Day 39: Matthew 25:31-46, 26:1-13

“But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, ‘Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me.’” - Matthew 26:10 ESV

I am a practical thinker. I got it from my dad. He could almost be compared to a miser. Always looking for a cost-efficient way to do something, never replacing anything unless it absolutely needs it. Yet when it comes to generosity, my dad isn't like that. I tried to pin him down once by asking what percentage he and Mom give to the church from their income (I know, super personal question). He actually said he had started at 10% when they got married and climbed from there and wasn't quite sure what it was now.

My Dad? The miser? With unbridled generosity? Mind blown.

All of us, if we are honest, cringe a little bit (or a lot) when we see what this woman (Mary of Bethany) did to prepare Jesus for his burial. This ointment that she used is identified by Mark and John as “nard,” an extremely expensive luxury that was imported from India (used especially for anointing the dead).

With this extravagant gift, many believe she was also declaring to everyone that she believed that this man was the Messiah.

How about our generosity? Does it clip the bare minimum, or would others question our sanity to learn how much we are giving?

We will regret many things in this life, but being generous toward God is not one of them.

I'll let H.D.M. Spence close us today with these powerful words: "A work that proved her zeal, reverence, and faith. Mary had always been devout, contemplative, loving. She had learned much at the grave of Lazarus; she was full of gratitude at the wonderful restoration of her brother’s life; she had often heard Christ speak of his decease, and knew that it was close at hand, realizing that which the chosen apostles were still slow to believe; so she was minded to make this costly offering. And Christ saw her motive, and graciously accepted it.” - Spence-Jones, H. D. M. (Ed.). (1909). St. Matthew (Vol. 2, p. 516)

Day 38: Matthew 25:1-30

“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’” - Matthew‬ ‭25:21‬ ‭ESV‬‬

We have two parables from Jesus in our reading today.

Don’t you feel a little sorry for the five virgins that didn’t come prepared and the one slave who, out of fear, buried his talent? We may feel this way because all of us have had moments where we didn’t take our faith in Jesus as seriously as we should’ve.

Another thing that you may have noticed was that there were firm boundaries in place between the five prepared virgins and the unprepared ones, and the two slaves who invested and the one who buried. Though you and I can spend hours sowing Gospel seeds into others’ lives, ultimately, it is their decision to take a step of faith. It is on them to take it from admiring Jesus to believing in Him.

If we do genuinely follow Jesus, we will naturally throw ourselves into being prepared for His coming. We will be making investments with what He has already invested in us.

This is the second day in a row we’ve talked about preparedness. Jesus doesn't want us to miss this one.

We are also reminded in our reading that God intends to double down on his investment in those who are properly using the gifts He's given them.

"God pours more into a full vessel but not into an empty one." - Keener, C. S. (2009). The Gospel of Matthew (p. 600)

Day 37: Matthew 24:29-51

“Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” - Matthew‬ ‭24:44‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The Greek word used here for “ready” (hetoimos) can also be translated as “prepared.”

Most of us are really good at preparing for guests when we know the time they are coming. Just this morning, we were racing all over our house to prepare for a visit from family. If they had shown up last night, we would have been like 😳.

Jesus wants us prepared for when he returns, and we aren’t given a time, day, or year. Because of a lack of a timetable, we often lose any urgency we had in the beginning.

How can we stay ready, prepared, and awake?

1 Peter 1:13 is a verse we should think about a lot: “So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.”

Isn’t it cool to think about the action that will take place when Jesus returns?

In the meantime, may we keep active in our care for others and our worship of the One who will come again: Jesus. Otherwise, we will find ourselves on the outside of His protective love at the end of time.

"One must therefore be vigilant and ever ready to avoid the risk of being caught up in the consuming judgment of God." - Chouinard, L. (1997). Matthew (Mt 24:43–44)

Day 36: Matthew 24:1-28

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” - Matthew 24:14 ESV

In our reading for today, Jesus predicts in detail what will later happen to Jerusalem and the temple in A.D. 70 at the Romans' hands. The tricky part in Matthew 24 is trying to decipher when Jesus is talking about the destruction of Jerusalem and when He's talking about His second coming at the end of time.

