On Line Bible Study - for the week June 30 - July 6, 2008

Lesson 342

All For One . . .

Matthew 18: ¹⁵If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. ¹⁶"But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. ¹⁷"If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

In the United States we will celebrate “Independence Day” on July 4^th. But as Christ-followers, our goal is not so much “independence” as it is community. “Sin” separates us from God – and from each other. It’s not an easy thing to go to someone and say to them: “You have sinned!” But remember, the emphasis here may not be so much on the fact that some one has done something terribly wrong as it is on the fact that something has happened to cause separation.

If the rift cannot be healed in a one-on-one meeting, then members of the community are brought into the situation. This has the value of verifying the legitimacy of the sin. It also serves to underscore the importance of the fellowship. It is not good for man or woman to be alone! But look at what happens to those who jeopardize the integrity of the community – if attempts to heal the problem are unsuccessful, the one causing the problem is essentially removed from fellowship!

Recall in Matthew 16:19 the “keys of the Kingdom of heaven” were given to Peter, with the promise that “whatever [he] bound on earth [would] be bound in heaven”? Here, however, it is the whole church that makes the determination with regard to our brothers and sisters.

Matthew 18: ¹⁸"Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

The “you” is plural. The promise made to the one is now made to all the disciples. We have individual responsibility; we also have corporate responsibility.

Assuming you go to church, the next time you attend, may it occur to you that you are there not only to receive, but also to contribute. It is for all of us to create together the kind of climate each of us desires!

The Forgiveness Question . . .

After assuring his disciples that God hears them when they pray in his name, he then is asked the question:

Matthew 18: ²¹Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?"

Jesus then tells the parable of the king whose servant owed a large sum. The king decided to sell the servant, his wife and children in order to make good on the money. However, when the servant pleaded for mercy and the master’s patience, the king granted it, only to have the servant go out and mistreat those who owed him much less. When the king found out about the servant’s behavior, he called him in, confronted him, then gave him to the jailer to be tortured until his debt was paid. Then Jesus says these troubling words:

Matthew 18: ³⁵ “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart."

Maybe you remember Lamech in Genesis 4 – he killed a young man and claimed he would be avenged seventy-seven times. The Lord had assured Cain that should anyone kill him he would be avenged seven times over (Genesis 4:35). Lamech ups the anti. Is Jesus turning the equation around? Stop thinking about vengeance; start thinking about forgiveness! There must be no limit on our willingness to forgive, and the forgiveness has to be authentic – from the heart!

The tests for Jesus keep coming . . . we begin Matthew 19 next time.

On Line Bible Study - for the week June 23 -29, 2008

Lesson 341 Matthew 47

First . . . The Child:

Matthew 18: 1 At about the same time, the disciples came to Jesus asking, "Who gets the highest rank in God's kingdom?"

2- For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, "I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom. What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it's the same as receiving me."

This is so simple conceptually, and so difficult practically! Any parent can remember the helpless, humble, innocent selfishness of their children. We bend over backward for them with no thought for reward. That’s how infants and small children are naturally. Jesus tells us in order to enter the kingdom of heaven that’s how we must become intentionally. He goes on to point out the reality of our influence on others:

6-7 "But if you give them a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you'll soon wish you hadn't. You'd be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck. Doom to the world for giving these God-believing children a hard time! Hard times are inevitable, but you don't have to make it worse—and it's doomsday to you if you do.

So here is a challenge: when people see you coming do they consider you as making things “worse”, or “better”? Recognizing that sometimes things have to get worse before they get better, that’s not the point Jesus is making. In the long haul we need to be persons who lighten loads that people carry, not make them heavier.

Now Jesus reiterates what he said in Matthew 5:29-30:

8-9 "If your hand or your foot gets in the way of God, chop it off and throw it away. You're better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owners of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You're better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.

10"Watch that you don't treat a single one of these childlike believers arrogantly. You realize, don't you, that their personal angels are constantly in touch with my Father in heaven?”

