Matthew 5: A mountain of sermons

Here's the link to Matthew 5.

It's right about now that I'm starting to think that I bit off more than I can chew by trying to read my way chapter by chapter through the NT! I'm not even 5 chapters in, and I have already reached a point in Matthew 5 where I could write literally 77 blog posts about one chapter. I think I have heard a whole mountain of sermons just on Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount." It's a rich, dense text, and contains some of the most important things Jesus ever said, including the beatitudes, his fulfillment of the law, and his take on the 10 commandments.

So, the best way that I can think to address Matthew 5 without getting stuck in Matthew 5 forever is to just bullet-list the things I found most important/intriguing. I can come back to this post and maybe elaborate when I've gotten more than 5 days into my goal to read the entire New Testament. So, here goes:

• The Beatitudes: How blessed are we? In the beatitudes, Jesus outlines all the different types of people who are considered blessed in the eyes of God. He names the poor in spirit, the meek, the moral, the sensitive, the persecuted, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the merciful. It's interesting that Jesus finds these characteristics to be more important than powerful, strong, righteous, outspoken, important. 
• Can these more humble characteristics be used to describe me? I pray that I may embody these "down-to-earth" characteristics so that they may bring me closer to God and separate me from the world. What a beautiful paradox.
• Salt and Light: I think Jesus highlights the beautiful balance between staying strong in faith while remaining humble. He just got finished saying that the meek, merciful, persecuted, peacemakers will inherit the kingdom (all very humbling, lowly imagery), and then compares them to being the "salt of the earth," the light of a city on a hill, or a light placed on a stand rather than a basket (all very strong, empowering images). 
• I pray that I find that balance between being humble, lowly, meek, and faithful while being unwavering, unhidden, unashamed.
• Jesus didn't abolish the law, he fulfilled it. This is concept is so important for our culture. I see so many non-believers using the old testament law to highlight inconsistencies in our faith (e.g., "Why do you eat shrimp and pork, which the Bible forbids more times than it forbids homosexuality?"). Matthew 5 shows that Jesus fulfilled the old law. That doesn't mean that it's irrelevant, because it shows us how imperfect we are--no one but Jesus can follow all the rules all the time. But, Jesus fulfilled all the commandments in the law and still died a sinner's death. And when he died, he said, "It is finished," and he was referring to the fulfillment of the law. God now has no wrath for us who cannot follow it. But, out of our love for him and our response to Jesus' sacrifice, we continue to use the law to understand the heart of God in contrast to our sinful hearts.
• All of the 10 commandments are actually more strict that we ever expected! Jesus says that murder is not only killing another person, but also wishing for someone's failure or calling someone stupid comes from the same heart-issue as murder. The same goes for adultery. This is yet another way that Jesus is highlighting how the law is meant to show us our sin, rather than as a means to win God's love. 
• I pray that I reflect on God's law and his commandments to understand more about my sinful heart and more about God's perfection. I pray that they will lead me to his plan for my life and that I will try to take them to heart, not to win his affection or do the "Christian" thing, but because following them is an appropriate reaction to his love for me.
• Love your enemies and walk humbly. Jesus says that if we are slapped on the cheek, we must turn the other cheek, or if someone forces us to go one mile, we should go with them two miles. In that way, we are loving our enemies and those who persecute us. We are doing the exact opposite of what our culture tells us to do, and we are doing the exact opposite of what the enemy probably would expect us to do. People pay attention to that which is unexpected.
• Jesus commands us to be "perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect," and God is perfect because he loves everyone, even those who hate him. It's no feat to love only those who love you or greet only those who greet you. But if you love those who hate you and greet those who shut you out, that is something special and godly.
• I pray that I may exhibit patience, humility, and a desire to be tender with everyone in my life, no matter how they treat me or how much they are bugging me!

Matthew 4, part 2: Do I immediately follow?

Here's the link to the chapter again.

The second part of Matthew characterizes Jesus and his first moments as a public minister.

We first see that Jesus leaves Nazareth when he hears that John has been arrested. John sure means a lot to Jesus! In a surprising event, John to baptized Jesus--the God of the universe--which caused the Holy Spirit to come down an anoint Jesus and bring about his public ministry. Then, when John is arrested, Jesus basically goes out and picks up where John left off.

• Thinking/praying point: Jesus found a spiritual mentor, a spiritual father, a peer in John. Am I seeking a similar relationship? I pray that God would bring someone into my life to pour into me and lead me spiritually to act on God's role in my life more tangibly. I feel that I have been aching for that kind of relationship for as long as I can remember, so I hope that I'm receptive to it and make time for it when God finally presents it to me.

Another important thing to consider in the first part of Matthew 4 (when Satan tempts Jesus) is that Jesus was tempted in the desert, he was beckoned to fall from God, he was promised the world if he abandoned eternity--all BEFORE he began publicly spreading the "good news." I think this is a lesson that, often, the rotten things that can happen in our lives ultimately make our stories and our passion for God greater. The "good news" we can share is even better if it was preceded by bad news.

