Reading: Matthew 13-14.
In today's reading we learn: true disciples listen, false disciples do not hear; true disciples want to know more, false disciples have had enough; true disciples impact the lives of others, false disciples are preoccupied with money, security and worldly worries; true disciples live under Jesus' kingly authority, false disciples want to kill the King; true disciples display Christlike compassion, false disciples don't really care; true disciples obey outrageously, false disciples don't obey at all; true disciples worship, false disciples serve the god of self
Chapter 13 - is the third block of Jesus' teaching on discipleship. The emphasis here is in what we might call 'undercover discipleship': that is, how Jesus' disciples live lives under the authority of King Jesus while the rest of the world doesn't see Him as King yet. The Jewish people of the time expected the Messiah to overthrow their political overlords with a revolutionary and militaristic display that God's Kingdom had arrived. The reality is that in Jesus, the Kingdom changes peoples' lives quietly, one-by-one, as hearts submit personally to Jesus' rule. Jesus' method of teaching this to the crowds who gather to hear Him is by 'parables' (v34-35). The question is: how will they respond to what Jesus is saying? Will they be like the religious leaders and reject Jesus? Or will they respond positively to Him and become true followers? How will we know?
Parables are peculiar things. They do not simply serve as divine sermon illustrations. In this chapter they have 2 purposes: one, as you might expect, they give instruction to real disciples about Kingdom living; but secondly, and perhaps more significantly, they act as a filter by testing the responsiveness of hearts of the listeners - true disciples, having heard Jesus teach, "have ears to hear" (v11-16) want to know more (v10,36). The disinterested majority have heard enough and they just melt away (see Mark 4:10), with their hearts hardened even more. How we respond to God's Word - with relish and delight and an eagerness to learn? Or with apathy, disinterest or indifference? - is a key indicator of how we respond to Jesus and the depth and quality of our discipleship.
Chapter 14 - continues the twin themes of Jesus being rejected by those with hardened hearts (13:53-58) and being received by those understand - at least in part - who He is and the need to submit to His Kingly rule.
The ultimate rejection of Jesus is ominously foreseen in the execution of John the Baptist (v1-12). The depth of antagonism towards John and Jesus demonstrates that their parallel messages of the need to repent and submit to God's King is no theological trifle or a matter of debatable discussion: these are matters of life and death, and before long more lives will be sacrificed.
In the meantime, Jesus is still the focus of the crowds' attention. As readers, we know that Jesus knows that many of them care little about the depth of commitment He demands of true followers; and yet, such is Jesus' grace and compassion that He addresses and meets their needs (v13-14). As His disciples, we too must face the challenge of recognising hard-heartedness and the possibility of rejection while displaying compassion and offering the call of the Kingdom to all who will listen.
Beginning here and for the chapters that follow, our attention is increasingly drawn towards Peter and in particular how Jesus transforms his disciples' lives. That Peter has 'faith' in Jesus is clear by his obedient response to Jesus' call to do the unimaginably impossible (v27-29); it's just that his faith isn't functioning properly. His faith is effective enough to motivate him to obey and get out of the boat; but his faith is not yet sufficiently effective to sustain him in that obedience. A key element in a mature discipleship is to keep the eyes of our hearts (faith) firmly fixed upon Christ and His enabling grace and sufficient power and not be distracted by the surrounding dangers (v30; see also 13:22).To experience God's grace in obedience (and we won't sense that if we live out our lives in front of the TV) is to grasp more fully who Jesus is (v33) - and that leads to worship, as real discipleship always does.
No comments:
Post a Comment