There is an important difference, however. Recall in Matthew 5 Jesus was speaking explicitly about sin of a sexual nature. Adultery is committed not only in the act, but in the anticipation of the act. In this case, if your eye causes you to even consider another with lust, the sin has been committed. But here, in Matthew 18, anything we do that causes sin – not only in ourselves, but in others – is deserving of this extreme action.

In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus is making it clear that nothing is more important than the “kingdom of heaven”.

Then we read on:

12-14 "Look at it this way. If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn't he leave the ninety-nine and go after the one? And if he finds it, doesn't he make far more over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put? Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He doesn't want to lose even one of these simple believers.”

Heaven is jealous! God is determined not to lose even one! If only we could feel the same way! Heaven – in the bye and bye, but equally as important – in the here and now – is to be experienced, enjoyed, by everyone! And woe to us if we do anything that prevents anyone from experiencing the fullness of the kingdom of heaven.

The Scriptures quoted above are from Eugene Peterson’s The Message. We will finish Matthew 18 next time.

On Line Bible Study - For the week June 16-22, 2008

Death and Taxes

Matthew 17:22-27

In Matthew's gospel, we read that Jesus is "going to Jerusalem" or Judea, and that he will be handed over. (16:21, 17:22, 19:1, and 20:17.) Recall Peter's response in Matthew 16:22? "This shall never happen to you!" In Mark's gospel we read that, upon hearing Jesus speak of his death, the disciples "did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it." (Mark 9:32.) Look how Matthew records this scene in chapter 17:

Matthew 17: ²²When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. ²³They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life." And the disciples were filled with grief.

"Grief" replaces lack of understanding and fear.

How do you react when someone speaks of their death? "Oh, don't talk like that!" Interesting, isn't it, that the one thing that is unavoidable in life is the one thing we are least comfortable talking about. Not so with Jesus. From the earliest moments of his ministry he was aware of the inevitable, and not afraid to speak of it.

John Nolland says that a better translation than "betrayed into the hands" is "handed over into human hands". This isn't to diminish the act of betrayal; but it does underscore the fact that God is going to let human hands do what, in the mind of the evangelist, is the beginning of a heavenly sacrifice. In the prayer attributed to St. Francis, we pray to be "instruments of thy peace". If we can be the means by which divine things are accomplished, is it not possible for us to be the agents of evil as well?

From death, Matthew takes us to taxes:

Matthew 17: ²⁴After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, "Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax?"

Several things about this "tax":

1. The exact amount is unknown - but probably it was close to two days wages.
2. Was the tax obligatory? Exodus 30 says each one over 20 must pay a half shekel for the "service of the tent of meeting" - and the offering was associated with taking count of the people. Nehemiah 10:32 tells us the people committed to give one third of a shekel each year "for the service of the house of our God".
3. Some did not pay the tax - the priests, for example, probably thought of themselves as "exempt". Not everyone agreed that the tax was a lawful one. But most people paid.

Taxes! You just can't get around them!

When Peter comes to Jesus again, Jesus speaks with Peter about the "tax"

Matthew 17: When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. "What do you think, Simon?" he asked. "From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own sons or from others?" ²⁶"From others," Peter answered. "Then the sons are exempt," Jesus said to him. ²⁷"But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours."

The word "offend" might better be translated as "scandalize". In looking at Jesus' words, we see that he makes the point regarding who pays. The kings of earth don't collect taxes from their own family. It may be that Jesus means for us to realize that God would not expect taxes from the people of Israel; or perhaps the early church, as it distanced itself from the Jewish Temple, felt themselves to be exempt. Maybe Jesus was referring to himself - that his Father would not expect him to pay the tax.

But now - here is the connection between verses 22-23, and verses 24-27 - Jesus does not want to offend people for the wrong reason! It's not paying taxes or refusing to do so that will be his hallmark. Rather, it is his death and resurrection that forms the heart of his mission! "Pay the tax," says Jesus, "so that we don't let people get distracted from the real purpose of my coming!

