Once Jesus goes public by riding a donkey into Jerusalem as the king predicted in the Old Testament, challenges to his authority come from all directions.
Pharisees ask, “Should we pay taxes to Caesar? (Matthew 22:17)
The Sadducees ask about marriage in heaven (22:28).
A lawyer asks, “What’s the greatest commandment in the law?” (22:36)
They weren’t curious, though. They weren’t seeking answers to difficult questions. They were trying to trip up the one who claimed to be the Son of God. They wanted to discredit him, at the very least getting him to incriminate himself.
I’ve heard many say that when they get to heaven, they’ll have lots of questions for Jesus. In this world there’s much we don’t understand about tragedy, conflict, and death. We just want a moment with the one we know is omniscient.
I doubt we’ll have many questions once we get to see Jesus face-to-face. I believe we’ll forget about all that in the awe and joy of being with him. We may see very clearly what we now see dimly. Plus, we’ll remember that Jesus often replied with questions of his own. Or he told a story about farmers, fishermen, birds, and flowers.
In John’s visions of heaven in Revelation, people from every culture don’t gather around the Lamb for a Q & A. They’re there to worship. Maybe there’s something to that old bumper sticker, “Jesus is the answer.”
Some “through the bible” thoughts from Matthew 19.
It was a shock to hear Jesus challenge a rich young man to sell his possessions, give to the poor, and follow. The disciples paid close attention when Jesus spoke of how hard it was to get rich people into his kingdom. Peter responds, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” (Matthew 19:27)
We know exactly where Peter is coming from. We wonder, no more than that, we need to know, “What’s in it for me?” Is it worth it. What’s the return on my investment?
Why should I exercise? Why should I eat healthy? Why should I take the medication? Why should I care about someone else? Why do I have to learn this in school? When will I ever use it?
Of course, we’ve been conditioned to respond this way. If you eat your green beans, you’ll get dessert. After you clean your room, you can play with your friends. You get an allowance, but you’ve got to do your chores each week. If you want a starting spot on the team, you’ve got to show up and practice hard. Those who follow the rules of the road don’t get traffic tickets.
So why follow Jesus? Why trust in him? Why do what he says? What’s the payout?
Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life” (19:28-29)
When most of us read this, we like the idea of eternal life. But we really like the idea of receiving a hundred times what we’ve given up. That’s a 10,000% return on your investment! That’s nothing to sneeze at. Wouldn’t this be a great place to begin a prosperity gospel ministry?
Unfortunately, greed causes us to misinterpret that promise. Jesus also said that life doesn’t consist of an abundance of possessions.
So what is Jesus talking about here? What did he want the disciples to take home with them? Maybe this is his way of saying that the rewards are far beyond anything you could ask or imagine!
Some “through the bible” thoughts from Matthew 18.
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Matthew 18:1)
I don’t have to look far or listen very long to find a discussion about who is the greatest. From “Who’s the greatest baseball (feel free to substitute your sport of choice here) player of all time?” to “Who was the greatest United States president?” we love to debate greatness.
The Sweet Bite is a gormet cookie shop in down town Bar Harbor, Maine. All they sell is a selection of eight large cookies for $7 or $8 a piece. As purveyors of custom iced sugar cookies, we were curious, “What’s your best selling cookie?” The owner, taking a fresh batch out of the oven told us, “By far, chocolate chip.” Interesting. While red velvet white walnut and white chocolate pistache sound fancy, I’ve never considered chocolate chip to be “gourmet.” By the same token, I’ve wondered vanilla would be the most ordered ice cream flavor, when there are so many others to choose from.
There’s nothing like a little competition among friends, right? Of course the disciples debated who was the greatest. Here they bring the matter to Jesus. He doesn’t really answer the question. (He rarely does.) Instead, he calls their attention to a child. “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (18:4).
Jesus could have easily pointed them to himself. “Hey, guys, I’m sitting right here.” Instead he focuses on a child, who in the culture had little status, value, or influence. But in God’s kingdom, they are the most significant.
Unless we grasp the humility of Jesus, we’ll never understand true greatness. He was born as a child. He emptied himself of divine status to become a servant. A relationship with God begins with understanding that he is our Father and we are his children.
Rather than constantly comparing ourselves to others, hoping to move up a few spots on the greatness list, we do better to recognize the greatness of the “least.”
The apostle Paul described himself as the least of the apostles and the least of all the saints. He considered himself the chief of sinners. That was the only place he truly excelled. Someone’s got to finish at the bottom of the class, right? Imagine applying to college and having to list your class rank as 838 out of 838?
