(no subject)
Matthew 9:1-7
There is a character trend going on with Jesus that is being shown: He does not turn people away. In fact, when these people brought a man on a mat, Jesus saw something--He saw their faith. When He saw that, I am positive He could not help but respond to their need. They understood what Jesus could do and who He was and in faith, brought their buddy to Jesus to heal him.
Again, turning people away or ignoring people or getting frustrated because people want to talk with me is not Christ-like. Jesus has not done this at all since these stories in Matthew started. In order to show Christ to people, I cannot turn people away. But the next level of not turning people away is seeing peoples' needs and to see where they are at.
When Jesus saw these desperate people coming toward Him, he did not get annoyed. He did not say, "Another person coming towards me?" or "Another person wants to talk to me?" No. The only thing Jesus did was see their faith. That came from having an open heart to listen and to help.
Me? If too many people come my way, I get annoyed. I begin to lose my patience. Or if someone I don't know approaches me asking for money, I get very apprehensive because I do not know if they are liars or not. But that is where listening and seeing in the Spirit what God sees takes place. There is this person named Jesus inside of me. Two things are going to happen: 1) people are going to be coming towards me for random reasons that are unknown to me. 2) Satan is going to try to attack me in various ways and try to destroy my relationship with God and make God look bad. Because of these two things, it should be no surprise people approach me on the streets; that the kids at work continually ask me for requests; that babies like to look at my wife and I (they seriously like to stare at me). There is something in me.
That something in me, Jesus, is the reason why I should not be getting annoyed or apprehensive when people come to me. Instead, I listen and look in the Spirit and do what Jesus did. He saw faith. I wonder what Jesus would see with other people?
The other part of this story is how Jesus responds to the words of the religious teachers of the law. We see again, Jesus did not get mad. Another trend I have been seeing. Instead, Jesus simply calls out their evil thoughts without saying what they actually were.
Sometimes we can tell what people are thinking and in the appropriate time, it is okay to call people out on it. But like Jesus did here, there is no need to put on blast what they may be thinking. Instead, question their thinking as Jesus did. "Why" questions are very potent because it makes people stop and think, if they choose to. This is what Jesus did. "Why are you thinking such evil thoughts?" With the kids it may be sound more like, "Why are you disobeying the rules?" or "Why do I have to repeat myself over and over again to you?" And for adults it may look like, "Why are you choosing to handle the situation that way?" or "What benefit do you get from doing that?"
It takes a lot of patience to have someone question your validity and then respond without lashing out. I know if someone questioned my validity on something I am quite aware of my validity in, I would get angry. Why? Because my validity should be obvious. If I am speaking wisely on a subject with experience to boot, my validity should not be in question. But that's not how the religious teachers saw Jesus. The Messiah was coming but it could not have been Jesus though He speaks like one. That would make me angry. it is obvious. It is clear. It is a "duh" moment. But that's not how Jesus thought. He simply questioned their thinking instead and then staved their doubts by performing another miracle. No anger. No impatience. A simple question.
There is a character trend going on with Jesus that is being shown: He does not turn people away. In fact, when these people brought a man on a mat, Jesus saw something--He saw their faith. When He saw that, I am positive He could not help but respond to their need. They understood what Jesus could do and who He was and in faith, brought their buddy to Jesus to heal him.
Again, turning people away or ignoring people or getting frustrated because people want to talk with me is not Christ-like. Jesus has not done this at all since these stories in Matthew started. In order to show Christ to people, I cannot turn people away. But the next level of not turning people away is seeing peoples' needs and to see where they are at.
When Jesus saw these desperate people coming toward Him, he did not get annoyed. He did not say, "Another person coming towards me?" or "Another person wants to talk to me?" No. The only thing Jesus did was see their faith. That came from having an open heart to listen and to help.
Me? If too many people come my way, I get annoyed. I begin to lose my patience. Or if someone I don't know approaches me asking for money, I get very apprehensive because I do not know if they are liars or not. But that is where listening and seeing in the Spirit what God sees takes place. There is this person named Jesus inside of me. Two things are going to happen: 1) people are going to be coming towards me for random reasons that are unknown to me. 2) Satan is going to try to attack me in various ways and try to destroy my relationship with God and make God look bad. Because of these two things, it should be no surprise people approach me on the streets; that the kids at work continually ask me for requests; that babies like to look at my wife and I (they seriously like to stare at me). There is something in me.
That something in me, Jesus, is the reason why I should not be getting annoyed or apprehensive when people come to me. Instead, I listen and look in the Spirit and do what Jesus did. He saw faith. I wonder what Jesus would see with other people?
The other part of this story is how Jesus responds to the words of the religious teachers of the law. We see again, Jesus did not get mad. Another trend I have been seeing. Instead, Jesus simply calls out their evil thoughts without saying what they actually were.
Sometimes we can tell what people are thinking and in the appropriate time, it is okay to call people out on it. But like Jesus did here, there is no need to put on blast what they may be thinking. Instead, question their thinking as Jesus did. "Why" questions are very potent because it makes people stop and think, if they choose to. This is what Jesus did. "Why are you thinking such evil thoughts?" With the kids it may be sound more like, "Why are you disobeying the rules?" or "Why do I have to repeat myself over and over again to you?" And for adults it may look like, "Why are you choosing to handle the situation that way?" or "What benefit do you get from doing that?"
It takes a lot of patience to have someone question your validity and then respond without lashing out. I know if someone questioned my validity on something I am quite aware of my validity in, I would get angry. Why? Because my validity should be obvious. If I am speaking wisely on a subject with experience to boot, my validity should not be in question. But that's not how the religious teachers saw Jesus. The Messiah was coming but it could not have been Jesus though He speaks like one. That would make me angry. it is obvious. It is clear. It is a "duh" moment. But that's not how Jesus thought. He simply questioned their thinking instead and then staved their doubts by performing another miracle. No anger. No impatience. A simple question.