I lean toward the dividing line being between today's reading and tomorrow's. It is fun to study and reflect upon. Either way, we see that Christianity (from the outset) was intended to be taken to all people.

R.T. France does a great job describing this idea: "The world is oikoumenē, lit. ‘the inhabited area,’ a standard term originally for the Greek world (as opposed to barbarians), then for the Roman Empire, and subsequently for the whole of the then known world; it is thus not so much a geographical term which must include every area and community now known to be on earth, but rather an indication of the universal offer of the gospel to all nations, i.e., outside the confines of the Jewish community." *

At any rate, we can be confident in this one thing: Jesus knows the future like he knows our present and our past. He is constantly seeing time (as we know it) as a landscape. He truly is what John records in Revelation 22:13: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."

Do you think you can trust Jesus with your future that you keep worrying about? If we haven't realized it yet, there is so much in this world that is outside of our control. We would do well to entrust our future to the One who can take control.

*France, R. T. (1985). Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 1, p. 342)

Day 35: Matthew 23:13-39

“So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” - ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭23:28‬ ‭ESV‬‬

There are really two things at play in this life:

1) Who we are.

2) What we do.

Jesus calls these religious “leaders” hypocrites. Matthew uses the Greek word hypokritēs; it can also be translated as “pretenders.”

What they were doing was coming from a place of fraudulence. This should be one of our greatest fears as Christians. It is the danger that what we are doing becomes more and more distant from who we are becoming.

Want to be a more devoted follower of Jesus? Want transformation to take place in your life? Let God do what He has always wanted to accomplish. Allow Him to transform you internally so that your obedience to Him can flow freely.

Pursue first.

Walk by faith second.

Be amazed at what God can do in your life today and every day from here on out.

SIDE NOTE ABOUT THE WHITEWASHED TOMBS:

“Tombs were whitewashed regularly at festival time to ensure that passers-by did not inadvertently touch them and so become defiled (Mishnah Shekalim 1:1; cf. Ma‘aser Sheni 5:1). This custom is generally assumed to be the background to Jesus’ words, but that whitewashing was not a mark of beauty but rather a warning of uncleanness, repulsive rather than attractive.” - France, R. T. (1985). Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 1, p. 332). InterVarsity Press.

Day 34: Matthew 22:34-46, 23:1-12

“The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” - Matthew‬ ‭23:11-12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Matthew seems to spend so much time focusing on greatness. From slaves to children, he challenges us on how we view ourselves and each other. He uses the Greek word tapeinoo here for “humbled” and “humbles.” It can also be translated as “to lower or decrease in size.”

If we view ourselves as having more value than someone else, we will always hesitate to serve them. I mean, isn’t the goal of this life to become so successful that you can have other people do the hard work for you?

Jesus would say no. He not only said this with His mouth, but He also said it with His life.

Jesus was never above stooping down low. Aren’t you glad this was the case? He touched the unclean. He washed feet. He spoke with rejected women. He chose those no one else wanted to choose.

Paul said it well when he wrote: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich,” and "being found in human form, he humbled (tapeinoo) himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (2 Corinthians 8:9, Philippians 2:8)

Jesus' humility made room for his incredible love, which gave us the greatest example of servant-leadership the world has ever seen.

Has your pride stunted your ability to grow in love and as a leader? Choose humility and let's see what God will do next through you.

Day 33: Matthew 22:1-33

“For many are called, but few are chosen.” - Matthew‬ ‭22:14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

One of the things that our parents teach us from the beginning of our lives is to know how to dress appropriately for every occasion. Is there an impending winter storm with bone-chilling temperatures? You are not to wear shorts (though I see students every day disobeying this rule).

So, how about at the end of time? What kind of clothes will be appropriate to wear then? We may feel sorry for this guy who is singled out because of his attire that didn’t fit the occasion.

Yet, he didn’t prepare himself the right way. Yes, there is a right way and a wrong way in this life.

Jesus said, in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me.”

We also know what Paul said in Galatians 3:26-27: “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

Go ahead and prepare yourself for the end of time by going all-in with your trust in Jesus. You won’t regret it.

