’ words. Let me say it again with emphasis: this parable teaches us that we should care for our fellow Christians.

Let’s look at the text:

40“And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’ (Matt 25:40, HCSB)

In the New Testament, the Greek word adelphon (“brothers”) can mean, obviously, “male siblings.” Far more often, throughout the New Testament, the word is used to mean, in general, “followers of Jesus, whether male or female.” Now, unless Jesus is talking specifically about James, and Jude (his half-brothers, each of whom wrote a book of the New Testament), he means “my followers.” The context shows us that he was obviously not talking about James and Jude. The “sheep” in this parable are commended for feeding, clothing, welcoming and visiting followers of Jesus, specifically.

One of the great tragedies of modern Christianity is that we have lost this understanding. We think we should do good “for the poor and needy.” Then, we fervently hope that the “poor and needy” are some remote group out there that we can keep separate from our own lives. We have no actual relationship with the poor and needy, and we typically skip over helping people with whom we do have relationships. Far too often people in churches throw money at a problem, or rush out and spend an evening serving food to the homeless, or spend two weeks on a mission trip, but we always go back to a kind of status quo of not really living in meaningful community with one another. We’ll serve food to the homeless, but ignore the lonely single person in our church who would enjoy coming over for dinner once in a while. We pay a pastor to go visit the sick and those in prison, and we thank the Lord that we, personally don’t have to do such things, because we just don’t have the time. We will give money to a homeless shelter, but balk at opening our home to a visiting missionary.

Don’t misunderstand me, I think it is good to give money to organizations that genuinely help to relieve poverty in the world (like Compassion International). I think it is worthwhile to go serve supper to strangers at a homeless shelter. Short term mission trips don’t usually give much real, long-term help to the people in the countries that are visited, but they do have some value in opening the eyes of Americans to different cultures and conditions around the world.

So those are OK. But did you know that virtually every example of charitable giving in the New Testament, and almost every single instruction about such giving, refers to either providing financial support to those who teach the Bible, or to helping other Christians?

What Jesus and the apostles consistently taught is that love-in-action should be expressed first toward our fellow-Christians. It can (and should) overflow to our world-at-large, but it will only truly do so if we actually love one another. I realize that this is almost counter-cultural, at least to American Christians these days. But it is unquestionably what the New Testament teaches. It is certainly what Jesus is teaching in this parable, as I have already pointed out, by saying “to the least of these, my brothers.”

Consider these other verses, which are only a few of many. Bear in mind that “brothers” in each of these verses means “fellow Christians.” I have italicized certain parts to make my point clear. The first is another one from Jesus, found earlier in the book of Matthew:

40 “The one who welcomes you welcomes Me, and the one who welcomes Me welcomes Him who sent Me. 41 Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet  will receive a prophet’s reward. And anyone who welcomes a righteous person because he’s righteous will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And whoever gives just a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple — I assure you: He will never lose his reward! ”

Again, Jesus is teaching the value of love-in-action toward other people who follow Him. Next, John records these words of Jesus:

34“I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. 35By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35, HCSB)

This verse is frequently ignored. The world does not know we are His disciples because we do good deeds for the world, or show the world how much we love them. Instead, the world will see Christians loving and caring for each other, and the beauty of that testimony will show outsiders that we follow Jesus. Trust me, when the world sees Christians fighting, and gossiping and hurting one another, they are not seeing Jesus there. Who would want to become a Jesus follower, if it means joining a group that barely tolerates its members, but tries to show love only toward outsiders? Or who would want to join a “community” where you will hardly get to know each other? The first Christian church grew, in part, because people were attracted by the warm, loving, family-style relationships they found there.

