Like a Child

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. Matthew 18:1-5

I watch Kikki watching me. She's three and doesn't know that's impolite to stare. I watch her dark brown eyes take me in. She must see that I know her mother and her mother's friends.

After awhile her brother needs a place to sit so I plop him on my knee. Seconds later Kikki wants to join, and I plop her on my other knee. We sit in silence for awhile--then she cocks her head just a little and tucks it under my chin. I went from a stranger to friend in under fifteen minutes.

Jesus said that we must become like children to enter the kingdom. I don't think he said that because children are little saints. They can be selfish ("That's mine!") and petty ("If you don't give that to me I won't be your friend anymore!"), but one quality they have is an unguarded openness to love*. They are not protecting their egos nor particularly worried about their image, or even that you'll hurt them. They simply accept love and give love. Jesus said that we must become like them. We must learn to be loved and love over and over again.

*While we live in a sinful world a certain amount of guardedness is normal and healthy but what often happens is that what should be walls to keep the dangerous out becomes a fortress to keep everyone out.

When You Defend God

After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes, he does,” he replied.

When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?”

“From others,” Peter answered.

“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.” (Matthew 17:24-27).

Here's a simple but valuable lesson: be careful when you defend God. I'm not saying not to defend him (I'm pretty sure we need MORE people who will defend him), but walk very prayerfully and very carefully lest in your defense you unwittingly slander him.

I think of a Muslim woman I met at a community college where I was studying French one summer. I enjoyed asking her questions about what she believed. One day after class she showed me a picture book about what Muslims believed. It seemed she felt more comfortable presenting the book to me than discussing her beliefs. While I might not share my beliefs the way she did, I want to have the same spirit that she had. I want to step aside and simply show others where to look.

Down the Mountain

Moses had come down the mountain to find his people given over to idol worship and lasciviousness. Jesus came down the mountain to find his disciples unable to cast out a demon. He said, "Oh unbelieving and perverse generation...how long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me" (Matthew 17:17). The disciples were curious as to why they couldn't cast it out. Jesus told them it was because they had little faith. He said, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you" (Matthew 17:20). It sounds like the disciples faith was pretty small since Jesus said that all they needed was mustard seed faith, and they did not even have that. I think I'm with the disciples. I think of Jesus in general terms. But sometimes my abstract idea of him decreases my ability to see that he has power "to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" (Ephesians 3:20).

Extraordinary

Matthew 17:1-11 Did the disciples ever struggle with Jesus ordinariness? On one hand they saw him perform astounding miracles and watched him live his life in an extraordinary way, but did the fact that they ate with him, slept outdoors with him, and joked with him ever make it difficult for them to realize that they were interacting with God? The transfiguration must have served as a counterbalance to any sense that Jesus was too human to be God. Jesus had invited Peter, James, and John to the mountain with him. While they were up on the mountain, Jesus was changed before them. His face "shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light", and Moses and Elijah appeared with him (Matthew 17:3). Peter was so dumbfounded by this turn of events that he said, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah" (Matthew 17:4). While Peter was still speaking, "a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!'. When they saw this the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground, terrified" (Matthew 17:6). If Jesus ordinariness had become to familiar this moment must have burned in their minds. Peter claimed that he believed Jesus was the Messiah. Now he could see even more clearly Jesus as the Messiah. What a gift God gave the disciples!

To Live is To Die

Matthew 16:24-28


"I don't want to gain the whole world, and lose my soul" (TobyMac). I wonder how a soul is lost? I wonder what is the first step to damnation? (Damnation is a strong word, but maybe there are times for strong words.) I wonder if it is in the small things a distraction (a text message from a friend just when the sermon was cutting at your heart), a bitterness cherished (you wanted to forgive once but now it's too late--you're too angry now to even try), a late night on Facebook and no time to pray in the morning or the morning after that or the morning after that.

Christ compares faith to a mustard seed; it is small and grows large. Sometimes it works the other way too. We sow little seeds of small sin or spiritual neglect in our lives and those seeds germinate and sprout and bear terrible thorns, thorns that choke out our walk with God.

"Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. for whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it'" (Matthew 16:25). Here is the key. Daily we must die to self (maybe hourly at times). We must die, that death is the most unnatural thing in the world--so unnatural it is supernatural. And praise God for his supernatural power in letting our self-centered self-serving natures die so that Christ may be raised in us! "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21). "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).

Peter's Up & Down

Matthew 16:21-23

There's only five verses between Peter receiving one of Jesus's highest compliments and then one of his strongest rebukes.

First the compliment: Peter states that Jesus is the Messiah. For this Jesus tells him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but my Father in heaven" (Matthew 16:17).

Later Jesus tells his disciples that he must suffer many things in Jerusalem. Peter's response is to take Jesus aside and rebuke him, "'Never, Lord!. . .This shall never happen to you!' Jesus turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men'" (Matthew 16:22-23).

There are several lessons from Peter's quick up and down with Christ. First, walking with Jesus is not a tenured position. Whether I've been a Christian for two days or sixty years, I will always experience temptation.

Second, notice how Jesus compliment is that what Peter says has been revealed to him by God, and when Jesus rebukes him, it is because he has allowed Satan to speak through him. This is fairly humbling. The good that comes out of my life comes when I'm connected to Christ; there's not much room for any praise parties.

Third, notice that Peter might have understand Jesus's Messiahship, but he lacks clarity on what the Messiah's mission is. Alexander Pope said, "A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring." This applies in spiritual matters too.

Fourth, Peter "said it like it was"*. This admiration might have evoked admiration in some quarters. Peter might have been praised for being the steel eyed realistic keeping Jesus safe. But Peter, as Jesus said, did not have the mind of God. What we consider admirable in our culture, might just be dishonorable in the kingdom of God.

Bless Peter. Despite all the mistakes he makes, Christ still comes after him and he still seeks Christ.

The Most Important Question

There are some pretty common questions out there. What is your name? Where are you from? What do you do for work?

But there's one question that is more important than any other question. The question comes out of the following interchange:

"[Jesus] asked his disciples, 'Who do people say the Son of Man is?'They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. 'But what about you?' he asked. 'Who do you say I am?' (Matthew 16:13-15).

Who do you say Christ is? That is the most important question.

Peter said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16).

I want to echo Peter. If Christ asked me, "Who do you say I am?" I hope I would say, "You are Christ, the Son of the Living God. You are my Lord." Not only would I want to say it, but I'd want every act of my life stamped with that reality.

A Little Slow

Matthew 16:3-12

I love the disciples. Their bumbling humanity can come so clearly through the stories in the gospels.

On one of their trips across Lake Galilee they had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus said, "Be on your guard against he yest of the Pharisees and Sadducees".

The disciples weren't really sure what Jesus meant by this so after some discussion they reached the conclusion it was because they had forgotten the bread.

Jesus rebuked them, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matthew 16:8-11).

I love the commentary that Matthew adds to this story: "Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees" (Matthew 16:12).

I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who gets sidetracked. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one slow in grasping spiritual things.

Thank you Lord for your first disciples and thank you for your patience with them and your patience with your current disciples.

Signs

Matthew 16:1-4

They wanted a sign. No matter that they had already asked Jesus for a sign, and he had said no. No matter that he had healed the sick and miraculously fed the hungry. This was not enough for them. They wanted us a sign.

Give us something more. Prove to us who you are and then we'll believe you. Jesus repeated what he had said the last time the Pharisees had asked for a sign, "a wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign" (Matthew 16:4).

The signs were already there in every word he spoke and in every life he touched, but they could not see these signs. "Convince us" they said. But they could not be convinced.

Compassion

Matthew 15:29-39

I was sitting in the back row sniffling during a seminar on music: I wasn't sad--just sick. It didn't take long before a hand reached back, proffering a tissue. Tissue is just one of things my friend has given me. Her Christ-like gift is the ability to recognize a need and meet it.

Jesus life was centered around human need. He often taught the crowds and healed them. One time the crowds had followed him to a remote place, so remote that there was little food available. Jesus could have easily said, "I've done enough for them" (Really healing and teaching are spectacular in their own right.) But instead he said, "I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want them to go away hungry, or they may collapse on the way" (Matthew 15:32).

