Matthew 11: Blessed Are the Meek

Scripture Text: Matthew 5:5

Introductory Comments

As we consider the third beatitude, I wanted to illustrate what the world frequently thinks of those who are meek. I chose some examples from the two factions that argue most vocally about human economic issues. One voice from the political left, speaking in Los Angeles at a recent rally, part of so-called Occupy Wall Street protest, had this to say to a group of energized protesters. Using a bullhorn, the man referred to a famous non-violent activist of recent memory in India as a “tumor that the ruling class is using to constantly mislead us.” Later, this same man said, “So, ultimately, the bourgeoisie [the upper class wealthy] won’t go without violent means,” alluding favorably for something like the violent and deadly French Revolution, suggesting that the same course of action might be necessary in our nation to rectify perceived social ills and economic inequality.¹

And lest you think I’m only picking on liberals and socialists, the same philosophy can be found in the most ardent, conservative capitalist who, forsaking what the vaunted Adam Smith knew was necessary for healthy capitalism, namely, a sense of common morality, will not hesitate to run all over the “little person” in the greedy pursuit of wealth because, well, that’s just the way the world works. You remember the famous scene in the 1980s movie “Wall Street,” the one where Gordon Gekko, capitalist extraordinaire, says with deep seriousness to a rapt audience during a shareholder meeting, “The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit [survival of the fittest]. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind.”² Maybe you remember the late billionaire Leona Helmsley, who was quoted as having said, “Only the little people pay taxes.”

The “evolutionary spirit” referred to by the fictitious Gordon Gekko is that which captures the imagination of many, many lost souls on the left and the right, who believe that the acquisition of worldly power is the way to the top, to either achieve a utopian vision of world order on the earth, or to achieve maximum wealth and success. According to the world, the powerful are the blessed. The meek are those who, in both cases, get in the way.

And as we continue our examination of Jesus’ beatitudes, we see that it is the meek that He blesses with an inheritance consisting of nothing less than the entire earth. Jesus says to these folks, “You get it all.”

Who Are the Meek?

The word “meek” is heard a bit differently today than it was several hundred years ago when, for example, the King James Bible was published. The Greek word is πραΰς (praus), which the most significant NT dictionary defines this way: “pertinent to not being overly impressed by a sense of one's self-importance, gentle, humble, considerate, meek.”³ The meek, in other words, are not prideful; they are not deluded that they are “somebody.” They have a gentle comportment and have consideration for others. They are, in short, precisely the kind of people whom are run over by those of all persuasions who have bought into the worldly, materialistic, evolutionary spirit of our age. They are, according the standards established by the world, powerless.⁴

At this point I should remind you that the beatitudes cannot be reduced to a list of virtues. These blessing are for particular people in particular situations. Jesus is placing himself on the side of these people, and granting them blessings in a real way, in a kingdom-of-God way that overturns the power-based logic of the world. Jesus has declared that he is decidedly for those who are poor in spirit, who are in mourning, and now those who are meek which renders them powerless according to the ways of the fallen world. Those who are in the world, who are striving to take possession of the world and its’ things, are precisely the ones who will not inherit anything at the end. They have already received their reward.

What Are the Blessings Jesus Gives to the Meek?

Jesus blesses the meek by revealing to them that they will receive the earth. I take this to mean that the ones who, according to the powers and principalities of this world, strive to possess and control the world now will have already received their reward, but when the kingdom of God comes and Christ returns to reign in glory, all of the riches of the world will be granted to those who most resemble the meek, lowly God-man, born in a mangers, sleeping in a feeding trough, from the backwater town of Nazareth, who, despite the longings of the crowd for a Messiah of great power and might, acted with gentleness, humility and meekness. Why are the meek blessed by Jesus this way? Perhaps it is because those who are meek are the ones most likely to have the kind of mind the apostle Paul exhorted the Philippians to have, in Philippians 2:5-8:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

In other words, the Son of God, who is the heir of God by birth, became meek, so that those who are meek might become co-heirs of everything granted by the Father to the Son.

Therefore, it strikes me that there are actually two blessings in this verse. The obvious blessing is that the meek ones will get the whole earth. The second blessing is one easily bypassed: To be granted the earth as an "inheritance" means that a prior blessing has already been granted, that of being adopted into God's family. It is only by virtue of their adoption that the meek are qualified to receive the inheritance.

Don’t people who come from the same family generally share a resemblance to one another? I like to think the same thing happens in God’s kingdom. Those who are granted God’s gracious family inheritance share attributes with their great Sibbling, Jesus. They meek are, humble, obedient people. The fallen world has no use for such people, and when they are faithful and obedient this way, the world will actually kill them to get them out of the way. The leftist revolutionary will kill them off for not being engaged fully with the struggle, while the right-wing amoral capitalist will annihilate them to acquire their meager possessions. The world is eager to get rid of the powerless meek, just as the world was eager to get rid of the Son of God by means of execution on a cross.

God is really, really for people like this. He really wants them in the family. He wants them because they are the ones who will praise his glory the most when they are vindicated by being so richly blessed by his grace. The rich, well-to-do, powerful, proud, self-sufficient, self-righteous ones of the world have no desire to praise God in this way. Why would they, when they have their best life now? No, it is to those who have nothing, who are mourning, who are meek and powerless in the eyes of the world, it is these people who, when they are granted blessings, respond most fully with love and praise and adoration at the glory of the great God who holds the little ones so closely to himself.

This is the essence of the gospel. Jesus is making it clear who the candidates are for entry into the kingdom in these beatitudes. Entry to the kingdom of God, and adoption into the divine family as sons and daughters of God, comes exactly to those individuals the world would rather do without, thank you very much. The kingdom of God comes to those who are destitute and are longing for rescue. The kingdom of God comes to those who are in mourning and grieving their loss and their sin. The kingdom of God comes to those who are meek and powerless. These are not virtues. These are people living in bad places, bad situations, and bad conditions. These are people Jesus is especially for.

He’s for those people who have nowhere left to turn and nowhere left to run. Perhaps you are among their number.