Here are a few more passages:

6 The one who is taught the message must share all his good things with the teacher. 7Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows he will also reap, 8because the one who sows to his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. 10Therefore, as we have opportunity, we must work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith. (Gal 6:6-10, HCSB)

10Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. 12No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and His love is perfected in us. (1John 4:10-12, HCSB)

20If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother he has seen cannot love the God he has not seen. 21And we have this command from Him: The one who loves God must also love his brother. (1John 4:20-21, HCSB)

14What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can his faith save him? 15If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food 16and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? 17In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself. (James 2:14-15)

Am I wrong about all this? Aren’t these all commands for Christians to love each other? Don’t you dare say, “Yes, sure, but we must also love the world.”  Don’t you dismiss this lightly! You need to start where Jesus and the apostles start, which is this: love your fellow Christians. You cannot properly love those outside the faith if you don’t love your fellow-Christians.

In fact, the whole point of our text today is that if you don’t love your fellow Christians, there is probably something wrong with your faith, and with the relationship you have with God. Lack of love for fellow Christians may be a symptom of the fact that you are a goat, not a sheep.

The church in New Testament times became like a family for those who followed Jesus. Sometimes you fight and wrangle with those in your family. But in the end, you are committed to one another, and you take care of each other.

One reason we have such trouble loving each other is because, by and large, we don’t have these close, family-style relationships with other Christians. The way we engage in church is often a major obstacle to this. Worshipping together is one part of loving fellow believers. But it is only one small part. The first Christians understood this, and they not only worshipped together, but they shared their lives with each other.

8We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. (1Thess 2:8, HCSB)

 42And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers. 43Then fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. 44Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. 45They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need. 46Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47, HCSB)

Even Christians who were strangers to each other recognized that they were bound together in love and common faith. On one of their journeys, Paul and his companions arrived in a strange city, and sought out the Christians in that place. There they fellowshipped, and stayed with these strangers for a week. Luke describes it:

2Finding a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we boarded and set sail. 3After we sighted Cyprus, leaving it on the left, we sailed on to Syria and arrived at Tyre, because the ship was to unload its cargo there. 4So we found some disciples and stayed there seven days. Through the Spirit they told Paul not to go to Jerusalem. 5When our days there were over, we left to continue our journey, while all of them, with their wives and children, escorted us out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach to pray, 6we said good-bye to one another. Then we boarded the ship, and they returned home. (Acts 21:2-6, HCSB)

These days, most of us just go to church on Sunday, and then go home. That is not Christian fellowship, and real Christian love doesn’t develop well in those circumstances. In contrast, the Christians of the New Testament walked through life together. They spent time in each other’s homes, they ate together, they laughed together, they fought with each other at times, they forgave each other, they grieved together and celebrated together. If one of them was in need, they helped each other. They lived in real Christian community, and developed real love for each other.

Notice that in the parable of Jesus, the sheep are surprised. “When did I do that?” they ask. This is because when you are in real, loving community with others, good works come naturally. Visiting sick people that you love comes naturally. Visiting prisoners that you love is easy. When someone you love is in need, the normal, natural thing to do is to help them.

Some folks might say, “OK, but in my circle of Christian community, everyone has enough food, clothing and a place to live. So how can I really practice this?”

That’s an excellent question, and I’m so glad you asked it. There are two answers that might be helpful. First, perhaps your Christian community needs to be open to welcoming some Christian brothers and sisters who don’t have it all together yet. In other words, maybe, as a group, you need to include some Christian people who aren’t like you.

Second, I believe that the needs listed in Jesus’ parable can also be understood spiritually. Perhaps there is a person in your group who is not literally a stranger, but who feels lonely. You can minister to them as “the stranger,” in this parable, and invite them to be more a part of your lives. Maybe there is someone else who is not literally in prison, but who suffers from the “imprisonment” of depression. You could make room in your schedule to spend more time with that person. There are all sorts of spiritual and emotional needs that we could minister to, even among those who are physically OK.

