As we come to the Christmas season, reading about these last days of Jesus puts a different light on the passage.
At the beginning of the chapter, we see Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey as the king he was prophesied to be. This lines up with what was expected from his birth! And yet, as we continue to read though the last parable in the chapter, we see that rejection starting to come.
In the parable of the tenants, we see a landowner who planted a vineyard, took care to put in safety precautions, then rented it out when he moved. He sends his servants back first to collect the harvest.
The result? One is beaten, another killed, and a third stoned. He sends more servants, and they continue to treat them in the same way.
Finally, the landowner decides to sends his son, certain that he will be respected. Instead, the tenants kill the son in an effort to steal his inheritance.
Jesus explains that those who behave in this way – those that reject God’s servants, and ultimately his son – will have the kingdom taken away from them and given to someone else who will produce fruit.
Those who are reading these devotions are probably Christians. But do we have times in our lives where we reject God’s son all the same? Probably not an outright rejection or denial, but we might push him to the side of our lives or we might not be willing to speak of the gospel in front of others which is another way of denying him.
As we get closer to Christmas, let’s remember the amazing miracle of Jesus’ birth through the ultimate proof that he was the Messiah by his resurrection and focus on sharing the good news rather than denying his name.
~Stephanie Fletcher
A short bio about me: I live in Minnesota with my husband and our two kids – 5 & almost 3. We may be a little crazy, but a couple of years ago, we bought a home with my parents – it is like two regular sized homes stacked on top of each other, and we all live there together. For a short while, my sister, her husband, and their baby lived there too. We live there with our dog, Indiana (a compromise from Han Solo or Ford based on my liking of Harrison Ford), and a pet fish – Mickey Rainbow Mermaid Fish (name courtesy of my daughter as technically, it’s her pet).
Reflection Questions
What can you learn from Jesus in how he handled popularity? And, from how he handled rejection?
How have your actions or words (or lack thereof) been a denial of Jesus Christ?
Who is the greatest? The GOAT (is that still a thing)? This is what the disciples come to Jesus asking at the beginning of Matthew 18.
Jesus doesn’t answer them directly, per usual. Their question isn’t even worth answering. It doesn’t matter who is the greatest. That comes with the wrong focus. Instead Jesus tells them:
3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Your position is not important. Rather, not viewing yourself as the greatest will put yourself in a better, more humble position.
There are several parables in this chapter, and I think you could probably tie them all to humility in some way, but I want to look at the last section. It starts with:
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[g]
That is going to require humility. When someone sins against us, we probably feel we are in the right to be angry or to hold a grudge. After all, they sinned against me. But Jesus’ instructions don’t allow for this kind of pride. Instead, we are to go on forgiving our fellow Christians time and time again, swallowing our pride, pushing it aside, for the sake of forgiveness.
We might think this is unfair, but through the parable Jesus tells of the unmerciful servant, we can see that God forgives us so much! For us to accept God’s forgiveness for our own sins, but to hold another’s sins against them is prideful. It is saying that you deserve forgiveness more than them, or that your sins weren’t as great.
Instead, Jesus wants us to humble ourselves, to admit that we are just as low, or even lower, than others and offer the grace to others that we have been given.
Humility is a topic that has come up often in my discussions and readings the last few months. It is hard – it is against our human nature. But I really believe it is one of the most important things for us to focus on. And likely, it isn’t a one-time thing. We need to constantly be reminded and refocus on humility to make sure that pridefulness doesn’t seep into our lives, because pride does come naturally. But humility is key. It is key to forgiveness, to serving others, to spreading the gospel. Your message will be better received if it comes from a place of humility rather than pride.
~Stephanie Fletcher
Reflection Questions
What does pride look like? What does humility look like? Why do you think Jesus teaches humility? Which type of person do you prefer to be around?
When and how does pridefulness seep into your life? What has helped you remember and practice humility?
Jesus is on a bit of a tirade at the start of this chapter. He has got to be pretty sick of the Pharisees! But when he quotes from Isaiah to them in verses 8 and 9, I wonder if we fall into this trap too, and how frustrated he might feel with us at times.
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.’”
I have been doing some reading on church history earlier this year, and it seems this was some of the problem that started the reformation back in the 1500s. Some brave individuals stood up to the churches that led culture at the time and said that people were no longer following the word of God, but rather they were just following the church’s rules which were made by people, often for political reasons.