Applications

I’ve said earlier, and I think this is right, that the beatitudes are not virtues. Many, many modern commentaries and interpretations and sermons treat them this way. It’s good to be poor. It’s good to be in mourning. It’s good to be a meek person, a nobody. If you are looking at this list, and concluding that you must become this way in order to earn God’s favor, you are missing the point of the beatitudes. There is nothing anyone can do to receive God’s blessing. If there was, then there would be no such thing as grace. Grace means receiving from God that which is undeserved and unwarranted because of our disqualifying, abominable sin. God is especially for those mentioned in the beatitudes because they are already in the condition where they will most likely respond to God’s graciousness with praise and worship.

You might say, “Well then, what if I’m not poor and feeling it my bones and awake at night with worry? What if I’m not in mourning? What if things are going quite well and I'm doing okay? What if I’m not by nature, meek? What if I’m a type-A achiever who gets things done? Am I just overlooked here by Jesus? You just said I shouldn’t aspire to these things as virtues because then I’d be trying to buy salvation and blessing from God. So what am I supposed to do? Do I stand condemned because I don’t fit in with this radical scheme that Jesus is setting up here?”

These are very important questions and I’m glad I’ve asked them for you. To begin with, I think much of what we try to project in the power-driven, fallen world in which we live is a ruse to cover up the exact things the world holds in derision – poverty, mourning and sadness, and meekness. We try to cover up our inadequacies in ways that earn worldly praise, but the root problem still exists.

The answer to these questions is a matter of the heart, ultimately. What do I mean? I mean that, indeed, God will not be manipulated into granting blessings to those whose interest isn’t His glory, but saving their own skins. God is not interested in your performance for him. He just isn’t. God is interested in what you feel in your heart for him. Do you love him? Do you love him in the person of his Son? Do you recognize in your heart that your very life, your every breath, and all that you have comes to you purely as a gift of grace? Has that knowledge changed your heart in such a way that you cherish him above all things? And, as a result, do you cherish him enough to follow him wherever he may take you? In short, have you been born again and received the gift of eternal life in Christ?

How does receiving that gift play out in real life? Here are some examples:

Does the knowledge that Jesus sacrificed everything for you on the cross give you such joy and hope and security that you could, in a heartbeat, if he called upon you to do so, give up everything you have? Are you willing to become impoverished to the point where it hurts for the sake of his glory? Is your important job or comfortable retirement worth the salvation of a poor sinner? Remember the rich young ruler?

Is your heart so full to overflowing with joy and love for Jesus Christ crucified and risen that you are willing to let your heart to be broken, to be rejected for the sake of the His name in the world? Are you willing to risk a friendship ending for the sake of proclaiming eternal salvation in Christ? Peter and James rejoiced that they suffered shame for the name of Jesus.

Are you, because of God’s total acceptance of you and your adoption by him in Christ is more precious to you than anything else, willing to set aside power and prestige and fame and importance and pride so that the glory of God may be more clearly seen in you? In other words, are you willing, like John the Baptist, to decrease, to become meek, so that Jesus, who became meek and powerless for you, might increase in fame throughout the world, beginning right here in Jackson?

You will only be willing to suffer these things for Jesus if your heart has been transformed by the miraculous intervention of the Holy Spirit so that you know and feel the overwhelming, all-satisfying joy of his grace. My prayer is that everyone in this room has known this grace, or will, if it please God, be shown such mercy, so that we can say, together with the Apostle Paul in Philippians 1:21: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Perhaps you are feeling the tug of Christ’s call right now. Don’t wait, let me or someone in the church know, so that we can pray for your and support you in your new life in Christ. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Amen.

¹Video and transcription available here.
²From the 1987 movie “Wall Street” starring Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko. Video here.
³BDAG, πραΰς.
⁴See Bruner, 165, on issues related to the translation of πραΰς.

Given at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Minnesota
October 16, 2011
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Copyright © 2011 by Christopher Donald Drew

Matthew 10: Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit and Those Who Mourn

Sermon Text: Matthew 5:3-4

Introductory Comments

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

In order to understand these verses, we need to answer a few questions. First, who, exactly, are the “poor in spirit” and “those who mourn?” Second, what happens when Jesus blesses in this way? Third, what do these verses have to do with us today, in our church, existing in our culture?

Who Are the Poor in Spirit?

So who are these that are identified by Jesus as “the poor in spirit” and “those who mourn?’

This question is important, because we can make a mistake when reading these beatitudes. The individuals receiving these blessings are not receiving them on the basis that being poor in spirit or in mourning are somehow virtuous. Jesus is not saying here: “Look how wonderful it is to feel crushed or to be mourning!” Theses beatitudes are not virtues, but are blessings granted to particular people in particular circumstances.

Jesus goes to those who don’t have it all together, but have fallen apart. In this way, he’s fulfilling all that was promised in the Old Testament. To whom does God grant blessings? Let’s look at just a few examples:

Isaiah 57:15 - “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

Isaiah 66:2 - “All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.

Psalm 149:4 - “For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation”

Proverbs 3:34 - “Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor.

To be “poor in spirit” likely means to be abjectly poor, really destitute, and desperate for rescue. Such poor actually feel their poverty and are crushed as a result. Nothing is working out for these folks, and they are routinely overlooked, ridiculed, and avoided by others. These are the people in our communities who we would prefer to imagine aren’t here (they are). Some fo these folks may be sitting near you right now.

Jesus blesses people who really are poor, who feel it, who are experiencing the crushing burden of their poverty. It is to these people that Jesus looks first. That says something very important about Jesus, which means it also says something about the way the church should approach economic, spiritual, and psychological poverty.

What is says about Jesus is that he has particular care and concern for these individuals, because these are the individuals who are looking for rescue, who are the end of their ropes, and need salvation. It is to these people that Jesus says, “I bless you! I am for you! Look to me and be strengthened.”

What this says to the church is that, as the body of Christ, we are to have the same concern for the poor, and we are to share in the rich abundance of God’s blessing to the saints with the same people Jesus is looking out for. As saints in the church, we ought to have eyes and ears tuned for just these people, because they are the objects of Jesus’ magnificent blessing. That should take us right into the soup kitchens, the food shelves, and similar ministries. The first beatitude also humbles those in the church who might presume a spiritual sophistication or advancement that is inappropriate and full of pride. When we get to the moral and ethical commands of Jesus which follow these blessings, what we will see is that our lives pale in comparison to what Jesus demands of us, so much so that without these opening blessings we might be led to despair. Instead, we are led back in poverty of spirit to the foot of the cross, where we are renewed by the costly sacrifice of Jesus.

