Shalom Aleichem...
Reflections is a weekly Christian Teaching Ministry. Each week we will talk about the Bible and lessons we can put to use in our daily life. We will try to, on a weekly basis, provide to you stories, thoughts, and just easy ways to live your life on a straight path.
THIS WEEK'S TEACHING....December 25, 2017
Terry and I would like to wish you all a very Blessed and wonderful Merry Christmas. May your day be blessed with His Love for you all.
Scriptures: Matthew 2:1-15
Many songs we sing at Christmas are reminders that Christmastime is supposed to be happy. Songs like "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas," "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire," "Jingle Bells," and "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" all communicate that Christmas time is to be a joyous, trouble-free season.
But let me ask you honestly: Is that what you are experiencing this season? Probably not. For some of you, personal problems are keeping you from experiencing the joy of the season. For others, you feel like one crisis after another has run you over. With such an avalanche of problems it is hard to have a holly-jolly Christmas.
Some of you are so busy and working so hard that there is no time for sitting around a fire roasting chestnuts. Or, maybe there is not anything really wrong, but for some reason you are just not enjoying Christmas. It is not providing the emotional lift that you expected. In fact, it is almost depressing. The world does not look like the most wonderful time of the year.
Disillusionment at Christmas is not an unusual thing. We get so hyped up with expectations about what Christmas is supposed to be that often the real thing doesn't measure up, and we are disappointed.
What can you do this Christmas to avoid disillusionment? How can you improve your level of joy this Christmas? The answer is found in the story of the magi in Matthew 2. Magi, wise men from the East, saw a star that indicated the birth of a new king in Israel. Wanting to honor Him with gifts, they set out on a journey following the star to find this newborn King. From the attitudes of these wise men and the events that surrounded their journey, we see how we can raise our level of joy at Christmas.
There are three lessons we learn from this story:
What do you seek?
Your level of joy at Christmas is directly related to what it is you seek.
Ask the question: What is it I want to get out of Christmas? What is it that would make your Christmas wonderful and satisfying? Snow? Not in Hawaii so that is out. All the family together and happy? A feeling you define as the holiday spirit? Finding the right present to give? Getting the present you have been hoping for? The problem with all these is that they can leave us disappointed.
Have you ever had that kind of experience - when you were disappointed by Christmas because it did not deliver what you thought it would? The problem is not Christmas. It is in our expectations. We are looking for the wrong thing.
The magi show us how to increase our level of joy at Christmas by looking for the right thing. What was it they were looking for? Verse 2 tells us. They came to Jerusalem and said, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him." They were looking for Jesus. Christmas for them was an opportunity to worship Jesus.
That is what we need to be looking for and expecting this Christmas - an experience of worship, a fresh glimpse of He who was born King of the Jews. If our goal this Christmas is to worship Jesus, then I doubt very seriously we will be dissatisfied with our experience.
Where do you look?
Your level of joy at Christmas is directly related to where you look.
We learn from the magi that there are wrong and right places to look for Christmas. They started by looking in the wrong place. They looked where their own human reasoning said they should look. The star indicated the birth of a new king in Israel. The magi went where kings should be born - to the palace of Herod the Great in the capital city of Jerusalem. But what a mistake that was! When Herod heard of the birth of a new king, he jealousy sought to destroy him.
We, too, are tempted to look for joy at Christmas in the wrong places. We think by getting or giving the right gift we will be satisfied. We imagine that being with family will be joyful. All these can easily disappoint us. You may not be able to afford the right gift for a loved one. Family members may be missing from your holiday celebration. If you are looking to these things for joy, you may be left with a feeling of disillusionment.
The magi looked in the right place when they looked to God. The trip to Jerusalem was not a total loss. While there they discovered where they should have looked in the first place: the Bible. The scribes in Jerusalem said that, according to the prophet Micah, the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. With this new information, they looked again at the star and followed it to Bethlehem until it stood over the house where the child Jesus lived.
What do you give?
Your level of joy at Christmas is directly related to what you give.
The magi came to Jesus' house bearing gifts. The gifts they gave were entirely appropriate. They gave gold, gift for a king. By giving it they acknowledged that Jesus was and is the King. They gave frankincense, a gift for a priest. This was incense the priests used in Temple. By giving it they acknowledged that Jesus was a priest - the One who would bring us to God. They gave myrrh, gift for the dead. This was a fragrant ointment used to anoint a body before burial. By giving it they acknowledged that Jesus had come to die for the sins of the world.
We ought to give appropriate gifts this Christmas as well. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about material gifts. I am talking about more important things. We ought to give the gift of our love and kindness to our friends and family. We ought to give the gift of our help to those who are hurting. We ought to give the gift of forgiveness to those who have hurt us. Giving these kinds of gifts will result in a joyous and meaningful Christmas.
What are you giving for Christmas this year? Why not consider giving yourself? Give your time to your family. Give your compassion to the hurting. Give your forgiveness to the isolated. And give your heart to Jesus. I promise you, when you look for the right thing, look in the right places, and give the right gift, you will have joy at Christmas.
May the Love of the Father be with you and yours during this Season of the Christ:) I love you all.
DID YOU EVER WONDER???
Ever since I was a boy, growing up in Arizona adjacent to the Pima Indian Reservation, I have loved and read Native American stories and myths. Their wisdom and love of nature have always spoken to my soul. The one that sticks out most in my mind, though, is the story of the two wolves.
One night a wise Cherokee elder sat his grandson around a campfire and told him about the battle that goes on inside of all people. He said, “My child, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ that live inside us all. One is fear, anger, hatred, jealousy, self-pity, resentment, and unhappiness. The other is love, laughter, joy, hope, peace, kindness, and happiness.” The grandson thought on this for a long time and then asked his grandfather which wolf would win. The elder simply said, “The one you feed.”
