Week #43 | "Who Do You Say That I Am?"

 LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

(293) Matthew 8:2-4, 9:1-17; Mark 1:40-2:22; Luke 5:12-39; John 5:1-47

(294) Matthew 12:1-21; Mark 2:23-3:19; Luke 6:1-16

(295) Matthew 5:1-8:1; Luke 6:17-49

(296) Matthew 8:5-13, 11:2-30; Luke 7:1-50

(297) Matthew 9:27-34; 12:22-50; Mark 3:20-35; Luke 8:1-3, 8:19-21

(298) Mathew 13:1-53; Mark 4:1-34; Luke 8:4-18

(299) Matthew 8:18, 23-34, 9:18-26, 9:9:35-38, 13:54-58; Mark 4:35-41, 5:1-43, 6:1-6; Luke 8:22-56

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Reading #293: Signs of the Kingdom, Call of the Kingdom, and the Identity of Jesus. For those who expect that Jesus is merely some sort of prophet (as in Islam) or one of many enlightened spiritual teachers (as in esoteric mysticism), the Jesus of the Gospels does not give us those options. He does not show up simply with a message from God, but with the message that he is God--and the miracles that he performs demonstrate the truth of his claims. We see this when Jesus cleanses a leper in his own name ("I am willing, be clean," Matt 8:3; Mark 1:41; Luke 5:13). We see it when Jesus forgives sins that have been done against God (Matt. 9:3-6; Mark 2:6-12; Luke 5:21-25). We see it when Jesus says to Levi/Matthew, "Follow Me" (Matt. 9:9; Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27). Jesus casts himself in the role of bridegroom of God's people, a role traditionally understood to be God's (see this dramatically played out in Hosea 1-2; Matt. 9:14-15; Mark 2:18-20; Luke 5:33-36). Then, in John, Jesus' healing of a man on the Sabbath becomes the occasion for him where he makes astonishing claims about himself, of which I will quote only two: (1) "You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me, and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life." -John 5:39-40; (2) This one is easy to lose sight of, except that John points out the implication: "[Jesus]... was calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God." -John 5:18. We are left to ask, who is Jesus, and how do these signs that he performs, and the things he says about himself, call us to respond to him?

Reading #294: The Lord of the Sabbath, and the Master of the Twelve. The readings for Day #294 in Steinmann's chronological Bible reading plan all revolve around Jesus' claim to be above the commandment to keep the Sabbath. Not that Jesus really breaks the sabbath--in fact, the Pharisees, understandably alarmed by Jesus' popularity with the crowds and with his increasingly clear suggestions that he is in fact God, are clearly looking for a way to trap him. But where Jesus could just point out how far they are reaching, he instead goes farther and calls himself "the Lord of the Sabbath" (Matt. 12:8; Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5). Given this escalation of his claims about himself -only God is Lord of the Sabbath- and Jesus' increasingly public demonstrations in defiance of the Jewish religious authorities, the Pharisees decide that Jesus is a spiritual danger, the Herodians decide that he is a political danger, and they both join forces to stop him. But Jesus, though driven out to the margins, does not stop doing his work. On a mount by the Sea of Galilee, he calls twelve men to himself -a number that symbolizes the twelve tribes of Israel- and meaningfully takes his place at their head, symbolizing himself as the head of God's people. The average people might not understand the symbolism of what Jesus is doing, but the religious teachers understand very well--and are furious. Still, we are forced to ask the question, "What do we think of the claims Jesus is making?"

Reading #295: The Sermon on the Mount/Plain. This sermon is present in both Matthew and Luke, though it's clear that Matthew has assembled a little more of Jesus' material, spoken elsewhere on the same topic, into the message as presented in his Gospel. For Matthew, this is the first of the Five Discourses, a sort of discipleship manual made up out of the words of Jesus, which is embedded into the structure of Matthew's Gospel.

Reading #296: Jesus' love for the Gentiles, the widows, the prisoners, and the prostitutes. This reading demonstrates that Jesus loves and cares for those who are not seen as respectable or religious. And, in a surprising reversal, these outsiders -because of their position as outsiders- are actually more dependent on, more responsive to, more passionate about, and more full of faith, than those who appear to have it all together from the start. What the religious person does by tradition, as the result of a series of rewards and familiar comforts that accompany their walk with God, the outsider does through a passionate embrace of Jesus as their only source of comfort in life or death. Following Jesus doesn't elevate their social standing or give them a better view of themselves. Instead, in following Jesus, they get Jesus, and in arriving at the point where that's all they want, that is the faith that saves.

Reading #297: Jesus, What Is the Secret of Your Power? The debate in this reading is about where Jesus' power comes from. If it is from God, then that means that we need to take Jesus' claims about himself seriously. But if Jesus' power is not from God, that means that he is an agent of Satan. And yet that can't be. Look at the fruit of Jesus' teaching--more good has been done in the name of Jesus, more lives affected for the better, more rights have been won, more education has been given, more freedom has been extended, more sacrificial care for the poor has been offered, in Jesus' name than for any system of instruction handed down by any religious teacher in the history of the world. Additionally, Jesus is the reason why the Scriptures of Israel have now made their way into the households of every nation on the earth. More people claim for themselves the title of a follower of the God of Abraham than would have ever been imaginable before Jesus. To any honest perspective, Gentile or Jewish, it would be hard to make the case that Jesus must be sent from Satan. That only leaves one other alternative--and if Jesus is from God, then we must take his words seriously.

Reading #298: The Sermon of Parables. In Matthew, this is the second of Jesus' Five Discourses, and it centers on the theme of "What Is the Kingdom?" Careful study of this sermon will show us who truly belongs to the kingdom, what its nature is, and what is the value of the kingdom.

Reading # 299: Adventures With Jesus. There is a lot that we could unpack from these passages, and maybe one day I will get the opportunity to preach from them. But for now, just go and read these and imagine what it would have been like to walk along with Jesus during this time. Would it have seemed boring? Would it have seemed quiet, and stifling, and studious? No! Aside from times of intentional reflection, Jesus is always doing something, always moving, always going somewhere, or stopping in the middle of doing something else to address the situation he finds himself in the middle of, always making time for and responding to the leading of the Spirit. I believe this is the life that Jesus calls us to still. Why should following Jesus be any less adventurous today than it was back then? Perhaps if we feel that our walk with Jesus is safe, and structured, and stale, and stifling--we're doing it wrong.

DO | HOW DO WE RESPOND?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? I won't lay out exact responses in this space because the possibilities are often endless. But it is worth it to think about application in the categories of worship, attitude, and actions. Does this reading direct me to God in worship and thanksgiving and praise, or does it direct me towards a change that I need to make here and now? If it's about a change that I need to make, is this something inward in my attitude, or outward in my actions? This helps to rescue application from just being a series of how-to tips, or one-size-fits-all instructions that go beyond what the Bible actually states. Sometimes, the most helpful application we can make is to get a different perspective on what's the most important thing, or about how we should respond inwardly to the things going on around us.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US TO GOD?

Whether in response to anything pointed out here, or to something else in your Bible reading time, take a few moments before you close up your Bible to pray in response to God. If you need a format for prayer, both the ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication), CALL (Confess, Ask, Love, Listen), and PRAY (Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield) methods are helpful ways to stay consistent.

-Sean