Cross-shaped King, Cross-shaped Kingdom, Part One (Matthew 16:13-20)

I was sitting in the community building at college, minding my own business, trying to get some homework done between classes, when three people came up to me and asked, “Hi, can we ask you a question? Who do you think Jesus is?” I wonder what kind of answers they got that day. Kinda wish I had taken the time to ask and talk more! How would you answer that question? Jesus once asked that question to His disciples. That’s what we’re learning from today, but first review. This year at Calvary, we’re learning to…

“Live The Cross-Shaped Life” – Cruciformity is learning to embody the self-sacrificial love of King Jesus, which God always deserves and honors.

God doesn’t always make things easy for His people, but He always makes it worth it. The living, breathing proof of this is Jesus. Everything about Jesus is humble self-sacrifice from birth to death, but God brought Him back to life and crowned Him King of kings. That’s cruciformity, and we’re learning His cross-shaped story as we preach through the Gospel according to Matthew.

We’re also learning cruciformity in the beatitudes, the cross-shaped attitudes of God’s kingdom people. We’re memorizing all eight beatitudes this year. Here’s the fifth one:

Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy. (Matthew 5:7 NIV)

Some of Calvary’s students are involved in a Bible study at Mona Shores Middle School. They took questions this past week that they plan to answer from the Scriptures in the coming weeks. Lots of good questions, but the one that stuck out to me was the question: “How can Jesus love us so much when we do so much wrong?” Wow! What an insightful and humble question from a middle school student!

When helping the group think of an answer, my mind first went to Exodus 34. God has just redeemed Israel from service to Egypt to serve Himself. While God met with Moses on Mount Sinai to give him the covenant law, which set the terms of the special relationship God would have with His people, the rest of the nation started to worship a false god. So the holy, glorious God confronted them, punished the unrepentant, and ultimately decided to forgive those who repented. Why? Because they deserved it? No. Because they somehow made it up to Him? No. Then why? Because it is in God’s nature! God revealed to Moses His very glory…

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate [merciful] and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6-7)

At the very core of who God is, He is merciful and gracious. Yesterday, today, tomorrow, and forever. Merciful. He is merciful to us sinners not because we are oh-so-worthy, not because we deserve it, not because we earn it. He is merciful to sinners because it is in His nature, that’s just the way He is. And so, as His people, we are becoming more like Him…merciful.

Now picking up where we left off in the story of Jesus according to His disciple Matthew. Earlier in chapter 16, Jesus had been opposed by enemies, so Jesus warned His disciples about following their teaching.

THE Question: Who is Jesus? (16:13-14)

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

The Son of Man is how Jesus often refers to Himself in the Gospels. It’s a phrase that probably comes from Daniel 7, where the prophet saw a vision of “one like a son of man,” who was worthy to receive God’s authority over all things.

The disciples answered Jesus with all the popular opinions regarding His identity. As His disciples, they had undoubtedly been a part of many conversations with people who wondered about Jesus’ identity and agenda.

Some said Jesus was John the Baptist, raised from the dead. If you recall from Matthew 14, Herod Antipas feared Jesus was John, whom he had murdered John.
Others said Jesus was the Old Testament prophet Elijah. Elijah was probably the most famous prophet from Israel’s past, being used mightily of God to confront sin and bring God’s people to repentance. In fact, another Old Testament prophet Malachi envisioned that God would send Elijah back to Israel before the day of the Lord.
Others said Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. The idea here is that the Jews expected a flurry of divine and prophetic activity right before the arrival of God’s kingdom.

Here’s the thing: The popular views about Jesus were all positive. Some Jewish leaders accused Jesus of being demon-possessed, but the crowds all thought highly of Jesus! But they were also dead wrong. They fell far short of identifying Jesus as God’s Messiah. Why? They expected something “flashier.” Jews largely expected the Messiah to restore the political, cultural, and religious kingdom of Israel. Even imprisoned John the Baptist once asked Jesus if He was the Messiah or if they should expect someone else. Jesus said that He was the Messiah and he said blessed is the one who believes and does not fall away on account of Him. The people expected a mighty warrior who would make life easy and comfortable by them by defeating foreign invaders and establishing peace and prosperity. Instead they had Jesus, who did indeed relieve suffering of those who believed and preached repentance from sin and submission to God.

How do people answer this question today?

“Jesus doesn’t exist. You can’t prove that He existed or that, if He did, that He rose from the dead.”
“Jesus is bad for the world. He tells us what’s right and wrong, but that just holds you down and keeps you from becoming who you want to be. Plus, His followers are crazy and hateful and harmful.”
“Jesus is my buddy. He’s always there for me when I need Him, which isn’t very often. But I’m sure glad when I do.”
“Jesus is my pep-talker and ego-booster. Jesus loves me so much that I must be awesome. I must be worth it.”

What’s the true answer?

THE Answer: Jesus is God’s Son, the King of all. (16:15-16)

15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Having watched and learned from Jesus, Jesus asked the disciples about their conclusion concerning His identity. He asked the disciples (“y’all”) as a whole and Peter spoke up first, either because of his assertiveness or because the others deferred to him as a sort of leader or both.

Peter gave two answers. The Hebrew word Messiah (which is Christ in Greek) means “anointed one” or “chosen one.” The Messiah is a term for the human, descended from King David, who would be faithful to God and therefore enthroned by God to rule God’s people in perfect righteousness and justice forever. This is why I often say King instead of Christ.

The Son of the living God takes “Messiah” to a whole other level. The kings of Israel were sometimes referred to as the son of God (Psalm 2), not in a literal sense, but in a figurative sense. Like son to father, Israelite kings were to be faithful to an imitate God. Like father to son, God would protect and empower the king. But we who have read Matthew know that Jesus is literally the Son of God, who coexisted with the Father in eternity past and took on human nature in the virgin conception and birth.

