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Matthew 13-14 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is Matthew 13:1-14:36.

“He put another parable before them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?” He said to them, “An enemy has done this.” So the servants said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” But he said, “No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, ‘Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn’ ” ‘ ” (Matthew 13:24-30).

I think there is something here I need to learn. I recognize that I’ve spent too much time trying to do what God says even the angels shouldn’t. I recognize of course that there is a biblical principle which Christians and churches must uphold regarding discipline within the local body of Christ (cf. I Corinthians 5:1-13). Yet, too often I’ve seen it as my personal mission to clean up God’s church. It is too easy to go on a witch hunt of McCarthy proportions (is that too cliché to say?). Too often I see it as my job to hunt down all the weeds that have somehow made their way into the church and root them out.

Perhaps this parable teaches something different. Certainly, I am to teach the truth. Certainly, congregational discipline must be practiced. Certainly, I must not equivocate on the teaching of Christ. But, is it really my job to try to figure out who all isn’t completely toeing the line? Is it really my job to try to ferret out every potential error someone, somewhere might have? Is it really my job to figure out who all the weeds are and try to get rid of them? The Master said to back off and let Him deal with it at the end.

I admit, I’m not sure where the boundaries of congregational discipline are valid versus this witch-hunt mentality, but I see that somewhere I have to back off and say that it’s just not my job to figure out who all the weeds are and instead, just get busy planting more seeds.

What do you think?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? Click the following link to add your input: Post a Comment.

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*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

1 Corinthians 4-5 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 4:1-5:13.

“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me” (I Corinthians 4:3-4).

Children constantly seek the approval of their parents. Any critical statement can send a child reeling into feelings of worthlessness and disapproval. So they constantly chase that approval. The problem is we adults often carry that little child with us. Instead of growing to maturity we continue to chase for the approval of parents. Amazingly, that doesn’t just mean our physical parents, but all kinds of people we set up in the parental place. That can be bosses, professors, neighbors, elders, brethren, spouses, even children. If any of these are critical or bring judgment on us we go into depression. But if they approve us, we feel elated.

We don’t have to call any person on earth, “Father,” in this sense. We are adults. We have grown up and put away childish things. While we certainly need to listen to others and hear them out where they disagree, after all we might learn something, we do not have to chase their approval. Their judgment doesn’t mean anything about us as a person.

Amazingly enough, our biggest enemy in this is often ourselves. We are seeking approval from self and every negative thing that doesn’t reach our ideal self causes us fits. In this mode, we either deny the good in us and see ourselves as all bad, leading to despair. Or we deny the bad in us and see ourselves as all good, leading us to stagnation.

Only the Lord is our judge. We do not have to answer to the men around us. We stand before God. Of course, what is great about that, is that “Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed” (I Corinthians 5:7). In Him, there is no condemnation (Romans 8:1). If we are in Christ, God does not judge us, rather He justifies us, sanctifies us, and glorifies us (Romans 8:28-29). God does not deny either our good or our bad. He sees it all and He works in us both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13). Therefore, we do not have to wallow in self-pity, nor can we bask in self-adulation. Rather, we humbly surrender to Him and reap the fruit of His Spirit–love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

The #1 sign of maturity is letting God be your Father and no one else.

Today, I’m going to quit obsessing about those around me who do not approve of me. It is a small matter to be judged by them. Rather, I’m simply going to surrender myself to my Lord and let Him work in me for His good.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? Click here to add your input.

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*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

Today’s reading is 2 Corinthians 4:1-5:21.

I was struck by 2 Corinthians 5:18. “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” Then 2 Corinthians 5:19 says God entrusted us with “the message of reconciliation.”

To hear some Christians today, you might get confused and think the Bible message is one of condemnation. But that wasn’t Paul’s focus. Paul’s focus was reconciliation. Certainly, the scripture condemns sin and says those who remain impenitently in sin will be condemned, but the message of the Gospel is not about all the sins for which we’ll be condemned. Rather, it is the message of Jesus through whom we can find forgiveness, reconciliation and the strength to overcome our sins.

I want to focus on that today. The message of the Old Covenant was condemnation. The Old Testament condemned everyone under sin (Galatians 3:22). Our message is that of reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ. The fact is most of us know we stand condemned. We need to hear how we can be reconciled.

Jesus is the way for that.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Revelation 21:1-22:21.

