PSA Bible Reading Challenge 2023-2024

There are two topics that Jesus addresses more than any other in Scripture.  The first is what is addressed in chapter 13, the kingdom of God, and the second is finances.  Aren’t you glad we are going to address the kingdom of God, which is Jesus’ favorite topic?  

There are some who take a very metaphorical approach to heaven and hell.  Some see heaven as a time in which we are in full communion with God and the relationship that we have with Him is complete.  Hell then becomes a complete separation from God, and an experience that is, well, an experience.  They would deny any real presence of heaven or hell and normally would also deny a time of decision or separation where God chooses those who are fit for heaven and those fit for hell.

On this topic, the kingdom of God, I fall on the same of the literalists.  I do believe in a literal, physical heaven, and no, it is not a place on earth (sorry Belinda Carlisle).  In the same manner I believe in a literal hell where, as Matthew states here, that “the angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  I don’t dwell on it, it isn’t my favorite topic, but it should also not be avoided.

An integral part of the kingdom of God is that there is a time and a process of separation.  We can’t deny that, at least not if we are going to take seriously Matthew 13.  The parable that we all know is that of the sower who sows seeds on the different types of ground.  I love how Jesus actually takes the time to explain the parable in vs. 18ff, so I really don’t need to.  He warns the crowds, and so warns us, to not be so shallow that we don’t allow ourselves to cling to the Word of God.  Reading Scripture daily allows us to prevent our lives from being that of walkers on the shallow path.  He warns us not to be so caught up in the present that when the future comes we lose the joy and the excitement that comes with joining the church or being a disciple of Jesus Christ.  We need soil that runs deep and not find ourselves treading on rocky ground.  He warns us not to be so caught up the cares of the world that it chokes out the Word because we are so caught up in the wealth and status of being who we are.

All of this is great for us to hear as we live in a world where deep understanding of the Word of God is discouraged and seen more as a crutch than a legitimate way of life.  We live in a world where the here and now is all that counts so we are taught to put all of our eggs in one basket, and when life happens, we lose interest and wonder if we ever felt the love of God in the first place.  We live in a world where we have enough troubles to last a lifetime and we are so focused on the material things of this world that who Jesus is gets chocked out by what we want and how we can get ahead.  

All of the parables in this chapter take us to the kingdom of heaven as a place where God is choosing those who would follow him and those who would not find themselves separated from God, literally.  Again, we end the chapter with a reference to Jesus’ family, and this time his sisters are included.  His home town of Nazareth is not able to receive him because they are too familiar with him.  I pray that we never think we are too familiar with Jesus that we stop understanding his Word, or just think his words refer to a distant heaven, or that his words have no relevance to a world which is dramatically different from the one in which he lived.  Jesus continues to teach and guide us in ways we could never imagine if we would just let him.

Legalism can take the joy out of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.  When I attended Philadelphia College of the Bible I was shocked by the amount of rules that we had to follow.  We were not allowed to wear jeans to class, we couldn’t go to movies, we had to go to church twice on Sunday, we had a curfew when we had to be in our dorms, and we certainly were not allowed in the girls’ dorms.  I had thought that once I was in college I would be allowed to make some of those decisions on my own instead of someone else making them for me.  It created a puerile environment where the students were dictated to them their dos and their donts.  You wonder at what stage do you learn to take responsibility for your own actions and not rely upon an administration to tell you what rules you have to follow for life.

Jesus in these verses is speaking to the Pharisees and basically tells them: people who love God do not need to be given a list of rules to follow, but rather what actions we ought to take should come instinctively .  All of our actions ought to be pleasing to God, and what we desire ought to be pleasing to God.  If we find ourselves in sin and unable to control our actions then we are not trying to please God and so we are not a disciple of the Lord.  Let me explain.  We are disciples of Jesus Christ not out of fear that salvation will not be ours.  We love Jesus because of an overwhelming sense of gratitude for what he did for us on the cross.  Our lives are an attempt to give thanks for what he has done for us.  If we are desiring to do that which we know will make Him unhappy, then maybe we are not grateful enough.

