A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
Fright spread out thin
Reading: Matthew 6:25-34 Click to view passage

That was how the biographer of Lady Randolph Churchill described “anxiety.” Jesus is not forbidding planning and careful forethought but anxiety and worry about an actual event. The tense of the verb in v25 is saying, “Stop worrying” and in v31, “Never worry, don’t let the habit grip you.”

Jesus clearly says worry is needless (v26), futile (vv27-29), faithless (vv30-31) and completely unchristian (v32).

However, even knowing the strong statement of Jesus that worrying is wrong, we are left with the reality which grips us from time to time. So what can be done? Worry is like a very heavy fly-wheel that once set in motion is almost impossible to stop. The one thing I have learnt that will stop persistent relentless anxiety going around in my mind is to recite Scripture.
The Prime Minister, W.E. Gladstone, was questioned about the secret of the unusual serenity he was able to maintain in spite of the stresses of his office. He replied, “At the foot of my bed, where I can see it when I go to bed and when I get up, are the words, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee.” Well there’s a good bible verse and a secret of dealing with worry.

Matthew:30

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
Forbidden covetousness
Reading: Matthew 6:19-24 Click to view passage

In the matter of storing up treasure on earth, the key words are, “for yourselves.” (v19). We are not discouraged to garner wealth that can be used properly for the Kingdom’s sake. What is forbidden is hoarding it for our own self-indulgence, enjoyment, entirely forgetting the needs of others. A man’s treasure shows what really interests him, what captivates his thoughts and attention.
We are to show what motivates us, sways and influences all we do are the things of heaven. Wealth invested in souls and the work of the Kingdom of heaven is imperishable.

Meditation: So much of what I do and say today, will reveal what I really value.
Prayer pointer: Keep reminding me of that old Spanish proverb, that shrouds don’t have pockets and help me to invest in heaven today
Matthew:29

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
Fasting
Reading: Matthew 6:16-18 Click to view passage

In the Western world of the 21st century, fasting is not something that we often think about but it is an essential part of religious life in the East. Again, note Jesus doesn’t say, “If you fast,” but “when you fast,” he is presuming we will. There is a little table at the beginning of the Book of Common Prayer, entitled “Days of Fasting and Abstinence. A quick glance will tell you it imagines we will fast for about 100 days a year. The Reformers such as Luther, Calvin and Knox all practiced fasting. It wasn’t confined to any particular theological perspective; Jonathan Edwards, the Calvinist, joined hands with John Wesley the Arminian, David Brainerd with Charles Finney.
Perhaps it is time we reviewed the subject? At the beginning of my ministry, I fasted every Friday until 6pm but I stopped when I started a travelling ministry as I thought it might be difficult for those who gave me hospitality. The question we need to ask is, “Why fast?” The answer is simple: because the bible and Jesus presume we will. What are the benefits of fasting? Well it is good for our health, it stops us becoming slaves to habit but supremely, it gives us extra time for prayer. We need to give some serious thought to fasting.

Meditation: Do I need to think about fasting?
Prayer pointer: Am I missing a valuable resource as a disciple?

Matthew:28

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
A secret for finding extra time for prayer
Reading: Matthew 6:9-15 Click to view passage


We will stay on the subject of prayer for another day. About 20 years ago in America, Christianity Today published a survey of Minister’s prayer lives and the amount of time they spent each day in prayer. It was sadly revealing. Similar surveys made at men’s meeting here in the UK are just as revealing. For most busy men the question is, “How can I find more time for prayer?” Well I have found a way! Firstly it is using the time walking to and from the station, waiting at a red light, going up in a lift, riding an escalator and standing on a platform waiting for a train or the interminable queues we are involved in everyday. Second we need is a prayer book. I have a mobile prayer book I carry in my head. Monday is M: Missionaries. Tuesday is T: Tasks, all the things I have in my diary for that week. Wednesday is W: Workers in my local church for whom I need to pray. Thursday is T: Thanks for every thing that God has done and is doing in my life. Friday is F: Family. Saturday is S: Saints, friends that will be preaching tomorrow. Sunday is S: Sinners, my family, friends and neighbours who need to hear the gospel. Over the last twenty-five years I have found I can garner up to an extra hour a day for prayer.

