Reading Matthew with Missional Eyes

One of the wonderful things about Jesus is that He is a master teacher. He  knows how to  speak to every audience, and how to contextualize His communication to each individual. One of the wonderful things about the Scripture is that it too is also master teacher, for it demonstrates the way Jesus communicates His teaching points to others:

To His disciples, Jesus simply gives instruction. He knows He has their attention, and He knows they are there to learn. He can give them the goods without any lead up or prelude. So at the beginning of chapter 10, Matthew records, “These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions.” Jesus then downloads a lengthy set of verbal dos and don’ts with specific mandates, warnings and encouragements. It is exactly what the disciples need before they are sent off.

To John’s disciples, Jesus points to the physical impact His ministry is making. He knows that they have some doubts and that to simply answer their question with a yes or no will not fully address the matter at hand. He also knows that to state the obvious would come across as condescending. They are well capable of coming to conclusions themselves. Indeed, they will need to do so in order to effectively overcome their doubts. So that the beginning of chapter 11, Matthew records, “When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see.” 

While Jesus is speaking to John’s disciples, a crowd gathers. They had seen John’s disciples approaching Jesus and probably were just curious as to what the interaction between the two was going to be about. To Jesus, it is yet another opportunity to bring about the Kingdom of His Father. Best of all, that John’s disciples were just there becomes a teaching point. 

Master teachers always use the immediately present circumstance as a teaching point! Master teachers also know that if they are going to bring a random crowd to a conclusion, they need to first bring their thoughts together. To this point masters use the vehicle of story to catch people’s attention. Matthew documents this, “As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet?” 

Jesus gives the crowd a story. The story starts with a question about their personal experience in going out to see John years ago. It includes a point of sarcasm to inject some humor, and a point of wonder to set up the true meaning of the experience they’ve each had. One can see how He progresses quickly to the point He is going to make, but does so in a masterful way that disarms their objections and sets them up to learn while fully engaging them on Himself. 

If we mean to have the impact God means for us to have as Christ-followers, we are wise to emulate His example.

Jesus used illustrative material constantly, but always with a serious message attached. He used stories, events, and other material effectively to draw attention to the truth He was enunciating to His hearers. And His point was seldom missed.

Curtis C. Thomas

APPLICATION: Intentionality

Jesus knew His time with the crowd was limited, so He chose a format and a tactic that allowed for maximum impact in the given time. Are we likewise so purposeful in our communications? 

Jesus is asked by John’s disciples if He is the one to come, or if they should   expect someone else. Jesus’ reply tells us what it looks like when the Kingdom of God dawns upon us; “Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”” 

Even from the very beginning of His work, Jesus understood His ministry was to do exactly these things. Luke recorded when Jesus began; “The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”” Subsequently the blind were made to see in 9:27–31, the lame able to walk in 9:2–8, a leper cleansed in 8:1–4, and the mute able to speak in 9:32. Moreover, a dead person was raised in 9:18–26, and the preaching of this good news was a prominent part of the ministry of Jesus all through that time (4:17, 23, 9:35, 11:1). Taken together with his reading of Isaiah, it is indisputable that Jesus knew and purposefully did all He was doing. So to John’s disciples He merely gave a witness of what was happening. 

The conclusion John’s disciples must have come to is obvious: When we see such things happening, we can know that the Kingdom of God is upon us. 

In this way Matthew challenges his readers: Do we or do we not we see such things in our day? 

Truly, many are the pastors and ministers of the Lord who never see a single miracle in all their days as servants of God. Many are the congregations who faithfully gather – even for generations – but never even hear of such things. Sadly, the question must be asked: “Are we as the global church really bringing about the Kingdom of God if we never hear or see the blind receiving sight, the lame walking, the diseased cured, the deaf hear, or the dead raised?” Even sadder is the fact that whole denominations in the Western world have ceased even in proclaiming the Good News –opting instead for ‘inclusivity’ via endorsing sin, and for ‘safety’ via proclaiming only what the secularists already spout. 

There is no doubt that it takes a good deal of courage to do as Jesus and His disciples did – to pray for and minister to others, expecting a miracle. But if we do not even try, we are sure to not even hear of it. John Wimber (who prophesied over Nicky Gumble before Nicky got involved in Alpha) once noted that when he and his team didn’t pray and minister (for miraculous healing), no one got healed. But when they did so for many, some were healed. 

Why do we not do try to do likewise?