Are we still doing this? Teaching things that are merely human rules rather than focusing on God?
While we are to follow the laws of the land that were created by people (as long as they don’t contradict God’s laws), we should not be so focused in our churches on following a set of rules of how a worship service should be set up, or the exact number of times per year you should have communion that we miss out on looking at the heart. There is a difference between Jesus’ teachings and a tradition set up in a church.
Traditions can be good, but when we focus so much on them that we don’t pay attention to the results of what is being done or said, they have no purpose. If someone new comes in from another church and they ask “why are you doing things this way?” people tend to get defensive even when the question is asked with a genuine desire to understand rather than to criticize. The truth is, we should be able to answer that question, or if we can’t, consider the practice to determine if what we are doing does still make sense, or if it has become an outdated tradition that could be changed to better serve people.
After Jesus speaks, the disciples come out like “hey, did you know what you said upset the Pharisees?” Jesus doesn’t care if they were offended by what he said. He spoke the truth and wants people to realize the meaning and intent of things. Yes, washing your hands before you eat is a good practice. You are less likely to consume bacteria that way. But not doing that doesn’t defile you spiritually. The things that come out of your mouth (which come from your heart) do – evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
~Stephanie Fletcher
Reflection Questions
What is something in your life that needs to be examined to ensure your heart is in the right place?
What instances can you think of in which the church is following mere human rules and not the word of God and teachings of Jesus?
12 Even now— this is the Lord’s declaration— turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. 13 Tear your hearts, not just your clothes, and return to the Lord your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in faithful love, and He relents from sending disaster. Joel 2:12-13 (HCSB)
Today we’re going to read the book of Joel (hey, that’s my name!). It is one of the shortest books in the Old Testament, so I’ll keep my thoughts on it brief. It was written as a wake up call to God’s people. As you’ve been reading through the Prophets, it should have been quite apparent that God wasn’t the happiest about the actions of His people. That’s why we have this particular section of scripture; if Israel hadn’t messed up so bad, God wouldn’t have had to tell them so. Joel doesn’t say much different than the other Prophets; he is just rehashing the same message because apparently, Israel still hasn’t learned its lesson. Here’s the condensed version of the message: you’ve sinned and made God angry, but He loves you and wants you to live, so turn away from your wickedness.
This message, which was proclaimed to the Jews first, is just as relevant today for us as it was then for them. Only today we have the added part: God loved you so much He sent His only begotten son so you can live eternally (John 3:16). We still live in nations full of wickedness, we still raise idols to a status reserved only for Yahweh, we still do wrong when we know what’s right, and we still let the ungodly have undue influence over us. The words spoken through the Prophets to the people of Israel still hold value for us, and I hope we will do a better job heeding them than the original recipients.
-Joel Fletcher
Reflection Questions
What idols do you/have you raised to a status reserved only for Yahweh?
What wrong do you do when you know what is right?
In what ways have you let the ungodly have undue influence over you?
What does the book of Joel reveal will happen to those who don’t return to the Lord? What is revealed will happen to those who do?
Suppose you were given the task of building a team that was responsible for learning some teachings and convincing everyone else in the world that those teachings were true. What kind of people would you pick for this team? I would go with an all-star team of doctors, lawyers, scholars, politicians, successful business people, and someone famous. Jesus had this same task, but he built an all-star team of fishermen, a tax collector, a zealot, probably some tradesmen, and more fishermen. These were the occupations of the twelve disciples. Think about how unremarkable this group was, and yet they were chosen to carry out probably the most important job in the history of mankind, to spread the gospel to the whole world. They were ordinary people on an extraordinary mission.
And guess what…the mission is not over, especially considering there are about seven billion people alive today that were not living a couple thousand years ago. I’m pretty sure all of the disciples died so they are not able to help with the work anymore. God needs a team now to carry on the mission and I suspect he is still counting on ordinary people to join the team. Yes, I am talking about you. God wants you to help preach the gospel to all of the nations.
But what is the message? In Matthew 10:12, Jesus said he wanted them to go out and preach about the kingdom. He wanted to make sure that everyone knew about the coming kingdom. Is everyone going to accept the message? Absolutely not. Jesus said if they don’t accept the message, shake off the dust of your feet and move on to the next place. It might seem odd that Jesus was sending them to places where they would be rejected, but he still thought it was important that everyone should hear the message so they can make the choice themselves. If someone doesn’t hear about the kingdom, they don’t have a chance to accept the kingdom message.
