April 25-29, 2022
Reflections from Matthew 21
This is the day!
April 29, 2022 • Ed Green • Matthew 21:33–46
If you grew up in church, or worshiped regularly in one over the past several decades, you may remember this contemporary chorus: “This is the day that the Lord has made We will rejoice as we lift His name This is the day that the Lord has made Come and rejoice, we will rejoice and be glad in it.” When we sang that song, I always remember thinking that it referred to THIS day, the day I am in right now, and the possibilities that the Lord had in store. I NEVER remember anyone talking about where the words came from, or the significance behind them. In Matthew 21:33-44 Jesus tells another parable about a vineyard and aims it (again) directly at those religious leaders in his audience. Take a few moments now and read it. The story parallels the history of Israel and how God consistently reached out to his people through the prophets. When the tenant farmers over and over had killed the servants the master sent, the master decides to send his own son as a messenger, thinking they would respect his son. But the tenants instead kill the son. Jesus then asks the question: “When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They respond: “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons” (21:40-41). And just in case they didn’t get the point from their own words, Jesus puts a finer point on it in the words of Psalm 118:22-23: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?” The one son who was rejected (and God’s son who will be killed) is THAT stone that will be the most important in the whole building. Do you get it? They did, and they didn’t like what they heard. But do you know what Psalm 118:24—the very next verse—is? “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
Another Parable of Two Sons
April 28, 2022 • Ed Green • Matthew 21:23–32
Most of us are familiar with the parable of the prodigal son. But do you realize that it should more properly be labelled, the parable of the "lost sons" (plural)? In a sense, both sons were “lost." In Matthew 21:28-32 we have another parable of two sons, and there is a close parallel between both parables. In this first of two stories Jesus tells in this chapter, a man has two sons. Both are asked to go and work in the vineyard. (Remember the importance of the biblical image of Israel as God's vineyard—Isaiah 5:1-7.) One says “No,” but later changes his mind, and goes. The other, says “Sure,” but does not follow through. Jesus then asks this of the religious leaders who were listening: “Which of the two did the will of his father?” (21:31). They reply, obviously, that it was the first son who ended up obeying his father. Then Jesus lowers the boom: “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the 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 the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him” (21:31-32). Imagine yourself in the sandals of these leaders, hearing this young man tell them that the “sinners” will get into the kingdom before they do (or a possible interpretation may well be that they will take their place). The thrust of the parable and Jesus’ point can hardly be missed. He is holding up a mirror. What do they see, and who are they in the story? So what about you and me? How are we responding to the gospel—the good news? Some Christian theology suggests that obedience is really not essential when you become a Christian. (Adherents would say that those who do not obey were not really Christians to begin with.) But what does Jesus say? Obedience—doing the will of the Father—is all that matters. Jesus presses the importance of humility and a willingness to repent, even as his followers. You see, the good news is not just for the front end, but for all our lives!
Snickers and Fig Newtons
April 27, 2022 • Ed Green • Matthew 21:18–22
I think those Snickers® commercials are great. My favorite is Betty White getting tackled on the football field. The tag line was “You’re not you when you’re hungry.” If you have ever experienced being “hangry,” then you can identify… Matthew and Mark record this curious incident of Jesus and a fig tree (Matthew 21:18-22; Mark 11:12-14; 20-24). Apparently on Monday morning following his triumphal entry on the previous day, as Jesus and his disciples are headed into Jerusalem, he spots a fig tree and expecting to find some figs, he finds none. Jesus then curses the tree and the result is that it withers (poor fig tree!). So, was Jesus just hangry, or is there more to this story? From what I have learned, fig trees typically wouldn’t have had figs at this time of year, but since this particular one had fully leafed out, it could have been expected to have produced some early season figs. But it hadn’t. So, in a way, it was “false advertising,” looking like something on the outside, but different on the inside, producing no fruit. Now it would have been natural to see this as an “enacted parable,” where Jesus is pointing out how the Jews (their leaders, in particular) were doing the same kind of thing, and that God was going to take action like Jesus did. Perhaps that is one layer of this story, but that isn’t where Jesus goes. He goes to prayer. When the disciples ask him “How did this happen?” he speaks of faith and prayer and withering fig trees and moving mountains. “Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith” (21:22). I’ll be honest. Like many believers, I struggle with this teaching. I pray and I ask. I desire to move mountains, and I don’t even get a molehill. I get discouraged, wondering what’s wrong with my faith. Was Jesus deliberately exaggerating to drive home the point of faith in prayer? I think so, but the issue remains: Do I expect God to actually answer my prayers? What do you think?
An Angry Young Man?
April 26, 2022 • Ed Green • Matthew 21:12–17
Through the years I’ve seen many screen depictions of Jesus. A few are Franco Zeffirelli’s "Jesus of Nazareth," Scorsese’s "The Last Temptation of Christ," Jim Caviezel’s portrayal in "The Passion of the Christ," and most recently, in "The Chosen." All have a different take on Jesus. There are a lot of gaps in our knowledge of Jesus that the Gospels leave unfilled. One perspective of Jesus was that he was an “angry young man,” a firebrand prophet who was executed for challenging the status quo and those in power. I guess in a very narrow sense, that holds a grain of truth. But Jesus was not an angry, out-of-control street preacher. When Jesus entered into Jerusalem, Matthew tells us that he went into the Temple, and began flipping tables and driving out the money changers and profiteers. Did Jesus just “lose it”? Was this an instance of “donkey rage,” assuming Jesus still had it close (sorry I couldn’t resist…)? What the Gospels tell us is that Jesus was motivated by his desire to honor his Father and how his Temple was to be a house of prayer. We learn, however, that Matthew has abbreviated his account of this event. The Gospel of Mark tells us, on that Sunday following the triumphal entry, “Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve” (11:11). The next day, Jesus entered the temple courts and caused all the ruckus. Jesus was deliberate in his actions that day. He didn’t fly off the handle, but intentionally chose the kind of demonstration that would call attention to what was happening. I’m sure that evening Jesus had spent time in prayer and reflection on the Scriptures about what was going on, and led by the Spirit, took what was his next right step. What would it look like for us to follow in Jesus’ footsteps as we wrestle with injustices in our own day? Do you get angry? In your passion for what may be right, do you end up doing more harm than good? What might be a better way?
Shhh!!
April 25, 2022 • Ed Green • Matthew 21:1–11
Are you very good at keeping secrets? Did you ever have a friend who entrusted you with something personal that was really, really important, that they wanted you to keep secret? Maybe it was when you discovered there was a child on the way, and you couldn’t tell anyone yet. Kind of hard, isn’t it! Consistently throughout Jesus’ ministry, with few exceptions, he told people he healed (and even his disciples) NOT to tell others who he was or the things he did. Theologians have come to call this the “messianic secret.” We are never told why in the gospels, but I guess the best reason is that it allowed Jesus to preach and teach and heal longer than he could have otherwise; in this way he had more control of the timing of when things would fully unfold. But with what is generally considered to be the beginning of Jesus’ final week, Jesus rides into Jerusalem for the feast of Passover on a donkey, with crowds of pilgrims crying out “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9). And it really didn’t bother Jesus. In fact, in so doing he fulfilled prophecy and was openly proclaiming that he was the Messiah (for those who paid attention to such things). Later, in the temple when some children were crying out the same thing, it irritated some of the religious leaders and they asked him, “Do you hear what they are saying?” This is how he responded: “Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” (21:16). The secret was out! and those words set in motion a series of events in the most tragic and wonderful week in all of history.