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Matt. 4:8-11: Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.” “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.” Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus. I like to read the part about Angels coming to Jesus and attending him and then get excited about the possibility of that happening for me. Wouldn’t that be great! Angels coming and taking care of me! But the part I forget about is that they came to Jesus after the fact. What I mean is this; Jesus first went into the desert and fasted for 40 days and nights; and then following that intensely uncomfortable experience he was tempted by the devil in all the areas he would have been most weak in! I forget that the Angels only came to him after he had been severely tested and weakened. I forget that the only reason Angels did take care of him was that he underwent intense physical and emotional trauma, trial and testing. It is amazing to me that angels came directly to Jesus and took care of him. Literally “gave him food to eat”; The God of the universe apparently needed the assistance of angels… Trials come… they always will. In Luke 4:13; also referring to the temptation of Jesus; he says that the devil left him until an “opportune time”; Meaning that Jesus would face further tempting. Jesus was not exempted from trials, temptation and struggle; so I'm not sure what makes me think I am? I know the bible says to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well, but I have to shamefully admit that I’ve spent most of my prayer time asking God to take care of me and seeking stuff; instead of seeking God himself. My prayers have been more like that old Janet Jackson song “God; What have you done for me lately?” Fortunately God is patient when exposing the evil in my heart; greed, envy, pride, self absorption, arrogance, etc. And he does this primarily through trials and testing. |
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In Matthew 9 Jesus is walking along and sees a guys working at his job and he doesn’t have just any job; oh no! He works for the IRS! One of the most despised occupations in the county… and for some reason He asks him to be his disciple; his follower, Jesus actually asks Matthew to be a part of his inner circle! After this Jesus went to Matthew’s house for a party. While he was there some of the Pharisee’s came and saw him eating with all of these IRS employees and other apparently notorious sinner, undesirable smelly types. And the Pharisees were shocked that he would associate with anyone like that. When Jesus heard what they said he made some seemingly obvious medical comment about only sick people needing a doctor not healthy people? But what he said next the Pharisees found really offensive. (You see the Pharisees had spent most of their lives studying the scripture) “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” Later in Matthew chapter 12 Jesus and his disciples are walking though a grain field on the Sabbath day. His disciples are hungry so they pick some of the grain and eat it and the Pharisees show up again and scold his disciples for “working” on the Sabbath. (The Pharisees are kind of like paparazzi chasing a rock star in this story). Jesus again makes a statement using scripture to teach them: “You would not have condemned my innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ 8 For the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!” Two things that I have come to realize about myself, the first is that I used to love it when Jesus was giving it to the religious types like the Pharisees. But after I had been a Christian for a long time I found that I had a tendency to start acting like one of the Pharisees. I would look down my nose at homeless “bums” when they walked by or I would condemn people around me who were struggling with sin or what I considered “self imposed” problems. The second thing that I realized after I had been a Christian for a while and had gotten to know the bible pretty well is that I became settled and arrogant in my faith. I worked really hard to be a “good person” and avoid sin and sinners at all cost. I felt and acted like I had all the right beliefs and knew all I needed to know. And thus just like the Pharisees I became unteachable and unloving. One day I woke up and realized that I had wandered over into their camp… in opposition to Jesus and his teaching… the very person I claimed to serve. But fortunately Jesus does indeed desire Mercy, and by his grace I have found and am finding my way back to Him. The Pharisees want to be good people, I really believe that, but the problem was that they wanted to be good in their own strength more than they wanted God. So when God came they missed him. So let us all take a lesson from the Pharisees. Don’t miss Jesus; he will likely show up in a way you are least expecting.
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(c) 2009 the fountainChurch |
God,
What Have You Done For Me Lately? 