I think that most of the problems in this world come from the fact that far too many of us, far too often, feed the wrong wolf. We let our fears lead us. We react with anger. We hate those who are different than us. We allow our jealousy, judgment, and resentment to rule our lives. We do so many things to create unhappiness in our hearts when all we really want is to be happy.
We don’t have to feed the wrong wolf, however. We can choose love. We can select joy. We can laugh often and well. We can smile and sing. We can pray and have peace. We can fill our thoughts with happiness. We can fill our lives with kindness. We can welcome God’s love and light into our hearts and souls and then share it with everyone, everywhere.
Which wolf are you going to feed today? Which life are you going to live? Fear and love are the two greatest forces in this world. Yet, only one will bring you joy. Only one will bring you back to God. Only one will help bring Heaven here to Earth.
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE...A TEACHING
Matthew continues....
A glimpse of glory
(17:1–13)
Jesus takes his closest friends—Peter, James and John—up a high mountain. This may be Mount Hermon, which is 9,400 feet high, and not far from Caesarea Philippi.
There, on the mountain, the disciples see Jesus in his heavenly light—and Moses and Elijah talking with him. They are the two greatest prophets of the Old Testament—and Jesus is the One who fulfills all prophecy. Peter wants to put up tents, so they can stay there and make the moment last—but it is not to be. And then God himself speaks, as he did when Jesus was baptized: ‘This is my Son, whom I love.’
As they make their way down the mountain, Jesus again urges his disciples to keep his secret. His passion and death must run their course without triggering a misguided Jewish rebellion.
The disciples ask Jesus about Elijah. Will he appear again in Israel before the Messiah comes? Jesus says that John the Baptist was the Elijah figure—and he was treated in the same way that Jesus himself is about to be treated.
A lack of faith
(17:14–23)
Meanwhile, the rest of the disciples have been unable to heal a boy who is possessed by a demon—perhaps epilepsy. Jesus is frustrated by their lack of faith. Even the smallest amount of genuine faith is enough to deliver from evil, because it relies on the mighty power of God.
As they prepare for the Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Jesus again predicts that he will be killed. This time he warns them that he will also be betrayed.
The temple tax
(17:24–27)
It is the time of year when the temple tax is collected. The tax is due at Passover, but can be paid in advance. The amount is a half-shekel per male Jew (about two days’ wages) and the rabbis are exempt.
Jesus points out that earthly kings don’t tax their own children. As the temple tax is for God’s house, then surely God’s children should be excused. But Jesus is willing to pay the tax, to avoid offending people and causing misunderstanding. He tells Peter to go and catch a fish—and find the payment in the fish’s mouth. How? Jesus knows these things!
Obedience to the state and payment of tax will be the policy of the first Christians. Both Peter and Paul teach this in their letters (Peter in 1 Peter 2:13–17 and Paul in Romans 13:6–7).
Who Is the Greatest?
18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Temptations to Sin
7 “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! 8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
If Your Brother Sins Against You
15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.
23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.
Caring for one another
For his next section, Matthew gathers together some of Jesus’ teaching about relationships. The disciples are the beginning of a new community. They are to have the highest consideration and care for one another.
The greatest in the kingdom
(18:1–9)
The disciples ask Jesus about their status in the kingdom of heaven. What sort of people is God looking for?
In answer, Jesus shows his disciples a little child. God is looking for people who will abandon their obsession with power, influence and ambition. Instead, like children, they will simply love and trust their Father. These ‘little ones’ (faithful people of all ages) are the greatest in the kingdom of God. They are the ones Jesus describes in the Sermon on the Mount—the ‘meek’ and ‘poor in spirit’ (Matthew 5:3–10). Anyone—inside or outside the church—who harms their faith by misleading or tempting them will be severely punished.
The parable of the lost sheep: our true value
(18:10–14)
Jesus describes God’s care for the weak. They are very precious to him. They have angels who represent them before God in heaven. God is like a shepherd with a flock of 100 sheep. He will leave ninety-nine of them to find just one which has wandered away.
Dealing with sin
(18:15–20)
While thinking of the sheep that wanders off, Jesus teaches how to deal with an offence or complaint.
If a fellow believer wrongs you, it is best to deal with the matter privately, one to one. If this fails, then bring in two or three others to understand and influence the situation. Only in the last resort should the whole church get involved. If the person who is in the wrong persists, he or she is to be avoided, just as the Pharisees avoid tax collectors.
Jesus has already given Peter authority to make heavenly decisions on earth (Matthew 16:19). Now he gives this responsibility to the whole church. Jesus himself is with them when they meet to do his will.
The importance of forgiveness
(18:21–35)
Peter asks Jesus how many times he must forgive. Seven seems a generous number before finally resorting to punishment. But Jesus teaches endless forgiveness—seventy-seven times if necessary.
He tells the story of a man who owed millions of pounds. The man should have lost everything he had, including his home and family—but he was forgiven. However, the same man then found someone who owed him a fairly small amount—and threw him into prison!
For Jesus, forgiving and being forgiven are the keys to healthy relationships. We must readily forgive others—remembering the huge debt that God has already forgiven us. Jesus includes this among the priorities of the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:12–15). If we refuse to forgive others, then God will refuse to forgive us.
Knowles, A. (2001). The Bible guide (1st Augsburg books ed., p. 427). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg.
Knowles, A. (2001). The Bible guide (1st Augsburg books ed., pp. 426–427). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 18:26–35). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 18:21–26). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 18:15–20). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 18:7–14). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Mt 18:1–7). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
Knowles, A. (2001). The Bible guide (1st Augsburg books ed., p. 426). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg.
HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED WEEK:)
Ho'omaikaʻi ka Pua iā kākou