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“..Jesus….saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth, ‘Follow me’, He told him and Matthew got up and followed him.‘” Matthew 9:9
“When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples: ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?'” Matthew 9:11
“…Jesus said: ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'” Matthew 9:12-13
“I tell you in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Luke 15:7
In Part I of looking at why our Heavenly Father allows evil to exist, we looked at the Parable of the Weeds. In it we saw the mercy, steadfast patience and love of God, that He is not willing to damage any portion of His beloved grain, which He planted, in rooting out the evil amongst it. God knows the unintended consequences/damages that can happen to us because we let (maybe even invite at times) evil to come so close to us, if God were to mercilessly destroy that evil. However, two things are clear; God doesn’t bring the evil and evil will be judged and cast out from God, when He chooses to do so.
In Part II we look at the concept of weeds and grain using Jesus’s call of Matthew. We see it plainly stated in scripture, that Matthew was a tax collector. Now I’m not sure if there has ever been a time in any history when tax collectors have been showered with praise or looked on particularly favorably. But definitely in the time of Jesus, Jewish tax collectors were a pariah of society. The hated Romans had many taxes required of their conquered foes. Additionally, King Herod had taxes he required for the upkeep of his lifestyle and other municipal reasons. Finally, many tax collectors (and there is every indication Matthew would have fallen into this) added a few extra shekels to the take to line their pockets as well.
It is not hidden to Jesus that Matthew is a tax collector. He sees Matthew sitting at the tax collecting table and approaches him. Jesus calls for Matthew to: “Follow Me”, and Matthew immediately responds and follows Jesus. The first place Matthew “follows” Jesus to is Matthew’s home where he holds a large dinner for Jesus, the disciples, the Jewish Religious aristocracy and many of Matthew’s friends which happen to be other tax collectors and assorted sinners.
It would surely appear that Matthew is a weed amongst a group of weeds. The Pharisees see this and comment on it. It would seem in their minds that these sinners should be at the very least shunned and, if Jesus was the real Mesiah, potentially destroyed as the vile weeds they are.
Notice that Jesus does not respond by excusing the evil that the tax collector does as somewhat understandable. Jesus doesn’t declare that sin is “no big deal”; far from it. However, what Jesus sees is people who are sick; sin-sick. Jesus does not see people who need to do something first to show their righteousness like sacrificing. No, Jesus sees people who are in need of a merciful Healer. Jesus sees the need for a Saving Doctor and knows that He is the only Doctor who has the cure.
We might find ourselves as judges of the world declaring who it is who are weeds and who is grain. There be some Dear Sisters and Brothers who feel that they have been righteous from birth or at least their infant baptism and never had anything to do with “weedy” behavior. There may be those of us who are well aware of our time of spiritual sickness, when we were away from the presence of Jesus and more hell-bent than heaven-focused.
It is clear in the call of Matthew as well as many different examples of Jesus’s life; He does not ascribe to a “once a weed, always a weed” theology. When Jesus calls out: “Come unto me”; there is an assumption that there are some/many who are away from Him.
The call of Matthew shows the loving, power of Jesus Christ. By the healing power of Jesus Christ, Matthew did answer the call and come unto Jesus. Matthew did repent and leave his sin focused life behind allowing him to become one of the 11 Apostles.
There are two other things we should note here. Matthew followed Jesus but even then he didn’t become perfect. Remember the disciples were quarreling with each other, seeking their own glory by arguing whom among them was the greatest. Matthew, with the other 11, abandoned Jesus, in the garden when He was confronted and arrested by the mob. Yet at no time did Jesus, even in rebuking His 11 disciples, judge them or cast them out. The love of Jesus Christ is about mercy and saving the lost.
Additionally, please, please do not lose sight of the fact that Jesus Christ came to Matthew. Jesus Christ did not demand that Matthew change anything first, to be worthy to be in the presence of Jesus. Also, it is the Power of Jesus Christ, that changed Matthew. Matthew went on to write an inspired Gospel that teaches so much to us down to this very day. Matthew journeyed far to teach and spread the word of Jesus Christ throughout the first century world. Matthew did all of that by being in Jesus Christ; receiving Christ’s love and spreading it to the greater needy world.
Dear Sisters and Brothers, both the Old and New Testaments are clear; we are a fallen people. We are a people in need of salvation, beyond our own capacity. Left to our own devices and power, we will do evil. We will be angry with others, covet from others, we will see others in need and callously avoid or neglect them. We will judge others wrongly and seek our own glory at the expense of others. We will do weedy things. Yet Our Heavenly Father in His loving mercy does not want to bundle us, in those moments and cast us out to burned forever. Indeed, our Heavenly Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ to take our condemnation upon Himself so that we could be restored to righteousness, only through Him.
