Matthew 17:9-13 A Love Story!

Matthew 17:9-13  As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”  The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”  Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things.  But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished.  In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”  Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

In this focus Jesus refers to John the Baptist as Elijah in the last days.  Peter also presents this theme of the last days in their time.  These people are not drunk, as you suppose.  It’s only nine in the morning!  No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  (Acts 2:15-16)  In God’s timeless existence, last days can mean many things, but in today’s verses the door to the last days opens to the world.  The Messiah had come not to judge or to condemn the world, but to set the world free from sin and death.  From the wilderness, John the Baptist called out to the Jewish people to repent, for the kingdom of God was at hand.  He was preparing the people to seek God with all their hearts, giving their lives over to God, for their salvation was nigh.  He called the people to the altar of God in repentance.  People from all over came to John to be baptized in the river Jordan.  They were turning to God from a worldly, self-interested attitude.  When they asked John how they could prove to God that they were his people devoted to him, John told them to display the love of God in their lives.  Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.  (Luke 3:11)  Of course, John’s major task was to prepare the people to accept Jesus’ teachings.  Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.  Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low.  The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.  And all people will see God’s salvation.  (Luke 3:4-6)  John’s mission to prepare the way was successful, for thousands followed Jesus through Israel, listening attentively to his teachings and watching with awe his miracles.  Many thought of him as the Messiah, the One to deliver them from the hands of their enemies.  When Jesus entered Jerusalem, many would throw their cloaks before his colt’s feet.  Others would place palm branches before him, honoring him as their coming king.  John’s preaching of repentance and turning their lives to God, prepped people to receive Jesus as the Messiah, the man of Good News.  In Jesus, they saw God’s salvation.  Of course by the time of the transfiguration, John’s life had already been taken by Herod to please his wife who hated John’s proclamation that she and Herod were living in sin.  Herod reluctantly had John beheaded.  The disciples knew of John’s demise but did not know of his important role in preparing the way for Jesus.  Jesus’ talk of his imminent death confused the disciples about Jesus’ role as Israel’s deliverer from its enemies.  If Jesus was the Messiah, the personification of the Good News, where was Elijah in their time?  The teachers of the law said Elijah must come first?  Yet they heard the voice of God designate Jesus as the One they should hear.  If that was so, He was truly the Anointed One.  What about Elijah?  They knew of Malachi’s declaration that Elijah would precede the Lord’s coming.  “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.  He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”  (Malachi 4:5-6)  Of course, Jesus came and fulfilled the purpose of Elijah; he dignified the position of a child.  He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them.  And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.  (Matthew 18:3-5)  This illustrated that the kingdom of heaven was at hand if people turned their hearts towards God as little children.  Jesus answered his disciples inquiry about Elijah by saying, To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things.  But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished.  They knew of John’s death, so they now knew Jesus was talking about John the Baptist.  

We have been in the last days for over two thousand years.  We have seen the mission of Elijah to introduce the Messiah as John the Baptist’s mission.  Jesus tells us that John prepared the way for his ministry.  John lived in the wilderness, away from the clutter of the world.  His days in the wilderness were probably quiet ones, alone with God.  God prepared his heart to know his mission in life.  He was not an attractive person in the natural, for he lived without the amenities in life.  John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist.  His food was locusts and wild honey.  (John 3:4)  But he was the voice of God in that society.  We who live in this society rarely experience desert dwelling.  The wilderness usually is not part of our lives, for we live with devices that always demand our attention.  When we feel bored, we do not delve into the voice of God, for we monitor our electronic devises or we listen to voices on the radio or television.  We do not like wilderness dwelling; we will prevent in every way possible being alone with God.  Our comfort comes from our activity, our minds buzzing, our interactions thrashing through our brains.  In that way we lose the purpose for our lives, we lose God in our minds, and the still small voice of God is drummed out with the noise of the world.  This is what we like; we seek for this kind of living.  To be quiet before God is not to our liking.  But we see in the Old and in the New Testament, God called people out of sparse landscapes.  Jesus went into the wilderness to hear God and to wrestle with the devil about the truth of God and his mission on Earth.  We see Elijah driven into the wilderness out of fear of Ahab and Jezebel.  They had threatened him with death.  In the wilderness, he was fed by ravens day and night, and he drank from a small brook during that time of drought.  But finally, God allowed the brook to dry up, pushing him back into civilization.  But once back, he performed mighty miracles, even bringing a boy back to life.  We see Moses greeted by God through a burning bush in the wilderness.  We see the law given to a people in the wilderness who were fed by God as John the Baptist and Elijah were fed by God.  The law, the way back to God, was given to a whole nation in the wilderness.  In our day the wilderness is a forsaken land in our lives.  We do not want it, we run from it.  We tell God that we have only one life to live: let us live it, eating, drinking, and being merry.  But for us Christians, sometimes the wilderness creeps back into our lives through another door.  As with Paul, sickness might lay heavily upon us, but God is saying, hear my voice, know your mission.  Paul heard the Lord say to him in his wilderness, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.  (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)  In his weakness, John ate honey and locusts; Elijah was fed by ravens and drank from a small brook; the children of Israel existed on manna and quail.  In their weakness, unable to determine their own destiny, they were dependent on the Lord’s strong right arm.  In their weakness, they could boast of God’s work and his strength.  If you are experiencing hardships, persecution or difficulties, know the voice of God is speaking to you.  God asks you in the solitude of his voice to run to him—his comfort and strength comes from that voice.  

