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Rational Thought
Saturday August 14, 2010
How will she ever see you?
David A. Cooper - February 2007
“Look at her, Father.” Peter’s thoughts turn to God, “She is my beautiful girl and I crushed her tonight. Look at her. How could I speak to her the way I spoke to her tonight?”
Rita turns over in her sleep. Peter fixes her blankets and tucks her in again. “You would have thought that she committed some gross act of rebellion or shoved her sister down the stairs or cussed out her mother, but, Father, all she did was knock a plate of spaghetti off the table. It was an accident, not the end of the world. Father forgive me, please forgive me,” Peter whispers. “She is one of the most caring and giving kids I have ever known. Intelligent beyond her years. And funny, my goodness, Father, the girl is a hoot. How could I#…?”
Rita turns over and barely opens her eyes. “Daddy, who are you talking to?”
“I’m sorry, Sweetie, I didn’t mean to wake you up. I was praying.” Peter fixes her blankets once again. “And I am so very sorry that I got so angry at supper tonight, I way over reacted.”
“That’s OK, Daddy, I should have been more careful.” She sits up and hugs her dad, “Mommy said that you had a bad day and I should give you break. So I did.”
“She said that, did she?” Peter smiles. “Thank you, Rita, but my bad day is no excuse for the way I treated you tonight. I am really sorry.”
A tear runs down Peter’s face. Rita wipes it away. “Daddy, it’s OK, you’re only human. And like Mommy said you’re due a few mistakes.”
“You are a wonderful girl. Did you know that?”
“Yeah, I know.” Rita says with a giggle. “Well, I know you and Mom think so anyway.”
Peter just smiles and shakes his head, “Now let’s get back to sleep and I will see you in the morning.”
Rita pulls her blankets around her and flops back on her pillow, “Am I really grounded ‘til I’m 18? That’s a long time, you know?”
“Not as long as you think, and no, Rita, you are not grounded at all, but maybe you could help me finish cleaning up the mess tomorrow night.”
“OK”
“Good night, Spunky.”
“Good night, Daddy. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Peter sits in her chair and watches her fall asleep. “Do you see what I mean, Father? You have given us an exceptional child. How do I raise her? How will she ever see You if I keep being so human? Dear Father, I can’t do this fatherhood thing without You.” | | Posted by Jedidiah at 8:10 PM - | |
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Thursday June 3, 2010
Fatherhood is a hands on proposition
David Cooper - May 2003 - revised August 2010
“Hey, Marcus.”
“Hey, Wes. What’s wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong? Did you see what they put in the men’s room?”
“Uh, toilet paper?”
“No!”
“There’s no toilet paper in the men’s room!? Bummer…”
“What? Yes there’s toilet paper in the men’s room, but that’s not what I’m talkin’ about. I’m talkin’ about that thing. You know, one of those things that women put baby’s on to change their diaper.”
“A changing table?”
“Yeah, a changing table.”
“Yeah, I put it in yesterday morning“.
“YOU installed that thing! What are you thinking!? That is the last thing needed in a men’s room, Softer toilet paper; better air freshener, that we need, but one of those things? Never. I wonder what bonehead came up with this idea.”
“Uh, well, it was my idea.”
“WHAT?!”
“Have you ever tried to change a messy diaper sittin’ on a tile bathroom floor with 7 guys tryin’ to take care of their business? It ain’t pretty.”
“Uh, Whaddayamean, ‘change a diaper’?”
“You have two kids, Wes... don’t tell me that you have never changed their diaper.”
“I tried once.”
“Tried? Once?”
“Stephanie had to run to the store for something. J.J. was napping so I said I’d stay in the house in case he woke up. She’d been gone about fifteen minutes when J.J. let out a scream. I went upstairs and... well... let’s just say that there was an overwhelming rather ominous odor that seem to be originating from a certain toddlers nursery.”
“Oh, Boy!”
“One look and I gagged. It was up his back, down his legs, on his hands, he was a 22-pound biohazard.”
“A toxic waste dump.”
