PSA Bible Reading Challenge 2023-2024

If you know your Baroque art then you know the image below is not from Caravaggio, but rather from Raphael.  It is a depiction of the transfiguration which is the story that we find at the beginning of Matthew 17.  As soon as you walk into St. Peter’s along the left hand side about halfway down you will see this painting.  It has always taken away my breath.  It is the full depiction of Matthew 17.  Look at it closely.   From the top to the bottom you see the chapter played out.  You find Jesus in his white arraignment, transfigured, on the top of the mountain with Elijah and Moses on his sides.  Peter, James, and John are prostate under the three figures and I’m guessing it is right after God says: “Listen to him!”  

Don’t you love Peter?  He is such a go-getter.  I’ve got a great idea, let’s make three booths so that we can keep you here forever.  We often have great ideas and jump way ahead of where God wants to go and eventually find ourselves in a bit of a pickle wondering why God didn’t help us out.  Well, maybe we wanted the safety of God in our booth so that we could let Him in and out as we pleased.  That’s not the way the Holy Spirit works.

Do you notice who else made the painting.  We find the man who wants his son healed, and brings him to Jesus before the whole crowd and we find ourselves in a place where they are not able to heal him.  You can see them trying to heal him and pointing at him, and then pointing at Jesus like, there, he’s the one who can do it, because we can’t.  I love this painting.  It is all of Matthew 17 wrapped into one painting.

Okay, what about the Scripture?  The Transfiguration is a portion of Scripture which reveals to the disciples the true person of Jesus.  He is the embodiment of God and the fulfillment of Scripture.  Elijah represents the one who will return to pave the way for the Messiah.  John the Baptist played that role.  He announced the coming of Jesus.  Moses represents the giver of the law and Jesus is the one who came and was a testimony and the fulfillment of the law.

It is a great Scripture which really shows who Jesus was.  And then you have the fish with a coin in his mouth.  It does seem a bit random, but it works because it shows that Jesus and his disciples were not completely removed from the world.  Even in the Scripture where Jesus says render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s is a testimony to Jesus telling his disciples to remain in the world, even while being distinct.   

It has been a while since I included a Caravaggio painting, but this one is one of my favorites.  You find the scene of the Apostle Peter being crucified upside down, so that he would not undergo the same death as his Savior Jesus.  We don’t read about this in Scripture, but it is alluded to in John 21:18-19 very vaguely.

But back to our Scripture, we find here the verses that have been a point of contention between Reformed or Protestant theology and Roman Catholic theology.  Read again what Jesus says to Peter in vs.18-19 of this chapter.  It is interesting to note that Peter enjoys in this one chapter the best of days and the worst of days.  

The best of days comes from answering correctly that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.  Jesus rewards him with a wonderful accolade and lays out before him what the church is going to be like.  As Protestants we say that the foundation upon which the church is built is the rock of the statement of Peter which is that Jesus is Messiah.  But the word play that Jesus uses can be used to interpret his statement differently.  Look at those verses one more time.  The word for Peter in Greek is petros.  So in vs. 18 you could read: “You are petros (or the rock) and on this petros (or Peter) I will build my church.”  The Roman church has interpret this to mean throughout the ages that it is upon Peter and those who apostolically descended from him upon whom Jesus built his church.  From the persepctive of the Roman church this Scripture provides the justification for the role of the Pope which as Protestants we don’t follow.  It is a difference of interpretation that has shaped both churches dramatically along the lines of authority being vested within the church and the tradition or authority being vested solely upon the Words of Scripture and the person of Jesus Christ.  

I don’t want to belabor the point but it is not just upon this rock which strikes us as Protestants as a problematic Scripture, but what Jesus says next.  “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  You can always pick out Peter in any work of art because he is the one with the keys.  It is from this Scripture that art history has attributed to Peter the role of key master.  So when we talk about confession in light of theses verses it causes our Protestant hair on the back of our neck to stand on end.  But what is a good explanation for these words by Jesus?  Is there some truth to Jesus giving Peter a certain opportunity that no other person on earth had before or has had since?  I have struggled to come to terms with these verses and have my own understanding of what Jesus meant in these verses.  Let’s see if you can follow.