Is it going to be easy? Nope. Jesus said we are like sheep in the midst of wolves. He told us that it won’t be easy, and in fact, it could be dangerous. Moreover, if you choose to be on this team, the message is not always viewed favorably and your own family may hate you for it, even to the point of your own family having you killed. Jesus said in Matthew 11:11 that no one was ever greater than John the Baptist, yet his life ended when they chopped off his head. However, Jesus tells us the good news in Matthew 10:39, “He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for my sake shall find it.”
In Matthew 12:19, it talks about Jesus’ approach. He won’t quarrel or cry out, and nobody in the streets will hear his voice. I believe this is our model of how to spread the gospel message. We are not looking for a fight. We don’t have to get angry with people because they disagree with us. We do not have to stand on street corners and scream at people that they are going to hell if they don’t repent. We just need to speak the truth in love. Explain to people what is going to happen in the future, especially what happens to them after they die. Tell them about the kingdom and how to attain salvation. If they are not interested in what you are saying, move on. There is no need for a heated debate and there is no need to keep pestering them. Just shake off the dust and move on. You can feel good that you gave them a chance for eternal life. The only time you should feel bad is when you had the opportunity to talk to someone and kept silent. What if they would have embraced the gospel message, but nobody ever gave them that chance? That would be a tragedy to let someone die eternally without ever trying to save them.
Fortunately, it is not our responsibility to make sure others attain salvation. It is only our responsibility to make sure they hear the gospel message. Don’t put any pressure on yourself for results. It is only your job to make sure that people have a choice and they don’t have a choice unless someone tells them about the choice. Matthew 12:50 says that whoever does the will of Jesus’ Father is a brother, sister, or mother of Jesus. That is a family I hope you want to be a part of.
-Rick McClain
(originally posted April 30, 2017 for SeekGrowLove)
Reflection Questions
Do you consider yourself a part of Jesus’ family – why or why not? What do you think Jesus would say?
How do you do at telling others of the choice they have? What can you do this week to tell someone else – who, how, when?
I was touched by the beautiful imagery of the LORD calling to Israel as a child. Teaching him to walk and taking him into His arms. Here the LORD is also leading with kindness and bonded to His people in love. And I can just imagine a compassionate care taker releasing an animal from its burden-taking off the bridle and bit to allow the animal to freely eat and drink. The love and compassion of God are so evident in these passages. But Israel’s obstinance is also evident. These collections of poetry are calling out again to the people. Turn to God, do what is right and be saved. God desires for people to come to Him to be healed, forgiven and saved, but as we have seen over and over, the people continued to reject Him.
We are told what the result is, “Because there is no faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land. There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore, the land mourns, and everyone who lives in it languishes (4:1-3a)”. It is disturbing that this scripture could be describing parts of our own country today. But the poetic words of the prophet Hosea still speak through this book. Telling us about the LORD’S perfect character and His justice. We still hear a main theme of not rejecting, but accepting and remaining faithful to our God. How horrible to become stubborn and self-willed against the Only True Living God. That is a place that we never want to occupy. Unfortunately, I know that we could name some individuals who have turned away and have chosen lives that are in complete opposition to God. But we want to be those that faithfully hold to God. Hosea 14 describes it this way, “Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; Whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous will walk in them, but transgressors will stumble in them (v.9)”. Hosea explains that someday the sons of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God; they will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness. It is incredible that we can know, walk with, and most of all be in a loving relationship with Him right now.
-Rebecca Dauksas
(originally posted for SeekGrowLove on November 4, 2022)
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
How is your nation like Israel? How are they different from Israel? How are you like Israel? How are you different from Israel?
How would you describe God as a parent?
How will you respond as His child? When have you been rebelled against Him? What is His desire for You?
In this chapter (Matthew 9) we see that Jesus and the disciples are continuing an active pace proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. This lively passage not only records 6 healing incidents, but also shows 3 incidents where the teachers of the law are becoming rattled by the actions and rising popularity of Jesus.
Ready for anything and everything, the action rolls out as follows for Jesus and the disciples: 1) heals a paralyzed man, 2) calls Matthew the tax collector, 3) stops a hemorrhage in a woman, 4) raises a dead girl, 5) gives sight to 2 blind men, 6) and loosens the tongue of a mute man
Not only was Christ seemingly running a mobile emergency room, he was “hiring” new workers, contending with naysayers, and stopping to notice the big picture of the work ahead.
