Matthew 22:1-14
"Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find."
(Matthew 22:9)
"And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests." (v. 10) Those that were invited would not come. Not only that, some of them killed the messengers. But God will have a harvest. God will fill his house with guests.
Again Jesus is going after the religious leaders. Here is the third parable in a row that he tells against them. The Pharisees have joined with the priests in the plotting (21:45; 22:15). Jesus' demise is more and more certain with each parable, with each encounter.
The second part of this parable (about the wedding garment) is considered by most scholars to be another parable that Matthew links to the first. I don't really understand "Many are called, but few are chosen." But it obviously has to do with the man who had no wedding garment. He strikes me as a wedding crasher. He wasn't there for the king or his son or even the wedding, otherwise he would be wearing a wedding garment. Obviously those who were there had wedding garments, perhaps they were provided by the king. (again this is probably a separate parable, one which was not originally about bringing in everyone at the last minute, so they didn't have time to prepare... the king didn't fill his hall with guests only to condemn all of them).
And again, I think back to chapter 13 and the kingdom parables there. A couple of them speak of the good and the bad not being sorted out until the end, by the angels. There may be those who are at the feast for a while that won't ultimately be there, but the king will sort them out.
Jesus seems to be saying two things in these parables: (1) the Jewish leaders had rejected the invitation of both John and Jesus (and the prophets before them) to come into the kingdom, and (2) though it may seem like they're are inside now, they not there for the king and for his son. Therefore they will not be there with the king and his son.
This is about dishonoring the King and his Son, despite all of his goodness and generosity. You can be bad, you can be good - just come, with thankfulness, reverence, honor and love. Just come and glory in the Father and the Son.
20100629
kingdom life and fruit
again, I'm re-posting entries from a couple of years ago with minor changes...
Matthew 21:33-46
"Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits."
(Matthew 21:43)
Jesus turns up the intensity some more with a second parable told against the chief priests in the temple. They are the tenants working in the master's vineyard who beat and kill first the master's servants sent to get his fruit, and then the master's son. They refuse to give to the Lord his fruitful harvest. This is getting intense; Jesus is amping up the conflict.
Jesus quotes from Psalm 118 (from the section which the crowds quoted when he came into Jerusalem on a donkey - in fact, "save us, we pray" [ESV, v. 25] is Hosanna in Hebrew): "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." This psalm was viewed as a messianic text, or at least pointing to a victorious, vindicated king who enters the Jerusalem. Jesus is referring to their rejection of him, like the tenants killing the master's son, and to his ultimate vindication and victory.
As the chief priests answer Jesus' question they say that the master will "let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” The word for give here is not the normal word used, but has the idea of returning what is due or paying back what is due or deserved. Just as the Father is due our love and devotion and worship, so the Messiah was due trust and praise and pleas for salvation.
Then Jesus concludes, "Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits" (v. 43). As we heard in the parables back in chapter 13, there will be a harvest. The master will have his harvest. These priests have shown both their rejection of John the Baptist, who declared to the Sadducees (the chief priests) "Bear fruit in keeping with repentance" (ch. 3), and of Jesus.
By receiving Jesus as the Savior King, by honoring him as the Son, and by trusting and following him, we can and will bear good fruit in and for his kingdom. In this way we build our lives on the rock, the cornerstone, rather then rejecting it and being broken by it.
Matthew 21:33-46
"Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits."
(Matthew 21:43)
Jesus turns up the intensity some more with a second parable told against the chief priests in the temple. They are the tenants working in the master's vineyard who beat and kill first the master's servants sent to get his fruit, and then the master's son. They refuse to give to the Lord his fruitful harvest. This is getting intense; Jesus is amping up the conflict.
Jesus quotes from Psalm 118 (from the section which the crowds quoted when he came into Jerusalem on a donkey - in fact, "save us, we pray" [ESV, v. 25] is Hosanna in Hebrew): "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." This psalm was viewed as a messianic text, or at least pointing to a victorious, vindicated king who enters the Jerusalem. Jesus is referring to their rejection of him, like the tenants killing the master's son, and to his ultimate vindication and victory.
As the chief priests answer Jesus' question they say that the master will "let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” The word for give here is not the normal word used, but has the idea of returning what is due or paying back what is due or deserved. Just as the Father is due our love and devotion and worship, so the Messiah was due trust and praise and pleas for salvation.
