Today, I
decided I wanted to do a summary of Jesus life.
We have been in Matthew for quite some time and have looked at the Words
of Jesus and the Actions of Jesus. As
Christians we are called to be “Christ-like” in our words and actions. For some, they think of the gentleness of
Jesus. The forgiving Spirit of
Jesus. They think that as a Christians
we should be all about peacemaking and never confrontations. While I believe it is wonderful to have a
calm, gentle spirit, I also believe that there are times that we are to
confront our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Conflict is inevitable but how we handle that confrontation can either
be Christ-like or humanistic.
First of all I was
drawn to Matthew 5:17-20, 17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish
the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth
disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any
means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these
commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the
kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be
called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that
of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the
kingdom of heaven.”
God gave the law to
Moses and Jesus makes it clear that the law remains. He fulfilled the law, something none of us
can say that we have done on our own. We
can only do it through the blood of Jesus Christ. He also tells us that the law can be summed
up in two commands, Matthew 22: 37 – 39,
37 Jesus
replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Confrontation
is between us and God. How did Jesus handle this?
Throughout the Old Testament
we see that the people were commanded to Love the Lord their God with all their
heart, soul, and strength/mind. Jesus
too calls us to do this. Yet there are
times in our lives that disappointments come, troubles come, heartbreaks come
and we find ourselves questioning why God allowed it to happen. Is that okay?
As I looked back at the ten commandments I see that He is saying not to
put anything before Him. It does not say
that we cannot question Him or call out to Him.
But, when our TV quits working and we use the Lord’s
name to swear at it, as we
throw the controls, have we not broken two of the commandments?
Looking at Jesus for the
answer we can find Him in the garden just before the crucifixion crying to the
Father with sweat like blood drops. I believe Jesus loved His earthly body and
did not want it to go through any pain yet He put God before Himself when He
said, Matthew 26: 39, 39 Going a little
farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible,
may this cup(A) be
taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Ultimately we need
to give in to God’s will. His ways are
best even when we don’t seem to think that they are. Even when they sting.
Confrontation
with the evil one.
Jesus had this
conflict out in the desert after fasting for 40 days. Do you think that He just didn’t eat or do
you think He was so much in communion with God that He didn’t take time to
eat? Was He led into the wilderness
without time to plan for His trip or did He know exactly what He was doing and
why He was doing it? I have to believe that
He knew what He was doing, that He didn’t eat because He knew that satan would
be coming to attack Him. Even though He
was physically weak He was spiritually strong.
That is how we too need to approach life. When we are at our lowest moment in life that
is when we apply all of those truths that we learned in our high moments. When we have taken time to commune with the
Lord we will be stronger through those tough times when satan comes to attack
us. When our friends, like Peter, are
used by satan to try to convince us that we are wrong even though we know that
God is working through us. When people
come to us and say that we are going through hard times because of our
spiritual life we need to be able to examine our spiritual life and make sure
that it is intact. And when they tell us
lies we can respond back with the very Words of God.
Next time, Lord
willing, we will look at the confrontations with others and how Jesus handled
them and how we too should handle them.
Until then, be sure
to seek Him to guide you through your life’s pain and misery and have blessed
communion with Him during your times of joy and peace.
Seeking Him with
all my heart,
Sheila
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