If we are to really live as this ministering Christian community, however, several things must happen. First, we must find a relatively small group of Christians with whom to be in community. You can’t have real community and fellowship with a hundred people at once. Second, within that community, we must commit to being vulnerable and open about our struggles. This is an emotional and psychological risk, but we can’t minister to one another if we don’t know what each person needs. Third, all of this takes time. Most people in America probably need to cut something else out of their schedule in order to have real Christian community, and thus to minister in the ways Jesus is talking about. We need to be available to each other outside of Sunday morning.

Now, you might consider all this and say: “Wow. I’m in trouble. I don’t much care for my fellow Christians, and I’m not really in true fellowship or community with other believers.” So what do you do about it?

Here’s my advice, for what it’s worth. First, do not try and fake it. I mean seriously, do you think God won’t know whether or not your love for your fellow Christians is genuine? If your good works do not come from genuine trust in Jesus, and real love for fellow-believers, you aren’t going to fool God.

Second, admit that you have a problem. Confess it to God, and, if it seems appropriate, to others.

Third, ask God for help. Part of this means giving God permission to change your lifestyle. I remember a time when I realized I didn’t really love my Christian brothers and sisters. I also realized that if I was really going to learn to do it, I would have to change my lifestyle, so that I could be in real Christian community with others. I’m an introvert, and that thought was extremely scary. But I confessed my sin, I asked God for help, and I gave him permission to work in my life as He pleased. God responded to those prayers. My comfortable, introverted little life was changed, and to my great surprise, I have been consistently grateful that it did. I feel tremendously blessed by all the people I have come to know so well, and I can honestly say that I love them. I’ve never wanted to go back to the “faith in isolation” that I used to have.

Let the Lord speak to you about this right now.

TALENT ON LOAN FROM GOD

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Churches in Lebanon, House Church, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Burying-His-Talent

We don’t do good works in order to be saved, we do good works because we are saved. Good works indicate that Jesus is alive and active within you, and is conforming you to His character. Understanding that, you need to realize your entire life, and all that is “you,” and all that is available to you, is on loan from God, and is a talent to be invested for His kingdom.

 
To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer:
Download Matthew Part 87

Matthew #87. Matthew 25:1-13

Jesus has been talking about his return, and the importance of being ready. It’s always helpful to remember that the verses and chapter divisions in our modern Bibles were not there originally. Personally, I think Matthew 25:1-13 belong with the words of Jesus that came at the end of chapter 24. It is, in fact, one more admonition to us to be ready for his return. Let us look at it briefly.

The setting is a Jewish wedding. In those days, in much of Israel, weddings were the most important social events, after religious festivals. A large proportion of the population lived in poverty, and even, at times, on the brink of starvation. A wedding was a chance for them to eat their fill of good food. Most people had to work hard from sunrise to sunset, but a wedding was a chance to relax and celebrate. The 10 virgins that Jesus is talking about were part of the wedding procession – roughly equivalent to bridesmaids in the present day (though not exactly the same). This was a rare moment in their lives when they got to dress up, relax and have fun, and eat their fill of good food. It would be bitterly disappointing for such girls to miss out on a wedding where they were bridesmaids.

One of the key parts of weddings in ancient Israel was the procession of the bridegroom. He paraded through town to the place where his bride waited, and then they paraded together, accompanied by the “bridesmaids,” and others, to his home, and to the feast! This procession took place after dark. Anyone who was part of the wedding would be expected to carry lights to add to the joy and festivity of the procession. If someone was out on the streets without a light, they would rightly be considered a stranger, someone who was not part of the wedding.

People in those days did not have watches or clocks, so time was a pretty fluid thing. As the bridegroom progressed through the streets of the town to his bride, he might pause to greet friends and family, or stop off at various houses to receive blessings and gifts from various people. Therefore, no one knew exactly when a given bridegroom would arrive, and when the procession with the bride (and after, the feast) would begin. The bridesmaids waiting to meet them would have to be ready, because no one knew exactly when he would come.