What Is the Blessing?

What do those who feel the crushing spiritual effects of poverty receive from Jesus? They receive the very kingdom of God. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” Notice the present tense verb is. Those who receive this blessing have the joy of an abundant inheritance is experienced now because it’s guaranteed to come. In fact, this hope is so certain that this inheritance is already theirs, as Jesus says – “theirs is” the kingdom of God.

For those psychological, spiritually, and physically crushed and impoverished, Jesus particularly blesses you and grants to you even now the inheritance of the coming kingdom of God.

Who Are Those Who Mourn?

Those who are in mourning are brokenhearted. These are the ones who pray with David in Psalm 25:16-17

Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses…

This beatitude is for those [plural ] who are [present-tense] in mourning. For such people, Jesus grants gracious blessing with the promise that they will be comforted. This is not an individual lament over one’s own loss that looks to the self, but a godly grief that produces a sense of deep sorrow that only God can relieve.¹ Here’s what Paul says about such grief, in 2 Corinthians 7:10

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

Saints of the church, Jesus on the side of those individuals who are in mourning now. Jesus blesses those who are presently feeling this deep sadness. And the promise for those who experience such sadness is comfort, a comfort so secure and abiding that it yields as the blessing joy in Christ, so that they may sing:

Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. [Ps 30:5]

Twice in a row now, Jesus has placed himself on the side of people many would rather avoid. This will be his pattern throughout his ministry. And his ministry will be seen most fully in its glory when Jesus pours out his life for the spiritually destitute on the cross, becoming the source of ridicule and scorn in order to give the blessing of salvation to his people.

What happens when Jesus blesses this way?

When Jesus blessed someone this way, what is communicated verbally is actually conveyed to the recipient. Something really happens to the person whom Jesus is blessing. I think the same thing can happen here, in your hearing of these works, if it would please the Holy Spirit to do so.

To show what I mean by this, suppose you are watching a baseball game. What happens if you’re a batter and swing and miss on a third strike pitch? The umpire declares strike three, and you’re out. Something is declared which changes your circumstances and the circumstances of the game permanently. Now, for the batter, this isn’t necessarily a blessing, especially if you’re name is Alex Rodriguez, and you have a chance to keep the playoff season alive for the New York Yankees, as happened Thursday night in their final division playoff game against Detroit. You get the meaning, though. The umpire’s declaration in this case meant game over and season over the Yankees. As Mark Driscoll said just at a conference just the other night, that the New York Yankees loss to Detroit is proof that God is sovereign and that he loves us.

This illustration is just meant to show how something spoken can change circumstances forever. “I love you” has the same effect. Something changes when those words are spoken and heard. When Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” an actual blessing from the incarnate God is granted to the recipient described in the blessing. This is in accord with Jesus’ earlier speech that resulted in immediate changes. When Jesus calls Peter, Andrew, James, and John, there is no negotiation. Jesus’ calling of his disciples also creates his disciples, and so they pick up and follow him. When Jesus blesses a particular group of people, they are actually blessed. Jesus isn’t just delivering platitudes, like we do in order to manage our anxiety over the pains of others. These aren’t just pick-me-ups. Jesus is conferring something tangible to people who really are destitute financially, spiritually, and emotionally. What is he conferring upon these people? He is giving them Himself and all the benefits of knowing Him. It is to those people who are in the spiritual condition necessary for salvation that Jesus comes and presents Himself as their salvation. Blessed are you poor in spirit, because in me you are a fellow heir of the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who mourn, because I will grant you an everlasting comfort by taking you to myself.

Recap

First: Jesus conferrs his blessing to those, who are like those sung about by musician Steve Taylor, “Just as I am, needy and dry; Jesus is for losers; the self-made need not apply.” He blesses those who spiritual, financial, and emotional situation is critical. To those in such a condition, Jesus declares, with power and effect, you are blessed.

Second: He grants to those who are poor in spirit the very inheritance of the kingdom of God. If you lack now, Jesus says, you are blessed, because you have received the very kingdom of God. So there can be joy now, because you have been written into the will and testament of almighty God by virtue of your blessing from the glorious Christ. To those who mourn, he grants joy of his sure promise of comfort and peace.

Applications

These blessings show how false our wordly-gospels of “successism” and “properity” really are. Successism says to those with much, “Blessed are the rich!” Also false is the notion that if you’re rich in spirit, you are also blessed. No, in the bible, Jesus’ blessings come to those who have nothing and are nothing and feeling like they’re nothing and mourn as a result.

As a result, these blessings from Jesus are a huge stumbling block for many people today. With just the first beatitude alone, Jesus totally demolishes the underlying assumptions of much contemporary life, beginning right in grade school, that preaches the worldly doctrine of self-esteem. Loved ones, the bible doesn’t have much of anything good to say about our contemporary, modern, secular, worldly movement to build up self-esteem. But the bible has much that is blessing for those who experience actual poverty and sadness. Jesus says to those folks, you have me.

I like how John Piper puts it:

The biblical answer to the paralysis of low self-esteem is not high self-esteem; it is sovereign grace. You can test whether you agree with this by whether you can gladly repeat the words of Isaiah 41:13, "Fear not, you worm Jacob . . . I will help you, says the Lord; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel." In other words, God's way of freeing and mobilizing people who see themselves as worms is not to tell them that they are beautiful butterflies but rather to say, "I will help you. I am your redeemer . . . Go to Egypt now, and I will be with you."

God does not particularly care about our sense of self-esteem. What God does care greatly about is His own glory, which means he cares about how much we esteem Him and glorify His holy name. In order to be maximally glorified in this way, he goes to the poor and brokenhearted, to those who do not have it all together, and who are in a place where they are most likely to recognize and feel their deep need for God, and Jesus blesses them. He says to those impoverished and utterly depressed, “You have the very kingdom. It’s yours. And your comfort in me will be lasting, eternal joy.”²

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Amen.

¹Bruner, Frederick Dale. Matthew: A Commentary. The Christbook. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Pub., 2007. 165.
²John Piper. "Blessed Are The Poor in Spirit Who Mourn." Feb 2, 1986.

