“While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, ‘My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.’” – Matthew 9:18

There’s so much that could be said about this verse and the two intertwined stories that follow as Jesus brings the man’s dead daughter back to life and a woman who’d bled continuously for years was instantly healed simply by touching the fringe of His robe…

There’s the extraordinary faith of this father. Jesus was new on the scene and there was no reason to believe He could bring someone dead back to life. Yet he believed, he acted on his belief by going to Jesus, and he was absolutely correct. The same is true of the woman.

There’s the incredible power of Jesus who brought this dead child back to life. There’s His mercy in being willing to go and see the girl. There’s His calm as He dismisses though who made fun of Him for trying. There’s His compassion toward the suffering woman.

However, there’s a deeper connection between this story and the story of the bleeding woman that isn’t obvious to the modern reader. Under the Mosaic Law, touching either of them should have made Jesus unclean. There were various ways to become unclean, but two of the biggest were to touch something dead and to touch someone who is bleeding. Jesus did both, but rather than become unclean, He restored both individuals to wholeness, health, and cleanness.

There’s a profound significance to this, because in the Old Testament, cleanness didn’t spread, uncleanness did. Uncleanness spread like a virus infecting everyone who came in contact with it. There’s only one being Who can reverse this flow and spread cleanness. God. The subtle but critical point of these two stories is not just the power of Jesus, but the fact that He does what God does – He spreads cleanness without being infected by uncleanness. Jesus is truly God come in the flesh. He walked among us to teach us, understand us, and rescue us from sin. He is worthy of worship and rightly should be the Lord of your life. #FollowJesus

“And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?’” – Matthew 8:28-29

Isn’t it interesting that demons know EXACTLY Who Jesus is? They KNOW beyond a shadow of doubt that He’s the Son of God. They also know the end of their story – that He’ll come in power to utterly defeat all the forces of Satan. That’s what they mean about coming to torment them “before the time”. What surprises them is that God’s Kingdom began to break into the world with the first coming of Jesus. Despite that surprise about His timing, they clearly still know the big picture.

Nonetheless, they can’t bring themselves to obey Jesus, submit to Jesus, or worship Jesus. They have plenty of knowledge about Jesus but won’t follow Him. Unfortunately, there are many people like that today, including in churches. They know plenty of facts about Jesus, but won’t follow Him. They might know what He taught and they might like what He taught. They might think highly of Him as a social reformer or prophet but won’t yield to Him as Lord. Unfortunately, mere knowledge about Jesus doesn’t do anyone any good.

To receive the benefits of knowing Jesus, each person must choose to believe in Him with a faith that produces repentance and obedience. His regular invitation was to truly follow Him. That’s the step the demons wouldn’t take. Have you taken that step? If not, what holds you back? If so, who in your life also needs to take that step? Pray for them and help them to #FollowJesus

“For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” – Matthew 5:46

How are you doing at loving your enemies? How are you doing at praying for those who oppose you and your faith? As Jesus points out in this verse, any sinner can love people who love them back. That isn’t special. Those furthest from God still manage to love those close to them. We’re called to be different! As a follower of Jesus, you’re called to something much, much harder – loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you!

This is a virtue that seems to have utterly fallen out of favor (if it was ever in favor) in our culture. Today we’re obsessed with beating our enemies, outmaneuvering them and “owning” them by humiliating them publicly. We paint everyone who disagrees with us as utterly evil and depraved, an existential threat to the faith, the nation, or the human race. That isn’t the way of Jesus! That can’t be how you operate if you follow Him!

Spend time right now considering how you feel about those who disagree with you politically? How do you describe those who are very different from you – socially, ethnically, religiously, or generationally? Those who look very different or speak very differently? Is there love in your heart for them or contempt? Is there love or fear? Is there love or anger? Is there love or hate?