“Uh... yeah... well... I was fortunate that all he had on was one of those things like a t-shirt except it snapped between his legs.”
“A onesie.”
“You know way too much. But anyway, I needed to find a way to pick him up without touching the poop. So, I went down to the kitchen and got an old pair of oven mitts.”
“HA! Oven mitts?”
“Don’t laugh. It was the only thing I could think of.”
“Sorry.”
“Yeah, well, ... I went back upstairs to help him. By this time his scream was rattling the windows and the smell was curling the paint and he not only had it on his legs, back, and hands now he had it on his face and in his hair. I took a deep breath, picked him up and brought him down to the kitchen. I figured I could spray him down with that sprayer thingy that Stephanie uses to rinse the dishes.”
“Tell me you didn’t put this screaming biohazard, your son, into your kitchen sink.”
“Yes; I did. But first I had to get that onesie thing off. Do you know how hard it is to get those snaps undone wearing oven mitts?”
“I can only imagine.”
“Hoping that this stuff doesn’t stain linoleum, I put him down on the floor and eventually got him unsnapped. Now my problem was do I pull it over his head or try to pull his whole body through the neck hole.”
“Not over his head.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.... Ya know I honestly believe it would be easier to stuff a giant squid into a sandwich bag than it was tryin’ to get this toxic toddler out of his onesie. He was throwing a fit like I had never seen before... So, finally, I get him undressed and into the sink. To this point I had somehow managed to not get any of his mess on me, but just as I was reaching to turn on the water he reaches out and smack, right on the cheek, slap and smear. I almost tossed my lunch.”
“I probably would have.”
“That’s when Stephanie walked in. She immediately burst into laughter. By the time she regained her composure she was sitting on the floor with tears streaming down her face. I think she may have even wet her pants.”
“Sounds like your wife, always laughing about something.”
“Yeah that’s my wife, a laugh a minute, but at that moment I would have rather had a little help instead of being the object of her amusement.”
“I’m guessing that she took over and restored your son to you.”
“She’s amazing. It only took her 15 minutes to give him a bath, get him dressed and have him smiling and laughing like nothing had even happened....Ya know, DeeDee isn’t potty trained yet and won’t be for quite awhile, I would prefer that Stephanie not find out about this new feature in the men’s room.”
“What’s it worth to ya?”
“Blackmail is so beneath you.”
“Trust me, I won’t tell her. I like Deedee too much to put her through an experience like poor J.J. had to endure.”
“Tell her what?”
“Wes was just tellin’ me about his adventure in toxic toddler clean up duty.”
“What?”
“His lone attempt at diaper changing.”
“Yeah? I remember that, I laughed ‘til I wet my pants.”
“It really wasn’t that funny.”
“I thought it was hoot. Oh, Wes just laugh at it, it was a long time ago and J.J. is a well adjusted 7 year old. Just because he won’t come anywhere near the kitchen when I’m rinsing the dishes does not have anything to do with you trying to shower him in the sink.”
“Funny, Ha ha.”
“Wes, I have never doubted that you love your wife and I know that you adore your kids, but you should know by now that fatherhood is a hands on proposition and that sometimes you are going to get snot on your t-shirt and poop on your thumb.” | | Posted by Jedidiah at 11:00 PM - | |
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Saturday May 15, 2010
Let’s see if Jesus was ‘trapped’
David A. Cooper - August 2010
“Is something bothering you, Rita?” Peter looks into his rearview mirror. “You look confused or bothered.”
“Huh? What?” Rita comes out of her daze, “Oh, yeah, Daddy, something is bothering me and I have a couple questions.”
“O.K., Rita, what do you want to know?”
“I know why Jesus died, to save us from our sins and to keep us from spending forever in hell, but why did Jesus have to die?” Rita fidgets in her seat and moves so she can see her dad’s face in the mirror. “You would think that God could have come up with a better way, a less painful way, to rescue us from Hell.”
“Well, Hon, I have had that same question and that same thought, but to answer your question, Jesus did not have to die.” Peter looks back at Rita and smiles.
