BSF Matthew Study 2013-2014 – Page 6

17 BSF Matthew Week 17, Day 2

My Daily Journal:

Baggage: As I read and meditated on this passage my view of the disciples has shifted. At first, I thought they misunderstood Jesus’ words and warning about the pharisees because they were focused on their own physical needs. But, I think their reaction has more to do with the focus and baggage that they carried than with any desire to eat a loaf of bread.

Jesus has been harsh to these highest ranking leaders of the faith. These are men who are used to providing counsel to kings. They are used to being revered and honored and respected by the people. They are used to doing the testing, not being tested. They also are not opposed to using violence to execute their power. In last weeks lesson we reference John 7:1 explaining why Jesus went to Tyre and Sidon: people were trying to kill Him. This movement wasn’t from the common people, but rousted up by the leaders whom He offended again and again. It came from the ones who saw Him as a threat to their traditions.

So, when Jesus warns the disciples: “Be careful, Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” It is not unreasonable to assume the disciples thought it might be poisoned.

But instead of focus on Jesus or on the wickedness of such a tactic by religious leaders, their first focus was on themselves. Oh, crud. I forgot to bring the bread with me. I messed up and let Jesus and my friends down and now we are on in danger because of my forgetfulness.

I can easily go down that path. I worry and fret and regret the little things that I forget or fail to do or don’t execute the way I should. I can focus so much on those that I get tied up in a knot and miss the bigger picture. But, as Jesus told the disciples, its not about the bread.

How many days do I spend with Jesus as my savior, my brother and my friend and still focus on myself and my faults and fumbles? How often am I standing in the quicksand of these tiny rocks instead of stepping up onto THE Rock?

My Answers:

2.
a.
GNT: Mark 8:11: Some Pharisees came to Jesus and started to argue with him. They wanted to trap him, so they asked him to perform a miracle to show that God approved of him. They had seen prior miracles in Matt 2 and 12.

b.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 2 Tim 3:16
Test God in His blessings (Malachi 3:10) not for who He is.

c.
3 days in the tomb (the belly of the whale), sent into a wicket land, called for people to turn from wickedness to God

3.
a.
Their teachings

b.
Their focus was on their physical needs, e.g., food.

c.
Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember?Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? – their faith could not be stronger than their hearts allowed

d.
We are too simple. We feed our stomachs but ignore our soul.

BSF Matthew Week 16, Day 4

Today’s Scriptures

My Daily Journal:

Today’s lesson is another in tearing down old “support structures” so Jesus can renovate the apostles into His church.

Many will look at this passage and think about the interactions between Jesus and the woman. But, it is important to keep in mind the other people in the room: the apostles. What was Jesus teaching them?

To get to that we need to back up a little bit. We know from Matthew and Mark that this woman was a Syrophoenician women from Tyre and Sidon. We look at that today and say, “so what?” But, to the observant Jew of that time, being raised in the lessons of the old testament, this fact meant a lot. To put it in perspective, think about whatever the seedest part of the nearest big city is to where you live; the part of town that shows up in the news for drug dealing and prostitution every week. Now picture a woman from that part of town showing up on your doorstep one day and refusing to go away. For the people of Jesus’ day, a Syrophoenician women from Tyre and Sidon would have immediately brought to mind Jezebel. Not only a gentile, but all the images of idol worship and sexual debauchery would have been a standard stereotype.

The apostles urged Jesus to “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” Jews crying out after them was nothing knew, but they would have had a completely different stereotype bias against a Jezebel.

Jesus even plays to this in His lesson. “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” Go back and look at how Jezebel died to catch the nuance in that line.

But, Jesus did not see her the same way. He wanted to remove the blindness of the apostles who could not see past her nationality and race and area of origin. What Jesus saw was a woman who had great faith.

Would it offend you to be categorized along side a dog? Would that turn you away from your focus? Let’s be honest, in comparison to God we are less than dogs are to man. We have no right to sit at the master’s table, we have no way of earning that right. But Jesus invites us to be His brothers and sisters. He adopts us into His family. Plus, in God’s economy, getting the left-overs and hand-me-downs is not such a bad thing. Every time they feed large groups of people there is more food left-over than there was to start with!