Peter is really starting to get it! Do you? Do you believe this? If not, believe in Jesus for the first time. If you do, keep learning! If you do, keep testifying!

Jesus’s Response (16:17-19)

Note that Jesus doesn’t simply say, “Bingo! Ding ding ding! You’re right, Peter!” His answer is humble, God-glorifying, and instructive. But Jesus doesn’t deny it either! He fully owns that He is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

1) It is a gift from God to see Jesus as King. (16:17)

17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.”

Our hearts are too hardened by sinful pride and selfishness to see lordship in humble Jesus. God must reveal it. And Jesus states it. Peter has only understood Jesus to be the Messiah, the Son of the living God, because God has revealed Himself in Jesus to Peter. Has God opened your eyes?

2) King Jesus promised to use Peter to start His church. (16:18)

18 “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

Jesus used a pun. Peter is Gr Petros; rock is Gr petra. Jesus is saying, “You are Petros, and on this petra I will build my church.” I want to discuss two things here. What exactly is Jesus’ church? And what does Jesus mean by building His church on Peter?

The Greek word for church here is ekklesia (“ek-klay-see’-ah”). Paul uses the word a ton, but it only shows up twice in the Gospels: here and then again in Matthew 18. In the Greco-Roman world, the “ekklesia” was a local political assembly, where leaders and/or citizens would be called out of their homes into a single meeting place to conduct official business. (For example, there is an ekklesia in Ephesus in Acts 19:39, 41). In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the assembled community of Israel was called the ekklesia. The church then is the community of God’s people, called-out from the world to conduct kingdom business. Jesus uses the term here to anticipate the church that He will build but does not technically exist yet.

What does Jesus mean by building the church on Peter? The Roman Catholic Church looks to this verse as the establishment of the office of the pope. The pope is seen to have the final say on matters of biblical interpretation, making him the highest authority on Scripture. But Protestants like us respectfully reject this view, which is nowhere else even hinted at in Scripture.

A better explanation and fulfillment is that Peter, in his role as confessing Jesus as Messiah, the Son of the living God. As the biblical story continued, Peter played a foundational role in proclaiming the good news of Jesus to Jews (Acts 2), then Samaritans (Acts 8), and then Gentiles (Acts 10). Peter’s unique role fades from view in the rest of the New Testament. Peter along with all the prophets and apostles are the foundation built on the cornerstone of Christ, which builds up the church (Ephesian 2:11-20). So, going forward it’s up to Jesus’s entire church–not Peter, not the pope–to be the church person-by-person, stone by stone (1 Peter 2).

The gates of Hades is not Satan, who is alive and well in the world. Hades is the realm of death. The idea is that even the most powerful of evil forces–death itself, the last enemy–cannot destroy the church that Jesus is building.

3) King Jesus promised to deputize Peter for kingdom work. (16:19)

19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

This is where we get the humorous notion of Peter meeting people at the gate of heaven, where he decided whether or not to let people in. That is not at all what Jesus is talking about here. The keys of the kingdom of heaven is the gospel of the crucified and risen King Jesus. gotta use the keys! If you don’t use the keys, you’re not letting anyone in!

Binding and loosing means that the church (Matthew 18), beginning with Peter and the disciples (Matthew 16), has the privilege and responsibility to represent God’s kingdom on earth, specifically when it comes to letting people into the kingdom! What an incredible amount of power! How do you feel about that, the power Jesus gives to His church?

How do you feel about authority in general? Some crave authority for proud and selfish reasons. Some defer to authority blindly. Some fear any kind of authority at all, and in so doing just want to be their own authority. Authority is not good or bad in and of itself. Good authority is good, bad authority is bad. We can probably all think of examples of bad authority, but I want to share with you an example of good authority. At the end of his life, King David reflected on what God had taught him about authority…

“The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me;

his word was on my tongue.

The God of Israel spoke,

the Rock of Israel said to me:

‘When one rules over people in righteousness,

when he rules in the fear of God,

he is like the light of morning at sunrise

on a cloudless morning,

like the brightness after rain

that brings grass from the earth.” (2 Samuel 23:2-4)

When a ruler pursues righteousness and fears God, they are a blessing to all around. This is true for kings and elected officials, moms and dads, law enforcement and military, landlords and bosses, teachers and coaches, churches and pastors, etc. God-fearing authority in any sphere of life is like a beautiful sunrise or a sunny day on a grassy lawn. All’s right with the world. That’s the kind of King Jesus is, who has all authority. And that’s the kind of people He’s making us to be, who have limited authority under Him!

In Matthew, Jesus gives the church authority–His authority as the Messiah and the Son of the living God–authority not to be abused but to be used to let people into His kingdom! This high calling is not new for Jesus’ disciples. He’s been prepping them for this all along: fishers of men (4:19), salt (5:13), light (5:14), preach the gospel (10:6-42), Great Commission (28:18-20), and the entire book of Acts! We’ll see that Jesus extends the authority of the keys to the entire church in Matthew 18, but for now, it’s just Peter as a representative of the disciples.

We see a great example of this Gospel authority in play in Acts 18. Paul was ministering in the bustling metropolis of Corinth. He had already faced some resistance, which is the point at which God might sometimes lead him to another city. But this time, King Jesus commanded Paul to stay in Corinth and continue sharing the Gospel. Here’s what Jesus said to Paul: One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. (Acts 18:9-11)

4) King Jesus wants people to know His full identity. (16:20)

20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

What is up with this? Why would Jesus hold them back from testifying that He is the Messiah? This is the opposite of how we encourage each other to testify about who Jesus is and what He has done in our lives. Why hold them back? People weren’t ready for it yet. Frankly, as we’ll see in the very next passage, Jesus’ disciples won’t be ready for it either. Jesus being the Messiah means that must also suffer. He’s not just King Jesus. He’s the crucified and risen King Jesus. We’ll see that next week in Jesus’s follow-up teaching on His cross-shaped identity and His cross-shaped kingdom.

