Month: January 2021

Categories
encouragement marriage and family theology

Who is the Greatest?

Thoughts from Matthew 18…

It wasn’t supposed to be about children. The Lord‘s followers had had the greatest experiences with Him so far! They had been to the mountaintop with him and personally saw His glory. They saw Him cast out a violent demon from the raving child. They had personally confessed that He was their King and God!

But now that they were back in town and had time to settle, there was time to contemplate the big question. They all brought a lot to The Master’s kingdom, but who brought the most? Who is the greatest? 

Peter could say that he was the greatest. After all, he was the one who often spoke for the others. He was their self-proclaimed leader. He was in the Lord’s inner circle and scored a personal invitation to the mountaintop. Didn’t Jesus even say that he had the keys to the kingdom?

James and John could say that they were the greatest. After all, they were part of the inner circle too. They also had been with him on the mountaintop, but without Peter’s stupid comments! And above all, they were related to the Lord!

The list could go on. Philip brought his practical side. Andrew was one of the first disciples. Nathanael could talk about how the Lord took away his doubt. Thomas wasn’t afraid to speak up. Matthew could handle money. Simon the Zealot could claim that, after all, he had the most zeal. Judas was a cultured southerner, and probably the best educated. Each of them had a claim to be the greatest!

But when the Lord came to them, he ignored every one of their claims. Instead, he went and brought Peter‘s child to them and set him down among the men.a Using the child he showed them that, If you even want to enter the Kingdom, you need to trust Him like this child. You need to realize that you are totally helpless and dependent without Him. You need to trust Him without question. The greatest ones in His Kingdom are the ones who will humble themselves like this child.

But the child wasn’t merely an illustration. The society of Jesus’ day cared little for children, yet He took time to show how much they mean to Him. Our Lord treasures children, and has sent His personal angels to care for them (Matthew 18:10).

He is always open to children and welcomes them. It is the trusting children, not the proud adults, who will receive the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 19:14). 

He promises that when you care for and lead a child, you are caring for Jesus Christ Himself! (Matthew 18:5)

But He also warns of the terrible fate that awaits those who would mislead children. If you are the cause of them turning away from Jesus Christ, you are better off to tie a big stone around your neck and drown yourself in the ocean! (Matthew 18:6) It would be better for you to destroy your body than to give into temptations that would hurt these children! (Matthew 18:7-9)

And finally, we should value children like the Lord values them. He doesn’t want any one of them to perish. Like the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine safe sheep to find the one lost lamb, so He cares for each one of them! (Matthew 18:12-14)

May we love and care for the children in our lives the way our Lord loves them. And for all of us, May we come to Him with the trust of a child!

Previous post: What Kind of Faith Do You Have?

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Categories
encouragement theology

What Kind of Faith Do You Have?

Thoughts from Matthew 17…

Matthew 17:20
“For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Some promises in God’s Word seem too good to be true. Jesus promises that we can ask Him for anything, and my mind immediately goes to my Christmas list. There are lots of things I want in life. I want to be healthy. I want more money. I want to be “successful” at work. I want to be famous or popular. I want to run fast.

We all have our own wish lists of things that we want. Some are small and insignificant, while others can consume our entire lives in their pursuit. God has given us some wonderful promises in His Word that seem to show that He is ready to give us whatever we want.a And in Matthew 17, Jesus promised His disciples that if they had as much faith as the tiniest of seeds, they would be able to move a mountain! Furthermore, Jesus repeats this same promise two more times (see Matthew 21:21, Luke 17:6)!

So how can we have this kind of faith? Is God ready to give us everything we want? How do we move a mountain?

To answer these questions, we need to look more closely at what true faith looks like.

Continue reading “What Kind of Faith Do You Have?”
Categories
encouragement theology

The Mountain Top

Lake George from Spruce Mountain
Adirondack Mountains, NY

Thoughts from Matthew 17…

I love to reach the mountain top. We have a favorite peak to climb every year during our family vacation in the mountains. The hike can be difficult, but we battle the bugs and thorn bushes to reach the summit. It is all worth it when you get to the top! The trees pull away to a spectacular view of the mountains and the lake far below. The air is fresher, the bugs seem to quiet, and we take time to bask in the glory of our conquest.

Yes, the mountain top is great, but you can’t live there. We climb to the top to get our dose of nature, but we always need to return. As enjoyable as it is to be up high, we still need to come home for dinner. Our climb is not complete until we return back to the home below.

Jesus gives us mountain top experiences in our lives too. If you have known Him long enough, you are familiar with these times. These are the times when the trees part and everything falls together. You get a glimpse of His plan and you bask in the glory that He knows you and cares for you.

We are encouraged by the mountain tops in our lives, but we can’t live there. There is much more in our lives than to simply sit back and wait for things to go right. We have a lot more to do here on earth, and we have a lot more to learn.

Peter, James, and John had a mountain top experience in this next scene in Matthew 17. They had spent six days in the pagan society of Caesarea Phillippi when Jesus took the three of them up the mountainside. They climbed the slopes of snowy Mount Hermon for an overnight prayer meeting with their Lord. But once they were up on the mountain, Jesus prayed while his friends slept.

We don’t know all that the Lord Jesus talked about with the Father that night, but He must have prayed about His upcoming death and departure. It wasn’t even a week since He dropped the message on His shocked disciples — He was going to die and leave them! He must have been especially burdened for His bewildered followers as there, on the mountainside, He gave three of them a special glimpse of His glory. 

All they knew of Jesus Christ was his outward, humiliated form, yet they trusted Him. They knew He was Lord although they still stumbled in their doubt. How could their Lord talk about dying? Didn’t He know the hideous torture that would await Him if He were captured by the Jews? Wouldn’t they all suffer the same fate? It is one thing to talk about denying yourself when they were on the mountain, but what about when they came back to the real world? How could they face their enemies?

The Lord allowed them to see a glimpse of who He really is. He is not just a simple teacher. He shone out with complete brightness, showing the glory of God. Next to Him stood Moses the lawgiver, for Jesus is the answer and the fulfillment of the law. Also next to Him stood Elijah the prophet, for Jesus is the answer to the promise given by the prophets. 

The three disciples awoke to see Jesus in His glory, talking to the two great men of old. And once again, Peter couldn’t keep his mouth shut, exclaiming, “Lord, it is good that we are here.” The final kingdom is coming and it is time to build shelters! Let’s start with three shelters: for the Lord, for Moses, and for Elijah!

Moses and Elijah are great men, but they do not compare to the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter’s foolish statement puts the three of them as equal, but it is Jesus that they should be listening to. Peter needed to shut up and listen!

We should be encouraged by our experiences, but we cannot live by them. Peter, James, and John experienced the glory of Jesus Christ and instead of listening, they were ready to build shelters! The other disciples weren’t even allowed to know about this experience. They needed to follow His Word instead of trusting their own feelings and memories. They needed to listen to Him!

It was not until years later that Peter learned his lesson. Both Peter and John would remember this time on the mountain as they witnessed the Lord’s glory. John spoke of it in the introduction to his gospel account:

John 1:14
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

And just before his death, Peter used this memory to remind his listeners about the truth of the gospel:

2 Peter 1:16-18
For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.

We can be encouraged by the mountain top experiences, but we cannot look for a great experience to save us or to sustain us. We need to follow the truth of Jesus’ word. Experiences will never break through our unbelief, nor will they free us from our confusion. We need to listen to Him!

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