Praise and thanksgiving to our Heavenly Father for His loving plan of salvation for us. Let us then turn to Jesus Christ who comes to us and calls out: “Follow Me!” Let us humbly confess our sins and call upon the Spirit to dwell within us to strengthen us against temptation and keep us from doing evil. Let us rejoice in the opportunity freely given to us to live with and in Jesus Christ, becoming the grain of His Love and allowing Him to let us grow so that we can be a part of His nourishing plan to spread His love to all. That in answering the call of Jesus Christ we would live the blessed lives planned for us by our Heavenly Father bringing praise and Glory to His most Holy Name.
Our Most Gracious Heavenly Father, we humbly confess that we are sinners. We repent of those sins and ask for Your blessed mercy and forgiveness. We sing songs and pray prayers of thanksgiving for Your plan for our salvation through the gift of the sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank you, Jesus that You, who we were created through, are willing to come to us no matter what our conditions and/or circumstances. That You don’t require of us any preconditions for Your unconditional love. Fill us with Your Spirit, most blessed Father, that will give us the strength to abide in Your Son, Jesus Christ and thus fulfill the call that You have for us. That we may live lives that bring praise and glory to You, Heavenly Father and to Your Son Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit, we pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen
“Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. ‘Never, Lord’, he said. ‘This shall never happen to You!'” Matthew 16:22
“‘Lord if it is You,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.'” Matthew 14:28
“So Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, ‘Ask Him which one He means.'” John 13:24
“Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting of his ear.” John 18:10
“But he began to call down curses and he swore, ‘I don’t know this man you are talking about!'” Mark 14:71
“Then Peter said, ‘Silver and gold, I do not have, but what I do have, I give you. In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.'” Acts 3:6
Again, as in Part I, we are taking a look at Peter, one of Jesus’s closest disciples and leader of the group in all his humaneness. Additionally as stated in the last post, this is not about judging Peter by his actions, but seeing ways and learning from aspects of Peter and his actions and how they impact our spiritual journey with our Lord Jesus Christ.
Taking Action With the Best of Intentions – It has been said: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”; according to Google first printed in Handbook of Proverbs published in 1855 by Henry G. Bohn. In Peter’s case, just a few hours earlier; Peter had declared that, even if the rest of the disciples deserted Jesus, he was ready to fight and die for Jesus. Now in the Garden of Gethsemane, it was time to put his words to the test. The mob, led by Judas had come to arrest Jesus. In the melee that ensued in taking Jesus, Peter draws his sword to defend Jesus and strikes the High Priest’s servant and cuts off his ear. Peter was doing exactly what he said he would do. Peter is acting with the best of intentions. Peter is not seeking glory for himself, nor does he have some private grievance with the servant that he is trying to get even about. Peter is defending Jesus, hoping to keep Jesus from being arrested. The only problem was, God’s perfect plan called for Jesus to be arrested. Peter was seeing things from only his perspective. Even though Jesus had stated to them, on several occasions, that He was to be turned over to His enemies and killed. For Peter, no matter what had been said, the arrest of Jesus was wrong and come HELL or high water, Peter was going to stop it. Again there is no judgement of Peter here. In a very real sense, this was very brave. Yet Peter is acting against the Will of God and Jesus lets him know it, in no uncertain terms. What we can learn from this is that we all have our own perspective and judgement as well. We may diligently read the bible, listen to our pastor or maybe even visit a blog đ. What we have to be open to is, even with all our efforts, we may still get it wrong. We may be acting in a way that is contrary to God’s Will. When that happens, again if we’re open to it, God will let us know. First if we are acting in misalignment to God’s Will, our actions will not lead to the outcomes we were expecting or hoping for. Additionally, when our actions are out of alignment with God’s Will, He will tell us through our spirit. Even though we think our actions are justified and righteous, within our spirit there will be no peace from His Spirit. We will feel conflicted and feel led in a different direction. To fulfill God’s plan and scripture; Jesus had to be arrested and all the disciples needed to flee. And that’s exactly what happened. Today, let us be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit as we think, say and do, seeking out the peace that will come from knowing we’re abiding in Christ and in alignment with God.