Meditation: Search out the times each day that you can use for prayer.
Prayer pointer: Help me to turn day-dreaming time into prayer time.

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
The disciple’s prayer
Reading: Matthew 6:9-15 Click to view passage

Christians together or by themselves have used this prayer since New
Testament times. It is a wonderful prayer. However, rabbis often
taught what they called signposts for prayer and that is how I use
this passage everyday after reading my bible. We have 7 marvellous
signposts to help our praying:
(i) Come as a Son, “Our Father…”
(ii) Come as a Subject, “Hallowed by your name….”
(iii) Come as a Soldier, “Your Kingdom come…”
(iv) Come as a Slave, “Your will be done…”
(v) Come as a Suppliant, “Give us today our daily bread…”
(vi) Come as a Sinner “Forgive us our sins. . .”
(vii) Come as a Seeker “Lead us not into temptation. . .”

Whatever passage I am looking at in the bible, one or two of those
signposts will apply and help to focus my praying.

Meditation: How can I focus more on prayer each day?
Prayer pointer: Father, teach me to pray more as a disciple should.


Matthew: 26

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
The riches of prayer
Reading: Matthew 6:1-8 Click to view passage

We will spend another day on these verses. I have always been fascinated by, “When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father…”(v6). I used to argue, “I’m not a monk, I don’t want to go into an empty cell by myself.” Sometimes I used to make notes on the verses that were worrying me. I then discovered that the word “room” here is “tamion.” So I wrote that down too. A few days later I went to look after the English church in Corfu for the month. It was a bit of a rush and I forgot to get any local currency before I left. This meant that early on the first morning I was queuing in a Greek bank as soon as it opened. I fished a scrap of paper from my trouser pocket as I waited. “Tamion,” it said. What did Jesus mean? I looked up and at the head of every queue in the bank was the word “tamion.” So, in modern Greek “tamion” is “where the cashier sits.” In classical Greek it can mean “a treasure house.” That revolutionized my praying. I didn’t have to go into a dingy cell, I could go into God’s treasure house and see the riches I could take down for myself and my friends each day.

Meditation: When I pray I am going into a treasure house.
Prayer pointer: Show me the riches I can use and distribute today.



Matthew: 25A

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
This how we do things
Reading: Matthew 6:1-8 Click to view passage

Here we are given a general principle to govern our devotional lives. One commentator translates verse one, “Take care not to try to demonstrate how good you are before men.” Jesus is talking about our giving, praying and fasting. All these areas are susceptible to wrong motives.
Our giving. Note Jesus doesn’t say “if” you give but “when.” “Seen” is not referring to a casual observation but to announcing your intention with trumpets. (ii) Our praying. Note the “when” again. Prayer is vital to our spiritual health but it is not to be done without thought or conviction. We are not giving God information he does not already have. Rather, he is training us in the art of spiritual communication and showing us how our relationship with him can grow.

Meditation: “Secret” and “unseen” – consider ways of being more unostentatious in our devotional lives.
Prayer pointer: Father, help me to be ever more ready to give and to pray.



Matthew: 24

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
Love
Reading: Matthew 5:43-48 Click to view passage

Love is a difficult subject to consider because in English we only have one word and in the language of the New Testament there are several. The word here is agape and it is talking about love for the unlovely and even the repulsive. Don’t get too concerned, we are never asked to love our enemies in the same way we love our nearest and dearest. (i) Who is my neighbour? Remember the parable of the Good Samaritan? It is someone who needs our help, whether they deserve it or not. (ii) Who is my enemy? Well it is those who curse, hate and spitefully use us, who even persecute us (v44AV). In a word, it is those we can’t stand! (iii) What is perfect love? The perfection of v48 is not absolute or sinless perfection. It is looking back to the impartial love of God. The love which as Christians has been “poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit,” (Romans 5:5).