It's touching to see how the Lord of the Universe was concerned with human need.


So much that he could have closed up shop and said, "I've done enough". But

Do Not Pass Me By

Matthew 14:21-28

A Canaanite woman came to Jesus to ask him to free her daughter from demon possession, and Jesus told her, "It is not right to take the the children's bread and toss it to their dogs" (Matthew 15:26). Christ's response didn't phase her. She quickly replied, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table" (Matthew 15:27). Her response drew one of the greatest compliments in the Bible. He said, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted" (Matthew 15:28).

She had great faith. Why did she have great faith? I suspect there are several reasons. The first is that she must have known something about Jesus. When she approached him she said, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!" (Matthew 15:22). She is calling on him as someone familiar with his ministry. Maybe she has heard him teach and watched him heal others. Her heart is sparked with hope by the way he interacts with the crowd.

Second, she has a great need. Her daughter is demon possessed. The Bible doesn't describe how the demon possession manifested itself in her daughter's life: maybe the daughter threw herself into fires, maybe she yelled in public, maybe she withdrew and huddled in the corner of her house. However the demon possession played out, the mother's ongoing experience of her daughter's suffering must have made the mother cry often. What mother can rest easy when her daughter is struggling?

Two things came together: a knowledge of who Jesus was and an unquenchable longing for her daughter's freedom. So when Jesus indicated that he was not willing to help her, she persisted. She recognized that his capacity to set her daughter free was as great as her longing for her daughter's freedom.

This story is one of the more disturbing stories in the gospels. It's hard to imagine Jesus turning anyone way let alone implying that they are dogs. Some people say that he did it to test her faith as well as to let his disciples think about how they treated outsiders. Whatever the case, what I'm walking away with is that I must know who Jesus is--I must look at the work he has done in other's lives and believe that he can do a same work in me. I must turn to him and say, like the old hymn, "Pass me not oh Gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry. While on others thou art calling, do not pass me by."

The Heart Habit

Matthew 15:1-20

Jesus had this habit. I call it the "heart habit". He had a habit of pulling a conversation back to the condition of people's hearts. The Pharisees complained because Jesus's disciples were not following the Jewish tradition of washing their hands before they ate (not a bad tradition I might say).

Maybe the Pharisees felt like they got Jesus on this. "Ah ha! The disciples are making a mistake!" Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, 'Honor your father', and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death'. But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise receive from me is a gift devoted to God,' he is not to honor his father with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition" (Matthew 15:3-6). Tradition is important but obedience is even more important.

The disciples were confused by Jesus interaction with the Pharisees. Jesus ask them, “Are you still so dull? . . . Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them” (Matthew 15:16-20).

It is the heart that matters. Evil has many manifestations but one source--the condition of our hearts. I like how Joshua Harris in Not Even a Hint: Guarding Your Heart Against Lust connects masturbation to the heart. He said, "The reason this very private act matters to God is not because it involves our genitals, but because it involves our hearts. And God is passionately committed to our hearts belonging to Him. Masturbation isn't a filthy habit that makes people dirty. It only reveals the dirt that's already in our hearts. It's an indicator that we're feeding the wrong desires" (p.101). I feel like this idea can be applied more broadly than just to lust.

It comes back to looking at my daily life. What bubbles up in my ordinary gut reactions? Is it love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? Or is it sexual immorality, impurity, idolatry, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy? (See Galatians 5:19-26). These are all indicators of my heart.

Father, please take my heart. Make my heart yours. Transform me this very moment! I need your transforming power!

The Sweetest Rebuke

Matthew 14:22-34

If awards were given, Peter would mostly get an award for having the worst impulse control, and the best ability to open his mouth and insert his foot. Let's see he suggests building shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah during the transfiguration(Luke even says Peter didn't even know what he was saying), he rebukes Jesus (that's really a bad idea) and gets told "get behind me Satan", he promises undying loyalty and delivers betrayal, and he whacks the ear off the high priest servant during Jesus arrest.

