In Matthew's Steps: When the Righteous are Wrong

The First Steps: Read: Matthew 21

Focus Verse: “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.” Matt. 21:43

Meditation: When the Righteous are Wrong
It doesn’t take long in a World History course to learn that religion has its dangers.

The media talks about the danger of fundamentalist Muslims, but throughout the centuries the religious from all faiths have proven themselves to be dangerous. Very dangerous.

Take the history of Christianity. A thousand years ago, a group of Christians thought they heard the call of God to cleanse the Holy Land of the Muslims living there. A couple hundred years later an Inquisition swept over the known world, killing thousands of innocent men and women in the hopes of purifying their society. A few years later, more religious wars swept Europe. On the heels of the Reformation, the Thirty Years War, pitting Protestants against Catholics, lasted thirty years and killed hundreds of thousands of people. In the New World, the conquistadors converted the masses by the sword, killing even those who adopted the faith. Up in the Americas, an idea known as Manifest Destiny gave Christians the license to kill the native populations there in the name of God. And in the last century good Christian men and women participated in the largest slaughter of human life in known history. An event called rightly “The Holocaust.”

Christians today get it wrong all the time. Hatred abounds on the Christian Broadcasting Stations against Muslims, Catholics, and Democrats. Denominations go against other denominations on trivial matters of doctrine and practice. Christians can’t even talk about their faith in the public square without being termed a radical, a fundamentalist, or one of those crazy religious types.

No wonder secularists accuse religion itself of polluting the world!

Of course this is nothing new. The same happened in Jesus’ own time. In this chapter of Matthew, Jesus lays out how the righteous get it wrong...a lot!

Triumphant Entry Into Jerusalem... At the beginning of this chapter we get the beloved Palm Sunday text. Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Jesus, riding in a donkey, enters Jerusalem with the crowds all in an uproar. Palm branches are waving. Cloaks are being laid before him. Everything looks great...except for one thing. There’s no religious people there. Read the story again for yourself. The disciples are there. The crowds are there. But where are the religious? They are strangely missing from the picture. The religious did NOT welcome Jesus into Jerusalem.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple... As if to amplify this point, Jesus moves into the temple where he drives out the money changers and throws out those who sell doves. The religious ones who make a profit off their faith. And who does he welcome? “The blind and lame came to him in the temple and he cured them...” Even little children(the lowest outcasts of society. No use in a child at this time). Even they sing Jesus’ praises. Of course the religious don’t approve. “...they became angry and said to him, ‘Do you hear what these are saying?’” The religious don’t approve...even of those who gather around Jesus.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree... Jesus moves, therefore, into a kind of living parable. Seeing a fig tree without fruit, Jesus curses it saying, “May no fruit ever come from you again...” Jesus uses it as an example of faith...but its also an analogy of the religious. For they who were suppose to produce fruit are not. The religious are the fruitless tree, standing with leaves and nothing else to show.

Jesus Authority Questioned... Now when religious people are challenged or upset what do they usually do? Traditionally they turn on their leaders. The authority of their leaders is questioned and probed. The offense is made known and the question of “Why” comes forward. The same happens to Jesus. Jesus’ authority is questioned because he is tredding upon sacred ground.

The Parables... of the two sons and the Wicked Tenants. Finally, at the end of this chapter, Jesus pronounces judgement on those who think they do God’s will but do not. The parables of the two sons and the wicked tenants are directed toward the religious people. Those who say they do God’s will...but doesn’t. Those who would care for God’s vineyard, but do not. Jesus makes it clear that those who care and do are not always those who are seen as religious. “...the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.”(vs. 31) Those who do God’s will are not always the religious. They are scattered throughout the kingdom of God...and are not just in one place.

I wonder what a difference we Christians would make in the world if we actually lived as Jesus lived. If we looked at Jesus life, and took his live as our cue. How would that change our political convictions? When the poor and the needy, the lame and the blind, and those who have nothing, are so important to Jesus? How would it change how we spent our resources, when we see Jesus giving to the poor and wanderer? How would it change the way we looked at the world if we really took Jesus at his word?

Christians face the same challenge that Jesus’ people did then. Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Bear fruit. Don’t just sit there eating up the soil. Do something good in the world. Don’t just talk about it. Don’t play lip service to it. Don’t say you’d like to do something... and then not do anything. That’s following the disobedient son’s path. Actually do something about it. Fix the problem as you can. Do your small part in the world to make the world a better place. It’s the least we religious Christians can do in response to Christ’s awesome love! Amen.

**Note: If you’d like to talk about real-life ways to make a difference, let’s talk. Email me and we’ll share some ways we can improve God’s world right here and right now. **

Questions to Ponder...
1) Do you consider yourself religious? Yes or no? If yes... why? If no... why not? What is your gut reaction when someone says they’re religious?

2) What are the needs in your own community and town? What ordinary ways can you improve someone else’s life?

3) Jesus saves you... now what? What do you answer when someone asks you that?

A Prayer to Pray...
Almighty God, forgive me. Forgive me for being a fruitless fig tree. Forgive me for playing lip service to your call. Forgive me for being one of the ones who killed you. Replant me. Support me. Encourage me in my community to reach out in love to your children, for Jesus sake. Amen.