The disciples did not know the mystery of God, hidden from man from the beginning: his plan to rescue men made in his image from eternal judgment and death.  Jesus knew He was the center of God’s rescue plan.  His death would be required.  God’s Son would pay the price for human’s inability to be righteous, perfect, eternal.  For only perfection will enter eternity in God’s presence.  Hidden IN CHRIST, we become perfect as God is perfect.  Our souls will line up with God’s holiness.  There is no other way to eternity, no other door, no other answer: only Christ and his righteousness in us.  He told the disciples: Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.  This plan of God to rescue mankind was not to be revealed until after He died.  He was not to be saved from death by the efforts of men marshaled together to prevent people from killing him.  He called Peter’s plan to protect him from death to be Satan’s plan.  God had just revealed to these three devoted disciples that Jesus was his beloved Son.  They had this idea bouncing around in their heads.  If Jesus is God’s Son, why not bring all things under Jesus’ feet?  Why talk about death?  This confused the disciples, for they were still stuck, trying to be good by following the law and the Jewish traditions.  For them, Jesus would just achieve all things written down in the Old Testament.  Israel would be blessed; the Jewish people would take their rightful place as the chosen of God, above all other people of the world.  But God’s plan was greater than their conception of it.  God’s plan was the covenant of Noah.  He would not destroy man again by water, but He would save their souls by baptizing them in his own Spirit.  They would become children of the living God, perfect in every way.  Jesus had to die to take their judgment upon his shoulders.  Jesus became THE WAY to God.  His death, his resurrection, his works would appease the wrath of God on sin.  John cried out, repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.  Jesus ushered in the Kingdom with his death and resurrection.  The disciples who would observe his completed work and his ascension would give their lives for this mystery plan of God, hidden in the heart of God from the beginning of time.  This plan was a plan of love.  Jesus’ life is a love story; Paul’s life is a love story.  Everyone of us who seeks God first is a love story.  No matter what, even in our weaknesses, our times in the wilderness, we will seek God, knowing God intends to do what He will do: save the world from damnation.  And to each one of us around the breakfast table, He is saying to us, “I have work for you to do.”  Let us be John the Baptist in our time.  Prepare the way of the Lord.  Amen!  

Matthew 17:1-8 Don't Be Afraid!

Matthew 17:1-8  After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.  There he was transfigured before them.  His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.  Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.  Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.  If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.  Listen to him!”  When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified.  But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.”  When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

