A PRAYER TO START
We have everything, quite literally, all that is good, in Jesus, our dead and risen Savior. Because he gives us rights as sisters and brothers to be called children of our most high King, we can enjoy today in whatever it brings and life forever in what we know will be our future. In this truth we pray with John Ballie…
O Father, Creator of all things, I lift up my heart in gratitude to you for the happiness I found today and this week:
For the sheer joy of living;
For all the sights and sounds around me;
For the sweet peace of the country and the bustle of the city;
For friendship and good company;
For work to do and the skill and strength to do it;
For a time to rest and play and for health and glad heart to enjoy it all.
Yet let me never think, O eternal Father, that I am here to stay. Let me always remember that I am a stranger and pilgrim on earth. For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. Lord Jesus, by your grace prevent me from losing myself so much in the joys of earth that I have no longing left for the fuller joys of eternity. Do not let the happiness of today become a trap to my overworldly heart. And if this week instead of happiness I have suffered any disappointment or defeat, if there has been any sorrow where I hoped for joy, or sickness where I looked for health, give me grace to accept it as a loving reminder that this is not my home.
Thank you, Jesus, that you have set eternity so firmly in my heart that no earthly thing can ever fully satisfy me. Thank you that every present joy is so mixed with sadness and unrest that it makes my mind look up to the prospect of a more perfect joy. Above all, thank you Father for the sure hope and promise of eternal life in your presence, which you have given me in the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.
TAKING A LOOK AHEAD
On any journey, whether a hike in the mountains or a trek to the grocery store, it is important to be aware of your surroundings, to be present. It’s also important to know where you are going! To look up, and take a peek at what is ahead.
This coming week our journey continues through the training grounds of kingdom understanding and life. As Jesus nears Jerusalem for the last time before the cross, he has a final, and most pivotal, lesson for the disciples to learn. It is a message that is not new to them in their time with Jesus, but one that must be grasped if they are to both weather the storms of doubt and fear that lay ahead, as well as, continue on in kingdom life once Christ’s work is done.
Read Matthew 20:1-34. As you are reading take notice and note of the following:
Who are the characters in the story? Explicitly named and those assumed.
Where does the story take place? Physically, & how is it connected to what proceeds it?
What repeats? Words, characters, actions/events, sayings, descriptions, etc.
What surprised you?
What might have surprised the people Matthew was writing to?
What questions does the story raise so far?
CONNECTING THE DOTS
Chapter 20 begins in stride with the end of chapter 19. Re-read 19:16-30 and answer the questions below in that passages relation to 20:1-16.
How does the beginning of chapter 20 relate to the end of chapter 19?
What words are repeated?
What ideas are shared in the two passages?
In what ways does chapter 20 further explain or emphasize the idea(s) of chapter 19?
Where else in Matthew’s gospel story thus far have you heard the words of 20:17-19? (hint, you’ll find them in chapters 16 & 17).
What are the contexts of each of the three revelations of Jesus’ soon demise and victory? Think about the stories surround them and how do they relate to one another.
Can you pick out any themes or ideas Jesus is trying to emphasize?
Are there any other interactions of Jesus with his disciples, and the disciples among themselves, that come to mind as you read 20:20-28? (hint, look at chapters 16 and 18)
Is there a persistent value or concept of kingdom living Jesus is trying to teach in these similar dialogues?
Why would that value or concept be important enough to include multiple times by Matthew?
Does the final story sound familiar? (hint, look in chapter 9) What is different about these two similar stories?
Read verse 34 one more time. In what ways does this verse sum up the training of chapters 13-20?
A THOUGHT TO PONDER
“He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less.”
(C.S. Lewis)