Given at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Minnesota
October 9, 2011
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Copyright © 2011 by Christopher Donald Drew

Matthew 09: The Sermon on the Mount

Jesus Preaches the Sermon on the Mount - Gustave Doré

Scripture Text: Matthew 5:1-11

Introductory Comments

For the next several weeks, we are going to look very closely at the first part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the section commonly referred to as the beatitudes. My goal today is to give you a broad overview of the beatitudes. In the weeks to come, we’ll take a closer look each one. I think it appropriate to move through them this way, because there are deep, deep lush, treasure troves of Christ-glorifying truth in each of them.

Let’s back up a bit to describe how we got here. Until now, Matthew, the inspired gospel writer whose portrait of Jesus we are studying verse by verse, has not had Jesus say many words. Jesus has spoken once briefly with his cousin John. He has a short back and forth (with eternal gospel consequences for us) with the devil in the wilderness. In Chapter four, which shows us the beginning of Jesus’ ministry of preaching, making disciples, and healing, we only get a few more sentences, beginning with this one: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).

But things are about to change dramatically. In Chapter 4:23, Matthew records, “And he [Jesus] went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.” If you skip ahead to chapter 9:35, we read this: “And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.”

The language is almost identical to 4:23, and I think that is deliberate. Matthew, like any other writer, is using the very structure of what he writes to highlight and show us important truths about our Lord. You can therefore think of Matthew 4:23 and 9:35 as “bookends” within which are two major sections, the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5-7), which consist of Jesus’ teaching to his disciples and the crowds, and a series of stories in chapters 8 and 9 about Jesus’ ministry of healing.

So one of the first things we learn is something we uncovered during our last time together, and which is shown in detail in these chapters, is that Jesus’ preaching and teaching ministries are inseparable from his healing ministries, which are demonstrations of his power. You can’t have one without the other.

So what does the beatitudes, taken as a single unit, teach us about the Kingdom of God. Dale Bruner writes this, “To read the Sermon on the Mount is to discover what it means to be Jesus’ disciples; to read it with faith is to receive power to be Jesus’ disciples.” What does he mean? Let’s start with 5:1-2, the brief introduction to the beatitudes:

[5:1] Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

[2] And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

… And then what follows are the beatitudes themselves.

At the end of Chapter 4, great crowds from throughout the region have started to follow Jesus. Jesus, seeing the crowds, Jesus breaks away from his healing ministry in order to present kingdom teaching. Notice the “he’s” in the verse. He saw the crowds. He went up into the mountain. He sat down. His disciples came up to him. He opened his mouth. He was teaching them. Jesus is setting the agenda in this text for his followers 2,000+ years ago, and I believe, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is setting the agenda for us through his teaching to you and to me today. Why is this important to us? I think there are three reasons:

First, for those who are Jesus’ disciples, who believe in Christ for their eternal salvation and joy, who hold Jesus as their treasure, the beatitudes reminders of the great gospel blessings those individuals have received and will receive by God’s beneficent, unmerited grace.

Second, beatitudes contain within them a reminder of the kind of people Jesus’ disciples have been blessed to be. God’s blessing are receive by grace, and they have a purpose, to bring dead sinners to eternal life and to radically transform them into vessels bearing the love of God in the Word for the purpose of magnifying the glory of the great God who saves.

Third, beatitudes are a great reality check of what commonly happens to disciples when they live in obedience to Christ in a world that prefers the far too often prefers demonic to the holy majesty of God. For Christian disciples struggling to live obediently, the result will be, more often than not, rejection and persecution by the world. But that is not all. There will also be joy.

So those are the three reasons the beatitude are so critical to the Christian. They are much-needed reminders of God’s grace, of our call by God to bear image bearers of His grace in the world, and of the world’s pushback against the inbreaking kingdom of God. In a few minutes, I hope to show you how this comes from the text.

But before I do that, there is another thing I really want you to notice, especially if there is anyone present here today or who may be listening on the television who is not already a disciple of Jesus. One of the things I’ve tried to show over the past few weeks I this: In the relative smattering of Jesus’ speech in the chapters that precede this one, one things is very clear – when Jesus says something, the thing he speaks comes to pass. His words carry great power. In the account of the baptism in Chapter three, John did not want to baptize Jesus. He thought Jesus should have baptized him. But when Jesus said, in 3:15 “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness,” John baptized Jesus. After the baptism and the 40-day and 40-night fast in the wilderness, Jesus combats the temptations of the devil. The temptations conclude with Jesus saying “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ What happens, “Then the devil left him.” In Chapter 4:23-25, Jesus calls his core group of disciples. In both cases, with Peter and Andrew, and again with James and John the sons of Zebedee, Jesus calls and they respond “immediately.” When Jesus speaks, things happens. In Genesis 1, God speaks and says, “Let there by light.” And there was light. Jesus says, “Follow me” and another disciple is brought into the kingdom. This is what is known as the effectual call of God. God’s word creates what it commands. His Word creates galaxies and planets and stars and animals and trees and human beings from nothing. And His word rescues sinners from their eternal destruction and suffering of hell and grants them eternal life and Joy in Him.

I’m making much of this because of something that is apparent by the time you get to the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Here at the beginning, with the beatitudes, Jesus is speaking to his disciples: “[5:1] Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.” But at the end of the Sermon, at Chapter 7:28-29, we read:

[28] And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, [29] for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

He starts preaching to his disciples, but by the end of the sermon, the crowds were astonished. They were astonished because his teaching was not a mere recitation of facts and information. Jesus words carry “authority.” What can we conclude from this? I think Jesus’ teaching is aimed primarily for those who are his disciples, but because his spoken words carry great power and authority, they also invite and create new disciples for the kingdom of God. And I believe, if the Holy Sprit wills it, that this Jesus’ power and authority can do that exact same thing here, right now, in the hearing of His powerful words. Sermons are created first for the faithful, but also for the crowds, that they might hear Jesus’ gracious call to sinners. If you are in that group today, the “crowds,” my prayer for you is that you’ll heed the call of Jesus.

So what do the beatitudes show us? Three things, as I’ve said. They are much-needed reminders of God’s grace, of our call by God to be image bearers of His grace in the world, and of the world’s pushback against the inbreaking kingdom of God. In a few minutes, I hope to show you how this comes from the text.

