Matthew 4:12-17 Jesus Begins His Ministry

Matthew uses every opportunity to point out to people that Jesus is the legitimate Son of David, Son of Abraham, Son of God. Jesus’ move from Nazareth to Galilee after John’s arrest is declared to be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy (Is.9). Isaiah’s prophecy speaks of the liberation of the people of Israel from the Assyrian exile, but also of a liberation by the hand of the promised Messiah: “the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Is.9:6b). The regions in question (Zebulun, Naphtali, and Galilee) comprise both Jews and Gentiles who are described as “dwelling in darkness.” The prophecy declares that these people will see a light that will dawn on them. That light is Jesus himself (Jn.1:4) preaching: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus is the incarnate Son of God, the light that brings God’s kingdom, God’s rule upon the earth. The way to enter such kingdom is through repentance.

The call to follow Jesus is a call to repentance. Repentance is a change of mind. It is to recognize our darkness, our sin, our rebellion against God and decide to turn to him that his light might shine upon us. It is a call to submit ourselves to God’s rule and give up our self-sufficiency, our desire to rule our own lives by our own laws. The call is out for Jew and Gentile alike. There is no discrimination in God’s kingdom. All ethnicities are being called to come out of darkness into his marvelous light and share together the blessings of the kingdom. Repentance grants us entrance into God’s kingdom. But repentance is not just a one shot deal. It is a continuous process as well. We must repent daily of our sins (Mat.6:12) as Jesus taught his disciples to pray.

Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner. Shine your light upon my darkness this day that I may see your Son and follow him to enjoy his rule as my Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.

Joshua 12 Kings Defeated by Moses and Joshua

God has chosen a people for himself to establish his kingdom upon the earth. Unfortunately, there are many who are not interested in God's kingdom and are working to establish their own kingdom or become followers of someone else's kingdom. Israel set out on a journey since their liberation from the land of slavery in Egypt to wipe out all opposition to God's kingdom. The enemies were numerous under Moses as well as Joshua.

Even after Joshua, Israel's history continued as a nation striving to establish God's kingdom and battling to eliminate enemy kingdoms. My life's purpose should follow the same pattern. Through Christ, I have been liberated from my slavery to sin and death. Now that I am free, my whole life is dedicated to pursue God's kingdom and his righteousness; to establish his reign in my heart and my community. My journey is also filled with many opposing kingdoms. I must battle against each and every one of them. Victory is promised to me in Jesus Christ!

What kind of enemy kingdoms are there waiting to be conquered? The kingdom that poses the greatest threat to my life is the SELF. Selfishness is lurking at all times trying to make me captive. It manifests itself in self-sufficiency, self-righteousness, and self- indulgence; a godless trinity that seeks sacrifice, promises pleasure, but only delivers destruction. I must devote them to destruction before they undo me if I am to enjoy the promises of God's kingdom.

There are many other kingdoms seeking my allegiance to see me forsake my God. Money is constantly promising the means to buy whatever I need. Power is offering control over all the issues of my life. Indulgence offers me pleasures beyond my dreams. None of them will tell me that what they offer is short-lived and ultimately ends in my demise. I must battle tooth and nail to eliminate them from upon the earth, but first I must get rid of them from my heart.

Lord, help me battle in your name to establish your kingdom. Grant me power to overcome selfishness and all the lures of the world. Fill me with peace that surpasses understanding, love that surpasses knowledge and joy that is everlasting. Amen.

Matthew 22:1-14 The Parable of the Wedding Feast

Today, for the most part, I can accept or reject a wedding invitation with no major consequences. It is completely voluntary and besides some criticism from family and friends, I will live to tell it. In the old days when kings would reign, rejecting an invitation to a kingly wedding feast was not without major consequences. Refusal to appear at the royal party meant more than a conflict in schedules. It was an act of insubordination payed with the death penalty.

Nowadays, I cannot show up to certain places and parties without proper attire. There are restaurants that will not allow me in unless I have shoes and shirt on. Others require formal dress without which they will deny me entrance. In those days, a kingly wedding feast demanded a certain attire to be able to participate of the wedding feast. It is believed that the king himself provided his subjects with the clothing for the party. Refusal to dress up was also an act of insubordination.

Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a royal wedding feast where the king invites his subjects. The people make excuses not to go and even abuse the servants that came to communicate the invitation. The king displays patience and persistence in calling people, not once, but twice to his feast. The people display apathy towards the invitation making all kinds of excuses and even taking it on the messengers for the banquet. Since those invited did not respond to the invitation, the king decided to go out on the roads and invite anyone who would come. 

Many are invited, but few are chosen. The Gospel of the kingdom is calling everyone to repentance, but not everyone responds to the call. I don't want to make excuses for the royal wedding feast of our Lord Jesus Christ when he comes for his bride, the Church. I want to be properly dressed in the righteousness of Christ when he comes lest I miss the party. My King is sending me, his servant, to invite everyone to the banquet. Am I being faithful to the task?

Lord, fill me with expectation for the great day of your appearance. Move me to be faithful in my service to you. May I invite everyone on the roads to enter your kingdom. May I be properly dressed for the occasion when it comes.

Matthew 18:1-6 Who Is the Greatest?