Often people try to find another way to God other than through Jesus and him crucified.  But this scripture above reveals clearly the One we should hear: This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.  Listen to him!  Peter was reflecting upon his upbringing as a good Jewish boy when he said to Jesus, If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.  But God would have none of that kind of thinking even though Moses and Elijah were powerful instruments in his hand.  Moses led a whole nation out of slavery, following God’s words and directions.  Moses told God he would not lead the Jewish people anywhere without God going with him.  Therefore, God led Moses through the wilderness and to the Promised Land.  But even though he was faithful to God and knew God’s presence, he was less than Jesus the Christ.  Elijah challenged the thrones of the secular world and the religious elite of the world.  His words caused a famine in Israel during Ahab’s rule.  Now Elijah the Tishbite was a prophet from the settlers in Gilead. “I serve the Lord, the God of Israel,” Elijah said to Ahab. “As surely as the Lord lives, no rain or dew will fall during the next few years unless I command it.”  (1 King 17:1)  Elijah, through his faithfulness to God and his words, exposed the priests of Baal as powerless frauds.  He had the priests of Baal pour water on the altar where a sacrificial bull lay.  They drenched the sacrifice and the altar three times with water.  Yet, when Elijah called upon the Lord to consume the sacrifice with fire, God answered.  Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.  (1 King 18:38)  Moses and Elijah were men of God, followers of God’s will, but their obedience to God and their significance as instruments of God paled in comparison to Jesus’ position with God. Listen to him!  On the mountaintop, the three disciples were put on notice that no one who ever walked this earth could compare with God’s only begotten Son.  The great men of old could be revered, but they could never be considered equal to Jesus.  Jesus is the plan of God to bring eternal life to the souls of men.  He alone must be listened to for eternal life is resident IN HIM alone.  

Jesus led the three disciples up the mountain to see an event that would captivate their hearts for as long as they lived.  Many years later we read Peter’s words about that miraculous happening.  For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.  He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”  We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.  (2 Peter 1:16-18)  Jesus did not lead just one disciple to see the transfiguration, but three.  Peter said, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.  The three together could testify to what they saw and heard.  From the mouths of two or three witnesses, one could believe such a story, so we see Jesus leading three men up the mountain to hear the voice of God.  What they saw and heard terrified them.  They could not place it within the realm of their natural lives, even though they previously had seen Jesus’ supernatural powers.  When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified.  They knew Jesus as a miracle worker.  They knew his teachings were resplendent with wisdom and knowledge, but this event went too far into the supernatural for their minds to comprehend.  This time they were not just wondering about this man who could teach with great wisdom, heal, calm the sea and knock down the waves—they were terrified by what they saw and heard.  This was an experience far beyond their fleshly awareness of the reality of their lives, of what is possible in life.  Jesus said to them, “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.”  These three young men had strong hearts, for they did not die in a faint.  They lived, but now with an event in their minds that they could not process in the world of their flesh.  But Jesus reassured them, I am with you, Don’t be afraid.  After this event, when Jesus would ask, Who do people say I am?  The three disciples could not answer as the people might: Ezekiel, Elijah or even Moses.  Peter, James and John knew the transfiguration of Jesus had changed their perspective of the man, Jesus, forever.  Peter could emphatically exclaim on Pentecost after Jesus’ resurrection: Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.  (Acts 2:36)  The transfiguration assured the three that Jesus was much more than just another holy man.  He was the Lord, the Son of God, the Messiah.  He was the Eternal One, the Word of God, who rescues people from their finite existence of darkness and sin.  Jesus’ face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.  They knew now that Jesus was totally different from anyone who had ever walked this world.  The transfiguration revealed him as God’s Son: the Light of the World.  They had experienced the transfiguration and had seen it with their own eyes.  