In the parable, some of the bridesmaids were not prepared to wait for very long: they did not have enough oil to keep their lamps burning for a long period of time. Without lights, they would be considered strangers, and not accepted in the wedding party. Because they were not prepared, they had to leave to get more oil for their lamps, and when they got back they found out that they had missed out, the gates were closed and they would not get to participate in the wedding feast. There would be no leisure, no celebration, no joy, no good food. It’s hard to emphasize how deeply disappointed these girls would be.

I want to point out a few things about this parable.

First, it is told for people who think, “I’ll wait until the end of my life is closer,” or “I’ll get right with God someday – just not right now.” You never know when Jesus is coming, and it will be too late to get your spiritual affairs in order once he is here. Jesus is telling us to be prepared, now and always.

Second, in this parable, part of being prepared includes being ready for it to take a long time. The five foolish virgins were ready at first, but they weren’t in it for the long haul. If the Christian life is a race, it is a marathon, not a sprint. Sometimes life can feel long and difficult – part of being ready for Jesus is about being able to endure through those times.

Third (and this is my favorite part of this parable), before this, Jesus has been telling us to be prepared in order to avoid the negative consequences. This parable, however, paints his return in a positive light. This is something we won’t want to miss out on. There will be joy, and laughter, and feasting and celebrating. It is like a long awaited vacation. This is something we should be looking forward to, something we will want to be a part of. A wedding, for most of Jesus’ listeners, would have been one of the most fun, satisfying and joyful events that they could look forward to. Heaven should be that for us – only not “one of” the best things to look forward to, but rather “the very best thing” we have to anticipate.

So, up until this point, Jesus has been telling his disciples – and us – to be prepared for him at all times. Starting in 25:15, he begins to tell us how to be prepared. What does it mean to be ready? What does it look like? He starts with another parable, the parable of the talents. I want you to read the parable yourself. It is a little long, and I don’t want to use up the space here. Read Matthew 25:15-30, and then come back and finish reading this message.

Let’s make sure we understand the parable. Our English word “talent,” as in “ability,” can be traced back to this parable of Jesus, since he clearly intended us to understand this is about how we use what God has given us (and not only about money). But at the time Jesus told this story, a “talent” was simply a measurement of money, roughly equal to about 6,000 denarii. Isn’t that helpful? Well maybe, if you know that a single denarius was acceptable pay for one day’s wages for a manual-laborer (see Matthew 20:1-2). In today’s money, if we assume a manual laborer makes $80 per day, one talent is roughly equal to $480,000. If you assume a laborer makes $100 per day, then a talent would be more like $600,000. Another way to calculate it is that one talent represents the total earnings from 16-20 years-worth of manual labor.

To make it simple, it is reasonable to picture it like this (as of 2016 in America): The man with one talent had roughly $500,000; the one with two had $1 Million; and the man with five had about $2.5 Million. In other words, this is a significant amount for investment. Even the one who had the least was dealing with a sum equal to twenty years-worth of earnings. Now, obviously, this parable is not about money. Very few people in any generation are given that sort of money all at once. Jesus was talking to his disciples, and none of them ever had nearly that much money. But the point is this: What God has given you is very valuable. Even the least amount is still worth a very great deal. And he wants us all to use what he has given, for his glory and his purposes.

So what are your “talents”? Your natural abilities are certainly part of what the Master has entrusted to you, to use for his purposes. Maybe it is musical or athletic ability. Perhaps it is the way people look to you for advice or for comfort. It might be your ability to listen, or to talk, or to sing, or dance, or make others laugh, or to be real. If you know how to put people at ease, that is a talent on loan from God. If you know how to appropriately challenge people and encourage them to grow, that is also from God. Your personality, your voice, your face, your body, your intelligence – all these are on loan from God, and are supposed to be used for His purposes. Don’t insult your own body, or any of your talents: to do so is to insult God, who made them, and has a purpose for them.