Failure – We just covered how we can find ourselves doing things for what we believe to be righteous intentions but the acts are indeed wrong. However, sometimes we have no doubt; what we are doing is wrong for the wrong reasons. Peter had claimed that he would die for Jesus Christ. Peter had acted to try and defend Jesus Christ. Then Peter finds himself in a lonely dangerous situation. If Jesus Christ, the Son of God, could be arrested by mere men and hauled off for judgement; what power did Peter have against a same or worse fate. Peter had fled, but whether it was curiosity to see what was going to happen to Jesus or love of Jesus or some of both, Peter couldn’t stay away. He followed the mob to the High Priest’s house, where they were interrogating Jesus to see what would happen. Peter was staying outside in the courtyard, gathered with others around a fire to stay warm. Suddenly, the situation turns. Peter is found out, a servant girl recognizes Peter as having been a close follower of Jesus and points that out to the other bystanders. Peter is caught off guard. Peter wanted to know what was going to happen to Jesus, but he knew if he declared he was a follower of Jesus, he could be in great peril; so Peter denies knowing Jesus. Peter knows it is wrong, knows it is a betrayal to claim not to know Jesus, but he does it anyway. Yet Peter is given the opportunity to make amends. For the servant girl brushes off Peter’s denial and again accuses Peter of being a follower of Jesus. More people are taking notice; Peter still doesn’t want to leave but doesn’t want to put himself in the danger that would come from acknowledging his relationship with Jesus; thus Peter denies Him a second time. But this second denial doesn’t end the torment. Now others are openly suspicious of Peter, one noting that Peter must be a follower of Jesus because Peter is a fellow Galilean and that is why Peter must be there to help a fellow Galilean Jesus. This is too much for Peter, the danger is too high; Peter starts to call down curses upon himself and the group to cause his denial to have more validity. Suddenly a rooster crows and the harsh light of truth and reality hit Peter square on in the cold light of truth. He; Peter, the man who claimed he would die with and for Jesus, had just knowingly and with purpose, three times denied he even knew his master Jesus. Peter now leaves, weeping bitterly. Dear Sisters and Brothers, we are told, we all sin. We all give into temptation and become sinners. Sometimes our sins are born our of fear of the world, sometimes they are born out of desires of the world. But we know what we are doing, and know what we are doing is wrong. Those times should affect us. We are acting against God. We shouldn’t be of a mind, well Christ died for my sins so no big deal. Actually they are a big deal. They should cause us the kind of sorrow and pain as they did Peter that brings us to confess and repent of the sin. Yet there is a bigger deal. Jesus Christ knows of our sins, just as he knew Peter would deny Him three times. Jesus Christ died for our sins, paying the price so we do not have to die for our sins. Sin should matter enough, to try to avoid it at all costs. But when we fail (not if), what should matter more is Grace, Forgiveness, Mercy and Love provided in Jesus Christ that leads to our ultimate restoration and reconciliation with our Heavenly Father.
Humility and where our True Power Comes From – This is a trait of humaneness I wish I would use much more myself and see much more around me. Jesus Christ has forgiven and restored Peter, after Peter’s denial of Him. Peter and the other disciples (except Judas) have been given the Holy Spirit. On the one hand, the following of Jesus Christ is growing by literally thousands daily, thanks in part to Peter’s leadership. People are selling all their possessions and giving them to the disciples to administer. On the other hand, Peter is being threatened, arrested, beaten and worse by the religious leaders because of his preaching of Jesus Christ, risen from the grave. Their ill treatment doesn’t stop Peter one moment. Then Peter comes across a lame beggar. Now, while Peter may not have had any money on him at the time, Peter may very well have had the resources from donations to help this man out. Peter might have told a follower to go back to where they were staying and get some money to support this man with. But Peter doesn’t look to earthly riches to share with the man; Peter has something more valuable, more powerful, Peter has Jesus Christ. Peter tells the man he has no silver of gold to share. However, Peter is not content to leave this man empty handed. Peter has the Power of Jesus Christ within him and he knows it. Peter does not call great attention to himself as some righteous, wonderful miracle worker. No, Peter is very clear, the Power of the gift comes from Jesus Christ and this is the power to heal the man. Peter commands the man to walk and the man does just that. For Peter, it is not about his greatness, but about bringing the Power of the gift of Jesus Christ to all who are in need, that Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father might be praised and worshiped. It’s not just Peter, Jesus Christ declared that all who believe in Him and abide in Him have His Power to do great things. Yet, like Peter we must understand, it is not our greatness that allows us to have this Power. The Power comes as a precious gift, of much greater value than any earthly gift, given freely by and through the Grace of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, looking at Peter’s life is not about trying to copy him or be like him. Jesus Christ was also clear when He met Peter and the other disciples on a beach for breakfast after His resurrection. Christ took Peter aside and was foretelling him what an aspect of his life would be like. Peter feels the need to ask Christ, if these things were going to be happening to Peter, what was John’s life going to be like. To which Christ responds; what does that have to do with you. In essence Christ is letting us all know, we have an individual plan with our Heavenly Father. We were not created to be identical. We are created to be equal but not identical. Thus, it is learning about Peter and aspects of Peter’s life and his interactions with Christ and the outcomes that we can use to reflect on our interactions, on our behaviors and their motivations; to learn from the challenges and triumphs to aid us in our journey. By the Grace of God, I hope to meet Peter some day and hear about the so many amazing aspects of his journey that no chapter or book could adequately capture.
