Does Asking for Signs Evidence a Lack of Faith?

What is your motive when you ask God for a sign?

For some people, they're facing the decision of possibly having to do something that they really do not want to do.

• Sometimes, this can result in a person asking God for an enormous sign they really don't believe has any chance of happening, because that way they can trick themselves into thinking that God really didn't want them to do it.  But God can perform even the most impossible signs if He wants to, so I believe that in these cases, He doesn't provide the sign because He knows that person is in rebellion against Him, not truly seeking His will.
• But other times, people facing a decision they emphatically do not want to do ask for a sign because they are seeking God's will deep down, but there is a massive struggle inside of them because of how much they don't want to do it.  They feel God directing them toward a decision, and already know what His answer will be in the sign, but they need that extra push to force them over the edge into saying "Yes" to God.  In a way, their asking for a sign is a great act of faith and sacrifice, because they are asking for something their minds cannot write off as coincidence or misunderstanding - they are asking for a definitive command.

In other cases, asking for a sign is the responsible thing to do!  If we feel that God is pushing us towards a decision, but there is a lot at stake, it can definitely be responsible to ask for a sign so we don't make a mistake by our own emotions and inclinations getting in the way of us truly hearing the Holy Spirit's leading in our souls.  What's at stake may be human lives, a very large amount of money, or a life path (career, marriage, etc.) - and since these "assets" all belong to God, asking for a sign can be just making sure we're not mishandling His possessions!

• Look at Gideon in Judges 6-7.  He asked for a sign more than once about the same decision because he had 32,000 lives depending on him making the correct choice!  Of course he wanted to make absolutely, positively sure that He was hearing God right!
• I think the same situation might be what's going on in Isaiah 7 .  Isaiah instructs King Ahaz to ask for a sign so he will know he can trust the important prophecy about war he has just heard - but Ahaz refuses (under the guise of having faith), and is rebuked and cursed for it.  A prophet ordained by God told him to ask for a sign because the prophecy was a really big deal, and it seems to me that the idolatrous king's refusal to ask for one shows that he didn't take God's plan for the war seriously.

Do you have thoughts you'd like to share about any of the circumstances described above, or can you think of another important type of situation involving asking for a sign?  Leave a comment below. :-)

Woe to you - Matthew 23:13-36

Like our last study, personal questions will be a significant portion of our exploration of today's passage, but we'll also look at some elements of Jewish culture to deepen our understanding.  Also note that today we reach the end of the long interchange between Jesus and the Jewish religious leaders.

Today we cover the passage known as the "Eight Woes," filled with the phrase, "Woe to you..."  So before we dive into Scripture, let's define that phrase really quickly.

• The word "woe" itself means distress, lamentation, grief, anguish, etc.
• So, "woe to you" isn't exactly an act of cursing the "you."
• Rather, in this context, the recipients (hypocritical religious elite) will experience that woe because of the implied curse because of their evil acts that Jesus lists out.

13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

Under the Old Covenant, the Mosaic Law and sacrifices and festivals and all that were the way to serve God, but salvation (because Christ's death reaches both backward and forward in time) was still based on faith, a heart genuinely striving after God (see Romans 4).  Since these religious leaders were only interested in bringing glory to themselves, they had no true relationship with God.  But the situation was far worse in that these religious leaders were teaching common Jews legalistic principles instead of God's true intent in His Law, preventing them from coming to truly know the Lord for themselves and understand what it meant to really follow Him.  False teachers are extremely influential -which is why the Church is instructed to be constantly on watch for them, so no one is sucked in (see 2 Peter 2:1-3 and Romans 16:17-18,for example).

Are you diligent to keep false teachers' words out of your ears and eyes, checking all teachings against the Bible?  Do you also try to protect weaker Christians around you from false teaching's influence?

14 ["Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.]

We've talked about how to handle bracketed verses before (verses found in some early manuscripts but not others), but if you are new here or need a refresher, click this post and scroll down to the blue sub-header that reads, "What about That Verse in Brackets?"  Based on my opinion on the bracketing issue, this verse qualifies as genuine Scripture.

Here, the religious elite were taking advantage of the people they were supposed to be taking care of, and engaging in religious activity just for the sake of appearing holy to others.  (For more on the issue of public prayer, look at Matthew 6:1-6.)

But what's the deal with the "greater condemnation"?  As I talked about in this post on Matthew 11 (under the sub-heading, "Speaking of the Judgment"), it's not a matter of different circles of hell like in Dante's Inferno; it seems more along the lines of those people having far more shame since they, as God's very own Israel, had far more opportunities to truly know Him than people of other nations had.

15 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves."

FYI, a proselyte was Gentile convert to Judaism.  So basically, these religious elite were going on "mission trips."  Obviously, the few Jews who really did love Gentiles enough to go tell them about the One True God were amazing people, but the religious elite referenced here were doing it for all the wrong reasons - for their own glory.  That may seem like an odd manifestation of glory-seeking, but a missionary I know has told me that some missionaries have actually gotten saved for real on mission trips (perhaps they went because it's seen as simply a noble thing to do, or a related motivation) - so this still goes on today.

But since most of these scribes and Pharisees never came into genuine relationship with God, they taught the converts the same false teachings they themselves lived by.  Think of it kind of like Mormons going on mission trips today.

16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.'
17 "You fools and blind men!  Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?
18 "And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.'
19 "You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering?
20 "Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it.
21 "And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it.
22 "And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

There are a lot of little details here that may seem confusing, but the basic principle is actually quite simple:

• In Jewish culture, people often swore to do certain things in the service of God - like abstain from something for a set time, or give Him a certain percentage of their income.
• In the Old Testament, keeping your vows is treated as extremely serious (Deuteronomy 23:21-23, for example).
• But the religious elite decided to make up all sorts of little "word game" rules to let people get out of their vows.
• Obviously, this was an affront to God.