• Thinking/praying point: Can I use the bad things that may have happened to me to make my testimony stronger? How can the temptations that I have resisted, and even the temptations that I have failed to resist (my sins), make God's power and strength and love more perfect?

The rest of Matthew 4 outlines Jesus' first disciples and his first sermons where he healed the sick and gleaned great crowds from lands that had previously been "in darkness." It's so funny to me that, when Jesus approached Simon, Peter, James, and John, the Bible says that they, "Immediately left and followed him." I'm trying to picture myself at work, doing my speech therapist thing, and someone coming up and saying, "Hey, come with me to spread the word." I would probably be like, "Um...come back and talk to me when I've clocked out." Perhaps that land was so much in darkness that Jesus' light was extremely easy to discern, but I think we live in pretty "dark" times, and I'm still not sure that my response to Jesus is that immediate.

• Thinking/praying point: I pray that my response to the gospel is immediate and strong, no matter what I am doing or who I am talking to. I pray that I don't compartmentalize my life into work, relationships, prayer, etc to the point where my spiritual life doesn't influence the my physical life. God's love and Jesus' story is an anywhere, anytime, drop-everything kind of thing!

Matthew 4, part 1: What is your "bread?"

Here's the link to Matthew 4.

The initial part of this chapter is one that really speaks to me, and I think it should speak to all Christians regarding temptations that we face. And the encouraging thing is that it doesn't leave us hanging--it tells us how to escape those temptations and stay on the path on which God has placed us.

The story describes that, after Jesus was baptized by John, he went out into the wilderness and fasted for a long, long time...to the point that he was famished. And, as he always does, the "tempter" came to offer Jesus what he wanted most--to take the easy way out and to test God's faithfulness. Hint: If you have to test God's faithfulness, it is your own faith that is seriously lacking. This is a perfect example of the spiritual warfare that Satan is making ever-present in our lives. He doesn't necessarily come into full view and drag us to mountain tops to say, "Do this, and follow me," but he does tempt us with things that, when considering our eternal God, Satan is saying, "Do this, and forget about Him."

I easily compare my struggle with weight loss/dieting to this text. It's funny that Jesus also happens to be tempted initially with food, because food is pretty much my biggest temptation! And his response is just what I need to hear: "Man cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."

• Thinking/praying point: The things that I am most tempted by are the things that are most likely to become the "bread" of my life. Is it money, junk food, a relationship, my job, my house, Netflix that sustains me? If these things are the "bread," then I am spiritually famished, and I can very easily be tempted to stray away from God's desires and from glorifying him. Instead, I need to be intentional about God's word and remembering his love and mercy so that story is my "bread." 

Matthew 3: The Ultimate Baptism

Here's the link to Matthew 3.

This is an interesting chapter that I have actually never really given much thought to. I seem to always have accepted that there was a "John the Baptist" and that he baptized Jesus. But when I read this just now, it really sunk in. First of all, John the Baptist is a very eccentric man, to put it nicely. He wears garments made of camel hair, he eats locusts and honey, he lives in the wilderness. He is basically the epitome of a dirty hippie, and he has given his life to bringing people to God. And John gets it. He tells people that they cannot rest easy in knowing they are sons of Abraham; they can't just think that their bloodline or their profession alone is enough to make a "straight path" for God. No, their lives must bear fruit. John says that the "ax is at the root of the trees," ready to chop down the plants in the vineyard that do not serve the purpose for which they were created. He's not necessarily condemning people, but he does want to shake their security to the point where they look at themselves and say, "Have I spent my life preparing a way for the Lord?"

• Thinking/praying point: Do I hang my hat on a false security? Do I say, "I got saved when I was a teenager, so I'm set for life," "I go to church, so it's all good," or "I pray before my meals, so God's got my back." We can say things like this until we are blue in the face, but the truth is that our lives must be a response to our love for God and God's love for us. Does my life bear fruit? I pray that I be transformed every day and arise every morning with a new desire to be fruitful for God's kingdom.

Also, the whole event described in the second part of this chapter is just a little strange when you acknowledge that Jesus is God. I was initially like, "Hold the phone...Why did Jesus, the God of the Universe, get baptized by a camel-hair-wearing, locust-eating hippie?!" Well, Jesus got baptized NOT to become righteous in the eyes of God...because he already is completely righteous. But he was baptized as a symbol of his human submission to God. He did it to fulfill righteousness. After being baptized, the Holy Spirit anointed him, and thus began Jesus' public ministry. In the end, baptism doesn't do anything, but it is an important symbol of a change in our lives brought about by becoming renewed by God.

• Thinking/praying point: In being baptized, did I truly submit to God in that moment? Did that moment represent that my life is on fire for God? 