My Answers:

9.
a.
John 7:1 After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. (if you look at Parallel Bible / Harmony of the Gospels, this is the passage from John tied to this story in Matthew and Mark)

b.
Lord, Son of David – She was a descendent of Ham, cursed by Noah to be servant of servants, ancestors often worshipped idols – Jezebel from Tyre & Sidon

10.
a.
Rom 1:16, to the jew first and then to the greek, to test her, to clarify, to give her the better portion

b.
very willing to take the crumbs that fall from their master’s table

c.
He went to a house, didn’t want people to know, gentile, syrophoenician race, let the children be satisfied first

11.
a.
She went with the parable – even the dogs… very willing to accept the position of a dog to heal her daughter

b.
love of daughter, belief in Jesus as Lord, Son of God, understood what it meant to be demon-possessed

c.
prayers for family

12.
a.
daughter was healed, demon left, example for future christians, great faith, in the bible

b.
faith is confidence in hope assurance in not seen, impossible to please God without faith

BSF Matthew Week 16, Day 3

Today’s Scriptures

My Daily Journal:

In building rennovation, sometimes the only way to build something up is to first tear down the weak support structures. In gardening, to allow room for growth you sometimes need to cut back or pull out the weeds. The parables and teachings of the past few weeks lessons are culminating this week as Jesus continues that work with His apostles.

The apostles were Jews, raised in the traditions of the elders. The teachers and pharisees from Jerusalem would have been like getting a visit from the big bosses from the top office at corporate headquarters.

The idea that these bastions of knowledge and wisdom were wrong must have been like a wrecking ball striking the main support beam of what the apostles knew about being an observant Jew. Clean and unclean were not just cornerstones, they had come to be a foundation of the religious.

But Jesus was not simply tearing down the apostles faith, He was building it. He was removing the weak, infested structures and replacing them with rock. The pharisees were offended, but millions would be saved. To secure the foundation of the church, he could not build on the traditions of the elders. He had to build on love, compassion, healing, serving. He had to build on faith in the Word of God.

Sometimes we cannot focus our eyes. There may be an astigmatism or injury. But just like a doctor may prescribe glasses, we can be given sight and the ability to focus through the lens of God’s Word, Jesus Christ.

My Answers:

6.
Rigidly following rules doesn’t make one holy. What flows forth from their heart is a sign of their holiness.

7.
a.
The pharisees were offended

b.
every plan that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots – leave them, they are blind guides

c.
If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit

d.
He was blinded – he thought of the priests and pharisees as holy men who were teaching right things

8.
a.
Your actions and thoughts, the things that come out of you or that you do from your own motivation – not outside influences, but inside: evil thoughts, lust, sexual immorality, stealing, murder, adultery, greed, malice and deceit, slander, lewdness, envy, arrogance, folly

b.
envy, worry, greed, slander, folly – yes

BSF Matthew, Week 16, Day 2

Today’s Scriptures

My Daily Journal

The definition of focus is “the center of interest or activity.” What is your focus? What is the center of your interest or activity?

For the Pharisees and teachers who traveled from Jerusalem to meet Jesus, their focus was on “holding to the tradition of the elders.” It wasn’t on God. It wasn’t on the Messiah. It wasn’t on learning and understanding and healing and being healed. It was on ceremony. Ceremony gave them power and authority. Ceremony gave them comfort.

Ceremonies are not inherently wrong. Structure can be very helpful in our walk with God and our approach to learning and studying His word. But when they become the focus instead of an aid, then they are a distraction.

I was with a older friend recently discussing a worship service she attended. She was totally distracted because there were live plants on the alter in the church. According to tradition, only cut flowers are to be placed on the altar as a reminder of the price Christ paid. Nothing wrong with that tradition, and a great pointer back to Jesus, but when it became such a distraction that it prevented worship, it took over the focus.

We have to be careful of this in BSF and in our churches as well. There are many unspoken guidelines of “how we have always done things” that can become the focus. This can often be a major obstacle for people entering bible study or church service because they see the hypocrisy of the distraction of our heart.