Then Jesus concludes, "Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits" (v. 43). As we heard in the parables back in chapter 13, there will be a harvest. The master will have his harvest. These priests have shown both their rejection of John the Baptist, who declared to the Sadducees (the chief priests) "Bear fruit in keeping with repentance" (ch. 3), and of Jesus.
By receiving Jesus as the Savior King, by honoring him as the Son, and by trusting and following him, we can and will bear good fruit in and for his kingdom. In this way we build our lives on the rock, the cornerstone, rather then rejecting it and being broken by it.
good news / bad news
Matthew 21:23-32
"Which of the two did the will of the father?"
(Matthew 21:31)
Jesus is back in Jerusalem, back in the temple, after a little conflict with a fig tree... and the conflict with the chief priests and elders builds. Today we hear the first of three parables in a row that Matthew records that contribute to the religious leaders' increasing opposition to Jesus and his ministry.
These leaders come with a question challenging Jesus' authority to teach, heal, upset things in the Temple, and receive praise as the Son of David. He asks them a question, saying if they tell him the answer then he will answer them, "The baptism of John, from where did it come?" These people out to get Jesus recognize a trap and refuse to answer, knowing that if they said John's ministry came from heaven that Jesus would confront them, "Why then did you not believe him?"
So Jesus tells the parable of the two sons who are told to go work in the vineyard by their father. One says he won't go, but then changes his mind and goes. The second says he'll go, and doesn't. And so Jesus answers the question of the chief priests and elders in this way. "The tax collectors and prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him."
Wow, the priests are told that "tax collectors and prostitutes go into the kingdom of God" before them. What a slam. Blatant sinners go in before the holy ones, corrupt traitors before righteous collaborators. How hard it is for not only the rich (19:23f), but also the religious, to enter the kingdom of God.
But the parable and real-life story here speak of good news, of grace and mercy. It also seems to show that the gospel will soften and progressively heal the receptive who recognize they need the message, and it will harden and progressively lead to destruction the resistant who insist they don't need it, who demand that God deal with them on their terms.
And yet, I think I might still hear an echo of an invitation here, even as Jesus indirectly answers their question and "backdoors" them with their continued rejection of the message of the way of righteousness and of the kingdom.
Several times a year we renew our Baptismal Covenant. It's a series of questions of what the new life looks like, both in terms of belief and behavior. One of the questions is:
"Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?" (1979 BCP, p. 304)
There is a way home, there's always a way home. There's a way back to the kingdom way if you go astray. It's the same as it was when you started the journey. Living a "baptized life" means this call to "repent and return" is part of our pattern for spiritual living.
It's not bad news that we have to repent and return, it's good news that we can.
Thanks be to God.
"Which of the two did the will of the father?"
(Matthew 21:31)
Jesus is back in Jerusalem, back in the temple, after a little conflict with a fig tree... and the conflict with the chief priests and elders builds. Today we hear the first of three parables in a row that Matthew records that contribute to the religious leaders' increasing opposition to Jesus and his ministry.
These leaders come with a question challenging Jesus' authority to teach, heal, upset things in the Temple, and receive praise as the Son of David. He asks them a question, saying if they tell him the answer then he will answer them, "The baptism of John, from where did it come?" These people out to get Jesus recognize a trap and refuse to answer, knowing that if they said John's ministry came from heaven that Jesus would confront them, "Why then did you not believe him?"
So Jesus tells the parable of the two sons who are told to go work in the vineyard by their father. One says he won't go, but then changes his mind and goes. The second says he'll go, and doesn't. And so Jesus answers the question of the chief priests and elders in this way. "The tax collectors and prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him."
Wow, the priests are told that "tax collectors and prostitutes go into the kingdom of God" before them. What a slam. Blatant sinners go in before the holy ones, corrupt traitors before righteous collaborators. How hard it is for not only the rich (19:23f), but also the religious, to enter the kingdom of God.
But the parable and real-life story here speak of good news, of grace and mercy. It also seems to show that the gospel will soften and progressively heal the receptive who recognize they need the message, and it will harden and progressively lead to destruction the resistant who insist they don't need it, who demand that God deal with them on their terms.
And yet, I think I might still hear an echo of an invitation here, even as Jesus indirectly answers their question and "backdoors" them with their continued rejection of the message of the way of righteousness and of the kingdom.
