Skip to main content

Blogging Matthew - Chapter 20


Three times in Matthew Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to Jerusalem, where he will be killed. The first, in chapter 16 is where we read of Peter's objection and Jesus' response of "get behind me Satan." The second comes in chapter 17. In this instance, the disciples, we are told, are distressed but we have none of the bravado in the earlier event. Finally, in chapter 20, we find the third declaration but absolutely no response from the disciples.

Matthew places this third declaration between the parable of the early and late workers in the first part of the chapter, and the story of who will be on Jesus' right and left hands in the kingdom. A story of the generosity of God on one side, and a power grab on the other, book-ending if you will, Jesus' final declaration of his going to die at the hands of the powerful in Jerusalem.

Jesus' response to the power grab is a reminder that the kingdom of God has set up leadership and priorities different from the world's. Those who would be first among God's people will give themselves for others, just as Jesus will do in Jerusalem. Immediately after this lesson Matthew gives the opening of the eyes of two blind men - who just want to see.

It's interesting that matthew gives us two blind men at this juncture - Mark records one, and that they "want to see." Could this be Matthew's way of juxtaposing the blindness of Zebedee's sons with these two physically blind men who, instead of arguing over who's "better," just want to see. It seems that this is what Jesus has wanted for his disciples - that they see what he's about. 

In these three statements of Jesus' death, we are reminded of his having set  his face toward Jerusalem. It is time for his mission to come to its end and he is stoically set on seeing it through. Knowing he will be mistreated; knowing he will be killed, he nevertheless continues his ministry to those around him. Single-focused and yet still ministering, still present to those around him. Single-focused and ministry become one and the same.

Our calling is the same as Jesus': to give ourselves for others, knowing that we will be insulted, dismissed, and even placed in danger by those around us and even those in power. How do we, you, wade into this calling?

Have you set your face toward self-denial, or are you jockying for position? Have your eyes been opened, or are you still seeing through world lenses?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

He Remembers We Are But Flesh

In Job, often considered the first book written in the Bible, we are introduced to the accuser. In the introduction to the book, it is the accuser who accuses Job of being righteous and faithful to God only because of the blessings that God has given Job. We find the accuser again in Zechariah 3. The High Priest Joshua is standing in front of the Lord in filthy clothes, and the accuser is making accusations. The Lord rebukes the accuser and then says that he will cleanse Joshua.  Then in the New Testament, we see the appearance of the Advocate. The Spirit, we are told, is sent to walk beside us, to be a witness, to be an advocate for us. The accuser challenges us, questions our faithfulness, and questions our integrity as people who are supposed to follow God as His people, His disciples. This is an entre for being blamed and shamed. But God comes alongside us and advocates for us. We are told too that Jesus is our mediator with God. Jesus defends us and explains us to God so that ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Elders redux

A reader (I am always amazed that people actually read this blog) submitted a rather long comment on the original post on Elders. It is apparent that the reader did some good homework as the comment has several, well, more than several, reference citations. It is clear that they both read the original post and did some Bible study before posting their comment. Because the comment was so long, I thought it appropriate to post another entry rather than bury the response in the comment log. In the following discussion, I have included the text of the comment without the Scripture references. If you want to read the comment in its entirety, scroll to the Elders post and click on the comment. --------------------------------------------------------- [Comment~~~~The church is expected to be a people in exactly this sense. We are the people of God who are charged with continuing and preserving the values, culture, hopes, and the identity of God’s people in our time.~~~~ Does this include th...
7 comments
Read more

Remember You Were Slaves

In his essay "Mishpatim: Healing the Heart of Darkness*," Jonathan Sacks makes the argument that tribalism can, and usually does, give rise to acceptance, compassion, and social bonding but also to fear, hate, and demeaning others. Those in our group give and receive the former from us, those outside our group receive and often give the latter. We humans have the capacity of empathy toward those like us but we also, being finite beings, suffer from fear and that fear too often translates to hate of those not like us.  Sacks then reminds us that Israel was told not to hate the outsider, the one who isn't in our group. He quotes two passages from Exodus: "You must not mistreat or oppress the stranger in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once strangers in the land of Egypt." (22.21) "You must not oppress strangers. You know what it feels like to be a stranger, for you yourselves were once strangers in the land of Egypt." (23.9) Sacks then...
Post a Comment
Read more