Tag: gospel of matthew

Matthew 12:46-50

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
            There are several metaphors and images provided in Scripture that communicate a close connected relationship between God and his people.  Shepherd and sheep; head and body; cornerstone and building; and, in the Gospel lesson for today Jesus uses the opportunity of his mother and siblings showing up to say that everyone who does God’s will is his mother, brothers and sisters.
             This is not a deprecation of Jesus’ own family.  Rather, this is an amazing statement of a new order being established – a covenant not based on being a certain kind of person.  The religious elite, the wealthy, the ones having always had clean living do not have the corner on being God’s special people.  Any and all persons can come into a close familiar relation with God.  So, we see folks like prostitutes, lepers, the blind, tax collectors, and anyone on the margins of typical mainstream society becoming the center of a new Jesus movement.  One comes to God simply by doing his will – which means for Jesus that people acknowledge that he is the way, the truth, and the life.  In other words, belief in Jesus constitutes the true work of entering God’s forever family.
             You or I need not attempt to clean up our act in order to come to God.  Instead, we must come humbly to Jesus acknowledging our great need and receive grace – the mercy of entering into close relation with God in Christ.  Just as we did not choose our earthly family of origin, so we do not and cannot move in and out of God’s family as if it were based on our choice.  God makes outsiders insiders and vice versa.  It is all about God and his wonderful grace to people through Jesus.  This is truly good news!
             O God, thank you for your amazing grace to me in Christ!  I praise you for adopting me into your family and making me a part of your church.  I pray that this wonder will stick with me as I take advantage of all the family privileges and responsibilities I possess through Jesus.  Amen.

Matthew 12:43-45

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year A1 Comment
            Nature abhors a vacuum.  A plot of soil that is tilled will be overtaken with weeds if nothing is planted and nurtured in the turned-over soil.  The pecking order of a brood of chickens cannot handle the death of the top hen without filling the position almost immediately.  And, in the spiritual realm, the exorcising of a demon will not simply leave a person empty of evil – his life will be filled with something in its place.
             The Gospel story that Jesus told about the man who is rid of an unclean spirit is a powerful and simple narrative on the necessity of true repentance.  It is not enough to be rid of something bad and destructive; the evil must be replaced with something good and useful.  That is, genuine repentance is both a turning away from ungodliness and an embrace of righteousness.
             For example, the Apostle Paul exhorted the Ephesian believers to not only stop stealing, but also get a job and start sharing with others.  They were not only to stop lying and using their tongues for gossip and slander, but they were to start using their words to speak truth that builds up others.  The spiritual principle is the same as the principle from nature:  a vacuum will always be filled.  The man who did not fill his life with God ended up having a problem with evil seven times greater than when he started.
             Whether dealing with addiction, bad habits, or any kind of evil influence we must have a two-pronged approach to its eradication.  We expel the evil by replacing it with godliness.  The man struggling with pornography or adultery must not only stop the behavior, but take up and champion women’s issues.  The woman who gives herself to others to be used and abused must not only get away from the problem, but take on her true identity in Christ as a precious child of God.  These are not meant to be simplistic answers to complex situations; they are meant to illustrate why so many people do not experience freedom and continue to have greater enslavement.  Freedom can only be realized through replacing old practices with new disciplines that directly attack the old.
             O God, I no longer want to live with saying I’m sorry and going right back to the old pig slop of sin.  I cannot change on my own.  I need Jesus to both take away the sin and give me a new life of living for him.  Help me to make choices that put to death the old way of life, and the courage to live into my forgiveness from you.  Amen.

Matthew 23:13-28

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
            Jesus is described in the Gospel of Matthew as gentle and meek.  He is compassionate and gracious, always revealing the true nature and character of God.  That, however, does not mean Jesus never said hard things to people.  In this Gospel lesson for today, Jesus took it to the scribes and Pharisees with a list of woes, or pronouncements of judgment.
 
            The point with Jesus is that the scribes and Pharisees were people who should have known better than to be only concerned with an outward religion and form of righteousness.  Nearly all scribes (people who carefully and tediously copied the Scriptures) were Pharisees (a Jewish sect that was concerned with knowing the Scriptures and carefully obeying them).  The problem was that these people knew every jot and tittle of the Old Testament, but they did not know the true heart of its message.
 
            It is vitally important to cultivate a rich inner life of spirituality.  The Bible is not just a book of information and stories and facts to cerebrally know; we must allow its contents and message to seep deep into our souls so that we have an emotionally and spiritually healthy Christianity.  God seeks to transform us from the inside-out.  If we only seek to know the Bible in order to make a show to others, then we fall under the same condemnation as the scribes and Pharisees. 
 
            A good spiritual practice to allow the Bible’s message to root itself in us is to keep a journal.  Journaling is a healthy and secret way of connecting with God through Holy Scripture.  When we take the time to carefully read a passage of the Bible, allow the Spirit to speak to us through it, and listen to what God would have us do because of it then the act of writing it all down helps to press grace and truth firmly in our souls.  In fact, a primary purpose of this daily blog is to assist you in that process of reflecting on Scripture each day.
            O God, help me to grow spiritually from the inside-out.  Develop within me purity of heart and righteousness of character so that genuine acts of mercy may spring from me.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.