Several times a year we renew our Baptismal Covenant. It's a series of questions of what the new life looks like, both in terms of belief and behavior. One of the questions is:
"Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?" (1979 BCP, p. 304)
There is a way home, there's always a way home. There's a way back to the kingdom way if you go astray. It's the same as it was when you started the journey. Living a "baptized life" means this call to "repent and return" is part of our pattern for spiritual living.
It's not bad news that we have to repent and return, it's good news that we can.
Thanks be to God.
kingdoms clash
Matthew 21:12-22
"Hosanna to the Son of David!"
(Matthew 21:15)
In our passage today we have at least two groups of people with whom Jesus interacts in the temple. There are "all who sold and bought in the temple," the "money-changers," "those who sold pigeons," and "the chief priests and scribes." Then there are "the blind and the lame," and "the children crying out in the temple."
This is the third time in three passages where Jesus is addressed "the Son of David" and the second time in a row praised "Hosanna to the Son of David!" If we continue to look back at perhaps a trend or movement in the gospel, we had the interaction with James and John and their mother about places in the kingdom, and just before that Jesus' third prediction of his being delivered over to the chief priests and scribes to be condemned, crucified, and raised on the third day.
This shift in Jerusalem to a clash with the chief priests and scribes (from the resistance and plotting of the Pharisees) is significant. The chief priests were pretty much in league with the Romans in seeking to keep Jerusalem away from the empire's wrath. Without going much further into this right now, my point is to say that Jesus' doom was more than a religious conflict. It was a spiritual conflict, in the big, cosmic sense that everything is spiritual or theological from a certain perspective. But from a horizontal, historical, or earthly perspective, Jesus' descent to the lifting up on a cross was religious and political - national, economic, and social. In other words, it was a clash of kingdoms. (Tuck this away for some meditation and prayer, we'll be coming back to it in the weeks to come.)
The first clash in the temple we hear today closes with a quote from Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11. These are significant for a big picture of what seems to be going on here. Isaiah is prophesying that foreigners and eunuchs will come and be welcome in the temple. The buying and selling that Jesus was condemning was happening in the court of the Gentiles, where a sign had been put up saying something like "no Gentiles past this point on pain of death." And Jeremiah is prophesying that though the people were trusting in the Temple of the Lord, because of their sin and unfaithfulness, it would not (magically) protect them, it/they had just become like the dead, barren wilderness - a haven for robbers and thieves and murderers. (Jesus doesn't seem to be condemning the actual practice of money changing or the selling of appropriate sacrificial animals for financial gain or exploitation. Both sellers and buyers are cast out. And especially with Jeremiah's context in mind, it seems to be a symbolic act pointing to something much, much bigger than Jesus' sensibilities being offended at people making a business out of religion - though that is to be condemned too!)
Jesus comes to open up God's house for all people, Gentiles and eunuchs, the blind and the lame, and the poor and the prisoners, and the children - all who welcome him, his kingdom, his salvation and lordship, his gospel. This was God's will from the beginning. Once again we see that this thing Jesus has come for is HUGE. It is so much bigger than my little problems, than my private, personal salvation -
though this humble king, this gentle Jesus, this meek master of heaven and earth condescends to make a way for me, to invite and welcome me, to heal and restore me, to lift me up out of the ashes. Then to participate with him in this cosmic clash of kingdoms, this restoration of the world, this making all things right.
Hosanna to the Son of David!
thy kingdom come, thy will be done
"Hosanna to the Son of David!"
(Matthew 21:15)
In our passage today we have at least two groups of people with whom Jesus interacts in the temple. There are "all who sold and bought in the temple," the "money-changers," "those who sold pigeons," and "the chief priests and scribes." Then there are "the blind and the lame," and "the children crying out in the temple."
This is the third time in three passages where Jesus is addressed "the Son of David" and the second time in a row praised "Hosanna to the Son of David!" If we continue to look back at perhaps a trend or movement in the gospel, we had the interaction with James and John and their mother about places in the kingdom, and just before that Jesus' third prediction of his being delivered over to the chief priests and scribes to be condemned, crucified, and raised on the third day.
This shift in Jerusalem to a clash with the chief priests and scribes (from the resistance and plotting of the Pharisees) is significant. The chief priests were pretty much in league with the Romans in seeking to keep Jerusalem away from the empire's wrath. Without going much further into this right now, my point is to say that Jesus' doom was more than a religious conflict. It was a spiritual conflict, in the big, cosmic sense that everything is spiritual or theological from a certain perspective. But from a horizontal, historical, or earthly perspective, Jesus' descent to the lifting up on a cross was religious and political - national, economic, and social. In other words, it was a clash of kingdoms. (Tuck this away for some meditation and prayer, we'll be coming back to it in the weeks to come.)