How is it that I’ve missed how Revelation and therefore, the Bible, actually ends. I’ve turned to the end of Revelation for years to point out that if we add to or take away from the book, then plagues will be added to us or our share will be taken from the tree of life. But that isn’t actually how the book ends. Now don’t misunderstand; those statements are still there and we need to take their warning. However, that isn’t how the book ends.

Go read it again.

“The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.”

Wow!

I just don’t think there is much more to say other than thank Jesus for His grace. May His grace be with you as you enter a new year. Seek to know Him this year. Seek to be in Him this year. Seek to have the righteousness that comes by faith in Him this year (Philippians 3:8-9). 

***Question: What do you plan to do in 2010 to help you grow in Christ and His grace?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. Don’t forget, we’ll be right back here on Monday starting in the book of Luke. I’ve learned a lot this year, reading through the New Testament. I plan to learn more as I keep reading. I hope you will join me.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Today’s reading is Matthew 23:1-24:51.

Left Behind and other books have had such success, many people can’t read Matthew 24:36-41 without seeing the Rapture. When I say “Rapture,” I am not using it as a synonym for Christ’s second coming. I am not referring simply to the time when the saved go to be with Jesus. I believe Jesus is coming again. I believe the saved will be taken to be with Him forever. When I say “Rapture,” I’m referring to the premillennial doctrine that claims a day is coming when all the saved will be taken off the earth and the lost will be “left behind” on earth to endure a period of tribulation. As far as I can see, there is actually no biblical support for the idea that when Jesus returns and takes the saved to be with Him forever that He’ll leave anyone behind on earth to endure tribulation or receive another chance to be saved. Matthew 24:36-41 is no exception.

First, note to what this judgment is compared in Matthew 24:38-39. The judgment described in this chapter is compared to the days of Noah. Did you happen to notice who was taken in that judgment? Not the saved. The saved were left behind. The worldly and unrighteous were the ones that were taken. This is a picture of judgment on the lost, not a picture of removing the saved.

Second, trying to think like a first century reader who was well aware of what national and city sieges were like, we get a completely different picture. The taken and left behind don’t refer to the wicked taken and the righteous left behind or vice versa. It actually presents a great picture of a raiding horde as it approaches a city. When they drive their force through the field, hacking and chopping at all in their path, one will be killed, another will be missed. As they pillage the mills, one woman may be grabbed and hauled off for the soldiers pleasure while another is simply left behind. That is exactly the way a raiding Roman horde would have acted. Jesus is saying, if you stay in Jerusalem, you may get lucky. But then again, maybe not. One will be killed or captured and another won’t. It will be the luck of the draw.

Third, look at the greater context. Back in Matthew 24:15-21 a picture completely different from the Rapture is given. When all these events occur, Jesus tells His followers to flee immediately. If they are on the housetop, they shouldn’t even go back into the house to pack. They should rather run from housetop to housetop out of the city. If they are in the field, they should not go back to get their cloak. They should just run. Those who are in Judea should flee to the mountains. Jesus said it will be a bad day for pregnant and nursing mothers in that day. Why? Because it will be hard for them to flee quickly. Then He says pray that it won’t be in the winter or on the Sabbath. Why? Once again, it will be hard to flee at those times. Please be honest with this passage, Jesus is not giving instructions to folks who won’t believe Him and get left behind. He is giving instructions to His followers about what to do when this day comes.

Think about the picture here? Does this sound like an instantaneous moment in which the saved are just taken? No, it sounds like something occurring for which the saved need to pay attention because they will be able to flee and avoid it. But if they want to escape, they have to act quickly. They have to get on the ball. Let me ask, if the Rapture scenario is what is being presented, why would it matter if it happened on a Saturday or in the winter? Why would it matter if the person was pregnant or nursing? None of this would matter because the Rapture scenario does not present a need to flee. It will just happen and the saints will be gone, whether it is winter, Sabbath, or any day, whether the person is pregnant, nursing, old, young. 

The picture here is not Rapture. It is national judgment on Judea. In AD 70, the Romans attacked Jerusalem with finality, destroying it and the temple. As they approached and raided the city many were killed, some few by luck of the draw survived. However, the Christians who remembered the message of Jesus, saw the Roman “eagles” coming (cf. Matthew 24:28), they got out of dodge. They fled, just like Jesus had said. They were saved from the tribulation during the time of this destruction. They were saved from God’s wrath then.

I’m sorry, I don’t care how you cut it, you just can’t get Rapture from Matthew 24.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?