“What?!” Rita is taken off guard, “That is not what I expected you to say, Daddy. You and Mom have taught me ever since I can remember that Jesus had to die so that we could be rescued from our sins and never again be separated from God. Now you’re telling me that He didn’t have to die? Explain.” She says with a penetrating stare.
Still smiling Peter explains. “Yes, Rita, if humanity is to be saved from everlasting torment and eternal separation from God, Jesus did have to die and rise from the dead. But He did not have to die, He chose to die. Nobody forced Him to go to the cross. He willing gave up His life so that we could be with Him and the Father forever.”
“So Jesus was suicidal?” Now she is even more confused .
“Oh my goodness, no, Rita, absolutely not!” Now Peter is taken off guard. “People who kill themselves or just want to kill themselves are troubled people who have lost all hope and feel that their lives have no purpose. Jesus died because He had both a purpose and an unwavering hope. He had a sure and confident expectation that the Father would reconcile with all mankind and make things right between humanity and Himself through His death and resurrection.”
“O.K., but in the garden a whole lot of soldiers came to arrest Him. How could He have gotten away? Judas trapped Him. There was no way for Him to get out of that garden and get away.”
“Do you really think that the Son of God couldn’t get away?” About this time they arrive at home. “Let’s go inside and see if we can find some answers; let’s see if Jesus was ‘trapped.’”
“Let me see your Bible… please.” They sit down on the couch and Rita hands her Bible to her dad. “Read this from Luke chapter 4 verses 28-30. He is in His hometown, Nazareth.”
Rita begins to read, “When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. Jumping up, they mobbed Him and took Him to the edge of the hill on which the city was built. They intended to push Him over the cliff, but He slipped away through the crowd and left them.”
Peter then turns to The Gospel of John, “And now read from John chapter 8 verse 59. This time He is in the Temple.”
“At that point they picked up stones to kill Him. But Jesus hid Himself from them and left the Temple.” Rita finishes and looks to her dad.
“Do you see, Rita? Jesus got away from His neighbors who wanted to throw Him off a cliff and He got away from the people in the Temple who wanted to stone Him to death. He didn’t do it by arguing or fighting, He just slipped away.”
“Wow, that is pretty cool.”
“There is one more thing I want you to read, it’s in Matthew 26 verses 51-54. Now He is in the Garden of Gethsemane being arrested.”
Rita finds the passage in Matthew, “One of the men with Jesus pulled out a sword and slashed off an ear of the high priest’s servant. ‘Put away your sword,’ Jesus told him. ‘Those who use the sword will be killed by the sword. Don’t you realize that I could ask My Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and He would send them instantly? But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that described what must happen now?’” Rita closes her Bible, “So I was wrong, He could have escaped all the soldiers in the garden. All he had to do was ask and thousands of angels would have come down. He really could have avoided all the suffering and His crucifixion.”
“One translation says ‘twelve legions’ of angels. That’s 36,000 to 72,000 angels that could have come and rescued Jesus from His enemies and taken Him home to Heaven. There is another place where Jesus says that no one takes His life from Him. He says that He has the power to give it up and He has the power to take it back again. Jesus chose to die.”
“That’s amazing. Why would He choose to die?”
“I can think of two reasons. One is because He was always obedient to The Father and that was God’s plan. Number two is because He loves us more than any human being will ever completely understand.”
Rita sits back and gets comfortable, “O.K., now my second question, why crucifixion? Mr. Boone told us this morning in children’s church that crucifixion is one of the most painful and agonizing ways to die. He said sometimes it would take a few days to die on a cross. Why couldn’t they have just hung Him or poisoned Him or something less gross and less painful so He could die more quickly?”
“Actually, I don’t know why He had to be crucified. I do know that Hebrews says that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin.”
“Daddy, do you think Jesus knew ahead of time how He was going to die? Did He know that He was going to be crucified?”
“Yes, Rita, He knew. In Matthew He predicts what will happen to Him and how it will happen.”
