Matthew 9 - Matthew

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

This pericope is terrific. Matthew would have been, in all probability, not, ‘flavour of the month’ with his fellow Jew. Tax collectors where often seen as traitors because of their relationship with Rome and their liaison with the brute force of Roman Soldiers. They were also allowed to keep that which they over-charged citizens; therefore the incentive to cheat for financial gain was huge. Taking this into consideration, it’s fantastic to understand that Jesus walks up to Matthew and says, ‘follow me’.

You have to love how Jesus builds his team. I was reading a commentary that states there is archaeological evidence that fish taken from the Sea of Galilee would have incurred a tax. I’m sure this made for some interesting introductions between Matthew, Peter, James and John.

So we see Jesus call Matthew to be one of his 12, his next step was to get as many of Matthews friends and workmates together and get some dinner. Jesus wasn’t content with making a difference in one person’s life; he wanted to share the kingdom with as many as he could. This is a great lesson in how we seek to build the kingdom for God, being content shouldn’t be in our vocabulary.

Thinking

Seeking understanding to find the knowledge of God. Proverbs 2:3-5 reads “indeed if you call out for insight, and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”

I started reading Think by John Piper, the foreword by Mark Noll concludes that “The point of Christian learning is to understand God’s two books – Scripture and the World- and, with that understanding, to glorify God.”

I pray that I can continue to read my bible, but read it with more enthusiasm, so that I can come to a greater understanding of how God, with his divine nature wants me to interact with those around me, rather than how I want to interact with my infinitely less significant human reasoning.

Too Much

I had put off buying Sufjan’s latest release ‘the age of adz’. I’m not entirely sure why. I had heard rumours that he had gone all electro-punk and I wouldn’t particularly like it. I haven’t spent a lot of time listening to the album in detail, in-fact I have only really paid attention to the first 3 songs off the album. I have been a busy boy and it has also had to contend with new releases from Elbow and Noah and the Whale this week.

Too much is the second track from the album, it starts off with what sounds like someone using a straw to blow bubbles in a glass of coke mixed with an all out blitz on the lost city of Atlantis 2000 leagues under the sea. Then it changes too something a little more beautiful before going all out weird and if not wonderful, definitely something that intrigues you enough that you want to go back for more.

The words really got me thinking.
The chorus sings “There's too much riding on that, there's too much, too much, too much love.”
I don’t think Sufjan was directly talking about ‘character’ but in light of my recent musings that’s
 what I instantly fused the lyrics with. Character and the example that should be exploding from
a life washed with grace. We have a lot riding on this example, not too much, but it is too much
to take lightly and mess up. 

Jesus said in Matthew 5 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

There is too much riding on this, this ‘too much love’......I pray that God will build my character in a way that helps me serve this culture that surrounds me according to his will, showing his grace and love every which way that I can.

Courage

Courage: the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc.

The word courage has been on my mind all week. What exactly is it? Do I possess courage? Where does it come from? Dictionary.com breaks it down as the quality of mind or spirit that would enable me to face difficulty etc. But what does quality of mind or spirit break down to? Does that have something to do with my character? If it does then to answer my questions I have to take a step back further or farther (depending on how you use the Queen’s) and ask how my Character is and has been shaped.

I’d like to think that when I consider my character I can understand the factors that have helped form it, but also understand how it might be growing and hopefully maturing just now. That is to say that our character is never ‘formed’ but is always ‘forming’. This is encouraging, primarily because it means no matter how grubby we may or may not be, we have the hope that we can become something extraordinary.

Culture in the words of Bruno Mars tells her that there is not a thing that he would change because she is amazing just the way she is! I would argue that for Bruno he might very well be convinced of that, but (and i dont want to be labelled as the destroyer of romanticism here) I would say we can always change positively and become even better than we are. I don’t think we can do it by ourselves though, well we maybe can, but the gains or yield won’t be anywhere near as good as they will be if we involve the Holy Spirit.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 3 that God ‘is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us’, that work is through His Spirit and it can be constant and progressive. What is important for us to grasp is that his power will progresses in parallel with our character only if we allow it to do so. Indeed it has the capabilities of doing immeasurably more.

I would like my courage to be based on the immeasurable power of God rather than any power of my own. Therefore I will be enabled to face anything that is put before me. I pray that God will work within me to nurture and mature my courage and character how he wants not how I think is best.

Ephesians 3

Matthew 9 - Forgiveness then healing

¹ Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. ² Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

³ At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”

⁴ Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? ⁵ Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ⁶ But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” ⁷ Then the man got up and went home. ⁸ When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.

There is always work to do in your own back yard! Sometimes we forget about the importance of ministry in our immediate vicinity. Jesus had been asked or pleaded with to leave the region of the Gadarenes, so he took the boat home. As soon as he arrived he was met with a group of men carrying a paralysed man. It’s interesting that:

• Jesus forgives the man’s sin first
• Heals his sickness second

Jesus asks the question, 'which is easier to say?’ – 'Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? Human reasoning might encourage us to think long and hard about this question and query the answer with which we conclude. Jesus divine reasoning seems to be clear. It begs the question whether anything is more important than living to pursue holiness and righteousness with the promise of eternal life through Christ. What is the true definition of compassion?

We also have to remember that the man ends up walking home. This teaches me that things of importance also have to be prioritised.

I pray that God will allow me the discernment to understand what the important things are as I engage and interact with both Him and the culture that surrounds me.