As with the resurrection, this event is hard to conceptualize.  How could such a thing occur?  But the three witnesses of this happening gave their lives for these three words: Listen to him!  Two of them died violently.  John lived on, but under great duress because of his witness for Christ.  The revelation of Jesus as Lord transformed their hearts from fleshly reasoning to a spiritual awareness that God was doing a new thing in their day.  As Jesus’ retinue, his companions, and sometimes his body guards, they knew they were an integral part of this purpose of God to reveal Jesus as his Son and as the holder of eternal life.  Eternity with God was possible IN CHRIST JESUS.  They gave their all for him.  At the scene of transfiguration, Jesus touched them.  “Get up,”  he said.  “Don’t be afraid.  Now, 2,000 years later we often need Jesus to come to us and touch us when we are afraid of moving on in life.  Jesus told his disciples, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.  For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”  (Acts 1:4-5)  Jesus was there on the day of transfiguration: He was near to them; He could walk over to them, tell them not to be afraid, for He was with them.  The disciples had terror in their hearts for the reality of Jesus was hitting home with them.  He was not just a divine man; the voice from heaven said, This is my Son.  This same voice is active in our world, in the hearts of believers. The transfiguration is not part of our lives, but something greater than a physical happening on a mountain is in our hearts: the presence of the Holy Spirit.  His voice is the only voice that can comfort the believer completely.  When terror affects us, we need to hear him say in his still quiet voice, daughter, son, I am with you.  Get up, you are mine, and I will never leave you.  This precious voice is with us in this Thanksgiving week.  He is far more understanding of us than any human being.  He is closer to us than any brother or sister, even though we share their DNA.  Jesus told his disciples, do not go alone, wandering into the countryside to find affection and a reason for living.  Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised.  He will give you the reason for living.  The enlightenment of the transfiguration will be in your hearts constantly.  You will know God and his voice because He, the Spirit, will speak God’s words to you.  This precious presence of the Spirit will cause us to live with passion, serving God in everything we do or say.  God is alive, alive in us!  His voice is not from the clouds, but deep inside of us.  Jesus could comfort these three men with his touch and then with his words.  But right now, God’s touch and comfort are present with all believers.  We who trust in Jesus as our righteousness have the privilege to know God intimately.  Jesus made us right with God.  I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.  For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.  (Philippians 3:9 NLT)  Breakfast companions, today you have more stability in your life than the disciples had in their lives after they came down from the mountaintop.  When Jesus was arrested, they all fled.  No voice of God in their hearts, just the reality of the circumstance of the Master being in the hands of the Jewish elite, who intended to kill him.  They fled, only a few watched the crucifixion.  No comforter there, no advocate there, no counselor there, just the scene of Jesus’ death.  But resurrection did occur, and to the disciples who were fishing on the Sea of Galilee.  Jesus called out to them to come and have breakfast with him.  He comforted them with his presence.  We who live today, eat this breakfast together, knowing the Spirit of God is with us as we partake.  He lives IN US.  Sorrow will happen, troubles will occur, difficulties will come in life, but the Spirit will always be with us to comfort, advocate, and counsel us.  We do not live in one day of transfiguration, but every day is a transfiguration for us.  Every day God says, THIS IS MY SON, WHOM I LOVE; WITH HIM I AM WELL PLEASED.  LISTEN TO HIM!         

Matthew 16:24-28 Follow Me!

Matthew 16:24-28  Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.  What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?  Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?  For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.  Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

The above words are said right after Jesus rebukes Peter for his intensions to provide Jesus a way to escape the cross.  Peter’s plan was a good one, to defend Jesus, allowing him to escape the hands of his enemies and maybe to fulfill what Peter envisioned, for Jesus to be placed on the throne of Israel.  But Jesus said, this is a scheme conceived in the pit of Hell.  Peter, “You are trying to win the world with this idea.”  Through force or through conniving, you want to thwart God’s purpose for me.  “Get behind me Satan.”  Peter’s hope had already been presented to Jesus in the wilderness by Satan himself.  Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.  “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”  Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan!  For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”  (Matthew 4:8-10)  Peter, a man who had seen thousands thronging Jesus, probably held in his mind a better future for Jesus than his immediate death.  Peter, knowing the popularity of Jesus with the common people, probably held pretensions of himself being someone important in the future.  He was a close friend of Jesus, one of his twelve disciples.  Jesus Christ was powerful, a miraculous healer, and one who even controlled nature.  Obviously, this man of divinity would someday rule Israel, but in the immediate future He must escape the hands of the wicked elite.  Peter probably thought that protecting Jesus from the powerful was a possibility if the people rose up in anger to shield Jesus from his enemies.  Then when Jesus took his rightful place as ruler, Peter would receive the honor due to him as Jesus’ disciple.  Who would be more important than he and his fellow disciple when Jesus ruled the kingdom of Israel.  But the Lord’s talk of death threatened Peter’s assumptions for the future for Jesus and himself.  For him, Jesus was destined for greatness, not death.  Through his own strength and persuasiveness, he could implement a better plan for Jesus’ future.  But Jesus quickly dispels all of his disciples of the idea of winning the world for themselves by following him. Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.  Jesus adjusts their vision of life and its importance with these few words.  You are to give your lives away to fulfill my mission of winning eternal life for people; this is my purpose for being sent here by my Father God.  Any other purpose that you hold will end with your life being discarded and worthless.  Later, we find Judas hanging himself because he had another path for his life, outside of serving the Lord.  His body ended up in a burial place for foreigners, not for those close to God.  Jesus emphasizes to his disciples, you must follow me, carrying the cross of doing my will at all times.  Your life must not be held dear, for it is to be a living sacrifice.  That is the cross.  If you desire a life significant to God, flee your fleshly desires to be something for God and follow me.  By following me, you will not escape troubles and persecutions that come with life, but in all you endure, I will be there.  Do you now believe?” Jesus replied.  “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home.  You will leave me all alone.  Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.  I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”  (John 16:3-33)  Paul carries on with this theme of the cross by telling Timothy.  “You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured.  Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.  In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”  (2 Timothy 3:10-13)  Paul ends his life under the duress and persecution of the Romans.  He was poured out like water on the altar of sacrifices.  And his life, like all others who are martyrs or are servants of Jesus, was a sweet aroma to God.  Eventually, God will repay all the injustices done to his beloved people.