It's not a pretty picture. Peter had problems and one of his problems is made clear in this next story in Matthew. It's the story of Jesus walking on water.

The disciples were alone on the lake since Jesus had stayed behind to pray. It was a difficult night on the lake; the wind was blowing hard and the waves were strong. Around 3 am the disciples saw movement--something was coming toward them--it must be a ghost. It was Jesus, and he immediately identified himself to them. Peter responded by saying, "Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water" (Matthew 14:28). Jesus told him to come and Peter did. He jumped out of the water, and he walked on it. He was doing a great job until, well, until he realized how big the waves were. He looked at the waves and away from Christ, and he started to sink. Luckily, he knew how to cry for help. He cried out, "Lord, save me!" And Jesus saved him with a rebuke, "You of little faith....why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:31).

Peter looked away. Actually, this is the heart of Peter's problem. Peter always did his thing when he should have been doing Christ thing. When Peter told Christ that he should not talk about death, Peter was doing his thing. When Peter drew a sword to help Jesus out, he was doing his thing. At this moment I want to go to Peter and say "Peter you are walking on water and that's great, but you have to keep looking at Christ not just in this moment but from now on in every crisis or emergency."
But then it's not Peter I need to really say that to--it is myself that needs that message. In everything, I need to look to Christ.

But coming back to Peter, it is true that Peter got frequently rebuked. But Peter did something that no one else did. He got out of the boat. He jumped out of safety and into the waved tossed lake. Sometimes the people who get rebuked are not the worst off. It's the rest of the crowd still sitting in the boat that might have a bigger problem. Even in Peter's betrayal he was doing something that no one else but John was doing, he was following Christ. Doubting Christ and betraying him are two very big problems, but they grow out of an interaction with Christ--and I'd rather be where Peter is sticking my foot in my mouth then refusing to say anything at all.

Limited

Matthew 14:13-21

I am limited. The friends I wish I can help; I cannot help. The situations I wish I could change; I cannot change. The "help" I do give really isn't help at all; it's just presence. It's just letting the people in my life know that I'm in this life with them. And even this kind of "help" is limited by constraints of time and energy and attention.

So maybe this is why I find Jesus feeding the five thousand so comforting. Jesus had withdrawn to a solitary place, but the crowds had followed him. He saw that their needs were great, and he had great compassion on them. He worked with them until evening and then the disciples suggested that Jesus send them home so that they could eat. But Jesus had another plan. He said, "You give them something to eat" (Matthew 14:16).

Talk about limitations. Do you see those people? 5,000 men plus numerous uncounted women and children? Do you see them? Feed them. The disciples responded to Jesus request for them to feed the crowd with, "We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish" (Matthew 14:17). Jesus asked the disciples to give him what they had. Jesus then blessed the little meal and turned it into a feast for the whole crowd.

I take comfort in this story. I have so little bread so to speak. There's not much I can do in any of the situations around me that concern me, but I do give the little that I have to Jesus and ask him to multiply it. He's the one that can feed the crowd. He's the one who can work a miracle of taking my ordinary life and turning it into something to glorify his Father.

Fear

Matthew 14:1-12

Fear has held a part time job for both good and evil. It has kept people from doing right, and it has kept them from doing wrong. (When fear keeps evil in check, then I'm a fan of it. Go fear!)

Fear kept Herod from killing John the Baptist. "Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered him a prophet" (Matthew 14:5).
But then it was fear that enabled him to kill John. On second thought, maybe I'm not such a fan of fear. It only kept Herod in check until he found people more intimidating than his constituency: his party guests.

The guests had come to celebrate Herod's birthday. They watched as Herod's step-daughter danced before them. They listened as Herod, flushed with pleasure, promised her with an oath anything she wanted. They waited to see his reaction when she asked for the head of John the Baptist.

Herod saw them; he was fully aware of their precense. He would be a man of his word. (Usually it's honorable to be a man of your word, but if your words are wrong--then by any means, do not be a man of your word.) He had said, "anything" and he would give "anything". He gave the head of the the greatest man who ever lived for a party gaffe. Pride is that powerful.