Meditation: Is my definition of “neighbour” the same as that of Jesus?
Prayer pointer: Father, you loved me as a repulsive sinner, help me to learn to love the unlovely as you do.





Matthew:23

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
The higher law
Reading: Matthew 5:39-42 Click to view passage

Jesus illustrates the principle of non-resistance from four everyday situations. (i) Reaction to an insult. This is complicated because the only way a right-handed man can strike someone on the right cheek is with the back of the hand, which is clearly an insult. So Jesus is saying if someone insults let him do it again! (ii) Reaction to wrong-doing. The cloak is by far the more valuable garment. So Jesus is saying that Christians must be willing to surrender themselves to being defrauded and let God take care of the consequences. (iii) Reaction to imposition. In New Testament times an official could press a passer-by into service for one mile. Jesus is saying, surprise the official by volunteering for another. (iv) Reaction to the poor. Jesus is saying don’t be niggardly in your giving and don’t get fed up with the constant demands of the poor. Try a bit of the hilarious giving that Paul talks about. Which ever way you look at it, this higher law of non-resistance is quite extraordinary.

Meditation: Think over these four points. It is going to take a life-time to master them. They speak of the utter selflessness we are to show as Christians.
Prayer pointer: Give me a true servant heart.


Matthew:22

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
No retaliation at all
Reading: Matthew 5:38-39 Click to view passage

We forget that, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” was a colossal step forward morally, Its importance can be seen in that it was given on three different occasions, (Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20 and Deuteronomy 19:21). This law of Lex Tallionis (tit for tat) if often thought of as bloodthirsty and savage but the reverse is true, it limits revenge. It never gave the individual the right to extract revenge, rather lays down how a judge can assess punishment and penalty.
Whereas the Old Testament checks vengeance, Jesus forbids it. He doesn’t ask his followers to moderate or limit revenge but to abolish it. Lex Tallionis is not even the whole of the Old Testament ethic which also has a lot to say about mercy and which can be summed up in the proverb, “Do not say, I’ll do to him as he has done to me,” (Proverbs 24:29).
Jesus is talking to the Pharisee who was the law giver (see Matthew 5:21-26) but the passage is clearly speaking to us all as well

Meditation: Consider: “Do not say, I’ll do to him as he has done to me,” (Proverbs 24:29). How am I going to live this out today.
Prayer pointer: Help me to abolish any notion of revenge in my life.

Matthew: 21




“Do not say, I’ll do to him as he has done to me.” (Proverbs 24:29).

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
Dad Gommit!!
Reading: Matthew 5:33-37 Click to view passage

Colonel Harland Saunders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame was a good Southern Baptist and hated profanity so he made-up his own expletive: “Dad Gommit.” Nothing will convince me that isn’t blasphemy just because the letters are not in the right order.
In the New Testament times oaths were used just as flippantly and regularly as they are in our society today. The Pharisees had two classes of oaths – those that specifically used the name of God and those where God’s name was implied but not actually used. I would have thought that “Dad Gommit” fitted the second group.
All our words should be dependable, without the need for an oath of any sort. The in junction is quite clear, “Do not swear at all” (v34).


Meditation: As a Christian my word should be trusted without any need for an oath.
Prayer pointer: Help me to keep oaths and expletives of any kind out of my speech.





Matthew:20

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
Putting a marriage aside
Reading: Matthew 5:31-32 Click to view passage

Divorce was a great problem in New Testament times in spite of the fact that the Jews claimed bible teaching as the basis of their behaviour. The principles for divorce are laid down in Deuteronomy 24:1-4. The Pharisees had grown lax in their interpretation. Generally speaking one group held that divorce could only be for unchastity, while another said it could be anything that caused a husband to be displeased with his wife. Jesus took the stricter view. He taught that divorce was never God’s will but perhaps it could be permitted because of the stubbornness of the human heart. For Jesus unchastity was the only ground for divorce.
We need to take a step back and say that God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16) but as with all sinful situations we must add that God loves divorcees. Any congregation today will have a large percentage of divorcees and they must be helped, encouraged and looked after. Divorce isn’t an unforgiveable sin.
Meditation: We must state firmly exactly what the bible says about any subject but at the same time we must be welcoming and encouraging to those who turn to us for help.
Prayer pointer: Continue to show me how often I fail and give me great compassion for others who fail.
Matthew: 19