They Show Us God’s Grace

[3] “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
[4] “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
[5] “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

These three blessings show us that Jesus blesses broken people. These are the people the world overlooks. They are the poor in a way that leaves them not simply bereft of dollars but bereft of hope. God’s grace comes to those who fear they will never measure up. People in this condition are desperate for grace, for rescue, and it is precisely to these people, the one’s who the world have declared don’t have their act together, the ones who are at the end of their respective ropes, that Jesus blesses with mercy and with grace.

This first grouping of blessings illustrate how the kingdom of God is a grand reversal of the sinful power structures of the fallen world. In the kingdom of God, the high will be brought low, and the low lifted up an exalted. The kingdom comes especially to those who recognize their deep need of God. It doesn’t come to those who think they have it all together, that everything is in order, and that life is good, so I must be okay.

Blessing to Those In the Kingdom Who Serve

[6] “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
[7] “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
[8] “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
[9] “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

The next four blessings are for those of the kingdom who live in response to the great grace they have received by showing grace to others. They reveal the core character of a genuine disciple of Jesus.

I love these blessing because they show that those who have been blessed by the gospel of grace overflow with obedience by serving others in grace, which service itself becomes a blessing! Jesus offers his blessing for those in the kingdom who, having been blessed once by His grace, bless others with their compassionate work. Note the order: Grace, then works flowing from that grace. It is not, do good work, and then God will bless you. That’s the way the world works. That’s not the way the gospel of God works.

At a recent conference I attended on global missions, Sara and I heard a talk where this point was really brought home. Lots of folks, when blessed by God with material wealth, hoard it up. Churches do this too, which is why we should get very uncomfortable when a church is blessed with material wealth and just lets it accumulate. For those granted eyes open to the truth of how God has blessed them, they are empowered by the Holy Spirit to become a blessing to others. In these beatitude, Jesus says, “You are blessed when blessing others giving.”

Hope and Joy Amid Persecution and Oppression

[10] “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

[11] “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. [12] Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The final beatitude is broken into two parts but is really one blessing with an example attached to it. Jesus reminds the church here that it will, when living the gospel life, meet resistance, and some of it will be grave and unpleasant. As I preach this, there is a young pastor of a church in Iran named Yousef Nadarkhani who stands condemned to death for the crime of being a follower of Jesus Christ and refusing to recant his faith. Four times he has refused to recant, and he now sits in jail under a death sentence, which we pray will not be carried out. He is a married and the father of two children. What does Jesus say to those people? You are blessed. And because you are blessed, you have joy reason for gladness, because your very persecution demonstrates that you are mine forever.

For those in the church, this last set of beatitudes reminds us of the great cost borne by Jesus on the Cross, where he poured out his life for people like Pastor Nadarkhani and like you, so that you have an eternal hope that transcends this temporal life of struggle, pain and persecution.

What is the basis for this rejoicing in suffering? It is the cross of Christ. Hebrew 12:1-2:

[12:1] Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [2] looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Those who endure the persecution of the world have joy because they have they been richly blessed by the Christ who endured the ultimate shame of the cross to purchase forgiveness for sin and assurance of pardon from God’s justified wrath for sin.

This is what the beatitudes teach and do, by the power of the Holy Spirit. They are spiritual food reminding us of the depth of God’s grace for those who feel they are nothing. They are reminders of the call by Jesus to be image bearers of His grace in the world. And they are reminders of the joy that awaits us when the world’s pushes back in a vain attempt to stall the inbreaking kingdom of God. And they are an invitation to those who long for rescue. They are the very picture of God’s gracious character in Christ. Amen.

Given at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Minnesota
October 2, 2011
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Copyright © 2011 by Christopher Donald Drew

Matthew 08: Proclaim. Disciple. Serve.

Jesus Teaches in the Synagogue - Gustave Doré

Scripture Text: Matthew 4:12-25

Introductory Comments

Last week we looked at the threefold temptation of Jesus by the devil. The first great benefit of this is that we can see how the devil works by looking at how he approached Jesus. He first attacked Jesus at a moment of weakness after Jesus 40-day, 40-night fast and we learned that one of the ways we are tempted is through are basic appetites, which are not of themselves bad, but which can be exploited against us. The second temptation went to Jesus faith in God’s word in an attempt to put God to the test. Did God really mean what he said? Let’s test him and find out. We say here how the scriptures can be manipulated in an inappropriate, harmful, damaging way. Finally, the devil tempted Jesus with the offer to give him all the kingdoms of the world in exchange for Jesus’ worship. This was the temptation to avoid the suffering and agony of the Cross.

We took away three things from this text: First, we need to be scripture-saturated people, so that we who are called by Christ might succeed in defeating temptations. Second, we learned that the key weakness in the human character is pride, and that we must always be on the watch that our desire to be thought highly of did not lead us to destruction. Finally, we learned how important the gospel is, because we routinely fail to withstand temptation. But because Jesus withstood all attempts to reject God and God’s Word for us, we need not fear condemnation, but instead appeal to the finished work of Christ by faith that what he did on the Cross was sufficient to cover over our lapses.

Summary of Jesus’ Ministry on Earth

This week’s text address show in greater detail what Jesus was sent to accomplish in his ministry on earth. The text has three major segments, and I think that Matthew paints the picture of Jesus’ ministry deliberately in this specific order. The first thing Jesus does is preach. He makes an announcement that God’s kingdom has broken into the word, calling on his listeners to repent. Second, after preaching the word, Jesus goes about the business of making disciples. Third, after the preaching and making of disciples comes the critical third component of Jesus’ ministry, healing others in conjunction with the proclamation of the gospel. I submit to you that this is an excellent pattern for what the church ought to be doing in its ongoing life together.

The Kingdom of God Is Proclaimed

Verses 12-17:

[12] Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. [13] And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, [14] so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: [15] “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—[16] the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” [17] From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Having received the news the John was arrested, Jesus leads Judea and heads north to the region called Galilee, the district where his hometown of Nazareth is located. Then he left his hometown to go to the seaside city of Capernaum.