Too Ordinary

Matthew 13:53-58

Naaman was mad. He had come all the way from Syria to get healed by Elisha, and all Elisha did was send a messenger to tell him to take a bath in the Jordan. Naaman said, "I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy!" (2 Kings 5:11). Naaman wasn't given any pizzazz--just a directive--"go wash in the river".

The leaders of Nazareth were mad. Jesus was at home teaching in the local synagogue. His teachings amazed the leaders, but they wondered,"Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren't all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?" (Matthew 13:55). They knew his family; they knew him, and they "took offense at him" (Matthew 13:57).

Jesus was too ordinary. Namaan almost missed a miracle because the cure was too ordinary. The people of Nazareth missed a miracle because Jesus was too ordinary. "And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith" (Matthew 13:58).

Miracles come in all shapes and sizes. They come in breathtaking form and sometimes they come in very very ordinary ways. What miracle might you be missing because it is too ordinary?

Things Separated

Matthew 13:47-50


"Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. The they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age" (Matthew 13:47-50).

This is the second story I've encountered in Matthew about separation. There was the wheat that was separated from the weeds parable, and now there is the good fish that are separated from the bad fish story. The wheat and the weeds shared a field and the good fish and the bad fish shared a lake. They are given similar opportunities but the results are drastically different.

This makes me think of a quote from Acts of the Apostle that was read tonight at a worship service I attended.

"In striking contrast to the sanctification worked out in the life of John is the experience of his fellow disciple,udas. Like his associate, Judas professed to be a disciple of Christ, but he possessed only a form of godliness. He was not insensible to the beauty of the character of Christ; and often, as he listened to the Saviour’s words, conviction came to him, but he would not humble his heart or confess his sins. By resisting the divine influence he dishonored the Master whom he professed to love. John warred earnestly against his faults; but Judas violated his conscience and yielded to temptation, fastening upon himself more securely his habits of evil. The practice of the truths that Christ taught was at variance with his desires and purposes, and he could not bring himself to yield his ideas in order to receive wisdom from heaven. Instead of walking in the light, he chose to walk in darkness. Evil desires, covetousness, revengeful passions, dark and sullen thoughts, were cherished until Satan gained full control of him.

John and Judas are representatives of those who profess to be Christ’s followers. Both these disciples had the same opportunities to study and follow the divine Pattern. Both were closely associated with Jesus and were privileged to listen to His teaching. Each possessed serious defects of character; and each had access to the divine grace that transforms character. But while one in humility was learning of Jesus, the other revealed that he was not a doer of the word, but a hearer only. One, daily dying to self and overcoming sin, was sanctified through the truth; the other, resisting the transforming power of grace and indulging selfish desires, was brought into bondage to Satan.

The wheat shared a fielSuch transformation of character as is seen in the life of John is ever the result of communion with Christ. There may be marked defects in the character of an individual, yet when he becomes a true disciple of Christ, the power of divine grace transforms and sanctifies him. Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, he is changed from glory to glory, until he is like Him whom he adores".

Acts of the Apostles, p. 557-559, Ellen White.

Giving all, Gaining All

Matthew 13:44-46

"What are you crazy?!" His neighbors must have said, "Why did you just sell everything you had?" The man just smiled; he could not explain his actions, not yet at least: not until he'd bought the field and not until the treasure was his.

Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought the field" (Matthew 13:44).

I love that he sold his possessions with joy. He was joyful because he knew how much he was going to gain by selling his possessions. I want the same joy that the man who found the treasure had. I want the same confidence that when I sell all, when I give all--I'm gaining to much more than I could ever give.

The 21st martyr Jim Elliot, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

Small Things

Matthew 13:31-34

It's just a small thing, the little mustard seed, but Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches” (Matthew 13:31,32).

Then there's yeast: a tablespoon or two will do for a batch of bread. Jesus said,"The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds[b] of flour until it worked all through the dough” (Matthew 13:33).

This is the way God works: the small things become large things and what seems insignificant is potent. The mustard seed becomes a place of rest; the yeast changes the whole dough.