The Lessons

1) King Jesus’ church is His kingdom embassy on earth.

It is impossible to overestimate the significance of the church for this age. The church is God’s plan to save sinners and change hearts and lives. And there is no plan B. It may sometimes seem boring, dysfunctional, uncomfortable, ineffective, or powerless. The church is not perfect, but it’s His plan. The kingdom of God is coming to earth, and the church that follows and preaches Jesus is its beachhead.

2) King Jesus is building His church.

It’s not Peter’s church. It’s not “my” church. It’s not “your” church. It’s Jesus’ church. Paul puts it like this…

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. (2 Corinthians 3:5-9)

This is important and humbling. We build each other up, but it is Jesus building the church as a whole up.

3) Nothing can stop Him, but we get to join Him by proclaiming His Gospel.

When going through a locked door, you gotta use the key. You can’t just pull harder. You can’t climb through a window or crowbar your way in. If Jesus finds someone in His kingdom who’s not supposed to be there, they can either believe or they can leave. They don’t get to stay. You gotta use the key, which is the gospel of Jesus.

And you have to use the right keys–not the wrong key! You can’t talk about a different gospel or a different Jesus, misrepresenting Him and what He’s all about. In our church-wide New Testament plan, we just read Galatians 1-2, in which Paul confronted a church for listening to “other gospels”–other ways of being made right with God apart from the crucified and risen King Jesus. We’re authorized and commanded to share the Jesus of the Bible, nothing more, nothing less! So share it! Tell it to your family and friends and acquaintances and strangers. Pray for and support missional partners who share it with people all over the world. And know that God will do something with it.

People have always underestimated Jesus as well as His kingdom. From a worldly perspective, it’s easy to see why. He’s humble and so are His true people. But that humility is where the power of God works to accomplish His eternal plan to save people from their sin and for Himself. Gospel-telling seems weak. Some easily mock it. Others easily ignore it. It seems powerless, but it’s the keys of the kingdom, and it’s how Jesus is building His church, God’s kingdom on earth.

Questions for Reflection and/or Discussion

If you were to ask 100 random people who Jesus is, what kinds of answers do you think you would get? Who is Jesus to you?
Do you place the same importance on the church that Jesus does? What needs to change in your life to give the church its proper place in your life?
How is your idea of church affected by the truth that it belongs to Jesus and no one else?
What role do you get to play as He builds His church?

The Making of Cross-Shaped Disciples (Matthew 15:29-16:12)

Let me ask you a question. If you’ve ever had kids, do you or did you find yourself repeating yourself a lot? Ok, you too. Just making sure. Remember this, remember that, do this, do that. I’m not complaining. My kids are awesome. I guess repeating things is just a fact of life.

Here’s the thing: I wonder if God ever looks at me struggling to be a parent, growing impatient with my wonderful kids, and chuckles at me. If I really stop to think about it, God is an infinitely more patient teacher with me than I’ll ever be or have to be with my kids.

You see, it takes me forever to grow in Christlikeness. Even yesterday, the pride and selfishness that’s been in my heart as long as I can remember reared its ugly head. I don’t really want to get into it because it’s super embarrassing, but let’s just say it involved a flag football game with 6 and 7 year olds. What is wrong with me?!?! It takes me forever to grow in Christlikeness. Praise God for His patience and love and faithfulness endure forever.

If you’re honest with yourself, you’ll see pride and selfishness in your own heart too. Like me, it’s probably taking you a long time to grow up and out of that as well. If that’s you, the three accounts we read today, will help us see how Jesus makes cross-shaped disciples. We get to put ourselves in the disciples’ shoes (or sandals) and learn from Jesus how to live cross-shaped lives. At the same time, we learn from Jesus how to help others follow Jesus’ cross-shaped life as well.

What do we mean by the cross-shaped life?

“Live The Cross-Shaped Life” – Cruciformity is learning to embody the self-sacrificial love of King Jesus, which God always deserves and honors.

God doesn’t always make things easy for His people, but He always makes it worth it. The living, breathing proof of this is Jesus. Everything about Jesus is humble self-sacrifice–from birth to death, but God brought Him back to life and crowned Him King of kings. That’s cruciformity, and we’re learning His story as we preach through the Gospel according to Matthew.

We’re also learning cruciformity in the beatitudes, the cross-shaped attitudes of God’s kingdom people. We’re memorizing all eight beatitudes this year. Here’s the fifth one:

Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy. (Matthew 5:7 NIV)

Pride and selfishness are the great enemies of cruciformity. But nothing destroys pride and selfishness like receiving and showing mercy. What is mercy? It’s undeserved love. Mercy could also be translated compassion, which figures prominently throughout Jesus’ ministry and this first account about how He made cross-shaped disciples…

ACCOUNT #1: Jesus miraculously fed another crowd! (15:29-39)

29 Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30 Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. 31 The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

Jesus is so merciful! If you recall from last week in the previous story, Jesus had just healed the daughter of a Gentile woman who had great faith. At first, it looked like Jesus might not help her because she was a Gentile. Jesus said that His mission was to the Jews, to the children of God not to Gentile dogs, but the woman humbly begged that even dogs receive table scraps from the children’s bread.

This crowd is probably Gentile, not Jewish too. There’s a couple clues here and one later too. Jesus was still likely on the Gentile side of the Sea of Galilee. Plus, these people do praise “the God of Israel,” not “their God,” as a Jew would say. We’ll see another clue that these are Gentiles in this story, so keep that in mind. If these were Gentiles, Jesus showed that He is not giving the Gentiles mere kingdom scraps but that they too are invited, along with Jews, to His kingdom feast.