Have there been times when you've known that God wanted you to do something, but you tried to justify your way out of it?

23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
24 "You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

The religious leaders were also big on counting tiny seeds and flecks of herbs to tithe the set percentage - because such time-consuming acts were seen as very religious.  But they totally ignored the big-picture commands like loving others, which cannot be quantified and are not as noticed - and are actually much harder to do, when you really think about it.

Modern examples include spending (say) 2 hours in prayer and Bible study each day - but that clutters your schedule so much that you don't have time to show God's love to your elderly neighbor by helping her with yard-work.  Or having rigid rules of exactly how many inches below your collarbone or above your knee the clothes you buy can go - but not dealing with your pride or judgmentalism.

Does this principle "click" with your life in any way?

25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.
26 "You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.
27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like white-washed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.
28 "So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Jesus Himself interprets His symbols and sums it all up in verse 28, so I won't spend much time here, except to prompt:

Are there things you do to look religious when other people are watching, but that are the exact opposite of what you truly are like on the inside?  (For example, putting lots of money in the offering plate, but refusing to lend a family member money so they can make their rent.)

29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,
30 and say, 'If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.'
31 "So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
32 "Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.
33 "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?
34 "Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in synagogues, and persecute from city to city,
35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
36 "Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation."

Wow, there's a lot of information in this passage!  I think I'll focus on two main points:

First:  While there are many, many ways God uses the persecution of His saints for His glory (you can check out the "Persecution" tab under "Studies by Topic" on the left, if you're interested in studying this out deeper), in this passage, the focus seems to be to give the persecutors even more chances to repent through the testimony of the martyrs, and to heap more shame on them when they reject it (as we discussed above).  God doesn't waste the suffering and death of His martyrs - He offers mercy to the persecutors, but if they refuse to accept it, His justice will prevail for the martyrs (see Revelation 6:9-11).

Second:  We as humans always talk big, claiming we would have acted nobly during some time period where radical social change led to conflict.  But a major point I see in this passage is that, while we may think times have changed and we're not faced with that same decision today, we really are facing the same choices - so if we say we would have acted a certain way, why aren't we???

• "If I were alive during the Holocaust, I would have done whatever I could to help save the Jews!"  Unborn babies created by God are being slaughtered everyday - are you standing up to help save them?
• "If I lived around the time of the Civil War, I would have helped free the slaves!"  Slavery still exists in the world today - what are you doing to put a stop to that?
• "If I lived during the Protestant Reformation, I would have been willing to die for my faith!"  (Not picking on Catholics here; I've just heard this line a lot.)  Well, today, right here and now, are you willing to bear shame and be socially ostracized, and risk your job and your grades and your family for your faith?
• "If I lived in Jesus's day, I would not have been ashamed to minister to the outcasts and sinners right alongside Him!"  Today, are you showing God's love to homosexuals, and the homeless, and people who annoy you, and people seen as "weird" - not worrying what people will think of you for spending time with them?

I say these just as much as a challenge to myself as to you guys.  We need to take it seriously.  We need to actually do what Jesus would do, instead of throwing around the cliché acronym without putting any thought into how to put it into practice.

Image credit: "The Sermon of the Beatitudes" by James Tissot.  Wikipedia.  Public domain in the United States. 

Ungodly Taxes: Matthew 22:15-22

Today we continue a long stretch in Matthew that features a verbal showdown between Jesus and the Jewish religious elite.

The Scripture

 

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted together on how they might trap Him in what He said.

 

16 And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any.

 

17 "Tell us then, what do You think?  Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?"

 

18 But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, "Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?

 

19 "Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax."  And they brought Him a denarius.

 

20 "And He said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?"

 

21 They said to Him, "Caesar's."  Then He said to them, "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's."

 

22 And hearing this, they were amazed, and leaving Him, they went away.

 

The Question

 

The religious elite had been trying to trap Jesus for a long time by getting Him to answer difficult questions, convinced that no matter how He answered, He was sure to alienate one group or another (it just never worked out for them).  But this time, they upped the ante: They brought in the Herodians.

 

The Herodians were Jews who totally went along with Roman oppression - they betrayed their people and made friends with Roman politicians.  Before, they had put Jesus in situations where an answer could make Him lose favor with certain groups of Jews.  But here, an answer could make Him either lose favor with all true Jews - or be turned in for treason by the Herodians and be executed.  Either way, the religious elite would win on a massive scale.

 

Except that our God is infinitely wise, and cannot be trapped by human schemes.

 

I find it very interesting that Jesus continually answered the religious elite through their many tests.  Let's glance at 1 Chronicles 16:24 for a moment, an idea that pops up time and time again in the Old Testament:

 

Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.

 

Our God doesn't need validation - His self-confidence is not in a state of loss when people don't recognize His glory.  Rather, Old Testament instruction like this is primarily for the sake of those nations - because God loves those people, and eagerly desires them to come to repentance and faith in Him.

 

In the exact same way, in today's passage, it's not like Jesus felt some drive to answer the religious elite to convince them or show off to them (His revelation of His glory to the unbelievers will occur at the very end of time).  Rather, I see His continued answers as for the sake of the crowd - displaying His incomprehensible wisdom as a way to demonstrate His deity to them, to give them evidence that He is indeed Messiah.

 

In addition, His answer explains an important lesson ...

 

The Answer

 

If you're familiar with the Bible but haven't really examined this passage before, then 1 Corinthians 10:26 (or Psalm 24:1, which it quotes) may have popped into your head as an objection:

 

For the earth is the Lord's, and all it contains.

 

The problem with that reasoning is that the coin didn't stop being God's when a Jew gave it to Caesar - because everything that Caesar owned was God's. ;-)  But actually, this is completely unrelated to the point I see Jesus making.