The territory into which he went had a long history. The territory of Galilee was, in the Old Testament, the place where the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun settled. Those tribes, located at the northern most part of the old kingdom were, for a long time under Assyrian occupation, alluded to by with the quotation from the prophet Isaiah. It is into this very territory, now under occupation by the Roman Empire, that Jesus comes. Matthew is clear that he interprets the final liberation of the people coming from Jesus. The land dwelling in deep darkness of oppression and occupation were the first to experience the bright light of hope in the person of Jesus.

And he comes bearing a message for those who are oppressed. The words spoken here by Jesus are exactly the same as those spoken by John earlier in Matthew 3:2, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus is thereby endorsing and assuming John’s prophetic ministry. Because the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and is breaking over the land where only darkness and death has reigned, it is time to get with God. Now is the time. “Repent!” This is an imperative command. It comes with force and urgency to all who here it. And the call comes to you again this morning. The kingdom of heaven is at hand in the person of the one speaking, Jesus of Nazareth. And his imperative is also an urgent invitation. It is time to change your life, to yield finally to the will of the God who created you, to be aligned with his purposes of magnifying his own glory. Have you repented, dear ones? Are you hearing this call afresh this morning? Are you lost in the darkness of sin and rebellion, are you feeling abandoned having failed to meet the incessant demands of the world? Are you mired in temptation, beset by the devil at every turn, and desirous of rescue? Repent, then! Come to the throne of grace, where the one who withstood all temptation and suffering and trial and tribulation stands as your judge but also as your justifier before God, and receive as His gift the offer of forgiveness and the peace which surpasses all understanding. The one thing I hope for each week when I preach is that someone might hear this appeal and answer the call. It is the one thing I hope for most, and the one thing I cannot do through preaching. But God can use the preaching to draw you to Himself. Oh if he has not done that yet for you, I hope he does right now.

The mission of the church is to proclaim this reality, that the kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus is already Lord of the universe, of heaven and earth, and stands sovereign over all the nations. So many don’t know this yet, and the mission of the church is to proclaim this news from the rooftops, in our homes, at work, everywhere, so that others may share the hope of joy in Jesus Christ through he forgiveness of their sins by faith in the saving power of his blood shed on the cross.

Disciple-Making

Having proclaimed the kingdom of heaven, Jesus keeps moving. Verses 18-22:

[18] While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. [19] And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” [20] Immediately they left their nets and followed him. [21] And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. [22] Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Having proclaimed the good news that God’s kingdom is at hand, Jesus goes about the next bit of business, that of making disciples. He starts with two fishermen, Simon (who will be called “Peter” by Jesus), and his brother Andrew. Jesus speaks and they respond. “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” When Jesus calls a sinner by name, the sinner responds. This is what happens when your are born again. This is the irresistible grace of God at work. When God calls you by name, there is nothing in heaven or on earth that will keep you from heeding and obeying the call. You drop everything to be with him. Jesus’ words cause what they command. There is no hesitation. The same thing happens to James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They leave everything behind, their nets, even their father, to go be with Jesus. That is the power of God at work. There were no special pleadings, not “Just a second, Jesus, while I wrap this up.” No. When Jesus calls you, and the power of God comes upon you, you simply follow him, leaving everything behind.

And when you follow him, he makes and keeps his promise to you. “I will make you fishers of men.” I will take you, fisherman, banker, coffee shop owner, farmer, home maker, assembly line worker, engineer, doctor, lawyer, musician, sanitation worker, construction worker – you get the idea – and I will make you one who draws others to follow Jesus.

Now that Jesus has ascended to the right hand of the Father, this charge of making disciples is ours. Disciple-making is the job of the church. It’s not just programs and events and activities to suit various demographic age groups. The church exists to proclaim what Jesus proclaimed, and to make disciples of Jesus. This is made abundantly clear in Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…” Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are commanded by our sovereign Lord Jesus to bring others along in discipleship. To make disciples means to train Christians to follow the commands of Jesus. It means to help others foster their heart-felt affections for the glory of God. It means to teach others how to pray and love others. It means to develop a deeper and deeper understandings of how God’s free pardon for sin affects every aspect of our lives, how Jesus’ obedience for us makes us joyfully obedience, rather than slaves to duty.

Multiple Ministries of Mercy

Having proclaimed the kingdom, and having started making disciples, Jesus then moves into the next key area of his ministry. Verses 23-25:

[23] And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. [24] So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. [25] And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

Verse 23 sums up what we’ve said thus far about Jesus’ ministry, but adds an important element – motion. Jesus proclaims the gospel of the kingdom. He teaches in their synagogues, their places of worship. And he does these things, throughout all Galilee, meaning, Jesus is on the move. As he does this, another crucial component of his ministry is seen, Jesus goes to work “healing every disease and every affliction among the people” including “all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them.”

And so the church should be deeply involved in these kinds of ministries if we claim the title “disciple.” In fact, the church today is desperate to be seen as doing these things. Many church professionals, including church “growth experts,” desire the church to be way more outwardly focused that it is today. I fear, however, that most of their books are purchased and devoured in the hopes that local churches might achieve numerical growth by simply doing stuff and demonstrating their righteousness to the world. But notice how Jesus does these things. He does them while proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and while teaching in their synagogues. And that is how our loving works should always be done. They should not be done in a vacuum apart from the declaration of the good news and apart from teaching and making disciples. When we engage in good words and fail to proclaim the good news, inevitably what happens is that we end up glorifying and justifying ourselves. If the church engaged in this important work without proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, how is the church any different than any other aid organization? Jesus does these words to demonstrate God’s power visibly because the kingdom has come near. And in doing it this way, God is glorified. The text here says that Jesus’ “fame spread throughout all Syria” and that “great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.” If people come into the church as a result of our good works done in faith, they better be coming for the right reason – that is, they better know that the reason they are done was because of what Jesus has already done for us by his life, death, resurrection, and ascension. If you help someone in need and they thank you, how do you respond? This is the huge implication of this text. Who gets the credit when you help someone in need? Do you take it for yourself, or do you credit the God who saved you through the precious, precious blood of His Son, Jesus? Christians will gladly deflect the praise they receive to Jesus. The next time you are involved in one of the ministries of the church, test yourself. Why am I doing this? Is it for my own glory, or for the glory of Jesus? When that man or woman came into the food shelf, was anything said at all about the greatness of the Christ who gave us this ministry? When someone comes into the Noah’s Room clothing ministry, do they hear about Christ at all?