“He knew all along the suffering that He would go through and He did it anyway? How could He possibly love us, love me, enough to go through being whipped and beaten and nailed to a cross?” She begins to cry. “Daddy, I’m not worth it! Sometimes I lie, sometimes I say mean things to Lucy, sometimes I don’t do what you and Mom say, sometimes I do bad things. I’m not good enough for Jesus to love me that much, Daddy, I’m not!”
Peter takes His daughter into his arms and holds her close. “You’re right, you’re not good enough. That’s the point, Rita, no one is good enough. Nobody ever has been good enough and nobody ever will be good enough.”
Still with tears in her eyes, Rita asks, “So, why does He love us so much?”
“Why do think your Mom and I love you and Lucy more than other kids?”
“Because we’re yours.” Rita wipes her eyes and looks to her dad.
“Exactly. You and your sister are part of us. I watched you both come into this world, I’ve loved you since before you were born because I had a part in causing you to exist. I imagine it is much the same way with God and humanity. It says in Genesis that He made us in His image. In Psalm 8 it says He made us little lower than the angels. We are His greatest creation and He wants us to know Him and love Him and spend eternity with Him. If I understand correctly that is why we were made in the first place; so we could worship and love Him forever.”
“I understand what you are saying, but I still feel sad, and, this might sound weird but, I feel dirty.”
“Well, Rita, you are not dirty. I was there when you said that you believed that Jesus is God and that He died for your sins. I heard you ask for His forgiveness and I heard you say that you would follow Him for the rest of your life. And from what I see in you I believe that that is what you are doing.”
“Daddy, will I ever understand everything about God and following Jesus?”
“No, Sweetheart, you won’t. However, as you grow and read and pray and learn you will begin to understand more and more. If you love, worship, trust, and depend on God completely you will never go wrong.”
After a few minutes sitting quietly she slips down from her dad‘s lap and starts for her room. Turning back she looks at her dad, “Thanks for talking to me, Daddy.”
“You’re welcome, Rita, I am glad you asked.”
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Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, inc, Wheaton, IL, 60189. All rights reserved | | Posted by Jedidiah at 3:04 PM - | |
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Tuesday March 30, 2010
JESUS DID NOT HAVE TO DIE
“Daddy, I have a couple questions.”
“O.K., Rita, what do you want to know?”
“First, why did Jesus have to die? You would think that God could have come up with a better way, a less painful way, to rescue us from Hell.”
“Well, Hon, I have had that same question and that same thought, but to answer your question, He did not have to die.”
“But, Daddy, you have taught me ever since I can remember that Jesus had to die to so that we could be rescued from our sins and never be separated form God. Now you’re telling me that He didn’t have to die? Explain.”
“Yes, Rita, if humanity is to be saved from everlasting torment and separation of God, Jesus did have to die and rise from the dead. But He chose to die He was not forced to die. He willing gave up His life so that we could be with Him forever.”
“But in the garden a whole lot of soldiers came to arrest Him how could He have gotten away. Judas trapped Him. There was no way for Him to get out that garden and get away.”
“You really, think the Son of God couldn‘t get away? Let’s see if Jesus was ‘trapped.’ Read this from Luke chapter 4 verses 28-30. He is in His home town, Nazareth.”
“When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. Jumping up, they mobbed Him and took Him to the edge of the hill on which the city was built. They intended to push Him over the cliff, but He slipped away through the crowd and left them.”
“And now read from John chapter 8 verse 59. This time He is in the Temple.”
“At that point they picked up stones to kill Him. But Jesus hid Himself from them and left the Temple.”
“Do you see, Rita, Jesus got away from His neighbors who wanted to throw Him off a cliff and He got away from the people in the Temple who wanted to stone Him to death. He didn’t do it by arguing or fighting, He just slipped away.”
“Wow.”
“There is one more thing I want you to read, it’s in Matthew 26 verses 51-54. Now He is in the Garden of Gethsemane.”