If there isn’t love for those you consider “different” or “opponents” then begin doing what Jesus commanded. Start praying for them every day. Ask God to bless them – He knows what’s ultimately best for them. Pray for God to let you see them with the eyes and heart of Jesus. Pray for God to help you earnestly desire and lovingly pray for their salvation and restoration to relationship with Him. As you pray for them, God will help you learn to love them as Jesus does so that you can minister to them, care for them, and introduce them to Jesus in His way rather than the way of the world.

#FollowJesus

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” – Matthew 5:13

In the ancient world, salt was incredibly precious. Indeed, it was so valuable that sometimes people were paid not with money but with salt (which is where our English word salary comes from). It gave flavor to food, much as it does today, but that wasn’t the reason salt was so precious. Salt was precious because it kept food from rotting in an age without refrigeration. It kept people fed and healthy long after meat had been butchered. However, salt could become impure and lose both it’s distinctive flavor and corruption-preventing properties. In that case it would simply be thrown away.

Jesus said that His followers are to be the salt of the earth. We must have a distinct flavor that’s different from everyone else. That distinct flavor is supposed to be our love for each other (see John 13:34-35). If we fail to have that flavor, we aren’t good for much.

More than that, we’re called to bless and preserve culture, working against rot and decay. Again, if we aren’t doing that, we aren’t good for much. If you look around, you should notice that our culture is decaying. Moral corruption, the celebration of sin, the triumph of greed, and complete spiritual rot and ruin are very far along. You’re the salt of the earth, what are you doing to prevent that and bring restoration?  

Being the salt of the earth doesn’t look like retreating from the culture behind the fortified walls of the church. Being the salt of the earth doesn’t look like surrendering to the culture and celebrating what our culture celebrates. It doesn’t look like celebrating people “living their truth” when that’s an outright lie. It doesn’t look like leaving people to “you do you”. It also doesn’t look like grasping for earthly power or loudly and angrily condemning those who disagree with us.

Being the salt of the earth looks like being Jesus in our dark and dying culture. It looks like walking in His character while sharing the truth of Scripture directly and lovingly as He did. It looks like being willing to suffer and be humiliated to go where those far from God are with both a loving embrace and the guidance to “Sin no more”. It looks like getting off the church property and getting involved in the problems that are tearing our society apart – issues like abortion, poverty, homelessness, racism, human trafficking, and sexual immorality. It looks like sharing the hope of Christ with people who are desperately seeking hope in every substance, experience, or fad they see.

We are the salt of the earth. You are the salt of the earth. How do you taste?

#FollowJesus

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” – Matthew 5:5

We need some clarity about what it means to be meek given that Jesus says the meek will inherit the earth. We need that clarity because it’s followers of Jesus who will inherit the earth, which means all followers of Jesus – all of them – must be meek. That means you must be meek if Jesus is your Lord!

First of all, meekness isn’t weakness. The Bible describes Moses as being extremely meek (Numbers 12:3) and he certainly wasn’t weak. He confronted Pharaoh and led Israel to freedom from slavery. He led the nation and judged their disputes. He was firm and strong, yet meek. Paul makes an appeal by the meekness of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:1) and He certainly wasn’t weak. He confronted hypocrisy, battled Satan, and died on a cross for our salvation. He was firm, strong, sinless, yet meek. Rid yourself of any association between meekness and having a spirit of timidity, fear, or weakness.

Meekness really describes full submission to the will and way of Jesus. It describes a humble recognition that God is infinitely greater than yourself so there’s always a deep desire to learn more from Him and obey Him more fully. Meekness describes a posture that assumes you don’t have everything figured out and so you listen well and carefully consider everything you read in Scripture while also learning from others. It’s being firm and direct in your faith without being abrasive or abusive.

Meekness describes the strong gentleness and enduring patience that grows from having a deep awareness of the limits of your knowledge, wisdom, and abilities combined with a desire to fully follow Christ and grow in Him. It’s showing love and patience toward others who don’t deserve it, not because you’re weak but because you’re strong in Christ. Meekness is a desire to bring glory to God rather than yourself. Are you meek?

#FollowJesus