Matthew 26:26-30 "A New Agreement"

As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.”
 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it,  for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.  Mark my words—I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.” 
Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

Keeping in mind that Jesus and His disciples were celebrating the traditional Passover meal, what Jesus does and says here is a little surprising.  Seder meals (the Passover meal) are scripted, kind of like a play.  Every year the same words get said at the same times in the course of the meal.  The meal is a remembrance of the Israelites' deliverance from bondage in Egypt.  They remembered how God had orchestrated their escape through Moses, and how He had provided for them in the wilderness and how He had brought them into their land.  Jewish people had celebrated this meal/play every year since ancient time.  In fact, modern Jewish people still celebrate the Seder meal.

Because Jesus' disciples were Jewish men, they had each celebrated this traditional Seder meal every single year of their lives.  They knew the script by heart.  So, it was surprising when Jesus picked up the bread in the middle of the meal and instead of saying the traditional words, He said, "This is my body, given for you...take it and eat it."  The disciples evidently obeyed, but were, no doubt, a little confused.  What did this mean?  They didn't understand.

A while later in the same meal, Jesus took the cup of wine -again, instead of reciting the familiar words of the Seder, He said, "In this cup is my blood -a new covenant between God and His people.  It is poured out for the forgiveness of sins....Take and drink."  Awkward, confusing, frightening words.

At the time, the disciples did not understand.  They did not yet know that the Kingdom Jesus talked of so often was not an overthrow of the Roman government -it was an overthrow of all political, social and religious systems for all time.  They did not know that yet -but they would learn it soon enough.

They would learn it, but I often wonder, have we learned it?  Do we know what it means that the first will be last and the last will be first?  Do we know what it means to treat everyone else as better than ourselves?  Have we learned to care for the widows and orphans and poor and broken of this world?  Do we treat the marginalized and hopeless with the same dignity and respect that we treat the prosperous?  Can we pray sincerely that Father will forgive our sins to the same degree that we are willing to forgive others when they sin against us?  Can we even pray sincerely that His will be accomplished here on earth in the same way it is is heaven?

This covenant in the shed blood of Jesus is about so much more than where we go when we die.  It is about how we live our lives here and now.  Yes, the Kingdom is coming.  But at the same time, the Kingdom has come -it is here.  It is at the same time, here and not yet.  We must not wait until Jesus returns to begin living in the Kingdom.  He shed His blood and gave His body so that we can begin living in the Kingdom now as we await the glorious fulfillment of the Kingdom later.


Lord, help me live today as a Kingdom person -seeking first your Kingdom and righteousness; help me trust You for anything else I need along the way.  Amen.

Matthew 26:20-25 "God's Grace & Our Own Best Thinking"

When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve.  And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”
Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.  The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” 
Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”
Jesus answered, “You have said so.”

It is surprising and perplexing to think that Jesus knew who was going to betray Him.  In fact, it safe to assume that Jesus knew when He chose Judas as a disciple that Judas would one day betray Him.  In fact, it is an even safer assumption that as God knit Judas together in his mother's womb, He was aware that this tiny child would grow up and betray Him.  And yet, knowing all of this, Jesus treated Judas with the same dignity and respect that He treated all the other disciples.  Jesus loved Judas just as much as the others.  Jesus gave Judas every chance possible.  But Judas, relying on his own best thinking, made a choice -a bad choice.

I believe Judas had a choice.  I don't believe that Judas was merely "pre-destined" to evil.  If God hardened Judas' heart, it was only hardening it and locking it into a position that Judas had already decided upon.  So, the question is, how did one of Jesus' chosen 12 come to this awful decision?

It seems unthinkable that Judas could have so misunderstood Jesus.  It is difficult to imagine that Judas was so completely clueless as to Jesus' identity and purpose.  So, it is possible, as some scholars believe that Judas was simply tired of waiting.  He may have betrayed Jesus simply to force His hand.  If so, Judas, no doubt, fully expected that Jesus would defend Himself at trial -that Jesus would use the opportunity to reveal once and for all His identity to the masses and would then raise His army and overthrow the Roman oppressors and re-establish Israel as God's chosen people among the nations.  But that didn't happen.  Judas was sadly mistaken -not about Jesus' identity, but about His purpose.


Jesus was, indeed, the long awaited Messiah, but He did not intend to overthrow Rome and establish an earthly, political kingdom.  His purpose was, instead, to establish a New Covenant (a new agreement between God and man) and in the process, bring God's Kingdom (spiritual kingdom) here to earth.


I think that Judas' sad mistake was natural.  He simply did not understand what Jesus had been saying.  He heard the words, but missed the meaning.  Judas entire relationship with Jesus was built upon some preconceived notions about what the Messiah was supposed to do.  In a sense, Judas already had a messianic theology.  He was not willing to set aside his own best thinking for the reality of the actual Messiah.


