Month: December 2010

Read Matthew 14.13-21

When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick. (Matthew 14.14)

“PEOPLED”

The lady at the customer service counter was snapping at the man in front of me. I was thinking to myself, “this isn‘t going to be pretty.” She was obviously, what I call, “peopled.” It’s when people in the people business spend so much time with people problems they can no longer treat people like people. How do I know this? Because I’m in the people business and I’ve been there. That brings me to Jesus. He was in the people business and probably no one in the history of mankind had the potential of being more “peopled” than He. And yet that wasn’t the case. Jesus was mourning the death of His cousin and trying to get away to grieve. And what meets Him on the other side, the place of solitude? 5000 people! And what’s His reaction? Irritation? No, it’s compassion. So what was the greater miracle: feeding 5000 or His attitude toward them?

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Read Matthew 14.1-12

Although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests. He sent and had John beheaded in the prison. (Matthew 14.9-10)

WHO REALLY LOST THEIR HEAD?

“I just want to know that I can trust you,” said one thief to another. Some standards of morality just don’t make any sense, do they? When we look at Herod’s life, we enter the state of moral confusion. Herod is willing to commit adultery with his brother’s wife, live in debauchery, and murder John the Baptist. But when it comes to breaking an oath, oh no, he wouldn’t do that. His moral compass was spinning out of control. He had lost his head well before John lost his. His problem was not the absence of a personal moral code. His problem was that his moral code was personal. In order to maintain any real objectivity in our moral standards, they must come from Jesus. He is our consistency. Otherwise, we will be left to the whims of our opinions to guide our sense of rightness.

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Read Matthew 13.53-58

And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief. (Matthew 13.58)

SOMETIMES SEEING IS NOT BELIEVING

He was leaning precariously over the edge of the rock but not quite past the point of no return. He was frozen with fear on the 60-foot cliff and he could go no further. I reminded him that the rope held him securely and he had seen others rappel down the rock wall several times. In the end, his faith failed. Simply seeing did not lead to believing. Just like the people of Nazareth. Jesus’ hometown folk had seen and heard the wonders of their prized son. And yet they could not get beyond the arrogance of familiarity or the pride seniority. Jesus’ powers were limited by unbelief.

Are you limiting the power of Jesus by the trumping power of disbelief?

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Read Matthew 13.47-52

“…and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 13.50)

Ample Warning

I told them three times, “Be careful with that blasting cap, you could blow your hand off.” Now what’s my motivation? Am I trying to be a “Debbie Downer”? Am I overly critical or legalistic? No, I care about these people and I’m teaching them how to handle explosives. Repetition is a technique in instruction and Jesus uses it several times (especially when it comes to people feeling comfortable with their standing in the Kingdom). If Jesus emphasized this over and over again, we can come to two conclusions. First, this must be a very important message. And second, some will still choose not to listen. Remember, Jesus sets the standards. He is the standard.

I’ve heard it said, “There are three ways to learn: repetition, blunt force trauma, and repetitive blunt force trauma. I choose number one!

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