“One of the men with Jesus pulled out a sword and slashed off an ear of the high priest’s servant. ‘Put away your sword,’ Jesus told him. ‘ Those who use the sword will be killed by the sword. Don’t you realize that I could ask My Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and He would send them instantly? But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that described what must happen now?’”
“One translation says ‘twelve legions’ of angels. That’s 36,000 to 72,000 angels that could have come and rescued Jesus from His enemies and taken Him home to Heaven. Another place Jesus says that no one takes His life from Him. He says that He has the power to give it up and He has the power to take it back again. Jesus chose to die.”
“That’s amazing. Why would He choose to die?”
“I can think of two reasons. One is because He was always obedient to The Father and that was God’s plan. Number two is because He loves us more than any human being will ever completely understand.”
“O.K., good enough… for now. Now my second question, why crucifixion? Mr. Chuck told us this morning in children’s church that crucifixion is one of the most painful and agonizing ways to die. He said sometimes it would take a few days to die on a cross. Why couldn’t they have just hung Him or stabbed Him or something less gross and less painful so He could die more quickly?”
“Actually, I don’t know why He had to be crucified. I do know that Hebrews says that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. And Psalm 22 gives a fairly graphic description of a crucifixion many many years before that form of execution was invented.”
“Daddy, do you think Jesus knew ahead of time how He was going to die? Did He know that He was going to be crucified?”
“Yes, Rita, He knew. In Matthew He predicts what will happen to Him and how it will happen.”
“He knew all along the suffering that He would go through and He did it anyway. How could He possibly love us, love me enough to go through being whipped and beaten and nailed to a cross? Daddy, I am not worth it! Sometimes I lie, sometimes I say mean things to Lucy, sometimes I don’t do what you and Mom say, sometimes I do bad things; I’m not good enough for Jesus love me that much, Daddy, I’m not!”
“You’re right, you’re not good enough. That’s the point, Rita, no one is good enough. Nobody ever has been good enough and nobody ever will be good enough.”
“So, why does He love us so much?”
“Why do think your Mom and I love you and Lucy more than other kids?”
“Because we are yours.”
“Exactly. You and your sister are part of us. I watched you both come into this world, I’ve loved you since before you were born because I had a part in causing you to exist. I imagine it is much the same way with God and humanity. It says in Genesis that He made us in His image. In Psalm 8 it says He made us little lower than the angels. We are His greatest creation and He wants us to know Him and love Him and spend eternity with Him. If I understand correctly that is why we were made I the first place; so we could worship and love Him forever.”
“I understand what you are saying, but I still feel sad, and this might sound weird, but I feel dirty.”
“Well, Rita, you are not dirty. I was there when you said that you believed that Jesus is God and that He died for your sins. I heard you ask for His forgiveness and I heard you say that you would follow Him for the rest of your life. And from what I see in you I believe that that is what you are doing.”
“Daddy, will I ever understand everything about God and following Jesus?”
“No, Sweetheart, you won’t. However, as you grow and read and pray and learn you will begin understand more and more. If you love, worship, trust, and depend on God completely you will never go wrong.”
“Thanks for talking to me, Daddy. I need some time to think about all this, so I am going to lay down for awhile.”
“You’re welcome, Rita, I am glad you asked. You made my day.” | | Posted by Jedidiah at 11:31 PM - | |
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Tuesday July 28, 2009
LISTEN TO HIM -
An Introduction & Summary
of The Sermon on Mount
Matthew 5:1 -7:29
"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." A. W. Tozer - The Knowledge of The Holy
A. Background - Matthew 4
B. Introduction -
a. The Awesomeness of Jesus
b. The audience
C. Summary / Overview
a. Familiar passages
b. Key verses
c. Other observations
D. Conclusion
LISTEN TO HIM -
An Introduction & Summary
of The Sermon on Mount
Matthew 5:1 -7:29
"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." (The Knowledge of the Holy) This is a quote from A. W. Tozer and I want us to keep it in mind this morning and throughout this series as we discuss Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
We must continually elevate our opinion of God, it can never be too high. John the Baptist said it well in John 3:30, "He must increase, but I must decrease."
