Matthew 22 – Gauntlet Pie

Matthew 22 is a direct extension of Matthew 21.  In my Bible i have actually crossed out the chapter number for 22 to de-emphasize the separation.  Overall, the day that these chapters represent would have been a day to sell tickets to, pop some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the show!  Things are starting to get interesting!

Jesus begins the discussion with a parable.  A kings son is getting married and he invites the important people to the wedding feast, but no one is willing to go.  Rather they abuse and kill his messengers.  So he destroys them, and he invites strangers from the street… anyone willing to come.  The Pharisees know that this parable is directed towards them, so they fire a couple of volleys back.  They try to trap Jesus between the law of the land and the sentiment of the people.  Jesus walks through that trap pretty easily.  Next the Sadducees (who do not believe in the resurrection of the dead) test Him.  Jesus not only clears that trap, but He also answers to and clarifies the truth / theology to respond to their confused beliefs.  So instead they send in a legal expert to test Him.  The legal expert questions Jesus, and of course He answers beautifully.  Finally, Jesus asks them a tough question about the Messiah and how the Messiah does not fit their viewpoint / expectations.

All of this silences the pharisees… “No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.”  He wins the debate.  He wins the day, and many of His enemies are now solidified against Him.  Ultimately though, it’s all part of the plan, and He prevails.

Matthew 21 – Jesus & the Pharisees

Things are starting to come together.  The end is nigh and the countdown is beginning.  This chapter begins with the triumphal entry.  Jesus enters Jerusalem for His / the final passover.  The disciples find the colt as He predicts.  He rides the colt into Jerusalem with the bystanders worshiping YHWH and giving Him adoration calling for Him to fulfill His mission as Messiah to save  them and desiring Him to free them from Roman tyranny.  However, as is the case quite often, our expectations of what YHWH should do, and what He does, are two different things.  Even when we have the same message / prediction.

Christ comes in and begins the process of redemption and rescue from tyranny… He drives the money changers and the seats of those who were selling in the temple.  Those who were turning His Father’s house into a den of thieves.

The next morning he was hungry and came upon a barren fig tree.  It should have had fruit, but it didn’t.  He cursed it, and it began to wither and die.  This is a great analogy of the pharisees.  They too are not bearing fruit to righteousness.  As a result, they begin to wither and die as Christ sacrifices Himself to build the church.

The rest of this chapter is focused on this dynamic action – reaction of Jesus and the Pharisees.  They challenge His authority wanting to know what right He has to teach preach, and do these things.  Christ in turn He puts their actions and those of sinners into perspective.  He shows that knowing the law and being sinless are two very different things, and He criticizes them for it.

Jesus continues with another parable about a landowner who builds a vineyard, rents it out to vine-dressers, and sends his servants out to collect the fruits of the vineyard.  The vine-dressers instead beat the representatives and eventually kill the owner’s son.  This is the final truth of their relationship.  The pharisees will kill the landowner’s son, but the landowner will destroy the vine-dressers and redeem His people.

The relationship between Jesus and the pharisees is such a contrast.  Jesus cares for the fruit of the vine, while most of the Pharisees care more about what they can get from the fruit than they do about caring for the fruit.  They are killing the vineyard from the inside out, and they just didn’t seem to care.  This dynamic seems to define and explain all that follows.  It is  the reason and purpose for all that follows.

This is a key turning point in Jesus ministry and the pharisees focus when it comes to Jesus.

Rev. John J. Camiolo Jr.

Matthew 20 – Eyes Blinded & Opened

This parable about the vineyard seems to bug me.  So early in the day this man goes out and hires a bunch of people.  They start working and keep working all day.  As the day goes on, he goes out and hires more and more people.  As the day goes on he continues hiring people until, an hour before finishing time he hires the last group of people.  So then at the end of the day he pays the workers their wages… starting with the last first.  So now he’s paying the last, those that have only worked an hour, not only the same as those who have worked all day long, but also he pays them all the same.  Those who have worked all day long are kind of ticked off, they have families and lives that they need to get home to.  They are tired from working so hard, and these other guys not only get paid as much as they do, they have to wait to get paid until these others do.  I mean come on!  Give these guys a break!  But the owner doesn’t.  He responds to their frustration by saying, “This is what we agreed to, so why are you so upset about how I paid these others?”‘

I’m pretty sure that i understand the meaning behind the parable.  The workers are people.  Some have been serving God all their lives, others reject Him until not long before they die.  Yet they both get paid the same.  Why?  Because God wants to do it that way.  Being one that has served Him since i was young, i struggle with this one quite a bit.  I think that part of it is a pride thing, and part of it is an envy thing, and part of it is a blind thing.  I feel like I DESERVE more because I have worked SO HARD for SO LONG (pride).  I feel like as i see others doing the wrong things (what they want) for so long, yet they seem to have all that they want / need, and they will get the same payment at the end it just doesn’t seem fair (envy).  It’s also a blind thing.  I don’t know what i’ve been missing out on.  I can’t see 5 dimensionally.  I can’t see what could have happened if i had made a different choice, but i wonder.