What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?  Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?  John tells us, Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.  (1 John 2:15)  Peter’s intentions were good: who would not want to save Jesus from the cross?  All of us would want to do that.  Peter even said he was willing to die for the Lord.  He was willing to give his life for the Lord, but his purpose of saving Jesus from death was not God’s will.  Peter had his own reasons for saving Jesus from death, and he probably thought they were good, but Jesus in addressing his apostles told them if their reason for wanting to live was based on winning something in this world, then their idea of life was wrong.  If they wanted to gain something from this world: money, fame, recognition, or the like, their purpose of life was tinsel-bound, not eternally sound.  What is sound is living your life for God, for He alone gives eternal life.  Jesus said we must be born again.  Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.  (John 3:3)  Otherwise, the life we are living now in the flesh is not capable of passing into the eternal kingdom of God.  If we then live only for this world, escaping the process of being born again, our lives will end up without knowing God and his purpose for this transitory existence we have in the flesh.  Jesus says, What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?  Why would you orient your whole life to winning the world when it is so temporary and eventually unsatisfying?  This self-serving kind of life is not God’s desire for your life, rather it is the blueprint of Satan.  When Jesus in the wilderness was confronted with this self-serving way to live, He said, Away from me, Satan!  The devil’s desire was for Jesus to give his soul and purpose for life in exchange for winning temporary benefits on earth.  Of course, Peter did not know that he was proposing a plan from the heart of the Evil One.  Neither do most people who are living now feel their efforts for success, to win the world at all cost, is really at the cost of their souls.  To avoid communing with God because your life is full of your own goals outside of serving him first in your life will cost you your soul.  Jesus reminds his disciples that the Son of Man will return to each human soul someday and judge his or her purpose for living.  If the life was lived for self, the reward of the brief successes he or she had in life will be all the reward there will be. The Kingdom is not in reach for that self-serving effort, but for those who have placed their lives in the Son of God, who have served him faithfully and diligently, the voice of God will be heard someday:  Well done, good and faithful servant! (Matthew 25:23) 

We who are In The Body of Christ through faith in his works are presently in the kingdom of God.  We dwell with him in high places.  Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  (Ephesians 2:4-7)  God has paved the way for us to be right with him and that is through his incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  We who are hidden in Christ Jesus have received the mercy and grace of our Father God.  We are to be judged based on God’s mercy to us through the grace given to us through Christ’s sacrifice.  We do not fear Judgment Day, for we are in God’s grace through his lovely one, Jesus.  We are not like those who live only for the day for our own gain because our purpose is what Christ wants for us each day.  Jesus reminded his disciples that their purpose on earth was to glorify the Lord God and to serve him alone.  They were to lose their lives to fulfill the plan of God to save humans from eternal destruction.  Their servanthood to him would cause them some trouble in this world, but they would be gaining the grace and mercy of God.  Losing their affection for the world would only increase their desire to know God and to be citizens of his kingdom.  Peter had a good plan to win the world.  He would stop Jesus’ enemies from killing Jesus.  But, this revealed his affection for winning the world.  He would even die for this cause, but Jesus said that he was forfeiting his soul for a good cause: saving Jesus from destruction.  God’s plan was the cross for Jesus.  God’s plan for us is the cross.  What is the cross?  The cross for everyone is to die to the world and to all of its designs for us.  That is a real cross for us!  Why, because we have only one life to live in the flesh.  Why not be all that we can be in the flesh?  Why not be merry, drink, eat and party for tomorrow we die?  But Jesus is reminding them of the truth that eternal life is before them if they are willing to carry the cross.  If they are willing to forsake their own fleshly desires and leave their lives to God’s will for them, they will find life, real life, eternal life.  Are we willing to focus our lives on eternal life or is this world too much in us?  Are our lives blanketed with earthly concerns or are we available to God at any moment to do his will?  The question will always stand: Are we willing to be servants and slaves to the Most High?  The clutter of the world and its attractiveness will always be with us, but heaven and earth will pass away someday. The eternal soul with God will never pass away.  Amen!  Bless you as you take up your cross and follow Jesus today.   