32 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”

In the previous feeding miracle, the crowd had only been out for a day and night was approaching. This time, the crowd has been with Jesus for three days without provision!!! He had finished teaching and healing but He was concerned they wouldn’t make it home because they were so hungry. Jesus has compassion on these hungry, hurting people. His heart not only breaks for them, but He wants to do something for them, something seemingly impossible…

33 His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?” 34 “How many loaves do you have?”Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”

“Where could we get enough bread?” Are you serious, Peter, James, John, and company??? What had just happened like 2 chapters ago? Jesus fed more than 5,000 with five loaves and two fish! And you are wondering where you can get enough bread? As before, Jesus told His disciples to start with their own provisions–not nearly enough to feed everyone, or so they thought…

35 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. 37 They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 38 The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.

Here’s another clue in this story that these are Gentiles. In the first feeding miracle for Jews, the disciples collected the leftovers in twelve baskets (the twelve tribes of Israel), but here they collect seven, which is a more universal number. God created the whole world in 7 days. What’s the point? Gentiles now too have been given “the children’s bread,” sharing in God’s blessing through the ministry of Israel’s King, the Son of David, the Son of God. “They all ate and were satisfied.”

LESSON: King Jesus can do plenty with even sacrifices that seem small.

The lesson of both miracle feedings is cruciformity. God honors our self-sacrifice, when we give our heart, time, talent, treasure, and testimony to Him and trust Him with the rest. No matter how afraid you are of losing it. No matter how small you think it is. God does miracles with it.

If you’ve been following Jesus for a while, how has He patiently taught you this truth over time? What are some tough lessons you’ve learned? What are some repeated lessons you’ve learned? If you’re new to following Jesus, what do you think you’ll have to learn about this? Did you know that Jesus is patient enough to teach you? As long as you’re willing to learn, He is happy to teach.

ACCOUNT #2: Jesus refused special treatment to the Jewish leaders. (16:1-4)

1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.

The Pharisees were a group of Bible experts and teachers, who had created and been compromised by mere human tradition, as we saw last week. The Sadducees controlled Temple worship in Jerusalem and had become wealthy and compromised by their political allegiances to the Roman Empire. The Pharisees and Sadducees hated each other–worse than Republicans and Democrats–yet they found a common enemy in Jesus, which brought them together!

Neither tradition or politics are bad, but they can steal our attention and affection from our Creator and Savior. This is what was happening to the Pharisees and Sadducees. They were blinded by their pride and selfishness to all the amazing signs Jesus had already been performing. He’s miraculously healed so many in need and fed multitudes from meager supplies, and yet they still demand a sign!

2 He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.

Jesus has been showing all these signs! It’s not that they couldn’t believe, it’s that they wouldn’t! Jesus rebuked them for being smart enough to know how to predict the weather, yet they are too “wicked and adulterous” to believe the signs that Jesus had already given. “Adulterous” means that they have cheated on their God. They love their traditions, influence, and wealth more than God so that they were blind to Him when He walked among them! The only sign they’ll get at this point is the “sign of Jonah,” which Jesus defined as His resurrection, earlier in Matthew 12:39-40.

LESSON: You already have all the evidence you need to fully follow Jesus.

Perhaps you’re not yet a disciple, committed to learning from our patient King Jesus. Perhaps, like the Pharisees and Sadducees, your pride and selfishness has blinded you to the self-evident reality of God’s existence and authority and to the historical reality of who Jesus is and what He’s done.

If this is you, you need to stop and for the first time of many, acknowledge your sin before God and others you’ve offended. Then you need to ask for forgiveness. I know God will absolutely forgive those who truly repent though the people we’ve offended may struggle with it for a while. They are not God after all. If you are not sure about these things but want to talk more, please let me know. I’d be honored.

ACCOUNT #3: Jesus warned His disciples against anti-Kingdom thinking. (16:5-12)

5 When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. 6“Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7 They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”

The disciples failed to bring along supplies, so this became a concern for them. Does that raise any red flags for you? It should. Jesus has been training the disciples to think in kingdom, cruciform ways. They shouldn’t be focused on bread but the teaching and opposition of the Jewish leaders. Jesus took the opportunity to remind the disciples to not be like the Pharisees and Sadducees. What does He mean by that? Well, the disciples are confused too, so Jesus sets them straight…

8 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? 9 Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 11 How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Jesus is patient but He’s also a straight shooter! That’s the way to make cross-shaped disciples! Lots of love AND lots of truth. Lots of truth AND lots of love. The Pharisees and Sadducees were concerned about worldly matters–not kingdom matters. They wanted attention and praise from other people, and they wanted it NOW. They wanted wealth and comfort, and they wanted it NOW. They wanted a sign from Jesus, and they wanted it NOW. In being overly concerned about the lack of bread and blind to Jesus’ true meaning, Jesus’ disciples were starting to look more like followers of the Pharisees than of Jesus. With Jesus, a lack of bread isn’t a problem, but listening to the Pharisees is! That’s the lesson for us…

LESSON: A lack of resources is not a problem, but a lack of faith in Jesus is.

Where’s your focus?

On your money or lack thereof?
On your loneliness or on finding a significant other?
On your own ability to change your spouse or your kids?
On the opinions of family, friends, culture
On social media and entertainment?

O you of little faith. Trust and follow the crucified and risen King Jesus. And help others to follow Him as well!

I need this lesson too! O me of little faith!!! As one of the servant leaders among Calvary Church, it’s tempting to stress over our finances. We’re about 1% behind budgeted giving for the year, which is actually great. Praise God! And yet, we hope to hire a full-time student and young adult pastor, which would, on its own, require a giving increase of about 3%. But our focus must remain on learning from Jesus. It’s that I think a symptom of a distracted and possibly dying church is an overemphasis on money. When you have to do a fundraiser for this and a fundraiser for that, we let our Gospel guard down.

