Matthew 16--Bread

Matthew records several stories about bread in close proximety to each other. I don't think that's a coincidence. Matthew 14--Jesus feeds the 5,000. Matthew 15--Jesus feeds the 4,000. And then today's reading...

“The talmidim, when crossing to the other side of the lake, forgot to bring any bread” (Matt. 16:5, Jewish New Testament). Jesus has been pretty clear recently—he doesn’t need bread to feed people. Are all of these miracles really about bread? It seems to me that most everything Jesus does isn't just about the miracle, but it has a deeper, more profound meaning.

In Matthew 16, Jesus himself points out here when warning the disciples of the leaven of the Pharisees that bread refers to teaching.


The talmidim (disciples) forgetting to bring any bread symbolizes their lack of faith expressed by how worried they are that they forgot it. They had just watched Jesus feed masses of people with very little food, but they are quick to fret when they realize they didn’t bring any bread with them across the lake.

Is the lake significant? To the Israelite, the lake or sea represents Sheol. Were they going to the Decapolis? I'm not sure upon first reading, but either way, forgetting bread on their journey represents not taking Jesus’s own teaching to heart, since he is the Bread of Life.

God, help me to take your teachings to heart. Help me to trust in your care over me and to never worry because you are in control. Help me devote my life to your teachings. Nourish me through them. I want to devour your words, Father. Mold me through them. Shape me into the person you created me to be. I know it won’t be easy on me, but I know it will be worth it, not just for me, but also for your kingdom. Through the mighty name of Jesus, I pray, amen.

Matthew 15--A short prayer

Father, what is there in my life that I feel like is service to you that actually disgusts you? What traditions do I cling to that actually violate your will? Help me God to serve you with not just my lips, but my heart also.

Father, give me the boldness that comes from confidence in your will. Help me to say what needs to be said, when it needs to be said. Thank you, God, for giving me your Spirit so you can use me even when my own abilities fall short.

 I don’t want to be a blind guide, Lord, but I know I can’t see without you. Help me see things as they are. Help me to look past my own perceptions to see the reality in the world.

Strengthen my faith, God, because I know that even that comes from you. Help me to never forget all the miracles you've done in my life, and remove any doubt I might have about the miracles you have planned for the present and future. Amen.

Matthew 12--Sabbath

One thing that overwhelms me each time I try to write about my daily reading is the amount of content in the chapters in Matthew. There are so many powerful stories that are full of meaning, but where is the time to talk about all of them?

Matthew 12, though, has two stories about Sabbath, so Sabbath I shall write about. In the first story here, Jesus is walking through some wheat fields. The talmidim (disciples) get hungry, so they started picking heads of wheat and eating them. A Pharisee (who I guess was following Jesus as well) accuses Jesus’s talmidim of violating Sabbath. Rebuking the man with Scripture, Jesus tells of a time when David and his warriors also violated Sabbath. Quoting Hosea 6:6, Jesus reprimands the Pharisee, reminding him that God desires compassion (or mercy) over sacrifice. This story then closes with Jesus boldly claiming that “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Matt. 12:1-8)

This idea carries over directly into the next story (seemingly on the same Sabbath) when Jesus is in a synagogue and he shows compassion on a man who has a withered hand. Some there, who were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, ask Jesus if healing is permitted on the Sabbath. Jesus cuts directly to the heart of the issue with his response—he points out that if a sheep fell in a pit on the Sabbath that any one of them would help it out, and that when he heals someone, he is doing something more important than that because a man is more valuable than a sheep.

Jesus heals the man’s hand and the Pharisees begin to plot how to get rid of Jesus.

With Jesus attitude toward the Sabbath in these stories, as well as many others, one could get the impression that Sabbath is not important to Jesus. It would be easy to read this and say, “Get ‘em, Jesus! I don’t have to keep the Sabbath!” However, I don’t think that is what Jesus is saying at all.

Mark records these two stories in the same order (Mark 2:23-3:6), but he records an additional point that Jesus made: “And he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath’” (Mark 2:27-28, ESV).

