Matthew 6:1-15

“Notice what you notice.” Over the past few weeks we have seen Jesus chastising “the scribes and the Pharisees”. In today’s reading He doesn’t mention them (by name); instead His words are directed at hypocrites and Gentiles. My Study Bible says that Matthew mentions hypocrites 13 times, while Mark and Luke use that word only five times combined. No doubt, His hypocrites were likely the scribes and the Pharisees!

But another intrigue is the mention of the Gentiles: And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words (v. 7). I tried looking online to see more about Matthew’s take on the Gentiles, knowing that he was writing mostly to a Jewish audience. I couldn’t find much, except for two seemingly contradictory sentences. In Mt. 10:6 Jesus instructs His disciples to Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. This stands in direct contrast to Jesus’ instruction in Matthew’s famous closing (Mt. 28:16-20) where Jesus directs his followers to make disciples of all nations. So was this missional change a result of Jesus’ rejection by the Jewish authorities? We saw earlier in Luke 4 that Jesus had a positive predisposition toward the Gentiles that had his Jewish audience “filled with rage”. So now another theme to watch for – Jesus and the Gentiles. Intriguing!

Slava Bohu!

Luke 6:20-36

“Notice what you notice.” I’m sure I’ve seen it before, but… And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them (v. 31). It doesn’t read the same as the more familiar “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In fact, I had to repeat that line in my reading to make sure that it was the same saying. For me, that quote is one of those “Is that in the Bible?” quotes? Or is that Shakespeare? Or Poor Richard’s Almanac? And it is repeated in Matthew (7:12). It’s always nice to read something in Scripture that is so oft-quoted in society.

Today’s Luke reading could have been broken into two parts to line up better with Matthew. Luke’s Beatitudes and Woes (vv. 20-26) line up with Matthew’s Beatitudes (5:1-12), while Luke’s “Love Your Enemies” section (vv. 27-36) expands on Matthew’s similar section (5:43-48). Matthew, however, has 30 verses in between that Luke picks up on (in part) in other sections. For both, Matthew’s “Sermon on the Mount” goes on for two more chapters, while Luke’s much shorter “Sermon on the Plain” continues only for another 13 verses. So they both have more to say.

It’s intriguing that Matthew lists 8 Beatitudes and no Woes, while Luke lists four Blessings and matches those up with four Woes. As we discussed earlier today, many readers expect that both “Sermons” are compilations of what Jesus said on a number of occasions in His time of preaching. Matthew and Luke simply recall and report them differently.

So much more that we could say…

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 5:43-48

“Notice what you notice.” Another day of “Jesus said it, how can I disagree?”! Today’s first verse says You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. I wondered about the “hate your enemy” part; I couldn’t recall ever seeing that. Then one of my Study Bibles had a note – that phrase is found nowhere in the OT. I guess it must have been common usage in Jesus’ time.

In verse 46 Jesus reminds us that the sun and rain do not discriminate between the evil and the good. Even beyond that, we know in our hearts that God loves each and every one of His children, both the evil and the good. So should we also! However, it is all too common within my soul that I feel “scorn” toward certain people, for who they are or what they’ve done. Jesus would say that I should pray for them all the more. How does one do that when, in reality, I wish the worst for them instead of the best? Wretched man that I am… (Romans 7:24).

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 5:33-42

“Notice what you notice.” I find it harder to find something to say about the readings when it is Jesus’ straightforward teaching. No action, no parables, just speech. And we certainly don’t want to disagree with whatever Jesus says, so mostly we nod and try to get at any deeper meaning.

So the first half of today’s reading, yeah, makes sense. Tell the truth, always. No need to swear on your mother’s grave, just be a man/woman of your word. And if you’re in court and place your hand on the Bible and swear to “tell the truth…”, just do it, no problem. Except we see in our current newscasts that liars lie. Cohen admits to lying earlier, now wants us to believe him. Democrats say “Yeah, finally, the truth will out!” Republicans scream, “He’s a convicted liar, he’s still lying.” Manafort agrees to give more information if the prosecution will go lenient on him. Then he lies again about what transpired. Who or what to believe??!!

So, the second half of today’s reading… Really? Jesus, are we supposed to take Your words literally? Turn the other cheek? (That is, don’t defend yourself?) Meet “demands” with excessive compliance? Maybe even pay more taxes than what is required of us? Give freely to beggars and borrowers? These are some hard words!

What is our responsibility in today’s world, when we in the USA have so much and so many in the world have so little? All of these are “brothers or sisters for whom Christ died” (I Corinthians 8:11, slightly edited and out of its original context). No doubt ours is a generous congregation – as Treasurer I see that more than others, parishioners giving liberally and sacrificially. Could we do more? Yes. Should we do more? That’s a harder answer. Our Men’s Group has wrestled with this question time and again – what is our responsibility with our finances? What is our responsibility for our own futures and that of our children vs. our responsibility toward generosity for the needy here and around the world? Jesus makes us think!