But that’s the point. In God’s eyes you are great because of his love not your performance. If he truly is the King of kings and Lord of lords, there’s no question who is the greatest. And if he’s willing to give up his life for you, there’s no question how much you mean to him.
After about a year of making custom iced sugar cookies for birthdays, showers, weddings, and holidays, we decided to sell as a vendor at a fall festival. The one we picked was a big one, with a big up front fee, and a big historic crowd. We baked, decorated, and wrapped up hundreds of fall and Halloween cookies that were sure to sell like hotcakes.
That event never happened. Weather predictions, which in Florida are always accurate (lol), called for severe thunderstorms that weekend, so on Wednesday we got the message that it was rescheduled for February. February? None of what we baked would keep till or sell in February. We got our fee back, but what about all those cookies?
We hurriedly discounted our inventory for some of our faithful customers and were able to sell a decent amount of product. But driving through town, we saw a sign for another fall festival at a local private school. When I stopped in the front office, they told me they had no room for any more vendors. But when I stopped back a second time with some sample cookies, we were in!
The festival was just four hours for a single day, probably a better first time event for us. The morning was gray and drizzly, but we headed over with our tables, tent, and cookies, setting up in the school parking lot with lots of other vendors.
We got our tent, tables, banners, and cookie displays set up in about forty-five minutes. I thought our set up looked nicer than most of the others around us. Maybe I’m partial, but we had nice colors, displays, and banners. In any event, we were ready for the onslaught of cookie lovers!
We didn’t sell out, but we didn’t do badly for our first time out. Our most popular cookies were traditional ones, like peanut butter, chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, and one with M&Ms. We sold some of the printed and decorated iced sugar cookies, but not as many as we thought.
Many people came by and asked, “Are those all cookies?” Yeah, that’s all we sell! I guess some of the square cookies printed with fall designs looked like coasters. We also had lots of princesses, unicorns, and mermaids, along with sports themed cookies. Add to that lots of “drip” baseball, soccer, and football designs, and we had everything kids were looking for.
A good number of people asked about custom orders and took business cards. We saw several families I haven’t seen in years with kids who had grown up so quickly. I think the best part of the day was talking to people from the school, the community, and other vendors.
As I expected, we learned a lot from our first vendor event.
Most people paid with cash. But I also learned how to work the hardware to accept credit card payments. Some used their card for a two dollar purchase.
Basic cookies sold well. The seasonal cookies didn’t really make a splash. Cute cookies did ok. It’s really hard to figure out what people will buy. When you’re selling a product with a short shelf life, that’s important!
Our set up and tear down was easier than we thought. There are a few things we want to get for a better display next time.
I enjoyed this first vendor event. I liked talking with people and talking about our product and how we made everything. We didn’t expect to make a lot of money. Some of the day was for exposure, to secure future orders.
We asked a lot of people what we should make and how much would sell. The many different answers we got didn’t help at all. I’ll bet any vendor has great days and awful days, without much rhyme or reason. It’s all part of the adventure.
If you’ve read this far, you probably want to learn more about and order our cookies. Just go to backseatgracebakery.com!
Some “through the bible” thoughts from Matthew 14 and 15.
In quick succession, two people desperately ask Jesus for help in these chapters. Peter, distracted by the storm, learns that walking on water isn’t as easy as it looks. When he cries out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus grabs his hand and gets him back in the boat (Matthew 14:30-31). Soon after a Canaanite woman with a demon possessed daughter begs Jesus, “Lord, help me.” Jesus instantly heals her daughter.
They both needed Jesus’s help. But while Jesus says to Peter, “O you of little faith” (14:31) he says to the woman, “Great is your faith!” (15:28). Both did the right thing in a dire situation. Both knew only Jesus could help them. Neither one deserved Jesus’s help. Peter should have kept his eyes on Jesus. The woman wasn’t one of the lost sheep of Israel Jesus came for.
What makes the different between “little” faith and “great” faith? It can’t be quantity. Jesus taught that faith the size of minute mustard seed can move mountains. It’s never about quantity. It’s always about the object of your faith.
Was it her persistence and humility? “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table” (15:27). Was it Peter’s bold challenge, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water” (14:28)?
I don’t have an answer. I just know on any given day, faith fills my field of vision, while on others, my faith tank seems to be empty. However, the object of my faith is the constant. He’s there regardless of the size of my faith.
“The disciples came and said to [Jesus], “Why do you speak to them in parables?” (Matthew 13:10)
That’s a great question. To tell you the truth, I have trouble understanding Jesus’s answer:
“To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand” (13:11-13).
Huh?
After a little reading and a lot of thought, it makes a little more sense to me. Jesus wants some people to get the point of the parables. But he doesn’t want everyone to understand.
