Draw near to God and He will draw near to you

Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick. Matthew 14:13-14

John the Baptist was not a political figure, he was a spiritual leader. He did not rally people for a polical cause or spout an ideology. But whenever a person takes a strong and vocal position regarding the impact of God’s righteous will on society, there are inevitable political consequences.

After hearing about John’s execution, Jesus wanted to be alone. He needed, first of all, to deal with the grief he now carried of having lost John to Herod’s axe. Secondly, he had to work through the realization that he was next. John was first on the scene, announcing the coming of Jesus. Now he was also first to be taken out by violence. As Jesus followed John in ministry, so he would follow him to his execution. There was no retirement or death by natural causes for either John or Jesus. Continue reading →

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you

He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary . . . ?”
And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household. Matthew 13:54-55, 57

Jesus Christ knows what it is to be rejected.

He was in the world, and the wold was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. (Jn. 1:10-11)
He was despised and forsaken of men / A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face / He was despised and we did not esteem him (Is. 53:3) 

A beautiful person in every way, yet rejected. If you, also, experience rejection, do not assume it is because Continue reading →

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you

And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are the angels.”  Matthew 13:37-39

This poor planet! There is too much violence, too much suffering, too much grief, too much evil.

Looking into the distant future, Jesus saw a time when “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire” (v. 41). Imagine this: Planet Earth innocent and healthy, where everything is perfect–exactly as it should be–, nothing corrupt or impure, nothing abusive or oppressive, nothing that involves one person exploiting, using, or harming another. Continue reading →

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you

He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” Matthew 13:31-32

Parables are not illustrations or even mere analogies, but also riddles–they conceal as much as they reveal (Mt. 13:13-15). Some people who heard Jesus’ parables were able to solve the puzzle, while others went away, no doubt, confused or unimpressed. The truth was there for those who had ears to hear (vv. 9 & 43), but not everyone was prepared or willing to hear it. Continue reading →

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you

And he said to them, “An enemy has done this!” The slaves said to him, “Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?” But he said, “No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them.” Matthew 13:28-29

In the parable, when the servants of the landowner discovered and reported to him that weeds were growing alongside his wheat, he immediately discerned what happened, “An enemy has done this!” He did not blame the seeds, soil, or servants, but recognized the work of an enemy. Continue reading →

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you

Hear then the parable of the sower. . .
And the one on whom the seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. Matthew 13:18-23

I am not a good listener. I know that to be true, but I do not know why. When I try to listen, my attention is drawn to the wrong message or is distracted by other sounds. When listening for God, I frequently hear nothing. When Jesus explained why he taught in parables, it was for people like myself (v. 13). How fortunate it is for me that he explained the parable of the seed and the soils. Continue reading →

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you

Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

You will keep on hearing, but will not understand;
You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive.
Matthew 13:1-2

Jesus used a quotation from the prophet Isaiah to answer a question raised by the disciples, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” Since the people who came to hear Jesus teach were exactly like those that Isaiah described, he accommodated his message to their ability (or inability) to see, hear, and comprehend. The Lord interpreted his audience through the lens of scripture. Continue reading →

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you

That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. Matthew 13:1-2

Where could Jesus potentially go and what could he be doing at this stage of his ministry? He could be strategizing with disciples, hosting conferences for Pharisees, recruiting zealots, counseling married couples, designing programs, building a campus, fundraising for an institution, or any number of projects to promote himself and his ministry.

Jesus was “sitting by the sea.” A wonderful place to rest, pray, meditate, and contemplate the glory of God. People Continue reading →

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you

“For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
Matthew 12:50

What do you suppose the disciples of Jesus were doing at the moment he stretched his hand toward them and said, “Behold My mother and My brothers!”? They were probably doing what we are doing right now; that is, trying to get to know him, to learn from him, and to figure out what God wanted from them. They certainly were not trying to look religious or act pious. Nor were they busy doing “ministry”–at least not at that moment. Continue reading →

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you

. . . no sign will be given to [this generation] but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12:39-40

Jesus used words in a way that both revealed and concealed his meaning. When asked for a sign, he referred to himself in the third person as “the Son of Man.” He did not say he would be crucified and laid in a tomb, but that he would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Nor did he mention his resurrection even though it is implied in the short span of time that he would be under ground. Continue reading →