How Do “YOU” Know Him? | Matthew 22:41-46 | 124

"What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is He?" They replied, "He is the son of David."

Mat 22:41 Then, surrounded by the Pharisees, Jesus asked them a question:
Mat 22:42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is He?” They replied, “He is the son of David.”
Mat 22:43 Jesus responded, “Then why does David, speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit, call the Messiah ‘my Lord’? For David said,
Mat 22:44 ‘The LORD said to my Lord, Sit in the place of honor at My right hand until I humble Your enemies beneath Your feet.’
Mat 22:45 Since David called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?”
Mat 22:46 No one could answer Him. And after that, no one dared to ask Him any more questions.

How do you “know” the Messiah?

The Rebel: We know Him as a really cool person. We think of Him as a rebel or a radical. We think of him as “the Dude of Dude’s” who fought the system and “took the man down, maaan”….We want to follow Him because he inspires the “rebel” within us.

The Pacifist: We know Him as the gentle man who would allow others to hurt Him and spit on Him. He is the one who would turn the other cheek and give an angry man His coat.

The Friend: We know Him as our friend. He always listens to our concerns and is there to comfort us and care for us. He listens while we complain about all the daily things we worry about…often He is stuck listening while we do ALL the talking.

The Friend Taker: We know Him as the One who makes us friendless. He makes us different from the world and unattractive to it.

The Psycho Analyst: We know Him as the one that can help us figure out our own heads. Why am I thinking this way? What should I do about this compulsion or that habit? I’m scared of the world, can you give me what I need to move on…?

The Tough Lover: We know Him as the one that tells us to stop being so whiny and move on. Think of others…stop wallowing in your own self pity.

The Safe Place: We know Him as the place we can go when we feel condemnation in our hearts and a need for forgiveness. We go to Him when we know there is not another soul on earth that we can trust with our thoughts and feelings and He will listen.

The Scary Place: We know Him as the one who is so much greater than us, so much holier. He scares us sometimes and makes us wonder if we could ever be good enough. We sometimes are very afraid of Him.

The Soft Place: We know Him as the soft place of rest…deep soul-level rest.

The Whipping Boy: We know Him as the target of our anger because of  a circumstance in life. We sometimes even curse His name and blame Him for the hurt. We lash out at Him and accuse Him of being the cause of all the pain. We accuse Him of being the reason that a loved one is lost or a heart is broken.

The Soothing Balm: We know Him as the place where we can lose our anger and gain fresh perspective on life. He is the one that supplies the balm for our anger and rage.

The Entertaining Artist: We know Him as the creator of visual stimuli and heart melting scenery. We thank Him for the sunny days that make us feel better and for the cute cuddly puppies that make us feel all gooey inside. We glory in the beauty that He has surrounded us with; the majestic mountains and the musical streams.

The General: We know Him as the source of direction and planning. How do I grow the “army” and defeat the enemy, SIR!. What is our strategy Good General?

The Guilt Tripper: We know Him as the source of guilt and shame. We feel His Holiness and it makes us aware of our sinfulness.

The Guilt Taker: We know Him as the one who takes away our guilt and gives us a new life.

The Lover: We know Him as our lover. The one who would do anything for us and would even die for us like any true lover would.

The Hater: We know Him as the angry Master who just wants us to do what He says. Stop being such a vile sinner and listen to me you fools!

So……how do YOU know Him?

The underlying problem is found in the emphasis within the question. “YOU” are the problem. You make Jesus into whatever you want Him to be. Making Him all about you can lead you to see Him in a light that does not lead to salvation.

Look at the simple question in our verse above.

“What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is He?”

Why did the Pharisee’s; the single group of people on the face of the planet at that time with the most knowledge and understanding possible, miss the boat with who Jesus was? I submit to you that they did not know HIM. They knew what THEY wanted Him to be. But what they wanted Him to be was not who He really was. The Messiah (false messiah) that they had built up in their minds was not Jesus. Their messiah was:

• The Political Power Grabber
• The Judge
• The Executioner
• The Lawgiver
• The Punisher

They had the scriptures, but they missed who He was. They did not know Him. Dear reader, Jesus has told us plainly that knowing Him is easy…

Joh_14:9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and dost thou not know me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; how sayest thou, Show us the Father?

…and it is necessary…

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Do you know HIM…or…Do YOU know Him?

Please friends, read the Bible with the intent of letting God define Himself and the Messiah for you. Remove your preconceived notions about Who Jesus Christ is and was and ask for the Holy Spirit to reveal HIM to you. Do not trust in YOUR own understanding…instead trust in HIS. Submit your will to Him and then ask God to reveal Himself to you as He really is…He may shock you with some new ways of seeing Him!

Prayer:

Dear Father in Heaven,

Lord, You are so many things to me. Every day when I come to Your Word and seek to know You better I am constantly amazed at how much I don’t know. You overwhelm me with who You are. Please keep me from thinking of You as anything other than who You are. Keep me on the correct path.

Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for giving me reconciliation and justification. Fill me with the Holy Spirit today so that I may have the mind of Christ indwelling.

Forgive my sins and help me to forgive others. Please protect my family and friends and bring them all “home” safely. You know what I mean Lord…and with all these things I do trust in Your Will and ask that Your Will be done. Amen.