When we first started healing services at University Presbyterian Church in Seattle, some of our elders were uneasy. We worked in groups of three—one pastor and two elders—and people came forward and sought prayer for physical and mental healing, relationships, and addictions. When we prayed, we knew there would be miracles, but we couldn’t say where or when or how.As time passed, the elders were feeling more secure in praying for healing. They were learning not to be afraid of what looked like a failure, because they realized that prayer is never wasted. Even when we can’t see results. God is at work.

Bruce Larson

If someone you are ministering who is hurting, ask the Spirit for His leading in what to pray for them. Then, knowing God is leading, pray accordingly. 

It is not without purpose that Matthew narrates the question John’s   disciples ask Jesus  immediately after Jesus has commissioned and sent out His disciples. Placed in context, the question demarcates the dramatic difference between a disciple of John and a disciple of Jesus; “When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”” 

John’s disciples are not going about healing, delivering, preaching and raising the dead (as Jesus’ disciples were told to do). Rather, they were considering the Scripture, looking at what Jesus was doing and wondering when and how the Kingdom of God was to come about.

One must remember that every Scripture-believing Jew of the day read Isaiah 9 and Psalm 2 and every other prophesy about Messiah (of which there are many) and did not discern a gap between the first coming of Messiah and the 2nd coming of Messiah. For them, Messiah’s appearance was to shortly herald an overthrowing of the Roman oppressor and the re-establishment of the glory and dominance of the Jewish nation. 

With every passing day John’s disciples saw Jesus teaching and healing and delivering. Which meant that with  every  passing  day the less it looked like He would eventually get to organizing God’s people into a fighting force lead them in victory over their oppressors. With their leader in prison and urgently needing a dramatic change in government to throw out the charges against him, they would’ve felt some significant internal pressure to gently prod Jesus into action. In their worldview, it was not up to them to bring about the Kingdom. It was up to Messiah. Their part was to pray for and cheer Messiah on. 

John’s Disciples of John are God-honoring people, but they are not so actively engaged in the mission of Christ. They are waiting for the full manifestation of Jesus’ Kingdom instead of concerning themselves with bringing about the full manifestation of Jesus’ Kingdom. From the viewpoint of the active modern evangelist that seems rather short-sighted, but Jesus does not rebuke them for that. Rather, with His gracious reply to John, He inspires and motivates them to participate. 

Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see,” and then tells them of how people are being impacted. Jesus knew that if John would only look at the bigger picture, John would understand that the coming of the Kingdom was firstly and primarily about the restoration of people. The restoration of government could and must wait. It would, of course, eventually happen – for the Word of the Lord is His promise and God does all He sets out to accomplish. But Jesus’ reply is prompts the listener to not wait for the complete fulfillment to see that people were already being impacted in exceedingly positive ways.

The spiritual world had already changed. The Kingdom was here, and at the same time it was also imminent. In essence, Jesus’ reply is that John and his disciples did usher in the new Kingdom. They just needed to open their eyes and sustain their hope. 

As those born again, we live on the fault line of the now but not yet kingdom of God.

Luke Bretherton

APPLICATION: Intentionality

We do not need to wait to be on mission with God in His Kingdom. We can do that today, even as we look forward to the day we do it without restriction, limitation or lack. 

Matthew writes his Gospel with intention and purpose. So on the heals of demonstrating   Jesus’ leadership, he writes of John the Baptist’s struggle. Jesus’ leadership isn’t just to the willing and able. It includes encouraging those who are struggling and unable. 

Matthew had earlier noted that Jesus had moved His base of operations to Capernaum after hearing of John’s imprisonment, “When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee.” That was back in chapter 4, before Jesus’ ministry began in earnest. In fact, it was just before His healing ministry took off and the Sermon on the Mount. Which means that John the Baptist would’ve found himself in prison prior to Jesus’ rise in popularity. To that point we can know that John would have known the fulfillment of his own prophesy over Christ, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” 

All the same, John’s time in prison must at some point to have caused him to second-guess what was really going on. Matthew writes, “When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?””  The question tells us much about John’s state of mind pending his execution by Herod. It is a state of mind that Jesus gently turns around. Jesus gives John hope. “Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see.” 

Sometimes the very best leadership is not to those doing the work. It is to those who cannot participate on account of circumstances beyond their control. That doesn’t mean they are excluded from the Kingdom. It means they cannot actively participate through hands-on effort. They can still pray, and on that account they are powerful workers, for prayer is the real work behind any Kingdom-minded effort. 