 

We arrive at an enormous paradox that every Christian must work out in their own lives: Every single aspect of our lives should be centered around Christ and eternity, and yet, we live under a covenant of freedom in which we don't have to worry about legalism and rules inhibiting our functioning.  In this case, going along with an occupying force's demand for taxes was not a sin - it was suffering, a suffering that would have been made worse by refusing to comply.

 

Now, that can't be applied across the board.  For example, we can't deny Christ even when our lives are at risk (see Matthew 10:32-33).  For me, it kind of makes sense that there's a distinction between my stuff (because it's just that - stuff) and myself.  But we are not provided with a list of rules about what we can do and cannot do in situations like these.  The key is to continually strive after God.  If we "practice" seeking, discerning, and following God's will now, in the little things, then we'll have the answers we need for the big things when they present themselves.

 

As Bible teacher Ron Daniel points out, the denarius was made in Caesar's image, but we are made in God's image (Genesis 1:27); therefore, what God wants us to give to Him is ourselves.  Sometimes this can indeed include our stuff (see Acts 2:44-45), but not in a legalistic sense.

 

Does this all seem a bit theoretical, hard to put into practice?  Let's think about a situation we had here in America just a few years ago: There was an uproar over mandatory American tax dollars funding abortions.  Is that deplorable?  Absolutely - it is not possible to state how much so.  But that evil is not our doing, just as the atrocities committed by the Roman Empire were not the doing of the Jews who paid taxes.  It's the exact same.  The Romans would have seized their money and thrown the Jews in jail if they had not paid, so it would have made no difference.  Taxation is a very different situation from, say, German Christians who hid Jews in their homes during the Holocaust - because that did make a difference.

 

Again, don't read any of this as absolutes - situations like this are complex, so the only way to get an "answer" for what to do in a given situation is to actively seek God's will.

 

So, what can we do as we're trapped in a world so evil?  Live our lives for Christ every minute of every day.  Because Christ wants us.

[S]o that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among who you appear as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life.
- Philippians 3:15-16a

 

How do you wrestle with making sense of paradoxical situations like this?

 

New Post Schedule (since life is settling into a routine again): Definitely one each weekend, and usually one each mid-week, as well.



Intensifying Blatancy - Matthew 21:12-22

Scripture Passage #1

 

12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.

 

13 And He said to them, "It is written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER'; but you are making it a ROBBERS' DEN."

 

14 And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.

 

15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they became indignant

 

16 and said to Him, "Do you hear what these children are saying?"  And Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read, 'OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF'?"

 

17 And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

 

The Basics of What's Going On Here

 

This is yet another of my favorite "scenes" in the Bible involving Jesus. :-)  I adore the idea of a warrior God defending the weak from evil, and that is certainly exhibited here.  But another thing I love about this event is that each Gospel seems to emphasize a different aspect of what happened, each on teaching us something unique.  Let's dive in and see what Matthew saw as important in this story.

 

In case you're not very familiar with this story, here's a quick run-down of what was going on:

• There were very specific rules in the Jewish temple about what kind of money you could use and what quality of animals were okay for sacrifices.  So, moneychangers and animal salesmen set up shop there...which seems very useful at first glance.  But the problem was that they were not there just to help people worship God and make a living - they were swindling the worshipers.
• The scribes and priests were totally okay with this system - they worked there, too!  It fit perfectly with the hypocritical, hyper-legalistic system they had set up to turn themselves into the "holy" elite.  Someone declaring this temple system to be morally wrong directly threatened them.

So, Jesus came in and caused quite the stink about this situation.  He acted as a one-man riot, overturning tables, scattering money everywhere, letting the animals free, and chasing the swindlers out with a whip.  Imagine if someone came running into your church and threw to contents of the offering bucket all over the floor, overturned the communion stands, and grabbed each of the pastoral staff by their shirt collars and drug them outside...  It was a radical act!

 

This wasn't just wanton destruction...it was an act of cleansing His temple through destruction.  In the Old Testament, when Israel turned to evil and its worship became mere lip-service, God orchestrated events so His temple would be literally turned to rubble - it's the same principle as here.  The message is that hypocrisy reaching all the way to God's own house cannot be tolerated.

 

But Jesus's act was far more than a message of disapproval - Christ also restored the Temple to its true purpose, and that's what I see as Matthew's main emphasis.  Just look at the contrast - the rich and powerful (who were evil in this case) were chased out, and God welcomed the lowest of society (children and the sick, who were viewed as sinful).  The Temple was the place for Jews to commune with God Himself - and they had the opportunity to do that.

 

Deity, Prophecy, and Other Gospels

 

I think the fact that the sick came to Christ for healing after He did this whole rampage-through-the-Temple thing shows that they genuinely believed He was Messiah.  If they didn't, they surely would have thought that He had no right to do what He just did.  I mean, if I had terminal cancer and knew of a renowned prophet who could miraculously heal, and he did some radical religious act like we see in this passage, I wouldn't go to him for healing unless I fully believed he had the God-given authority to do what he did!

 

Even if my assumptions on that are wrong, however, the children were definitely identifying Him as Messiah!  In 2 Samuel 7:12-16, God promised King David that his descendants would ultimately reign forever.  At first, this was an unbroken chain of his son, grandson, great-grandson, etc. serving as king of Israel, and part of the prophecy speaks to that; but in the eternal sense, Christ's throne would reign forever, and Christ was a biological descendant of David (see the genealogy in Matthew 1).  So, a common term referring to the Messiah in Jesus's day was "Son of David."

 

So, the Pharisees noticed that the children were identifying Jesus as the Messiah, and tried to call Him out on not correcting them.  He responded, "Yes," and further declared His deity by quoting another Scripture about God - Psalm 8:2!  Since He intended to let them crucify Him shortly after this, He could be very overt in declaring Himself to be both Messiah and God.