We actually had a student in our ministry at IUPUI who showed up to our 8 am Life Group one time in a stunning outfit. Dress, shoes, hair, the whole bit. The rest of us were barely awake and chilling in sweats. We, of course, asked her, “Why are you all dressed up?” She responded, “Dress well, test well.” She prepared for each test by dressing to the max.

We would do well to take her advice when it comes to clothing ourselves with Jesus. May we dress well so that we test well when this life is all said and done.

"The closing proverbial saying, (For many are invited, but few are chosen) succinctly sums up why this man has been ejected. He is of the class of those who have been invited, but not chosen. In other words, he responded favorably to the gracious invitation, but refused to fully embrace the norms of the kingdom, as indicated by his lack of proper attire. On the other hand, those who are chosen (ἐκλεκτοί, eklektoi) are those who take seriously their calling and freely adhere to the demands of discipleship." - Chouinard, L. (1997). Matthew (Mt 22:14)

Day 32: Matthew 21:23-46

“‘Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.'” - Matthew 21:31

What a bold statement for Jesus to make about these Jewish "experts." How dare Jesus declare that the "sinners" would be welcomed into His kingdom before them. They had done all of the studying. They had memorized all 39 books of the Old Testament. Their entire lives were wrapped up in this system they had created. In Jesus, they saw a threat to unravel all they had accomplished. Little did they know that by killing Him, they would be initiating something that would spread much further and deeper into Jewish culture (and the entire world).

What had the tax collectors and prostitutes done differently? They didn't possess more knowledge. They purely believed (see vs. 32).

Beware of learning for the sake of bolstering your pride. May we always learn to increase our trust in the name of Jesus.

Feel like you don't know enough? Jesus has you right where He wants you. May we "press on to know Him" (Hosea 6:3) for the rest of our lives.

"We must remark that the Lord has no censure for those who sometime were disobedient, but afterwards repented; his rebuke falls on the professors and self-righteous, who ought to have been leaders and guides, and were in truth impious and irreligious. - Spence-Jones, H. D. M. (Ed.). (1909). St. Matthew (Vol. 2, p. 323)

Day 31: Matthew 20:29-34, 21:1-22

“And Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and thrown into the sea, it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.’” - Matthew 21:21-22 ESV

How is your prayer life? What are you currently asking God to do that is beyond your ability to accomplish?

Maybe we read through a Scripture like this one, and we think, "That isn't how prayer works in my life." Perhaps we pray, and then we don't see the answers we had wanted or expected from God. This disappointment can be super demotivating for our future attempts to pray.

Two things to take note of from our reading for today:

1) The two blind men didn't stop with their request for Jesus' mercy. The Greek used for “cried out” (krazo) is a word given in present tense continuous action. They had asked more than twice, despite the crowd rebuking them.

2) Jesus ends by saying, "...if you have faith." Trust is required. We have to go all in and believe that God is capable of moving mountains and fig trees.

"God, help us to pray with more consistency and trust, starting today! In Jesus' name, we pray, Amen."

"Matthew thus provides about as dramatic an illustration as one could conceive of God enabling us to do that which seems humanly impossible. This should inspire confidence in his ability to empower us for lesser feats as well." - Blomberg, C. (1992). Matthew (Vol. 22, p. 318)

Day 30: Matthew 20:1-28

“‘Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” So the last will be first, and the first last.” - Matthew‬ ‭20:15-16‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Most of us in the United States are conditioned as we grow up to be competitive. This isn’t just when it comes to sports. It is literally everywhere. Grades, appearances, promotions, relationships, and even churches are areas where we see competitiveness play out. Unwilling to compete? You will get stepped on or looked over.

Then Jesus tells the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard and blows our competitive capitalism to pieces. The bottom line of the parable is that grace is never earned; it is always given.

We also see that we serve a God who is always looking for ways to be generous. Jesus will later say, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:32)

We are all invited. It doesn’t matter when we turn to Jesus. It only matters that we do turn.

Do you feel like you’re on the outside of Christianity because you’ve waited so long? It isn’t too late to turn toward our generous Savior for salvation.

"Salvation is ultimately grounded in the sheer goodness of God and cannot be calculated in legal terms. Since all kingdom rewards depend on God’s grace there should be no place for self-promotion or jealousy over how God treats the undeserving." - Chouinard, L. (1997). Matthew (Mt 20:16)