Like all Scripture we have to be able to take it within the context of what is happening in the life of Jesus.  We know that Jesus knew that Peter would indeed be the Apostle who would be the leader when the church would explode across the land.  The church would be built upon the foundation of  the truth that Jesus is Messiah and it is in that truth upon which it is founded.  Peter knew that truth and the only hope the church would have would be that this truth of who Jesus was would be dispersed throughout the land.  Peter had the opportunity to either allow that foundation to be spread or to bring it to a crashing close.  Of course salvation was not in his hands, but the furthering of the Gospel was intricately woven into the desire and the opportunities that Peter chose to take or not.  I can’t believe that Peter ever had the power to forgive sins or not.  But I can believe that he had opportunities to spread the Gospel, which he took.  By reaching out with the Gospel he affected the lives of thousands and so in turn helped by providing them a glimpse into heaven which they could embrace and call as their own.  

Those were the best of days for Peter, but the worst of days soon follow.  Peter’s denial of who Jesus is begins in these verses.  He doesn’t understand the necessity of Jesus’ suffering and so tries to protect him and discourage him from being a half empty type of person.  Jesus, you will never suffer if I can help it.  That’s really nice Peter, but you don’t get it.  I have to suffer in order for you to have eternal life.  Okay, Jesus was a little more direct and little more caustic than what I just portrayed him as saying: “Get behind me Satan.”  Not much room for error in those words.

Wait, Jesus performed the miracle of the loaves and fish more than once?  Yes, according to Matthew.  He has the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000.  We will see that Mark has the same scenario, so why not?  It is interesting to hear some of the commentators on this Scripture trying to explain it away either as a mistake or as something that Jesus did not, interpret as could not, do.  I have no issues with Jesus performing the same miracle twice.  After all, look at how many people he heals, including the multitudes in this chapter who come to see him.  We find that healing scene repeated often.

The scene of the showdown between Jesus and the Canaanite woman is one that I treasure.  You will find it depicted in vs. 21-28.  At first reading it seems like Jesus is quite the opposite from compassionate, which we raised as one of his lasting legacies last chapter.  Okay, let’s be honest, even after the second reading it seems like he isn’t very nice to this woman as she begs for mercy.  

“Jesus, help me.”  “Sorry, I just came for the people of Israel, and it is not right to give to the dogs what is reserved for the children of God.”  Do you hear the implications in Jesus’ statement?  He is basically calling this woman and her people dogs.  What is Jesus trying to do?  Her response gives us a clue to what his final intentions were, and what ends up happening with the Gospel message in the long run.  She answers brilliantly by classifying herself and her people as dogs, but stating that even dogs deserve the presence of the Lord and His miraculous touch.  By turning the argument back to Jesus she allows all around to see that she had the same value as anyone else.  

This is not a statement on whether all dogs go to heaven or not, but rather a statement that all people do indeed fall under the watchful gaze and protective hand of our Father.  On this MLK Jr. Day it is one of the most appropriate Scriptures that I can put before you.  There are those in history who have been treated like dogs by people in power for generations.  It is no wonder that African Americans have always had an affinity for the stories of Moses as he led them out of Egypt and into the promised land.  That has been their history in this country.  The promised land is still on the horizon, but we are getting closer.

This day has always been one that has had special significance for me for years.  My father was very involved in the civil rights movement, he even marched on Selma without the approval of his session.  It is a legendary story in our family.  I had a chance to meet Coretta Scott King as a child when my father introduced me to her.  What we can take away from this Scripture is that if all of us were made from the same mud at creation, and if Jesus loves all of us equally and has a place in heaven for all of us who receive him, then why on earth do we treat each other differently and think that some are of less value than others.

I think it is a question that will remain for the ages as long as there are certain people in power and others who are out of power.  Jesus would agree completely with the words of the Apostle Paul in Galatians 3:28.  Look it up, it will do you good.