The traditions are perfectly fine as “hows”. This is how I approach worship, this is how I prepare myself. But when they become the whats and whys then we need the reminder of the hymn: “turn your eyes upon Jesus… and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim”

My Answers

3.
a.
The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions

b.
Why do you break the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions?

4.
a.
It was a way of weaseling out of using money to support parents by pledging it to the church as a future contribution

b.
The commandments come first, other things that support them are fine, but never over-rule them

5.
a.
let go of commands but hold to traditions. Follow certain rules and obligations but don’t have a heart for or daily walk with God – do not study His word or help others

b.
When I go through the motions instead of taking time to prepare my heart for worship

BSF Matthew, Week 15, Day 5

Today’s Scriptures

My Daily Journal:

Today’s story is absolutely amazing. There are so many elements and depth of messages in this story, we could peel back layer after layer of it for deeper meaning and application. We also can also see fun insights, like, when the called Peter, “the rock”, were they simply chiding him for the fact that he sank like one?

Instead, I was drawn to focus on one specific verse: Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matt 14:33)

What does “worship” mean?

These guys were specifically called by Jesus. The were commissioned by Him, given power by Him. They saw His miracles. They saw Him heal and teach. They saw and heard the interactions with John the Baptist. They just participated with him in feeding 5000 men plus their families from 5 loaves and 2 fish.

But now they got it. This is the Messiah. This is truly the Son of God. And they worshiped Him.

Here is the difference that I see: Up to this point everyone who encountered Jesus wanted something from Him. The sick wanted to be healed. The lame to walk. The blind to see. The deaf to hear. People hungered for His teaching. They wanted to be taught the revelation of scriptures. They wanted the government to rest upon His shoulders. They wanted Him to throw off the tyranny of Rome. Herod wanted Him to entertain him. The pharisees and sadducees wanted Him to die or at a minimum shut up and go away. The disciples wanted Him to lead them.

But now they worshiped Him. Worship is not the act of wanting or taking or asking or needing – worship is the act of openly offering everything we have received back to the one from whom it all came. The disciples had not understood before. Mark 6:52 tells us the disciples “had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened” (they were probably still grumbling about having to feed all these people!). But, now, instead of taking from Jesus, their hearts were open and praise was flowing out of them to the true Son of God.

Is this how we worship? Do we show up to worship service to be entertained? Do we pray only when we need something? Do we have a set outcome or role that we expect God to fulfill in our lives? Or do we worship Him simply for who He is – He is God and I am not? Worship is not a physical action, it is a condition or state of our heart and soul. And, as we see when the boat landed, worship is contagious!

My Answers:

12.
a.
Yes, they were obedient and exactly where God/Jesus had sent them

b.
Storms of life are not because I have sinned or done something wrong. I can be in exactly the right place at the right time and still face a storm – but it is nothing Jesus can’t handle!

13.
a.
fully in Jesus

b.
Saw the wind – physical eyes over-ruled his spiritual heart

c.
reached out his hand and caught him… why did you doubt?

d.
Not stuck in the boat – get out and walk on water – trust heart to Jesus over whatever my eyes/mind may tell me.

14.
a.
died down

b.
worshiped him – Truly you are the Son of God

c.
Power over the physical world

BSF Matthew, Week 15, Day 4

Today’s Scriptures

My Daily Journal:

Every day I plug my phone in to recharge. But do I do the same thing with my soul?

Jesus, the incarnate man, showed us how to pray and how pray can not be a routine, or just a request, or just words and thoughts. Jesus demonstrated that prayer can bring power. As humans in the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, we need this connection. We need to be recharged. We need to plug in to the only source of power there is that equips us to perform miracles of faith and love and goodness in a world that is wickedly opposed to the very nature of these things.

Is this type of prayer necessary? It is more necessary for my soul than food is for my body or shelter is for my flesh or electricity is for my phone. Is this type of prayer pleasurable? I love getting charged up by God for God – how about you?