We don’t just need to sacrifice our money for Jesus, we need to sacrifice our whole selves.

Our affections and priorities and relationships must center around our Creator and Savior and King.

Our time needs to go to God’s word every day and to serve and be served by our brothers and sisters in Christ. And so many of you do! Volunteers who give of their time! LIFEgroups who faithfully meet together to encourage one another to follow Jesus. Those who regularly listen to and/or read Scripture.

Our lives need to be open to a lost world headed for God’s judgment, the world which He in His grace rescued us out of, that we might find and make and baptize and teach disciples. Cross-shaped disciples. Just like Jesus is patiently and powerfully making us to be.

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

If you’ve been following Jesus for a while, in what ways has He patiently grown you over time? What are some tough lessons you’ve learned? What are some repeated lessons you’ve learned?
If you’re new to following Jesus, what lessons do you think you might have a hard time learning from Jesus? Do you know that Jesus is patient enough to teach you? As long as you’re willing to learn, He is happy to teach.
In what ways does pride in self and mistrust in Christ leak out in your life? Where can you turn to guard against this “yeast” (i.e. unlearn these ideas)?

Where’s your heart? (Matthew 15:1-28)

Johnny thinks the key to life is authenticity–being true to himself. From his career to his politics to sexuality and relationships, he’s going to get what’s his and be who he wants to be.

Connie thinks religiosity is the key. She makes sure she does all the Christian things, says all the Christian things, and goes by all the Christian labels.

Jesus calls us to something else entirely…

“Live The Cross-Shaped Life” – Cruciformity is learning to embody the self-sacrificial love of King Jesus, which God always deserves and honors.

God doesn’t always make things easy in this life for His people, but He always makes it worth it. The living, breathing proof of this is Jesus. Everything about Jesus is humble self-sacrifice–from birth to death, but God brought Him back to life and crowned Him King of kings. That’s cruciformity, and we’re learning His story as we preach through the Gospel according to Matthew.

We’re also learning cruciformity in the beatitudes, the cross-shaped attitudes of God’s kingdom people. We’re memorizing all eight beatitudes this year. Here’s the fifth one:

Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy. (Matthew 5:7 NIV)

Today, we’ll see a contrast between the merciless Jewish leaders and the merciful Jesus. Keep your eyes out for that.

The Story

1) A Public Confrontation: Tradition vs. God’s Word

1 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

The conflict itself seems to be over something trivial: ceremonial hand-washing. No, the Pharisees aren’t germaphobes. It had to do with their tradition. Israel’s priests were to perform ceremonial washings while overseeing worship in the temple, according to the law of Moses. In fact, there was a special hand-washing sink for the priests (Exodus 30:17-21). But the Pharisees, because of their traditions, expected all Israelites to perform ceremonial washing. Their thinking went like this: if God wanted Israel’s priests to ceremonially wash their hands while overseeing temple worship, then God would like it even more if all Israelites ceremonially washed their hands. But they were wrong. God wasn’t interested in the hand-washing. He wanted their worship.

The Pharisees misapplied God’s Word in a way that unduly burdens people and misrepresents God. Their man-made traditions misled the people into thinking that failing to wash your hands is a sin! But the problem is even bigger than that. They are more concerned with the elders’ traditions than with God’s Word! This is exactly what Jesus confronts…

3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6 they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.”

Jesus called out the Pharisees for using their tradition to break God’s clear commands by pointing out one of their horrific practices. Instead of caring for their aging parents (which is the privilege and responsibility of everyone whose parents are still alive), they would take the money they would have spent on their parents and “devote it to God” so that it could only be spent in the Temple and not on their parents. That way, they wouldn’t have to help their parents at all! How sick and twisted!

It’s because of practices like these, Jesus says, that the Pharisees nullify the word of God. The Pharisees prevent the kingdom seed from taking root. No fruit can be grown for glory to God and the good of others because their traditions keep the seed from ever being planted in the first place.

7 “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

8 ‘These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

9 They worship me in vain;

their teachings are merely human rules.’”

This prophecy is from Isaiah 29:13, which called out Israel, about 700 years prior, for their terrible idolatry and injustice. They continued offering sacrifices and prayers to the one true God but at the same time worshiped other false gods AND took advantage of the poor and the weak. For example, we’re reading Isaiah right now in our churchwide Old Testament plan, and we came across this divine rebuke yesterday: “The LORD enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: ‘It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?’ declares the LORD, the LORD Almighty.” (Isaiah 3:14-15) Israel’s leaders were using and abusing the poor, and God hated this, which is why He had to judge them!

Jesus quotes this passage from Isaiah to remind the Pharisees (and us) that what God ultimately desires isn’t the rituals of worship but hearts that worship by means of submission to His commands. I’ll tell you what: the words of Jesus here hit me between the eyes. How often do I sing in church or read my Bible or pray or even talk about God with others in ways that are worship-less? With no real understanding of the gravity of God’s holiness and the joy of His love? More than that, how often do I pay Him lip service but neglect service to Him in all the other areas of my life? I serve him with my religiosity, but do I truly sacrifice my time and money for Him? Do I truly treat others–my wife, children, neighbors, church family–like He wants me to?

Having rebuked the Pharisees, Jesus answers Pharisees’ original question: Why don’t Jesus’s disciples practice the hand-washing tradition?

10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

Jesus flips the whole idea of external religious practice on its head. Holiness does not work from the outside-in; it must work from the inside-out. But Jesus stops short of a full explanation until He’s alone with His disciples…

2) A Private Explanation: True Defilement

Following the public confrontation with the Pharisees, Matthew then records a private, follow-up conversation about this controversy over Jewish tradition and God’s Word…

12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” 13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

The disciples are super concerned that Jesus offended the Pharisees, but Jesus doesn’t seem worried at all. Why? Is He a sociopath who doesn’t care what others think about Him? No. He just cares much more what God thinks about Him. Jesus is fully confident that God will give the Pharisees what they deserve, and He warns His disciples to care more about God’s opinion than the Pharisees’ so that they don’t fall under God’s judgment too. What an important warning for us! Stop caring more about human opinion than God’s because God’s opinion is the only one that matters in the end!