I wonder how often we do a similar thing?  How often do we come to God in prayer, or come to His Word with our preconceived notions of what it all means -with our pre-established systems of theology -and fail to hear what God is actually saying?  What would happen, I wonder, if we listened when we prayed expecting God to answer?  What would happen if we quit relying on our own best thinking?  What would happen if we set aside what we think we already know when we sit down to read the Bible, and let the Bible itself tell us what to think and believe instead using the party line of whatever theological camp we belong to determine how we interpret Scripture?  I'm guessing we would all be surprised.  Very surprised.

 

"Knowing Jesus Vs. Knowing About Jesus" Matthew 26:14-16

Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests  and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. 

Some people have speculated that Judas (being a zealot who was looking for and longing for the revolution) simply got frustrated and was trying to force Jesus' hand.  Somewhere around a million people were in Jerusalem for passover that year.  Jesus was popular with the people.  If the crowds got stirred up, something was bound to happen.  So, the theory goes, Judas betrayed Jesus, not just for the money, but to force Jesus to defend Himself.  If Jesus was arrested, He would have to defend Himself and the mass of people would rush to Jesus' side and the revolution would be under way.

It is possible that Judas thought these things.  How sad.  Either way -whether Judas betrayed Jesus for money or for politics, how sad.  Sad because it is clear that although Judas knew all about Jesus, he did not know Jesus.   Judas was one of the twelve.  He traveled with Jesus, just like Peter and John and the rest.  He listened to Jesus teach.  He saw (and to some degree or another participated in) the miracles Jesus performed.  He ate with Jesus.  He heard the same parables.  He heard the same prayers.  He knew what Jesus liked to eat, what Jesus thought was funny, and what Jesus' favorite color was.  These are things you learn about someone you live with.  Judas knew all about Jesus.  Yet, somehow, knowing all about Jesus, Judas had missed the most important thing -the actual relationship with Jesus.  He knew all about Jesus, but, somehow did not actually know Jesus.

Unfortunately, I think that many of us who call ourselves by His name today have the same problem.  We know His words.  We know how Christians are supposed to think and act.  We know how Christians are supposed to vote.  We know all kinds of Christian things.  We know all about Jesus, but we don't know Him.  We don't have His heart.  And without His heart, we cannot effectively be His hands, feet or voice.

Even though Jesus came and lived among, us, and died for our sins and rose from the dead and conquered sin and death forever -even though Satan has been defeated and authority has been stripped from him -even though there is now nothing (because of Jesus) that keeps us from the Father's love -the Church is largely ineffective because we know all about Him without actually knowing Him.  And this is particularly sad because most Christians don't even know that we don't know Him.  We assume that if we go to a building on Sunday mornings and put some money in the offering and sing the songs and affirm the sermon that we know Jesus.  All the while, the lost remain lost; the brokenhearted remain brokenhearted; the sick remain sick; those in bondage remain in bondage.  Something is wrong.  We don't know Jesus.

Lord Jesus, help us.  Help all who claim Your name to hear Your voice and understand Your heart.  Help us to see others as You see them and to love others as You love them.  We are tired of knowing all about You.  Help us to know You.  Amen.

Matthew 26:6-13 "The Importance Of Knowing Jesus"

     While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper,  a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.
     When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked.  “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”
     Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me.  The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.  When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.  I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”


 Jesus had just been teaching that at the final judgment part of the criteria He will use in separating the sheep from the goats (those who actually know Him from those who do not), is based in how we have treated the poor and the hurting.  It makes sense, then, that the disciples would object to this waste of money.  The expensive perfume that was poured out on Jesus' head could have, in fact, been sold and the money used to help the poor.  The disciples were not mistaken in their assessment, except for one detail.

Even at this point when the disciples had walked with Jesus for 3 years and heard Jesus teach and knew more about Jesus than any other people possibly could have, they still did not understand who Jesus was.   And they would not (could not) fully know Jesus until after His death and resurrection.  I'm not blaming the disciple here, just pointing out the obvious.  They knew all about Jesus, but they did not know Jesus.  

The woman in this story intuitively understood something that the disciples at this time only understood in theory: Jesus was and is worthy of our worship. If they had really grasped who Jesus was, they would have known that the glory of who Jesus is and the majesty of why He was among us trumps everything.  If they really knew Jesus, they would have understood that even our treatment of the "least of these" (the poor and hurting and marginalized of society) must flow out of our love for Christ -we love because He loves us; we treat others with respect and dignity because He treats us with respect and dignity; we forgive because He forgives us.  

Lord Jesus, teach me to love You more.  Help me to know You more.  Let my love for You overflow into the lives of others who need to know You too.


 

Matthew 26:1-4 "Hearing What We Want To Hear"

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples,  “As you know, Passover begins in two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
At that same time the leading priests and elders were meeting at the residence of Caiaphas, the high priest,  plotting how to capture Jesus secretly and kill him. “But not during the Passover celebration,” they agreed, “or the people may riot.”

 
Jesus clearly understood the path before Him.  He knew what was about to happen.  He knew what the religious leaders were plotting.   He tells His disciples that He is about to be handed over to His enemies and that He will be crucified.  The disciples, somehow did not catch on. 

