Matthew 12:15-21 - God's chosen servant

12:15-21

Jesus knew that they were out to get him, so he withdrew. Jesus was not afraid of conflict, but neither was He reckless. The crowds followed Him, and He healed all of them. He also warned them not to tell others about HIm. Matthew then quotes from Isaiah 42:1-4 to explain what was happening. Matthew sees Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament, and so the OT helps to illuminate and explain what Jesus did. First Jesus was God’s chosen servant, and God delights in Him, even if the religious leaders of the day did not. He was anointed with God’s Spirit,and He proclaimed justice to the nations. Ultimately His mission was not to Israel alone, although it started in Israel. He would not be  a loud brawer (not a Trump-like figure!) He would treat the injured gently, He would bring justice through victory. The nations would put their hope in Him. It is significant how much of Isaiag that Matthew quotes.

Matthew 12:1-14 - Sabbath Controversies

12:1-14

The Sabbath was the focus of many of the disputes between Jesus and the Pharisees. That the Sabbath was important is beyond doubt, it features in the ten commandments, and figures in several prophetic announcements.However the Pharisees had completely missed the point and had surrounded it with a myriad of regulations. Jesus understood the Law better than they did. The disciples were picking ears of grain from the edge of fields, now this was allowed under the Law, but they were doing this on the Sabbath, which was what offended the Pharisees, or gave them an excuse to get Jesus, or so they thought. So they tell Jesus that His disciples are breaking the Law. Jesus points them to the incident in Samuel when David and his companions ate the consecrated bed. The Pharisees were oblivious to what was really happening, they did not realise that the Messiah was here. Their general approach to the Law was also completely wrong, mercy, not sacrifice, was the pivotal point, and mercy was not the Pharisee’s strong point. Jesus also declares that he was Lord of the Sabbath.

A second incident arises almost immediately. Jesus came across a man with a shrivelled hand, the Pharisees saw another chance to “get” Jesus. But again Jesus points to the Law, it was explicitly stated that a sheep could be rescued on the Sabbath, so it was definitely right to rescue a man, It was lawful to do good on the Sabbath. So Jesus healed the man. The Pharisees responded in typical manner by plotting to kill Jesus.

Matthew 11:16-30 - God's choice

11:16-19

Jesus then gives judgement on the people. The people are obtuse, they complained about John because he was so austere, saying he had a demon, then they complained about Jesus eating and drinking, saying he was a “glutton and a drunkard”, and “a friend of tax collectors and sinners”. We should be glad that He was a friend of tax collectors and sinners, because then he might be a friend of ours. “Wisdom is proved right by her deeds”, the results will show that Jesus is right.

11:20-24

It wasn't just that the people were wrong, there is now judgement on  chorazin and Bethsaida. If Tyre and Sidon (area named in the prophets) had seen the miracles they would have repented. Some people can poo-poo miracles, but in the gospels they are seen as a legitimate proof of the reality of Jesus, they are seen as a reason that we should believe. Capernaum is also rebuked, being told they are worse than Sodom.

11:25-30

The religious leaders and Pharisees had a high opinion of themselves, but the gospel has been revealed to “the little children” i.e. to the humble and those considered to be of little account. We should expect the rejected to receive the gospel, because God chooses to reveal it to them. Jesus makes claims about himself, He is the only way to the Father. Then He calls  the weary and burdened, He will give us rest. The religious types laid burdens on people, Jesus gives us rest for our souls.

Matthew 11:7-15 - Listen!

11:7-15

Jesus then speaks to the crowds. People can be fickle, and they need to realise what they are thinking , why they are thinking it, and to get their ideas sorted out. Why were they interested in John? Was it to see a reed swayed by the wind, i.e. someone with no convictions of their own (like so many politicians). Was it to see a rich man? Or was it to see a prophet? They did recognise that John was somehow or other speaking God’s word. Jesus tells them that John was more than a prophet, he was fulfilling the words of Malachi 3:1. But John was great, but was only the messenger, what and who he was pointing to was what really mattered. The people needed to decide their own attitude to Jesus and the Kingdom of God.The miracles and the healings showed that the kingdom was advancing forcibly. Jesus identifies John with Elijah who was spoken of in Malachi. These days were crucial and people needed to listen.

Matthew 11:1-6 - Hold fast to the faith

11:1-6

Teaching was a key aspect of Jesus’ ministry, so after instructing the twelve disciples He went on to teach the people.. The people knew about John the Baptist, indeed John had been popular among the people. John was now in prison, and sent his disciples to inquire of Jesus if He indeed was the Messiah. John must have expected a more immediate and dramatic change when the Messiah came.

Jesus' reply was to point to what He was doing, what do they see and hear? They see the blind receiving sight, the lame walking, the lepers being cleansed, the deaf hearing, the dead being raised. Jesus then gives John what is a botha mild rebuke and an encouragement, “blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me”, John is encouraged to hold fast to his faith,a

Matthew 20:37-42 - Putting Christ above all

10:37-39

We must love Jesus more than our own family. Following Jesus means taking up our cross, being prepared to be utterly rejected by the world. Saving our life means we will lose it, losing it for Christ’s sake means we will find it.

10:40-42

If people welcome us as Christ’s disciples means they welcome Jesus. Helping Christ’s disciples, even in the smallest way, is very important. Our attitude towards Christ is vital.

Matthew 10:24-36 - Be realistic

10:24-31

Jesus suffered opposition, so the disciples would suffer opposition. Jesus was accused of being Beelzebub, so would the disciples. Do not be afraid is the command on how to respond to persecution. Eventually everything will be brought out into the open. We are to openly proclaim the gospel, the natural temptation is to keep things secret because of fear, but we must resist this. They can only kill the body, we should have more regard for the one who “can destroy both body and soul in hell”. Then we are reminded that we are precious to God. So here we see the importance of having a proper fear concern, and knowing that God cares for us.

10:32-36

We should be concerned about Jesus acknowledging us before God. How wonderful if we hear Him say, “He is mine, I know him”, how terrible if we hear him say “I never knew him”. 

The naive religious type has a totally unrealistic view of life,  and thinks Jesus is all about being “nice”. These verses give the lie to such unthinking notions. We need to be prepared to lose our life.

Matthew 10:16-25 - Opposition

10:16-20

Jesus does not have any illusions about the situation they are going into, they are being sent out like sheep among wolves. They are not to be naive, but as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as wolves. They would face persecutions, the promise is not that they will not face these things, but that the spirit would speak through them.

10:21-23

The warnings continue, there is no sugar coating. They would face opposition even from their own families. When persecution happens they were to flee. 10:23 is somewhat enigmatic. It could refer to the second coming, but that does not seem to fit the facts. Others take is as referring to AD 70 when Rome crushed Jerusalem.

10:24,25

Jesus suffered opposition, so the disciples would suffer opposition. Jesus was accused of being Beelzebub, so would the disciples.

Matthew 10:1-15 - Sent out

10:1-8

God prefers to work through people. In Genesis he told man to fill and subdue the earth, now He sends out the disciple to do His work. So Jesus gave the disciple authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and illness.  The disciples are then named. Later they would go all over, but for now their mission was limited to Israel, they were not to go among the Gentiles or Samaritans. They were to go to the lost sheep of Israel. They were to proclaim that “the Kingdom of heaven has come near”. They were to heal the sick and cast out demons “Freely you have received; freely give”.

10:9-15

This was a training mission, so they were to depend upon the Lord, trusting that God would provide. Often this would come through people, if someone welcomed them, they were to stay at that house, and to bless that home. While some will oppose, others will help, that is the way it is.\if someone does not welcome us we are to just accept it and move on. God will take care of that place on the day of judgement.

Matthew 9:35,36 - Workers

9:35,36

This verse gives a brief, but complete, summary of the ministry of Jesus. He went through all the towns and villages. He taught in their synagogues. He proclaimed the good news of the kingdom, i.e. the rule of God. He healed every disease and sickness. Teaching and healing went together in the ministry of Jesus, yet we seem insistent on separating them. There will be good Bible teaching churches, but not much, if anything, in the way of healings. There will be churches that focus on healings but whose teaching is limited. Neither is following a Biblical pattern.

Jesus was fully aware of the sinfulness of man, and was not afraid to speak about it, but He did not see humanity as “a bunch of dirty rotten sinners”. Instead He had compassion on the crowds, and He has compassion upon us. Matthew tells us why He had compassion, it was because the people were “harassed and helpless”, like sheep without a shepherd. We see here the importance of good leadership. We need good leadership within the church, and within the civic structures within society. Israel had neither, and the same applies to us today as well.

Matthew 9:27-34 - And still more healings

9:27-34

Jesus moved on. He has never finished what He is doing (apart from the cross, before you question my theology!). But whatever God has done, He has more to do. Two blind men followed Him and asked Him to have mercy upon them. They called Him the Son of David, implying that they saw Him as the promised Messiah of the Old Testament. It seems that Jesus did not respond immediately, maybe, given what He said later, Jesus wanted to deal with them privately. Jesus asked if they believed He was able to heal them. If we look at the healing incidents we find many examples where faith is highlighted, but we also find others where it isn’t. We must beware of making rules about healing, otherwise we lose the faith element. We can so easily start trusting in the “rules” rather than trusting in Jesus. They replied that they did believe.

Jesus touched their eyes and said “according to your faith let it be done”, so if they were not telling the truth when they said they believed they would not have been healed. Their faith presumably was genuine, for they were healed immediately. Jesus gave them a stern warning, “see that no one knows about this”. Note the importance that Jesus attached to this command. However, it also seems rather odd. It makes sense that Jesus did not want people to get focused just on the healings, but people would surely notice that the previously blind men could now see! However, it was all rather irrelevant for the men, quite understandably, went out spreading the news about Jesus all over the region. We have great difficulty in the church (and in ourselves!) in motivating people to “do evangelism”. People who are willing are those who know Jesus has done something for them.

This series of healings closes with a mute man being enabled to speak. It also says that he was demon-possessed. The casting out of the demon was the key to the man’s healing. There are cases where demonic activity is the root of the matter, and that is still the case today. However, there are cases where demonic activity is not the root of the matter. So we have had Jesus setting a variety of people free from various things, from sicknesses and from demon possession. The crowds were amazed and delighted. The Pharisees had a rather different reaction. They said it is only because Jesus had the power of the prince of demons that He could drive out demons. Now, just think for a moment. This is the Son of God, and they are accusing Him of using demonic power! Their thinking was seriously warped, and that is what happens when we become obsessed with protecting ourselves.

Matthew 9:1-26 More healings

9:1-8

A paralysed man was brought to Jesus. The man had an obvious need, to be healed of his paralysis, but Jesus’ first words were to pronounce his forgiveness. Why did He do this? The obvious answer is that forgiveness was actually his greater need, but may be because the man may have thought his condition was a result of his sin. Whatever the case, the teachers of the Law were offended, convinced that Jesus was blaspheming, assuming the right to do what only God could do.

Jesus knew what they were thinking. Note that he says they were having evil thoughts. Jesus then demonstrated the extent of His authority by healing the man. He also proclaimed that He had the right to forgive sins, and referred to Himself as “the Son of Man”. The crowd were amazed and praised God. The teachers of the Law were probably not as impressed.  The crowd had a better idea of the significance of Jesus’ actions than the religious types.

9:9-13

Jesus was prepared to affront the sensibilities of the religious leaders, he was also ready to offend the general populace as well. For we now read of the calling of Matthew, now Matthew was a tax collector so would not be popular, Tax collectors worked on behalf of the hated Romans, and also were not averse to taking a slice for themselves as well. The Pharisees were also offended, for Jesus was happy to meet with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus announced that it was the ill who needed a doctor, not the healthy. The gospel is for sinners, and God is in the business of healing sinners.

9:14-17

Disciples of John the Baptist were confused, for Jesus’ disciples seemed to act differently than they did, in  particular they did not fast often. The root of the problem was a lack of understanding of who Jesus is. Indeed, most errors are rooted in failing to appreciate who Jesus is, this is why it is so important that we know who Jesus is. New thinking was required, for Jesus was not like anyone else who had appeared, He was the Son of God, the One through whom the whole of creation was made.

9:18-26

The miracles continue, the next one concerns a synagogue leader’s daughter. Jesus is perfectly willing to heal her, despite the general opposition to Him from the religious leaders. At the same time the woman with bleeding is healed. This is yet another truncated version of an incident, this time the healing of the woman with the issue of blood. Matthew just tells us that she had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She believed that if she just touched Jesus’ cloak she would be healed. So the reputation of Jesus had obviously got around. There may well have been more to touching Jesus’ cloak than just touching the “cloak of a healer”. With her condition she would not be allowed to touch people, for it would make them unclean. Jesus turned and saw her and assured her that “her faith has healed you”. He also addresses her as daughter. She would have very much been a second class citizen with the condition. So Jesus is affirming her in two ways. First, He calls her daughter, assuring her that she belongs to Israel, belongs to God. Then He says that her faith has contributed to the healing.

Jesus then arrived at Jairus’ house. Mourning was in full flow with people playing pipes and making a noise, as was the custom in middle eastern funerals. Jesus is having nothing to do with this, announcing that the girl is “not dead, but asleep”. Presumably this means that He was going to bring her back to life, rather than being a more accurate medical diagnosis. The crowd laughed at Him. We should note that people in those days were much more familiar with death than we are. Jesus had the crowd put outside, He took the girl by the hand and she got up. Not surprisingly, news of this event spread throughout the region.

Matthew 9:1-13 - Offending people

9:1-8

A paralysed man was brought to Jesus. The man had an obvious need, to be healed of his paralysis, but Jesus’ first words were to pronounce his forgiveness. Why did He do this? The obvious answer is that forgiveness was actually his greater need, but may be because the man may have thought his condition was a result of his sin. Whatever the case, the teachers of the Law were offended, convinced that Jesus was blaspheming, assuming the right to do what only God could do.

Jesus knew what they were thinking. Note that he says they were having evil thoughts. Jesus then demonstrated the extent of His authority by healing the man. He also proclaimed that He had the right to forgive sins, and referred to Himself as “the Son of Man”. The crowd were amazed and praised God. The teachers of the Law were probably not as impressed.  The crowd had a better idea of the significance of Jesus’ actions than the religious types.

9:9-13

Jesus was prepared to affront the sensibilities of the religious leaders, he was also ready to offend the general populace as well. For we now read of the calling of Matthew, now Matthew was a tax collector so would not be popular, Tax collectors worked on behalf of the hated Romans, and also were not averse to taking a slice for themselves as well. The Pharisees were also offended, for Jesus was happy to meet with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus announced that it was the ill who needed a doctor, not the healthy. The gospel is for sinners, and God is in the business of healing sinners.

Matthew 8:28-34 - Bad news for demons and pigs

8:28-34

Jesus now heals two demon-possessed men. The demons had such a hold over them, and made them extremely violent. However the demons were in fear of Jesus, they knew He was going to drive them out, and they pleaded to be sent into a nearby herd of  pigs. Why they wanted this was not clear, but it proved to be a big mistake. Jesus sent them into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed off a cliff and into the lake and died. Demons only bring destruction. The whole town sent out to Jesus and asked him to leave. Why did they do this? Maybe because they knew they should not have been keeping pigs.

Matthew gives a much shorter account than we find in Mark (5:1-17) and Luke (8:26-37). Matthew also mentions two men, Mark and Luke only one. Tombs and evil spirits, demon possession, as is still the case today. It is possible that there were two demon possessed men, but Mark and Luke are focusing on the one who was at the forefront of the matter. Note that Matthew pays hardly any attention to the men themselves. Instead, his focus is on the demons, how Jesus dealt with them and the reaction of the town’s people. The region is variously called Gadarenes, Gergesenes or Gerasenes. The two men were so violent that no one dared have anything to do with them.

Notice that Matthew does not mention the two men who had been set free. Matthew seems to be focusing on the reaction of people. So if we look at this chapter as a whole, we see that people considered outcasts (lepers and Gentiles) were freely accepted and demonstrated faith. Peter’s mother-in-law was healed. Then there was Jesus making clear the cost of following Him, it is no light decision. Now we have people outrightly rejecting Jesus. The reaction and response of people to Jesus is not a simple matter. There will be all sorts of reactions from all sorts of people.

Matthew 8:23-37 - Power over nature

8:23-27

All this had happened before they had actually left for the other side of the lake (8:18). They now got into the boat. As they went across the lake a furious storm blew up. The Sea of Galilee lay well below sea level and was surrounded by hills. This meant that it was prone to sudden high winds and the associated storms. Added to this, the boats were usually fairly small. The disciples were terrified and went to wake up Jesus, who was sleeping. They thought they were going to drown. Remember the disciples included some fishermen, so the storm must have been pretty severe.

“You of little faith”. Let’s look a little at the situation. There was a very serious storm, it was perfectly natural for the disciples to be afraid, you or I would have been equally afraid. Yet Jesus rebuked them for their attitude. Why? It was not that the situation wasn’t dangerous, it was. But Jesus was with them, God was not going to abandon them. Either the situation would not actually cause them harm, or God would intervene. Note also that Jesus was sleeping, it seemed that He was not caring for them. There can be times when it seems that God has forgotten about us, He has not. Then Jesus got up and rebuked the waves and all was calm. Jesus demonstrated His absolute power.

The disciples were amazed, for no one has power over the waves! This was a demonstration of His power. Any assessment that Jesus was just a good man or a good teacher really has to ignore at least half of what the gospels say.

Matthew 8:14-22 - The Cost

8:14-17

Jesus now heals Peter’s mother-in-law, later that day many who were demon possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the evil spirits, he also healed all who were ill. Note a distinction is drawn between being demon possessed and being ill. Matthew sees this as a fulfilment of Isaiah 53:4. Charismatic churches tend to use Is 53:5, but that is not done in the New Testament, the previous verse is used.

8:18-22

Jesus now gives a warning about following Him, it is not an easy choice to make, for it has consequences. First a teacher of the Law comes to Him, and Jesus warns him that “the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head”, there is no earthly peace. Another disciple wants to bury His father first. He asks to be allowed to go and bury his father, and Jesus’ answer seems rather cruel. There are all sorts of explanations. In Jewish culture there was a very strong obligation for the eldest son to bury his father, this was part of honouring your father and mother. Now it is highly unlikely that the man would be out and about if his father had just died and needed burying that day. So he is probably asking for a lengthy delay, at least months, possibly years. Even so, Jesus; answer of “let the dead bury their dead” still seems brutal. The only one who had a higher claim on someone’s allegiance to one’s parents was God. So Jesus is claiming equivalent authority to God. The man had to put God first, to put Jesus first. Following Jesus is a serious matter.

Matthew 8:1-13 - Healings

8:1-4

Jesus has now finished the “sermon on the mount”, and He is followed by large crowds. It is his healing powers rather than his teaching which interests people.a man with leprosy comes and asks to be healed. He wonders if Jesus would be willing to heal Him. Jesus was willing and healed the man. He also instructed him to go to the priest and offer a sacrifice in accord with the law of Moses. The Pharisees were convinced that Jesus’ acts of healing were against the Law, especially when done on the Sabbath, Jesus knew they were completely in accord with the Law. 

8:5-13

So the first miracle demonstrates Jesus' willingness to heal. This next miracle demonstrates that the faith of Gentiles, even a Roman soldier, was greater than that of Israel. The centurion was concerned about his servant, whether this was because of the utility of the servant, or personal concern is not clear. Remember that the Romans were hated because they were an occupying force. Jews were not supposed to go into the home of a Gentile (see \Peter and Cornelius in Acts), but the centurion knows that a word from Jesus is sufficient. Jesus commends the man on his faith, and declares that many will come from all nations to join in the heavenly banquet, but many Israelites would be rejected. Faith, not ancestry, was the key. The centurion's servants was then healed.

Matthew 7:15-29 - The importance of obedience

7:15-20

There will be false prophets, they will be dressed in sheep’s clothing, adopting a sort of pseudo- Christianity. The give away will be the fruit of their lives, such people cannot produce anything good, we should not listen to such people. The fruit of someone's life, not their words, are a true test.

7:21-23

Saying the right words is not enough. Some may also claim to have prophesied in Christ’s name, and cast out demons, but doing the will of the Father is what counts. Note that casting out demons or prophesying does not in itself prove anything. Indeed Jesus calls these people “evildoers”!

7:24-29

Jesus then backs up his message with the parable of the wise and foolish builders. Note that obeying the Father and obeying Jesus are put on an equal footing. We are wise if we put Jesus’ words into practice. We are building on solid ground if we follow Jesus. Otherwise we are building on sands. Either way storms will come, the question is whether or not we will survive.

Matthew 7:13-20 - Tests

7:13,14

There are many who will try and make the gospel “easy”, by lessening the moral demands, or saying we can give in to persecutors. Such a route will be popular, but leads only to destruction. Conversely the gate to life is small and leads along a narrow way. Few will find it. So we should not be surprised or discouraged if we seem to be on a lonely road.

7:15-20

There will be false prophets, they will be dressed in sheep’s clothing, adopting a sort of pseudo- Christianity. The give away will be the fruit of their lives, such people cannot produce anything good, we should not listen to such people. The fruit of someone's life, not their words, are a true test.

Matthew 7:7-12 - ASk, seek, knock

7:7,8

We should “ask, seek and knock”. We are not to be passive. God wants us to ask, seek and knock. We should pray, we should seek answers. Note that Jesus says “for everyone who asks receives”, We will be successful.

7:9-12

Jesus then gives his justification for this. He likens the situation to a father and son. A father would not maltreat a son, neither will God maltreat us. Note the casual words “though you are evil”. God is good and is for us. As well as a teaching on prayer, Jesus also draws a lesson on how we would treat each other.

Matthew 7:1-6 - Get your own house in order

7:1,2

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”This does NOT mean not saying something is right or wrong, but it does mean that we cannot say that someone else is better or worse than others. If we consider someone to be worse than us, then God will use the same criteria against us, and we will not come off well.

7:3-5

We must be most concerned with our own righteousness (or lack of it), we must be more concerned about getting ourselves right, than getting others right. Having a judgemental attitude is often an indicator that we ourselves have problems.

