The Three Cs

The setting of the Gospel of Saint Matthew is unlike the other three Gospels: It resounds with the proclamation that Jesus is the Messiah. Matthew moves quickly through the birth and infancy narratives of chapters one and two into the adult ministry of Jesus. But along the way Matthew sets the stage by showing how prophecies from Isaiah, Malachi, Zechariah, Hosea, and Jeremiah, in particular, effectively link Jesus to the Torah (Matt. 1:1-17), the virgin birth (Isa. 7:23) in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), and as a survivor of a slaughter of innocents (Jer. 31:15) who comes out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1). As chapter three opens, John the Baptist, the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth (Luke 1:5-80) has begun his ministry as the one calling in the desert to turn the hearts of the fathers. Textual Notes 1 Ἐν δὲ ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις -- The expression “in those days” rings throughout prophetic scripture, serving as an important marker that something big is about to happen: Elijah has arrived to “...

What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time? In case you've missed it, I write a lot about believing in God. (OK, that's an understatement; it is what I write about). Believe, is my reminder. Set your hope in Jesus. Have faith that the one you have not seen is real, that the stories you read about him are true. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and strength. Of course, I am not just reminding you; I am reminding myself, in a large part because of today's passage. You realize, demons believe in Jesus, don't you? Oh, wait? Demons are real, you ask? Of course they are real! Why would we need a savior if there are no demons? Yes, demons are very real; they really do possess people; they are going to hell, and they know it. And they want to take you and me with them. Demons are intimately aware of who Jesus is. In fact, they not only recognized the son of Joseph and Mary, they recognized him as the W...

“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.’" I had struggled with today's passage for a long time. But it dawned on me, I had been misunderstanding these words at the end of Jesus' sermon on the mount. I kept reading this passage and hearing the 'Lord, Lord,' as though these were people who had faith in God. I mean, who would prophesy, who would cast out demons, who would do mighty works ... if they didn't believe? Right? But that isn't what Christ is noting here. Read the words, again. "Did  we  not ... do this." They aren't expressing their faith in God. They are praising themselves. Look at me...

Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded. If you are a regular Bible reader, I am sure you must have looked quizzically at the title of this post and my Bible reference. The title is James 1:22. So, what's with the Proverbs reference, you ask? Yesterday, I had lunch with a Christian friend of mine who has been struggling with his faith, struggles that have him occasionally wondering if he is really saved. Maybe I am doing too much, he says. Maybe I am not doing enough. Maybe I don't really believe. Maybe my faith is dead. Passages like those in James have a way of doing that to every Christian. Do not merely listen to the Word, James writes, do as it says (James 1:22 NIV). Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? (James 2:20 ESV) For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it (James 2:10 NIV). Am I really goo...

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” It would be easy to get stuck in the big picture of this story in Matthew. A rich man comes to Jesus and asks what some might think is a rather simple question. So Jesus spells it out. If you are seeking eternal life, obey the Word: Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie or gossip. ... And if you think you have those bases covered, then make sure you also sell everything you own, take up your cross and follow Jesus. That man, just like me, was crushed. I haven't killed anyone. But obeying the Law ... well, everyone fails. To be clear, EVERYONE fails, everyone except Jesus, that is. Jesus (Matt. 19:26), and Paul (Rom. 3:20) make that perfectly clear in the New Testament. And the Old Testament writers did, too, most notably David in Psalm 14. Maybe you missed it, but that was the point of the story: "There is only One who is good" ...

Jesus replied, Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. A couple weeks ago, as I was making my way through the ians -- that is, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Thesslonians -- I couldn't help but notice how the theme I kept seeing that week was God's call for us to believe . Although I can't write every day, as much as I want to, I also noted that in recent posts on passages from Philippians , Colossians and Thessalonians . This week, a new theme emerged: Obey. Or, as James 1:22 puts it, do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves; do what it says. Readings from Titus, Hebrews and Peter all reinforced it. Then, I hit my favorite book, John, which reminds us repeatedly that if you want to follow Jesus, you nee...

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. I wish I could have been more faithful to my journal here in the past week, but it's been a long week. Most notably, I got to see my son complete basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, thus earning the title United States Marine. I have written about this subject several times over the past six months -- most notably here and here . Nonetheless, I wasn't prepared for what happened last Thursday, when I got to see my son for the first time in three months. It was just three months, you know. It's not like he has been gone a year or so, like many Marines in the past, with their combat deployments to Afghanistan. It was just three months. Sometimes that feels like just a few days. I am not ashamed to say it, I cried when I first saw him Thursday. Actually, I cried twice: first, when I caugh...

And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe. I have Christian friends who don't believe the Word of God. Do you believe? Think about that for a minute. Do you believe in God? Do you really believe the Word is from God? Do you believe the Word was God? Do you believe the Word was with God? (John 1:1-5). And that the Word became flesh? (John 1:14) Some people who call themselves Christians, don't believe. If they don't receive the word of God, if they say it is from men, that it is a human word, not the Word of God, then how can they call themselves Christian? It seems to me that is one of the points Paul is driving home in 1 Thessalonians 2:13. It is important because, what do we have without the Word of God? What we have are heresies taught by false prophets and greedy teachers. "We ar...

Listen without interrupting. (Proverbs 1:8) Speak without accusing. (James 1:19) Give without sparing (Proverbs 21:26) Pray without ceasing (Colossians 1:9) Answer without arguing. (Proverbs 17:1) Share without pretending. (Ephesians 4:15) Enjoy without complaint. (Philippians 2:14) Trust without wavering. (1 Corinthians 13:7) Forgive without punishing. (Colossians 3:13) Promise without forgetting. (Proverbs 13:12)