In the parable, the owner of the vineyard says, “Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.  Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’”  I have to be careful of how i react to these kinds of things.  Matthew 18:8-9 says, “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.”  I have to be careful.  If my envious eye is not brought under conviction and dealt with (removed), it can lead to my own downfall.

There is so much more to this topic that i don’t have time to go into, but i did want to touch on one more thing in this chapter.  At the end of the chapter, there are two blind men sitting.  They heard that Jesus was passing by and they cried out for mercy!  What had they done wrong to deserve blindness that they needed mercy for?  Christ asked them what they wanted Him to do (significant).  He had compassion and healed them.  When we are physically blind, or blinded by by pride and envy.  Only one can have mercy on us and bring healing to our eyes.  He is the one we serve, and who has served us.

Rev. John J. Camiolo

Matthew 19 – Marriage & Money

Marriage:
How lightly do we esteem divorce?  How easily do we let it go?  In the time of Christ, divorce was an easier process than it is now.  You had just to get a certificate of divorce from the Scribes and/or Pharisees.  I have heard it said that it was easier than that.  I have heard it said that all a man needed to do was to tell his wife, “I divorce you.” three times together, and they were divorced.

Jesus makes it clear that once the marriage has been sealed, divorce is not in the design or the plan.  Yet so often, we don’t see it that way.  Men are looking for t he perfect wife, and women are looking for the perfect man.  They marry the person that they think is “the one” or their “soul mate” and when things don’t quite go as  expected, there is a running of the bulls.  The couple flees and the marriage dissolves.   Yet that is not how it is meant to happen.  Yet we, in our selfishness and pride, would rather destroy what God made and blessed than admit that we may be wrong, or that we need to change in ways that we don’t want / like to… especially when we feel hurt by someone who was supposed to protect / respect us.  There are so many things i could go into explaining and blaming for this mentality; the age of marriage, pre-marital emotional intimacy, a lack of marital support / mentoring, a lack of understanding of what marriage really is, but i need to move on.

Money:
I am very interested in this story of the rich young ruler.  In Bible college I had a professor that put a very interesting spin / perspective on this story.  The rich young ruler is a young man that clearly desires to be righteous and be a part of what God / Christ is doing.  However, he gets so caught up in his own wealth, that he can’t let it go to pursue Christ.  However, this story may not end here.  From what i’ve heard, this young man reappears in the Bible in the book of acts.  Apparently Josephus (the non-Christian Jewish historian) reports that the Apostle John taught his disciples that this rich young ruler was the same man that is named in Acts (4:36-37) “Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement), and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”  Barnabas went on, partnered with Paul, and was one of the first missionaries.  He did great things with the kingdom, but ONLY after he let go of his riches.  I have not studied this in depth, but i believe this to be true because i have seen how God works.  To have a man consumed by his riches and reject Christ / his call at first because of these things finally turn, reject the wealth, and become the true man of God he was meant to be.  That kind of redemption can only be the work of God / YHWH!

Rev. John J. Camiolo Jr.

Matthew 18 – Value

“Value” is an interesting word.  We talk about how valuable something is, or how something has value, or is a value.  Yet,  that value is not really standard.  The saying goes that “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”  What is important / significant / valuable to one person is worthless to another.  One person sees “high art” another sees “junk”.  One sees “junk” and another sees “potential”.  Even the value of money is dependent upon the person and situation.  To some people, money is everything!  They seek after it even at the cost of the people around them.  To others, money is nothing but a tool… and not a very good one at that!

So it should be no surprise that what Christ or God values can be very different than what we value.  The disciples came to Jesus at one point and asked Him, “Who then is the greatest (has the most value) in the kingdom of heaven?”  Jesus response is, unexpectedly, a child.  One must have faith as a child, and anyone who receives a child in His name, receives Him.

What’s more, anyone who causes a child to stumble (away from God) has done such a grave danger that he may as well have been drowned… not that Christ is condoning murder.  This is such an issue that Jesus give His disciples the analogy that if their eye causes them to stumble, they need to pluck it out.

The analogy of value seems to continue with the picture of the flock of sheep.  When one sheep wanders off, Christ says that He will leave the entire flock of sheep to seek out the ONE that is lost!  He values each person so much, that He would leave everything else behind to rescue one lost soul.  If that doesn’t define our value to Him, i don’t know what will.

