I don’t think it is an overstatement to say that the resurrection of Jesus stands as the most important event in all of human history. I know that is huge statement, and it may seem very “Christian-syntric”. However, as we look at the world and all of its complications and sophistications, with all of its tensions and conflicts, and with all of its divisions and controversies… it seems as though religion (as well as politics and economics) sits at the crossroads of much of the turmoil. At that intersection, we could simplify the complications and sophistications, the tensions and conflicts, and the divisions and controversies if we could quickly excuse a few of the competing ideologies.
For example, what if we could just erase Christianity from the picture. Wouldn’t it just make things better? And frankly, it would not be all that difficult. All we would have to do is debunk the idea that Jesus was anything more than a quirky eccentric rabble raising rabbi. The idea that he resurrected three days after his execution tries to suggest he was far more. Admittedly, as a moral teacher, he ranked right up there with the best of them, except of course for the fact that he claimed to be God. Really though, that is not all that strange in comparison to many people of influence over the centuries. All we need to do to simplify the world’s troubles is disprove and excuse the idea that he resurrected from the dead.
But (circle it), if he did rise from the dead, and therefore, demonstrate his supernatural nature as God, then we have something we have to wrestle with. If he was correct in his claim to be God, then what he said during is his life is profoundly important. If what he said is important, then what he said during the last week of his life (and he clearly knew that it was the last week of his life) must become intensely important. The New Testament reveals that Jesus was incredibly strategic and amazingly bold with the things he said during those days prior to his arrest, execution and resurrection. The gospel of Matthew records seven parables (short and simple stories that reveal a moral or spiritual truth) that Jesus shared with his disciples and the religious leader of Israel. These parables were meant to exact the cost of living intimately in his Kingdom and expose the corruption of the human heart that undermined that same Kingdom.
Our time in Matthew is refining our understanding of Jesus and what he wants to transform us into. He is calling us out and calling us up. He wants us to own our tendency to be people of rules that destroy, rather than being people who understand that the product of his grace is the fruit of his Spirit. At the end of the line, his fruit can be summarized as love: a true, honest, sacrificial love that sees and cares for people who are downcast and lost, like sheep who have wandered away from the safety and protection of their shepherd. It sounds like the world we live in. So, we will continue to take Jesus seriously as we continue to look at these parables in Matthew.
Your friend,
Kevin