He sat down to teach – Sermon on the Mount Series #2

Posted on October 21, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

The beginning of the Sermon on the Mount:

1 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 He opened His mouth and began to teach them . . .” (Matthew 5:1-2 NASB)

At the end of chapter 4, Matthew informs us that “large crowds” followed Jesus. The crowds followed him because of his ability to heal their diseases, pains and birth defects. They needed physical help and Jesus was able to provide it.

What does Jesus do in response to the large crowds? He looked for a place to sit down and begin teaching them. Why would he do this?

Throughout the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) we find Jesus expanding our understanding of God and his view of righteousness and godly living. We are encouraged to move beyond physical obedience to spiritual conformity to a higher calling. We moved past doing to being and Jesus shows us that who and what we are determines what we do.

It is not enough to refrain from murder, we are called to live without hatred. It is not enough to refrain from adultery, we are called to live without lust. What we do on the outside is supposed to match what we are on the inside.

Why does Jesus take the time to tell us this? It is not so that we can be proud of our spiritual accomplishments. Apart from the work of God in my life, I cannot even begin to live up to the standards that Jesus presents in this sermon.

I believe that Jesus takes the time to preach this sermon because the crowds then and now need to know that not only do they need physical healing, they also need a spiritual one. This sermon calls me to the understanding that left to myself, my situation is hopeless. On my own, I can manufacture a pseudo spirituality that may perhaps look good on the outside, but I cannot fix the core problem of my sin.

In this sermon, Jesus provides a glimpse as to what true Godly living looks like and invites us to join him in living it out. Paul tells us in Romans:

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16–17 NASB)

It is by the power of the Gospel that I can begin to live up to the standards that are presented in this sermon. So as we read these beautiful chapters of the Bible, we will be alternately scared to death and encouraged. We will be scared to the death of our self-will and encouraged as we yield control to God who promises to bring his work in us to completion (Philippians 1:6).

Jesus teaches us these things so that we look beyond our own abilities and look to Him. We need to quit the self-help movement and embrace the God-help movement. It is then, and only then, that we can begin to experience ultimate healing, healing the part of us that no doctor or pill can fix.

They asked for healing and Jesus gave it to them, though perhaps not in the form they thought they needed.

Where the wild things are . . . worshipping

Posted on October 20, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment

I noticed a reference to wild beasts in Mark 1:13:

And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him. (NKJV)

While in the wilderness, Jesus was with the wild animals. Do you suppose that the animals recognized Jesus as their creator and acted on that recognition? What would that have looked like?

During his entry into Jerusalem, when the people were hailing Jesus as king, the Pharisees demanded that Jesus rebuke his disciples for their pronouncement. Jesus replied in Luke 19:40 by telling them that if the disciples did not hail Jesus, the stones would.

If in animate objects such as stones have the potential to praise Jesus as Messiah, I can imagine that the animals could put on quite a show in deference to their Creator. I’ve seen ibexes in En Gedi, chasing each other, jumping from rock to rock in playful abandon. Would they have come to put on a jumping exhibition for Jesus? Would the other animals in the desert have come to greet him?

It seems to me that the God who enjoyed creating such a diverse animal kingdom would enjoy such interaction with his creation. Remember God’s reaction following the creation of animals? In Genesis 1:25, we have record of God proclaiming his handiwork with regard to animals as good work. God liked what he created. That very same God experienced 40 days in the wilderness as a man who could interact with the animals and derive pleasure from that interaction.

I never heard anyone ever speak or write about this, perhaps it is a stretch, but as the Pennsylvania Dutchman says, “this wonders me some.” How cool would it be to be able to pet a mountain lion or a wild ibex whenever you want to?

Where is the crowd? – Sermon on the Mount Series #1

Posted on October 10, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 3 Comments

At the end of Matthew chapter 4, we are told that “great multitudes followed [Jesus]—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.”

Wherever Jesus went, he drew a crowd. Certainly some of the draw was his ability to heal. I’m sure that others followed out of a desire to see a miracle. Word must have traveled about the man who attended a wedding and turned water into wine.

Jesus’ response to the multitudes was to sit down and teach them (Matthew 5:1), a record of that teaching is found in Matthew chapters 5-7 and is referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus taught and the crowds listened and marveled at his teaching.