This approach to faith, where we live lives of response out of gratitude as opposed to fear of damnation, is a seismic shift in our thinking.  The Pharisees encouraged the people of Israel to rely upon them, the church leaders, to understand the Scripture and what was allowed and not allowed.  Jesus was more than willing to interpret on his own what was allowed on the Sabbath and in life.  This was not permissible and it was so threatening to the church leaders that vs. 14 tells us that they conspired to destroy him.

That is one aspect of the Presbyterian Church that I so embrace.  I am not going to tell you the laws of Scripture and that you have to follow them and the specific way in which you have to live your life.  I will interpret Scripture for you in such a way that I hope you are able to make that decision on your own without me looking over your shoulder to check on whether you are worthy are not.  But some people need to be told how to live their lives.  I can do that as well, but I would prefer that people try to understand the freedom that we have in Jesus where he provides us with opportunity, and not laws or rules.

The latter part of this chapter deals with Jesus and his second coming.  He tells the crowds that with John the Baptist and him present then they have no excuse for opting out of seeing the Kingdom of God at hand.  Jesus has come to clean our houses of all that which would take us away from God.  If we then choose to do nothing with what he has given us, full salvation from our sins, then we leave ourselves open to an even worse future.  Our future is then even more bleak than before because it is much harder a second time to turn to Jesus than it is the first time.

This chapter ends with Jesus and his family obviously at odds with each other.  His mother, Mary, and his brothers are waiting for him outside of the house where he is teaching.  We can only imagine what it is that they want.  We read elsewhere in Mark 3:21 that they thought he was out of his mind, at least that was what some people were saying about him.  That makes sense.  If we were living a life where the only thing that mattered to us was our status as a disciple of Jesus Christ then our family just might think something was a bit strange with us.  But Jesus recovers and points out that our real family are those who are invested in establishing the kingdom of God.

I don’t want to read too much into that, but we will see again in Mark a verse that is equally shocking where it states that we must “hate” our mother and father if we are to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.  At this point you might check out and say, well, that’s not for me.  Hang in there until we get to Mark and we can see why Jesus says that.

I hope you are able to keep up with the readings.  We find once again some gems in this chapter.  If you look specifically at vs. 28-30 you will hear words that are familiar.  Jesus promises us that he will give us rest.  Okay, maybe not us, but all those who are carrying heavy burdens are promised rest.  Is that you?  The yoke that Jesus has is one that is light compared to the one that we have.  The yoke that we have is one that is burdened with sin, it is burdened with the heaviness of misplaced words and hurtful deeds.  By taking on the yoke of Jesus we are able to learn from him, for he is gentle and he is humble.  This learning will lead to an opportunity for us to find rest for our souls.

While these ending verses are comforting we can’t skip over the verses that are little less than comforting.  Jesus gets a message from John the Baptist where his cousin asks him: “Are you the man?”  Again, Jesus doesn’t answer with the traditional yes or no answer, he tells the messenger to go back to John and tell him what you see.  It is that simple.  I don’t need my words to back me up, just look at my actions.  What a great message for all of us.  We should not use our words to justify our actions, but rather our actions to justify our actions.  

He then describes who exactly John the Baptist is.  This is helpful for us if we didn’t have a real clear picture on who John the Baptist is.  To begin we have to clarify that John the Baptist is not the same John who wrote the Gospel.  I know, this is information that you already know.  But I still get that question frequently.  John the Baptist was born to Zechariah and Elizabeth as we see in Luke 1, and Elizabeth is a relative of Mary…which makes John the Baptist and Jesus related.  We aren’t there yet, but we will be in a few weeks.  John the Baptist is the one who is baptizing those who are repenting as they come to the Jordan river to see him.

Jesus calls John the Baptist: “He is Elijah who is to come.”  Okay, what does that mean?  If you want to find out more about Elijah you can find him in I Kings 17 and following.  He was a prophet of the Lord who was often speaking about the coming of the Lord, and did hand to hand combat with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel.  It is a great story found in I Kings 18 and it is a popular sight to visit whenever you go to Israel.  But what Jesus is referring to is a quote in Malachi which states: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD” (Malachi 4:5-6).

