March 12 / Matthew 24:32-25:13

Matthew 24:32-25:13

Dear RTB’ers,

OK, Jesus leaves me confused with the following words: Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. (vv. 24:34-36) First, this generation… Did Jesus literally mean the apostles’ lifetimes? Or does this generation mean all humanity on Earth, “end times” sorts of stuff? And what does He mean by all these things? Everything that He foresaw about the fall of Jerusalem…? Or His predictions about the end times? And that day and hour… Sometime still to come? Confusing!

With it all, Jesus’ bottom line: Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. (v. 24:44) It’s how I ended yesterday’s post, “Are you ready for this?” …and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. (v. 25:10b)

Blessings.

See also:

March 11 / Matthew 24:1-31

Matthew 24:1-31

Dear RTB’ers,

Matthew 24 is a confusing chapter. Is Jesus talking about the fall of Jerusalem (which occurred in 70 AD), or is He speaking about the end times and His return, or is He speaking in general terms? Our STS companion book suggests that verses 4-14 are general principles; verses 15-28 are the siege and destruction of Jerusalem; verses 29-31 are the days of Christ’s coming; and verses 32-51 are preparation for both events. My Study Bible suggests a different split on the fall of Jerusalem and Jesus’ return, that verses 15-22 are the destruction of Jerusalem and verses 23-31 are Jesus’ return. Even 2000 years later, scholars differ on these interpretations!

Many verses worth noting today! Here are a few. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. (v. 7) Has that not already happened? And wars are still going on around the world even today! Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. (v. 9) We read about this in Acts and again, still ongoing today. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (v. 14) Here Jesus offers us a serious motivation for evangelism and missionary activity today!

Then we have Jesus’ narrative on the fall of Jerusalem, For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. (vv. 21-22) Yes, those days must have been cut short. With the Romans overwhelming them, the Jews dispersed throughout the world and are still a people and a nation today.

Finally, Jesus’ own return, For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (vv. 27, 30) Are you ready for this?

Blessings.

See also:

March 10 / Matthew 23:23-39

Matthew 23:23-39

Dear RTB’ers,

Four woes today, and for two of them Jesus focuses on the filth of the inside (of the cup and the tomb) compared to the cleanliness of the outside. And yes, He means to draw our attention to our own internals, especially (no doubt) our heart attitudes.

Jesus closes out His woes with prophetic words: Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town… (v. 34) Sadly, we see Jesus’ words played out in the book of Acts, beginning with Stephen’s stoning in Acts 7 and continuing with James and Peter and Paul and Barnabas and Silas and countless others unnamed, but all sacrificial in their service to Jesus and His name. Most of us are not asked to make these sorts of sacrifices, but we can go back to Jesus’ earlier words in today’s reading, sacrificing ourselves for …the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. (v. 23b) Let’s think on those today. Justice. Mercy. Faithfulness. What might God be asking of us, over and above what we do every day? Maybe that’s a good Lenten question…?

Blessings.

See also:

March 9 / Matthew 23:1-22

Matthew 23:1-22

Dear RTB’ers,

Two simple sentences, both fundamentals of Jesus’ teachings: But the greatest of you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. (vv. 1-2) Humble leadership. We don’t see that much. Our political leaders tend in the opposite direction! Strength! Visibility! Money! Not humble leadership. And our religious leaders… I won’t go there, but we have seen way too many sad stories of religious leaders’ failings. Frankly, I see humble leadership being played out best in the elementary school classroom. These teachers are putting themselves our there for the children, earning all too little monetary reward and all too little recognition for what they do. But they are the best example that I can think of for humble leadership.

Seven woes. Or eight? Both my ESV and NASB translations point to an eighth woe “included” as verse 14: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation. Although verse 14 is probably absent in all your Bibles (or bracketed/set off with a sidebar explanation), to me that verse 14 “woe” speaks the harshest woe of the three others that we read today. Jesus seemed to have a special place in His heart for widows and orphans, and for Jewish leaders to be taking advantage of these fragile widows, He justifiably points to greater condemnation.

So, what sticks out for me today? Personally, Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. (v. 10) I need to be careful not to think too highly of myself, not to take myself or my position too seriously. It’s the Holy Spirit who guides me; I need to be thankful and grateful for that.

And for the rest of you? Any woes or hypocrisies you’d like to divulge? Lent is a good time to get that burden off your heart!!

Blessings.

See also:

March 8 / Matthew 22:15-46

Matthew 22:15-46

Dear RTB’ers,

I asked a simple question yesterday and asked for simple answers from you. John even nudged you to respond. No one answered. Another disappointment. Trust me, there is never a “Why do I bother?” question in me. I know why I bother. But I do wonder where the rest of you are. Why do you bother? Yeah, I’m disappointed. But I have a commitment to finish out this Part 3 of our three-year program. I doubt I’ll be back next year.

So today, again we see the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and even the Herodians trying to trap Jesus. But after four encounters, Jesus again wins the day: And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask Him any more questions. (v. 46) So yes, in Matthew’s gospel there are no more challenges put to Jesus. What we will see, instead is Jesus teaching to the crowds and His disciples in the next three chapters, then Holy Week and Jesus’ Resurrection beginning in chapter 26. That’s where we’ll spend the next two weeks.

Blessings.

See also: May 12 (2021) / Matt. 22:23-46.

March 7 / Matthew 22:1-14

Matthew 22:1-14

Dear RTB’ers,

The parable of the king and the wedding feast. Two sentences stand out. First, the king speaking, “Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.” And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. (vv. 9-10a) Having seen rejections from his first two lists of invitees, the king now opens his hall to anyone his servants can find, no prior selection or invitation needed. I keep thinking about those first two lists of invitees, especially those people on the first list. They must have been important to the king to be on the list, yet they decline his invitation. Then the second list, similar people, same outcome. I suspect that Jesus had in mind those Jewish leaders who were constantly challenging Him, from the very highest to simple synagogue officials. They were summarily rejecting His offer to attend what will become the greatest wedding feast of all time. But no. No, thank you.