Recognizing that contribution during this stage in John’s life, Jesus does not leave John without a response. He does not consider John someone who has ‘done his bit’. He does not leave John in the dust of a flurry of activity. Rather, Jesus takes the time to listen to John’s concern and to respond to that concern in a way that He knows John will find encouraging. 

Jesus knows that all He is doing is most effective because of the circumstances that the Father set up for Him, and that includes the shoulders upon which He stands. After all, it was the Father who sent John to prepare the way for Him. Matthew had already recorded that, “This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” ” So Jesus does not dismiss John or his disciples or the question. He honors John and pauses to answer the question. 

It is a profound lesson for all of us who labor in the Father’s vineyard: Leadership in the Kingdom of God includes leading those who – on account of their season in life and circumstance – can only follow in prayer.  We do not dismiss them, ignore them or discourage them, because God is near to the suffering, and their prayers are powerful. 

There is a mysterious efficacy in the prayers of men who dwell near to God. Even if they were compelled to keep their beds, and do nothing but pray, they would pour benedictions upon the church.

Charles Spurgeon

APPLICATION: Thanksgiving

Give thanks for those you know in your circles who are in seasons of life where they can and do spend many hours a day in prayer. 

Jesus has just commissioned his twelve disciples to their first short-term mission trip. The charge He gave them is certainly not for the faint-hearted: “As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.” Fortunately, Jesus does more than just send out His disciples. Jesus Himself also goes out. Matthew 11 begins, “After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.” It seems like an off-hand comment from the narrator, but it is a key statement in understanding Jesus’ leadership. For as in everything He taught, Jesus first models the appropriate behavior, then teaches it, then commissions others to do likewise. But His leadership does not end there. Jesus also participates in the task with the disciples He just commissioned. 

We do well to learn from His example.

Those we lead need to know we are not just competent, but proficient. Proficiency is demonstrated in modelling the behavior we are teaching, so that those we teach can see and know that we have something worth learning. Leadership without proficiency is like policy without common sense – something everyone knows is disastrous. Without modelling what we are teaching, leadership is only a function of position. 

Those we lead also need to know the pragmatic reality of how to do what we are teaching. That is provided in the actual verbal communication, which re-enforces the lesson modelled. Leadership, like so much of life, is contingent on good communication. In His communication, Jesus consistently used real-life examples and the direct application of God’s Word to present circumstance.   

Leaders also provide a clear mandate. Jesus gave that in two parts. There is His charge to go, which imparts a clear mental picture of what to do, where to do it and when/how long. But there is also the impartation of the spiritual authority to do it, which Jesus gave them even before the verbal charge at the beginning of the prior chapter, “He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” 

Finally, those we lead need assurance that they are not being left on their own. To that point Jesus goes out with the disciples, joining them on the same mission He charged them with. They can know that He is close, and that He is experiencing everything they are experiencing. This gives them – and us – courage and hope. 

Our leader is not only competent and proficient, He is nearby.

A true shepherd leads the way. He does not merely point the way.

Leonard Ravenhill

APPLICATION: Intentionality

Jesus’ leadership model included commissioning, impartation of authority, clear mandates and modelling proficiency. Let us strive to do likewise! 

Some preach and teach that you can be transactional in your relationship with God. They tell you that you can use God as a banker; that whatever you give Him, He will ensure is given back to you with accumulated and multipled interest. The name for that kind of teaching is Prosperity Gospel. When pressed for the basis of that belief, they’ll point to various Bible verses which clearly indicate that God will not be any man’s debtor. 

For certain, Jesus did say, “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”  That does indicate that God keeps record of even the smallest of things done in His Name, and it does certainly say that God rewards those who act in accordance with His character. 

But it is also true that to become transactional in our relationship to God is nothing short of a gross distortion of His character. God is not a vending machine or a government policy, where if you put the right thing in you get a certain thing out. Even earthly fathers detest their children treating them as bankers. So to make God – in all His magnificence and majesty and glory – into a kind of spiritual banker who is obliged to pay you for what you’ve done is nothing less than highly offensive. The prosperity Gospel is a demonic distortion of God’s character. It requires that one take the verses out of context and apply them with a lather of selfishness. 

When Jesus gave us His teaching about the cup of cold water, He was speaking to His disciples and commissioning them to go out in His Name. Seen in the context of the whole passage, one can see that Jesus’ point was not to change the way we approach God, but to change the way we approach all those made in His image, and especially those who carry His Name. His point was to assign tremendous value to the work of being a true disciple in bringing His Name to others. In fact, there is so much value in involvement with His mission that even those who interact in the smallest of ways with His disciples are blessed.  

We can call that spiritual principle the principle of award. 

The spiritual principle of award is really a mix of the spiritual principles of ripples (that what we do has an ever greater impact as it ripples through time) and compensation (that those who honor God by receiving the ones who do His work will be paid the same as those who did the work) – excepting that in this principle, Jesus attests to a much more diminutive act than receiving the Gospel messenger, or receiving a prophet or righteous man. He notes that even those who bless them with a cup of cold water are rewarded, and that with something of God. 

The fact is that so great is His person and so great is His mission that even the smallest act toward Him is bound to produce a blessing. The blessings of God surround Him like mist from a waterfall – you just cannot approach without getting damp! 

Perhaps you will say, My part is a very small one. Never mind. Do the thing the Lord gives you; it might be only to give a cup of cold water—that would be a very useful thing to a thirsty soul; and the result is increase now and reward by-and-by.

W. T. P. Wolston

APPLICATION: Worship

Praise God that He is who He is, and that in who He is we are so profoundly blessed.

Jesus is preparing His disciples to go into the harvest field. Having told His   disciples the spiritual principle of ripples, Jesus tells them the spiritual principle of compensation; “Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward.”

In the upside down and twisted way of life we have since the Fall of humankind, a person earns their reward for effort toward a task. It might be called a wage or a salary or cash-for-service or piecework or by some other term, but it is very clearly compensation. You earn what you get for doing something. 

Of course, that compensation is not always in direct proportion to what you’ve done. There are inequalities. While for the most part, those who do much get much, it is also true in our world that sometimes those who do hardly anything get most, and those who do most everything get almost nothing. 

We see those inequalities in every field of work. Some sports players give the very best of their bodies and youth to the game and get basically nothing. Others find their way to the spotlight and earn hundreds of millions of dollars. Some who enter the world of finance labor all their lives for a meager income. Others find their way to the top of the salary chain. The same is true in the fields of arts, medicine, science, education, etc. This is part of God’s judgment on fallen society, where inequality is seemingly a function of chance much more than effort. 

As a result the human system of compensation results in poverty alongside excessive wealth. This itself mandates another inequality – the need for some to give a far greater proportion of their wealth than most to benefit those who lack. 

In God’s Kingdom there are no real inequalities because our compensation is related only to our faithfulness in honoring Him. Jesus tells us that any who receive a prophet on account of who they are receive the prophet’s reward, and likewise those who receive the righteous man on account of their rightousness. The prophet and the righteous are about Christ’s cause. So, just as receiving the one who Christ sends results in receiving Christ and therefore the one who sent Christ – so also receiving the one about Christ’s cause results in a receiving the same reward as the one who was commissioned in Christ’s cause. That is, they receive Christ. They earn the right to know His presence, His peace and His power, and one day to look upon His face. This is the true genius of God’s system of compensation. That those who purpose to honor Him will be blessed with Him, and along with Him, all that He represents and does. Those who do not honor Him simply will not. 

What we ‘get’ is only what God speaks over us. He alone is the creator and our creator, and He alone assigns skills and ability, and He alone rules over circumstance. So the stuff we typically think of when our fallen minds think about wages and compensation is but the smallest of blessings God provides. The real blessing is Himself, which He gives to all who faithfully honor Him. 

Every temporal hardship will earn a more than adequate eternal compensation.

M.S. Mills

APPLICATION: Thankfulness

The God who numbers the hairs on your head also watches over you. A cup of cold water given in His Name cannot go unrewarded. In what manner then will He reward a life of faithfulness?  Let us thank God for the daily opportunity to demonstrate faithfulness to Him. 

One of the wonderful things about Jesus is that He often gives away profound spiritual   principles in His everyday teaching. In fact, even that is a spiritual principle of itself; Those who walk very closely with God (and so have God’s thoughts in their mind) will often share those thoughts in off-hand comments. This is one of the significant blessings of hanging around godly people. Profound things and life-changing truths are bound to be shared through normal conversation! How much more so then, when Jesus is speaking!

In the course of teaching His disciples about the value of following Himself, Jesus says, “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me.” The truth of that statement is obvious to all who have entered the Kingdom of God through Jesus Christ. They “received” someone who told them the Gospel. They then “received” Jesus, and as a result of knowing Jesus have “received” God Most High. 