Before the coming of the Lord, which would be Jesus, Almighty God was going to send a prophet to prepare the way of the Lord.  That was John the Baptist.  Jesus identifies him as such and it gives us a great understanding as to how God continues to be providentially in control of all history, all people, and all time.  

Jesus’ control over our lives needs to be reflected in our understanding of God’s providence in all of history.  Our burdens can be lessened to degrees we can’t even understand if we would only lay them on our loving Lord.  God’s control of history provides us with the relief and the assurance that we are not in charge.  Praise be to God!

I hope your eyes didn’t start to glaze over.  This is a tough chapter.  Jesus reminds us that it isn’t easy being a disciple of Jesus.  When I visit people in the hospital inevitably at one point or another someone will tell me: “Getting old isn’t for sissies.”  Not probably the right thing to put in a blog, but being a disciples of Jesus Christ is not smooth sailing in any way.  Often we think that once we accept the Savior then things will get easier.  That is not what this Scripture tells us.

Most of us would consider family as the most important thing in our life.  Well, Jesus says something very different.  Our allegiance has to be to our Savior first and foremost.  If you look at vs. 16-39 it is all about family strife and how Jesus did not necessarily come into the world to provide peace and harmony.  Rather, because of Jesus many families will be divided.

I will never forget Hassim who was a part of our Young Adult and Student group in Russia.  He came to the program with a friend and he was curious what the group was all about.  We would get more than 100 young adults and we would have Bible Study, games, and give out food at the end because many of the students were struggling to make ends meet.  Hassim came to the group and gave his life to Christ.  The next morning we received a panicked phone call from his friend who told us that his family had kicked him out of the house and refused to let him back in and were threatening to kill him.  Becoming a disciple for Hassim meant giving everything up, literally.  

The chapter begins with the calling of the disciples but it contains and ends with the realization that becoming a disciple is dangerous business.  I wonder how safe we feel as  Christians.  I guess pretty safe which ought to give us pause and wonder if we are doing things right.

I’m sitting in the sanctuary and it is 7:30. I love this time of the week. I tend to be by myself and there is a quiet and a peacefulness in this sanctuary as I lift up my praises and petitions to the Lord. Every Tuesday from 7:30-8 I’m in here seeking the way of the Lord. Today I get to read Matthew 9 and think of how this chapter can touch all of your lives as it has touched mine. You will notice that this chapter, like the ones preceding it and all of Matthew for the most part, contains events in Jesus’ life that are repeated in other Gospels, especially Mark. As we go along this 90 Day Challenge you will find some redundancy that can be confusing.
An example is the paralytic man who was healed by Jesus and had his sins forgiven. But I thought his friends lowered him through a hole in the roof… That’s Mark chapter 2. Then this woman with the issue of blood, I thought they were in a crowd of people and Jesus says he felt some of his power leave him… That’s in Mark 5. The details of the stories can get mixed up, but the fact remains that our Savior has compassion on those with whom he comes into contact in Scripture.
A couple things I wanted to lift up. Jesus’ statement in vs.12 about a physician coming only to those who are sick, which in essence provided the backdrop to a justification for sinners and tax collectors hanging out with Jesus, is a verse that has impacted me for my entire life. In college I joined a fraternity.  A non-drinking brother is a bit of an oddity, but it provided a plethora of opportunities to witness and impact lives that even to this day remain.

Putting aside all comparisons, this verse cannot devolve into an excuse for us to be a participant and a primary actor in the type of living that would be frowned upon by our Savior. We are absolutely commanded not to run away from the world, but to be in it. While we are in the world we are required to be different, even while being present with those who do not know Christ and are in need of him. Jesus was accused of being a drunkard and a glutton. He and his disciples didn’t fast as regularly as some of the other disciples following other rabbis did. There was a lot a about which people could point their fingers at Jesus and say that he was not walking the walk. I like that about him.
Lastly, vs. 37 is an iconic statement that we have all heard at one time or another.  The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.  So what happens in a field where there is a full harvest and the laborers are few?  I’m assuming some of the crop spoils because no one is there to tend to it.  Isn’t that what happens to people who are in their life primed to have a relationship with Jesus, come to church, but no one in the church reaches out to the new person because we are so intent in keeping our own circles and only reaching out to those that we know.  That’s a problem.  People visit First Presbyterian on a regular basis and they need to know that they are not only welcome, but loved.  I have a vision of a church where if a new person steps into the sanctuary you have 10 people lined up to invite them over to their house for lunch.  It is what Jesus would have done, and it is a sign that we are not spectators but laborers.