Some people are given monetary wealth. This too, is on loan from God, and is intended for use and investment in His Kingdom. Your situation in life is also part of what God has given you. Many of my readers were born in the United States of America, and that gives you opportunities and privileges not found in many parts of the world. You may not feel privileged, but you are. Even the poorest Americans have more wealth and opportunity than much of the world. Those opportunities and privileges, like your natural abilities, are “on loan” from God, and he expects us to use them for His purposes. Esther was given this sort of “talent,” and God wanted her to use it. She was made a queen, with a position of influence. When there was trouble for God’s people, Mordecai, her uncle, told her this:

If you keep silent at this time, liberation and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father’s house will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.” (Esth 4:14, HCSB)

In other words: “The opportunity and privilege you have has been given by God. Use it for Him. If you don’t, God will still deliver his people, but it won’t help you. But perhaps God has given you this privileged position for this very moment in time.” So we too, who are better off in this world, are supposed to use that privilege for God’s purposes.

Our relationships, our connections, are also gifts of God to be used for Him. Can I make it simple? your entire life, and all that is “you,” and all that is available to you, is on loan from God, and is a talent to be invested for His kingdom.

Now, I hope you have a few questions. The big one is this: doesn’t this parable make it sound like we will be welcomed into heaven if we use what God has given us for His glory, and we will not enter in if we don’t? In other words, doesn’t it seem like we are saved, not by God’s grace, but by what we do? It seems to contradict what the Bible says elsewhere:

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift — not from works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9)

I understand why, at first glance, someone might think there is a contradiction here. In order to resolve it, we need to understand the role of “good works” (good things, done in the name of Jesus) in the Christian life. This will be very important when we look at the next parable, also.

I think you should write this down somewhere, because it will help you through so many parts of the Bible: Good works indicate that Jesus is alive and active within you, and is conforming you to His character.

Good works are not absolute proof that you are a Jesus-follower – many non-Christians do all sorts of good works. But if you claim to be a Jesus-follower, and your life shows no evidence of the character of Jesus, there is a problem. You might say that the presence of good works does not necessarily prove anything, but the absence of good works is a strong indication that something is spiritually wrong. Let’s look at the verse from Ephesians again, only this time, I’ll include the part I left off:

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift — not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10, HCSB, emphasis mine)

Being saved by grace (not by works) goes hand in hand with walking in the good works that God has already prepared for us to do. Salvation and good works go together. We don’t do good works in order to be saved, we do good works because we are saved.

When we refuse to use what God has given us for God’s purpose, it shows us that there is a problem in our relationship with God. We are telling him that we aren’t interested in what he wants. So the man who refused to invest his talent was rejected, not because he failed to make an investment, but because, by his refusal, he showed that he wanted nothing to do with the Master.

So where does all this leave us today? Are you ready? Are you in this for the long haul? And do you use your life like it belongs to God, and is only on loan from Him? If you don’t, why don’t you? What prevents you?

What is the Lord saying to you today, through the Scripture? Spend some time praying about it, right now.

Lord help us to recognize that all we have belongs to you. Help us to recognize that you have saved us for a purpose. Let us realize that you want to use all you have given us for that purpose. Help us to allow you to do so. Where we have been selfish, and withheld from you, please forgive us, and restore us to a right, healthy relationship with you.

As you continue praying, please also remember this ministry in your prayers. Through this ministry, we are trying to do what the parable speaks about – invest our talents for God’s purposes. Please pray that the investment here is fruitful, that we continue to have all that we need to do his work. Thank you!

 

PREPARE FOR THE END OF THE WORLD!

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

end-of-the-world

Jesus tells us how to prepare for the end of the world. It may not be what you think. 

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer:
Download Matthew Part 86

Matthew #86.  Matthew 24:36-51

 Among followers of Jesus, these may be some of his most-ignored words. You can hardly swing a stick in an Evangelical church without hitting two or three people (at least) who are “into the end times.” Some remarkable things have happened during the past fifty years or so, and many people try and fit those events into some sort of timeline for the end of the world. They pore over passages from Daniel and Revelation, and also study some of the things that Jesus says, here at the end of Matthew. From these obscure, and difficult-to-understand passages, they build a scenario that will indicate to them when the world will end.

