Matthew 9:10-13 Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” This portion is from David Guzik’s commentary on Matthew 9: Many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him: We are fortunate that God calls sinners, not just “saints.” Jesus came to benefit those who understood their inherit need for Him (those who are sick, the poor in spirit, Matthew 5:3), but the proud who see no need for Jesus (Those who are well) benefit nothing from Jesus. i. It isn’t our sin that keeps us from coming to Jesus, but our pride that refuses to acknowledge our need before Him. I thought this was really insightful! Jesus accepted tax collectors and the rejects of Israeli society. He called the lowest and healed the sickest (and the dead – and you can’t get much lower than that). He sought out the people who were sinful and who needed forgiveness and love. He didn’t seek out the people who were clean and pretty and proper. I know it’s easy to think that if I’ve made mistakes that Jesus couldn’t possibly want or allow me in His presence. But that’s not how He operated when He was here. He knows my need for forgiveness and is eager for my black and sinful self to come to Him for help. It’s my pride that keeps me from coming. It’s not easy to admit I’m wrong, and it’s hard to look at the things I’ve done that I know are wrong. And Satan doesn’t help the matter because he loves to rub all that in and puff up our pride to think we don’t need forgiveness. It’s encouraging to know that Jesus didn’t keep company that was all pristine and pretty. He wasn’t afraid of getting dirty, and He loved the people that needed Him the most. I’m incredibly thankful that Jesus wasn’t afraid to stoop down and love me and forgive me, despite the messes I’ve made in my life.
Matthew 4:9 “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will only kneel down and worship me.” The context here is Jesus being tempted by Satan in the wilderness. Satan shows Jesus all the nations of the world and offers Him a shortcut to accomplishing God’s plan. This is a huge problem today. Chuck Smith says in his commentary, “Satan used a powerful and subtle temptation when he offered the earth to Jesus, because he promised a shortcut to God’s plan for the redemption of the earth through Christ.“ We fall prey to this temptation a lot (at least I do). I don’t even realize it’s happened until too late. I can think of several times in the past when I’ve taken a path that I thought would lead to what I thought was God’s will, and it ended disastrously. I bet those were those shortcut times… I don’t know about the kneeling down and worshiping part, but in taking the short and “easy” way to God’s plan, I disobeyed God and listened to Satan. I missed learning the things that God wanted me to learn, and ultimately had to go back to the start and try again. Sigh. I wish I were better at spotting this one! Maybe then I’d stop having to do things twice!
Hosea 1-2 God tells Hosea to marry a prostitute so he can be a living example of what Israel had done to God. God also asks Hosea to have children with his wife and to name them names that mean “Not loved” and “Not my people” (1:6, 9). Those are harsh names for children! Even though they are symbolic, it would hurt to be named “not loved.” Especially in a time when a name was very symbolic and important. I wonder how those children turned out. I know that God has a purpose and loves all His children, even these, but sometimes it seems very unkind to use children as symbolism in this way (not to mention how hard it must have been for Hosea to know his wife was openly sleeping around behind his back). I suppose that in the grand scheme of things it’s not much and God’s ultimate plan trumps our comfort. But it is still hard to fathom.
Ezekiel 34:31 You are my flock, the sheep of my pasture. You are my people, and I am your God,” says the Sovereign Lord. The Lord is angry at how the leaders of Israel have abused the flock, not caring for the sick or the injured or the weak. He promises that He Himself will search for and find His sheep, caring for them and healing them. And He also promises to judge between the sheep and the goats. But, finally, amidst all the promised terror and destruction, there is a glimmer of hope. God clearly loves His people, and He states several times that the purpose of his destruction is not to crush the people. He truly hopes that they will turn from their sin so He can hold back the tide of death. But he does warn them earlier that “the good works of righteous people will not save them if they turn to sin, nor will the sins of evil people destroy them if they repent and turn from their sins.” (Ez 33:12) Repent, repent, come back to Me, cries the Lord over and over. What I loved about this is the personal touch. He isn’t going to send an angel to find His people and care for them. He isn’t going to send another human. He’s coming Himself to find His sheep. Although He is the God of the universe and has untold resources, He still cares enough about us to come Himself. That’s pretty cool! You, I, everyone, we all matter that much to God! Makes me feel pretty special!