It's incredible that Jesus didn't consider it "below" him to allow John the Baptist to be the harbinger of the Holy Spirit "descending like a dove." Even John was like, "Ummm, shouldn't YOU be baptizing ME?" But Jesus knew better.

• Thinking/praying point: I pray that I will allow people into my life that I wouldn't normally. I hope I won't judge people too harshly, because God can be using them in my life for something amazing. I pray for humility and wisdom.

Matthew 2: Herod and the new King

Here's the link to Matthew 2.

It feels funny to read the Christmas story when it's not Christmas time, but by doing so, I feel like I pay attention more to the other circumstances of the story rather than the birth of Jesus alone. For example, Matthew 2 focuses a lot on Herod's indirect role in Jesus' life. It says that when Herod heard that "the king of the Jews" had been born in Bethlehem, he was "frightened." He subversively asked the wise men, who were already seeking the child, to report back to him where the child was so that he could also "pay homage." But we see what his real intentions were when he killed all Bethlehem's children under the age of two when the wise men did not return. Herod was so threatened by the news of this new "king." Upon thinking that he may lose the love of his people, that he may lose power, or that he may lose his kingdom, Herod displayed entitlement, fear, untruthfulness, rage, mercilessness, according to the story.

I think that non-believers often react the way Herod did when they are presented with the gospel. Non-believers (and even believers who have not been transformed by the gospel) experience spine-tingling dread when they are presented with news of the "King." And that is because they are broken, fallen people, and they have spent a lifetime building their own kingdoms through self-love rather than loving their Father.  Jesus is a threat because he demands people to love God's kingdom alone...to be set apart from the world. When people hear about Jesus, his call on their lives makes them feel a great loss, rather than a great gain. They are afraid to lose their kingdoms, the things they have filled their lives with to make others admire them, their power. When people feel threatened, they may be enraged, they may lash out with harsh words or go on a crusade against all who follow this "King." I'm specifically thinking of comments that you can read on the internet posted to religious videos, pictures, stories, etc. Some of those comments are plain hurtful, they are bigoted, they are filled with emotions that can be rooted to fear, rage, pain.

• Thinking/praying point: We need to be in constant prayer for non-believers as they hear the gospel, or for current believers when they think they are "Christian" but have not yet relinquished the reins to God. We need to pray that God open their hearts to the news of this "king" and that their reactions may be ones of open-mindedness, humility, love, and tolerance rather than those of rage, fear, and denial. In the same ways, I pray that Christians remain empathetic and wise to the various circumstances that non-believers may have encountered to make them feel that way about Christianity or religion in general.

Matthew 1: Another lineage list?!

Here's the link to Matthew 1.

Matthew 1 outlines Jesus' lineage beginning at Abraham. The Bible (especially the OT) has lots of lists of who-begat-who and who's-your-daddy, which I personally find very difficult to read. In fact, any time I have attempted to read the Bible cover-to-cover, I always seem to lose the wind in my sails around the time that these lists begin. I can't tell you how disappointed I was when I decided to be intentional about reading the NT, and the first words I'm reading are, "the son of X, the son of X, the father or X."

But I need to at least try to find meaning and substance in ALL of these words. So, I did my research.

There is actually a lot to learn from these tedious lineage lists! According to the study Bible I use, Jesus' lineage is unusual because it includes 4 women. Lineage lists usually include men as a way to honor the person in question by ascribing their ancestry to heroes or legendary characters in history. So it's interesting that Jesus' lineage not only includes 4 women (as women were considered to be "lower" than men), but also that the 4 women in question had...you could say...eyebrow-raising backgrounds.

Three of the women were Gentiles, and three of them came from questionable sexual histories. Tamar was a prostitute with her father-in-law, Rahab was a prostitute also, Ruth was a "sexually aggressive widow," and Bathsheba was an adulteress. All of these women eventually became acknowledged and admired for their faith. Most people came to accept that they were part of God's plan, even though they they were non-Jews and very visible sinners.

• Thinking/Praying point: How is God using me--a sinner--for his plan? Does my faith and love for my Father supersede my sinfulness in a way that an outsider might notice?

It's no coincidence that Matthew then launches into the story of Jesus' conception. By including these women in Jesus' lineage, Matthew may be trying to illustrate how Mary's unusual pregnancy was also part of God's plan. People reading Matthew's writing struggled (and people today still struggle) with the "immaculate conception" idea. Not only is the virgin birth simply supernatural and a little preposterous, but so is this idea that God would become man...that the baby born would be "God with us." Imagine the faith, boldness, and strength it would have taken Mary and especially Joseph to follow-through with God's plan. Make no mistake, it is the most precious, perfect, loving, merciful, life-giving plan the world has ever known!

• Thinking/Praying point: Am I being open to God's plan for my life, no matter how crazy it seems? Am I praying that he bring me to situations where his will can be done, and praying for boldness and strength that I will hear him calling and react appropriately?