But then, the second sentence, the bottom line, For many are called, but few are chosen. (v. 14) Yes, we saw many called from the first two sets of invitees, who self-chose to skip the wedding. But now we’re at the wedding and one guest shows up improperly clothed and gets thrown out. In the house, at the feast, actively attending – and then BAM! It’s all over. That’s the hard part.

Jesus isn’t talking about weddings here. He’s talking about Himself, about His own invitation for us to join Him in all that He says and does. He asks only that we be properly clothed. So now I ask you – what is this proper clothing that Jesus asks us to be wearing? It would be good to hear from a number of you! What is Jesus asking of us?

Blessings.

See also: May 9 (2021) / Matt. 22:1-22.

March 6 / Matthew 21:23-46

Matthew 21:23-46

Dear RTB’ers,

When the chief priests and the Pharisees try to challenge Jesus, He always gets the upper hand. But with today’s reading, they got a triple-dose of Jesus’ upper hand! In spite of being in the their own temple area, the Jewish leaders were on weak ground in challenging Jesus’ authority. From their perspective this man was an itinerant country preacher from Galilee who has somehow “performed” (or faked?) hundreds of miracles, first in Galilee and now in Judah. When He shows up in their temple area, they want to know, basically, where He is from – that is, where did He get His schooling, who are His associates and mentors, is He synagogue-schooled or someone who just simply “showed up”? By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority? (v. 23b) Jesus answers with a question that they cannot answer and Jesus is free from their hooks.

Then Jesus sets His own hooks with two parables – the two sons and the wicked tenants. In both cases, the Jewish leaders see themselves as, first the son who fails to do his father’s bidding and second, those wicked tenants. When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest Him, they feared the crowds, because they held Him to be a prophet. (vv. 45-46)

Very simply, folks, don’t test Jesus! He is God, we are not!

Blessings.

See also:

March 5 / Matthew 20:29-21:22

Matthew 20:29-21:22

Dear RTB’ers,

I went to the VA yesterday and got tested – no flu, no COVID, no RSV. They gave me a week’s worth of antibiotics and cough suppressant. Hopefully I’ll get better soon. Thank you for your prayers!

Two lives forever changed. They’re blind, sitting by the side of the road, possibly begging, and they hear that Jesus and a crowd with Him are coming their way. He offers, they ask. And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed Him. (v. 20:34) Lives forever changed! Somehow I believe that these two men continued to follow Jesus in spite of any opposition they may have felt. Lives forever changed.

The phrase “Son of David” (one of Matthew’s favorite phrases that he attributes to Jesus) occurs four times in today’s reading. The two blind men address Jesus directly with this phrase. Then the crowds on Palm Sunday sing, “Hosanna to the Son of David”. Finally, it’s the children in the temple area calling out the same refrain. [I wonder where they learned that.] Elsewhere in Matthew it’s always the crowds (or someone therein) who refer to Him as such. In these uses they are addressing more than His parental linkage. They are referring to Him as their long-awaited Messiah. He has come, for them!

Hosanna to the Son of David!

Blessings.

See also:

March 4 / Matthew 19:23-20:28

Matthew 19:23-20:28

Dear RTB’ers,

I am not well, folks. Please pray for me.

I always react negatively when I read the “laborers in the vineyard” parable. Those hired first speaking: And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ (v. 20:11-12) Yes, I fully sympathize with those hired first, but I also know that Jesus’ reply if fully satisfactory: Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to Me? Or do you begrudge My generosity? (v. 20:15) If it were not for Jesus’ generosity (grace!) we would have no more hope for our afterlife than the Pharisees who constantly grumbled at Him!

And then the next story, the mother’s request. I find her request to be completely out of line, especially given the fact that Jesus had already chosen Peter as the leader to the twelve. And the disciples’ reaction shows that: And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. (v. 20:24) I can hear James and John replying, “It wasn’t us asking, it was Mom!”

Enough for today. Again, folks, please pray for me to get better. Thank you.

Blessings.

See also:

March 3 / Matthew 19:1-22

Matthew 19:1-22

Dear RTB’ers,

Welcome back to Matthew! I don’t know that Jeremiah is a good interlude, but it did afford us a two-week break from Matthew. So now we return, finishing Matthew over the next three weeks.

One of the last items that I posted on Matthew had to do with gospel “turning points”. I argued that we had a turning point in Matthew on our February 12 readings: “Finally, today’s first verse has Matthew’s turning point, very similar to Mark’s: From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. (Mt. 16:21) This is the first note that we get from Matthew of Jesus’ death and resurrection”. So our time as we finish Matthew will be Jesus’ earthly end and our beginning!

Today, Matthew’s account of the “rich young man” (ESV, also translated as the “rich young ruler” in the NASB). Mark has a similar story in Mark 10:17-30 while Luke has this incident in Luke 18:18-30, where both translations have the man as a “ruler”. And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” (v. 16) A simple question and a simple answer from Jesus: If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me. (v. 21) I’m sure that I asked the same question in my Catholic upbringing so many years ago, but it was phrased more like “What do I have to do to get to Heaven?” or “If I die today, will I get to Heaven?” It’s a question that I have not asked for many years now; Jesus’ death and resurrection and His sending of the Holy Spirit have changed the calculus for all of us. Still, I wonder, are any of you still asking that same question? If so, we need to chat.

Blessings.

See also: