DEVOTIONS - MATTHEW BLOG

Matthew 14:25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

Jesus and the disciples had left the area where Herod was in control and then went to a desert area so that Jesus could teach the disciples and have some time alone to pray. The people had followed and the feeding of the 5,000 was the result. At this point Jesus tells the disciples that they should get into the boat and go across the water. There was probably a bay of water in the desert area where they were this is what they were to cross and the disciples expected Jesus to have His time in prayer and then walk around the bay and meet them on the other side on the next day.

Jesus finished His prayer time and saw the disciples in the boat having a hard time fighting a head wind and the waves He walks out on the water and thereby shows control over the wind and the waves, which causes the disciples to believe that He was the “Son of God”.  As we stated before the people of that day believed that all manner of evil lived in the sea. Therefore Jesus was showing great power when He walked on top of the water, the people believed that the evil underneath pulled you down into the depths to die.
We often criticize Peter for his lack of faith in sinking on the water, but at least he had enough faith to get out of the boat! Peter was willing to challenge the evil in the sea by stepping out. With that in mind, his words to Jesus when he was sinking have a second meaning, “Lord save me!” Jesus reached down and pulled him up and said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” We are all called to step out on top of the evil of the world and we all find ourselves sinking when we trust ourselves. Therefore we cry to Jesus to save us. Jesus rescues us from the evil of the world and sets us back in the boat.

Would you be more likely to step out of the boat or stay in the boat?

When was the last time that you felt like you were “sinking” as you navigate your life?

Matthew 14:19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

Jesus heard that Herod thought that He was John come back from the dead and knew that Herod would want to kill Him. Jesus went across the lake in order to get out of the area that Herod controlled. The people found out where He was going and by the time that He got to the other side, they were already there waiting. Jesus felt sorry for them and healed their sick while He was trying to teach the disciples. This went on for the whole day and when evening came Jesus challenged the disciples to feed the whole group.

The disciples had 5 loaves and 2 fish which Jesus then blessed and fed over 5,000 people! Jewish men did not eat with women and so the count of who was fed was separated into 5000 men and also the women and children. This miracle was again a symbolic thing as the people immediately remembered that Moses fed the people with bread from heaven and Elisha had fed 100 men with just 20 loaves. There was the comparison with Moses and Elisha the great leaders and prophets of the Old Testament. The people reacted by wanting to make Jesus their King, because He could take care of their physical needs. Jesus knew that this was in their minds and He had the disciples get back into the boat.

This incident highlights the temptations of the miracles that Jesus did. The temptation of the devil at the beginning of Jesus ministry was that He should just get people to follow Him because He could take care of all their needs. That was not to be the purpose of the miracles rather Jesus did the miracles in order to show the people He was the promised Messiah. Therefore the ties to Moses and Elisha were important. But even for Jesus the temptation was there, “does the end justify the means”? If they trusted Him and followed Him does it matter how they got to that point? Jesus thought that it did so He left the people to go by Himself and pray.

How have you seen Jesus stretch your resources beyond what you could imagine?

How does “we should do whatever it takes to reach people for Christ” fit into this story?

Matthew 14:1,2 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
In this section of Matthew, it is a little confusing as to what was actually taking place. Jesus had begun his ministry in his home area and had been asked to leave and then later in his ministry (chapter 13) he came back again and was still not accepted. However the news of his miracles went everywhere and Herod the Tetrarch (he was not really a king, though he was commonly called “king” by the people) heard about what Jesus was doing and told the people around him that this would probably be John the Baptist come back to life!
Then Matthew takes the opportunity to tell the story of how Herod came to kill John the Baptist, not at this time but at some previous time, Matthew simply retells the story here in this section. Herod did not really mind John the Baptist and had from time to time listened to what he had to say. Herodias, his wife, did not like John at all because he kept telling them that they were living in sin and that they should quit it! Herodias was married to Herod’s brother Philip and one time when Heodias and Philip were visiting at the home of Herod, he convinced Herodias to marry him instead. This was strictly forbidden in the Jewish law unless the brother was dead! Never mind the fact that Herod was already married to someone else who was out of the country at the time.
On Herod’s birthday Salome, Herodias daughter, danced for the people that were there for the party. This was not a little child, but a girl of a marrying age, who danced in a way that made everyone weak and especially Herod, who in a weak moment, and probably drunken moment, said that she could have whatever she wanted up to half of the kingdom and all that she asked for was the head of John the Baptist! Herod was sad that he had made such a stupid bargain, but he carried through and had the head of John brought to her on a platter.
Now when Jesus comes back into the area doing miracles, Herod thinks that it could be John come back from the dead. Jesus reacts to what He hears about Herod by leaving the area and does not come back to His hometown area again.

What would be your “dream” birthday present?

In what area of your life are your actions governed by what people think?