Those who believe that Jesus is the Christ will gain insight into his kingdom. His stories help this believer comprehend spiritual truths that would otherwise be over my head.
But if you’ve already rejected Jesus, if you are someone who’s plotting against him, additional spiritual truths will only make things worse. Plain teaching only further hardens dull hearts. At this point in his ministry, Jesus doesn’t need that. Their time will come, and they will put him to death. But not yet.
Jesus’s parables quickly divide the room. You’ve got the disciples who want to know what they mean. And then you’ve got others who think he’s just the carpenter’s son. It will sound like nonsense to them.
But to those who cried out to him for mercy, followed him to hear more, and confessed him to be the Christ, the Son of God, his stories lodged permanently in their minds. They got it because they got him.
I read somewhere that our minds are wired for story. Businesses know that. Video creators know that. God knew that. The bible is filled with so many memorable stories. Jesus knew it, too.
Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:35-38)
One of my most vivid memories from our medical mission trips was encountering a sea of people every place we set up a clinic. We would leave the guest house early in the morning to drive on highways, narrow city streets, back roads, dirt roads, and across shallow streams. Our driver would successfully navigate steep rutted hills, mountainside roads with no guardrails, and insist his way through standstill traffic in the middle of towns with no traffic lights.
When we finally arrived at a school, church, or tent, a crowd of men, women, children, were waiting for us. Everyone showed up in remote places where there was no medical. Some had walked miles through the night to get from their town to the place where they heard the clinic would be. From nursing newborns to grandparents with canes, lines filled makeshift waiting rooms.
Every day was a full day. The providers, nurses, and pharmacists saw three to four hundred patients a day and gave out as much medication as we could bring with us. Each day a new crowd was a new challenge.
When Jesus saw similar crowds in the cities and villages of Galilee, he saw an opportunity. He saw people who desperately needed teaching, compassion, healing, and a shepherd. Jesus saw beyond people and problems to a harvest ready to be gathered.
What would it be like to see the world like Jesus did? Sometimes I feel compassion. More often I’m amazed and annoyed at the number of people who appear harassed and helpless. My eyes see impossibility rather than possibilities.
“Behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep” (Matthew 8:24).
This time when I read these words, I thought of Elijah’s contest with the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18. (I’ve written about that before here and here.) After the prophets of Baal cry out to their God for half a day, Elijah taunts them, “Maybe he’s sleeping!” (1 Kings 18:27) God’s people counted on the truth that “He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4).
But now here’s Jesus fast asleep when his disciples need him the most. Their boat is small, the storm is big, and they are all going to die! At least they knew Jesus could help them. They woke him up and pleaded, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing” (8:25). I don’t Jesus was happy that they disturbed him. He rebukes them for their small faith, and then he rebukes the wind and the waves, “and there was a great calm” (8:26). It didn’t take much for Jesus to control the weather. You could say that he could do it in his sleep. (If I were texting you, I’d add an lol.)
We need a fully human Savior, so we shouldn’t be surprised when he takes a nap. We need a fully divine Savior, too, so his handle on the weather shouldn’t surprise us either. However in this moment, in this boat, Jesus is full of surprises, as he usually is. He’s always going to be more than we can figure out, better than we expect, and beyond our imagination.
A leper came to [Jesus] and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. (Matthew 8:2-3)
Jesus didn’t have to touch this man to heal him. He can heal just by speaking. He can heal at a distance, too. He heals a centurion’s servant without going to his house. Jesus heals other lepers while they are on their way to be pronounced clean by a priest.
But sometimes Jesus touches a person to heal them. He touches the blind and the deaf to restore their lost senses. I’m not sure why he does or doesn’t.
I just remember that no one could come near or touch God in the Old Testament. When God was in the cloud on top of Mount Sinai, no one could get near the mountain except for Moses. If you touched it, you died. That same God, in the flesh, now touches people and gives them life.
How do you think that felt? What would it be like to shake Jesus’s hand? What about a hug? Would that be a powerful moment? Do you imagine Jesus’s hands to be rough and calloused? Was his healing touch gentle or firm?
Some people are very touchy when they talk. They reach out and touch your arm or hand as a natural extension of their words. That doesn’t bother me, but I notice it when someone converses with frequent touch. Maybe it’s their way of connecting, of making sure you’re paying attention.
A touch to my ribs makes me jump. The grasp of a little hand reassures me that a grandchild is safe with me. I’m glad when someone grabs my arm so I don’t bump into someone. I’m annoyed when someone bumps into me.
Touch can mean a lot of different things. I imagine Jesus’s touch to communicate love, life, and security.
Waite for it... 