Ezekial 18:21-23 But if the wicked people turn away from all their sins and begin to obey my laws and do what is just and right, they will surely live and not die. All their past sins will be forgotten and they will live because of the righteous things they have done. Do you think, asks the Sovereign Lord, that I like to see wicked people die? Of course not! I only want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. This is the very crux of Christianity. Jesus came that we might LIVE! He doesn’t want to see His children die, but as a just God He can’t ignore it. However, if those children turn away from their wicked ways and obey God, then all the things they’ve done in the past will be wiped out and forgotten (not just forgiven). It’s a good thing that God loves us so much! I love that He has wiped out and forgotten my past. He wants us to live. He’s gone to great lengths to ensure that we can live. Why do you think He gave Israel so many chances to turn and get it right? Yes, He’s just, but He loves His children. It’s like when my children do something they shouldn’t (like using the table as a springboard to jump onto the couch). My inclination is to warn them, warn them, warn them, and finally I have to punish them. I don’t like seeing them upset, but if they don’t heed my warning and directly disobey, that’s bad, too, because they could get hurt. I think God’s like that with us. He gives lots of warning, but eventually He has to punish us (usually to keep us from hurting ourselves or others, and to remind us that what we’re doing is wrong). However, like I said, if my little ones stop trying to be superman off the table and onto the couch, then we move on. I don’t add up the different things they do wrong or punish them for something they did a while ago after they do something else. It doesn’t add up. They turned from what they were doing and obeyed. I forget about what they did and we move on together. Yeah God!
Jeremiah 3: 4-5“Yet you say to me, ‘Father, you have been my guide since the days of my youth. Surely you won’t be angry about such a little thing! Surely you can forget it!’ So you talk and keep right on doing all the evil you can.” Ouch! This made me stop and think about my life. Are there things that I do continually that I know are wrong, that I do and then just expect God to forgive me? I hear about it a lot. People think that because they have Grace and God’s forgiveness that they can go out and do anything they want. They have a license to sin. But that’s not what Grace and Forgiveness are about. If I truly have Jesus in my heart, if I’ve trusted Him with my life and allowed Him to have control over all the areas of my life, then there should be a desire to please my heavenly Father. Sure, I’ll still make mistakes, but being forgiven by God doesn’t give me the right to go out and do whatever I want. Things like that hurt God. Even Israel did that and the Lord finally allowed the consequences of their sin to catch up with them and they were sent into exile. Forgiveness came a at a high cost to Jesus. He offers it as a free gift. It’s a gift that should be cherished and not taken lightly.
Are you amazed? Not at people or things or talent or money… Are you amazed at the teaching and words of Jesus? Would you pay to go listen to Him speak for 5 hours at an arena or stadium? That was what my pastor asked… and honestly, I wasn’t sure. Ouch! I take Jesus’ words for granted, not really thinking about them that much. But, as my pastor pointed out, people traveled a long way to see and hear Jesus speak – he couldn’t have been a boring speaker (they were amazed by Him, remember). So, here are a couple of interesting points: Jesus never had to go to rabbi school to learn the scriptures… He wrote them. They were His words. I had never thought of that. No wonder He knew them so well (of course, he may have also gone to rabbi school, I don’t know)! Jesus was a master storyteller – when he spoke it was interesting. He used stories that his listeners could relate to. It would be like using illustrations with sports or iPhones or High School Musical (still haven’t seen that movie). Or talking about current issues like our storms (maybe the economy?) or marriage (gay or straight marriage?) or searching for a lost cell phone (yeah, you know you’d search for that pretty desperately… maybe even more than your wallet). He was an entertainer. His points amazed people – not because they were new, but because people hadn’t heard them before. They were old points, but the leaders of the day had gotten so caught up in the small stuff (like how far should you walk on the Sabbath, etc.) that they missed the important stuff (like loving other people). Jesus knew that Peter would betray Him. He knew before He chose him. He knew every day that Peter walked beside him. And did He treat Peter differently or poorly? No! He encouraged him and gave him amazing promises for his life (like Peter would be the rock the church would be built on). We forget (or at least I do) that God forgets. Not important stuff – He forgets our SIN. The Psalms say that they’re as far as “east is from the west” which is pretty darn far since those two points never touch. God forgives (that we remember), but He also FORGETS. It’s like a giant white board. When we are forgiven, He erases every trace of what we did and it can’t be seen at all. He doesn’t keep a list (yup, I remember when she did that… oh, and that was a big mistake, too. Man! I remember that and that, and yup, that one, too.). He erases it all. YEAH!!!! I forget this a lot, so it’s a nice reminder. So, that’s about all I can remember right now. Am I amazed? I want to be. So, I think that my next reading in my Quiet Time will have to be the red letters of Christ. I hope to be amazed once again.