My question is this, why do we not see similar crowds today? Is it because people aren’t as needy? In the physical sense this may be true. With modern medicine many of the cures that can be affected would seem miraculous if seen by Jesus’ contemporaries. Yet, the spiritual hunger is just as prevalent today as 2,000 years ago.

Here are some questions church leaders should be asking:

Are they staying away because our message is not clear? In 1 Corinthians 14:8 Paul asks, “and if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle?” The point being that unless our message is clear and can be understood, people will not respond to it. If we are emulating the world and modifying the clear teaching of Scripture just to make it palatable to the surrounding culture, we are making an indistinct sound.

Are they staying away because our message is clear but not given in love? Paul tells us in Ephesians 4;15 to “speak the truth in love.” Without love, the truth is just a club to beat people down. Did you ever notice that the “sinners” were the ones who flocked to Jesus? They didn’t feel condemned by him, even when he made strong pronouncements about the consequences of continued rebellion against God. He spoke some very hard truths, but did so in love. The people were drawn by the love.

Are they staying away because our living does not match our message? I’ve been exposed to churches which preach grace but the pews were full of judgmental, cliquey people. James tells us in James 2:14-26 that “faith without works is dead.” In other words, our living must match our message. Our living must bear evidence of our faith. If not, then we have nothing to offer a world who desperately needs to be shown a better way.

Are they staying away because we haven’t reached out to them and asked them to come? People are more likely to visit if they are invited and have someone to show them the way around. A marquee out front may draw a few people in, but there is no substitute for a personal invitation.

I realize that numbers don’t tell the whole story and that there are very large religious gatherings where the Biblical message is being distorted. A church could be seeking God, seeing changed lives in those who attend, yet remain small. Size is not the ultimate test.

That being said, if the local church is not growing, that church needs to examine itself and determine if repentance and change are necessary. The lack of growth may say more about the church than it does about those who remain on the outside.

What I learned about the church from a cruise ship

Posted on October 8, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment

I recently returned from a cruise to Bermuda from the Baltimore harbor. It was my first experience of being on the open ocean during the day where there is a 360° view of nothing but water and an occasional ship. To be on that ship in relatively calm weather, with the blue sea all around was a pleasant experience.

There were two things that I observed on that cruise that I think relate to how the church should function.

The ship is intended to traverse the ocean but not remain there.
Everyone on the ship knew his purpose and contributed to the success of the voyage.

No matter how pleasant the experience of sailing on the ocean was, that ocean is not my home. Humans cannot live in the ocean, we are sojourners who are on the ocean for the purpose of getting to somewhere else. The ship is not intended to remain on the ocean indefinitely, it must continue on to its intended destination.

I observed on the ship that every one of the crew members knows what he needs to accomplish to make the trip a success. Some were focused on passenger comfort, some on passenger safety and others were busied with keeping the ship moving in the correct direction. Everyone on staff knew their purpose. They were trained and assigned to do the individual tasks that make the voyage a success.

There is an old time gospel song that says, “this world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through, my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue . . .” This captures the idea of the first point. We are designed for eternity and we must strive to remember this. We are here for a few years and are proceeding to a destination. While we may enjoy the voyage, it is important to remember that the enjoyment must be secondary to maintaining momentum and remaining on course.

We also need every person trained and assigned to do the necessary tasks to accomplish the goal. Why is it that we understand this in business, the military or on an ocean vessel, but we think that there is something wrong with providing structure in the church? If the eternal destiny of the souls that are impacted by the church are at stake, shouldn’t we be more vigilant in training workers?

Yes, I understand that the ultimate responsibility for the outcome is God’s but God gives us the privilege and responsibility to use our gifts and brains to accomplish his purpose for us. Leaders in the church have the responsibility to train the members of the church, “equipping them for the work of ministry.” (Ephesians 4:11-12).

God has given his church a mission. That mission is to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). Like the ship’s crew, each member of the church must contribute to the success of this mission. Each member of the church also needs to keep in mind that while we may enjoy our circumstances along the way, like the ship, we need to maintain progress and move toward our destination.

As the world around us crumbles into chaos, the church needs to stay the course to be used by God to accomplish his purpose with every member contributing the success of the journey.

He sat down to teach – Sermon on the Mount Series #2

Where the wild things are . . . worshipping

Where is the crowd? – Sermon on the Mount Series #1

What I learned about the church from a cruise ship

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