Our Most Gracious Heavenly Father, we are so grateful that, after creating us, You have not abandoned us to try and figure out how to live and how to interact with You on our own. We are so thankful for the Your Word and the people who populate it which give us such wonderfully constructive lessons on how to receive Your Love and Blessings, You so long to give. Forgive us we pray when we are tempted, or worse yet actually act out on our own without considering Your lessons for us. Through Your Spirit, guide us back to You and how to stay abiding in You so that our lives can lessons for others which brings praise to Your Glorious Name. We pray in the Name of our Great Teacher and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Do not be afraid, from now on you will catch men. Luke 5:10
He said to him: Feed my lambs. John 21:15
Peter, a fisherman by trade. We donât know how successful a fisherman he was, but we do know that he thought of himself enough of a fisherman to question Jesus. In the story in Luke when they first met, Jesus told them to let down their nets, to which Peter replied, that they had been fishing all night and caught nothing.  The implication being, if weâve been at this a long time with the results that we have why should we listen to you? But they do and have a miraculous catch of fish.
Redemption. Jesus then calls Simon (whom he, at that point had not surnamed Peter âthe Rock) to come to be a âfisher of menâ (used in other gospels). And Peter follows. I think that it is interesting in the account of Luke, that Simonâs first response to the extremely large catch of fish is to know that he did not have anything to do with it. Simon is confronted with the power of Jesus Christ, which Simon can see as a righteous power and his initial response is to ask Jesus to depart for he says, âI am a sinful man, Oh, Lordâ. Yet Jesus knows that Simon is a sinner and redeems him; calls him to join Jesus.
Of course, one might think that once redeemed, the journey becomes easy. Well, maybe not. Letâs see; Jesus names Simon, Peter (good thing). Jesus calls Peter, Satan (not so good thing). Peter asks Jesus and Jesus calls Peter to walk on water; which he does (good thing). Peter almost drowns and Jesus asks him why his faith is so little. (Not so good thing). Jesus tells Peter that Peter is going to be the rock, the foundation on which he is going to build the church (great thing). Jesus tells Peter that Peter will deny knowing Jesus three times (terrible thing). So we can see, that even once redeemed, Peter goes through trials in his faith walk with Jesus.
And as we might expect; Peter is mortified at his last failing of Jesus. When he denies knowing Jesus, not once, not twice, but three times; we are told that he left and wept bitterly. I wonder if his mind harkened back to their initial meeting and he found himself saying: âSee I told you, you should have left, that I was a sinful man!â
Jesus, could have left Peter there; in the bitterness of his failure. Yet what does Jesus do with and for Peter? He restores him. In a sense, Jesus tells Peter, it is okay, I still have need of you and still want to work with you; as He tells Peter; âFeed my lambs.â For they are Jesusâ lambs and they all knew how precious were Jesusâ lambs to him and Jesus was entrusting the care and feeding of the lambs to Peter. And Peter did not disappoint.
So what are we to take from this? First the enemy will try to keep us from Jesus Christ at all costs. He will try to convince us that we are not good enough to come to Christ so donât even try. Jesus Christ tells us, do not be afraid, I know you, I love you and take you just as you are and I will redeem you. The enemy will say, maybe you have confessed Jesus Christ the son of God but look, look at the sin youâre committing, you must leave the presence of Jesus Christ as you are no good. What does Jesus Christ say? I not only know of your sin but I did what you can not. I took your sin upon myself so that I can restore you, if you will believe on me and repent.
Dear Heavenly Father, may those who do not know you, hear the call of redemption offered by Your Precious Son, Our Savior Jesus Christ. May those of us who have declared Jesus Christ as ou personal savior, call upon Jesus Christ to restore our relationship when we have stumbled. That in the both the redemption and restoration, brought through the death and resurrection of Your Only Son our Lord, Jesus Christ. That Your Most Holy Name will always be praised Above All others.
Amen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUJ-kqpCppM
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