Each reception – each welcome – brought on another subsequent and more significant welcome. Like a pebble thrown into still water, every decision we take has implications that ripple out. In the physical, such implications lessen as they ripple out. In the spiritual realm, those implications grow larger the further they ripple out; A decision to welcome a Gospel messenger leads to a decision to hear the Gospel, which leads to a decision to accept the Gospel, which leads to a decision to receive Jesus as Lord, which leads to one ultimately meeting and ‘receiving’ God Himself, which leads to a profoundly changed eternity. This is truth. The principle that underlies such a truth is also truth.  

In the mid 1963 Edward Lorenz published a paper based on findings gathered after a startling discovery. He had previously entered some computer data into a program he was using to simulate weather patterns. It was the same data he had previous entered, but he made a single very small change to one of the twelve variables the program worked on. “To his surprise, that tiny alteration drastically transformed the whole pattern his program produced, over two months of simulated weather. The unexpected result led Lorenz to a powerful insight about the way nature works: small changes can have large consequences. The idea came to be known as the “butterfly effect” after Lorenz suggested that the flap of a butterfly’s wings might ultimately cause a tornado.” Edward’s work on chaos theory would fundamentally change the way we understand our world. Small changes can have large unintended results.

Every time we pray, there is a change in the heavenly realms. Every prayer for His Kingdom come is a piece of evidence in God’s courtroom. Every prayer for a circumstance or a need that we lift up to heaven is a scent in His nostril that calls to His mind a situation, person or place needing His action. Every prayer of praise is a fragment of a mirror that reflects some of the light of His glory to those all around. 

They might be small things, and certainly from a limited human vantage point they seem insignificant things. All the same, they lead to very large consequences!

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His grace;

Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour;

The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower.

William Cowper

APPLICATION: Intentionality

What small change can you make to your weekly schedule that might just have an outsized impact in eternity? 

A popular verse to quote to those who want to ‘find themselves’ as they mature is Jesus’   comment immediately following His teaching on worthiness. He said, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”  The quote is usually given at face value to those who are looking for happiness in all the wrong places. The intention behind giving it is to gracefully note that all they really need to do is find Jesus, and the impact and significance of their lives will become clear (making their existential search moot). Yet to quote it with this intention is to lift the words of Jesus out of context. Jesus isn’t talking here to those who haven’t found Him. In fact, this verse is in the middle of His commissioning of the twelve disciples. Jesus is speaking this quote to those who do know Him, have committed themselves to Him, have left everything behind to follow Him and are preparing to go on a missionary journey for Him. 

The context is that Jesus is speaking about His own worth. That knowing Him and following Him and obeying Him – even unto suffering and death – is worth losing everything else. Recall how He just said, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” Seen in context, the meaning of His statement about loosing our lives for His sake becomes clearer. 

The reader must then ask, “Why would Jesus say that to those who have left everything to follow Him?” The answer to that question is hidden in the wider context of the full text of Matthew’s Gospel. In 4:20 we read of Simon and Andrew, “At once they left their nets and followed him.” In 4:22 we read of James and John, “…immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” So we know that the disciples have left their careers, and in some cases their families, so that they could follow Jesus. Yet it is not until chapter 19 that Peter could confidently say, “We have left everything to follow you!” Here in chapter 10 they are not there yet. 

The reality is that we really haven’t left everything until we have literally left everything. Leaving something significant to follow Jesus is not the end of the journey. It is the beginning. To leave family and business and career behind is but the first step. 

To walk on further with Jesus you will have to cross your internal reluctance barrier, and bring the Gospel (which is within yourself) to those who do not have it yet. To do that you have to leave your insecurity behind. You have to leave your fear behind. You have to leave your comfort behind. You have to leave all the security your own culture gives you behind, and go. 

Jesus was preparing His disciples for missionary service. To do that effectively, they’d have to step forward in faith in ways they had not done before. 

The application of that lesson to our lives is as obvious as the day is long. Jesus’ comment hangs ever before us. Are we ready for the next step in following Him? Because to take that next step, we first have to loose something of ourselves. 

True freedom is freedom to be my true self, as God made me and meant me to be. But God made me for loving, and loving is giving, self-giving. Therefore, in order to be myself, I have to deny myself, and give myself in love for God and others. In order to be free, I have to serve. In order to live, I have to die to my own self-centredness. In order to find myself I have to lose myself in loving. I have read somewhere that Michelangelo put it beautifully in these words: ‘When I am yours, then at last I am completely myself.’ For I am not myself until I am yours.

John Stott

 APPLICATION: Intentionality

Read John Stott’s quote again. Let that idea sink into your soul, that today you might live more for Christ than you ever have before.