Last evening for the first time in my life I was a participant in an ordination service.  Simeon Harrar was ordained into the position of Director of Youth at First Presbyterian of Lancaster and he asked me to do the sermon.  What a humbling experience.  The centurion in Matthew 8 who tells Jesus that he is not worthy to have Jesus to come into his house marks the approach and the attitude that we ought to have when we find ourselves in the presence of the Lord.  We are not worthy.  When our new officers were trained on Saturday they were told that if you find yourself overwhelmed with feelings of inadequacy that is exactly where Jesus wants you to be.  We are inadequate, we are not worthy, we cannot contribute a single cubit to our span of life nor contribute a single bit to our salvation.  

When we went to Israel we were able to spend a significant amount of time in Capernaum and we visited what is thought to be Peter’s house.  There really is nothing so powerful as actually going to a site that you  know that Jesus walked and where he performed miracles.  We went to a location where we were told that it could have been someplace like this where Jesus sent the herd of swine into the sea.  If you notice the people were not appreciative to have a few demoniacs off  their hands because they were so focused on the profit loss of the pigs who went racing into the sea.  Isn’t that also the case with us sometimes.  We are so focused on that which we consider important in our lives that when Jesus performs a miracle we just might miss it because of our misguided tunnel vision.

We learn from Jesus today that he is able to calm the storm in our lives but only when we find ourselves throwing ourselves at the Lord crying out: Save us!  When we are humble enough to accept that we cannot contribute to his saving grace, then he is able to work with us.

The wise man built his house upon the rock.  The wise man built his house upon the rock.  When you read Matthew 7 it is hard not to keep that children’s song out of your mind.  Okay, it’s hard for me, because we sing it in chapel with the kids frequently on Friday mornings.  What a great lesson, to build your house, to build your life upon the rock of Jesus Christ, for all other things are just sinking sands.

Once again we find a plethora of familiar concepts.  Do not judge, unless you are prepared to be judged by the same judgment.  I have always thought that our interpretation of this Scripture has been skewed.  It does say: “Do not judge.”  That is not the end of the sentence.  Rather, the Lord tell us that if you judge you had better be prepared to be judged by the same standard.  Don’t try to take a speck of dust out of your neighbor’s eye if you haven’t already located the log in your own eye and taken it out.

Don’t criticize people because they are shallow or obtuse, when you yourself delight in speaking about the faults of others.  Don’t get angry at slothfulness and inefficiency, when you don’t necessarily spend the amount of time that you ought to in carrying out your own work.  

There are some great practical approaches to life in this chapter which includes the Golden Rule.  That’s right, if you want to know what the Golden Rule is you can find it in Matthew 7:12 – ” In everything do to others as you would have them do to you.”  what a great rule for life.

Just when you thought you could catch your breath after the very densely packed chapter 5, chapter 6 comes and takes your breath away.  Again, so much to go over, but not enough space.  What a great exercise to remind ourselves of what our Savior expects of us and really wants of us so that we can live our lives in the freedom He has set out for us.

Jesus begins by giving us directives on prayer.  It is not about others being able to see that we are able to pray well or that we have a certain type of faith.  In fact, Jesus tells us to go into our own rooms and pray there to the Father so that we are not in any way tempted to try to pray in a way that would only reflect that others are watching us.

