The Passion of the Christ: Hungry Hearts
Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. (Psalm 34:8 NIV)
As Jesus looked to validate the fact that He was the God incarnate Messiah, the Savior of the world, he made sure to mark His ministry with the miraculous. As he lives today, He is still in the miracle working business. Whether it be through a restored body or a transformed heart, Jesus is passionate to have us taste and see that the God of the universe is in fact good. To experience this goodness we must have a hunger for change, desire to dine with God, and determine when to eat or not to eat.
Hunger for Change
Matthew 9:1-8 (NIV)
1Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” 3At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!” 4Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” 7Then the man got up and went home. 8When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.
All of us in this life have dealt with the consequences of living in a fallen world. Different forms of struggle are a natural product of this which Jesus makes clear are not always the result of an individual's personal faults. In many cases the challenges that we face are are the product of another's sin, like infidelity, neglect, or abuse. There are also circumstances where lives have been forever altered by situations like the bombings that recently took place in Boston.
Though being upwardly mobile in your education, career or station in life, the things that challenge us can turn into things that immobilize us on deeper levels, and will take the God of miracles to change.
Sin can paralyze us in multiple ways. For example:
In relationships, having seen things like broken marriages, we fear vulnerability to develop healthy relationships ourselves.
In pursuits, when finding worth in a godless measure of success, we limit our efforts because of a fear of failure.
In devotion to Christ, having seen hypocrisy, we emulate empty religion and never really walk with God.
In giving, having seen those to whom kindness has been shown be ungrateful or take advantage of us, we want to withhold our generosity.
Our own choices and sin can also be the root of our suffering.
A person’s own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the Lord. (Proverbs 19:3 NIV)
“As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.” ― Nelson Mandela
This desire for change is the type of response that Jesus commends and the one to which He responds in the case of the paralytic.
What are the obstacles to a hunger for change?
A critical attitude towards those aspiring to bring about change is one of the greatest deterrents to seeing God remain active in a person's life. It was the religious people who made it difficult for the paralytic to get to Jesus (Luke 5), the Pharisees coming to judge and criticize rather than to help. They were more concerned about trying to catch Jesus in something that He said than the man's well being.
(This was my experience with a religious man last weekend who wanted to spend more time grilling me about what I thought about the Bible than helping me pass them out to those who needed them.)
The same is many times true for the irreligious. As we discussed last week, in the midst of the Gentile community where the demoniacs were healed, the people were more concerned about the income stream that they lost in the pigs rather than the men who were placed in their right minds.
Jesus, however, was passionate when He saw the faith of the friends. We should all have friends that will help us get to the feet of Jesus. This friendship wasn't instantaneous. It had more than likely developed over the course of time to the extent that the friends were willing to go to great lengths and take great risks for the immobile man. This is what your church community is to provide.
Dining with God
Matthew 9:9-13 (NIV)
9As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. 10While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Jesus works physical miracles today, but the greatest miracle is that of a truly transformed heart as someone chooses to leave a life of sin to follow Jesus. Jesus showed His passion for this in His very first miracle changing water into wine (John 2). It would be a seemingly insignificant display of power, except for the fact that He was demonstrating His ability to change the very inward composition of an individual, like that of the wine.
“Ought we not to look upon our own history as being at least as full of God, as full of His goodness and of His truth, as much a proof of His faithfulness and veracity, as the lives of any of the saints who have gone before? We do our Lord an injustice when we suppose that He wrought all His mighty acts, and showed Himself strong for those in the early time, but doth not perform wonders or lay bare His arm for the saints who are now upon the earth.” ― Charles H. Spurgeon
In this case we see the doctrine of election working as Matthew does not come looking for God, but God comes looking for him. Jesus approaches the rich, influential, despised man in love, calling him to leave his life and occupation of sin. (Pastor Rollan spoke regarding tax collectors in Jesus' day.)
It can not be overlooked that Matthew here made a career choice to follow Jesus. What we can learn is that our course can change when Jesus is calling us. Dining with God today means that we can practically hear His voice through the Word, prayer, and godly counsel. To keep in step with God, we need to build our lives around the eternal thing that we see Jesus doing in our lives through the community of faith to which he's called us, not just in response to the latest, coolest opportunity that we have.
How does our change affect our relationships?
In reconciling the hated tax collector to Himself, Jesus also reconciles Matthew to the people of God. He becomes one of Jesus' prominent disciples amidst men like Peter, James, and John, who He more than likely used to exploit. Matthew also immediately recognizes that if Jesus is passionate about him, He is also passionate about those who know Matthew, so he throws a party. In essence, he begins a community group for others to meet Jesus.
Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31, 32 NIV)
At the party, Jesus validates this effort when He says, to the surprise of the religious, that the very reason He came is to call those who do not follow God and the sick to repentance and health. We have all been a part of a lifestyle separate from the life of God and know others who now are. How can we, following Matthew's example, help bring them back? Organizing parties where individuals can connect with the people of God is a fantastic way to introduce people to the life and person of Christ.
The Jewish culture was rich in celebrations that commemorated God's goodness and allowed the people to spend concentrated time with one other building community resulting in greater worship of God. Our outings, fun gatherings, and meals should do the same.
To Eat or Not To Eat
Matthew 9:14-17 (NIV)
14Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” 15Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. 16 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17 Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
As we throw these reconciling parties like Matthew, Jesus shows us that we can and should prepare the way for His work with fasting.
Fasting is not:
1) Dieting - It is not the god-ordained way to get your bikini body for the summer.
2) A Requirement for your Salvation - It does not put you in a better standing before God. Only Jesus' shed blood makes us clean before God.
3) A Command - God will at times call His people to fast, but Jesus relates to it here more like a free will offering as you desire to go deeper in God or express your desperation to see him move.
Fasting is:
1) A Manner in Which We Humble Ourselves Before God - It is here that we acknowledge our own limitations and express our need for God to move on our behalf or on behalf of others.
2) A Sanctifying Agent - Combined with prayer, the focus of this time prepares a new wine skin in our hearts that allows us to have clarity of direction and grace for greater responsibilities.
3) A Sacrifice -
“Seven Deadly Sins"
Wealth without work
Pleasure without conscience
Science without humanity
Knowledge without character
Politics without principle
Commerce without morality
Worship without sacrifice."
― Mahatma Gandhi
Sacrifice is what Jesus clearly exemplified giving us 100% of Himself. It is self-denial that breaks the strangle hold that greed and our daily felt needs have over us. It helps to put things in their proper order and place. This is from whence the practice of Lent comes, but was never meant to be limited to that season.
Jesus fasted in the desert before the start of his earthly ministry to return in the power of the Holy Spirit to be a miracle worker on behalf of the people (Luke 4). As we change the way we offer the practical sacrifices of our time, talent, and treasure to build the Kingdom of God, we will be set free in our own hearts to see Jesus release His passion and power in the same manner today.
Practically:
1) Identify the areas of paralysis in your life and develop friendships that can help bring you to the feet of Jesus to experience the miraculous. 2) Throw a Matthew party with some friends with the goal of building relationships that will introduce people to Jesus. 3) Ask how you can sacrifice to bring breakthrough in the spiritual community in which you find yourself.
Second City Church- Passion of the Christ Sermon Series 2013