There is a great book by Presbyterian Pastor John Ortberg entitled If you want to walk on water you have to get out of the boat.  Here is the link if you were interested in checking it out: http://www.amazon.com/Want-Walk-Water-Youve-Boat/dp/0310340462.  Peter walking on water in this chapter in Matthew is a classic Scripture which reminds us that it does take risk in order to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.  Many are internally wired to be risk averse.  Then there are others of us who are wired to be risk takers.  I’m thinking Jesus was wired to be a risk taker and Peter was definitely risk averse.  He didn’t really want to get out on the water.  He needed Jesus to call him out.  

Do you notice what it is that causes Peter to start to sink?  “But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened.”  When the winds of life blow we become frightened.  Did you hear today’s sermon, where fear is called out by Jesus as an enemy to his mission and ministry?  Consistently Jesus blesses us with the opportunity to go through life without fear.  Without fear we are able to walk on the waters that are tumultuous or smooth.  Without fear we have a confidence that allows us to take risks that normally we would not take.  

I don’t want to skip the story of the feeding of 5,000 but it is important to see that at the beginning of the story Jesus withdraws by himself as a result of the death of his cousin, John.  It was really a murder by Herod, which must have caused some consternation for Jesus since they were considered pretty much the same person with the same message by many around him.  What was it that drove him back to be with the people?  Notice on vs. 14 we read that he had compassion on those who sought him.  He had compassion on those who needed healing, and also had compassion on those who were gathered for they had nothing to eat.  

The compassion of Jesus comes out so clearly in these verses, a compassion that drives him to reach out and come out of hiding.  We learn about Jesus that he has a compassion for us even while he wants us to take risks in life that will draw us closer to him and closer to the ones that he loves.

There are two topics that Jesus addresses more than any other in Scripture.  The first is what is addressed in chapter 13, the kingdom of God, and the second is finances.  Aren’t you glad we are going to address the kingdom of God, which is Jesus’ favorite topic?  

There are some who take a very metaphorical approach to heaven and hell.  Some see heaven as a time in which we are in full communion with God and the relationship that we have with Him is complete.  Hell then becomes a complete separation from God, and an experience that is, well, an experience.  They would deny any real presence of heaven or hell and normally would also deny a time of decision or separation where God chooses those who are fit for heaven and those fit for hell.

On this topic, the kingdom of God, I fall on the same of the literalists.  I do believe in a literal, physical heaven, and no, it is not a place on earth (sorry Belinda Carlisle).  In the same manner I believe in a literal hell where, as Matthew states here, that “the angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  I don’t dwell on it, it isn’t my favorite topic, but it should also not be avoided.

An integral part of the kingdom of God is that there is a time and a process of separation.  We can’t deny that, at least not if we are going to take seriously Matthew 13.  The parable that we all know is that of the sower who sows seeds on the different types of ground.  I love how Jesus actually takes the time to explain the parable in vs. 18ff, so I really don’t need to.  He warns the crowds, and so warns us, to not be so shallow that we don’t allow ourselves to cling to the Word of God.  Reading Scripture daily allows us to prevent our lives from being that of walkers on the shallow path.  He warns us not to be so caught up in the present that when the future comes we lose the joy and the excitement that comes with joining the church or being a disciple of Jesus Christ.  We need soil that runs deep and not find ourselves treading on rocky ground.  He warns us not to be so caught up the cares of the world that it chokes out the Word because we are so caught up in the wealth and status of being who we are.

All of this is great for us to hear as we live in a world where deep understanding of the Word of God is discouraged and seen more as a crutch than a legitimate way of life.  We live in a world where the here and now is all that counts so we are taught to put all of our eggs in one basket, and when life happens, we lose interest and wonder if we ever felt the love of God in the first place.  We live in a world where we have enough troubles to last a lifetime and we are so focused on the material things of this world that who Jesus is gets chocked out by what we want and how we can get ahead.  

