The King is in Control

 Matthew 14:13-36
 

I feel very blessed to have the honor of teaching on this passage. It is a super encouraging and even fun passage. I like the title, the King is in control. That is what we will be reminded of today. Jesus is Lord overall.
 
Before I jump into today’s passage, I would like to offer an observation about chiasms. Carl has used this recurring structure in scripture to draw us to the central point in both books and individual chapters. A few weeks ago, when he introduced this chiastic structure with respect to the book of Matthew, I was prompted to think about God’s affinity for chiastic structure. When I say God’s affinity, I just mean that God likes chiasms. It is kind of “how He rolls.”
 
I never heard the word chiasm before Carl shared the concept, but I do remember seeing the idea highlighted years ago with respect to human beings as the pinnacle of all of creation. Most people in our culture tend not to see what is in the middle as being the most important. We tend to think of whatever is at the extreme, the biggest or strongest or fastest, as being the most important.
 
Think of pictures from the Hubble space telescope. We are just awed by the magnitude of the universe and the galaxies and nebulae and other things that I don’t even know the names for.  Going the other way though, it is possible to go just as small on a logarithmic scale getting down to subatomic particles like quarks and neutrinos. I’m not going to go into all the math and 10 to the power of positive whatever and 10 to the power of the minus whatever. If that sort of thing is interesting to you, there are many resources that can get into the details at many different levels.
 
The long story short is that human beings are essentially at the logarithmic midpoint of the sizes of creation between the largest thing (the whole universe) and the smallest subatomic building blocks. God’s most amazing creative work, that which He made in His own image, is placed in the middle of the size spectrum of the universe. For me, that is just another way of relating to chiastic structure and thinking, “Yep, God really digs it.” He really does like to put the important stuff, the boom, in the middle.
 
Let’s pray and jump into today’s passage.
 
Lord God, teach us from Your Word today. We need Your insights and understanding. We love You. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.
 

Opposition to the King

Matthew 13:53-14:12
 

Welcome! We are continuing our study of the Gospel of Matthew. Three weeks ago, I spoke on Matthew 12:38-50 and I described something I called the “Boom.” Both Tim, two weeks ago, and Fred, last week, made reference to my description. In my message, I told you that you would hear the “Boom” over the following two weeks, that is, in the passages that Tim and Fred have discussed with you.
 
In preparation for their messages, both of them asked me what I thought the “Boom” was. I confess that I was pretty coy, not really giving them an answer. I really wanted them to depend on the Lord, not me, and to be honest, I was still formulating ideas myself.
 
So, if you have been on these Zoom calls over the past two weeks, or if you have been reading the transcripts or watching the archived recordings, I have a question for you. What is the Boom? What do you think it is?
 

Kingdom Secrets: Reaping

 Matthew 13:24-52

Good Morning Saints!

 

Welcome back to the second half of what Carl called two Sundays ago the boom in the chiastic structure of the book of Matthew. As you recall Carl pointed out how the series of ideas in the first half of the book of Matthew are reflected in the second half in reverse order. This chiastic structure reinforces important points and creates a particular focus on the midpoint of the chiasm, the very center of the text and its key theme.

 

So, last week Tim shared the first half of the midpoint Boom in chapter 13 verses 1 through 23. That half of the boom contained the parable of the sower and the seed. Jesus explained that the seed represented the message of the kingdom. This parable focused more on the four different types of soil that the seed fell on and how the soil represented the four different attitudes of the hearts of the people that heard the message of the Kingdom. Some fell along the path soil and the Satan came and snatched it away. Some fell on rocky ground and it was received with joy but it had no root so it withered and died and some fell among the thorns and the worries of life and the deceitfulness of wealth came and choked it out. Finally, some fell on good soil and it yielded thirty, sixty and a hundred fold.

 

Kingdom Secrets: Sowing

 Matthew 13:1-23

 

Welcome back to the heart of Matthew’s gospel. Last Sunday Carl showed us the chiastic structure of this book, pointing out how the series of ideas in the first half of the book are reflected in the second half in reverse order. This structure reinforces important points and creates a particular focus on the midpoint of the chiasm, the very center of the text and its key theme. So, the end of chapter 12 and the whole of chapter 13 are what Carl labeled in his outline as “Boom!” – the focus of the chiasm that encompasses the entire book.