The application of this text today is simple: The Church is called follow her Lord by proclaiming the good news that the kingdom of God is at hand, calling upon sinners to repent and be saved. It is to make disciples of those sinners, teaching them to do what the Lord Jesus commands. Finally, the church is called, in conjunction with the proclamation of the gospel, to demonstrate God’s power in ministries of healing.

Now to the One who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all we can ask or imagine, to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Given at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Minnesota
September 18, 2011
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Copyright © 2011 by Christopher Donald Drew

Matthew 07: Fighting Temptation

Satan Tempts Jesus from a Mountaintop in the Wilderness - Gustave Doré

Scripture Text: Matthew 4:1-11

Introductory Comments

The last time we were together we examined the baptism of Jesus in Matthew chapter 3, and we learned from Matthew’s account three things. First, we learned that Jesus was baptized by John in order to fulfill all righteousness so that, having lived free from sin, Jesus might become a perfect sacrifice for our sin. Second, because of his sinless life and his perfect sacrificial death for our sin, Jesus’ baptism means everything to us. In baptism, we are claimed as Christ’s own, receiving the gifts he received at his baptism, including the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit and the gift of divine favor and uninhibited love. In Christ, we all get to hear the words, “You are my beloved child, with whom I am well pleased, because you live in and for the glory of my beloved Son.” Third, we learned that these gifts grant to us the power to obey what Jesus will command all of us to do in Matthew 28:19-20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” We are to be a people on the move, sent into the world to bring the good news that Jesus is Lord and that divine grace is available to all who would believe in His Name. We get the opportunity to be used by God for the glory of His Son. The question we ended with was: Do we live like we believe this?

Having been anointed by the Holy Spirit, Jesus begins he formal ministry by demonstrating his obedience to God. He is “led up by the Spirit into the wilderness” for a time of trial and temptation.

For me, one of the greatest passages in the Scriptures is found in Hebrews 4:15

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

It is critically important that we have a high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, and who has been in every respect tempted as we are, and yet remains without sin, so that by his righteous obedience to the will of God we might be saved. This week’s text from Matthew shows the degree and scope of the temptations placed before our great high priest, Jesus. You can imagine this scene like a duel at 20 paces. Both of the combatants in this story are armed, not with guns, but with the word of God, which should teach us all something right out of the gate, namely: If you want to defeat the temptations in your life and kill of sin by the power of the Holy Spirit, the best weapon we have is the very Word of God. It is in the pages of Scripture that we are able to see clearly God’s will for our lives, so that we may not succumb to temptation. Lesson one of this sermon is, therefore, to live scripture-saturated lives. To live a scripture saturated life is to live in a way that is contrary to what the world expects of you. The world expects you to take the things of the world with utmost seriousness. And so we waste our lives with simple pleasures and pleasantries, rather than be devoted drinkers of the living water of God’s Word. If you are discover that temptation is besetting you constantly, you may seriously want to consider spending significantly more time in your bibles than you do now.

Just a few words on the structure of this passage. You may recall that in the last sermon I said that there was a definite pattern in Matthew’s gospel. Everything points to the humble humility of Jesus. Everything points down. He’s born in a stable and sleeps in the trough. He comes from the backward, insignificant town of Nazareth. His family history is filled with gentiles and sinners.

Direction: Upward to Pride

One of the things I want you to notice in today’s test is that the Devil, who is described in verse three as “the tempter” tries to move Jesus from this position of humility by tempting him with the things that are above. He first temptation begins in the wilderness. The next one from the pinnacle of the temple. Finally, Jesus is taken in verse eight to “a very high mountain.” The tempter moves by employing temptations that are increasingly desirable and which play to pride, probably the key weakness of human moral living. When pride rules, everything in life hinges on satisfying ourselves at the expense of God. We see that the tempter in this duel is very well acquainted with his Enemy. And we should be equally sophisticated in our approach as well. Temptation is from the devil who would separate us from the love of God shown to us in our Baptisms. That’s the tempter’s angle with Jesus, and the tempter works the same way against us.

Threefold Form of Temptation

The second thing I want you to notice is the basic threefold structure of the temptations themselves. We’ll address those by working through the text verse by verse, but here’s a summary. The first temptation addresses human appetites. In this case, it is hunger. The second temptation addresses faith in God’s Word. The third goes right to that big weak spot we mentioned earlier, our pride and lust for power.

Temptation One: Hunger –Perversion our Natural Appetites

[4:1] Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. [2] And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. [3] And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” [4] But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Notice that while the Spirit doesn’t lead Jesus into temptation, he leads Him to a place where he is subject to temptation. He’s already been fasting for forty days and nights. How many of you have ever voluntarily fasted for even one day? The first day usually isn’t so bad, but try it for two or three days, let alone forty. Your body is well-equipped for communicating the emptiness of your stomach through hunger pains. We have a hard time imagining even the routine hunger of most of the rest of the world, let alone a deliberate 40-day fast. Jesus was very hungry, loved ones. Hungry enough to be very sorely tested by the devil’s first attempt to separate Jesus from His heavenly Father.

This is the way temptation so often works for us, too. Our appetites are such a rich target because they are right there, present in front of us. I’m hungry! I might die if I don’t get something to eat right now. I complain that way if I'm 15 minutes late for a Big Mac. How much more tempting simple bread must have been to a hungry, salivating Savior, 40 days and 40 nights without one morsel.

And it might not be hunger that gets us into trouble. I remember, in a seminary course on pastoral ministry, the teacher strongly recommenced that we never meet with anyone late in the afternoon, especially if that person happened to be of the opposite sex. Physical tiredness lowered the resistance to other forms of temptation. You might be surprised at the indiscretions of pastors who succumbed to temptation simply because they later claimed to be tired.

Our physical appetites, hunger, thirst, sex, etc., can lead us down paths of destruction. The tempter is trying to get Jesus to doubt his Sonship through via the stomach. “If you really are who God says you are, then turn these stones in to bread.” The devil worked the same way in the Garden. “Did God really say don’t eat the fruit from that tree?”

