Matthew 16:1-4, The Demand for a Sign

 ¹ The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.

 ² He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ ³ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.^{[a] 4} A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.

Like Matthew 12:40? Not exactly…

In that passage we are told the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to Jesus, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”  Of course, the Lord’s response was a touch abrasive, and abrupt, so…in this incident they softened the demand into a question…and upped the ante. They came to Jesus and “tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven”.

Different sinister demand...same unsightly motivation.

And…the same answer…

If the resurrection is not enough…we should find another mystery to occupy our time.

I’ve thought, for years, about buying a motorcycle but have never bought one because my wife is fearful of them. I still want one…and Mali knows I do.

I continue pondering. I waver between “Mali, I think I’m gonna buy a Harley” and “Mali, how would you feel if I bought a Harley?”

You think Mali will be either confused or coaxed by a simple rephrasing of the same thing? Or that her fears will evaporate?

Me either…

Jesus has given us enough…and will not be duped into giving us more. Not because he doesn’t want to, but because it wouldn’t do any good.

If we cannot be convinced by his story we are just inconvincible. At some point we have to be honest and ask ourselves “is it simply because I don’t WANT to be convinced?”  If that’s the case…and it is (since Jesus said “seek me and I will be found”), there really isn’t anything more Jesus can do to help.

I just had another thought: “Mali, I think I’m old (mature) enough so I won’t hurt myself on a motorcycle…what do you think?”  Yup…that just might work!

You know, it’s in our nature. But…if we’re spending energy trying to get Jesus to show us “just one more thing”, I suggest we invest that energy in our faith. I think we’ll like the results.

Live boldly out there today…   

Matthew 15:29-39, Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

 ²⁹ Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. ³⁰ Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. ³¹ The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

 ³² Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”

 ³³ His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”

   ³⁴ “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.

   “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”

 ³⁵ He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. ³⁶ Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. ³⁷ They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ³⁸ The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. ³⁹ After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.

Don’t even ask the question…”is this event a mistaken reiteration of the feeding of the five thousand?”  Better minds have asked the question and they miss the point.

Do we really think if Jesus is falsely credited with feeding 4,000 more people we will all be convinced he the Son of God? Do we actually believe Matthew…or some unknown later author…could have made such an editorial mistake and not noticed?

Trust me…the event happened…with a different lesson in mind.

In Matthew 14, we’re told “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick”. In this passage we are told “Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”

The former is a spiritual compassion. The latter is a physical compassion.

The fact that Jesus cares for both may seem self-evident based on all the accounts of physical healing. However, virtually all those accounts have some spiritual dimension attached to them…as though the physical healing is significant only as a symbol of some spiritual meaning.

In this case Jesus had compassion simply because they were hungry.

I’m comforted that none of my needs (physical or spiritual) escape either Jesus’ notice…or his compassion. It’s a source of encouragement to me every time I face a challenge I cannot meet.

Live boldly out there today…

Matthew 15:21-28, The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

 ²¹ Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²² A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

 ²³ Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

 ²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

 ²⁵ The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

 ²⁶ He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

 ²⁷ “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

 ²⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

Jesus said “It is not right”.

The woman said “Yes it is, Lord!!”

Argue with Jesus? We do it all the time…with results far inferior to what the Canaanite woman experienced.  And, this isn’t the only time in scripture that somebody pestered Jesus until they got what they wanted.

I wonder about this. I suppose if Jesus had any limitation it would be his requirement to adhere to the truth. Then again, Jesus “IS” the truth, so it’s hardly a limitation. Jesus can change his mind and both positions would be true. Wrap your head around that.

I’m not, however, certain that Jesus did change his mind in this incident…

So, how do we account for this exchange…and the results? It isn’t that Jesus was wrong and the woman convinced him otherwise. Yet, after she confronted him, Jesus relented and gave her what she asked for.

What did Jesus mean when he said “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel”? And how is it that he helped the Canaanite woman anyway? I think only theologians get hung up on this statement by Jesus. It’s not the point of the incident.

I’m inclined to think the whole incident is not about “right or wrong”, but about the tenacity of faith. After all, Jesus did not say “you make a great argument”. He said “Woman, you have great faith”!  

You see, faith…unbridled…is both uncontrollable and incontrovertible. When we assert our position as a matter of faith we cannot be dissuaded simply because somebody disagrees. Faith demands we adhere to our conviction in spite of uncertainty. It’s just as true that genuine faith cannot be refuted simply by a counter thesis.

Our problem is that we want to control our faith…like we try to control everything else in our lives. We don’t want it to “get out of control” to the degree it might embarrass us. We want our lives neatly in order.

And…bridled faith is easily dissuaded. At the first sign of controversy we shed our faith and resort to argument. We trust our intellect (in a pinch) more than we trust our convictions. Of course, this is why we never win an argument with Jesus.

The woman wasn’t arguing with Jesus. Her faith responded in spite of herself. In this respect, faith tends to be spontaneous. It bursts forth from our spirit. This is why she got her way. Jesus could have said anything and her response would not have been different.

If we have to formulate a response we are probably arguing. Jesus will likely never be convinced by our arguments. He will always be convinced by our faith.

Live boldly out there today…

Matthew 15:1-20, That Which Defiles

 ¹ Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ² “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

 ³ Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’^{[b] 5} But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ ⁶ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

 ⁸ “‘These people honor me with their lips,
   but their hearts are far from me.
⁹ They worship me in vain;
   their teachings are merely human rules.”