As an example of how to pray our Savior gives us the Lord’s Prayer.  I remember a time in my life when some people who were important to me advised me that any prayer which was written and not spontaneous for some reason didn’t really count.  It wasn’t really speaking with our Father, they told me.  The Lord’s prayer is a direct contradiction to that stream of thought, in fact it completely debunks that notion.  When we are in the quiet of our room and don’t know how to pray, the Lord’s Prayer can serve as a great bridge to begin our conversation with our Savior.  If Jesus recommended it, I would guess it is probably a safe bet that it is a prayer that is worthwhile and is safe to use.

But there is a problem embedded in the Lord’s prayer and Jesus addresses it in vs.14-15.  Okay, it’s not really a problem, it is more like a problem for me and I would guess for you as well.  Read vs. 14-15 again and what do you hear?  “If you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”  Or from the Lord’s Prayer “Forgive us our debts (sins), as we also have forgiven our debtors (those who have sinned against us)”.  Do you see the problem.  The Greek word for debts is really sins so what I put in parenthesis is really a more literal interpretation than either debts or trespasses, and one that more accurately reflects what Jesus was saying.  How can Jesus’ forgiveness of our sins be impingent upon whether we forgive others or not?  Does that not doom us to a life of unforgiven sin for who can truly forgive others besides Christ himself?

I’m not going to give an answer to those questions, because they are real and they remain in some ways unanswered.  What we do know is that Jesus really, really, really requires us to forgive others whether they are forgiveable or not.  Jesus really, really, really, requires us to forgive others whether they are asking for that forgiveness or not.  Jesus really, really, really, requires us to forgive others whether they are sorry for what they did or not.  For when we do not forgive others we are the only ones who truly suffer.  Sometimes we think that when we don’t forgive others then we are punishing them and they are the ones who are at a loss.  That simply is not true.  On whomever we choose to hold back our forgiveness, they have then in some way weaseled their way into our minds.  They then hold the upper hand.  Once you forgive then you can move on and live the kind of life that God wants us to live.  In the words of Frozen, Let it go!

This chapter also contains the imperative to store up treasures in heaven and not on earth as well as reminding us that we cannot serve two masters, wealth and Jesus.  What an interesting juxtaposition.  I would never think of putting wealth up against Jesus, but we do all the time.  There is a post on Facebook that is going around now, I’m not sure if it is legitimate or not, I didn’t Scopes it yet (that is verb now isn’t it?).   In that post you find the last days of Steve Jobs and his commentary on wealth and the meaning of life.  He actually mentions God, if it really is Steve Jobs.  But Jesus here (Did I just put Steve Jobs and Jesus in the same sentence and almost use them equally?  That’s scary) in Matthew speaks at length about wealth especially from the perspective of worry.  What amount of our time do we worry about having our needs met?  Okay, from our perspective maybe it is less our needs met than our desires and our wants met.  If we only had to meet our needs then we would all probably be fine.

But that is the point of His words here isn’t it?  The biggest compliment on my lifestyle that I ever received was from an Amish worker who came to repair our roof and as he looked around the house he said: why do you and your wife choose to live so simply?  I would have paid him double.  An Amish man telling me that I live simply.  I love it!  But so much of simple living eliminates the worry that we build up.  Jesus’ last verse is classic here in Matthew 6: “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own.  Today’s trouble is enough for today.”  I’ll leave you on that note.  Feel free to say Amen out loud in the quiet of your room.

