April 6, 2016
My 2016 Ongoing Journey: Exploring
Matthew to discover what following Jesus and becoming more like him would look
like.
Matthew 13: ~ Mathew 13 is a great chapter. It contains seven
“Kingdom Parables” of Jesus, two of which he explains to his disciples. He also
explains why he speaks in parables. In order to enter the kingdom one first
must divest oneself of all the old expectations based upon the old paradigms.
The old paradigms were political, military and economic, and the old expectations
were that the kingdom was all about
meeting “our” expectations; specifically, that “we” would be beneficiaries of
power and wealth in the kingdom.
It was not
the intention of the parables, as most English translations imply, to hide the kingdom from the people;
rather, that was the result. The people’s assumptions are based on what they
see and hear. They need to release those assumptions and listen with their
hearts. Then, “I would heal them,”
Jesus quotes Isaiah.
Visions of
the splendor of David and Solomon have blinded the people. And Jesus’
alternative vision is offensive to them (Matthew 13:57).
I wonder if
Jesus’ message to us would require that we divest ourselves of visions of
streets of gold, walls of diamond and gates of pearl? Could it be that those
images are the parables that prevent us from hearing what Jesus is saying to
us?
Would “the
kingdom” be different for us than it was for them?
That's the way it looks through the
flawed glass that is my world view.
Together in the Walk,
Jim
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