This agrees with a rabbinic tradition that God didn’t just rest on the seventh day of creation, that he created rest. Rest isn’t something that naturally happens. God had to make room for it. And apparently, he made it for us. If he made it for us, then I would say that means we need it. The fact that it had to be made by God means that we, too, must make room for it.

Don’t think I’m advocating we keep Sabbath in exactly the same way Israel did. Obviously, in Jesus time at least, many had a misunderstanding of the purpose of the Sabbath, so it was abused and used to bind people. I think observing Sabbath, which was created for us, is intended to be a freeing action, and I firmly believe that observing Sabbath has a place in the Kingdom.

I’m also not saying that we should bind Sabbath only to Saturdays or to whole-day observance. We need to make room for being still in our lives. If that is one day a week, that’s great. If it’s a hour or two every day, that’s great too. My point is, we have to make time to be still.

At its heart, I feel like Sabbath is an act of faith. It’s an act of faith where we, as observers, are saying, “We didn’t create the world, and it can go on without us for now.” God is ultimately in control, and he made Sabbath for us.

As always, your comments are welcome. I might revise this a bit tonight... we'll see. :)

Divine Intervention--Matthew 2

Do you ever pray for divine intervention? I'm not talking about hardcore-miracle divine intervention. Almost on a daily basis, I find myself asking what God's will is for me in certain situations. While it's always good to seek God's guidance, sometimes I feel like I'm copping out, waiting for some sign-from-above that isn't going to come.

In Matthew 2, there are lots of signs-from-above. The Magi (or stargazers) get a clear sign that they are to follow in the form of a star. Then they received another clear sign in a dream that they were not to return to Herod. Then Joseph gets a clear sign in the form of a dream telling him to take his family to Egypt. After they've been in Egypt for a while, Joseph had another dream telling him that Herod was dead and to return to Israel. Before they get to Israel, Joseph is told in another dream to stop in Nazareth. Each one of these divine interventions seems to fulfill God's will, at least his prophecy.
I can't imagine how amazing it felt to be in Joseph's shoes when he was travelling. Can you imagine receiving direct word from God himself telling you exactly what he wanted you to do? What assurance he must have felt. What confidence. I'm guessing Joseph wasn't worried about much on their trip to Egypt. I'd say the robbers and the desert didn't seem like that big of a deal when you are on a mission given to you directly from God.

There are a couple of responses I tend to have about passages like these.

On one hand, my first instinct is to say that God will tell me exactly what he wants me to do and when he wants me to do it. Often, I want God to paint the answer to my questions in the sky. Shoot, sometimes I'd settle for a dry sheepskin in the morning… This train of thought usually ends in nothing but frustration (and dewy sheepskins), though, because God's signs don't appear where or when I think they should.
On the other hand, the more I think about it, the more I am comforted by this passage and the divine intervention it recounts. Ultimately, God's will is done. Nothing can stop his purpose for this world. Our own free wills may cause him to redirect his path, but nothing can stop the ultimate ending. There is no distance he cannot overcome. No ruler that he cannot overpower. Certainly, my own ignorance can't stop him from using me for his purpose. If I am willing, then I am confident that God will make sure I accomplish his will for my life. If that means he sends an angel to me in a dream, that's awesome. It would be great to have the assurance that Joseph had that he was doing exactly as God wanted.

At the same time, isn't it also a blessing to be able to live only on the faith that God is working behind the scenes to make sure things work out? After all, for those who love God, he is working through everything to ensure that good happens (Rom. 8:28).

Joseph knew exactly the will of God for him at those moments, and that was absolutely a blessing. But isn't not knowing, and having to simply trust, in some ways a greater blessing? Jesus told Thomas, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:29 NIV).

Even though I may not get a clear sign from above, I know that when I submit my will to God's will-he will use that for his glory. Divine intervention or not, I know he will never leave me. I know that he is faithful. I know that he is working through all things for good. Whether that is miraculous or not, God is divinely intervening every day, every moment.