Matthew 13:57 But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”
Jesus came to His hometown, the people that He grew up with could not believe that He was doing the miraculous things that they heard He was doing. This would not be much different today, if you remember the grown up famous person when they were just a child and you know their family and know where they live and what their father does to support the family. In Jesus case they knew that Joseph was a carpenter and Jesus was his son, they knew His brothers and sisters and none of that would suggest that Jesus would be anything out of the ordinary.
I think that we can all understand the problem here. I for one understand Jesus problem, I have yet to preach in the church where I grew up, I can’t imagine looking at the guys that I went to elementary and high school with and preaching a sermon! They know what you were like when you were little. Sometimes your own family can be unable to picture you in your “grown up” job or position.
Matthew says that Jesus did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith in Him. It is interesting to think just what faith had to do with the many miracles that Jesus did in all of the different places that He was. Sometimes Jesus would mention the faith of the people that He healed and other times it seemed almost like the faith of the people involved did not even matter. Jesus miracles were done for two reasons, one was for the people who needed the healing and the second was so that those around would know that Jesus really was the Son of God and the promised Savior.

What does this story teach us about taking Jesus for granted?

If we where raised to know Jesus can He still be as exciting and stimulating in our lives when we are “all grown up”?

Matthew 13:52 He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

These are three more “kingdom of heaven” parables. They each have little titles the first two are called the “hidden treasure” and the “Pearl”. They both seem to teach the same lesson about the kingdom of heaven. The lesson would be that heaven is so special and exciting that anyone would sell all that they had in order to obtain the kingdom of heaven. This concept is somewhat difficult for us to grasp, we would rather have our feet in the kingdom here on earth and then be a part of the kingdom of heaven as well, but the parables seem to tell us that we must pay it all! We have to be willing to give up all that we depend on here on earth in order to have the kingdom of heaven. When you think that seems to be a high price you need only remember the worth of the prize!

The third parable for today is called “the Net” this parable like the parable of  “the weeds” talks about how at the end of time God will separate out the believers from the unbelievers. The believers will spend eternity with God in heaven and the unbelievers will spend eternity in hell with the devil. This is the prize that we long for and are willing to give up all to attain. Again this parable portrays the idea that as we live here on earth it is not possible to tell the good fish from the bad, but when God comes at the end of time, it will be as obvious as the weeds in the field.

Jesus finishes this section on the parables with a statement that says that he is teaching the disciples these new ideas so that they will be able to put them together with what they already know and this will help them to explain Jesus purpose on earth to those who are seeking the path to heaven.

Of the parables in chapter 13 which one is still unclear?
All too clear?

How much energy are you willing to expend of promoting the kingdom of heaven?

Matthew 13:34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.

Jesus told the parable of the Weeds and later gave the explanation of that parable, but Matthew put the parables of the mustard seed and the yeast in between that parable and its explanation. The parables of the Yeast and the Mustard Seed are “parables of the Kingdom”. Jesus tries to explain the Kingdom of Heaven through parables. The Mustard Seed parable says that the kingdom of God is like a small mustard seed that is the smallest thing when it starts out but grows to be a giant tree.

In a very real sense Jesus was the start of the kingdom of heaven, and from that one person the whole kingdom grew. Jesus spoke about this growth and compared it to how a seed grows into a tree. We have the joy of being a part of His great Kingdom! Jesus describes that Kingdom in another way when He says that it is like a woman who mixes yeast into the dough! It only takes a little yeast to leaven the whole lump of dough but that little bit affects all the rest of the dough! The kingdom of heaven is made up of people who believe in Jesus as their Savior and their lives help to change everything that happens to everyone that they come into contact with.

The point of these parables of the Kingdom is to say that while the Kingdom of Heaven started with Jesus as something that was almost invisible to the world, it grew into one of the biggest influences throughout history. So Jesus wants us to know that we may not be able to “see” it but it affects everything in our lives.

As I said at first these two parables are followed here by an explanation of the parable of the weeds where Jesus tells His disciples exactly what the parable meant. This explanation reminds us that it is much better to the good seed, rather than a weed, their future does not look too good!

Is your faith the size of a mustard seed or has it grown?

What role has your mustard seed faith played in your life so far?

Matthew 13:29,30 No, he answered because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.

Matthew, the Gospel writer, has included quite a few parables in a row here and the second one is known as the parable of the weeds. In this parable Jesus says that along with the “good seed” of people who believe and follow Jesus there are people in the church who are “weeds” they are not living for Jesus. Jesus point is that it will be evident at the End of Time who is one of the true believers and who is not a true believer in Christ and if you try to identify the “weeds” ahead of time you may in fact throw out some of the true believers.

I think that this speaks to us as members of God’s church on earth. We are often guilty of making our own criteria for being a “good” believer! We want to tie it to church attendance, or to giving, or to Bible Study. Then we are quick to want to point a finger at someone that we think is a “weed” in our field! Jesus encourages us to wait on Him and let the weeds be evident at the end in His time, not ours.