  

Matthew 16:21-23 Grace and Kindness!

Matthew 16:21-23  From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.  Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”  Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Peter is a stumbling block to Jesus.  Jesus does not say that the words you just issued are a stumbling block to me, but Peter’s whole perspective of life at that moment was a stumbling block.  Something that the Son of God had to avoid.  Peter’s focus in life was not Jesus’ focus.  Peter’s reason for living was not Jesus’ reason for living.  The Lord knew what was ahead of him, and it wasn’t a better life here on earth.  His immediate life would be one of torture, humiliation, and death on a rugged cross.  Christ had the hounds of the Jewish elite on his heals: the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders of the society.  The most powerful in the Jewish society were marshaled to kill him.  Peter’s concern was not bad, for he loved Jesus, but it was not God’s will.  Jesus’ reason for living was to birth new life, to bring all into the eternal presence of God as holy creatures.  Peter’s words represented the maintaining of life as it was and to improve Jesus precarious situation by protecting him from those who hated him.  Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”  Peter’s eyes were clouded by his desire to help Jesus, but He had the Father’s will in mind to change humans into something more than mere flesh.  As Paul wrote, But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.  (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)  For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.  So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.  (Ephesians 2:4-7)  Jesus knew his sacrifice would end a covenant made between God and man that was based on human effort to satisfy a righteous and holy Creator.  This covenant of depending on self-will would end with the ultimate sacrifice of the divine Son of God. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, would indicate the Creator’s great love for humans made in his image.  Jesus, the perfect image of God, would hang on the cross at the hands of a people rebellious to God’s creative hand of making them from dust.  Jesus was Lord, Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!  (Philippians 2: 6-8)  If man could have upheld his half of the covenant of pleasing God through his efforts, the cross would never have been in Jesus’ life.  Peter would have been right,  “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”  The cross would have been an anathema even to God, a hated symbol pointed at God’s heart.  But fleshly betterment by following the old covenant could never bring the Holiness of God to humans: being perfect without any defect in personality, actions, or attitude.  Man could not be perfect, but Jesus was perfect; therefore, He was the Lamb of God.  Jesus was the flawless sacrifice, completely without blemish, without sin.  He alone could end the old law with its inability to change the hearts of a disobedient people.  In fact the Bible says that we are now God’s work through our belief in Jesus Christ’s work.  For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)  Now all people who have placed their trust in Jesus’ work and not theirs are God’s handiwork.  He unites us as one people by ending our efforts to be right with God and instead placing our hope of resurrection to eternal life into God’s hands through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  

Peter’s way of correcting injustice was through his human effort: “Never Lord.  This shall never happen to you!”  But Jesus confronts him directly, rejecting his attitude of human strength doing the will of God.  Get behind me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.  Peter was thinking in terms of man’s ability to change things.  All through the generations of the Jewish nation, the people would tell God, “We will do it!”  We have the ability to follow the perfect law, not to sin, to be your people on earth.  But they failed again and again because rebellion was deep in their spirits.  Even though they willed to be as God wanted them to be, they could not fulfill the righteous demands of God on their lives.  They failed so miserably that God dispersed them among the people of the world, first Israel and then Judea.  Their disobedience to God’s law and regulations was so pervasive that they were an embarrassment to him: they even sacrificed their own children to other gods.  The law and regulations could not hold back their rebellion to God’s ways.  But Jesus came to fulfill the law, to put the law into practice in the hearts of men.  He, the perfect Lamb, cleanses the hearts of believers, making them right with God, perfect in God’s sight.  He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations.  He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups.  Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.  (Ephesians 2:15-16)  All people everywhere could be right with God through Christ Jesus, and they could be at peace with each other, for the cross made a new people in the likeness of God the Father.  Father, the hour has come.  Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.  For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.  Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.  I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.  And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.  (John 17:1-5)  Peter’s will to help Jesus unknowingly was thwarting the plan of God to rescue people from their sins and rebellion. Of course, this is exactly what the devil was doing in the wilderness: distracting Jesus from his purpose on earth.  But nothing this world could offer, even protection from harm, would distract Jesus from the will of the Father, and the Father’s will was the cross for the Lord.  