The first clash in the temple we hear today closes with a quote from Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11. These are significant for a big picture of what seems to be going on here. Isaiah is prophesying that foreigners and eunuchs will come and be welcome in the temple. The buying and selling that Jesus was condemning was happening in the court of the Gentiles, where a sign had been put up saying something like "no Gentiles past this point on pain of death." And Jeremiah is prophesying that though the people were trusting in the Temple of the Lord, because of their sin and unfaithfulness, it would not (magically) protect them, it/they had just become like the dead, barren wilderness - a haven for robbers and thieves and murderers. (Jesus doesn't seem to be condemning the actual practice of money changing or the selling of appropriate sacrificial animals for financial gain or exploitation. Both sellers and buyers are cast out. And especially with Jeremiah's context in mind, it seems to be a symbolic act pointing to something much, much bigger than Jesus' sensibilities being offended at people making a business out of religion - though that is to be condemned too!)
Jesus comes to open up God's house for all people, Gentiles and eunuchs, the blind and the lame, and the poor and the prisoners, and the children - all who welcome him, his kingdom, his salvation and lordship, his gospel. This was God's will from the beginning. Once again we see that this thing Jesus has come for is HUGE. It is so much bigger than my little problems, than my private, personal salvation -
though this humble king, this gentle Jesus, this meek master of heaven and earth condescends to make a way for me, to invite and welcome me, to heal and restore me, to lift me up out of the ashes. Then to participate with him in this cosmic clash of kingdoms, this restoration of the world, this making all things right.
Hosanna to the Son of David!
thy kingdom come, thy will be done
20100624
to be served or to serve
Matthew 20:17-28
But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,
even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many.
(Matthew 20:26-28)
It seems so "natural" for us to seek the highest place, to want to be in control, or in the know, and in the safe, significant, secure place in power (or for our mothers to want us to be...). It's like James and John and their mother didn't even realize their fellow disciples would naturally be indignant. And again Jesus shows us another way, the kingdom way, the way to life.
"You do not know what you are asking." I hear this passage today guiding our praying as well as our actions; it's as if Jesus is implying, "Know what you are asking. Think about your requests, reflect on them. Filter them through my example, align your intentions with the movement of my life downward in humble service, pattern yourself and your prayers after me."
Jesus' very action in coming not to be served but to serve and giving his life as a ransom is not only what delivers us from eternal death, it is also the model or pattern for us to follow that will set us free. He came to rescue us from our bondage, our servitude to, our self - centeredness, self - absorption, self - exaltation, self - protection. Thanks be to God.
But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,
even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many.
(Matthew 20:26-28)
It seems so "natural" for us to seek the highest place, to want to be in control, or in the know, and in the safe, significant, secure place in power (or for our mothers to want us to be...). It's like James and John and their mother didn't even realize their fellow disciples would naturally be indignant. And again Jesus shows us another way, the kingdom way, the way to life.
"You do not know what you are asking." I hear this passage today guiding our praying as well as our actions; it's as if Jesus is implying, "Know what you are asking. Think about your requests, reflect on them. Filter them through my example, align your intentions with the movement of my life downward in humble service, pattern yourself and your prayers after me."
Jesus' very action in coming not to be served but to serve and giving his life as a ransom is not only what delivers us from eternal death, it is also the model or pattern for us to follow that will set us free. He came to rescue us from our bondage, our servitude to, our self - centeredness, self - absorption, self - exaltation, self - protection. Thanks be to God.
20100623
last first again
Numbers 16:36-50; Romans 4:13-25;
Matthew 20:1-16
"Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?" So the last will be first, and the first last.
(Matthew 20:15)
We have another story, or parable this time perhaps, of value, conflict and cost; the second passage in a row to end with the last first. In this case Jesus seems to be exposing conflict not among masters and servants, leaders and followers, men and women, husbands and wives, adults and children, or rich and poor... this time it's about old-timers and newbies in the kingdom movement, in the discipleship group, in the ecclesia - the church.