He goes on even further.  We must value others enough to not only discipline them, and kick them out when they refuse to accept the truth, but we must also forgive them as well!  So when a man / woman sins against you, hurts you, and your pride, you must be willing to forgive; not just 7 times, but 7, 70 times (or as many as it takes).  Yet that forgiveness does not preclude discipline and even to the removal of the offender.  Why, because God values His creation, even to the point of understanding the need for discipline and the removal of the cancerous.

Do we value His whole creation?  Or do we only care about those who directly affect us?

Matthew 17 – Metamorphosis

Things are beginning to change (even more).  The disciples have seen and gone through so many things with Jesus.  They have even begun to change (metamorph) and have done things they could never have imagined being able to do before.  Yet the wonders never cease!  Here they go again.  Back up to the mountain to get away and spend some time in prayer.  Yet again, all their expectations are going to be blown apart by reality.  Jesus and His inner circle three go, pray, and there they become a part of something never seen before by human eyes.  Jesus was transfigured / transformed / metamorphosed in front of them.  He is no longer the “Man” that they have known Him to be.  What’s more, not only is Jesus there, but so are Moses and Elijah.  How they knew that it was Moses and Elijah i have no idea.  The text does not tell us, but there it is, the disciples meeting Moses and Elijah face to face!  It’s interesting, the three disciples see the three transfigured, one of whom is one part of the trinity.  Maybe  there’s more here to look at?

So the disciples bear witness to this transformation of the son of man, and a voice from heaven says, “This is my beloved son with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”  Wow!  To have been there!

We go on through the chapter and we see yet another transformation.  A man comes and falls at Jesus feet begging for healing for his son.  The disciples had not been able to heal the child (another message for another time), so he came to the Source, Jesus.  So Jesus brings transformation into the life of the little boy and the father.

Are we experiencing and living out transformation?  Are we being metamorphosed by the Holy Spirit, or do we look similar now to how we did before we met Christ.  Before we accepted and began to live out the gospel (good news) of Christ?  What new metamorphosis still needs to happen?

John Camiolo

Matthew 16 – Response

It’s interesting to look at (compare & contrast) the responses of the action’s / reactions between Jesus, the disciples, and the Pharisees.  I’d say that by this time many of the Pharisees are getting a little fed up with Jesus.   So they decide that they are going to respond to Him by testing Him.  They ask Jesus for a sign that He is who He says He is.  Of course you know that Jesus is not going to just make things easy for them.  He already knows what’s in their hearts, so He criticizes them for not seeing (or ignoring) the signs that are there right in front of them.

So Jesus, understanding the Pharisees, turns around later and tells His disciples to beware of the leaven (teachings) of the Pharisees.  They don’t get it at first, but after some prompting, they catch on.  So Jesus finally comes to them and asks them about their response to who He is.  Peter is the only one who seems to give a real and solid response.  He tells Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus response is high praise of Peter.

So now, because of the response He is given, Christ begins to put a little more depth / meat into His teachings.  He foretells His death and explains the cost of following Him.  Of course we know how the (hi)story goes, but they didn’t at that time.

I wanted to touch on Peter’s “good’ confession here as it has some very interesting facets.  I love the play on words that Jesus does here.  Peter says to Jesus, “You are the Christ (Kristos) the Son of the Living God.”  Jesus responds that this is not something that Peter discovered, but rather something that was revealed to him by the Father.  It’s what Jesus says that is so interesting:  “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”  The name Peter is the Greek word “petros”.  It means a small stone.  The picture that i get here is of a rock that you would use to skip on a pond.  The word “rock” in this verse is “Petra”  which means a very large rock, a bedrock, or a foundational stone.  So we have Jesus telling Peter, “You are a small stone, and on this huge froundational stone I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will on overtake it.

So if the foundational stone is not Peter, then what is it?  It is this truth; “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  This is such an amazing picture, because out of the small stone, the pebble if you will, comes the bedrock of truth.  The pebble speaks forth the mountain.  Isn’t that an amazing picture?!  The pebble is not the foundation / mountain, but out of the small stone / pebble comes that which is the foundation / mountain.  It is an amazing picture!

Matthew 15 – Man’s Heart

“If you want to know where your heart is, look to where your mind goes when it wanders.”  A young lady that i know posted this quote on facebook a couple of days ago.  This is the type of quote that i would normally “like” and comment about how true it is, but the more i began to think about it, the more uncomfortable i became with it.  This is definitely the kind of statement that seems good, and that seems right, but that if lived out can lead to destruction.

If i let my mind wander (unrestrained) invariably it will end up drifting into sin.  It will drift into thoughts and areas where it should not be.  Verses 16-20 of Matthew 15 say; “Jesus said, ‘Are you still lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated?  But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.  For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; …‘”  Is that where my heart is, or is that the sin in my life trying to rise up and consume me?