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 5:27-32

“Notice what you notice.” I seldom can read today’s adultery passage without recalling Jimmy Carter’s (ill-advised) Playboy magazine interview during the 1976 election when he admitted to “lust in my heart”. He got a lot of grief for that, especially from people within his evangelical Baptist background. But it was also widely suggested that so many of the critics were probably equally guilty. One of my study Bibles suggested that “lust” was more than simply admiring someone beautiful in form and feature (my words), that “lust” had deeper, even sinful thoughts, much more than “just looking”. A natural outgrowth of “lust in my heart” is pornography – a problem that Pastor David suggests is much more common than any of us would like to admit. For all of us, much better to simply Rejoice in the wife of your youth (Proverbs 5:18).

As to the adultery passage, Matthew is the only Gospel that allows for the “sexual immorality” clause. See Mark 10:2-12 and Luke 16:18. Here’s a good website that puts them all together: https://www.westmont.edu/~fisk/Lecture%20Outlines/DivorceAndRemarriageInTheGospels.htm . Divorce has become so easy in civil society, and the church has all to easily accommodated society in this regard. Carol and I have been blessed with a happy marriage; not everyone has. But I do believe that working together through some tough times can help troubled couples overcome their differences (to a large extent, if not fully), such that divorce becomes less an issue. I watched my dad and stepmother “battle” each other for 15+ years before they really settled down into a love relationship for their last few years together. And as I noted yesterday, Carol and I accommodated a non- or low-paying tenant for quite some time, hoping that we could lessen the financial battles they were facing. Although they could not battle through it, I’m convinced that we took the right road – even though we probably stayed on that road too long!

I’ve always loved Jesus’ contrasting of the two phrases, “You have heard it said…” and “But I say unto you…”. That pairing occurs six times in Matthew’s chapter 5, and twice today. When He says “But I say…” I feel like He really means it and whatever follows, you can “take it to the bank”! The closest other Gospels come to this pairing is Luke 6:27, But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you…, which obviously has the second half of the pairing, but not the first.

Enough for today.

Blessings!

Matthew 5:21-26

“Notice what you notice.” After I read two other translations from hard-back Bibles, I use BibleGateway.com online to look up the daily passage in our church’s preferred ESV translation. In that online rendition, today’s reading is entitled “anger”, tomorrow’s is “lust” and Friday’s reading is “divorce”. Some very timely topics…!! Just wondering how personal those first two might get…!! (Thankfully I get to take a pass on the divorce topic.)

In thinking about taking an adversary to court, Carol and I have been quite fortunate in having had only four evictions in 26+ years of renting houses and apartments. Case #1 and Case #2 went to court and we won both cases. With Case #3 we were just glad to cut our losses and be rid of the penniless tenant. And Case #4 was settled mostly amicably, with the evicted tenants still making payments to settle a major financial gap. In all four cases, we had disgusting, heartbreaking messes to clean up.

I’m reflecting on how far we went with each tenant and why two ended up in court. Could we have been more lenient? Was there room for mercy on our part? The answer to both questions is “no”. Case #1 was a horrific situation, a woman with a history of rental abuse who thought that liberal tenancy laws would protect her. There was no possibility for “coming to terms” before going to court. Carol can best give you the sorry details – an interesting story in itself! We were fortunate to get by with as little loss as we suffered.

Case #2 was a hard-nosed, stubborn, lazy young man who thought his “connections” were enough to win a court battle. They were not. He ended up making two years of court-appointed payments and the debt (including our legal fees) was cleared. And much to our surprise, a few years later he was the one who sought reconciliation with us, fully admitting that he had wronged us and that we had been right to take the issue to court. He had learned from his mistake.

As mentioned already, Case #3 was a lost cause. But Case #4 was interesting, brought on by family and financial problems that resulted in a couple divorcing. We held off on eviction and carried them for quite some time, hoping that our patience on the financial end could help save their marriage. But there were deeply-rooted problems that could not be overcome. In the end we couldn’t save the marriage, but our patience has kept us on friendly relations.

So what to learn from all this? Jesus is correct – no surprise there! Be reconciled, if possible; come to terms quickly with your adversary, if possible; and leave court as a last resort. I’ll be happy to be out of the rental business!

Blessings!

Matthew 5:13-20

“Notice what you notice.” For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven (v. 20). I’ve always read this verse with a bit of trepidation for my own soul, with questions of “What does righteousness mean?” or “What is the target level that I want to exceed (by a lot!)?”. It gets especially challenging when I think of how Jesus had His focus on the Spirit of the Law vs. the Letter of the Law – and how much I might be adjusting my own thinking if the “letter of the law” doesn’t quite suit me. So yeah, this verse has always “tormented” me.