After the resurrection, Peter would understand the words Jesus said to him about thinking only about human concerns.  Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, would give the first sermon on the efficacy of the cross.  He would preach that God through the cross has made Jesus both Lord and Messiah.  (Acts 2)  We must ask ourselves these questions: Is Jesus our Lord and Savior?  Do we really understand what the cross has done for us?  So often, we slip out from underneath our responsibility to God by saying that we are free from our obligations to God because Jesus has paid it all for us.  Yes, we are free indeed from the hooks of sin that will destroy our lives, but we still have obligations to reveal the Spirit’s work in us.  And this takes effort, a will to carry our own cross.  Are we servants or are we ruling every situation by our own fleshly needs?  Are we saying that we will not permit certain aspects of our spiritual lives, such as serving our enemies.  Peter’s will was to do good, “This will never happen to you, Lord, for I will not permit it.”  But his will was not God’s will for Jesus’ life.  His life was to be spent for people.  What is the Father’s will for us?  How do we know we are one with God?  As Christ did the will of the Father, we too are to serve, we are to love, we are to care for others.  This is oneness with God!  This proves we love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.  The old covenant of the law and its regulations has passed away, for Christ has fulfilled it completely and continuously, but our service to God as new creatures in the body of Christ must be revealed through our lives.  Serving others who have been made in the image of God is our responsibility as believers in Christ’s work on the cross.  If we are people of faith, we will be about our Father’s business, his agenda, not ours.  Peter thought he knew what was best for Jesus’ immediate future, but he was totally wrong, so wrong that Jesus addressed him as Satan.  We who are IN CHRIST must be about the Father’s will and his agenda.  James expounds on this idea of God’s will and agenda.  What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?  Can such faith save them?  Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.  (James 2:14-17)  The engine of faith is the Holy Spirit.  He is the motivator, the initiator of everything that is god-like.  He does not leave you in the dark, not knowing what is good or right, but you must tune your mind to his voice, his ways.  James is telling us we know what is good and right, the plan God has for people: to love others as ourselves.  Peter loved Jesus, but he did not know the mystery of God: to bring all people to himself through the blood of Jesus Christ.  We now on the other side of the resurrection of Jesus, know that the Good News is eternal life for all through the cross and peace with others through service to all.  Bless you today as you serve your Lord and Savior.      

Matthew 16:13-20 Who Am I?

Matthew 16:13-20  When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”  They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”  “But what about you?” he asked.  “Who do you say I am?”  Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.  And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