Matthew chapter 4 tells us that Jesus had been in the wilderness for 40 days and that He had been tempted by the devil (1- 11). He also had settled in Capernaum and began to preach, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (12-17).
In verses 18-22 of chapter 4 Jesus calls Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John to follow Him. And they did... immediately.
Then, "Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people."
"The news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them. Large crowds followed Him from the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan." Matthew 4:23-25. (NASB)
By the time He sat on the side of a hill and gave His sermon Jesus had already established Himself as, at the very least, a great teacher and prophet. A few, possibly many, may have even begun to think that Jesus could actually be their promised Messiah.
Matthew 5:1-2 "When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and began to teach them saying, blessed..."
There is an old saying that says "familiarity breeds contempt." Now I truly hope that none of us here would say that our familiarity with Jesus has produced a contempt for Him but I suppose it is possible to become somewhat apathetic or complacent towards Him because we’ve "heard it all before."
I would like to take some time now to look at who our speaker is; I want to focus on the awesomeness of Jesus.
Jesus is the Son of God. In Matthew 3:17 God The Father says "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased," and at the transfiguration The Father says it again and then adds, "listen to him." Matthew 17:5.
Jesus is The Creator. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," Genesis 1:1. John 1:3 says that, "apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."
One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Daniel 7:13 & 14. "I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed."
Another favorite passage of mine is Revelation 5. I would like to read the entire chapter to you but I don’t think time will permit that today. Verses 11-14 is an amazing picture of "myriads and myriads, and thousands of thousands" of angels and the elders and the "living creatures" declaring Jesus to be worthy "to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." and "every created thing... I heard saying, ‘to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor, glory and dominion forever and ever.’"
Now, I really like the song "I can only Imagine," but judging by the reactions of the people who came into direct contact with The Almighty in Scripture I have a pretty good guess as to what we will do when we stand before The Throne. Moses, "hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God," Isaiah said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined," Simon Peter, "fell down at Jesus feet, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man,’" and John in Revelation 1 verse 17. "fell at His feet like a dead man."
I’m guessing that I will be like John on "That Day" and fall flat on my face. But immediately (and we are still in verse 17) John writes, "and He (Jesus) placed His right hand on me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last...’" Jesus, The Almighty Creator of the Universe, says to John, "do not be afraid."
Just a couple of chapters after The Sermon on The Mount Matthew 9:36 says that He (Jesus) felt compassion for the people because, "they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd." Jesus cares about humanity; He cares about you and me. I believe that that is why Jesus, The Holy One of God, with authority given from God The Father, sat down on a hill side and began to teach.
Since I volunteered to speak on this subject 4 months ago there has been several times that I have wondered if had bitten off more than I could chew. I have concluded that I have. There is so much here to talk about that I have become overwhelmed by the significance of my task. I will simply take the next few minutes to tell you some of what I see when I read this amazing passage.
There are several familiar passages in this sermon. Jesus begins with The Beatitudes.
The Beatitudes are a picture of our Savior. Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the gentle, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness.
Jesus is poor in spirit. He set aside His rights as God and became obedient to the Father (see Philippians 2).
Jesus is merciful. His mission is "to seek and to save that which was lost." (see Luke 19:10)
Jesus is pure.
Jesus is the Peacemaker. He is the only way to be reconciled to Father and to know eternal peace. He brings conflict between family members and people groups and nations, but He is the ultimate peacemaker for the individual. In the end He will be the only One who will bring everlasting peace to the nations as well.
In chapter 6 of Matthew we find the "Lord’s Prayer." Arguably this is one the most familiar passages in the entire Bible. Even those outside of Christianity will recognize it. The simplicity of these 5 verses and our familiarity with them may cause us to stop seeing the amazing things that they are teaching us. These verses are instructing us on how to communicate with The Almighty Father. We are to acknowledge Him as Holy and Sovereign praying for His kingdom to be accomplished. We are to recognize Him as the forgiver of sins and our ultimate provider of all our needs, daily. We are to submit to Him as our only deliverer from evil and the evil one. All this should cause us to worship Him exclusively and declare Him worthy of Sovereignty over His kingdom, of all power, and of all glory forever. Amen.