15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 “Are you still so dull?”Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

Jesus further explained to the disciples His answer to the Pharisee…with some bathroom humor! Jesus explains the obvious: food enters the mouth, goes into the stomach, and, literally in the Greek, it ends up in the toilet! That has nothing to do with right and wrong, good and evil! That’s just how the digestive system works. All those Old Testament commands about food and ceremonial washings were symbols of holiness, but in and of themselves, they do not ultimately make a person holy. Holiness and unholiness works from the inside out.

Jesus has just flipped the script for His people: it’s not outward appearances that matters but inside-out transformation. Now, Matthew records a story that illustrates that very truth…

3) A Perfect Example: A Woman Who’s All Heart

21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

Mark calls her a Syro-Phoenician, but Matthew uses an old school label…a term outdated so outdated only Jews would recall it: Canaanite. The Syro-Phoencians were descended from Canaanites. The Canaanites were the evil people God drove from the Promised Land when He gave it to Israel. Canaanites worshiped false gods, relished sexual sin, oppressed the poor, and even sacrificed children to appease their gods. They were horrifyingly wicked. The word “Canaanite” would have left a dirty taste in Jewish mouths.

And this woman was one of them! There is nothing ceremonially clean or “holy” about her! She is the literal polar opposite of a Pharisee, a “good” Jew. But when we see her show up, she is a delightful surprise! Look at her call Jesus “Lord” and “Son of David” and begs for His merciful healing of her poor daughter. Wow! What unexpected faith and humility before Jesus! It gets even better as Jesus and the woman converse…

23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

Strangely, Jesus almost seems to ignore her at first. His disciples counseled Jesus to send her away. And Jesus seems to agree with them, saying that His mission was only to the Jews…not the Gentiles…certainly not the Canaanites! But watch this woman…

25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. 26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

The word for “knelt before” usually means to worship! The woman is not only begging Jesus, she’s worshiping Him!

So Jesus’ response again seems very strange, very out-of-character. Did Jesus just call this Canaanite woman a dog??? At first glance, this comment appears to be, at best, ethnocentric, and, at worst, downright racist. What in the world is Jesus doing? You see, we have mostly been trained to think in racial/ethnic terms, but Jesus thought in theological terms, kingdom terms.

Up to this point in all of Scripture, God’s focus has been mainly on the Jewish nation, not on all nations. So Jesus is just being honest about God’s Big Story. God had promised to bless the children of Abraham and then bless the whole world through them. God’s plan from the very beginning (Genesis 12) was to first bless Abraham’s children and then the whole world through them. Many Jews took a sinful pride in being Abraham’s children and forgot God’s plan to bless the whole world. Does Jesus share this sinful pride? No! His words are not meant as a racial slur but rather as a spiritual truth about how God was going to save the whole world. Wait til the end! The story continues…

27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

If Jesus called you a “dog,” would you be offended? Or would you embrace it? This woman embraces it! She extends Jesus’ metaphor with both great humility and great confidence in truth. She owns it, “Yes, I’m a dog, and yes, it is right for the dogs to get some crumbs!” Apparently, this dear sister fully and humbly trusted God’s plan to first bless Israel and then the world. She had all the eager expectation any of us would have in a loving Savior but none of the entitlement that sin tends to bring to the front. But how will Jesus respond??? He has not given any indication up to this point that He would serve her…what will He do?

28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

According to Jesus Himself, her heart was in the right place. She was desperate for Jesus to work in her life! This woman is WORSHIPING JESUS just like you and I should. I want to be her! I want to have her desperate, humbled faith in King Jesus.

So Jesus flips things inside out! The Jews were concerned with status and tradition and appearance and association and heritage, etc. But Jesus is concerned with the heart: Jesus is struck by her reply. Her faith is irresistible to Jesus. This is exactly the kind of poor-in-spirit attitude that belongs in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus honors this woman because of her surrendered heart, not because of her status. He healed her daughter!

The Lesson

1) Our inner selves are evil and produce evil acts.

Notice how the list Jesus gives in verse 19–“…out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander…” (Matthew 15:19)–is straight from the 10 Commandments.

The 10 Commandments & Jesus’ List in Matthew 15
#1 Idolatry	#6 Murder
#2 Imagery	#7 Adultery & Sexual Immorality
#3 Profanity	#8 Theft
#4 Sabbath	#9 False Testimony & Slander
#5 Father & Mother	#10 Coveting

Jesus had already quoted the 5th commandment (honor your father and mother)in verse 4. Then in verse 19, he refers to the 6th commandment (murder), 7th (adultery and sexual immorality), 8th (theft), 9th (false testimony and slander). So, interestingly, He leaves out the 1st (idolatry), 2nd (imagery), 3rd (profanity), 4th (Sabbath), and 10th (coveting)…which all have to do with inner worship from the heart! Broken worship leads to broken living.

So the answer to this problem isn’t authenticity, as our culture may suggest. “Being our true selves” isn’t helpful when our inner selves are evil! Jesus teaches that our true selves are broken and evil and that that is what defiles us. What’s needed is honest humility before Christ.

But religiosity isn’t the answer either. Calling yourself a Christian, following traditions, and even going to church do not necessarily, in and of themselves take care of our wicked hearts. Religious activity provides neither forgiveness for our sin nor transformation of our hearts.

What hope do I have???

2) Jesus accepts inner surrender–not outer performance.