We are always ready to judge someone else and quick to overlook our own shortcomings. In this parable Jesus encourages us to strengthen our own good seed rather than worry about someone else’s “bad seed”. We know that there will be weeds in the field and we should not concentrate on them, but on growing our own faith and life, as with our own lawn, we can eventually choke out the weeds with a healthy growth of the “good seed”.

The church should be about planting a great many seeds not trying to “weed out” the bad seeds, God will be that at the end of all time!

Where is the harvest field God has placed you?

Can you be over-zealous in your judgment of the evils of the world?

Matthew 13:16,17 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

All of the men and women of God from the beginning of time until the time of Jesus longed to see the Messiah and what He would do and to hear His teachings but they died without seeing any of that happen. The disciples and the people of their time did get to see and hear Jesus. Even we who live much later have missed out on living and speaking with Jesus of Nazareth, the disciples were truly blessed!

But we do have recorded for us Jesus’ words and thoughts and His explanation of this parable is one of the clearest. Jesus says, “Listen to what the parable of the sower means:” I won’t go through each part of the parable because Jesus does a much better job than I could do explaining what He meant. But let’s look at the parable as a whole! Jesus is speaking to all of us about the trials and tribulations of growing in His word. Living in a close relationship with Jesus is not an easy thing to fulfill, there are many temptations of the devil that would draw us away from Him.

You can’t read this parable’s explanation without finding yourself in one part of it or another. In fact we have probably been at a couple of the places that the seed found itself resting in. What becomes obvious is that there are a lot more ways to fall away from the strength of Jesus than there are ways to draw closer to Him. Think for a moment about what it will take in your life to get yourself into the “good soil”. Do you need to clear out some weeds? Do you need to find deeper soil? Do you need to move away from the well-traveled areas of your life?  What will it take for you to really PRODUCE?

What deep “roots” help to prevent a believer from falling away?

What worries can choke your growth in Christ?

Matthew 13:10-12 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”
The disciples asked why Jesus so often used parables to teach His lessons. You would expect that Jesus would say that the parables were analogies that people could more easily understand, but Jesus says just the opposite. Jesus states that His reason for using parables was to keep the wisdom of the kingdom of heaven hidden from those who were not meant to understand.

The point that Jesus made was that in order to truly understand the parables you would need a relationship with Jesus and God the Father already. Those who had no close relationship with Jesus would not be able to catch the true meaning of the parables. To those who had a relationship of trust and respect for Jesus that relationship would be enhanced by the parables. Therefore Jesus says to those who have more will be given and to those who do not have even what they have will be taken away. Without a relationship with Jesus the parables will be meaningless to you.

Jesus also said to the disciples that they could understand even without the parables because of the power of the Holy Spirit that they already had in their lives but other people needed the parables in order to understand, then He goes on to tell them the true meaning of the parables. This is definitely a little confusing.

For us several centuries later, the parables are seen as a very effective teaching method for Jesus to use. He tells “earthly stories that have heavenly meanings”. Jesus talks about sheep and shepherds, sower and seed, mustard plants and trees that bear fruit. These are all things that we understand as human beings. When Jesus talks about God the Father, Heaven and the end of the world we are a little lost! In the parables Jesus is able to blend the unknown things into the known things in a way that can be quite enlightening to us. Just like He said, those of us who know Him are brought closer by the parables!

Can you see and hear Jesus at work in today’s world? If so, how?

Why do so many people misunderstand the Gospel?

Matthew 12:50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.

Some people have made the assumption from this section of scripture that Jesus was not interested in His family relationships. He was talking with the people who had come to hear Him speak and He chose not to stop to talk with His mother and family. He motioned toward the disciples that were there and said that those were His family. Jesus was not getting rid of His family He was in fact adding to that family everyone who follows in the way of the Lord.

This is an exciting message to us as believers in Jesus Christ for we are considered part of Jesus family. Jesus treats us like family and invites us to treat Him like family. In other teachings of Jesus we find that “doing the will of my Father” is believing that Jesus is the promised Savior. So if we believe we are counted as one of Jesus’ family members.

This relationship extends to all of us as we become “brothers and sisters” with everyone who believes. The picture of a “family” of believers is a wonderful way to look at those who believe in whatever Christian Church in whatever country and at whatever time period. We are all family! This is sometimes called the “invisible Church” you can not see just who are truly believers some in your church are and some are not, just belonging to the outward organization does not make us “family”. This relationship brings with it all of the privileges and responsibilities of the family. We are able to talk to other believers as a family member, but we also need to think about taking care of fellow believers just like we would take care of a family member. We cannot use the excuse, “I don’t know them” because they are “family”.

In this family God is the Father and He takes care of us all. The family grows as more people come to believe and follow in the way of our Lord and Father. We are blessed to be a part.

From your life this week would others see you more as a brother or sister of Jesus or a distant relative?

How does being linked to other believers change how you act toward everyone that you meet?