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
The lust of the eyes
Reading: Matthew 5:27-30 Click to view passage

The ancient world was sexually explicit. Baal worship involved “Asherah poles,” phallic symbols that were everywhere and Greek cities often had similar images at their gates. The world hasn’t really changed, much of 21st century society aims to excite, tantalize and stimulate our sexual desires.
You can see the way Pharisees dealt with “adultery” if you look John 8 and note that although the couple were caught in fragrante delicto, only the woman was charged with any offence.
In today’s passage “adultery” seems to have a much wider application than a strict definition and appears to include any moral impurity between single or married people. Again, as with anger, sexual impurity, begins in the mind and Jesus says the seventh commandment is broken as much by a lustful look as an immoral act.

Meditation: The sheer chemistry of our bodies means that temptation happens without being sought. Yet, as Luther said, “ You can’t stop birds flying into your hair, but you can stop them nesting there.” Work out a mental escape route to use when the assaults of temptation come.
Prayer pointer: Help me to strive for purity.

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
Loosing our cool
Reading: Matthew 5:21-26 Click to view passage


In the remaining part of chapter five Matthew, Jesus gives us examples of the how Pharisees nullify and invalidate bible teaching with their legal chicanery. He begins with anger. He says that this is where murder really begins; it ends in a physical act, but it starts in the mind. It is an activity of the heart long before the hand actually strikes. He says that anger nursed in the heart or expressed in contemptuous speech is actually no different from murder. Jesus extends the act of murder back to the motivating thought or word.
Instead of anger we need to direct our thoughts to reconciliation and restitution. Note: “First go. . . . . .then come” (v24).

Meditation: Think over the whole question of anger. What is it that causes me to lose my temper? Often at the root it is something quite selfish which can’t be justified at all.
Prayer pointer: Help me to see the pointlessness of losing my temper and show me how much it hurts you and others.

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
Jesus and the bible
Reading: Matthew 5:17-20 Click to view passage

Biblical faith is a revealed faith and what Jesus has said is so radical that he anticipates and answers the question people were beginning to think, even if they hadn’t actually put it into words, “How does all that Jesus has said fit in with the bible?” No matter how revolutionary his hearers feel his teaching is, Jesus reassures them that he is not out of harmony with the Old Testament. He has no plans to abolish it, rather he sees himself as fulfilling it. However, he is critical of those who reduce righteousness to merely obeying rules and regulations and fail to see the rich spiritual depth of its message.

Meditation: Think about the attitude that Jesus had to the bible and consider your own in relation to his.
Prayer pointer: Help me to see the spirit of what the bible is asking and stop me from thinking that mere legalism is enough.

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
Making our presence felt
Reading: Matthew 5:13-16 Click to view passage

This passage is about our influence. The distractive behaviour that results from the beatitudes will touch society. Not directly, we are not told to scatter salt but to be like salt. Although often derided and despised, the principles we hold should have a purifying and moral effect in our community and nation. At the very least this means we can’t be isolationists but must be in touch with the non-Christian world around us. If salt (vv13-14) speaks of a hidden influence, there is something much more open about the radiance of light (vv14-16). It shines but there is nothing ostentatious and the illumination doesn’t draw attention to itself. Note it doesn’t say “let your lights shine” but “light” so perhaps it is speaking of the Christian community as a whole.
We are clearly set on the skyline on a hilltop for all so see but we must strive to make sure it is the result of salt and the consequences of the light that people see and not us.