 

If you want to look into the Scriptures Christ referenced in verse 13 of today's passage, they are Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11 (the entirety of Jeremiah 7 is related, so you  may want to check that out if you have time).

 

If you're interested in the other gospels' take on this story:

Mark 11:15-18 - emphasizing how much His radical act caused the priests and scribes to hate Him

Luke 19:45-48 - emphasizing how people responded to His authority

John 2:13-22 (actually an earlier event - Jesus did this twice) - emphasizing His Deity and authority even more

 

Scripture Passage #2

 

18 Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry.

 

19 Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, "No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you."  And at once the fig tree withered.

 

20 Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, "How did the fig tree wither all at once?"

 

21 And Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will happen.

 

22 "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

 

The Fig Tree

 

Jesus cleansing the Temple started off what will be a long section in Matthew in which Jesus confronted the hypocrisy of the Jewish religious leaders (scribes, priests, teachers, Pharisees, Sadducees...), and that is also happening here, and will continue into our next couple of posts, as well.

 

The point with this fig tree is that it was not bearing fruit.  This tree is symbolic of those who see themselves as religious (Pharisees, etc.) but are actually not bearing the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23:

• love
• joy
• peace
• patience
• kindness
• goodness
• faithfulness
• gentleness
• self-control

These are not things we achieve in order to become godly; rather, they are the inherent result of allowing God to live in our hearts.  Over time, He changes us to become more like Him, so a genuine believer will show at least some progress in some of these areas over time.  But the religious hypocrites Jesus was referring to didn't, because they didn't truly have relationships with God - they only wanted to serve themselves.

 

So when Jesus curses the fig tree, He is declaring that His favor and His blessing are not with people like that.

 

Learn how to ask Jesus to become your Lord and Savior here.

 

How the Disciples Listened

 

But the disciples weren't really listening to what Jesus had to say - they were more shocked by the fact that Jesus was able to make the fig tree wither instantly with a word (even though they had already seen Him perform so many miracles, many more impressive than this!).  It turned out fine, because He was able to turn their poor listening into a teaching opportunity on a different topic, but still! :-)

 

Branching off of that a bit, we should be sure that we value churches and Bible teachers and such not for how good of speakers they are, or how flashy their sermon PowerPoint notes are, or whatever - we should be paying attention to the content of the message.

 

Miracles and Prayer

 

We've talked about the issues Jesus refers to here in His teaching on miracles and prayer recently, so I'll be relatively brief.

 

Sometimes, there is cause for a miracle, whether to demonstrate to a person that the person performing the miracle really is from the True God, or simply to bless people (e.g. healing).  God still works miracles today, and he promises that He will work through Christians to bring them about elsewhere, too (e.g. Mark 16:17-18, 1 Corinthians 12:7-11).  However, it's not as if a person who God has gifted to perform miracles is a magician for life or something - God will work miracles through that person for His purposes, in His timing, when He chooses to.

 

But the larger point here is faith - God works through us (in any capacity) when we believe that He can do it, and are willing to act on that belief.

 

Bear in mind, too, that verse 22 isn't just a blanket promise that you can force God to give you anything you want - as always, context is critical.  In this case, the context is things for His kingdom, according to His will.  If we feel in our hearts that God is prompting us to do something for His kingdom, and our own abilities don't cut it, if we ask Him to give us the ability, He will.  Definitely.

 

Question for you: When has God asked you to "step out in faith" and do something that seemed impossible, and He provided for your situation?

Any questions, or comments about something you see in our passages?

Leave a comment below. :-)





The Verses

 

13 Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them.

 

14 But Jesus said, "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

 

15 After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.

 

Why Children?

 

The fact that the people Jesus is blessing in this story are young children explains the disciples' reaction, and will come into play heavily in each of the facets of this story we'll soon discuss.

 

In American culture today, we tend to value children - parents, organizations, and all levels of government devote a large chunk of time and money to them.  But in Jewish society at the time of Jesus, the opposite was the case.  To be a child was to be pretty much the absolute lowest member of society - perhaps more valued than a prostitute or leper, but still regarded as wholly worthless.

 

So, Jesus sets out to change that, demonstrating that every human God has created is extremely valuable.

 

Contrasting the Ministry Leaders

 

Although most church paintings we're familiar with depict Jesus as always hanging out with only a handful of people (probably because it takes a long time to paint a person), reading through the Gospels reveals that He was constantly swarmed by crowds.  It's not like He was ever just wandering around looking for some way to pass the time in between miracles.  He was a celebrity, and people flocked to Him all the time.

 

So, that this Man, who is a national superstar, never has a moment's peace, and is actually God Himself takes the time to bless and handful of the lowest members of society.  And that action wasn't for good PR, like presidents kissing babies.  That's pretty radical.  Can you picture many famous Christian leaders today doing the same thing?

 

It seems to me that most of them (not all, most) would instead "invest" in the "more influential" people that would "make a difference."  It's not surprising, because that's exactly how the disciples reacted.  It's a form of favoritism shrouded under the guise of applying "practical business sense" to ministry.

 

But Christ has not called us to engage in "kingdom building" through carefully calculated methods that end up ostracizing the "less important" - He has called us to follow Him.  That is, He has called us to strive to live exactly as He did.  That means treating those who society labels as worthless like we would royalty.

 

The Flip-Side

 

On the other side of that same coin, a common sin that trips up many Christians happens when they are doing something for God (whether ministry work or reaching out to someone in their life or whatever).  When that Christian sees either God blessing that person's work more than their own, or church leadership giving more attention to that person, they can get very jealous.  And they can start to wonder why it's happening like that, since they think their work is more important, or will have more of an impact, or they're putting more effort into it, etc.