How much time do you have? There are so many biblical truths tucked away in chapter 5 that it would take us years to get through them all, especially at the rate that I go through books of the Bible. Think about it, Jesus begins his teaching on what is called the classic sermon on the mount. If you have ever heard that term: Sermon on the Mount, then you can know that this is the chapter that people are referring to. It goes all the way through chapter 7. The teachings of Jesus in this setting have remained with us for millennia and continue to ring true today. He begins with the beatitudes: blessed are… I like to focus on the first one of the beatitudes. They are called beatitudes because each one of them begins with “blessed are” and the word beatitude means blessed. Here in Matthew he says blessed are the poor in spirit but in Luke 6:20 he doesn’t include spirit and just says blessed are the poor. These verses serve for me as the basis for my understanding of Jesus’ preference for the poor and preference for those who are the least of these. Jesus has a special place in his heart for those who are poor. Jesus has a special place in his heart for those who are destitute and persecuted. I say this with the full realization that I am not poor, I probably don’t fit any of the categories that Jesus lifts up as people whom he loves the most. That is a difficult realization to know that we are not the least of these and so what Jesus requires of us is so much more than what we think is required of us.
The abundance of resources and opportunities that we have living and growing up in the United Stated in comparison to those living in third world countries is astounding. We did not choose to be born into the families in which we were born, and neither did those who live in third world countries, and yet because we were then we are given those opportunities and faced with those possibilities that a small percentage of the world is able to enjoy. It is hard to understand this unless you have seen a third world reality where people live in such a different framme of mind than one in which we are used to living.
This chapter also contains the directive to be the salt of the earth, light of the world, Jesus as the one who fulfills the law, if you have something against a church member then you are not to take communion until you approach that member and ask for forgiveness (yes, if you read vs.21-26 that is exactly what it says), do not commit adultery and tear out your eye if it causes you to stumble (a real eye opener, no pun intended, for those who view porn as just another past time), Jesus’ teaching on divorce, prohibition against swearing, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, NOT, love your enemies.
That is a lot of material in such a short space. What you find is that in each of these prohibitions, teachings, and insights, Jesus takes the most strict interpretation possible. He allows for divorce but only on the grounds of adultery. Back in the 1st century the rabbis allowed for divorce if the husband woke up one morning and his wife wasn’t pleasing in his sight. Back then it was only the husband who could divorce, and when it happened then the woman would be left without any recourse and would be forced to prostitute herself. Jesus says no, this is not right, the only cause for divorce would be adultery. He limits what at one time was a free for all.
There are some who see Jesus as expanding the freedoms of what was being taught by the religious leaders. I think if you look at his life and see how he came to fulfill the law that he did not come to expand, but rather encouraged people to live in the freedoms that the law already provided. Don’t step outside of the laws of the Lord. Jesus was someone who said we have to get back to basics, not try to create things that God has not blessed or approved. It remains a good lesson for us today.

Let’s start with Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. As soon as he is proclaimed the Son of God he goes off by himself to prepare himself for the ministry that is to come. This is so crucial. Throughout Jesus’ life we see him withdraw from the crowds and go away, normally up a mountain, to pray and prepare. His public ministry which he is just about to start is bathed in prayer. Even out Savior doesn’t try to set out and do things without ascertaining the will of His Father and then pursuing the kingdom of God through that preparation. Notice that in each of the temptations: the desire for abundant provision, the quest for control, and the pursuit of power, Jesus responds to Satan with Scripture. Satan tries to lure Jesus once with Scripture for the second temptation, but it doesn’t work. Jesus was prepared and knew the Scriptures which provided him with the means to defend himself. What a great lesson for us.
Just a word on Satan, in the Greek it means literally adversary. I have addressed a couple times the development of the understanding of who Satan or the devil is and how John Milton’s book Paradise Lost has really been instrumental in our current understanding up and against the biblical approach. If you are interested in this topic then look up the times in Scripture that Satan or the devil is mentioned and I think that you will be surprised how few times it actually is.
Jesus not only survives the temptation but is then ministered to by angels. What a great way to get ready for what comes next!
Next in chapter 4 we find Jesus calling his disciples. Here he chooses fishermen who are busy at their trade. Simon and his brother Andrew are chosen, then other fishermen in James and John and promises that one day they will become fishers of men.
There is a parallel Scripture in Luke 5 that I encourage you to read because it matches this calling of the disciples with a miracle of Jesus by encouraging Peter to throw his net in a certain spot and sure enough he catches enough fish to fill two boats.
What we learn about Jesus here is that he took time to prepare himself for his ministry. Once that is done, then he chooses people to carry out the work that is before him. Jesus was not in any way a loner. Sure, he went off and prayed by himself, but he needed people around him to carry out His work. You see this especially in the Garden of Gethsemane when he tells his disciples to stay up with him just a little while longer.
I hope this day you see how you can prepare yourself in prayer and discipline for the work that God has laid out before you.