It’s a tempting hobby. In fact, it is often fascinating and exciting. I think the best of it is that it gives people hope, and helps them to see that God is still active in human history. But there is a downside too. Some people may become disillusioned, and perhaps even lose faith, when the world doesn’t end on their timetable. Their main faith is not in Jesus Christ, the Person, but rather in their theoretical constructions of the end times. And even more common, I think, is that “studying the end times” becomes a way to avoid really living as a Jesus-follower in everyday life. It gratifies a sense of religious duty (“I’m studying the Bible!”) without challenging anyone to actual obedience to Jesus at any specific point. Years ago, someone left our church because I (as the pastor) did not have the same specific view of end-times as he did. I think he was a good guy, but that is no reason to break fellowship. I wonder sometimes if he would leave a church that agreed with him on end times, but taught that sex outside of marriage is not sinful.

My point is, “end times” theology is very sketchy, and neither Jesus nor the apostles define it as closely as many people do today. How can I say that? Because Jesus said it! Just in case you didn’t open your Bible for this one, here it is:

36“Now concerning that day and hour no one knows — neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son — except the Father only. (Matt 24:36, HCSB)

Unless you are God the Father (and trust me, you’re not), you don’t have a clue when the end of the world will be. The entire section of verses 36-44 is Jesus belaboring that exact point. He says it will be like the days of Noah. God told Noah the flood was coming. Jesus has told us that He will return. Noah prepared for the flood, following God’s instructions, but he did not know when it would be, until the very moment when God told him to get on the ark. The other people had no awareness of the coming of the flood until it happened. Jesus says “so this is the way the coming of the Son of Man will be (verse 39).” He describes people going about their everyday lives until the very moment he returns. In verse 42 he says: “Therefore, be alert, since you don’t know what day your Lord is coming.” In case we somehow missed the point, Jesus says it again in verse 44: “This is why you also must be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Some people may try to find wiggle-room. They might say, “Jesus says we won’t know the exact day, or the exact hour of the day. But we could still find out the year, or possibly even the month.” I say: Nonsense! In the first place, just back up and read the passage for what it is. His main point is quite obvious: You are not going to be able to figure out, when he will return. If you were to say, “We can’t figure out the exact day, but we can know the year, (or even the decade),” it overturns the entire point that Jesus is making here.

Let’s put this to bed once and for all. The Greek word used for “day” is hemera. It can mean a literal 24 hour day, of course. But it is also used figuratively to mean “time period.” In Romans 3:13, Paul instructs us to “walk in the day.” Obviously he doesn’t mean a specific, literal day. The New Testament uses the word for the “Day of the Lord” and for the “day of God’s wrath,” which are obviously time periods, not literal 24 hour days. Zechariah says Elizabeth is far along in “days” (meaning years; Luke 1:18). Jesus, in Luke 17:28, refers to the “days of Lot.” Hebrews 5:7 uses the word to talk about the whole earthly life of Jesus. So when Jesus says we won’t know the day, He is using the word figuratively. He is saying, you won’t know when it will be.

The Greek for “hour” is similar – it can be either literal or figurative. In Matthew 10:19, Jesus tells us that when we are persecuted, we don’t have to worry about what we will say “in that hour.” He doesn’t mean that his followers will only suffer sixty minutes of persecution. He means “when the time comes.” In Mark 14:35, in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed that the “hour” of his suffering might pass from him.  He didn’t mean he would only suffer for sixty minutes – in fact the suffering of his crucifixion, and the beatings that went before it, was much longer than that.