Verse 36 takes my breath away. “He saw the crowds and had compassion on them.” We are not lost in a crowd to Him. He knows our name and our needs. There is no end to His goodness. No bottom to the well. You can’t wear Jesus out. He’s not running on low. He’s not in a bad mood because it’s you again. “For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” John 1:16
The biggest problem in these 38 verses is that Jesus needed assistance to support the needs of the “harassed & helpless.” Nothing’s changed. May God stir your heart and mine this day to be a worker fit and ready to support the hurting. Let God’s “grace upon grace” compel us to action to not overthink but DO!
-Julie Driskill
(originally posted for SeekGrowLove January 14, 2019)
Reflection Questions
What do you learn about Jesus in Matthew 9? In what ways does he give?
Who do you see who are harassed and helpless? What can you give to them?
In what ways have you received “grace upon grace”? How can you share that with others?
In Matthew 8, Jesus is recorded as miraculously healing several distinct individuals that represent three classification of people who were viewed with lesser status in Jewish eyes. The first is a leper, who is considered unclean for a Jewish man to touch (vv. 1-4). Next is a servant of a Roman centurion, who was a Gentile foreigner and likely part of the oppressive Roman Empire, which Jews considered to be their enemy (vv. 5-13). Lastly, Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law (vv. 14-15), which is unique as women were not looked upon with much recognition or significance in Jewish society. In addition, the passage also reveals that Jesus healed numerous other people who were demon-possessed around Capernaum as well (vv. 16-17).
In verses 5-10 when Jesus is approached by the centurion, he concedes to the centurion’s request to come and heal his servant. Jesus’ agreement to come to the centurion’s home is quite a startlingly turn of events in this passage as a Jewish person would be deemed ceremonially unclean if they entered the house of a Gentile (cf. Jn 18:28; Acts 10:28). But nevertheless, Jesus humbly agrees to go and heal the man (vv. 5-7).
But the centurion replies quickly to Jesus expressing his “unworthiness” for Jesus to make the effort to come to his house. Rather, the centurion reveals a keen understanding of Jesus’ authority to speak with the power of God. The centurion explains that he knows what authority means because he speaks, and someone obeys, and the task is accomplished. In the same way, he claims that Jesus only needs to speak the “word,” and according to the authority of his “word,” the centurion’s servant will be healed (v. 8).
This proclamation amazes Jesus because the centurion understood the power and authority of God that Jesus represented. And in response to the centurion’s understanding of this reality, Jesus declares, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith” (v. 10). What an unsuspecting pronouncement—that Jesus would confess such a great faith from this Gentile that superseded any he had seen in all of Israel. The emphasis here is that even a Gentile, who was not considered a member of God’s people, will see the power of God at work when they trust in Jesus, God’s Anointed.
What the passage can teach us is that God’s power flows in response to the exercising of faith (trust) in God as the source of all power and in Jesus as God’s Messiah. If we want to see God’s power at work in our lives, it begins by recognizing that God moves when we believe and trust in him, knowing that he is able to do even what may seem impossible in our eyes. Our trust in God doesn’t make God move; rather, God responds when we trust in him. And we must also trust in his character—that he responds as the good and loving God that we know he is.
-Jerry Wierwille
(originally posted on March 11, 2018 for SeekGrowLove)
Reflection Questions
What do you learn about Jesus in Matthew 8? What makes him worthy of celebrating and following?
What has Jesus done that his followers ought to do too? How can you do that this week? What did Jesus do that only he could do?
As the wife of a pastor, I know first hand that many unintentional happenings in our lives often later become fantastic sermon illustrations. Sometimes, once we recover from the initial shock of a momentous event, my husband Dan and I will look at each other knowingly as if to say, “this will be a great sermon story someday.” Once in a while, Dan will remember and share stories off the cuff while he is preaching. He’s always very respectful of me, choosing to present me in a positive light and make himself the butt of any jokes, but as an introvert who prefers to blend in, I still feel embarrassed when the eyes of the congregation turn to me mid-sermon to take in my reaction to reliving the story. (I’ve joked with Dan that I need to attach a shock collar to him, and every time he starts to say my name, I will activate the shock collar so he will stop talking about me!)