My Answers:

10.
a.
went up on a mountainside by himself to pray

b.
Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself

11.
a.
Told parables to crowds, heard his cousin was beheaded, went by boat to solitary place, had compassion and healed many, fed over 5000, sent them all away including disciples, went alone to pray, walked on water

b.
Yes. Praying is simply a time of communication with our Father in Heaven. It is necessity, it is pleasure. It is (or should be) a part of our life every day and throughout the day.

c.
protection. ability to fulfill His will and finish His work, strength, peace

d.
same, to give me clear and direct commands to obey

BSF Matthew, Week 15, Day 3

Today’s Scriptures

My Daily Journal:

I would not necessarily count the gift of hospitality as one of my spiritual gifts. I know there are people who have this gift. Like Martha, of Mary and Martha fame. There are people at our church (and in BSF) who’s first thought seems to be to always put the needs of others before their own needs. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not calloused to the needs of others or against having gatherings, but the organization aspect of it is not one of my gifts. Just like the disciples.

When faced with between 5,000 and 20,000 people in a remote area, their first thought was not one of hospitality, it was how do we move this along and get these people out of here. But Jesus’ words were clear, “You give them something to eat.” (Matt 14:16).

The lesson was one of obedience over comfort and natural inclinations. Jesus didn’t ask them. Jesus didn’t tell them to form a committee. Jesus didn’t seek out the people of the crowd who had the most to redistribute it. Jesus didn’t chastise the people for being unprepared, He responded as one in charge should respond. He gave clear and explicit direction. 1. You give them something to eat, 2. Bring what you have to me. 3. He directed them into groups.

And, what happened? The same thing that always happens when we serve others in obedience to Jesus. What we end up with is always more than what we began with. When we care for others in Jesus name, the care we receive back is always greater. When we love others in Jesus name, the same is true.

Don’t miss the fact that there were 12 disciples and 12 baskets left over, each completely full.

While I understand the role of spiritual gifts, I think this miracle demonstrates it is never our own gifts we should rely upon, but the gift of Jesus Christ. Our calling is to be obedient to Him, to submit to His organization, to follow His commands, to do the work He gives me to do, to trust fully in Him, not my needs, wants, comfort-level, weariness or hunger. Obedience comes first.

My Answers:

7.
a.
John the Baptist had been murdered by Herod. Herod wanted to see Jesus.

b.
He had compassion on them. He had them fed

8.
a.
They were practical. They were in a remote place with 5000 people, it was late, they were hungry. “not my problem”

b.
Jesus taught them the economies of Heaven. Which begin and end with reliance on Jesus. They do not need to go away – you feed them. Bring them to me. They all ate and were satisfied.

9.
a.
bring them to me. Give thanks to heaven. Begin with what you have and serve others with it. All are satisfied and the remaining is more than what you start with.

b.
Compassion, power, miracle maker, take care of physical needs so that spiritual needs can be met

c.
When I’m at then end of my resources it reminds me to rely on Jesus to keep and protect and nourish me in a way I can’t do for myself

d.
By feeding them. By being compassionate. By trusting in God to magnify what I hold into enough.

BSF Matthew, Week 15, Day 2

Today’s Scriptures

My Daily Journal:

Today’s lesson is an amazing example of the theory of evolution in practice with humans. Herod was a case study in the survival of the fittest. He achieved power. He was the ruler of the kingdom. He took what he wanted. He did everything and anything necessary to maintain that status and power. Even his relationships with others were all about power: who had it, who controlled it, who had the ability to disseminate it. Things like God and prophets and the Messiah were curiosities, things to be enjoyed.

This is what survival of the fittest looks like. We as humans do not become better, kinder, more caring individuals when left to our own ways. We become egomaniacs, murderers, adulterers, rulers, twisted, misguided, manipulators. When others point out our sins and wrongs we strike back, hard, to make an example of them.

Herod demonstrated the character of man (you and me) fully incarnate. Jesus represents the character of God fully incarnate. Oh, and what a difference there is!

The only way to evolve into something better than we are by our own character is to be transformed into His character.

My Answers:

3.
a.
This is messed up. Herod is sleeping with his brother’s wife and has a daughter by her. She dances at his birthday party in front of guests and he is so pleased he asks her to name anything she wants and she asks for JTB’s head on a platter.

b.
Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man

4.
a.
he knew him to be a righteous and holy man, he was greatly puzzled but liked to listen to him. He was afraid because he was known as a profit

b.
to save face 26: because of his oaths and dinner guests. Because he was blinded by sin 18 is is not lawful for you

c.
Of course not – oath vs. murder???

d.
Mark 6:16 John, whom I beheaded (guilt) Luke 9:9 I beheaded John – who is this>?

