Matthew
11
– 13
It’s so tough getting into long readings of the Gospels
without talking about almost every verse. Verse 11:19 caught my eye:
Then the Son of
Man appeared—He didn’t fast, as John had, but ate with sinners
and drank wine. And the people said, “This man is a glutton! He’s a
drunk! And He hangs around with tax collectors and sinners, to boot.” Well,
Wisdom will be vindicated by her actions—not by your opinions.
One
of the problems with Jesus as the Messiah is so many people had this
preconceived idea of who He should be. To most He was going to be a warrior and
great political figure to free the people from Roman rule. He broke the mold
and focused on relationships more than rituals and traditions. Don’t think we
are immune today; just look how Christians get judged when they get a six pack.
I fear Jesus could come and stand before the church today only to be rejected
again because He did not fit the mold we expected.
I
need to touch on verse 11:21 since we talked about this subject yesterday:
Woe to you,
Chorazin! And woe to you, Bethsaida! Had I gone to Tyre and Sidon and performed
miracles there, they would have repented immediately, taking on sackcloth and
ashes.
Tyre obviously returned and notice the
difference in response. In reality Jesus is for losers and not the righteous.
Follow me here, Jesus did not come to save the God loving and following people,
but the sinners. Now one can argue since NO ONE can be righteous before God, He
came for everyone, but the point is more our perceptions of ourselves.
Think about it, if we think about how we
judge others without looking inward we may be in the same place. Honestly, we
need to just live for all and focus on our own sin and not everyone else’s.
Verse 12:7 sums up how we should focus:
Do you not
understand what the prophet Hosea recorded, “I desire mercy, not
sacrifice”? If you understood that snippet of Scripture, you would not
condemn these innocent men for ostensibly breaking the law of the Sabbath.
God is not looking for us following rules
and procedures, but rather following HIM. He wants a relationship and not that
of a drinking buddy but rather a parent/child. We need to follow Him without
question or pause. And it’s simple even if you can’t read the “God prompts” yet;
just love God and each other as you love yourself.
Look at verse 12:40 and tell me if you
think this is a prophecy of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Chapter 13 is full of stuff to talk about
with 4 parables. There are hours of sermons and tons of pages on these, so I
would say carefully read and understand how they can apply to your life, even
if this is the “hundredth” time you have heard these stories.
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