Be Careful What You Ask For!

So Matthew 14 starts out like a soap opera, doesn't it!?!  It took me a while to figure out who was who, but here's what I learned:

• Herod (the tetrarch) was the son of Herod the Great (the one who ordered all the babies killed in Bethlehem in Matt 2:16).  Oh yeah, and a "tetrarch" is one of four rulers over the four districts of Palastine.
• Philip was Herod's half brother, and his wife was Herodias.
• Herodias (Philip's wife) left him to live with Herod (her brother in law).
• John the Baptist condemned Herod and Herodias for living together immorally.

Soooo, when we see in verse 6 that on Herod's birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced for him...that was his niece!  Then Herod makes a promise he can't refuse, and the slighted Herodias sees her chance to get rid of John the Baptist.  I wonder if the daughter/niece was at all upset about seeing that head on a platter?  The verses explain it so calmly, that she just took the platter and delivered it to her mother.  I wonder if it was more traumatic than that...

Anyhoo...after that we see that Jesus wanted to be alone for a while as he grieved.  However, when the people found him he had compassion on them and continued with his ministry, healing the sick, and feeding a massive crowd.  One thing I noticed here, which I never caught before, is that the number of people fed by 5 loaves of bread and two fish was about 5,000 men "besides women and children".  My Bible explained that the total number of people Jesus fed could have been closer to 10-15 thousand...in Jewish culture of the day, men and women usually ate separately when in public, and the women would eat with the children.

I've always loved this story, about how Jesus did so much with so little.  It reminds me that what very little I have to offer Him, when I put it into His hands He can turn it into so much more than I ever imagined.

Did You Hear the One About the...

When speaking to the crowds (I wonder how many people were there?) Jesus used illustrations that compared something familiar with something unfamiliar...or parables.  These draw listeners in to discover truth while also concealing it from people too stubborn or lazy to understand. 

I like most of the parables in this chapter...mainly because Jesus explains them afterwards.  But when we get to the parable of the hidden treasure and the pearl merchant we're given a couple of quick statements that left me hanging on the edge of the cliff looking for a bridge. 

Looking at the parable of the hidden treasure in Matthew 13:44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.  When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field."  I still don't understand why the man hid the treasure after finding it, but it does make sense when you realize that the hidden treasure is the kingdom of heaven...and, although buying the field that it was in cost the man everything, for the treasure he paid nothing...it was a priceless gift.

Then onto the parable of the pearl merchant.  Matthew 13:45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.  When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it."  I thought this one was saying the same thing as the hidden treasure parable...but it's the opposite!  Here the kingdom of heaven is actually the merchant...and the kingdom pays the ultimate price to possess the pearl.  The price that God was willing to pay to redeem each of us (the pearls).

When I was reading in verses 55-58 I thought it was interesting to find out that the people in Jesus' hometown and even members of his family didn't accept who he was (this also happened to the prophet Jeremiah), and couldn't accept him as Christ because they knew him as he was growing up.  Not to say I compare with them....but in my own way I go through the same kind of thing with people who knew me before I accepted Christ...they just can't see (or more likely don't want to see) the person I've become.

Lord of the Sabbath

Those silly Pharisees will never learn, will they!  Did you know they created 39 categories of actions forbidden on the Sabbath (the seventh day set aside for rest and worship)?  They were overly concerned with following the letter of the law...and observing the Sabbath is part of the Big 10.  But Jesus always emphasized the intent of the law - the meaning behind it.

Matthew 12:6 "I tell you that one greater than the temple is here".  I loved my Bible's explanation of this verse:

• The Pharisees were so concerned about religious rituals that they missed the whole purpose of the temple - to bring people to God.  And because Jesus Christ is even greater than the temple, how much better can he bring people to God...If we become more concerned with the means of worship than the One we worship, we will miss God even as we think we are worshiping him.

This just made me think of how many different churches/church services I've been to that were sooooo focused on the rituals that there was no connection to God.  Some places I felt comfortable because I knew the routines, other places I wasn't allowed to participate because I wasn't a member.  I thank God that other members of my family started to find churches that realized the importance of connecting on a personal level with Christ...and that I was able to then find a church home of my own where I could learn and grow in my faith more over the last 6 years than I have in my whole life.

Reading Matthew 12:43-45 was a little light bulb moment for me too.  These verses talk about how you can clean up your life, but if you don't replace it with God - you leave plenty of room for Satan to enter.  In the past when I've had a habit, or a problem that I tried to deal with on my own - it would be successful for a short time, but then either the same issue or a new one would come up and take it's place.  I didn't realize that my recent victories were successful because I had removed a specific sin problem and started to fill it with God's Word (my bible readings) and the Holy Spirit (through prayer).

Word to the Wise

1 Kings 4:29-31a  "God gave Solomon wisdom and every great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.  Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.  He was wiser than any other man..."

Finding that verse gave me a little insight as to how one person could have written almost all of the Proverbs.  The introduction to Proverbs in my Bible says that "Knowledge is good, but a vast difference stands between "knowledge (having the facts) and "wisdom" (applying those facts to life).  We may amass knowledge, but without wisdom our knowledge is useless.  We must learn how to live out what we know."

Proverbs 2:4 says we are to search for wisdom as if hunting for hidden treasure.  God's wisdom is a gift, but we must search for it - and it is given as we grow in relationship with God through his Word (the Bible).

Who Am I?

Psalm 8:4a  "What is man that you are mindful of him"  Immediately made me start singing the song Friend of God by Phillips, Craig & Dean.

Hopefully the link works.  Funny - I said in a previous post that I have a hard time memorizing Scripture, but I don't have a hard time memorizing songs.  Put the two together, and now I remember both!!

I hope everyone had a great weekend, and that you were able to keep up with the readings the past few days.  It was harder for me because our schedule is almost reversed on weekends - Bill's home and I work.  But one less TV show tonight, and in bed a little earlier set my priorities straight.

Have a great week!!