HOWEVER, something new came to me today – my concern for the scribes and Pharisees! Suppose we measure righteousness on a 10-scale and we put the scribes and Pharisees at an overall 3. Some might be 4s and 5s, others 1s and 2s – some even like Nicodemus could even be 7 or 8. But in verse 20 Jesus has set a bar somewhere, whether it be a 3.1 or 5.7 or 8.2 – wherever! And He has lumped the scribes and Pharisees into a group short of that bar. That is, they will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And that’s tragic!

All of this calls to mind another section of Scripture: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21-23). Scary! Lord, Lord, do You know me…?

Blessings!

Matthew 5:1-12

“Notice what you notice.” First thoughts… I always imagined the Sermon on the Mount as being a sermon to a crowd below, a crowd like in the “Feeding of the 5000”. In fact the end of the sermon notes that the crowds were astonished at his teaching (Mt.7:28). However, today’s first two verses have Jesus teaching only his disciples. Not a big item.

There has long been controversy among scholars as to whether there was in fact one long sermon or whether this Sermon on the Mount was a compilation of Jesus’ teachings. I lean toward the latter – in my earthly self, I wonder how Matthew could have captured that entire sermon (110 verses) without having Jesus’ handwritten notes! Perfect recall…??!!

I’m trying somehow to break down the rewards for these blessings. So here’s a shot. First, three “short-term” rewards: they shall be comforted (v. 4), they shall be satisfied (v. 6), they shall receive mercy (v. 7). Then there are three longer term: they shall inherit the earth (v. 5), they shall see God (v. 8), they shall be called sons of God (v. 9). Finally there are three related to our heavenly reward: theirs is the kingdom of heaven (v. 3, 10) and your reward is great in heaven (v. 12). But if you were to ask me whether the rewards line up “equitably” with the blessedness condition, I’m at a loss to say! Except that the greatest rewards lie with the poor in spirit (v. 3) and those who are persecuted for Jesus’ sake (vv. 10-12).

Be thankful for the blessings. Later we get the woes!!

Slava Bohu!

Luke 6:12-19

“Notice what you notice.” Two things struck me this morning and they are strikingly interconnected. At the beginning of our reading we see that …all night He continued in prayer to God (v. 12). Then at the end of this section we read that power came out from Him and He healed them all (v. 19). Prayer in, power out. A really good combination to follow!

I recall a time years ago, probably within the first ten years of our marriage, when we felt like we were no longer growing spiritually. We had left a powerful church in Virginia and moved to Texas – to a good church, but not nearly as strong. Plus we had left behind a strong “cell group” from the University of Maryland that had been strength and nourishment for us for years. So naturally we figured that our spiritual growth might be lacking. Then I realized something else: we had young children, the oldest maybe six years old. It dawned on me that we were pouring so much of ourselves into our kids that we were feeling ourselves being drained. I don’t recall much of what we did in particular to “grow” out of that condition; the one thing that I do recall was Carol joining what became a three-year study of Mark’s Gospel. Eventually the kids did their own growing and we moved on. I’m guessing that a major prayer effort on our part back then could have made a big difference in that spiritual downturn. Prayer in, power out!

Slava Bohu!

Mark 3:7-19

“Notice what you notice.” Sorry folks, but I’m really loving the geography! Recent readings have had Jesus and His followers in Capernaum and none of our readings have moved them on to another location, so we can imagine that they are still in Capernaum – which is a seaside city at the very top of the Sea of Galilee. Today’s reading has a horde of people pressing in on Jesus, such that He finds it necessary to preach with His back to the sea and with a boat ready to rescue Him from the crowd should it become an unruly situation (vv. 7, 9). Just because of my infatuation with geography, I am so much more enmeshed in the story – I can be in that crowd pressing in on Jesus or with His disciples ready to rescue Him and take Him out to sea. What a feeling! GLORY!

But beyond that little bit of micro-geography, look at the bigger picture, at where the crowds are coming from. Galilee and “beyond the Jordan” are probably nearby, but Jerusalem and other locations, as we already know, are in Judea, some 60-100 miles distant. Tyre and Sidon are northwest of Capernaum, maybe 30-40 miles “as the crow flies”. Idumea is a region even further south of Judea, just below Hebron (one of David’s host cities when he was on the run), so that distance could be well over 100 miles! What a fame He is getting!

But it seems like a fame that He does not want: And he strictly ordered them not to make him known (v. 12). What He does want from the crowd and from us today is not our fascination with His healings but our faithfulness to His teachings. He loves us more for that “still small Spirit” within us than for all the glory and praise we could ever get from those around us. Let’s not press in on Jesus for our needs, but humbly seek Him for His love.

Slava Bohu!