The prophet Hosea was a living, breathing sermon illustration tasked with the responsibility to demonstrate God’s relationship with Israel by marrying a prostitute and having children with her. The whole book is a metaphor about the intimacy, or lack thereof, between YHWH God and his chosen people. It reads almost like a soap opera, declaring how God continues to pursue them even though they keep turning away from Him as Hosea continues to redeem and love his wayward Gomer. (This seems to be the overall theme of the entire Old Testament, doesn’t it?)
It is frustrating to see how our world overall devalues true committed relationships, referring to marriage as a prison, for example. Likewise, our post-Christian culture does not understand the blessing of an intimate relationship with God, our Creator and Sustainer who loves us so much. I am grateful that, though I have sometimes rejected God, He still pursues me. Psalm 121 from today’s reading is evidence of God’s love for us – he wouldn’t help us so much if He didn’t love us and desire to draw us back into a relationship with Him!
I am still in awe that, despite our wishy-washiness toward Him and even knowing that humankind would tend to always have such a desultory demeanor, still “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, NIV)
Reflection questions:
-How has God pursued you?
-In what practical ways can you demonstrate the never-failing love of our Father YHWH to those around you?
As a fifth-grade introvert who wanted nothing more to blend in with the small class in my little Christian school, “weird” was about the meanest name one could call me. Because I didn’t even want anyone to so much as notice me, remaining quiet and going with the flow was the most obvious way to camouflage among my peers.
I’ve had a bit of a wake-up call since my private school elementary days. In my public secondary and post-secondary education, God called me to stand up for my faith on several occasions, even when it meant that I was standing alone – resulting in <gasp> people noticing me! More recently, ever since my husband and I felt God leading us to do things that go against the culture, such as home-birthing and home-educating all four of our children, I’ve had to learn to be confident in those decisions and keep my eyes focused on God, no matter if others think I am weird. (As fate would have it, since opposites attract, I married an extrovert who thinks “weird” is a compliment and loves nothing more than helping others laugh at his own expense, so he tries to do silly things when we are out in public – which then, of course, draws attention to me too! I’ve learned to loosen up and not care as much what others think, and he’s learned to rein in the silly antics a little bit when I am with him.)
Jesus was the epitome of weird, but not in a bad way; in fact, many people were drawn to him because they could sense his sincerity and wisdom. (Some even failed to recognize him as the Messiah for whom they were searching because he didn’t meet their expectations!) Most of Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 5 are quite counter-cultural; for example, the Beatitudes is a list of dichotomous concepts which indicate (in my simple summary) that bad things can be blessings in disguise.
Because God is love (I John 4:8) and Jesus is God’s Son and representative, one could deduce that the primary mission of Jesus’ ministry was to demonstrate the love of his Father to this broken world. That, I believe, is why the end of this chapter (Matthew 5:43-48 NIV) gives perhaps his most controversial nugget of wise advice yet: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Showing love to people who are not like me or who don’t deserve it can be hard enough, but to show love to my enemies and those people who have hurt me? Well, that just takes Jesus’ weird, radical love to a whole new level. Jesus demonstrated this love throughout his ministry, though, by dying for generations of sinners including you and me (see Romans 5:8) and even forgiving the people who brutally murdered him (see Luke 23:34).
Romans 12:1-2 is one of my favorite passages; I especially love the down-to-earth wording of The Message paraphrase that reminds us why it is important to be weird: “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”
(This is a reminder to myself, but you can read it too if you like: Because I am following Jesus, I need to not be so afraid of being weird that no one around me even knows I am a Christian. I need to be weird in a Jesus kind of way so that people want to have the eternally-focused hope that I radiate, the kind of contagious joy that shows others there’s something different and gives me a reason to share my faith with them (see 1 Peter 3:15). In Matthew 5:14 & 16 (NIV) Jesus says, “you are the light of the world… let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Our light must have a source, and today’s Psalm 119 has a great bit of wisdom in verse 105: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Help me, Lord, to know you more through your Word and relationship with you. May I not be so afraid to be weird that I fail to shine your light in this dark world.)
Let’s take courage together to be weird in a countercultural, Jesus kind of way!
Reflection questions:
-What are ways that you have blended in with the culture rather than standing out for Jesus?
-Pray about the actions God wants you to take to be more “weird” in a Jesus kind of way.
Seek Grow Love 