If you think that Christianity teaches that you must become perfect in order to be accepted by God and His people, you have misunderstood, and perhaps you have been misled! Christianity teaches something else altogether. Only Jesus was good enough for God but, in His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, He forgives and accepts those who are not perfect but humble! That is THE good news.

Today, we might not obsess over ceremonial hand-washing, but we might obsess over other externals. Baptism is a beautiful symbol that is always at risk of becoming a meaningless practice. Baptism is an external symbol that is meant to display the inner reality of forgiveness and new life in Christ. If that’s who you are–surrendered to the crucified and risen King Jesus–be baptized. We actually have one coming up soon, and, if you’d like to learn more about it, connect with us in person or at calvarymuskegon.com.

Without forgiveness from Christ and ongoing transformation into Christlikeness, the externals honor God with our lips while our hearts are far from Him. Do you approach Jesus like a smug Pharisee, thinking you know better, or like the surrendered Canaanite, trusting Jesus knows better?

Questions for Reflection and/or Discussion

What merely human traditions do we place a high moral value on yet without a biblical basis? What actual commands of God might we neglect if we follow those human traditions?
According to Jesus in Matthew 15:19, how deep does our moral corruption really go? How have you witnessed this in your own heart and life? What has Jesus done to make you new from within?
Why is the Canaanite woman a great example for disciples? Which of the beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-10) does she demonstrate? In what ways do you want to be more like the Canaanite woman?

Jesus the Miracle Worker (Matthew 14:13-36)

Matthew 14 recounts two of Jesus’ most famous miracles. If they are new to you, don’t be surprised. This is just what Jesus does. If you know these stories well, enjoy them through the lens of cruciformity…Jesus the Almighty and gentle and lowly. So first, let’s review that this year, we are seeking to…

“Live The Cross-Shaped Life” – Cruciformity is learning to embody the self-sacrificial love of King Jesus, which God always deserves and honors.

We’re also learning cruciformity in the beatitudes, the cross-shaped attitudes of God’s kingdom people. We’re memorizing all eight beatitudes this year. Here’s the first FIVE:

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy. (Matthew 5:3-7 NIV)

Now we’re going to look at some super familiar stories that actually happened. Think on just how difficult these things are to do! Multiplying food! Walking on water! But Jesus did not work these miracles simply to impress! Consider how Jesus displays God’s power throughout Matthew! It’s never to indulge Himself or even to impress others but to honor God and be a blessing to people!

TWO MIRACLE STORIES

#1 Jesus miraculously fed a hungry and hurting crowd! (14:13-21)

This story picks up after King Herod heard about Jesus and feared He might be John the Baptist, raised from the dead. He had unjustly executed John, who had publicly confronted King Herod’s sin. So Jesus has now heard about John’s execution and that He too was now in Herod’s sights…

13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Jesus tried to get alone with His disciples, but we’ve seen this before in Matthew’s accounts. Jesus cannot escape! The crowds are desperate for Jesus and the kingdom of heaven He has brought into their midst. They follow Jesus and find Him, and His heart breaks for all their needs. The ill, the blind, the lame, the mute, the deaf. He spent the whole day healing this hurting crowd, but that only led to another need: this massive crowd was getting hungry…

15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

While Jesus is busy healing, the disciples notice this new need. They’re getting hungry, but they are a long way from town and it’s getting late. If they don’t leave now, these men, women, and children won’t be able to travel safely and easily to find food. Even though Jesus was meeting the needs of the sick, the disciples assumed the crowd must meet their own need of hunger. The disciples concluded that they would not feed the hungry, hurting crowd.

Honestly, I kind of have this same reaction to this story. My hard heart assumes that this is a need these people must figure out on their own. They’re the ones that traveled all this way, bothering Jesus with their needs and coming unprepared in the first place! But that would be an incredibly self-centered conclusion. The disciples planned ahead…as we’ll see they had five loaves and two fish. But desperate people don’t always plan ahead! They were worried about being able to see, to walk, to live! They weren’t worried about dinner! Healthy people should plan ahead, but hurting people don’t always! If the disciples had Jesus’ compassion, they would have known this. So, Jesus urges them to participate in His ministry by meeting the need of hunger…

16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” 17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

Ah, ok. The disciples had planned ahead but only for thirteen (Jesus + the Twelve). Not for thousands. Part of the reason the disciples would not feed the crowd was because the disciples believed they could not feed the crowd. Fair enough. Their math is correct. Five loaves and two fish is just enough to feed thirteen but not the masses. But it’s more than enough for Jesus…

18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Can you imagine what the disciples were thinking when Jesus told them to start passing out their lunch to the crowd? But all their concern must have left in a hurry as they realized the miracle Jesus was performing. Jesus created food where there was none before. Some scholars attempt to explain away the miracle here by suggesting that, in encouraging the disciples to share their own food, everyone else in the crowd shared their own food, and thus everyone was able to eat. But that’s not what Matthew’s account says! This is a miracle of God! It’s reminiscent of how God fed Israel in the wilderness after He delivered them from Egypt (Exodus 16).

The punchline of the account is this: “They all ate and were satisfied.” Some 15,000-20,000 people ate from the disciples’ lunch. That’s more than the population of Fruitport Township! King Jesus rules a kingdom of abundance. See what God can do with a little bit? Though the sacrifice seemed small, God used it for a giant kingdom victory…the hungry were satisfied! Of all the things Jesus could do with God’s power, He fed the hungry and hurting crowds who had nothing to offer Him.

#2 Jesus walked on water to rescue His disciples! (14:22-36)

The meal bought Jesus more time with the crowd, so He was able to finish ministering to them. Once done, He and the disciples plan to leave.

22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.