Jesus knows this what’s up. He knows that there are fates worse than dying from hunger, and so he fires his salvo from scripture, quoting Deuteronomy 8:3 – “Man shall not live by bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Food is necessary to live now, but the Word of God is necessary to live eternally for and with God. The devil is saying to Jesus, “Prove what God said to you at the riverside by doing something big.” Jesus, however, operates entirely from the perspective of faith by recalling the scriptures and his own baptism.

Temptation Two – Going for the Strength

The tempter’s next move is a straightforward one. Jesus responded to the first temptation by quoting the holy Word of God. Now the tempter demonstrates that he also knows the Word of God, so his next assault against Jesus uses the Word:

[5] Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple [6] and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

So, the tempter seems to be saying, you think your saturated with Scriptures? How far are you willing to believe them? Here’s what they say about you, from Psalm 91. The tempter is abusing the scriptures by taking one verse in an attempt to persuade Jesus to defy the living God.

But Jesus will have none of it:

[7] Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

The devil has tried two approaches now. He’s tempted Jesus at a great point of weakness, and now he’s moved him up to tempt Jesus’ strength – his love of God’s Word. Incidentally, I think from this part of the story we learn the valuable lesson about how scripture can be so easily abused and turned into a weapon. Throughout history, the scriptures, robbed from their true meaning by unscrupulous religious leaders, politicians, and others, have caused tremendous damage and pain. Christians ought never to be guilty of this charge.

Temptation Three – The Very High Place

Temptation three at first glance seems to a bit more difficult to frame. Having tested Jesus’ at a weak point, and then his strongest point, he now tests Jesus based on what Jesus is sent here to do, which is to, as Bruner puts it, “win the world.” Jesus is destined to become Lord of the Universe. The tempter knows this, but then he tries to use this knowledge to drive a wedge between Jesus and his Father:

[8] Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. [9] And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”

The tempter is tempting Jesus with a shortcut that removes the necessity of the Cross. If Jesus has succumbed to this temptation, or any of the others, we all would have been lost. This temptation illustrates this truth the best, because unless Jesus died on the Cross for our sins, we would be utterly lost and condemned to hell.

Again, Jesus will have none of it. He was sent, after all, to gather together those whom His father had given him, so that they would never be lost.

[10] Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

Nothing will dissuade Jesus from his mission of saving those whom he was sent to save. Notice also the effect Jesus’ words have. They effect the very thing they command:

[11] Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

The duel comes to an end, for now. Jesus will be tempted again in his life, including the time of his ultimate weakness, when he was hanging on the cross, hearing things like this from passers-by:

[27:40] “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

Or this, from the religious clergy of the day, the Chief Priests, scribes, and elders:

[27:42] “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. [43] He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

Thank you, Jesus, for withstanding it all for our sakes.

Applications

First, we are to be scripture-soaked people, so that we can endure and stand victorious at the time of temptation.

Second, the devil tempts us by appealing to our sinful pride – perhaps our weakest point. Pride it’s a killer of souls and churches. Pride manifests itself in many, many ways. In religious boosterism, in rumor mongering (which is simply the attempt to look better than the absent one we’re slandering). If you are not a Christian, such behaviors will never bother you because pride and place in this world is all you have. For the Christian, however, these worldly ways lead to death, death to the soul and death to the Christian community. Temptations to our pride are everywhere. Be alert for them, and resist them.

Third, if you are a Christian, your failures to withstand temptation are never the last word, because Jesus withstood all temptations for you. Our response to this story of Jesus’ temptations should be deep, deep gratitude. Our reason for staying steadfast and faithful and obedient is not so that we might earn a ticket to heaven. Christ died to put you in heaven. No, our obedience flows from our love and gratitude for what Jesus accomplished by His obedience, even unto death. Amen.

Given at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Minnesota
September 11, 2011
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Copyright © 2011 by Christopher Donald Drew

QOTD: Stay at the Wheel!

Just wrapped up Fred Sanders' wonderful book on the Trinity The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything. I've just picked up my next book, on preaching, entitled Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching. This quote is from the introduction, written by J. Ligon Duncan III:

Preaching in the contemporary English-speaking world--and even in the evangelical and Reformed community--has not been impervious to the negative forces brought to bear on proclamation as a method of evangelism and discipleship. A video-drowned and educationally-challenged culture, and a church bent on accommodating herself to the dominant communication theories of the day, challenge the minister committed to the "foolishness of preaching." He faces significant pressure to truncate and thin out his message, to entertain, to explore alternate media, and even to abandon historic modes of proclamation altogether. Such a milieu is discouraging to the extreme for the preacher (young or old, novice or master) who simply wants to be faithful. In this setting, every encouragement is useful. Indeed, it helps to beat this old drum and remind men that they are not crazy for wanting to remain faithful, to say to them, "Stay at the wheel; hold fast; keep on; don't give up; you're not alone."

 Emphasis added.

QOTD: Doubt What the World Exalts

Commenting on Matthew 4:3, the place where the tempter tempts Jesus with the words, "If you are the Son of God," Dale Bruner writes:

It is said we live in an age of doubt, in an age of the death of God. We must be careful how we say this. We ought not imply that human nature has normally liked the truth of God and that only recently, in modern times, have people found God doubtful. As the Apology of the Augsburg Confession (1531) ... reminds us, ever since the Fall, human nature has universally resisted the true God, hid from God, doubted, and distrusted God. Adam and Eve hid from God immediately after their rejection of God's command (Gen 3:8). And the apostle Paul taught us that we are not so much naturally seekers after God's truth as we are suppressors of it (Rom 1:18-3:20). Human nature lives in doubt of God's reality because it wants to. The last three centuries have simply succeeded in making this fact explicit and praiseworthy. Care needs to be taken lest we glorify doubt and make doubt seem more mature, advanced, and modern than faith. Doubt of God is not a virtue to preen. The praise of doubt is sometimes fulsome, especially in college settings, and is often boorish. Let us doubt a great deal, but not God. Let us especially doubt what the world exalts, "for what is exalted among human beings is an abomination in the sight of God" (Luke 16:15). And one of the things secularism exalts is doubt of God. "Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that unless we love the truth we cannot know it" (Pascal, Pensées).

Emphasis added. Excerpt from Matthew: A Commentary. The Christbook: Matthew 1-12, page 123.