The key to the above verses lies with the question, Who do people say the Son of Man is?  We have evidence of this theme by Jesus’ last statement in this focus:  Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.  The central point of this conversation is the fact that Jesus is the Messiah sent by God to the world.  Jesus did not address this question to Peter specifically but to all the disciples, But what about you?” he asked.  “Who do you say I am?   Peter, under the influence of the Spirit of God, responds correctly to the question: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.”  For Jesus’ disciples, who know Jesus as a biological man, this was a significant revelation.  Peter’s response does not place Jesus in the category of inspired, anointed men of God as were the prophets or the patriarchs of old, but instead, he places Jesus into the category of God: Son of the living God.  This was a concept beyond the understanding of most of the disciples at that time.  They had seen Jesus do wonderful things: healings and miracles, but to consider him as God probably never entered their minds.  Why?  Because Jesus had all the needs and functions of a biological man.  He ate food, drank liquid; He walked from place to place, needed housing; He had normal bodily functions and so on.  How could this man be anything other than a mere human?  But Peter’s answer to Jesus’ question was so correct that it had to have been given to him from the Father God.  God was responsible for Peter’s answer to Jesus’ question, not Peter.  Jesus then addresses Peter’s response directly by using the second person pronoun “you.”  What God has given you will be the rock upon which I will build my church.  Nothing will escape this Rock in heaven or on earth.  Whoever does not know that I am the Son of God will be bound on earth and in heaven, and whoever knows the Son of God on earth will also know him in heaven.  He or she, the believer, will be free indeed as God is free from the bondage of sin.  Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.  But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.  (Matthew 7:24-27)  At this time, this statement of him being the Son of God was so dangerous to Jesus’ mission on earth that He warns the disciples not to tell anyone about this revelation that He is the true Messiah.  If they were to propagate this idea throughout the Jewish society, Jesus would be considered totally mad, ending the people’s acceptance of him.  The knowledge that Jesus was truly the Son of God meant his words were not just from a man’s lips, but from God’s lips.  Therefore, they were the words of the Rock, the foundation of all that is.  Consequently, Jesus’ words should be followed and people’s lives should be built on them.

If Peter misconstrued Jesus’ words as being something more than words given to him by God, this idea was quickly done away with when Jesus was telling the disciples of his imminent death.  From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.  Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”  Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.  (Matthew 16:21-23)  If Peter thought that he personally possessed the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven, he was quickly corrected by Jesus.  Jesus told Peter that his ideas about life and reality were merely human.  So human, that Jesus said they possessed the words of rebellion, just like Satan’s words in the wilderness.  When Satan tempted Jesus, Jesus rejected his temptation.  Now Peter’s statement is in the same category: NEVER LORD!  THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN.  I WILL MAKE SURE OF THAT.  I WILL DETERMINE WHAT IS BOUND AND WHAT IS LOOSED.  Jesus knows where these words are coming from, not God as when Peter expressed that Jesus was the Son of God, but from the mouth of Satan.  Get behind me, Satan!  We see that Peter does not have the ability to bind or loose people on earth in himself, only the revelation of Jesus as being the Son of God can do that.  Peter is quickly put in his place.  We find Peter on Pentecost expressing the reality of who can loose or bind people on earth and in heaven.  Jesus is the one who delivers people from sin, and to know God one must repent and be baptized in the Holy Spirit.  Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”  (Acts 2:38-39)  The Rock will save you, not any man.  There is only one way to God and that is by repenting and turning to Jesus the Savior of mankind.  He will loose people from the fetters of sin and death: not any man has this power, only the Son of God. 

After the resurrection, we see Jesus giving Peter direction on what to do with his life.  He was to be a shepherd over the sheep of the church.  We know Peter as with all the disciples except for John would give their lives shepherding the sheep.  They would be hated because of delivering the Good News that Jesus saves to all the people of the world.  Peter is a leader in announcing this message to people.  He is willing to express the idea that attempting to obey the Judaic laws is not tantamount to serving God, but that serving God comes through faith in Jesus Christ, even taking this message to the Gentiles of the world.  The apostles and elders met to consider this question.  After much discussion, PETER GOT UP and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.  God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us.  He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.  Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke (the law) that NEITHER WE NOR OUR ANCESTORS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BEAR?  No!  We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”  (Acts 15:6-11)  Jesus’ commission to Peter was to serve the sheep regardless of the consequences.  At the end of Peter’s life after dispensing the Good News to thousands, he would not have the ability to loose his own body from the hands of his tormentors.  Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.  Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”  Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”  (John 21:17-19)  Peter’s life was lived for the glory of God and his death was for the glory of God.  He lived with the message of the Rock imprinted on his life.  You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God, was a declaration that bound Peter to his Lord.  We are to live the same way, with the message of Jesus the Savior written across our lives.  To live is Christ, to die is Christ.  We are the very body of Christ on Earth.  Any other concept we hold in our minds about life is from the evil one.  The Devil wants us to die alone, without the comfort of the Holy One.  Jesus told Peter that his frame of mind when he said, Never, Lord! was obsessed with merely human concerns.  A dangerous place to be, for the secular mind will not see Jesus, and bondage lies within that mind.  But the spiritual mind will know Jesus and be loosed here on earth as well as in heaven.  Breakfast companions, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 2:5)  Amen!