Once you get to know me, you can get a pretty good idea as to where my heart is… what i am passionate about.  Two big things that i’m passionate about are family and God / the Scriptures / Christianity / the church / Christian life.  These are things that mean a whole lot to me.  They are life consuming.  But, if i let my mind wander, too often my mind will meander to the areas of raw passion.  To emotions and desires unmet.  If you would, to areas of the ID (related to the Ego and Superego).  Are those thoughts my heart, who i am as a person?  They can be if i allow them to be!  Those are my raw emotions and passions, and if i allow them to be, they are my heart!

Colossians 3:2 says: “Set your minds on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”  II Corinthians 10:5 says, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,”  We must take every thought captive.  We must make it a decision to set our minds in the right direction.  If we let a meandering mind set the direction of our hearts, we will end up being consumed and ruled by our passions which will end up destroying us and all that we care about.

If you want your heart to be more than just your destructive raw passion and emotions, you must take your thoughts captive lest you become consumed.  The only way to have the strength to truly overcome your raw passions and reach all that you are meant to be, is to seek the one who created you in His image and from whom emotion and passion originated.

Rev. John J. Camiolo Jr.

Matthew 14 – John, Jesus, & Peter

It’s quite the statement when someone who kills you, hears about the Son of God doing amazing things and preaching & teaching, and thinks it is you risen from the dead.  Not that John the Baptist would really appreciate the irony of the situation so much.  But it certainly does make a statement.

This chapter focuses the mental camera on Jesus, the Christ,  by panning through John, Jesus, and Peter.  Attention is brought to the fate of John the Baptist, who must decrease while He (Christ) must increase… decrease is right.  Herod, who had arrested him for speaking out against him, had been keeping John alive in prison because he was struck by what John said, and Herod would bring him out to listen to him from time to time.  However, Herodias, Herod’s wife who did not like John speaking against her, had wanted John dead, but Herod was unwilling to do it.  So on Herod’s birthday, Herodius’ daughter, Salome, danced for him.  He offers her whatever she wants, she asks for the head of John the Baptist on a platter, and as much as he doesn’t want to do it, he does it to fulfill his promise before his guests.

So Jesus, in mourning, goes to a secluded place to find rest / peace, but He finds none.  The crowds arrive there before He does.  Even in mourning, He still minister’s and leads.  Then He feeds the crowds… or at least He blesses the food and tells the disciples to feed the people.  As a result, 5,000 are fed from five small loaves and two fish.  Afterwards He sends the disciples away in a boat, and He sends the crowds home.

Finally, there is a storm on the sea, Jesus walks on water, and the disciples see him.  Jesus speaks to the disciples to calm them, and Peter responds with an amazing reaction of faith.  He says, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”  He is finally getting it.  With Christ, and only through Christ (and the Holy Spirit), he will increase.

Who are we to become and at what cost?  John had to decrease for Christ to increase.  As Christ increased, Peter was able to increase as well.  Peter’s increase led to the increase of the church, but eventually he too decreased so that future generations could increase.  What is your role and your purpose in Christ?

Rev. John J. Camiolo Jr.

 

P.S. This is my 150th post.

Matthew 13 – Message

There was a young man who grew up in a simple, small town.  He left the small town, got his degree in engineering, and became famous for his simple, yet extremely effective designs.  Time and time again this man would take a complex situation and find a simple, elegant solution.  He went out to third world countries and helped the people find easy ways to find and build wells, design stable structures in earthquake prone countries that could withstand decades of major tremors,  contracted with NASA  to help design the next stages of the international space station.  His work was amazing, revolutionary, and had won him the Nobel Peace Prize.

One year his hometown, which was in a valley, was hit by really heavy rainfall and was in danger of being crushed by massive mudslides.  This young man came home and brought a plan to the town of how  to simply, effectively, and inexpensively redirect the mudslides away from the town in into an area that had been unsuitable for farming due to the nature of it’s ground and (lack of) soil.  This would have effectively rescued the town and produced all new usable land putting life and industry where there had been none.

The response from the leadership of the town and of the community was one of awe, but ultimately of rejection.  The plan wasn’t a bad plan.  It was a great one, but they wanted to rely on their own ways of doing it.  The town had been threatened numerous  times by mudslides.  One year part of the town had even been buried, but they would be alright.  They had always gotten through just fine.

Three months later, while he was doing some work in South America he got a message.  His hometown had been buried in a record breaking mudslide.  The entire town had been swept away with only a handful of survivors.

Do we fail to live out the message because we have heard it so many  times we have just stopped listening?  “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.”  Those of us born and raised in the church, we have been born, bred, and raised on the Word of God.  Are we bearing fruit, or have we become too hard for God / YHWH to plant a new seed in?  Will we be consumed when the day of destruction comes, because we were of His household?