Meditation: Think of ways that our life can influence the morality of our society.
Prayer pointer: Help me to have a pungently purifying effect on my community and to reflect something of the light of heaven wherever I go

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
Life that is all of a piece
Reading: Look back at the beatitudes


The beatitudes are similar to the fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit puts one fruit into our lives and others should be able to see the individual segments of the fruit by the way we live. In the same way the beatitudes as a whole should be in the believer’s life. We are all to be poor in spirit, to mourn, to be meek, to hunger and thirst after righteousness, to be merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers and when necessary ready to be persecuted.
The beatitudes are not a subjective experience, something we feel, but rather an objective judgement that others make when they see the way we live.
The reward of the beatitudes is all one piece too. We will be aware we belong to the Kingdom of God, we are comforted, we inherit the earth, experience filling, are shown mercy, see God and are called the sons of God.

Meditation: Am I seeking to live out all that the beatitudes demand?
Prayer pointer: Father, help me to show the whole of the fruit of the Spirit and the radical demands of the beatitudes in my life.

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
The seismic change we need
Reading: >Matthew 5:6-12 Click to view passage

Five more beatitudes continue to show us the foundation of Christian living.
(iv) The foundation of spiritual aspiration is “hungering and thirsting after righteousness” (v6). It is not a wistfulness, it is to be a real craving.
(v) Having a compassionate spirit is being “merciful” (v7). Mercy can only be shown to the undeserving. If it is deserved, we are talking about justice not mercy. Compassion is more than a feeling, it is an activity.
(vi) Being pure in heart (v8) is not a question of using our eyes to see God but it is the affinity of our hearts. The cleaner my heart, the clearer my vision.
(vii) Having a ministry of reconciliation is being a “peacemaker” (v9). Being a peace-lover, or even a peace-keeper is not enough. We are to be peaceMAKERS.
(viii) Having unswerving loyalty means we will never be exempt from the possibility of persecution (vv10-12).


Meditation: Are the social aspects of the beatitudes being seen in my life?
Prayer pointer: Help me to serve you my Lord, whatever it costs.

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
The foundation of a believer’s life
Reading: >Matthew 5:1-5 Click to view passage

John Stott calls his study of the Sermon on the Mount – “A Christian Counter Culture” and you only have to look at the beatitudes to see why. They are pretty revolutionary stuff; they are a paradox of the world’s understanding. The beatitudes express the basic personal qualities that must be the foundation of the life of an apprentice of Jesus Christ
(i) The foundation of spiritual inadequacy and being “poor in spirit” (v3). It is the complete opposite of pride and self-sufficiency. Conscious of our need we must always be turning to the Father for help. Just like Jesus, “I can do nothing of my own initiative,” (John 5:30 American Standard).
(ii) The foundation of spiritual contrition and being those “that mourn” (v4). We are not called to be grim-faced, endlessly depressed, cheerless or morose. But there is a bliss for those who constructively mourn their sins and the hurt they cause others.
(iii) The foundation of spiritual humility and being “meek” (v5). There is nothing spineless about meekness It is the word used of a stallion that has been broken-in and now responds to every wish of his master. That really is a picture of the apprentice of Jesus.
Meditation: Am I beginning to enjoy “blessedness” or is the foundation of apprenticeship slipping a bit?

Prayer pointer: Father, help me with the seismic change that has to take place in my life.

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
The manifesto of the Kingdom
Reading: >Matthew 5:1-5 Click to view passage

The keynote of the Kingdom is the word, “Blessed.” Note that there is no, “are” in the original. There is never a verb in a beatitude, either in the Hebrew of the OT (Psalm 1) or in the Greek of the NT. Jesus is not looking down the time-line to the future and saying, “One day the people in my Kingdom will be blessed.” A beatitude is an exclamation of what is true now, “Oh the blessing now…..Oh the bliss now of those….. “ I’ve searched for fifty years for a modern word to replace “blessed” and I haven’t found it yet. Some people translate it, “happy” and call them the “happy-attitudes.” But I’m not happy with that, because the word “happiness” in English comes from what happens to us. However, the word “happiness” in Hebrew, describes the result of what happens to people because they know God. That is why Job, in the midst of all his troubles can say, “Happy is the man you reprove,” (Job 5:17). Moses says to the people of Israel after 39 years of failing and going around in circles in the wilderness, “Happy are you Israel,” (Deut 33:29). Now that is what I need – a happiness in every circumstance, because I know God and am certain he is with me at all times.
Meditation: Can I, like Job, be “happy” in every circumstance?
Prayer pointer: Help me to make my whole life an exclamation of bliss, showing thatI am enjoying “days of heaven on earth,” (Deut 11:12).