Death and taxes - we avoid one, and incessantly complain about the other! Jesus hit both of those issues head on.

For next time we will look at Chapter 18:1-34. Read through it if you get the chance.

On Line Bible Study - For the week June 9 - 15, 2009

Lesson 339

What Did They See?

The 16th chapter of Matthew's gospel concludes with these words: "Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

As Chapter 17 opens several of the disciples are about to get a taste of that "kingdom".

Matthew 17:1 -3 Six days later, three of them saw that glory. Jesus took Peter and the brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain. His appearance changed from the inside out, right before their eyes. Sunlight poured from his face. His clothes were filled with light. Then they realized that Moses and Elijah were also there in deep conversation with him.

(This paraphrase is from Eugene Peterson's "The Message".)

A couple lessons ago we talked about the sign that can be revealed only from heaven. There are aspects of Christian Spirituality that can not be conjured up by flesh and blood (that is, by human effort). We can not create God's glory; we can only be witnesses to it. That is what the "Transfiguration" of Jesus is all about.

Notice - this "sign" or revelation was not intended for all the disciples, but only for three that Jesus chose. One of the aspects of Protestant Christianity is that we have a personal relationship with Jesus - that we all can experience his grace, forgiveness and glory. True enough. But there are some things that are not given to all. Some signs - and healings, and revelations, and wisdom, and visions - are given only to a few.

Because of this reality, humility has to be practiced by those who receive. And faith has to be exercised by those who only hear about the experience. And, very importantly, the church needs to have great discernment in its determination regarding the validity of any particular experience a person or group of people might have.

But wait . . . Remember Matthew 13:43? "The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father." The transfiguration is Jesus - "sunlight pouring from his face . . ." - is reminiscent of Moses' face after he encountered God on the mountain. While only several of the disciples saw this, the scripture tells us we all will be "transfigured". I think in our time the issue is not so much "who" has seen it; the real question is this: "Can you see it now?"

In and through the Church - the fellowship of Christian believers - people should be able to see the "shining", the sunlight of forgiveness and reconciliation, burning bright, transforming our life together.

Someone recently asked if I thought we were living in the end times. The answer is: Absolutely! The "end times" began with Jesus! The tradition taught that Elijah would come back and precede the coming of the Christ. Jesus tells his disciples:

Matthew 17:11 - "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. 12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him . . ."

Some things are only intended to be seen by a few. Other things are intended to be seen by all, but we just don't have the eyes to see them! How many are the signs of God's goodness and grace! How pervasive is the evidence of some power beyond our own, some purpose greater than ours. In the midst of disasters and the hunger of the world and the pain of war there arises the "sunshine" of generosity.

Matthew tells us Jesus' birth is announced by the light of a star. He also tells us here that Jesus' ministry is as obvious as the sun! How can it be that so many didn't see it? How can it be that so many of those who claim him as their Lord and Savior still insist on living their own way? How is it that we continue to keep people out, hold them at arm's length, refuse to grant them fellowship with us?

Following the sign of the Transfiguration of Jesus, we encounter a miracle of deliverance:

Matthew 17:14 -16 At the bottom of the mountain, they were met by a crowd of waiting people. As they approached, a man came out of the crowd and fell to his knees begging, "Master, have mercy on my son. He goes out of his mind and suffers terribly, falling into seizures. Frequently he is pitched into the fire, other times into the river. I brought him to your disciples, but they could do nothing for him."

17 -18 Jesus said, "What a generation! No sense of God! No focus to your lives! How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this? Bring the boy here." He ordered the afflicting demon out—and it was out, gone. From that moment on the boy was well.

"No sense of God!" This week, see the presence of God. Believe in it. Let it be your hope, your strength. Don't let anything or anyone take your focus off the power and healing of the Light of the World - Jesus Christ.

For next week we will finish Matthew 17 - Read verses 22 - 27 if you get the chance.