 

At the end of chapter 12, which we looked at last time, Jesus asks an important question about his mother and brothers: “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” He was in a house, while his family was waiting outside, wanting to speak to him, it says. The assumption in that culture was that family deserved special treatment. Family is important to us as well, but in societies around the world that are more honor-shame oriented, the ideas of preserving family honor and fulfilling family obligations are some of the most powerful motivators of a person’s behavior. One’s extended family provides one’s identity to a very great extent. Individuals do not have the freedom to choose their own identity, as so many people try to do in America. That is why, for example, the book of Acts records entire households converting to Christianity at once. Such decisions may not have been considered on an individual basis. This is also why in many places in the world today an individualistic approach to evangelism, encouraging one person to make a decision for Christ, is less effective than trying to reach entire extended families or even communities. Sometimes God does want a person to stand up against the opposition of their family in following Jesus, but sometimes he works it out for entire families to proceed together toward right relationship with him.

 

In any case, when Jesus asks the question, “Who are my mother and brothers?” he was shaking the foundation of Jewish worldview. He was not disparaging family but he was redefining it, in particular the family of God. He was making the point that the family that one is physically born into is less important than being born again into the family of God. The Jews had blurred this distinction. They thought they were automatically part of God’s family because they were Jews, his chosen people. But Jesus says that “whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

 

Jesus does not mention following the Jewish law. He, in effect, opens the way for anyone to become part of God’s family, to have that as their new identity, a new place to belong. In chapter 13 he talks a lot about the kingdom of heaven, another way of describing this new community and new identity for his followers to be a part of, as they acknowledge his lordship and the fellowship of all believers. Being able to join this universal family is part of the “Boom!” that Carl identified last time. This is an amazing work and blessing of the Holy Spirit, making us heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, as Paul describes in Romans 8, sharing in both his sufferings and his glory. “You who were once far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” That’s Paul in Ephesians 2. Everyone everywhere is invited to be part of this family. This was yet another part of Jesus’ message that would seem radical to his audience.

Who Are My Brothers

 Matthew 12:38-50

Welcome! As we continue our journey into the Gospel of Matthew, I want to start by discussing a few things from what you could call a 40,000-foot-high level. Although all four gospels are fundamentally written chronologically, starting with Jesus’ early ministry (or even His birth) and ending with His death and resurrection, the Gospel of Matthew is generally considered to be the least chronological of the four gospels. I believe that Matthew is doing this for many reasons, hopefully some that we can get into more deeply in later messages in this series, but today I want to highlight just one of those reasons: to create a powerful narrative structure. Before I go further, let me mention that some of these ideas have been mentioned in previous messages by our other wonderful speakers. But I think this bears repeating, in part because of the particular passage we are going through today.

King of the Promise to David

Matthew 12:1-37
 

We have a lot of ground to cover today, and sadly being creatures bound by time, we are going to have to move quickly across our passage to get it all in today. So, I am not going to review, we are going to jump right in and begin.

The Prophet

 Matthew 11:1-30

Good morning! We are underway in our new series from the book of Matthew. We picked up last week in at the end of Matthew 9. There, Jesus exhorted his disciples to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers because the harvest was plentiful but the workers few. Then, directly at the beginning of chapter 10, Jesus called his twelve disciples and sent them out to do miracles and preach that the kingdom of heaven is near.

 

Jesus gave them instructions on what to do and told them of the challenges they would face both in those days and in days to come. Jesus’ words do not gloss over or cover up difficulties. Jesus’ words ring true. There will be difficulties, yes, but we should take heart because He has overcome the world. And there is great reward in following Jesus.

 

That is a quick intro, and it brings us to the immediate continuation of events in chapter 11. Let us pray and jump in.

 

Lord Jesus, speak to us from Your Word. Give us eyes to see and hearts to retain the good news. I pray for each soul who will hear this message. Guide us to Yourself and what You have prepared for each individual. Glorify Your Name we pray. Amen.