This may be the Jew-Gentile issue, which is one of the major themes underlying Matthew's gospel. Interestingly, in that John 3 reaading about Nicodemus, Jesus tells him he must be "born again," born from above, born of water and the Spirit... Very likely, what Nicodemus heard Jesus saying was something like, "you must become a proselyte, just like a Gentile convert to Judaism, if you are to enter the kingdom of God, if you want to be a part of my movement." The language in John 3 sounds like baptism, and in fact is similar language to what would have been used with regard to a non-Jew becoming a Jew in Jesus' day. One of the three requirements was to be immersed, preferably in "living water" and be reborn of the Spirit of God (I think this last part, about the Spirit, was not a primary thread in proselyte conversion teaching, but can be found some with regard to Jewish immersion practice in general).
This whole disquieting parable applies in many ways to us, however, who are not Jews with the history of covenant and call and promises from God, which could draw them into a sense of preference and priority in terms of their value in the kingdom. Robert has mentioned in his "Piece" in the e-newsletter about our "truth-o-meter", I think we also may have a "worth-o-meter" - whereby we place a value on people we encounter and our interaction with them somehow is reflected in where we see ourselves in relative worth to them... This ties in to our issues of pride and shame, of perfectionism and competition, of feeling good, or bad, about ourselves. [Read this as another confession of the Director of Spiritual Formation...] Thankfully, our "worth-o-meter" can be and is being redeemed as well as the rest of us! (A redeemed "worth-o-meter" has the indicator arrow immovably stuck on the highest value...)
This also speaks to to the church, our church in particular, valuing those who are newest in our midst, or perhaps not even "members" yet. Certainly, the church ought to value the elders, those who have history and experience in our midst. But we also need the input and perspective of the newest (even of those outside) to help us really see ourselves and to be able to perceive what God is doing among us.
To conclude, what I hear in this familiar story today is compassion. The footnote to verse 15 tells us that it literally reads "or is your eye bad (evil) because I am good?" Good eye / bad or evil eye is a Jewish way of speaking of generosity and stinginess or envy. The eleventh hour workers needed a day's wage to live and provide for their families, as did the all day workers. The master generously chose to provide what was needed to all, no matter length of service (or how long one has been sitting in this pew, or holding this ministry position, or been ordained...). This is how it is in the kingdom. Rather than about work and relative worth, about place and privilege, or status, blood-line, education or reputation, it's about gift and gratitude.
Thanks be to God.
Matthew 20:1-16
"Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?" So the last will be first, and the first last.
(Matthew 20:15)
We have another story, or parable this time perhaps, of value, conflict and cost; the second passage in a row to end with the last first. In this case Jesus seems to be exposing conflict not among masters and servants, leaders and followers, men and women, husbands and wives, adults and children, or rich and poor... this time it's about old-timers and newbies in the kingdom movement, in the discipleship group, in the ecclesia - the church.
This may be the Jew-Gentile issue, which is one of the major themes underlying Matthew's gospel. Interestingly, in that John 3 reaading about Nicodemus, Jesus tells him he must be "born again," born from above, born of water and the Spirit... Very likely, what Nicodemus heard Jesus saying was something like, "you must become a proselyte, just like a Gentile convert to Judaism, if you are to enter the kingdom of God, if you want to be a part of my movement." The language in John 3 sounds like baptism, and in fact is similar language to what would have been used with regard to a non-Jew becoming a Jew in Jesus' day. One of the three requirements was to be immersed, preferably in "living water" and be reborn of the Spirit of God (I think this last part, about the Spirit, was not a primary thread in proselyte conversion teaching, but can be found some with regard to Jewish immersion practice in general).
This whole disquieting parable applies in many ways to us, however, who are not Jews with the history of covenant and call and promises from God, which could draw them into a sense of preference and priority in terms of their value in the kingdom. Robert has mentioned in his "Piece" in the e-newsletter about our "truth-o-meter", I think we also may have a "worth-o-meter" - whereby we place a value on people we encounter and our interaction with them somehow is reflected in where we see ourselves in relative worth to them... This ties in to our issues of pride and shame, of perfectionism and competition, of feeling good, or bad, about ourselves. [Read this as another confession of the Director of Spiritual Formation...] Thankfully, our "worth-o-meter" can be and is being redeemed as well as the rest of us! (A redeemed "worth-o-meter" has the indicator arrow immovably stuck on the highest value...)
This also speaks to to the church, our church in particular, valuing those who are newest in our midst, or perhaps not even "members" yet. Certainly, the church ought to value the elders, those who have history and experience in our midst. But we also need the input and perspective of the newest (even of those outside) to help us really see ourselves and to be able to perceive what God is doing among us.
