Week 3: Thursday: Matthew 16

16.4    Compare 12.39

16.7    We do tend to go into spirals of self-blame, especially if we are feeling low.  And this prevents us seeing what God wants to show us.

16.15  This is the big question which we all face.

16.19  What is meant by ‘binding’ and ‘loosing’?  Is it forgiveness and absolution; because we are commanded to forgive and not withhold.  See 9.8.

16.20  The secret again.

16.23  Peter seems to stumble from truth to error: yet at least he makes the leap.

16.28  A difficult verse, apparently promising Jesus’ return within their lifetime.  Yet, what does “the Son of Man coming in his kingdom” refer to?  Could it be Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension and Pentecost?  Even, what does “taste death” mean?  Is it a promise of eternal life?
The MESSAGE  17.1 “Six days later, three of them saw that glory.”  So Eugene Peterson thinks it’s the Transfiguration, then.

I find this to be the most challenging reflection of all: that “following Jesus means losing your life in order to find it.”

Week 3: Wednesday: Matthew 15.21-38

15.23  This seems just plain rude.  But Jesus is totally focused on his mission (v24); and then it seems as if her humility and faith win him over.

15.32  I love the people’s desperation to stay with Jesus – no food for 3 days.
Did the disciples not have a sense of déjà vu?  It seems not (16.9-10).

Nice point from Tom, that normally it’s Jesus who comes out with the clever punchline; but this time it’s the Canaanite woman.  And the closer: are you that desperate, that you cling on to Jesus?

Week 3: Tuesday: Matthew 15.1-20

15.3    From the combative tone of Jesus’ retort, this was a criticism rather than an innocent question.  They honoured the tradition of the elders, whereas Jesus honoured the word of God more than the traditions of men.
Do we need to focus on God’s word, more than Health & Safety rules, Discrimination laws, Tax regulations, etc.?

15.5    This tradition sounds as if it puts God above men, but Jesus sees and hates the hypocritical motive – to avoid the commandment.

15.12  Criticism is often based on alleged offence to third parties: this may need checking, as it is often unfounded.

15.15  The disciples seem to be getting used to being told the answers (13.10, 18, 36, 51), and Jesus is getting frustrated (see also 16.9).

“Germs and Jesus!” – brilliant!  And spot on the topic, too.

Week 3: Monday: Matthew 14

14.8    Even the phrasing sounds like a petulant demand from an immature girl: “Give me here on a platter…”

14.9    At least he was distressed: a crumb of conscience remained.  A weak man who had foolishly promised too much, but did not want to lose face publicly.

14.13  Jesus wanted to grieve privately, but the crowd demanded attention.

14.25  Fourth of four watches, so 3am to 6am, the time just before and around dawn.  Did Jesus do this easily, as the appropriate means of passage of the Son of God (which seems to be their reaction in 33)?  Mark 6.48 says he meant to pass by them, implying his purpose was simply to cross the lake.  Yet, while the fullness (pleroma) of Godhead dwells in him (Col 1.19, 2.9), he has also emptied himself of divine attributes (kenosis Phil 2.6-7), so cannot shift up into “God gear” and access powers unavailable to mortals.  What he does, he does as a praying human being, and we can also do (feeding thousands v16, walking on water v29)

14.36  Matt 9.21, Acts 5.15, 19.12.  Amazing times of God’s Spirit!

Tom has such a gift with words: “Jesus has just fed five thousand people with what started out as next to nothing.”  Also in his own translation: “smashed around” (v24), “panicked” and “screamed with terror” (v26), “ ‘Master,’ he yelled, ‘rescue me!’ ” (v30).

Modern Westerners do indeed sneer at walking on water; but fishermen knew better than us how impossible it is.  It’s the walk of faith, in the face of the world’s sneers: we look at the waves and start to sink, we cry for help and walk on.

And we even hear what happened to Tom’s college friend!

Week 3: Sunday: Psalm 95

Week 3 begins!  Well done, if you're still with the programme!