Extraction

Matthew 13:24-30

My dad would be happy to know that I quote him frequently. One of his daddyism is "never force mechanical things". The funny thing is this is usually my first impulse. If it doesn't work, I push harder. And not just with mechanical things--I do it with cooking: "Hmmm, this dish doesn't taste right, let me add some more garlic and oh a little more garlic". I do it with relationships, "You're upset with me. Well, let me just talk a little more to you."

Jesus warned against us our willingness to force things in the church. He does this by telling a story. He talks about how a farmer went out and sowed seed, but then the farmer's enemy came by and sowed weeds. When the crop started to sprout, the servants noticed the weeds. Their first reaction was, "Hey, lets go out there and pull out those weeds." The farmer held them back, "No, wait until the harvest." If you pull up the weeds now, you might damage the wheat."

The interesting thing about this parable is that it is not the weeds that the farmer is concerned about but the wheat. There are spiritual dangers in allowing the wheat and the weeds to grow together. In fact, the weeds could even interfere with the growth of the wheat, but the greater danger is in forcibly extracting the weeds.

Good Soil

Matthew 13:1-10

I stare at the words; I realize I've been looking at the page for five minutes, but not reading a thing. Or a friend makes a comment while I'm working at my computer. I don't respond, then a few seconds I look up and ask, "Hey," did you say something?" These experiences remind me that my state of being affects my ability to receive meaning.

Jesus gave the same lesson in the parable of the sower. It's the condition of the soil that most affects the outcome. There are rocky places, thick thorns, shallow sod, and good soil. God's word, like the seed is inherently powerful; given the condition of our hearts his word will either flourish and produce fruit in our lives or it will be neutralized.

I usually think of the different categories of soil as belonging to different people. There's the hard hearted person (rocky places), the busy person (thick thorns), the thoughtless person (shallow sod), and the spiritually minded individual (the good soil). But these categories could also be looked at as different times in my life. For example, sometimes my heart is hard, and other times I'm too busy to absorb God's word.

Looking at the text this way brings new meaning to Proverbs 4:23, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." I want to guard my heart so that when the seed lands there it flourishes. The amazing thing is is if I can keep my heart receptive to God's word, I have an incredible promise. The seed does not just produce one little flower, it produces a crop "a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown" (Matthew 13:8).

Mary's Son

Matthew 12:46-50

One of the tenderest moments in the life of Christ was when from the cross he looked at his mother and said, “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother" (John 19:26,27).

But I want to step back and look at a different scene with Jesus and his mother. Jesus is teaching;he's surrounded by people all trying to hear him talk. His mother and his brothers are on the outside of the crowd trying to get through to him. I can imagine the brothers jostling the people in the crowd a little trying to get through explaining, "Hey, look we're his family...Let us in".

Somehow word get through to Jesus. "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you” (Matthew 12:47). Jesus responded, "'Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?' Pointing to his disciples, he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother'” (Matthew 12:48,49).

I wonder how Mary felt just then? I wonder if his words struck a wound through her heart? Simon had warned Mary when Jesus was just a baby, "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too" (Luke 2:34).

I don't know viscerally what it is like to be a mother, but what I can see there are many 'piercing' that come with motherhood. A child can (without knowing it) hurt a parent in ways that no other person could. Often this hurt cannot be avoided--the act of letting a child grow and mature away from oneself is inherently painful, yet what
parent would stop their child's growth just so they could not experience pain?

And so I imagine Mary hurting at his words and yet realizing the wisdom in them. Hadn't he said as a boy, "Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?"? (Luke 2:49). Didn't he remind her at the Cana wedding feast the priority of God's claim to his life? "Dear woman, why do you involve me?. . . My time has not yet come” (John 2:4).

He would always be a Savior before he was her son. She would ever have to share him with the universe. I think he must have hurt too for her. He who was love must have wished their relationship could come without pain. And yet, love rarely thrives in a an anesthetic world.

Jesus in his infinite wisdom chose his own mother--he chose a woman who would tenderly care for him as a child and who would struggle to understand her relationship to him as an adult, but would never stop supporting him and loving him.

She would stand with him in his last hour, and he would with all tenderness would give her care to the disciple who described himself as "the one whom Jesus loved". His most loved mother would be given to his beloved disciple.