 

Working for the King

 Matthew 9:35-10:42

There have been many times when I have taken my kids to work with me while doing lawn care. My kids have never said anything to me like, “Daddy, I really like picking up sticks. It’s one of my favorite hobbies.” They did not go with me because they were into sticks. They went with me because they were into their dad. They wanted to spend time with me. Of course, not all of these excursions were voluntary. They did not always have completely pure motives. I do pay them for working, at least when they got older. Sometimes I would say there was no choice. They had to go even though they wanted to stay home. They claimed that they had more important things to do like petting the cat or performing some kind of ground breaking science experiment (not on the cat).

Somewhere in those experiences lies a good reason why we work for the king. There may be certain things that we are not quite into yet. But that will come in time. Right now, the question you can probably ask is, “Do I want to be with the king?” In John 5:17, “Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.’” Do you want to join him in working?

Song of Praise

 2 Samuel 22:1-51

 

Today we come to the end of our message series on the life of David, and next week we will start on the second half of Matthew’s gospel, which will take us until next Easter. At this juncture, therefore, we will be turning our attention from David to the Son of David, the promised descendent who would fulfill the prophecy of David’s throne lasting forever. You may recall back in 2 Samuel 7, when David wanted to build a temple, that God told him that his son would be the one to do that, but that God would also establish his house or his lineage. The Lord stated it clearly: “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.” The Jewish people who recognized Jesus as the Messiah referred to him as the Son of David, for example during the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when people shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” It was an important part of where he had come from, who he was, and how he was identified. And we, too, as believers, have been brought into that eternal House of David that God promised to establish and sustain.

 

As he wrote his account, Matthew was careful to point out how Jesus fulfilled so many Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah. Jesus is the eternal, perfect king that David could never be. As we have studied the life of David, especially the latter part here in 2 Samuel, we have seen just how human he was. His sin with Bathsheba was not the solitary wrong thing that he did, though it was an indication of the lust that was in his heart at times. He certainly made mistakes in raising his children, resulting in much conflict and heartache. That seems to have been the focus of the last several messages in our series. And yet we know that his heart was continually turning to God in repentance, love, and worship. He was indeed “a man after God’s own heart” who recognized his need for forgiveness and grace.

Securing Peace

 2 Samuel 20:23-21:22 

Finally, this week, we come beyond the consequences of David’s sin.  However, today we will see some of the consequences of Saul’s sin.  The first portion of chapter 21 covers this sad situation, and I would like to give a word of caution to those who may have younger listeners.  The Bible does not conceal what happened.  It does not glorify wrong, nor does it hide the consequences of evil.  I have shared a couple of times in this series that we should be aware that sin is bad, and we should seek to stay far from it.  Again, I can say the same in light of this passage.

 

Before we move into chapter 21, I will reread the last few verses of chapter 20.  As you likely remember, the conspiracy of Absalom against his father David has ended.  David has been restored in Jerusalem as the king over all the tribes, over the whole nation of Israel.  As such, he has a number of officials in his government.

 

With that rather brief introduction, let’s pray and jump right in.

 

Lord Jesus, speak to us from Your Word we pray.  Please connect what we read today with our own lives.  Help us to walk in the light as You are in the light.  We pray in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

Joab was over Israel's entire army; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites; Adoniram was in charge of forced labor; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder;  Sheva was secretary; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; and Ira the Jairite was David's priest. – 2 Samuel 20:23-26

 

Before looking at individuals, let’s consider the roles of David’s officials.  The first two are military positions.  Due to the nature of the region in which Israel is placed, we see a great deal of conflict among the nations there.  Then, we have the leader of forced labor.  During David’s time, there was unprecedented prosperity for the kingdom of Israel ultimately setting up Solomon as the wealthiest man who ever lived.  As a result of the military conquests, there were conscripted workers from among the defeated nations who in turn were put to work on public works.  Then, we have two administrative roles, recorder, and secretary.  Then, we come to the chief priests of the nation as well as David’s own priest.  Israel was a nation created by God and as such, the nation has a priesthood also established by God.