The Message is so good in the Psalms – the easy style brings out their intimate qualities:

    Come, let's shout praises to God,
      raise the roof for the Rock who saved us! 
   Let's march into his presence singing praises, 
      lifting the rafters with our hymns! 
 ^3-5 And why? Because God is the best, 
      High King over all the gods. 
   In one hand he holds deep caves and caverns, 
      in the other hand grasps the high mountains. 
   He made Ocean—he owns it! 
      His hands sculpted Earth! 
 ^6-7 So come, let us worship: bow before him, 
      on your knees before God, who made us! 
   Oh yes, he's our God, 
      and we're the people he pastures, the flock he feeds. 

 ^7-11 Drop everything and listen, listen as he speaks: 
      "Don't turn a deaf ear as in the Bitter Uprising, 
   As on the day of the Wilderness Test, 
      when your ancestors turned and put me to the test. 
   For forty years they watched me at work among them, 
      as over and over they tried my patience. 
   And I was provoked—oh, was I provoked! 
      'Can't they keep their minds on God for five minutes? 
      Do they simply refuse to walk down my road?' 
   Exasperated, I exploded, 
      'They'll never get where they're headed, 
      never be able to sit down and rest.'"

I love Tom’s quip that scientific discoveries should spur us to praise the Creator, rather than to claim that our explanation has just rendered God unnecessary.  Also that all the promises to Israel are fulfilled in Jesus: the promised land is the kingdom of God, not a patch of ground enclosed by a wall and defended by rockets.

Week 2: Saturday: Matthew 13

13.3    We need to recover the art of telling simple stories: they capture the imagination.  See v34.

13.11  This seems like favouritism.

13.12  Compare 25.29

13.15  In the second half of this verse it seems as if turning to God is wrong: from a human perspective, this is puzzling.  Perhaps these are (from God’s perspective) those who are not his chosen people, and therefore full clarity is hidden from them by parables.  Acts 13.48 shows a clear statement of predestination.  Stories can be taken on many different levels: perhaps parables are merciful, in that they invite but do not compel belief.

13.17  We too are greatly blessed, to see and hear about the Christ.  Do we appreciate this enough?

13.19  This is a parable about the understanding of parables!  How self-referential is that?  Like a media soap about the media.  And yet, the responses in the parable seem very human reactions.

13.29  This gives a reason why judgement is delayed: because the saints may get caught up in it.  2 Peter 3.9.

13.31  Both parables describe the kingdom as something growing organically from tiny beginnings into something all-pervading.  Probably black mustard, although The Message finds “pine nut” easier to understand.

13.41  Weeding out people sounds tragic, but if it is the only way to banish sin and evil…

13.42  It is unclear whether this is punishment or annihilation.

13.44  Another matching pair, describing the kingdom as something worth more than anything else, almost priceless.

13.49  Compare v41-42.  v51 seems a bit glib!

13.52  What does he mean?  Law and Grace?  OT and NT?

13.55  Apparently Joseph is no longer alive.  A big family!  The brothers are not believers until after Jesus’ Ascension (Acts 1.14); James later leads the church in Jerusalem (Acts 15), and he and Jude write the letters bearing their names.

Tom meditates helpfully on the ‘hiddenness’ of parables: why some people ‘get it’ and others simply don’t, remains a great mystery.  On the ‘now’ and the ‘not yet’ of the kingdom: why can’t we do what Jesus said, and why is the world still in a mess?  I love Tom’s closing challenge: give up your small vocations, and choose the greatest purpose in life – to follow Christ and bring in the Kingdom.

Week 2: Friday: Matthew 12. 22-50

12.23  Healings and miracles are signs of God’s anointing; or they are provocations.  Compare 23-24 with 9.33-34.

12.30  Again, Jesus not only defeats the learned Pharisees in argument (27) but draws out principles of strategy in spiritual warfare (29), forgiveness (31-32) and moral conduct (33-37).

12.38  This was gratuitous, like asking a conjuror to perform.  In Jesus Christ Superstar, Herod sings “Prove to me that you’re no fool: walk across my swimming-pool!”

12.48  This was not so much a pointed insult to his family (as critics allege) but a recognition of new relationships in the kingdom of God.

I love the way Tom points out where the true enemy lies: “choose your battles carefully”!  Also how refusing temptation early on, clears the way for fruitful work in the days and years to come: we might think these are private matters, but they have public spiritual consequences.  Finally, a great explanation of the unforgiveable sin – thank you, Tom!