Several of the disciples were experienced fishermen, so they could traverse the Sea of Galilee (which is about ten times the size of Muskegon Lake). But the weather was a struggle, even for them. It should only take a few hours to sail across the lake, but in the early morning hours, the disciples are still stuck in the middle of the lake. Jesus had been praying on a nearby hill overlooking the lake. Jesus must have seen them, because He heads straight toward them in the middle of the lake without a boat. He’s walking on water!

26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. 27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

Jesus tried to reassure with a special word. He says, “It is I!,” which is literally “I exist” or “I AM” in Greek (“egó eimi” (eg-o’ i-mee’)). “I AM” is the special name God revealed to Moses at the burning bush! In Hebrew, “I AM” is pronounced something like “Yahweh.” In the Old Testament, He’s the God who parted the seas (Exodus 14). And Jesus appears to be identifying with that God. “Take courage! I AM! Don’t be afraid!” Of course He can walk on water!

28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

Why does Peter say this? I’m not sure my first reaction would be, “Call me to walk on the water, Jesus!” But Jesus has been teaching and commissioning His disciples to participate in His healing and teaching ministry. So, it makes sense that Peter would ask Jesus to invite him to participate in this newly revealed power. And Jesus does invite Peter, and he does walk on water for a moment…

30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” 32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

For a moment, Peter trusted Jesus, but the wind and waves eroded his faith in Jesus. Peter’s a failure here, but I’m thankful for him. First of all, I’m thankful for Peter because of his transparency. Most leaders don’t want other people to know their failures and weaknesses. But not Peter. He was one of the first leaders of Jesus’ church and yet he made sure these stories of his own failure were told over and over and over again. He wanted people to know how much Jesus loves and transforms failures.

I’m also thankful for Peter because he is all of us. We struggle. We doubt. We take our eyes off Jesus and look at our problems. We’re too broke, too busy, too lonely, too depressed, too anxious, too whatever. But Jesus gives us what we need to worship and learn from Him and to serve Him as His body in this world. If He’s allowing us to struggle, it’s to learn dependance on Him which brings Him glory. If He’s allowing us to walk on water so to speak, it’s to bring Him glory by being a blessing to others. In short, I’m thankful for Peter because his testimony points me to Jesus. Does yours? Does mine?

34 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him 36 and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

Of course, He did. Jesus cannot help but drive back the darkness and brokenness in this world. He will continue to pour Himself out for others, for the crowds, for His disciples, and for you and I as we continue in the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Matthew.

THREE LESSONS

#1 No one’s as powerful as the Son of God.

Both of these miracle accounts connect the Jesus of the New Testament to the God of the Old Testament. Yahweh parted the seas to save His people, and Jesus walked on and stilled the seas to save them. Yahweh fed His people in the wilderness with manna from heaven, and Jesus multiplied five loaves and two fish to feed. In Matthew, Jesus retraces the steps of God as He saves His people from their greatest enemies: Satan, sin, and death. And once we’re safe in Christ, we’re safe from everything.

#2 No one’s as humble as the Son of God.

It’s not just that Jesus is powerful; it’s how He chooses to wield it! What would you do with the power of God at your fingertips? Would you feed the needy masses? Would you rescue the doubting disciples? Seriously, if you had a genie in a lamp, would your wishes be about you or the glory of God and the needs of others? Jesus is just different. That’s cruciformity.

#3 You can trust the Son of God with your service and your trials.

Cruciformity–the cross-shaped life–is an invitation to serve people sacrificially and endure trials faithfully while trusting Jesus to take care of the rest.

We can trust Him in our service. We want to be “a church for our community,” where God causes spiritual and cultural renewal for His glory and others’ good! Our time, talent, treasure, and testimony are five loaves and two fish. To us, they don’t look like they can impact our community or change the world. There are so many problems in our homes and neighborhoods, let alone this world. We feel super inadequate because we are. Apart from Christ, we can do nothing. But to Jesus, anything is possible. In the movie The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, a king and his army were devastated and surrounded by countless evil orcs. He says, “So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate?” His brave companion thinks for a moment and answers, “Ride out with me. Ride out and meet them.” Their little force charges out bravely but seems overwhelmed…until *spoiler alert* a wizard–their friend and ally–crests a nearby hill bringing a ton of reinforcements! The brave companion remembered that help was coming and that they only needed to hold on a little longer. And help did come. We might have all the grit, resources, and wisdom in the world, but without the crucified and risen King Jesus and the cross-shaped life He calls us to, we are nothing. With Him, anything is possible.

We can trust him in our trials. What are your storms?

Are you lonely, longing for friendship? You may think, “I may never have friends unless I compromise my faith and obedience to Jesus.” Or you may grow envious and even destructive towards those that don’t seem lonely. That’s your trial. Trust Jesus and do what is right and good.
Are you single and desperate for a partner? You may think, “I may never find a husband or wife unless I give in to sexual temptation.” That’s your trial, but trust Jesus and self-control in your sexuality.
Are you concerned about your financial situation? That’s your trial. You may be tempted to take your eyes off Jesus, to lie, steal, take advantage of other people or their generosity. But trust Jesus, being content and working hard even in less-than-ideal situations.
Are you freaking out over the government and upcoming elections? That’s your trial. Trust Jesus and be a good citizen, praying for your leaders and using your rights and privileges for good.

Jesus works miracles. He’s done it before. He’ll do it again. May the Miracle Worker meet your need and be glorified in you.

Questions for Reflection and/or Discussion

Do your attitudes and choices demonstrate a greater lack of trust in either Jesus’ divine power or Jesus’ humble compassion? What would it look like for you to fully trust the meek and mighty Jesus?
Have you ever struggled with a sense of inadequacy in your service to God and others? How has Jesus provided? If you’re still struggling with that, how can He provide?
Describe a time you could relate to Peter walking on the water and taking his eyes off Jesus. Are your eyes on Christ now? If not, what will it take to focus on Him and His way?