Week 5: Thursday: Matthew 25

25.37  Neither the righteous nor the wicked (v44) seem to be aware of the significance of their actions before God.

25.46  It is tempting to conclude that they are saved or condemned by their behaviour; but it is equally possible that their actions are simply the outworking of their inward heart-attitude.

I like Tom’s example, of the soldier who did the right thing, not self-consciously but because he had the right motivation, the care of those under his command.  This is why worship is important: it re-focuses us on what really matters.

Week 5: Wednesday: Matthew 25

25.13  Another parable (like 24.42-44) about keeping watch.

25.29  The apparently unfair redistribution highlights the importance of the message – to be faithful in making use of the talents we have been entrusted with.

25.30  Again (compare 24.45-50) the Master doesn’t take the servants to where he has been, but he returns to where the servants are and stays there.  And again (compare 24.51) some are thrown out, to weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The corporate message to Israel is not so obvious to us today (thank you, Tom).  Does Britain have a responsibility towards God?  Does the Church of England, or indeed Christians generally?

And have I found my true calling from God, and am I using my God-given talents to the full?  A question for all of us.

Week 5: Tuesday: Matthew 24

24.32  Even for the end of the world, the commonplace agricultural metaphors keep coming!

24.34  Compare 16.28.  Although that happened in 33 AD; this happened in 70 AD.

24.36  This alone should be enough to silence the speculation about the exact date of Christ’s return: but still we debate it.  It also tells us that the persons of the Trinity do not share everything.

24.40  Partly because of the Noah analogy, we tend to assume that the ones taken are the faithful going to heaven; but it could equally be that the faithful are the ones who remain to enjoy a cleansed Creation (as after the Flood).  Verse 51 implies this too: the faithful remain.

24.42  Here is another lesson for the end-times: “keep watch”, “be ready” (v44), faithful stewardship (v46).

I remember a workplace like that, too!  And how shocked I was, a teenager full of energy and used to conscientious work in school.  What, even when teacher wasn’t around?  Sometimes, yes.  The time allowed was plenty, and it was obvious whether you’d done the work or not.  At work, “don’t go at it so fast: you’ll soon tire, and you’ll show up the rest of us too.”

A good warning, especially to the under-shepherds of God’s flock.

Week 5: Monday: Matthew 24

Yes, we are meant to read the whole chapter today, and the whole chapter again tomorrow!  In his comments, Tom tells us why – it will need chewing over.

24.2    He was indeed a prophet: this had not previously been mentioned, and hard to imagine standing beside the massive foundations.

24.4    The disciples ask for the characteristics, the indications: Jesus’ immediate response is “deception”.  So our priority might be expressed as “stay calm; stay focussed.”

24.15  In Jewish prophetic thought, historical events are not categorised by their position on a time-line, but by their characteristics.  For example, Isaiah’s prophecy to Ahaz in Isaiah 7.14-15 has both an immediate fulfilment in 8.3-4 and an ultimate fulfilment in Matthew 1.23: in the prophecy, the two instances are not distinguished.  Here, the Fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 and the end of the world are superimposed.

We are used to Jesus the teacher, the healer, the miracle-worker; but Jesus the prophet sounds strange and fearsome as he goes into “apocalyptic mode” like Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation.

Tom points out amazing truths, which I haven’t noticed before but are obvious the moment he says them: like “The difference between Jesus’ prophecy…and the speculations of his contemporaries was that he had a sense of his own role, his own fate, his own future being somehow bound up with it all.”

Week 5: Sunday: Psalm 130

Good verses for confession and penitence, and also for funerals.  However, when I put Tom’s comments about depression on facebook, friends who know about depression said it added an extra layer of guilt to point out the self-inflicted elements.

Week 4: Saturday: Matthew 23

This very Jewish Chapter is transformed in The MESSAGE

23.4    This is also true of the Law generally, that it cannot help us conquer sin.

23.13  These Woes are the counterpart to the Beatitudes (Matthew 5): Luke puts the two together.

23.33  John the Baptist used this phrase also (Matthew 3.7)

23.34  Is not Jesus speaking prophetically here, on behalf of the Father?

Thank you Jesus, for bearing the full force of suffering for us.

Week 4: Friday: Matthew 22

22.1    Still to the chief priests and elders (21.23), right through to 22.15 and 22.22.

22.2    So many parables describe what the kingdom of heaven is like!

22.6    He invites them twice, but they treat his servants just like the Tenants do (21.35-36).

22.11  Who is this chap?  Has he tried to enter on his own terms (not invited, by the back door, wearing what he prefers)?  Presumably he is speechless because he has no valid answer.

22.14  Those invited are initially the Jews (v8) but eventually everyone (v9-10).  Nevertheless, only a few will enter the kingdom.  The choice to accept or reject the invitation appears to be the guest’s, but this verse implies overall that God’s choice is sovereign.

22.18  Their approach flatters Jesus as a man of integrity.  They use smooth words, but they are trying to trap him: a wonderful depiction of hypocrisy.

22.19  Is this an example of the spiritual gift of wisdom (I Cor 12.8)?  Jesus knows immediately how to respond; his reply amazes them; and they were not easily impressed!

22.22 After 21.11, 15, 27, 32, and 46, they must be really frustrated!

22.23  From the political to the metaphysical: this was not a question about marriage, but about theories of life after death.  They thought they had found a logical paradox, a knockdown argument against resurrection.  See Acts 23.8.

22.29  Is this another instance of the gift of wisdom?  Jesus seems never to be threatened, thrown off balance, puzzled, caught unawares etc.  They think that they have him trapped, but immediately he replies we see that it is they who are being tested.  This is true pre-eminently in Jesus’ trial.

22.30  In the process of his answer, we learn more about the details of the resurrection, that marriage is only for mortal life (Romans 7.2), not for eternity (tell the Mormons, somebody!)  Jesus’ argument back to them is unanswerable, and the crowds are astonished.

22.34  Not again!  The first group (v15) return for round two.

22.36  Presumably they debated this themselves, and could not agree; or perhaps they believed that all commandments were equal.  Jesus’ straightforward answer has an innate authority which leaves them speechless.

22.42  Jesus sets them his own question: not a response but an initiative.  And what is the key issue he focuses on?

22.45  The main question about the Christ is his nature: how he can be both fully human (Son of David) and fully divine (my Lord).  This is the key to his authority, and his saving work on the Cross.

Tom seems a little coy about The Guest Who Wasn’t Dressed Correctly; but in his larger “Matthew For Everyone” he suggests that Gentiles are invited in, but they must clothe themselves in holiness, truth justice etc.  Those who try to enter God’s kingdom on their own terms will be thrown out.