All of the parables in this chapter take us to the kingdom of heaven as a place where God is choosing those who would follow him and those who would not find themselves separated from God, literally.  Again, we end the chapter with a reference to Jesus’ family, and this time his sisters are included.  His home town of Nazareth is not able to receive him because they are too familiar with him.  I pray that we never think we are too familiar with Jesus that we stop understanding his Word, or just think his words refer to a distant heaven, or that his words have no relevance to a world which is dramatically different from the one in which he lived.  Jesus continues to teach and guide us in ways we could never imagine if we would just let him.

Legalism can take the joy out of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.  When I attended Philadelphia College of the Bible I was shocked by the amount of rules that we had to follow.  We were not allowed to wear jeans to class, we couldn’t go to movies, we had to go to church twice on Sunday, we had a curfew when we had to be in our dorms, and we certainly were not allowed in the girls’ dorms.  I had thought that once I was in college I would be allowed to make some of those decisions on my own instead of someone else making them for me.  It created a puerile environment where the students were dictated to them their dos and their donts.  You wonder at what stage do you learn to take responsibility for your own actions and not rely upon an administration to tell you what rules you have to follow for life.

Jesus in these verses is speaking to the Pharisees and basically tells them: people who love God do not need to be given a list of rules to follow, but rather what actions we ought to take should come instinctively .  All of our actions ought to be pleasing to God, and what we desire ought to be pleasing to God.  If we find ourselves in sin and unable to control our actions then we are not trying to please God and so we are not a disciple of the Lord.  Let me explain.  We are disciples of Jesus Christ not out of fear that salvation will not be ours.  We love Jesus because of an overwhelming sense of gratitude for what he did for us on the cross.  Our lives are an attempt to give thanks for what he has done for us.  If we are desiring to do that which we know will make Him unhappy, then maybe we are not grateful enough.

This approach to faith, where we live lives of response out of gratitude as opposed to fear of damnation, is a seismic shift in our thinking.  The Pharisees encouraged the people of Israel to rely upon them, the church leaders, to understand the Scripture and what was allowed and not allowed.  Jesus was more than willing to interpret on his own what was allowed on the Sabbath and in life.  This was not permissible and it was so threatening to the church leaders that vs. 14 tells us that they conspired to destroy him.

That is one aspect of the Presbyterian Church that I so embrace.  I am not going to tell you the laws of Scripture and that you have to follow them and the specific way in which you have to live your life.  I will interpret Scripture for you in such a way that I hope you are able to make that decision on your own without me looking over your shoulder to check on whether you are worthy are not.  But some people need to be told how to live their lives.  I can do that as well, but I would prefer that people try to understand the freedom that we have in Jesus where he provides us with opportunity, and not laws or rules.

The latter part of this chapter deals with Jesus and his second coming.  He tells the crowds that with John the Baptist and him present then they have no excuse for opting out of seeing the Kingdom of God at hand.  Jesus has come to clean our houses of all that which would take us away from God.  If we then choose to do nothing with what he has given us, full salvation from our sins, then we leave ourselves open to an even worse future.  Our future is then even more bleak than before because it is much harder a second time to turn to Jesus than it is the first time.

This chapter ends with Jesus and his family obviously at odds with each other.  His mother, Mary, and his brothers are waiting for him outside of the house where he is teaching.  We can only imagine what it is that they want.  We read elsewhere in Mark 3:21 that they thought he was out of his mind, at least that was what some people were saying about him.  That makes sense.  If we were living a life where the only thing that mattered to us was our status as a disciple of Jesus Christ then our family just might think something was a bit strange with us.  But Jesus recovers and points out that our real family are those who are invested in establishing the kingdom of God.

I don’t want to read too much into that, but we will see again in Mark a verse that is equally shocking where it states that we must “hate” our mother and father if we are to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.  At this point you might check out and say, well, that’s not for me.  Hang in there until we get to Mark and we can see why Jesus says that.