 

But we must guard ourselves from ever starting to think like that.  Perhaps our pride has blinded us, or perhaps that other Christian needs more support and more rapid results to keep them motivated to continue, so God has arranged circumstances in line with that.  Whatever God has called an individual to do is 100% as important as whatever He has called a different individual to do, no matter how important these two callings are from the human perspective.

 

To Such as These

 

We just recently covered this same topic of what it means to approach faith like a child, so you can visit that original post for a deeper discussion.  The crux of it is being humble, willing to please, and trusting.

 

In this, Jesus shames the disciples for not valuing the children by telling them that they need to become more like the children!

 

Practical Lessons

 

To quickly sum up, here's how we can apply these verses to our own lives:

1. In order to truly live as Christ did, we need to take time the show His life not just to those who society labels as "important" or influential, but to the lowest of the low.
2. If others are showing attention to those who our prideful natues consider "lower" than ourselves, we need to be diligent in an attitude-180.  We need to give up our perceived "right" to more attention.
3. We should pay attention to how believers of lesser social station act (perhaps the poor, or the lesser educated, etc.), and learn from them.  The hardships they've suffered in the form of societal views very well may have given them a more Christ-like character, full of love and humility.  Luke 7:47 has the same feel (although it applies to genuine sin, not societal labels).

 

Anything that stuck out to you about this passage you'd like to share with the rest of us? :-)  Questions and comments are always welcome.

 

Image Citations:

 

1 - Jesus Christ with Children by Carl Bloch.  Wikipedia.  {{PD-1923}} Public domain in the United States.

 

2 - The Exhortation to the Apostles by James Tissot.  Wikipedia.  {{PD-1923}} Public domain in the United States.

Correction and the Number Two: Matthew 18:15-20

Correcting a Fellow Christian

 

15 "If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.

 

16 "But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED.

 

17 "If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

 

18 "Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."

A lot of church-goers in American society think that you should never take another believer aside and point out something they're doing that's sinful or may appear sinful to others because to do so would be "judging them," which we are clearly instructed against.  But it all comes down to your heart, motivation, and how you handle the situation.  Judging would mean thinking less of them or more of yourself, or making assumptions about their overall state based on that behavior.  But when you lovingly correct a believer, your motivation is to help them get back on track with Christ.  In that regard, correcting them is an act of extreme love.

 

The ideal way such a situation can turn out is one-on-one.  If it works, it doesn't spread to others who might engage in judgmentalism, and the person repents immediately.  We are given instructions on what manner we are to do this in:

 

Galatians 6:1

Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted [presumably tempted to judge or join in the behavior].

 

2 Thessalonians 3:15

Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

 

Also note that this isn't about a sin they openly acknowledge they're struggling with; it's something they're either perhaps unaware of or choosing to not take action to rectify.  However, if they're struggling with it, you might offer help, guidance and prayer in helping them improve - especially if their sin is causing problems for other believers.

 

If the person doesn't listen to you, bring one or two other solid Christians who you know won't gossip, will approach the correction with the right heart (as outlined above), know the person well, love the person as a brother/sister in Christ, and have witnessed the sinful behavior or a strong indication of the sinful behavior.  The point to this is that if the person didn't respect your opinion or thought you didn't know what you were talking about, hearing it from more than one person might convince them of the truth.

 

If the person still chooses to continue in that sin, bring it before the Church.  I would personally suggest handling this by bringing it before the clergy first.  They can choose if it's wiser to approach the sinful person as representatives of the congregation or bring it before the whole congregation itself (this way, it doesn't spiral out of control into gossip).  I think the clergy, as the spiritual leaders, should definitely be involved in this process to at least some degree.  One reason the leaders may choose to bring it before the entire congregation is outlined in 1 Timothy 5:20: Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest will also be fearful of sinning.  It's a reminder of the seriousness of sin.

 

So what's the punishment?  They are kicked out of the church, excommunicated, removed from fellowship.  If they are not living as a follower of Christ, they cannot fellowship with followers of Christ.  This is precisely what the bit about Gentile and tax collector means (because the Jews did not associate with those groups), and what the whole "binding and loosing" refers to (we did a giant study on that one phrase; check it out here if you don't remember it).  2 Thessalonians 3:14 tells us, "If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame."  This type of church discipline is partly to protect the others in the flock, but it also still has the objective of drawing the person to repentance - because not being able to fellowship will demonstrate to them the seriousness of their sin and how they cannot possibly be right because everyone else agrees that they are wrong.  Once it's apparent that they have genuinely repented, they are to be welcomed back wholeheartedly into fellowship!  2 Corinthians 2:6-11 is emphatic about this point.

 

So far we've focused on how to correct another, but it should also be noted that this is a lesson for how we should respond when another believer corrects us!!!  I have been both a corrector and a correctee - it's healthy!  We shouldn't be so focused on learning the correct procedure to correct another that we don't realize we will be on the other end at times.

 

Are there exceptions?  Yes, perhaps.  For example, Titus 3:10-11 takes a particularly strong stance on those who cause division within the church.  And while 1 Timothy 5:19 requires multiple witnesses to a church elder's sin in order for there to be discipline, the power of passages such as 2 Peter 2:1 and Revelation 2:18-29 makes it seem as if false/heretical teachers/leaders should be dealt with swiftly and definitively for the protection of the flock (which means you must determine the line between a leader being a heretic and a leader being in sin).  I would suggest approaching any such situation with prayer, reliance on the Holy Spirit's guidance, and the advice of a trusted spiritual leader.

 

Two or Three, Two or Three

 

19 "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.

 

20 "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."

