Gathering Growing Going
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CloseRelated Topics: | More Messages from Howard McFetridge | Download Audio
Have You Underestimated? | Ben Connelly | Friday, 24 December 2021 | Kids Talk | Watch | Listen |
God has not abandoned us | Ben Connelly | Sunday, 19 December 2021 | Kids Talk | Watch | Listen |
Who can Stand before God? | Andrew McClenaghan | Sunday, 12 December 2021 | Kids Talk | Watch | Listen |
Where is your Refuge? | Phil Firth | Sunday, 5 December 2021 | Kids Talk | Watch | Listen |
Real People, Real Plans, Real Grace | Bernard Gabbott | Sunday, 28 November 2021 | Kids Talk | Watch | Listen |
What Christian life looks like | Ben Connelly | Sunday, 21 November 2021 | Kids Talk | Watch | Listen |
The Best Thing since before Sliced Bread | Bernard Gabbott | Sunday, 14 November 2021 | Kids Talk | Watch | Listen |
Doctrine and Deeds Go Together | Bernard Gabbott | Sunday, 7 November 2021 | Kids Talk | Watch | Listen |
We can't buy Grace | Bernard Gabbott | Sunday, 31 October 2021 | Kids Talk | Watch | Listen |
Dealing with the Danger of False Teaching | Bernard Gabbott | Sunday, 24 October 2021 | Kids Talk | Watch | Listen |
Jesus has finally made it to Jerusalem. As Matthew prepares us for His entry into Jerusalem, he helps us confront Jesus’ authority, and the way in which it restores the concern of God for the outsider, and confronts the insider. This is the start of the Passover week. Jerusalem is a roiling maelstrom of religious and political fervour. And Matthew organises the narrative of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem around displays of His authority, rooted in recognition of His ‘old power’ – four Old Testament quotations structure the passage. As we come face-to-face with Jesus’ authority, three truths stand out. First, Jesus’ authority is extensive and all-encompassing. Second, Jesus’ authority is for the outsider, and rooted in God’s deep commitment to bring the outsider inside His kingdom. And, third, Jesus authority confronts the insider, and urges them to repentance. Come and meet Jesus, the King, in all His authority, as He enters Jerusalem!
What is greatness? In particular, what is greatness in the kingdom of God? That is the question addressed in the passage from Matthew today. Jesus is approached by two different groups. First, the family of Zebedee: James and John and their mother. Second, two blind men. Jesus asks both groups the same question “What do you want me to do for you?” What they request is quite revealing. And so is Jesus’ response to their requests. The Zebedees request position, status, reward for effort. The blind men request mercy, for their eyes to be open. Which request lines up with Jesus’ teaching previously? Which request do we tend to go to ourselves?
The Department of Home Affairs has an Australian Values Statement on its website. Visa applicants for residency/citizenship must sign this. And one of its key principles is that we are a ‘fair-go’ country. We would all agree with that. I suspect, too, that we would summarise our ‘fair go’ culture by stating that ‘you get what you deserve/what you work for’. In fact, many of us have established our relational, social and work ethics on this very principle. But is that what the ‘kingdom of heaven is like’? What is its value statement? What is the hallmark of such a kingdom, and its ruler, even its citizenship? Today, after Jesus has assured his disciples that the dependent will be provided for by their king, he now uses the same ideas to issue with them a warning not to abuse, misuse, ignore or become entitled in the face of the kingdom of heaven hallmark—which is grace.
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