DEVOTIONS - MORE MATTHEW BLOG

Matthew 26:38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

Jesus had a human nature and a divine nature; this story of Jesus in Gethsemane reveals the very depths of Jesus human nature. He is broken and strained as He reaches out to His Father in Heaven for strength. He wants His disciples to join with Him in prayer for the strength of God in His life as well as in theirs. Even though Jesus is God and He knows just what the future holds for Him, He is at the same time human and does not want to suffer the pain, humiliation and most of all the separation from His Father that He knows the next few hours will hold.
The disciples are caught sleeping while Jesus is praying. Jesus tells them to pray that they will not enter into temptation, “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”. This is so true for us as well, we have the best intentions to serve the Lord in all that we do and yet we find ourselves taking care of ourselves “asleep on the job”.
Jesus prayer to His Father reveals the human side of Jesus as He prays that there must a another way to accomplish the same thing, surely He does not have to be ridiculed and tortured and then die on a cross. But Jesus bows to the Father’s will, “not my will but yours be done”. Even though Jesus knows exactly what needs to be done and what will be done, He allows for the Father to do what Jesus does not want to go through.
Jesus finishes and faces His enemies. What we learn from this emotional section of the scripture is that we too should spend our time to watch and pray and like the disciples our greatest prayer should be that we do not enter into temptation. Lord spare us from following the easy road rather than the road that You have called us to walk.

What has been your “Gethsemane” – a place where you really wrestled with God? What was the issue?

What do you appreciate most about Jesus’ emotions in this story?

Matthew 26:20-22 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.” They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely not I, Lord?”

This paragraph is titled “the last Supper” in fact it was the last supper, the last supper that Jesus would have with His disciples before His death. The Passover meal that they were celebrating was a remembrance of the time that the Angel of Death “passed over” the houses of the faithful in Egypt during the last plague. That was a celebration of the old covenant that God had with His people, the children of Israel. This was the last supper in that it was the last true celebration of that covenant because Jesus now instituted a new covenant that was sealed with His own Body and Blood.
The covenant was a promise the was irrevocable, Jesus promise was that by His death all people would be able to have a relationship with His Father in Heaven. The covenants were sealed with the blood of a sacrificial animal, in this case Jesus says that He will be the sacrifice and His blood will be the seal of this promise.
It is interesting that as Jesus was sealing this new covenant He also told them that the one who would betray Him was there with them at the table. Equally interesting is that fact that when He says that one of them will betray Him, they all ask if it is them? Don’t they know if they would betray Him? Peter is the only one who says “I will never betray you” and by the next morning he has denied Jesus three times.
What we get from this section of Scripture is that all of us are forgiven and even if we turn our backs on Jesus He will never forsake us! Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him and He died for Judas also! There is forgiveness for everyone and the Last Supper is the proof of that!

How deeply do you know God’s forgiveness of your sins?

Why do many Christians struggle with guilt if Jesus provides the forgiveness of sins?

Matthew 25:33,34 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

To those who have explored what the Bible says about the end of the world and what will happen when Christ comes again, these verses are very familiar. Jesus analogy of the “sheep and the goats” speaks clearly about what will happen when he comes again to judge the world. As you read this section, the temptation is to decide that your works will determine whether you are going to heaven or to hell. Because Jesus talks about those who have fed Him given Him a drink visited Him in prison and welcomed Him as a stranger it would be easy to assume that these “good works” are what get us into heaven. But the truth of what Jesus is speaking about is really hidden just a little deeper in the analogy.

You notice that Jesus says that He will divide the sheep and the goats, they are not sheep and goats because of “what they do” they are sheep and goats because of “who they are”. The “sheep” are those who believe in Jesus as their savior and have a relationship with Him the “goats” are those who do not believe and do not have any relationship with Jesus. Jesus then says that anyone can see that they are “sheep” because of the things that they have done, things that are evidence that they have a relationship with Jesus. They belong to Jesus and are His sheep and their nature is to help all of those that Jesus mentioned, not to earn anything but because that is “what they do”. The people without a relationship with Jesus “the goats” if you will, don’t even think of doing those same things and in fact did not see those needs, this is not why they are goats, but because they are goats.
To be very clear, one should understand that through Jesus we are able to have a relationship with God the Father right now here on earth. When the world is over we will continue that relationship in Heaven, this is the “kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the earth.” Those who choose not to have a relationship with God the Father through Jesus, here on earth will not have a relationship with Him at the end of the earth either! Jesus explains this by saying, see their relationships with me has been evident throughout their lives as they lived for others, and yours has been just as evident as you lived for yourselves.
Therefore I just want to be a “sheep” (Baa, Baa, Baa, Baaaaaa.)

When have you been in need and someone reached out to you? How did it feel?
Are you keeping a record of the “good deeds” that you do?

Again, it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.

This parable often bothers us because we realize that at some time we are going to be held accountable. God has entrusted us with many things in our life and He expects that we are using them for His purposes. This parable causes us to wonder if we are doing what we should with what God has given us.