 

Some people will try to take verse 19 as an absolute promise that they can "claim" to manipulate/force God to do whatever they want - like make them rich, or heal them of cancer.  But we must look at the context: The verses before it are clearly referring to a situation in which a group of Christians are fully tapped into the Holy Spirit and actively seeking God's will.  The fact that they are gathered together in Jesus's name (verse 20), a phrase which (in the original Greek) communicates living as He did and seeking His will, makes it explicitly clear that what is "asked" in that situation is in alignment with God's will.  The word for ask is also aiteo, or "request," so it's spoken with the right attitude, not as a way to try to force God into anything.  So, with all that clarifying out of the way, what is the actual point of the statement?  That when Christians actively seek God's will together, He will absolutely, positively bless their efforts.

 

Finally, verse 20's statement that God is in our midst when 2-3 Christians are gathered together does not mean that He isn't with each one of us all the time.  We know that when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us, and that God has promised to never leave us.  So, what this refers to is that special presence where the Holy Spirit is especially heavy to the point that you can sometimes even feel it.  When believers are gathered together to seek His will, that extra presence will abide!

 

Questions for You

 

Have you been in a situation where you corrected or were corrected by another believer?  Was the situation handled well, as outlined above?  What was the correctee's response?

 

Do you have any other comments, insights, Scripture references, opinions, or life experiences to add to our discussion?  Or any questions?

 

Leave 'em below. :-)

 

Giving Credit Where It's Due

 

Image: A Women's Bible Study on the USS John F. Kennedy, by Photographer's Mate 3rd Class Chris Weibull.  Wikipedia.  Public domain in the United States.

Learning Lessons Again and Again: Matthew 17:22-27

Reactions to the Crucifixion

 

22 And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men;

 

23 and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day."  And they were deeply grieved.

 

The three gospels that record this encounter all shed different light on the disciples' reactions to His statement, so let's read the other two before diving in.

 

Mark 9:30-32

From there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know about it.  For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, "The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later."  But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.

 

Luke 9:43-45

And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.  But while everyone was marveling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, "Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men."  But they did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.

 

If we had only looked the Matthew account, we could have arrived at the mistaken interpretation that the disciples were grieved because they "got it," because they were sad because they understood that their Teacher would be murdered.  (That's why, whenever you run across a passage in the Gospels and you realize that your interpretation is based on brief wording or limited details, it's important to check if that story is also in other Gospels.)  But this isn't the case at all - they didn't understand.  Rather, they were grieved because they vaguely suspected that He was speaking literally (as opposed to symbolically in parables as He so often did), and they were afraid of what His answer would be if they asked for clarification.

 

On a personal level, I can relate to the disciples.  There have been times when I've felt that God might want me to do something or that the Holy Spirit was leading me toward a hard-to-stomach doctrine (I mean, think of all the controversial and emotional issues in Scripture revolving around the End Times, predestination, the souls of aborted babies, etc. - there's a lot that's hard to think about!), but I wasn't yet able at that point to ask Him directly for the answer, because I wasn't ready.

 

In this disciples' case, perhaps they would have been able to handle the crucifixion better when it actually happened if they had been able to accept it sooner, at least in part.  The fact that Jesus told them He would be killed over and over and over again - a way of preparing them for the event (among serving other purposes) - makes me think that likely.  So, when we feel the Holy Spirit is pursuing us about some issue but we aren't yet able to handle it, we should (1) pray for God to continue to prepare our hearts to accept it, and (2) continue to actively think about it to acclimate ourselves to the issue instead of hiding from it.

 

But there's also the matter of why they didn't understand that complicates the issue: God concealed it from them.  Why?  Well, I don't think it was a matter of hardness of heart like we see in other Biblical cases where God conceals understanding from someone.  Rather, I think He knew they couldn't handle the whole truth yet.  I mean, come on - imagine your best friend, your mentor, and your Messiah (who you thought would throw off Roman government and reestablish Israel for all time right then [as opposed to at the End of the Age, when we know it will take place]) telling you that He would be tortured and executed...that's a lot to take!  So, since they weren't in a place where they could accept it yet, He concealed the whole truth from them, not forcing the entire revelation on them, while allowing the "small bites" to penetrate their spirits and slowly grow into a more developed understanding.  He was protecting them by concealing the whole truth of the matter from them.

 

Another Case of Rather Be Wronged

 

24 When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, "Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?"

 

25 He said, "Yes."  And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, "What do you think, Simon?  From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?"

 

26 When Peter said, "From strangers," Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are exempt.

 

27 "However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel.  Take that and give it to them for you and Me."

 

Let's start with the minor, tangential point about how Jesus knew what had transpired with Peter before Peter even said a word.  There's not really much to expand on, I just love highlighting it because it's one tiny demonstration of how truly awesome our God is.  I always wonder if Peter was so used to Jesus doing that that it didn't amaze him anymore, of if he was still swept off his feet every time...

 

Anyway, the tax referred to in this passage wasn't actually one from the Roman government - it was the temple tax.  Its origin can be found in Exodus 30:12-14; think of it sort of like how in Mormonism, tithing isn't optional or self-motivated (as it is in most Christian denominations), it's mandated and regulated to the point of having to turn in tax forms.  So the point is, the tax-collectors in this story worked for the temple - presumably as representatives of God's kingdom.

 

You see, in this little analogy, the Father is the King and the Son is, well, the Son.  Because it's a tax for God's temple, the Son is legally exempt.  But Jesus chooses to reiterate a point He made back in Matthew 5:38-48:  We should be willing to sacrifice our own interests, should rather be wronged than wrong, in situations where that will bring glory to God and reflect well on Him.  Because the tax-collectors believed that it would be wrong of Him not to pay the temple tax, He paid it to avoid tripping anyone up.

 

(Note, however, that this should not be extrapolated into "saying" that you should give money to, for examples, charities that you know will misappropriate the funds.  The point is to glorify God by sacrificing your own interests, not giving money to any organization that asks for it.)

