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Responding Appropriately
Dear Friends,
When Pastor Ewan asked me to preach this Sunday, I was happy to fill-in. Then I began to look through the parables and was reminded of something… they are intense! Jesus’ parables grab our attention, and they do so through graphic imagery and hyperbole. Jesus does not mince words.
Our scripture this week comes on the heels of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. He directs three parables at the Pharisees, and they all involve a person of importance (father, landowner, and king) and a son (or sons). The parables center around the Kingdom of God and who will be included. It must have been a shock to the Pharisees—who presumed it would include them—to find themselves on the outside. But, lest we point our fingers at the Pharisees, these parables also have something to say to us, those who were invited from the outside. Jesus’ parables should be as shocking now as they were then!
As we prepare for worship this Sunday, I would encourage you to read through the whole series of parables (Matthew 21:28-22:14). Notice the use of a son in each parable. What is required of the characters in parables? How do they respond? In all of this, there are certain expectations of those in the parables. How might Jesus be using these stories to reveal what is expected of us?
I look forward to seeing you Sunday!
In Christ,
Alex
Judgment, Hell & Rejection
Dear Friends,
“Wait! Again, Jesus?! Why another parable about judgement, hell, the fiery furnace, and the weeping and gnashing of teeth? “
This Sunday, and next week in our Daily Worship Devotions, we come to the last in a series of six parables Jesus tells in Matthew 13 to disrupt and re-orientate his followers expectations about what the Kingdom of God was going to be like. When Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God, he’s describing what it will look like for us to follow him in this world – his world, i.e., to be a Christian. However, this sixth and concluding parable is very similar in concept, meaning, and language to one he just told – the Parable of the Weeds.
Why would Jesus do that? Why tell two parables so similar? Especially given that the focus of both is on judgement, hell, the fiery furnace, and the weeping and gnashing of teeth! These are the types of questions I believe we are meant to ask when we see something like this in the Bible. Jesus isn’t forgetful. He’s not a bad editor and he doesn’t need a speechwriter to help him with a more positive message and conclusion.
I say all that because I confess, as a pastor and preacher, I have not liked preaching about judgement, hell, the fiery furnace, and the weeping and gnashing of teeth! But it’s obvious that Jesus believed it was an important topic for us to face and grapple with. I’ve been grappling with this for a while.
Take some time to read this concluding parable and the rejection of Jesus that follows in Matthew 13:47-58. Those two things go together. Consider the following as you read, reflect, and mediate on God’s Word:
- How is this parable similar to the Parable of the Weeds – and why?
- How is this parable different from the Parable of the Weeds – and why?
- Has my familiarity with Jesus and his people led me to think less of his authority over my life?
Yours in Christ’s love,
Pastor Ewan
The Investment That’s Worth the Risk
Dear Friends,
Confused, disappointed, alarmed, second-guessing, and maybe overwhelmed.
I think that’s how the followers and disciples of Jesus must have felt as they listened to his parables in Matthew 13. The recurring phrase in the Psalms, “Your waves have overwhelmed me,” comes to mind. In four back-to-back parables, Jesus has relentlessly challenged and disrupted their expectations as to what it will mean, look like, and entail to follow him in this world. As we have seen in the those first four parables, the Kingdom of God was going to be a minority experience – messy, imperfect, rejected, and struggling. If John the Baptist, the one God anointed to announce and baptize the Messiah, was now doubting that Jesus was “The One,” it’s not a stretch to figure the disciples were probably wondering, “What have I gotten myself into?” I wonder if Matthew 13 was another moment like John 6 where, “After this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.”
Grappling with the true state of Christianity in the USA hasn’t just helped explain, in the midst of media misinformation, “how we got here,” it has also opened my eyes to see the timely relevance and truth of Jesus’ parables in Matthew 13. I believe we are in a season of being disrupted by God and reality to reconsider what it means to be Christ followers in our world – how hard it will be, how few of us there are, and what it is going to cost us.Read More
