NINETEEN DAYS TO EASTER!
Reading for Tuesday, March 16:
Matthew 22:1-14 & 15-40
Mark 12:13-34
Luke 20:20-40
Matthew 22:1-14 is another of Jesus' messages to the religious leaders - but there is a definite application to us. God (the King) invites us to a wedding banquet as well. But, as was the custom 2000 years ago, He also provides the wedding garment we are to wear. That garment is accepting Jesus Christ as the one and only Savior, which is the one and only way to be accepted to the banquet. The message here and elsewhere is clear: some will insult the King by trying to come in their own clothing, by their own good deeds if you will....and they will be thrown out of the banquet. The invitation is to all, but the only ones who can enter the banquet hall are those who have chosen Jesus the Messiah as their Lord. His righteousness is imputed to us in that act of submission.
Matthew and Mark both report the portion of the story I want to focus on for today. My posts get too long when I try to tackle every story! I like Mark's version best. A Pharisee comes to Jesus, and asks, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" Mark reports Jesus' response as, "The most important one is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
In one simple forthright response, Jesus condensed the 10 commandments to two: Love God with all you are; and love others as much as you love yourself. Simple - and practically impossible without the Lord's help! I love that Mark adds strength. We are to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind ... and strength. With passion, spiritual intention, intellect ... and energy. Mark's report of Jesus' statement doesn't leave us in the ethereal, it includes what we do - expending our energy to demonstrate our love.
Then he adds 'to love our neighbor' - and knowing that Jesus calls the despised Samaritan's relationship with the wounded Jew one of 'neighbor' we know this is not exclusive. It definitely goes beyond our comfort zone. We may have a neighbor in our neighborhood who challenges us in this area - but it is far more than that - our neighbor is the world. Our neighbor includes those who hate us and/or our country. I love deeply - love my family, love my friends, love many people in many relationships - - but what about the young man who murdered my husband's brother? Could I honestly say I love him? What about those who molest children? or do other heinous crimes?
What a relief it was to me to learn that this is not referring to warm, fuzzy love, but to doing the right thing. It is a love of action. It is taking care of the unlovely by providing for their needs in the kindest way possible. It is extending courtesy and grace. I don't have to rely on my emotions, but on my behavior and my actions as my demonstration of love. I know I can only achieve this through the power of the Holy Spirit - but love in this case is an action verb. We demonstrate God's love to the world. We learn to see through His eyes, and to be His hand extended offering HOPE!
Of course, Jesus does narrow the playing field to begin with - and clarifies that the Lord is one. God is not 'they.' I heard someone refer to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit as 'they' recently - and it stunned me. While each of those are aspects of God, God is One.
When I was a girl the way it was explained to me was that God was like a family of 3 who all share the same last name. Wrong! Another person in church said God was like an egg: 3 parts - yolk, white and shell - but they all make up one egg. Still not a good example. The example I believe God inspired to me a couple of years ago was that of H2O - most familiarly known as the symbol for water. Water, ice and steam are all H2O - but they are in very different forms, and each form has its own purpose. God is One, whether He is in the form of Father, of Spirit, or of Son. It is a mystery just beyond our total grasp for now - we just have to accept it on faith....
Humor for today:
(Part 3 of Children's Bible in a Nutshell)
After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of the New. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. (I wish I had been born in a barn, too, because my mom is always saying to me, 'Close the door! Were you born in a barn?' It would be nice to say, 'As a matter of fact, I was.')
During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Democrats.
Jesus also had twelve opossums.
The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so terrible that they named a terrible vegetable after him.
Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount.
But the Democrats and all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot. The Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead.
Anyway, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again. He went up to Heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution.
The end....
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