In Matthew 7:7-8 we find the dangerous and often misinterpreted passage, "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." All I will say about this passage is that Jesus is not Santa Claus nor is He an indiscriminate, wealthy, benevolent uncle. God will not be manipulated into behaving contrary to His Holy nature. To try to use Scripture to manipulate The Almighty is at the least futile and ultimately it obscenely sinful.
In Matthew 7:12 we find "the Golden Rule." We are commanded to treat others as we want to be treated. The second greatest commandment is, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" Matthew 22:39.
There is one more familiar passage that I want to talk about at the conclusion in a few minutes. That is the parable of wise man and the foolish man.
Right now I will touch on what I see as the 2 key verses in Jesus’ sermon. First is Matthew 5:48, "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." I’ve struggled with this verse for years and I continue to struggle with it. There has been times when this verse and others like it have made me want to quit trying to follow Jesus, but every time I contemplate the alternative The Savior has no problem pulling me back from the edge of stupidity and hopelessness.
Yes, perfection is the standard and the goal that has been set and yes, this side of heaven we will never achieve that standard or reach that goal. Paul writes in Philippians 3:14 that he presses, "on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." We also need to press on towards the goal and look with excited anticipation towards the day when we will know fully just as we have been fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12).
The other key verse is Matthew 6:33, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you." A. W. Tozer has written that, "We are called to an everlasting preoccupation with God." If we truly trust God with "all these things" then seeking His kingdom first and being preoccupied with God will be the easiest and most natural thing for us to do. Easier said than done, I know, but I believe that a consistent study of the Bible and specifically this Sermon on the Mount (along with confession, repentance, prayer and fellowship with other followers of Jesus) will aid us in pressing on towards our goal and help us focus and re-focus on Almighty God, His purposes, and His kingdom.
Quickly now there are a few more things that tend to stand out to me when I read Jesus’ sermon. One is the hopelessness of hypocrisy.
Another is the extremely high priority put on humility and self-sacrifice. Simply the fact that Jesus brought it up gives it it’s extremely high priority.
You will find a warning on judging others.
You will also find comfort and a call to be active in doing good works for the purpose bringing glory to God.
Again I will stress the authority of Christ. From the beginning to the end this sermon demonstrates that Jesus Christ is The Authority. In Matthew 5:17-48 Jesus brings up several subjects by saying, "You have heard that..." or "And it was said..." Jesus in response says in response to what they had heard, "but I say to you..." and He then goes on to clarify or correct what they had heard or been taught.
Jesus saw these people as sheep without a shepherd. The authorities of their day were corrupt and Jesus was and still is The Good Shepherd; poor in spirit, pure in heart, & merciful. He taught them with authority given to Him by The Father and put all who would follow on the "narrow way that leads to life."
The familiar parable of the wise man and the foolish man sums up our choices on what we can do with what we hear from Jesus in this passage and in the rest of Scripture. We can listen and obey so that when the storms of life inevitably come we will not be destroyed or we can ignore and rebel and wander through life aimlessly missing the life that God intends for His children to live. For the unbeliever that continues ignore Jesus that person will also wander through life still dead in their sin; hopeless and wretched.
Finally, "The result was that when Jesus finished these words, the multitudes were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes." These are the last two verses in Matthew chapter 7.
The people that day were amazed, are we? Can Jesus still teach us? Do we recognize and submit to His authority? Do we believe that He loves us and has compassion for us?
He came so that we might, "have life, and might have it abundantly" (John 10:10). He gave us this sermon and all of Scripture so that through them we can know Him and have the abundant life; always to the glory God.
Jesus is God. He is the standard for which we must strive toward. The Sermon on the Mount is a great place to start on the road to being, "perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect;" again to the glory of God. | | Posted by Jedidiah at 10:32 PM - | |
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