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
Choosing partners
Reading: >Matthew 4:19-25 Click to view passage

Jesus is about to lay down the principles upon which his Kingdom will be built. But before that there comes a very important step, it is a step that could cause his plans to founder or prosper. He must choose his partners and associates and he must do so wisely. It is not just a call to discipleship, (apprentices would be a better modern word), for some have already been his apprentices for about a year. It is a call to service that involves renunciation, dedication and sacrifice. Today we are all still called to this apprenticeship and special service. It is not often necessary to leave our normal lives and jobs because Jesus wants people in every structure, class, occupation and profession that it is possible to find in the 21st century.
We’ve been chosen by him, but there are choices we have to make. Let’s focus on this today. Whether it is to be our partner in life or two others to be our prayer triplet, the choice can cause us to founder or prosper, it can halve or double our effectiveness. So choose wisely. In Luke’s gospel Jesus spent the night in prayer before choosing the twelve.
Meditation: The partners I choose will either halve or double my effectiveness as a Christian.
Prayer pointer: Father, give me wisdom, (the commonsense of heaven), in my choices.

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
Where Jesus began his ministry
Reading: Matthew 4:12-17 Click to view passage

For the seed-bed for the tender shoots of the church, Jesus chooses downtown Galilee rather than the splendours of Jerusalem. His choice is the home of Peter and a comparatively newly developed area infiltrated by Gentiles and so perhaps open to new ideas. When Jesus went there it was called Caphnarnaum which in the became Capernaum in the 5th century, the name we use today.
One of the questions we need to ask is, “Where does Jesus want me to serve him?” Strategy might well be important, it could be a deprived area, a leafy-suburb or a plush uptown situation. Jesus made a deliberate choice so I need to think about it too.

Meditation: Where does Jesus want me to live, work and serve him. When I plan, am I thinking more about my comfort than his will?
Prayer pointer: Father I need help to think beyond cultural and social reasons for living and working in a particular area. Help me to seek your will?

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
After the Dove, the devil
Reading: Matthew 4:1-11 Click to view passage

After hearing the encouraging words of the Father, “This is my son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased,” Jesus hears the chilling challenge of the devil, “IF you are the Son of God.” It is the rhythm of the spiritual life while we are here on earth – blessing, battle, blessing battle. No one escapes it, not even Jesus, but unlike us he managed not to fall for the Tempter’s nonsense.
We need to remember that temptation is not a sin itself. It only becomes so when we welcome it and harbour its suggestion. The temptation of Christ is very helpful, because it reminds of of the main thrusts of the devil’s attack. (i) Appetite: the desire to enjoy things; (ii) Avarice: the desire to get things and (iii) Ambition: the desire to be somebody. Note that the devil speaks through the secular culture that surrounds us, while God speaks through his word.

Meditation: How am I going to be tempted today? How am I already being tempted today and how am I dealing with it.?
Prayer pointer: Father, help me to resist temptation. Please give me your strength to help me in my weakness.

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
The two Baptizers meet
Reading: Matthew 3:13-17 (Click passage to view)

We can’t be certain that John and Jesus had met. However it seems likely as they were related through their mothers and the annual Pilgrimages to Jerusalem were often family occasions.
One of the intriguing aspects of this meeting is the audible or visible presence of the Trinity.
Another is that John said the one coming after him would, “baptise (you) with the Holy Spirit.” There are only seven references to the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. Four are prophetic, looking forward to it happening, such as here, one possibly took place on the day of Pentecost (see Acts1:5 and 2:4) and one reference looks back on the event. Finally Paul explains the experience, “we are baptised by one Spirit into one body, (1Corinthians 12:13).” So the baptism of the Spirit, puts you and me into Christ and Christ into us and us into each other. In other words, it makes the church!


