Some strikes and solutions...Matthew 23:25-39


What do you do when the trails are too muddy?  You go fishing!  I found a new spot not far from the house that is a great place to spend a few hours casting the rod.  I've caught enough to start putting some in the freezer.  It is an amazing view with the mountains in the background.  It is also a great place to think and decompress like I do on the trails.  Maybe after Easter I will be back up in the mountains on the trails that get more sun.

Jesus throws 3 more strikes.  The shepherds of the day were living split lives; displaying just surface holiness; and claiming not to be sinners therefore not needing a Savior.  Jesus addresses each one of these fallacies but also throws in some solutions.  I am thankful for the question He asks in verse 33, "How can you escape the condemnation of hell?"  It made me think of the question that John the Baptist asked the Pharisees and Sadducees in Matthew 3:7b, "Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"  Both Jesus and John the Baptist preceded the question with the phrase "brood of vipers."

This question helped me to structure my sermon on Sunday.  There is an answer to the question that Jesus gives.  He is the answer.  Romans 3:23-26 was a great reference to answer it.  We are all sinners but God has provided a Savior, a way to be justified.  God has put in action a plan that requires a faith in Jesus to escape the condemnation of hell and to flee from the wrath to come.  

Jesus gives us #44 and #45 "I say to you" in this passage and also ends with a lament and invitation, "...until you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'" (Mt. 23:39b, NKJV).  This is a quote from Psalm 118:26.  There needs to be a different response to Jesus than just a man or a holy man, a prophet, or any other response that my Master, the One I belong to.  I deny myself for my life to be all about Him; I carry the cross of my salvation, provided by Him through suffering, proclaiming His resurrection to a world of opposition and persecution; and I follow in His footsteps and hanging on His every word.  Jesus is seen when we call Him Lord.

It made me think of Romans 10:11-13 and Paul's quoting of Joel 2:32 (NASB).  "And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be delivered;..." and then comes "...for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as the LORD has said, even among the survivors whom the LORD calls."  Here is the escape from the condemnation of hell and the wrath to come from something happening on Mount Zion in Jerusalem.  I wonder what happened there?  The Lord is calling us and we are to call upon Him.  His call is first and our call is a response to it.  We would not be able to respond to His call unless He provided it and enabled us to see Him differently than we do now.  

Enough for now and unto preparations for the highlight of the church year.

Adam




 

A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 39th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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