The disciple's concern with the kingdom of God was somewhat tainted with their conception of an earthly kingdom. Subjects of an earthly kingdom often entered its service to play politics and find ways to acquire more power and achieve greatness. The closer you get to the "top" the more likely you are to enjoy the perks of those who are in power. But Jesus dispels their thoughts on greatness when he answers their question using a child from the crowd: "Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

The first requirement is "to turn." The NIV translates it "change." It is translated many times to refer to the act of changing one's ways to turn back to God implying repentance, confession, and asking of forgiveness.  My worst offense to God is the sin of self-sufficiency. God created me to depend on him and when I set out to live a life independent from him, I spit in his face. Children are totally dependent on their parents. If I want to be great in the kingdom of God, I must turn from my self-sufficiency into dependence on God.

A second characteristic of children is that they are innocent. Innocence as to be pure from evil. Jesus (Mat.10:16) and Paul (Rom.16:19) used childlike innocence when it comes to my relationship with evil. I am to be wise as to what is good, but simple as to what is evil. It does not mean that I am to be naive about evil, but that I don't practice it. Unfortunately, I am tainted by evil and I need God to transform me day by day to become less dominated by evil and more dominated by good.

Since I am not a child, but an adult, it requires great humility to be dependent and innocent. Therein lies greatness in the kingdom: in my willingness to humble myself before my King as to be dependent on him for everything in my life and to be innocent of all evil in this world. Unless I am willing to be like a child in this regard, I have no entrance in the kingdom of God.

Father, I am your child and I want to act like one as to dependence and innocence. Help me to overcome my self-sufficiency and my knowledge (practice) of evil. Fill me with your Spirit this day to walk with you held by your hand.

Matthew 13:44-50 Some Kingdom Parables

At times, I question my motives for being in the kingdom of God. Some people have expressed to me from time to time that they are not so sure about heaven, but they fear hell. Am I in the kingdom out of fear of hell? I pray not. As I meditate on the Scriptures and see the many following Jesus for the food and for the healing. Am I following Jesus out of need? I hope not. People tend to follow the traditions they've been taught. Am I a Christian because of tradition? I should not. As important as tradition, need, and fear are, I don't want them to be the driving force for me to be in the kingdom. What should it be?

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field that a man finds. In his joy, he sells everything he has and buys the field. I want to be like that man. The kingdom of God should be the joy of my life. A joy that deserves my selling everything I have to acquire it. The kingdom of God is not mere duty and drudgery, but great pleasure and happiness. Have I lost my first love - a time when the joy of the Lord was overwhelming and bubbling all over everything I did?

The kingdom of God is like a merchant in search of fine pearls who finds one of great value. The great value of the pearl moves him to sell everything he had to buy it. I want to be like that merchant who appreciates its value. Is there anything more valuable than the kingdom? Lord knows the search we are on trying to find something to fill our lives. The kingdom of God is no sacrifice. It is not a losing transaction, but a worthy one. We win out of this deal! Why do I set my eyes on earthly things and make them more important, even more useful than the kingdom of God?

The kingdom of God is like a net thrown into the sea and gathers fish of every kind that are sorted as good and bad - evil and righteous. The good go into containers and the bad are thrown out. The Lord speaks of the final judgment and the reality of hell - a fiery furnace; a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. But my focus should not be on hell, but on the reward! The righteous will be gathered by the angels to be with the Lord. Who doesn't like a reward? I want to be in the kingdom because I'm looking forward to the reward just like Moses.

Lord, don't let fear, need, and tradition be the motivators of my following you. Fill my heart with joy. May your kingdom and its business be my joy. May I appreciate its value and never complain of sacrificing anything  to follow you. May I work in the kingdom looking forward to my reward.

Matthew 13:24-30,36-43 The Parable of the Weeds

Kingdom business is difficult because I have a king who is righteous and demands righteousness from all his servants (me included), yet I know I am flawed, imperfect due to my sinful nature. Doing business in the kingdom demands that we deal with one another's sins. The disciplines of confession, repentance, and forgiveness are a must in order to succeed in our service. People who have difficulty exercising or refuse to exercise any of these disciplines don't understand the kingdom of God at all.

Now let's add to the personal sinfulness of each servant in the kingdom the fact that we serve in an evil world. There are other people in the world who do not care for the kingdom at all. These are the sons of the evil one. Jesus explains in his Parable of the Weeds that there is a work of the enemy in the world; people who reject and even persecute God's servants.  When asked about uprooting the weeds, Jesus is against it lest the wheat is uprooted along with the weeds. Kingdom business is not about leading a crusade to eliminate infidels. It is about enduring the hatred and persecution of those infidels with the love that God can only give until the end of the age.

Moreover, I can't avoid the thought that if we have weeds in the field (the world), there are some trying to infiltrate the ranks of the faithful in the local church. There is plenty of warning in the Scriptures against false teachers who set themselves against the teaching of the apostles and silently slip into the congregation to spread their teachings. Jesus' teaching to let the wheat and the weeds grow together applies to the world, but not to the church. The counsel of the apostles is that we must keep on eye on these wolves and keep them from harming the flock by whatever means: Membership classes, Supervision of the teachings, especially in Small Groups, and Church Discipline that includes excommunication.

Kingdom business is performed in a hostile environment. I may sit in a neat and tidy office, but spiritually I am in the depths of a battlefield. The battle is being waged on multiple fronts: relationships among brothers and sisters within the church, relationships with the world that surrounds us, and the dealings with wolves that step into the local church to harm it. How can I survive? The hope that Christ offers keeps me going. One day, I will shine like the sun in the kingdom of my Father.

Father, give me strength to stand firm until the end of times. Fill my heart with the hope of your return. Don't let my heart grow weary in the work of the harvest.