Month: August 2024 (Page 2 of 3)

I am preparing a meditation on Matthew 12:18-21.  Matthew is quoting a prophecy of Isaiah regarding Jesus.  He records these words just after the political and religious leaders of Jesus’ day wanting to kill him.  Mark’s gospel tells us, “Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.”  The religious and secular leaders, who did not care for each other, were united in their hatred of Jesus.  Imagine – they wanted to kill Jesus.

The influencers in our nation- the ones who shape the dominant narrative, want to get rid of the memory of King Jesus.  They are in the process of removing the memory and relevance of Jesus. But the true narrative sees things differently.  Pilate ask Jesus if he was a king.  Jesus replied, “Yes, it is as you say” (Luke 23:3)  Then Jesus let Pilate know, he is not in charge.  “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above” (John 19:11). Jesus was secure in his Lordship over all things, knowing, “The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands” (John 3:35).

Matthew 12 has a certain relevance in our day, when King Jesus is getting such bad press.  With all the confusion and uncertainty about who is really in charge of our nation, I gladly submit to King Jesus, He reign in all the earth and His final victory over evil is assured.  He taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ (Matt. 6:10).

By this time in Jesus’ ministry, public opinion had already began to question his credibility.  He had to withdraw from the public, while still healing the sick.  But he warned them, “not to tell who he was” (Matt. 12:16).  Similar to our day, there are mixed opinions regarding Jesus.  

“Look at my servant, whom I have chosen.  He is my beloved, who pleases me” (v. 18).  Matthew challenge us to consider the lordship of Jesus.  Not only is he the beloved of the Father, but also the Father’s  chosen servant, coming into our world on a  rescue mission.  The Father loves him and is pleased in what he is doing.  

Then Isaiah notes, “I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations” (v. 18).  What an encouragement to each of us.  The very Spirit of God is upon Jesus.  Through his sojourn among us, He will straighten out all right and wrong.  He will be the final judge and jury in world affairs.  This is God’s promise to us.

In the meantime, “He will not fight or shout or raise his voice in public” (v. 19)  Wow, what a relief to hear these words.  King Jesus, who is working out justice on the earth will have no need to protest, demonstrate and shout for justice.  He simply will go about getting things in order, in a quiet and decisive manner

He will not use force or coercion to win over brutality and force.  Rather, “He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle” (v. 20).  Imagine the hope and comfort in these words for the downtrodden and outcast in world affairs.  Remember his mother’s words, “He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble” (Luke 1:52).

Isaiah closes with these words, “Finally he will cause justice to be victorious.  And his name will be the hope of all the world” (v.  21-22). In Jesus we are truly “on the right side of history.”  Men, I pray today that your hope for a better future is in Jesus.   

I met recently with a male friend, I consider a “soul mate.”  He is someone with whom I can to talk about what is going on in my soul.  I have committed to allow him to know me for who I am – the good, the bad, and the ugly.  I want to be more of an honest man, integrating my head and heart. 

After our meeting together, I felt led to write a blog on my sharing with my friend.  I began by telling him how I had found myself, once again, in the pit.  As he listened to my story, he was helping my climb out, so I could walk in the light.  

Every man has this experience every now and then.  Each has his own unique pit.  The Psalmist knew what the pit was like.  Here are some descriptions of his actual experience. “Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow over me or the pit close its mouth over me” (Ps 69:15). This feels like a man either in the pit or aware that he is sinking.  

In Ps. 143:7 the palmist descriptions himself actually sinking. “Answer me quickly, O Lord; my spirit fails.  Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit.”  This is definitely a cry for help.

The Psalmist in Psalm 103:4 expresses thanks for God’s help in getting out of the pit.  “…..who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion.” 

Reading and meditating on Ps. 40:2, I find real help  when I feel myself in the pit.  “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” Down in the pit it is slimy; God places us on solid ground.

In Psalm 30 the Psalmist expresses, “I will exalt you, O Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths.”  (Psalm 30:1). He goes on to testify, “O Lord, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit” (v. 3).  He questions his experience of being in the pit.  “What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down into the pit?  Will the dust praise you?  Will it proclaim your faithfulness? (v. 9).

Psalm 88 is a very dark Psalm, as it expressed a desperate cry for help.  The Psalmist prays, “For my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave.  I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like a man without strength.”

For many years I avoided talking about the times I felt in the pit.  It was not continues, but circumstances would cause me to fall into a pit time and again.  My confession, which is not easy to make, is that I so often felt like a little boy, feeling sorry for myself.  Feeling full of self-pity and self-loathing caused me to be angry with myself for failing to be at the “top of my spiritual game.” 

My testimony is that with my friend Bruce, I could  get beyond my shame, acknowledge freely my self-centeredness, while wanting to be back on the surface out of the “miry clay.”  A true friend will not look down into the pit to either scold  or exhort you to get out.  He might come down into the pit, and encourage you  But most of all he will listen, acknowledge your condition in the pit, and point  you to Jesus, while saying “Al, cry out for mercy and grace.”  God will pull me out.