Meditation: How conscious am I of being part of the body of Christ? Am I striving to make this a reality? Am I playing my full part in my local bit of the body, my church? Are there relationships that I need to restore or revive?
Prayer pointer: Father stop me from being a useless, non-working part of Christ’s body on earth. Help me to make sure that the energy and life blood of the body is pumping through me at all times

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
Announcing the Christ

Reading: Matthew 3:1-12 (Click passage to view)

John the Baptizer was the herald of the Christ. Clearly his office was unique and cannot be repeated. Yet it is also true that all disciples are to point to Christ and announce the arrival of his Kingdom. John’s two most important qualities were his moral courage and self-effacing humility. If we are to be salt & light in the world it is going to take moral courage and self-effacing humility.


Meditation: Am I fearless in pointing to Christ and his Kingdom? How can I do this more with my life than with my tongue?
Prayer pointer: Help me to be as radical as John the Baptizer.

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
The massacre of the innocent

Reading: Matthew 2:16-23 (Click passage to view)

Unrestrained and vicious evil is something that seems to repeat itself in history. Like the problem of pain, the slaughter of the innocent remains a mystery and appears to have no understandable cause except to say, with Gerard Manley Hopkins, that we live in “a broken world.” While we often can’t stop evil acts, we must do all we can to prevent them and to alleviate the suffering that results.

Meditation: In the relative peace, comfort and ease of life in the western world, giving thanks for the undeserved standard of living which we enjoy.
Prayer pointer: How can I ease someone’s pain and burden today?

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
Providence

Reading: Matthew 2:9-15 (Click passage to view)

Overruling providence led the Magi to Jerusalem. But it was bible truth and their response to it that finally led them to their goal. Providentially Joseph was warned three times in a dream to go to Egypt so Herod wouldn’t find the child.



Meditation: How prepared am I for what C.S. Lewis called the transcendental interferer to work in my life? Will I recognise the providential opportunities that God will make for me today.

Prayer pointer: Father, when you work providentially in my life, help me to recognise it.

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
The Wise men

Reading: Matthew 2:1-8 (Click passage to view)

Throughout history men have yearned for and sort the truth. These Magi were astrologers who used the science of their day to get information about the birth of a King. Two years later it brought them to Jerusalem.



Meditation: I need to encourage those who use science today, to look for the truth. In the end science can only confirm truth, it can’t do otherwise. As Kepler said, “Science is just thinking God’s thoughts after him.”
Prayer pointer: I must give thanks for the wonders of creation and science and pray that godly men will use it for his glory.

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
God with us

Reading: Matthew 1:18-19 (Click passage to view)

In human terms Jesus is clearly unique. We see that in what we are told about his conception. As Christians we need to note Mary’s acceptance of God’s plan for her life. She submits to all that God wants and doesn’t even share it with Joseph.


Meditation: Like Mary am I willing to submit myself to God’s will even when it is against my desires and in spite of the hardships it may bring?

Prayer pointer: Father help me to accept your will for my life today whatever the cost.

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATHEWS GOSPEL

A CHRISTIAN LOOKS AT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
The Ancestry of Jesus

Reading: Matthew 1:1-17 (Click passage to view)

For the non-Jew this seems a very dull way to begin the story of the most exciting person who ever lived. But for the Jew, genealogies were important. The passage is clearly emphasising the historical reality of the human family of Jesus.
However, for the Christian today, it is also important to notice that God’s people lived through the long rollercoaster of Jewish history. That is one of the things all these names tell us. Spiritually and economically they lived through good and bad times, through boom and bust. The question I need to ask myself at the moment is, “Am I able to cope with the lows as well as the highs of life today?”

Meditation: Am I coping spiritually and economically with life today? Are there people around me who need my help?

Prayer pointer: Father, help me to cope with life’s booms and busts in a way that glorifies you.