 

The bit about finding the tax money in the fish's mouth is important, too.  It seems like kind of a weird miracle (and we're not given any indication why it was in a fish's mouth of all places - the only connection is that Peter was a fisherman by trade), but the more important point of the matter is that God provides.  Since Jesus was paying the tax, Peter had to, too - and notice that, in travelling to the water and going fishing, he still had to work, still had to sacrifice something.  But, God helped him.  Whenever God asks us to do something we absolutely, positively cannot do, He will provide a way to accomplish it.

 

Questions for You

 

When in your life have you been afraid of the answer God might give?

 

What little instances (like paying the temple tax above) have been in your life where you've had to sacrifice something to reflect well on God?

 

Any insights you'd like to add to our study?  Or questions you'd like to ask - either something I wasn't clear about, or a detail I didn't cover, or a tangential topic branching off of today's study?

 

Giving Credit Where It's Due

 

Image Number One: The Exhortation to the Apostles, by James Tissot.  Wikipedia.  Public domain in the United States.

 

Image Number Two: Giant Grouper, by Diliff (edited by Fir0002).  Wikipedia.  Used by permission.



Suddenly Serious: Matthew 16:20-28

Bombshell One: "I'm Going to Die"

 

20 Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.

 

21 From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.

 

22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You."

 

23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's."

 

There's actually a lot of material packed into these four short verses.  Let's start with Jesus's command to the disciples that they - to whom He had just affirmed that He was the Christ - not tell anyone His true identity.  I want to make it very clear that this was a very temporary command, and the opposite is true today.  As you may recall, Matthew 10:32-33 tells us, "Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.  But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven."  Denying Jesus - denying that He is your Lord - means that you are rejecting His salvation.  It is a conscious decision to deny your faith in Christ because (for example) someone who hates Christians is holding a gun to your head, or your loved one's head, and you decide that physical life is more important than God.  Do not misunderstand that the same situation appears here in this passage - it's not an exception, because there are no exceptions.  His command to the disciples (a specific group of people at a specific time) did not contradict that because He had not yet revealed Himself publically as the Christ.  But now He has - that's the difference.  Additionally, the disciples were still quite literally risking their lives to follow Him, and by travelling aroud with Him, that act was a very public declaration that they believed in Him.

 

Next, let's look at what happened right before Peter responded.  We all know that Jesus was tortured, murdered, and rose from the dead, so the bluntness doesn't shock us, but try to imagine what it was like to be there.  These men were going to lose thier best friend and their Prophet.  They'd also just realized He was the Christ, so they probably getting excited over the prophecies they expected Him to fulfill immediately about throwing off the Jews' oppressors and reigning with an everlasting kingdom of peace (which He won't fulfill until the End, after the Tribulation) - and then He tells them He's going to die a brutal death.  Shock, sorrow, rage, and fear must have all boiled within them.

 

With all of that in mind, based on his later behavior, Peter probably felt protective - vowing willingness to risk his life fighting to defend his Teacher from capture.  That's noble on the surface.  But underneath, there is a radical amount of pride and selfishness.  It reveals that he thought he knew better than God, wanted something whether it was God's will or not, and thought he could "protect" God, thereby doing something tor God that God couldn't do Himself!  You can see the foolishness of that type of thinking with his logically unsound utterance, "God forbid it, Lord!"  Yes, Peter's reaction was understandable, given the circumstances, but it was still deeply sinful.

 

So what did Jesus mean when He said, "Get behind me, Satan!"?  Was Peter actually possessed by Satan?  I highly doubt it.  We know that Satan possessed Judas at different times, but as I have mentioned before, it is my personal belief that a believer would have to fall pretty dang far away from the Lord to be "possession material."  But that doesn't mean that we can't open the door to demonic influence (such as increased temptation) by thinking about things we shouldn't, exposing ourselves to media we shouldn't, or giving in to our fleshly nature...and I think that's what's going on here - Peter is not possessed by Satan, but he is acting "in the spirit of Satan" - being rebellious, prideful, and selfish exactly as Satan is (Isaiah 14:12-14, Ezekiel 28:12-18), and not banishing the devil's temptations.  Jesus is pointing out the source and character of Peter's reaction.

 

Finally, we see Jesus mention Peter's response being a "stumbling block" to Him.  This is a very minor point, but when you read of a "stumbling block" in Scripture, don't assume that it refers automatically or exclusively to a temptation - it can, as it appears to here, mean something more along the lines of <anything that is a hindrance to someone's walk, even if it's just something like a distraction that keeps them from "quiet time" with God or, as here, waste ministry time on something that shouldn't be an issue>.

 

Bombshell Two: "You Guys Need to Die, Too."

 

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

 

25 "For whoever sishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

 

26 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

 

27 "For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.

 

28 "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

 

Those of you who know a bit about history may recognize the painting at the left - it's Peter being crucified, which happened long after Jesus.  It's a stirring reminder that each and every one of us are called to the same...not necessarily literal martyrdom for our faith, but plenty of other forms of "dying to self."  We may be called to be rejected by our friends and our families.  We may be called to be fired from our jobs for our faith or to give up everything we own.  We may be called to give up a life-long dream (career, marriage, whatever) and pursue the path God has planned for us.  We may be called to move to another country, or yes, even to die.  Each of us is called to do whatever God asks of us, with no looking back.  Christianity is not about feeling better about yourself and being blessed - it's a battle for the souls of mankind.

Os Guiness said, "Calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion, dynamism, and direction lived out as a response to his summons and service."

 

Please do not misunderstand me - this is not about salvation by works.  This isn't a matter of doing good things to somehow "earn" salvation of improve God's opinion of you - those things are impossible, and they both hinge on the faulty assumption that the purpose of salvation is to get into heaven.  It's not.  The purpose of salvation is to make us like Christ.  So of course we are called to live like He did - suffering and all.