To conclude, what I hear in this familiar story today is compassion. The footnote to verse 15 tells us that it literally reads "or is your eye bad (evil) because I am good?" Good eye / bad or evil eye is a Jewish way of speaking of generosity and stinginess or envy. The eleventh hour workers needed a day's wage to live and provide for their families, as did the all day workers. The master generously chose to provide what was needed to all, no matter length of service (or how long one has been sitting in this pew, or holding this ministry position, or been ordained...). This is how it is in the kingdom. Rather than about work and relative worth, about place and privilege, or status, blood-line, education or reputation, it's about gift and gratitude.
Thanks be to God.
20100622
last first
Matthew 19:23-30
"But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
(Matthew 19:30)
Jesus comments on the young man who went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions, saying how difficult it will be for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.
The disciples are greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" (This is very similar to their response in v. 10 when they said, "If this is the way it is with a husband and his wife, it is better not to marry!" ) And Jesus says, "With man, this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
We have these themes of value, conflict, and cost in this chapter. Jesus turns all of our values upside down, he inverts our "this is how it is or ought to be". Certainly a rich man (a blessed man) who basically kept the commandments would be considered enviable, and on an inside track to the kingdom. Not so, points out Jesus as the man walks away. That's reality, Jesus says as he looks at the man - people will choose their stuff over God most of the time, they will walk away from Jesus instead of making whatever radical change to be free from their bondage and servitude to their money or prejudices or hopes and dreams. All things are possible with God. Jesus says what seems inevitable is reversible with God. He came to set prisoners free. To deliver the oppressed. To raise up the lowly and humble trusting poor. Those who have left houses and lands and families for Jesus' sake will receive it all back manifold, and will inherit eternal life.
Here's a key to eternal life and to this upside-down kingdom, "many who are first will be last, and the last first." (v. 30) This is the theme of the beatitudes, and a repeated theme in the gospel: become like a child, humble yourself...
Yes, what is of value in the kingdom are the last, the powerless, the least; wives, children, the poor; believers and followers. But even moreso it is Jesus, for whose sake one might not marry or give away everything to the poor; it is Jesus who treasures and blesses the children; and it is Jesus who is good and who will sit finally on his glorious throne. For he is the one who took the lowest and last place, who let go of being first and exalted, and who through his death has been given the name above every name.
Those who value him most of all, those for whom no cost is too great to gain this treasure, those who have left everything to follow him, will indeed inherit eternal life, will be first with him who lives and reigns forever, and rather than going away sorrowful will enter his kingdom rejoicing.
"But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
(Matthew 19:30)
Jesus comments on the young man who went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions, saying how difficult it will be for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.
The disciples are greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" (This is very similar to their response in v. 10 when they said, "If this is the way it is with a husband and his wife, it is better not to marry!" ) And Jesus says, "With man, this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
We have these themes of value, conflict, and cost in this chapter. Jesus turns all of our values upside down, he inverts our "this is how it is or ought to be". Certainly a rich man (a blessed man) who basically kept the commandments would be considered enviable, and on an inside track to the kingdom. Not so, points out Jesus as the man walks away. That's reality, Jesus says as he looks at the man - people will choose their stuff over God most of the time, they will walk away from Jesus instead of making whatever radical change to be free from their bondage and servitude to their money or prejudices or hopes and dreams. All things are possible with God. Jesus says what seems inevitable is reversible with God. He came to set prisoners free. To deliver the oppressed. To raise up the lowly and humble trusting poor. Those who have left houses and lands and families for Jesus' sake will receive it all back manifold, and will inherit eternal life.
Here's a key to eternal life and to this upside-down kingdom, "many who are first will be last, and the last first." (v. 30) This is the theme of the beatitudes, and a repeated theme in the gospel: become like a child, humble yourself...
Yes, what is of value in the kingdom are the last, the powerless, the least; wives, children, the poor; believers and followers. But even moreso it is Jesus, for whose sake one might not marry or give away everything to the poor; it is Jesus who treasures and blesses the children; and it is Jesus who is good and who will sit finally on his glorious throne. For he is the one who took the lowest and last place, who let go of being first and exalted, and who through his death has been given the name above every name.
Those who value him most of all, those for whom no cost is too great to gain this treasure, those who have left everything to follow him, will indeed inherit eternal life, will be first with him who lives and reigns forever, and rather than going away sorrowful will enter his kingdom rejoicing.
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