I hope you are able to keep up with the readings.  We find once again some gems in this chapter.  If you look specifically at vs. 28-30 you will hear words that are familiar.  Jesus promises us that he will give us rest.  Okay, maybe not us, but all those who are carrying heavy burdens are promised rest.  Is that you?  The yoke that Jesus has is one that is light compared to the one that we have.  The yoke that we have is one that is burdened with sin, it is burdened with the heaviness of misplaced words and hurtful deeds.  By taking on the yoke of Jesus we are able to learn from him, for he is gentle and he is humble.  This learning will lead to an opportunity for us to find rest for our souls.

While these ending verses are comforting we can’t skip over the verses that are little less than comforting.  Jesus gets a message from John the Baptist where his cousin asks him: “Are you the man?”  Again, Jesus doesn’t answer with the traditional yes or no answer, he tells the messenger to go back to John and tell him what you see.  It is that simple.  I don’t need my words to back me up, just look at my actions.  What a great message for all of us.  We should not use our words to justify our actions, but rather our actions to justify our actions.  

He then describes who exactly John the Baptist is.  This is helpful for us if we didn’t have a real clear picture on who John the Baptist is.  To begin we have to clarify that John the Baptist is not the same John who wrote the Gospel.  I know, this is information that you already know.  But I still get that question frequently.  John the Baptist was born to Zechariah and Elizabeth as we see in Luke 1, and Elizabeth is a relative of Mary…which makes John the Baptist and Jesus related.  We aren’t there yet, but we will be in a few weeks.  John the Baptist is the one who is baptizing those who are repenting as they come to the Jordan river to see him.

Jesus calls John the Baptist: “He is Elijah who is to come.”  Okay, what does that mean?  If you want to find out more about Elijah you can find him in I Kings 17 and following.  He was a prophet of the Lord who was often speaking about the coming of the Lord, and did hand to hand combat with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel.  It is a great story found in I Kings 18 and it is a popular sight to visit whenever you go to Israel.  But what Jesus is referring to is a quote in Malachi which states: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD” (Malachi 4:5-6).

Before the coming of the Lord, which would be Jesus, Almighty God was going to send a prophet to prepare the way of the Lord.  That was John the Baptist.  Jesus identifies him as such and it gives us a great understanding as to how God continues to be providentially in control of all history, all people, and all time.  

Jesus’ control over our lives needs to be reflected in our understanding of God’s providence in all of history.  Our burdens can be lessened to degrees we can’t even understand if we would only lay them on our loving Lord.  God’s control of history provides us with the relief and the assurance that we are not in charge.  Praise be to God!

I hope your eyes didn’t start to glaze over.  This is a tough chapter.  Jesus reminds us that it isn’t easy being a disciple of Jesus.  When I visit people in the hospital inevitably at one point or another someone will tell me: “Getting old isn’t for sissies.”  Not probably the right thing to put in a blog, but being a disciples of Jesus Christ is not smooth sailing in any way.  Often we think that once we accept the Savior then things will get easier.  That is not what this Scripture tells us.

Most of us would consider family as the most important thing in our life.  Well, Jesus says something very different.  Our allegiance has to be to our Savior first and foremost.  If you look at vs. 16-39 it is all about family strife and how Jesus did not necessarily come into the world to provide peace and harmony.  Rather, because of Jesus many families will be divided.

I will never forget Hassim who was a part of our Young Adult and Student group in Russia.  He came to the program with a friend and he was curious what the group was all about.  We would get more than 100 young adults and we would have Bible Study, games, and give out food at the end because many of the students were struggling to make ends meet.  Hassim came to the group and gave his life to Christ.  The next morning we received a panicked phone call from his friend who told us that his family had kicked him out of the house and refused to let him back in and were threatening to kill him.  Becoming a disciple for Hassim meant giving everything up, literally.  

The chapter begins with the calling of the disciples but it contains and ends with the realization that becoming a disciple is dangerous business.  I wonder how safe we feel as  Christians.  I guess pretty safe which ought to give us pause and wonder if we are doing things right.