 

Anything we have to give up or suffer on this earth is a mere speck compared to what basking in the glory of Christ will be like - spending eternity in unending fellowship with our Savior.  The apostles understood what living and dying for Christ meant on a far deeper level than any of us in the American church could ever imagine - and clearly they saw their "investment" as worth it.  We should believe the testimony of their lives.

 

As Jesus promised in this passage, at least one man there, John, did see Christ returning - in a vision of the End of Days.  Perhaps some of the others had similar, unrecorded experiences much like Stephen where Christ supported them with visions of what they would behold if only they endured.  Just the same, Christ will give us the strength to endure whatever "crosses" He asks us to carry.  It won't be easy (or else it wouldn't be a cross), but He will support us.  I forget who it was who said, "The cross bears those who bear the cross."

 

Please, believers, make time today to spend time alone with God and ask Him what your cross to bear is.  And then be faithful in bearing it.

 

And if you do not yet know Christ as your Savior, click here to learn how in English or here to learn how in your own language.

 

Questions for You

 

Have you ever had a time in your life when you thought you knew better than God, only to later see the wisdom of His plan?

 

What cross(es) do you bear today?  What cross(es) have you had to bear in the past?

 

Anything else you'd like to add or ask?  Leave it in the comments section. :-)

 

Giving Credit Where It's Due

 

Image Number One: Matthew Illustration courtesy of Sweet Publishing.  Used by permission.

 

Image Number Two: Crucifixion of St. Peter, by Carvaggio.  Wikipedia.  {{PD-1923}} Public domain in the United States.



It's a Calling, Not a Vacation - Matthew 8:18-34

Count the Cost...Few Are Willing to Pay It

Before reading today's first section of Scripture, I want you to keep in mind something very important: We tend to not think of ourselves as "disciples" because we call the famous group "The Twelve Disciples."  But, in actuallity, all believers are - or ought to be - disciples.  Any reference to disciples in Scripture - including those below - apply to all of us who have accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord of our lives.

18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea.

19 Then a scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever you go."

20 Jesus said to Him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

21 Another of the disciples said to Him, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father."

22 But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead."

Let's start with verse 18. At first glance, it's just another meaningless geographic reference like we see throughout the Gospels.  But in this case, I think it means more...  Think about it like this: There's a big crowd interested in Jesus, thinking maybe He's a great moral teacher, but Jesus isn't searching for numbers - He's searching for a real relationship with the few who yearn for him so much that they'll follow Him across the sea - and follow Him through life.

He also makes sure we know what we're getting into.  When the scribe pledges loyalty to Jesus, He responds with an honest warning: It's a hard road to follow, a hard life to live.  He's saying: I know that the suffering is worth it...but do you believe that?  Jesus expands on this further in Luke 14:28 and 31:

"For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? ... Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?"

I ask you today to step back and count the cost yourself...

Are you willing to follow Christ, even if it means giving up a career aspiration, a romantic relationship, a life's dream?

Are you willing to follow Christ, even if He asks you to move to another country, to serve Him in a way that terrifies you (evangelizing, public speaking, etc.), to give all your material possessions to Him and live in poverty?

Are you willing to follow Christ, even if persecution hits - if your friends abandon you, you are arrested and beaten, you have to watch those closest to you be tortrued and executed for this same faith?

Are you willing to follow Christ, knowing that any of these things - and you don't which - could happen to you tomorrow, and you will be called to follow Him through it?

Are you willing to follow Christ, even if whatever thing most terrifies you, which you have been thinking about and were releived to not see it on this list, happens to you?

If you were able to answer yes to every one of these questions without a moment's hesitation, you are either someone more passionately committed to God than anyone I have ever met, or you're not taking the questions seriously.

Think about it. Count the cost.

Living Like Jesus

Now, what are we to make of the man asking to bury his father?  Is Jesus heartless, denying a man who just wants to attend the funeral of the man who raised him?  NO - the man's father isn't even dead yet.  The man is asking to wait until his father dies to follow Jesus.  Perhaps he simply wants to spend more time with him; perhaps he wants his inheritance so following Jesus will be easier on him financially.  But Jesus says, "I don't call you to follow Me only when it's most convenient for you - I call you to follow Me NOW.  I have to be the Number One in your life, above all else."

Luke 14:26 puts this very succinctly: (Bear in mind that in this case, "hate" doesn't mean what it does in English; it means "count as worthless by comparison," the same way it is used throughout the new testament and in Hebrews 12:2.  That is, it means "hate by comparison of how much you love Me")

"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even hsi own life, he cannot be My disicple."

This theme of "Christ above all else" also appears in Luke 14:33: "So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all His possessions."  Does this mean that we all literally have to donate everything we own to charity?  For some, yes (see our study on that spiritual gift here), but you can give something up while it is still in your possession.  Giving it up to Christ means being willing to literally give it up if/when He asks you, and to always keep in perspective that it is worthless in light of the larger, eternal picture.

We are called to live like Jesus.  Can you deny that Jesus lived a tremendously difficult life?  True faith in Jesus is not a get-out-of-hell-free-card, it's not "fire insurance," it is not a vacation.  We live amidst a raging war for the souls of mankind, and need to treat life with appropriate seriousness.  But that also means that we are called to a great adventure in Christ!  Your actions have eternal impact...what could be more thrilling than that?

We've discussed faith versus works extensively before (most recently, this loooooong exploration of it).  I want to briefly re-emphasize that we do not do these things to earn salvation.  Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us, "God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it" (NLT).  But at the same time, a true faith in Jesus Christ will naturally include following Him.

Let's glance at a couple more verses on being Christ's disciples:

Luke 9:23

And He was saying to them, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me."

John 8:31-32

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

(Here is an amazing post on Frank Viola's blog directly relating to this verse...I found it tremendously refreshing, and hope you enjoy it, as well.)

Questions for You

What have you been called to give up for God?  What does picking up your cross daily look like for you?