Becoming a Slave | Matthew 20:20-28 | 114

"What is your request?" He asked. She replied, "In Your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to You, one on Your right and the other on Your left."

Mat 20:20 Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor.
Mat 20:21 “What is your request?” He asked. She replied, “In Your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to You, one on Your right and the other on Your left.”
Mat 20:22 But Jesus answered by saying to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?” “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”
Mat 20:23 Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from My bitter cup. But I have no right to say who will sit on My right or My left. My Father has prepared those places for the ones He has chosen.”
Mat 20:24 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant.
Mat 20:25 But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them.
Mat 20:26 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant,
Mat 20:27 and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave.
Mat 20:28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many.” [NLT]

 

We are able!

Jesus is again dealing with the problem of self exultation found in the disciples early life with Him. This time he is approached through the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee. She is seeking a place of honor in the up-and-coming kingdom for each of her sons. Because they came to Jesus together I would assume that James and John had spoken with their mother prior to this encounter to elicit her help in making this request. James and John implemented this plan in hopes of cementing their position within the “worldly” kingdom that they envisioned was about to be created. Jesus tries to show them the truth when he talks of the sacrifice it will take,

“You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?”

And now, the answer that we hear from all blue blooded legalists.

“We are able!”

We’ll do whatever it takes. We’ll pay whatever the cost to gain this prize that is being given. So what’s wrong with that? They are the ones earning it. They want the reward so much and they are willing to do whatever it takes to get it, except to realize that they can’t do anything to earn it. This doesn’t even make sense to them…but it will.

James and John both believed that Jesus was the Son of God, the promised Messiah, the problem was that they completely misunderstood what His Kingdom was really going to be. They saw glory and riches and power and honor. All these things have only ever been earned here on earth. Everything they learned, everything they experienced was changed by the filter of self. Jesus knew that this was their misguided understanding. He had the Father to help Him with saying the right things and doing to right things that would bring the disciples around the “everlasting” way.

I ask myself the question, why didn’t He just come out and say,

“Look you fools. How many times do I have to say this. You got it all wrong. I’m not here to defeat the Romans and create a glorified Jewish nation; I’m here to defeat the real problem, sin and satan. And the only way to defeat pride and sin is to do the opposite, show love and humbleness.”

This is how I would have tried to deal with this problem. Not Jesus. His ways actually change hearts.

Enduring patience and love

When I look into the loving and wise heart of Jesus I see the amazing wisdom of how He taught them the truth with enduring patience and love. Over and over he leads them to the heart of the matter, and I think as our study of Matthew continues we will find that this lesson, this idea, will come out more until Jesus displays the “Final Answer” on the cross. It seems more and more to be the key issue between Jesus and His followers; so, how do we face this issue today? What must we do to be saved? How do we become first by becoming last? Through slavery.

How to become a slave?

In our world slavery has a completely negative meaning. Here, slavery was never a choice. In God’s Kingdom we must come to a point where we “want” to be slaves. Jesus said it,

“But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant,
and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave.”

Let’s try comparing the difference between a slave of this world and a slave to Jesus and see where that leads us in understanding this concept.

Worldly slave: Does not choose to be a slave but is made one through deceit, force and captivity.

Slave to Jesus: Chooses the slavery and wants to be made into a perfect slave.

Worldly slave: Is forced to the will of his/her master for the master’s benefit and pleasure.

Slave to Jesus: Is asked to do his Master’s will for the Master’s glory. Chooses to do it because he/she loves their Master.

Worldly slave: Is a piece of property to their master.

Slave to Jesus: Is so loved by their Master that He became a slave to prove it to them; even giving His life as a ransom.

Worldly slave: Has no relationship with their master that is not tainted by their master’s ability to control them.

Slave to Jesus: Has a relationship with their Master that is based on perfect love and the desire to give of one’s self to serve each other.

I think that we could probably add quite a few more analogy’s to this list, but let’s stop here and have a look. I’ve noticed three key components. Choice – Love – Relationship.

The worldly slave has each of these components, but they are all tainted by, changed by, sin and selfishness. Choice is taken by force. Love is only for self. Relationship is forced and there only to serve self.

The slave to Jesus has these components also, but they are purified by demonstrations of selflessness. Choice is given freely. Love is for others and not self. Relationship is not forced but desired by both parties.

So, back to our question. How do you become a slave to Jesus? By making the choice to love Him and have a relationship with Him. Surrender to Him and let Him cover you with His robe of righteousness. He did the work, you must make the choice. When you really understand that He did it all, then you will want to be His slave and do anything for Him, because you know that He would do anything for you!

Prayer:

Thank You Jesus for making the choice to love us and have a relationship with us. Thank You that You are a God of Love, and Choice, and Relationship. Thank You for justifying me and covering my sins. Forgive me Lord for my rebellious heart. Lead me into slavery. I want to do Your Will. Come into my life today and give me Your Mind…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

Lord, I also ask that You would cover my daughter with Your robe of righteousness. Forgive her Lord, and lead her to the foot of the cross. Please also cover my son with your robe of righteousness and help me to find a way to share You with him. Amen.

Philippians 1:11  May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God. [NLT]

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• Slave to Christ (hatchcreek.com)