I’m sitting in the sanctuary and it is 7:30. I love this time of the week. I tend to be by myself and there is a quiet and a peacefulness in this sanctuary as I lift up my praises and petitions to the Lord. Every Tuesday from 7:30-8 I’m in here seeking the way of the Lord. Today I get to read Matthew 9 and think of how this chapter can touch all of your lives as it has touched mine. You will notice that this chapter, like the ones preceding it and all of Matthew for the most part, contains events in Jesus’ life that are repeated in other Gospels, especially Mark. As we go along this 90 Day Challenge you will find some redundancy that can be confusing.
An example is the paralytic man who was healed by Jesus and had his sins forgiven. But I thought his friends lowered him through a hole in the roof… That’s Mark chapter 2. Then this woman with the issue of blood, I thought they were in a crowd of people and Jesus says he felt some of his power leave him… That’s in Mark 5. The details of the stories can get mixed up, but the fact remains that our Savior has compassion on those with whom he comes into contact in Scripture.
A couple things I wanted to lift up. Jesus’ statement in vs.12 about a physician coming only to those who are sick, which in essence provided the backdrop to a justification for sinners and tax collectors hanging out with Jesus, is a verse that has impacted me for my entire life. In college I joined a fraternity.  A non-drinking brother is a bit of an oddity, but it provided a plethora of opportunities to witness and impact lives that even to this day remain.

Putting aside all comparisons, this verse cannot devolve into an excuse for us to be a participant and a primary actor in the type of living that would be frowned upon by our Savior. We are absolutely commanded not to run away from the world, but to be in it. While we are in the world we are required to be different, even while being present with those who do not know Christ and are in need of him. Jesus was accused of being a drunkard and a glutton. He and his disciples didn’t fast as regularly as some of the other disciples following other rabbis did. There was a lot a about which people could point their fingers at Jesus and say that he was not walking the walk. I like that about him.
Lastly, vs. 37 is an iconic statement that we have all heard at one time or another.  The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.  So what happens in a field where there is a full harvest and the laborers are few?  I’m assuming some of the crop spoils because no one is there to tend to it.  Isn’t that what happens to people who are in their life primed to have a relationship with Jesus, come to church, but no one in the church reaches out to the new person because we are so intent in keeping our own circles and only reaching out to those that we know.  That’s a problem.  People visit First Presbyterian on a regular basis and they need to know that they are not only welcome, but loved.  I have a vision of a church where if a new person steps into the sanctuary you have 10 people lined up to invite them over to their house for lunch.  It is what Jesus would have done, and it is a sign that we are not spectators but laborers.

Last evening for the first time in my life I was a participant in an ordination service.  Simeon Harrar was ordained into the position of Director of Youth at First Presbyterian of Lancaster and he asked me to do the sermon.  What a humbling experience.  The centurion in Matthew 8 who tells Jesus that he is not worthy to have Jesus to come into his house marks the approach and the attitude that we ought to have when we find ourselves in the presence of the Lord.  We are not worthy.  When our new officers were trained on Saturday they were told that if you find yourself overwhelmed with feelings of inadequacy that is exactly where Jesus wants you to be.  We are inadequate, we are not worthy, we cannot contribute a single cubit to our span of life nor contribute a single bit to our salvation.  

When we went to Israel we were able to spend a significant amount of time in Capernaum and we visited what is thought to be Peter’s house.  There really is nothing so powerful as actually going to a site that you  know that Jesus walked and where he performed miracles.  We went to a location where we were told that it could have been someplace like this where Jesus sent the herd of swine into the sea.  If you notice the people were not appreciative to have a few demoniacs off  their hands because they were so focused on the profit loss of the pigs who went racing into the sea.  Isn’t that also the case with us sometimes.  We are so focused on that which we consider important in our lives that when Jesus performs a miracle we just might miss it because of our misguided tunnel vision.

We learn from Jesus today that he is able to calm the storm in our lives but only when we find ourselves throwing ourselves at the Lord crying out: Save us!  When we are humble enough to accept that we cannot contribute to his saving grace, then he is able to work with us.