7:6

This is a difficult verse.Dogs is a term that Jews sometimes used to refer to Gentiles, and pigs were unclean animals. Perhaps Jesus is saying be careful about whom we share spiritual truths with, for they will not understand and it will not produce a good reaction. If we look at it in the immediate context then perhaps it is a warning that just telling people what is wrong with them will do no good.

Matthew 6:25-34 - The futility of worrying

6:25-27

Worry is something no one likes doing, yet is also something we are all prone to do. Jesus tells us plainly not to worry. Is worry a sin? I actually think not, for no one wants to worry. Someone might contemplate going out and getting drunk, or being sexually promiscuous, but no one sets out to spend the weekend worrying! Yet worry is a symptom of our sinful condition, our fallen nature. Life is more important than food or clothes. Jesus then points to the animals, they get the food they need, and do not worry like we do. Yet God feeds them, it is not necessary to worry, and nor doessi t do any good.

6:28-34

Then Jesus points to the flowers, they are more beautiful than anything man makes. God does not require us to worry. We are more important to God than flowers or birds. Life is actually very different than the devil would have us believe.God cares for us. It is not that our daily needs don’t matter, but that there is so much more to life. Worry can distract us from what is really important. We should seek first the kingdom of God.

Matthew 6:16-23 Whose reward do you want?

6:16-18

Next of the religious observances is fasting, there were both fasts mandated by the Law and “voluntary” ones, In either case the principle is the same, do it for God, not for your own reputation, So someone fasting was not to make it obvious that they were fasting, and suffering. Instead they were to try and look well. If they did it for show, then they would have received their reward in full, i.e. the praise of men, A far greater reward is available, ie the praise of God. We can apply the same principle to all matters of service, do it for God, not for human praise, we all need to be aware of the danger that Jesus is speaking of. 

6:19-23

This distinction between earthly and heavenly reward applies to all riches. Jesus does not shy away from speaking of heavenly rewards, they are also much more valuable than earthly rewards. They are also much more secure.Earthly rewards can easily waste away. What we do with money is also a key indicator of the state of our hearts. It indicates what we value as truly important. Moreover, when we give money to something we develop a commitment to that thing, it affects our heart.

“The eye is the lamp of the body”. How we look at things affects the soul of our being. If we look with bitterness or envy we will be full of bitterness or envy. If we have a godly outlook our souls will be full of light.

Sermon on Ecclesiastes and Colossians Chapter 1

Sermon on Ecclesiastes and Colossians Chapter 1 https://youtu.be/-Lnb0gdH2m4

Matthew 6:10-15 Prayer

6:10

“Your kingdom come ...” We were once rebels against God. Now we are still rebels, but this time rebels against the world. The Romans persecuted the Christians at various times ultimately because they would not say that Caesar is Lord, only that Christ is Lord. We are looking for the overthrow of the present world system. Of course, this is not a human rebellion, and certainly not a violent one, but we are most surely looking for the world to change, for rulers to be overthrown. We are looking for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. When the world goes down roads that are distinctly ungodly we must object. The sin affirming parts of the “church” are acting in disobedience to this prayer. Moreover, it is the Lord’s prayer that is truly radical, for it looks for the replacement of the whole world order with a new heaven and earth.

6:11

Later Jesus will say “seek first the kingdom of heaven and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you”  (Matt 6:33). This pattern is modelled in the prayer, for only after saying “thy kingdom come ...” do we get the prayer for our daily provision. We seek God’s kingdom first. This verse can be taken as saying meet our needs each day. There is value in taking each day as it comes (Matt 6:34), but we should not get too hung up on this. God does sometimes provide several days (or even years) worth at once!

6:12

Next comes forgiveness. If we wanted we could take this as a command and almost treat it as a Law, but I do not believe this is helpful (this is not in anyway to belittle in anyway the seriousness of having an unforgiving heart). Rather we should look at the spirit of this, as Jesus has done with the Law as a whole. Forgiveness is the oil which keeps the church going. A car engine, no matter how good it is, will cease up if there is no oil. Likewise any relationship, any church will cease up if there is no forgiveness. The church is founded on forgiveness. If God had not forgiven us the church would never have started, neither you nor I would be allowed into the kingdom. In the same way we need to forgive each other. Every church leader, every husband or wife, every mother or father, so or daughter, church member will get some things wrong and do some things wrong. If there is no forgiveness then when this happens relationships or churches will break down. There does, of course, also need to be repentance when things go wrong as well.

6:13

We can be very tied up in debates about why would God even think of leading us into temptation. “Temptation” can also be translated as “testing”. Perhaps we should take a more practical approach. We need help, left to our own devices. We will fall into temptation at some point, especially if we become proud or over-confident. We also need to be delivered from the evil one. We do need to fear Satan, but we do need to be aware of him, his plans and his power. And we need to pray for God’s protection. The “for yours is the kingdom ...” is only found in later manuscripts and is probably an addition.