The temptation is to focus completely on the stewardship message in this parable. Am I being the best manager of what God has placed at my disposal? But this parable is placed here also to talk about the second coming of Christ and what we can expect at that time. It would seem that this parable is to remind us that what we do in our life is not just “our business”. We are God’s property and we are truly managing for him every day of our lives until Christ comes again. We cannot forget that He is going to come again. Like with the other parables, if we knew exactly when He was coming we could be ready, we could at least “look busy”. But we realize that there is no fooling God, He already knows if we are working for Him or if we are working for ourselves, this parable reminds us that there will be a day of reckoning.
When Jesus says that “to those who have more will be given and to those who do not have even what they have will be taken away” He is speaking about those who are living for God instead of themselves. If you have this kind of relationship where you live for the one who bought you by His blood He intends to bless you with an even deeper and closer relationship. For those who live for themselves even the little relationship that they have with Jesus will be taken away.
The promise of further blessings and the thought of a final accounting should both move us to live and work for the one who saved us and not for ourselves.
If the master returned today what would he say about how you’ve used what He gave you?
When have you noticed that the more you used the “talent” that God gave you that you had more to work with?

I Peter 4:12,13 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

Today we often think that because we are children of God that He should keep every kind of evil and hurt away from us in this life. People may remind you that God never promised that everything would be smooth in your life, but in this section Peter tells us just the opposite, we can expect hard times in our life. That is certainly not great news for us as Christians!

Yet I have seen this very thing happen in quite a few people’s lives that come into a relationship with Christ. The evil one sees that they believe and then sends hardship into their lives in order to see if he can get them to desert God and His plans for their life. The devil is great at tempting us to trust ourselves and look out for ourselves as we did before we believed and trusted in God our savior. Peter tells these new Christians that they should remain steadfast because one day they will receive the glory that God is going to bring. That promise is true for us as well. We should stand fast in the world problems that fill our lives and simply look for the blessings that are sure to come at one time in our life!
It is easy for us to fall into the trap of only being able to see the problems and suffering that are coming toward us and overlook the joy that is ours in Christ. Peter tells us to focus on Jesus are we will not be disappointed.

What form does your suffering for Christ take?

How does verse 19 comfort and assure you?

When have you participated in something which was difficult, but eventually became a success?

I Peter 4:7,8 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Peter speaks to them in this section about the fact that even if they should have to suffer some sort of persecution they should remember that Christ also suffered and because He suffered they no longer have to live lives that are following in evil ways. Peter points out that living for God is a matter of putting the old ways of living behind us and not even listening to those who would tempt us to fall back into that way of living. Instead “living for God” means that we should use our gifts that God has given us to serve other people.
It is evident that if we live for ourselves and what makes us “feel good” that we will end up in sin and away from God, but if we live for God and spend ourselves in service to others we will be bringing glory to God as our Father.
Since the end of the world is coming and all things are going to pass away, the work that we do for the Father becomes much more important than everything that this world has to offer.

Twice Peter gives the command to “love each other deeply”. What comes to mind when you compare your life-style of love to this command?

Why is using your talents for God important both for yourself and for others?

I Peter 3:8,9 Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

In this section Peter is speaking about how they should act when they are being persecuted. At that time people were being hauled in and asked if “Jesus was their Lord” and so Peter says that they should first of all make their lives above reproach so that people would know that if they are arrested it is because of their faith and not because of evil actions. Secondly he said that if they were asked about the hope that they have for eternal life they should answer with respect and gentleness.

Then he coaches them that in spite of all of this they may be treated badly, but how much better to be treated badly when you have done nothing wrong than to be treated badly when you deserve it. These words speak to us as Christians today not because we will be killed because of our faith, but because we sometimes suffer when we have done nothing wrong and Peter explains that it puts the best light on Christ if we bear that particular burden with out murmuring. We can do that because we know that in the end we will be with Christ forever in heaven.

What is the model for evangelism Peter gives in verses 15-16?

What fears affect people today? What fears affect our relationships?  How does following Jesus as Lord free you from those fears?

I Peter 3:7 Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

Men who want to make a point about how the wife is supposed to act toward her husband often quote verses 1-6 of chapter 3. But verse 7 about how the man is to treat the woman is not quoted near so often.

Peter made the point that the actions of the wife might bring an unbelieving husband into the faith when her words would not move him at all. I have seen this to be true in my ministry, where wives that are faithful to the church and loving and considerate toward their husbands have been able to give a positive witness to the Gospel and their husbands have come to believe.

The same can be true of the relationship that the husband has with his wife. When he treats her with respect and love that also makes a positive witness. Un fortunately the opposite is also true. When the husband or the wife as the believer treats the spouse badly and they see them treat others poorly that also gives a witness and it is against the church and a life with Christ. The question for us becomes, “what kind of witness are we giving by the way we treat our spouse?” Peter says that honoring and accepting the place that God has placed you starts in the home!

What does a marriage built on voluntary submission and consideration look like?

Is Peter advocating that spouses stay in cruel situations or that wives never say no?

I Peter 2:13,14 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.

Since we have been set free and forgiven our first reaction might be that we answer only to God for our lives and our actions. Peter reminds us here that we have been placed by God into an orderly society. Within that order there are those who have been given authority over us in the family, the church and in the state. Each of these people has authority in their area of our lives.

The writer believes that by honoring the authorities that are placed over us we will silence those who are saying that Christians don’t obey the rules and laws of the government. He also does not want us to use our freedom as a cover for evil actions. When we honor the authorities placed over us we are in effect honoring God.

Then he goes on to talk also about slaves and masters. In the past some have used this verse to try and show that the Bible was in favor of slavery but it has more to do with honoring the authorities that are placed over us. The point that is made is that you honor them for their position not because of their personality. In fact Peter says that we bring more honor to God when we bear unjust punishment then when we bear a punishment that we deserve.

The direction that he is giving here is that when we honor those placed over us we bring glory to God. When we dishonor those over us we make God look bad!

How can Jesus example help you face hardships you can’t change?

What is Peter’s response to one whose master is not a Christian or is just a difficult person?