The View from the West Mesa

The season of Advent is one of both anticipation and preparation. The anticipation is the aspect we associate with joyous celebration. Israel had a history of being oppressed by other countries and now she was under the thumb of the most powerful country in the world. Israel wanted, hoped for, release from her oppressor - and some of her own people who cooperated with  the occupiers. Israel yearned for and anticipated the day that her salvation would come; the day her God would rescue her from her torment. So Advent recalls  Israel’s anticipation of her deliverance, and through Israel, the world’s reception of her Creator. Israel’s history though, also provided the reason she was being oppressed—she was guilty of not having sufficient faith in her God; of not following him, and not embodying his character. So, Advent  includes not only anticipation of salvation, but also a realization of why she and we needed rescuing. Advent includes self reflection, or examining...

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 d...

“Go and tell John what you hear and see.” John has sent his disciples to find out if Jesus is Messiah, the one Israel has been awaiting. You see, John’s in prison and his world doesn’t seem to be working for him lately. He’s been out in the wilderness eating honey and bugs, preaching and arguing with self-righteous Jews, and pretty much getting his legs and feet water logged. More recently though, he’s been arrested and is sitting in Herod’s prison, and he won’t get out alive. Maybe he knows that, maybe he doesn’t. I suspect though, that he’d exchange the cell for water logged feet without much coercion.  Jesus doesn’t answer John’s disciples directly. Instead, he talks around the answer, expecting them to draw their own conclusion based on what has been going on. These signs, he says, that I’ve been doing – healing folks, restoring sight, raising the dead – what do they tell you?  Keep in mind that John is Jesus’ cousin, that John baptized him and presumabl...

I desire mercy, not sacrifice. This short sentence appears twice in Matthew, once in chapter 9 and again in chapter 12. In the first instance the form is “Go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,” and appears at the end of an exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees who were complaining (read: judging) about Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners. Our phrase is this instance comes between two statements about those considered Less-Than: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick…For I have come not to call the righteous, but sinners.” It is the mercy of God that moves him to go to those who are on the outside of proper society, to people who were routinely ostracized by the righteous ones. Jesus isn’t interested in the right sacrifices done at the Temple by people whose hearts avoid considering those on whom they look in disgust. If the Pharisees considered themselves as OK with God, why would the merciful God come t...

The leper comes to Jesus having heard of his ministry, of his having healed various people apparently without reserve. Based on what he has heard or perhaps seen, the leper approaches Jesus and kneels in front of him. His words are “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” Jesus’ response is a simple and straight forward: He stretched out his hand and said “I will; be clean.” The force in these two verses is greater than “if you want to you can make me clean.” In this version, it seems as though maybe this is just a whim of Jesus’ taken on the spur of the moment. Much like you or I might pull into Dairy Queen having noticed it on our way somewhere else. Or perhaps in response to a question something like, “would you like ketchup on your hamburger?” This is no spur of the moment question or response. The force of this word here is closer to “this is what I have come to do; I will it.” Jesus willed this leper’s healing because this is what he had come to do. If we can ...

Perhaps the most famous teaching of Jesus is the Sermon on the Mount, with its Beatitudes and warning against judging. Spanning three chapters early in the Gospel, Jesus’ teaching challenges then-standard understandings of how life is supposed to work. This section includes the Lord’s Prayer, loving enemies, the Golden Rule, and the basis of the children’s song “The Wise Man Builds His House Upon the Rock.” Take a moment and read chapters 5-7, and notice what is not in this discourse. Among discussions of humility, anger, sexual purity and personal integrity, prayer, fasting, security, and following Jesus, there is no mention of things “church” – except in 5.23-24. Jesus’ interest in this section is teaching about character in the midst of real life and he challenges the popular (then and now) notion that the right way to live is to look out for Number One. Jesus clearly teaches that looking out for Number One is antithetical to life in the kingdom. The culmination of the Ser...

The gospel invitation occurs, or is alluded to several times in Matthew. One of the most complete is found in his 11 th chapter, verses 28-30, which reads: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (ESV) I refer to this as one of the most complete invitations to salvation because it provides a more comprehensive teaching. In doing so, it leads us toward the concept that we are saved today, for transformation and changed lives. Both Jesus and John the Baptist preach messages that point to the immediacy of the kingdom of God, and the necessity of repentance in light of the coming kingdom. Salvation isn’t simply, or even predominantly a legal exchange occurring once and which is forever set. No, salvation is a change of life that must find its expression in our lives. “Come to m...