6:14,15

We then get a very stern warning about the consequences of not forgiving others. We can view this legalistically, or we can view it as showing how the kingdom works. It is interesting that this is the aspect of the prayer that Jesus highlights. This may be because the religious leaders focused on proving how “good” they were. In reality, the kingdom works in a very different way. So we are not to be looking for reasons to condemn someone.

Matthew 6:1-9 - True obedience

6:1-4

It is our heart attitudes that really matter, the essential nature of our being. So with obedience it is not just outward form that matters, likewise with the good things that we do, we do them not to be seen so that we can receive praise, but so that they actually help people.\ \all that we do is seen by our father in heaven, this includes both the good and the bad. So when we give to the poor, we do so quietly, not with a big fanfare. Note that Jesus does say we will be rewarded by our Father in Heaven. The reward is knowing that we are doing the Father’s work, working together with Him, pleasing HIm.

6:5-8

Prayer is the same, we can pray in order for others to think we are good, or to be heard by God. So again, we do not make a big show of it. Nor do we think that the extent of our words will make us more likely to be heard. God knows what we need. Simple prayers are sufficient.

6:9

Jesus then gives us what we know as “the Lord’s prayer”. Having told them how not to pray, Jesus now provides positive instruction. This the well known “Lord’s prayer”, though some say it is better to call it the disciples’ prayer. The former is actually better, as disciples Jesus is teaching us how to pray. He is not giving a form of words that must be used at all times, but a pattern for prayer. 

It starts with “Our Father in heaven”. We are praying to our Father, not to some remote deity. We do have a problem with this in that our modern concept of fatherhood does not match that well with the Biblical concept. In the Bible the Father has authority over the son (as was demonstrated in Jesus’ life). We have a relationship with the one who created all things, and sustains all things. When we pray we look beyond the here and now. And His name is to be honoured. Society does not do this, but we pray that it will happen.It is just not that we honour God’s name, but that we look for the time when every knee shall bow. This prayer is a spiritual warfare prayer, as the next verse will make even clearer.

Matthew 5:31-48 - Be perfect

5:31,32

Jesus now talks about divorce, much more will be said about this in Matt 19. Our nature is to immediately look at this in terms of law. Is one allowed to divorce or not, is a divorcee allowed to remarry? The bit about a certificate of divorce comes from Deut 24. There were some who took this as a way of getting rid of their current wife and marry a younger woman, and then claim they were still living in accordance with the Law.  Or if a man fancied a married woman he might somehow arrange for her husband to divorce her. Law cannot change men’s hearts, and sin will always find a way around laws, or even using them as a means of condoning evil behaviour. God knows our hearts and knows what we are doing.

5:33

Now we come to oaths. This does not mean it is a sin to take an oath in court, or some similar situation. Lev 19:12 spoke about not swearing falsely by God’s name, but the point of this was that doing so would dishonour the name of the Lord. Num 30:2 also talks about honouring an oath. But our hearts being what they are, some took this as meaning that if we did not take an oath then lying or not keeping our word was less serious. Jesus is emphatically saying that this is not the case!

5:34-37

People would swear oaths by all sorts of things, and quite possibly arguing about the veracity allowed with each oath! Jesus is pointing out that all this is a load of nonsense. They were completely missing the point. We are meant to tell the truth, our word is meant to be as reliable as it can be. Playing around with the truth, being economical with the truth, or saying things which are technically “true” but are in fact misleading, all these things comes from the devil. God is true and we are meant to be like God in righteousness. The devil is the father of lies, and we are not meant to be like him!

5:38-42

An eye for an eye etc comes from Ex 21:24; Lev 24:20; Deut 19:21. This was given both to ensure that justice was done, and to guard against excessive punishment. In today’s society we are far more likely to err on the other side. Ie many sentences given by courts seem to seriously underplay the seriousness of the crime, and so to devalue the victim. But Jesus is pointing to a better way. This way is not for society in its judicial system, but for individual followers of Christ. Instead of focusing on getting our rights, we are to focus on seeing the kingdom grow.

5:43

“Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.”  The first part comes from Lev 19:18, but the second part does not. In fact, the first part of Lev 19:18 talks about not holding a grudge, a quite different slant than hating your enemy! This is a very human response. We will add bits to the good law, or interpret it in such a way that we end up completely losing the original intention. This is why the Pharisaical approach to the Law was such a disaster. It is our hearts that need changing, and the Law is powerless to do that.

