Author: Bryan Richardson

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 7:24-29 (day three)

“The crowds were amazed at his teaching; for he was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”

Whatever teaching justifies people in positions in which they hold power over you; whatever teaching conveys that you possess little worth; whatever teaching encourages you not to advocate for your well-being; whatever teaching claims God’s will as a trump card to quell dissent; whatever teaching tends to favor the powerful; whatever teaching places some people above God’s judgment – such teaching magnifies man, not God. It wasn’t the downtrodden, the spiritual outsiders, the sinners whom Jesus disturbed. Rather, it was the celebrated, the spiritual elite, the most biblically literate who became alarmed. The prostitutes and tax collectors? They knew hope when they saw it. This is what happened when the real authority taught the scriptures. Jesus opens doors the system has slammed shut.

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 7:15-23 (day three)

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

Who did Jesus refer to time and again throughout his sermon as having taught his listeners? Hypocrites, or actors. Eager for the best seats at the banquets? Actors. Making prayer into performance art? Actors. Skirting the law for their own financial gain and in so doing devouring widows’ houses and depriving the elderly of financial support? Actors. Laying claim to the mantle of Moses and with it the special status of a select few blessed by God? Actors. These actors, also known as teachers of the law, are very good at their primary craft – acting. “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV.” And Jesus says, “What does that have to do with anything?”

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 7:13-14 (day three)

“The gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Everything about Jesus runs counter to your expectations. Little is much, servanthood is greatness, the poor are celebrated, and now this. Does everything have to be counterintuitive? It’s only that way because you’ve been told that there’s safety in numbers: lots of dollars, lots of people, lots of admiration, lots of publicity, lots of approval. That way of life links security to external factors, though. That way of life tells you that there’s nothing worth much on the inside, so you’ve got to prop yourself up with whatever you can grab. But Jesus says you don’t need a Las Vegas-style entryway to convince you of your value. You’re already worth much to God, so come on towards him through the little gate.

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 7:7-11 (day three)

“Knock, and it will be opened to you.”

A slamming door, a closed sign, a missed deadline – what has it been like for you when you’ve experienced these things? Just thinking about those descriptions can evoke anxiety or dejection or panic. To miss out, to be left out, to be thrown out, to feel like you’re not cut out or that you don’t stand out – these are among life’s hardest circumstances because they can invite you to believe that you don’t amount to much. On the other hand, when someone recognizes you, opens up to you, desires your company, and confides in you, a sense of welcome, worth, encouragement, and hope begins to rise in you. God doesn’t slam doors, but opens them, Jesus reveals. To you. You’re so used to finding them closed that it might take you a while to notice.

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 6:25-34 (day three)

“Are you not worth much more than they?”

Rather than trying to talk you out of worry, Jesus agrees with you that your grip on security feels tenuous much of the time, as if you’re barely going to make it. He’s stating that circumstances are mostly beyond your control, and that feels scary. Finally, somebody is just saying it: life is hard. What’s more, that somebody was, of all people, the Son of God. This divine human being was telling his hearers, “I deal with this difficult life, too. Everyday.” He goes on to tell them that a God who would give flowers a bigger break than you would not be very loving. In a world that says you don’t matter much, Jesus declares your worth. Your confidence won’t come from trying not to worry, but from this news of your immeasurable value.

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 6:19-24 (day three)

“If your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.”

A large swath of Jesus’s audience were people who had learned to accept their lot in life as spiritual paupers – that is, people who would never be considered particularly worthy in God’s eyes or in the eyes of the religious powers-that-be. Jesus goes right for the jugular of “the system” when he opens up with the shocking beatitudes, declaring that such poor in spirit, mournful, meek ones are actually blessed, because they are exactly the ones whom God desires to come near and befriend. Here, he goes further still. He proclaims to his hearers that as his words wash over them, those words can bring clarity to them, doing away with their dependence on the myopic teaching of “brilliant” spiritual “actors.” Who needs a bulb when you’ve got the sun?

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 6:9-15 (day three)

“Your kingdom come.”

What does it mean to long for God’s kingdom to come on earth? The next two phrases of the prayer lay it out: it means that earth, also, would be a place in perfect harmony with God’s will. Jesus’s words themselves are in perfect harmony with the Old Testament prophets who longed for the day when the knowledge of the glory of the Lord would fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. God pronounced his creation good. To pray this way is to yearn for the day that you will see that goodness in all its fullness.

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 6:1–8, 16–18 (day three)

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them.”

How would you like to be seen by others? That very image is exactly what you will want to announce about yourself – both in direct ways (trumpet blast) and in nuanced ways (gloomy face). “I am devout.” “I am generous.” “I am disciplined.” These are good things. And you want good things. But good things are hard to find and learn and practice. So you’ll settle for people thinking you want good things. Who hasn’t experienced this? We’re all Pharisees now. It’s not merely that living this way is a bad look. It’s that living this way isn’t devoted or generous or spiritually disciplined at all. There are some things so intimate that the only place to keep them without destroying them is between you and God.