The book of Luke tells this story even more bluntly.  There Jesus lays it out in detail.  He says, "We are going to Jerusalem where I will be arrested and handed over to the Romans -I will be mocked and flogged and spit upon and treated shamefully and then killed, but on the third day I will rise from the dead."  Luke goes on to say that the disciples did not understand the significance of His words and failed to grasp what He was talking about. (Luke 18:31-34)


It is not that Jesus was being evasive or unclear.  Yet the disciples did not understand, and, apparently heard what they wanted to hear.  We have the ability to do that -to pick and choose what we hear.  

I regularly minister to people who are angry with God because some facet of life did not happen according to their expectations.  I have, no doubt, occasionally been guilty of this myself. This little story is a reminder that sometimes my expectations are simply a matter of me hearing what I want to hear instead of hearing what God is actually saying.  When Jesus says that we must pick up our crosses and follow Him, does that actually sound like a life of prosperity and ease?  How about when He says, "If they hated Me, they will hate you too?"  or that whoever clings to life will lose it, but whoever gives up his life for the Kingdom's sake will gain?


We hear clearly when Jesus tells us that He came to give us "abundant" life.  We don't hear as clearly when He tells us that we must die to ourselves or when He says, "If they hated Me, they will hate you too."

Of course, all of what Jesus told us is true.  In Him we have abundant life and joy and peace -and at the same time we will be hated and persecuted and misunderstood.  Both are possible -just as when Jesus said "I will be crucified, but on the third day I will rise again."  And not only are these seeming contradictions possible, they are connected.  Before Jesus could rise from the dead, He had to be killed.  Maybe before we have abundant life we have to surrender the lives we have.  Maybe before we experience the fulness of His love and joy and peace in the spiritual realm, we must experience the absence of those things in the physical.  Maybe the true Christian life is both difficult and good.


Lord, help me to lay down my expectations of what I think ought to be for the reality You have lovingly put before me.  Help me to hear You more clearly and follow You more closely.   In Your reality I find love and peace and joy in the middle of my brokenheartedness. 

Matthew 25:31-46 "Sheep & Goats"

        “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’....‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
       “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,  I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’....‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 
       “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”


 Jesus here talks about what will happen when He returns.  There will be a time of judgement.  Just as in the previous story, when the master returned and the servants had to give an account, Jesus says that when He returns there will be a time of accounting.   A surprising time; it seems that the main question Jesus will be wanting answered is not about theological correctness.  He will not ask which denomination I was a part of or where I stood on eternal security or even His sovereignty.  He will not care whether I was Reformed or Armenian or Charismatic.  The question of tongues will never come up and neither will the doctrine of election.  The burning question -the one that must be answered -the one thing Jesus says that He will use to judge me and determine whether I belong to Him or not concerns how I treated "the least of these."

I believe that when Jesus is judging me, He will likely never ask, "How much do you know?"  On the other hand, He very well might ask, "Where is your heart?"  

I know that this makes many people mad.  Christians tend to think that Jesus must not actually mean what He is suggesting.  We want it all to be about whether we said "the prayer," whether we were baptized, how we take communion, and where we go to church.  It is not that those things are unimportant to how we live and relate to God here and now.  There is no excuse, since we have Scripture readily available in dozens of translations, to not read His Word and know what it teaches and hold the best theology were are capable of understanding.  But Jesus, whom I believe to be God incarnate, said very clearly that I will be judged not by my theological understanding and knowledge; rather, by whether I visited those in prison, fed the poor, and cared for the hurting.

Lord Jesus, help me to love those that You love in the way that You love them.
 

  

Matthew 25:14-30 "Investing Wisely"

 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone.  He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip. 
“The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more.  The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more.  But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.
 “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money.  The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’ 
“The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’
 “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’
“The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’
“Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate.  I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’
“But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate,  why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’
“Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver.  To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.  Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’"

What strikes me in this story is that everyone was given something to invest.  Some were given more than others, but everyone was given a measure.  The Bible tells us that God gives every Believer spiritual gifts to invest in the Kingdom.  Some people seem to have stronger, more visible giftings.  Some can preach or sing or exercise other high-profile talents and gifts, while others have subtler gifts like the ability to listen compassionately or pray or serve others.


God's expectation for how our gifts are used correspond directly to the gifts He has given.  He only expects us to use what we have been given -we are not responsible for what we have not been given.


In this story, the one servant who does not invest what he has been given and thereby displeases his master, has the same problem that many of us have.  We often let our fears paralyze us and keep us from doing what we know we ought.  We allow fearful, negative thinking to consume us.  We allow all kinds of "what if" scenarios to play out in our minds.  The end result is that our gifts go unused.  What God could have done in and through us never gets accomplished.  And worse yet, we never learn to trust Father -which means no intimacy.



Here is the deal: we all have fears.  Everyone.  But if we want to be used of God, we must confront our fears in Jesus name.  We must step up.  We must find ways to use and exercise the spiritual giftings that Father has given us.  There is a definite "use it or lose it" principle at work.  On the other hand, gifts that get used, grow.  Whatever talents and abilities (no matter how small) that get exercised, increase.

Father, teach me to use what You have given me wisely and effectively so that Your Kingdom may grow and I may grow more in love with You.  Amen.