 ¹⁰ Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹ What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

 ¹² Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

 ¹³ He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

 ¹⁵ Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”

   ¹⁶ “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. ¹⁷ “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? ¹⁸ But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. ²⁰ These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

I wish the Pharisees had never asked the question…

But the hypocrites did, and here it is.

I, for one, am personally concerned with Christ’s answer. For nearly 60 years I’ve tried to control what comes out of my mouth…with less than sterling success.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. My problem is…what comes out (according to Jesus) is a perfect indicator of what’s inside. So…before I ever get a chance to speak it…I think it. My heart and mind are reservoirs for what comes out of the mouth. The mouth can’t speak it until the heart and mind conceive it.

Oops!

Reba McEntire wrote the words…

The heart won't lie
You can live your alibi
Who can see you're lost inside a foolish disguise
The heart won't lie

When we catch our minds thinking it…when we catch our hearts feeling it…it’s not a lie. We are often able to prevent our mouths from speaking it, but we know the truth.

And so does God…

Maybe we should spend less time fabricating our foolish disguises and ask the Holy Spirit to clean up the reservoir inside. Lord knows we can’t do it on our own! When that happens the outside will take care of itself.

If we’re offended…we should probably go back and reread verse 12.

Live boldly out there today…

Matthew 14:22-35 Jesus Walks on the Water

 ²² Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴ and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

 ²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

 ²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

 ²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

   ²⁹ “Come,” he said.

   Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

 ³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

 ³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

 ³⁴ When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. ³⁵ And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him ³⁶ and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

Listen to Peter…“tell me to come to you on the water.”

Why not wait a couple of more minutes and Jesus would have been in the boat? We’ll never know why…but Peter clearly thought Jesus was preferable to the boat. I can’t read his mind but…the boat was being buffeted and it was deep water. Maybe Peter thought it was safer next to Jesus.

Go figure…

He wasn’t as impetuous as we sometimes think. If he was, he would have jumped out of the boat without permission. Well, maybe on dry land I could see it, but the water was deep!

He didn’t leave the boat until Jesus said “come”.

So…he walked on the water until he realized what he was doing. Then, he faltered and needed Jesus to rescue him. Which, of course, Jesus did.

And Jesus asked…“You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

I, for one, am not going to criticize Peter. I’ll leave that up to Jesus. I doubt I would have ever left the boat.

Generally, we hesitate to cozy up to Jesus because of the uncertainty. No the uncertainty of our current situation, but of what a cozy relationship with Jesus might demand so…we keep our distance. Might I suggest that’s easy when we’re safe on dry land? But…what about when we’re in deep water?

Look around you. What’s the situation? How deep is the water? Now look in the distance. Is that Jesus coming? I can’t say the distance between us and Jesus is safe and smooth. I can say if Jesus says “come”, there’s no better place to be.

And…He always says “come”.

Live boldly out there today…

Matthew 14:13-21 Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

 ¹³ When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

 ¹⁵ As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

 ¹⁶ Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

 ¹⁷ “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

   ¹⁸ “Bring them here to me,” he said. ¹⁹ And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ²⁰ They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ²¹ The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

5,000 men and their families…the average family in those days was 6 people

30,000 people, and Jesus fed them.

5 loaves and 2 fish…with food left over.

Ever wonder why there was food left over? Surely it wasn’t a mistake…Jesus doesn’t make those.

I wonder…did Jesus want us to know that he will never run out of resources when it comes to satisfying our needs?

Not just enough…more than enough. Every time.

There are countless ways to “pay it forward”.

Live boldly out there today…

Matthew 14:1-12, John the Baptist Beheaded

 ¹ At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, ² and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

 ³ Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, ⁴ for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.

 ⁶ On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much ⁷ that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” ⁹ The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted ¹⁰ and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹ His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. ¹² John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

Herod didn’t know Jesus…

This is a reality show waiting for broadcast on FOX…

·         Herod is sleeping with his brother’s wife, Herodias

·         Herodias is angry at John’s judgment of their relationship and wants John dead

·         Herodias’ daughter dances so well at the king’s banquet that he offers her anything she wants

·         Herodias convinces her daughter to ask for John’s Head

·         John’s severed head is delivered to the girl at the party.

It just proves…you can take the family out of the trailer park, but…

Don’t you wonder at Herod’s choice in women…? Don’t you wonder what the daughter was thinking? She can ask for anything she wants and gets talked into choosing a severed head? (Too much Black Sabbath?) And, really? Bring a severed head to a party? It just seems to me that would kill the festive atmosphere.

But bad behavior has its consequences. Just like an Edgar Allen Poe story, Herod couldn’t get John off his mind. The whole episode was haunting him. So much that, when he heard about Jesus, he assumed Jesus must have been the resurrected John the Baptist…coming back to get him. If he thought John was haunting him… my, wasn’t he in for a surprise?

But…this is about what we get from people who don’t know Jesus. Perhaps a bit more sophisticated, more subtle…but just as barbaric and superstitious. And don’t try to tell me you were never that bad. It’s just a question of circumstance and opportunity. I am so grateful for the gift of faith. I am no longer who I was.

I hope my gratitude shows…

Live boldly out there today…