Folks, I don’t know how to be more clear than Jesus. You cannot know when he will return. He says so, three times in eight verses. It is a waste of time, and a diversion of your spiritual energy, to try and build a timeline for the end of the world, or to try and figure out which current events are represented in apocalyptic prophecy. It takes you away from the important, everyday challenges of following Jesus in real life.

Even so, there is something you should do about the end times. The fact that Jesus is returning, and the fact that we don’t know when, should lead us to live a certain way.

Two times in the verses, Jesus tells us to be ready.

Therefore be alert, since you don’t know what day your Lord is coming (Matt 24:42 HCSB).

 This is why you also must be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. (Matt 24:44, HCSB)

In verses 45-51, Jesus tells us what it means to be alert, and to be ready. He uses an analogy that would have been familiar to his disciples, but maybe not so much for us: a slave entrusted with great responsibility by his master. Slavery at the time of Jesus was not exactly like the slavery of the 19th century in America, or European slavery of the 18th century, or earlier. In the ancient Roman world, it is true, there were some type of slaves who were severely oppressed, and given no hope. Those were usually either criminals who were enslaved as punishment, or enemies captured in war and enslaved (armies in those days generally either killed their enemies, or enslaved them. There were no “prisoners of war”).

However, unlike 19th century America, there was no major industry (like producing sugar, or cotton) that depended heavily upon the work of slaves. Instead the majority of slaves in Jesus’ time were people who served their masters with a great deal of personal freedom. Many of them, in fact, had sold themselves into slavery for a period of time in order to pay debts, and had hope of obtaining freedom. Rather than what we normally think of when we hear the word “slavery,” it was more like indentured servitude. Now, I am not saying slavery was wonderful back then, but it probably wasn’t as bad for most slaves in Biblical times, as it was for those who worked on American cotton plantations in the 1800s.

Often times, a wealthy man had a slave who served as “director of operations” for his business and household. That slave could arrange his day as best as he saw fit, as long as he was diligent about his master’s business. He could conduct business transactions in the name of his master, and generally look after his master’s affairs. Such a slave was often in charge of other slaves (such as those who cleaned the master’s house, or transported his goods and so on). He had a respectable position of responsibility, and was often well rewarded for it.

If such a slave abused his position, however, he did not have the rights of a free citizen. His master would be fully justified in selling him as a galley-slave, or to the salt mines, where existence was miserable, and life was short.

Maybe another way to summarize Jesus’ words are this: “You never know when I will return. So live each day as if it will be today. Live in such a way that you will not be ashamed or afraid if I should return at this very moment.”

What does that mean, practically? Well, like the “operations manager,” Jesus has given all of us certain responsibilities. Some of those responsibilities are the same for all Jesus-followers. It starts with receiving His grace through repentance and trust, not as a result of anything we ourselves have done, or could do. Then, we are to keep on learning more of what he has said through the Bible, and learn to obey him. We are supposed to have close fellowship with other believers, and live out our faith in the context of Christian community and service.  We are also supposed to share God’s truth and His love with those that God has put into our lives. All of these are things that should become lifetime practices for everyone who calls themselves Christians. That’s how you prepare for the end of the world.

It might be easy to get caught up into thinking, “But should I take this job, or that one? Should I go on the mission field, or serve by staying here, and supporting missionaries through prayer and giving? Should I go to college? If so, which one?” Sometimes, those specific questions can be unnecessarily distracting. I think if we focus on what I just said: Trust, Obedience, Learning, Christian community and Christian service; all the other things will fall into place. I think that is the point Jesus is making. Don’t get distracted. Keep to the main things, remain faithful.

What if we do all these things, and yet we die before Jesus returns? Practically speaking, for us, the day of our death is essentially the same as the day of Jesus’ returning. I don’t mean Jesus won’t come back one day, and bring about the end of the world as we know it. I just mean that my own death brings about basically the same result, for me, as the day of His return. For my lifetime, and at that moment (either my death, or his return) have I been faithfully going about his business? That’s the question for all of us. That’s how we determine if we are ready for the end of the world.