Can you imagine being the public relations guy for Jesus? Apparently some politicians have ‘spin doctors’ at hand to help with their ongoing presentation to maximise popularity.
Matthew chapters 19 and 20 (and there’s a reason for the two, which I’ll come to later) reads like a spin doctor’s nightmare. Throughout gospel presentations disciples like Judas and Peter looked to help Jesus when it came across as though He wasn’t saying things that would be appealing or befitting of the Messiah.
Although Jesus was not necessarily on top of the Pharisees’ Christmas Card list (work that out, please!) with the odd exception His teachings and healings continued to gain the popularity of the masses. The issues He addresses in these two chapters will again set out quite clearly why the demands of Kingdom living are not demands that we are able to do by ourselves. They would stun and challenge those who were in the crowd around Him as well as those who had chosen to follow Him.
The standard on divorce should continue to challenge people today. Especially with the growing rate of divorces in societies like England’s reflecting on the challenges that Jesus shows in what we do when considering marriage. Jesus’ call to the original plan for marriage reinvests it with such importance that it’s not a case of treating it lightly as a rite of passage or something to consider engaging in because it ‘feels right’. It is a commitment we enter which has lifetime implications and that is why even the disciples suggest that perhaps its better to stay single.
The reminder of child-like faith being a key to the kingdom because all the more important when we consider the standards that Jesus establishes before and after the statement. Child-like faith expresses complete dependency on parents for sustenance, direction and care needed to become all that we can be. That is character forming, if we allow it to be.
No sooner has He reminded us of that than comes the episode of the ‘rich young ruler’. What is interesting about this episode is how the guy follows so quickly from Jesus saying there’s a need for child-like approach to faith and this young dude typifies anything but a child-like approach. Without reading too much into the guy, it is clear that his relationship to God is about covering the bases – even if it’s done with the best intentions, if the call to follow God causes us to be exposed to who our real gods are then it’s all we need to know about where we really stand.
What is particularly illuminative about the episode is not just the rich young man’s response, but those of the disciples as well. The exacting demands of Kingdom living calls for us to forsake the standards the world gives to success. Even to the disciples Jesus marks out the key to successful child-like faith – understanding that left up to our own efforts whether in marriage,in treatment of children, when it comes to material goods it is impossible to truly be ‘saved’ but that is where dependence on God makes these things possible.
To connect chapter 20 to this, it is important to read the story of the master who hires servants to work for him in the light of the Kingdom standard Jesus mentions in the last verse of chapter 19 where those who are first will be last and vice-versa – it’s not about my achievements or abilities, it is all about what God does through us.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
dmcd
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