5.
a.
As a fox

b.
Nothing

c.
Herod would not be changed by words, no matter how convicting. He simply wanted entertainment

6.
Snowball effect of power corrupting

13.5 BSF Matthew Week 13, Day 5

Today’s Scriptures

My Daily Journal:

There was a beauty in the interpretation of the “field” in this parable. In one part, it clearly was an individual, their own personal heart/faith. In another it was the church or body of all believers, producing a harvest together. We may think of this as a duality, a use of the same illustration for two different purposes. But I don’t think that is accurate.

Instead, I think it reflects how Jesus views us. We are simultaneously individuals and the collective body. We are personal and unified. We are one and many. We are a heart and body. Just as Jesus is a man, He is also unified with the Father and Holy Spirit as God.

And then the lesson within it. We fixate. We see one stain and we can’t let it go, we see one weed and we can’t wait to yank it out. But it isn’t our job. God has it covered. He knows exactly what to do and when to do it. We do not need to concern ourselves with pointing out every wrong in others to weed them out. We need to sow more seeds and produce more fruit. It has always been this way, it always will.

The church is full of sinners. My life is still filled with rocks and weeds and I trip and fall. God doesn’t require purity for admission, He requires admission of Himself into our hearts so that He can create purity in them. Psalm 51: create in me a clean heart!

My Answers:

12.
a.
Son of Man – The devil

b.
The Sons of the Kingdom

c.
the world

d.
The sons of the evil one

e.
The end of the age

f.
Angels

13.
a.
Deceitful – conniving

b.
While pulling the weeds you uproot the wheat with them – let both grow together til the harvest

c.
those who wish to bring harm to Christianity populate themselves within the midst of the church

14.
The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father

13.4 BSF Matthew Week 13, Day 4

Today’s Scriptures

My Daily Journal:

How do you get a callous?

You don’t get callouses on your hands from laziness or avoiding use. You don’t get callouses on your hands from wearing well-fitting protective gloves. You get callouses from friction, wear, pressure and irritation.

They didn’t get a calloused heart because they refused to give their heart to Jesus. They had a calloused heart because they had already given their heart, many different times, over and over again to things that did not fit and they only caused friction, pressure and irritation in their life.

This is as true today. A calloused heart today doesn’t start with a rejection of God. Normally, it starts with joining of your heart to the wrong things: idols such as self, money, fame, power. It isn’t that people aren’t asking and seeking, it is that they are too quick (impatient/disobedient) and give their heart promiscuously to every and anything that promises (lies) to provide peace, contentment and fulfillment. They are busy calling evil good and good evil, they lose the ability to discern light from darkness. As the country song put it, “looking for love in all the wrong places.”

When I renewed the license for my car I received a sticker and it provided instructions to apply on a clean, dry surface. The problem was not that Jesus did not offer them a permit, a nametag, a license for a mansion in heaven. The problem was that they no longer had any clean surfaces left on their heart and they refused, out of their callousness, to yoke themselves to Jesus and allow Him to work with them to clean even one small area of their hard heart.

The Word of God is powerful. If Jesus had not elected to cloak his message in parables, the power of the truth would have been too powerful and even the most calloused hearted would have bent to their knees. You can only stand so close to the fire and continue to deny the heat. But Jesus did not desire to brute force them into believing. God has always given man free will to accept a gift that makes no sense to reject, but that is the true message of real love.

My Answers:

9.
a.
Though seeing they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand

b.
Many, who were not His disciples, had come for entertainment but did not repent, change or follow Him

c.
16. but blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.

d.
Many prophets and righteous people longed to see/hear what they/I see/hear

10.
whoever has, given more; does not, taken – careful: with measure you use it measured to you

11.
a.
this people’s heart has become calloused, Is 5:20, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness

b.
Try to make their evil acceptable and called good, even though it is still evil