5:44

Jesus tells His disciples to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. Now this is an instruction to disciples, it is not an instruction to states. Governments are meant to maintain justice. If you or I forgive someone who has hurt us it is genuine. We have experienced the loss or pain of their action. We are in a position to forgive. If a state is lax in administering justice, then it is prone to neglecting its duties, as we see in the West. We should also note that Jesus’ instruction to forgive our enemies is not new, it is found in the Law! See Ex 23:4,5.

5:45

“that you may be children of God”. As with all of the Sermon on the Mount, we are deeply mistaken if we view this as a set of rules. It is much more about the heart of God, and our being like God in righteousness and holiness (Eph 4:24). So the instruction to love our enemies is an instruction to be like God. In particular it is an instruction to be Christlike, for He loved His enemies. And we do well to remember that we were once enemies of God (Rom 5:10). In the Old Testament there are various instructions where God tells the Israelites to remember that they were once slaves (Deut 5:15, 16:12).

5:46,47

We might think we are kind because we are hospitable to our friends. Now it is not wrong to do that, but there is nothing particularly virtuous in doing that. The world does the very same thing. We are to be holy as God is holy. Note also the mention of reward. What is the reward? It is the extension of God’s kingdom. God’s kingdom grows by His people loving their enemies.

5:48

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” We can take this as an intimidating command, or we can take it as a promise, as an indication of the glory of the gospel. God’s plan for humanity is that we become like Him in righteousness and holiness. All human philosophies and worldly ways of living devalue and demean us. God’s ways place the highest value on us. We have been given the highest possible calling in life, to be like God! Human religions end up levelling things down to what we can handle, which isn’t very much! God seeks to raise us up.

Matthew 5:13-30 - The seriousness of sin

5:13-16

While in one sense we are insignificant, we are actually very important, we are the “salt of the earth”, we both add flavour and are a preservative, we have a vital effect on the earth. However, we must retain our saltiness, we must not become immoral or corrupt, otherwise we will be treated as worthless.

We are also “the light of the world”, we think of Jesus as the light, and so He is, but he also works through His people. We might be counted as insignificant by the world, but God wants to put us on display, we are meant to be visible. God’s people are meant to be a demonstration of the life of God, and so glorify the Lord. Israel was meant to do this, but failed to do so.

5:17-20

This is such an important statement, “do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the prophets, but to fulfil them.” People are way off beam when they think that Jesus somehow does away with the moral demands of the Law. Such people are utterly clueless. Instead our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, they focused on outward appearance, jesus is concerned with the heart.

5:21-30

Jesus now backs this up, we must not simply refrain from physically murdering someone, or actually committing adultery. There must be no anger or lust in our hearts. Jesus has come to change who we actually are. The reason for this is that thoughts harboured in our hearts can lead to evil actions,  and God is concerned with who we actually are..v29 and 30 then make it abundantly clear that we must take sin seriously and deal with it. Sin is a deadly serious business.

Matthew 5:1-12 Beatitudes

5:1

We now come to what is possibly the most famous part of Matthew’s gospel, the sermon on the Mount. Some present it as being in some way against the Law, this is absolute nonsense. If Jesus corrects anything it is the teaching of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law. Actually most of the  teachings, such as loving our enemies, can be found in the Old Testament.

It is a mistake to treat this as a list of ethical rules, rather it is a description of what the “new creation” is like, what God is transforming us to, what attitudes and heart we should have.

5:2-12

The sermon starts with the be attitudes, and these are quite different from what we might expect, “blessed” could be translated “happy” or “fortunate", “Blessed are the poor in spirit”, The Christian recognises their poor spiritual state, that we do not match up to God’s standards.  One might think that we are in a mess, but the kingdom of heaven was created for the poor in spirit, for those who recognise their need of God.

Mourning is not a happy state to be in, but a painful one.But we are assured that we will be comforted.

The world tells us that it is the forceful and strong that get what they want, that “rule the roost”, but Jesus tells us that it is those who trust in the Lord who will inherit the earth, see Ps 37:11.

Hungering for righteousness may seem to be a futile state, but Jesus tells us that we will be filled, justice and righteousness are coming.

Being merciful can be seen to be weak, but we all need mercy, and it is the merciful who will receive mercy.

The worldly wise are cunning and no above telling the odd useful lie, but it is the pure in heart who will see God.

The strong and violent can be seen to be the ones who will prosper, but it is the peacemakers who will be called “children of God”.

Being insulted, persecuted and falsely accused is not pleasant, but those who honour Christe despite all this, will receive a great reward in heaven.