Matt 25

Date: 1 February 2009, D - 11 days

Events:

Another 2 for 1 day as yesterday was a busy day.

29 January: I was at home and slept in because I am not feeling too good. I feel achy and beat up; I don’t know if it’s because of the PT test or the vaccinations. As live viruses, 2 of the 4 immunizations that I got have the potential to cause a viral syndrome. After reading and writing, I worked out at Lifetime then met Marla, her manager, Austin, and Meredith for lunch at Kona Grill. Lunch went great, Austin’s a great manager but Marla is always a bit stressed when he’s with her because she gets evaluated for each call and her evaluations figure into her annual raise. I went shopping at one of my favorite stores ‘The Buckle’ after lunch and found a cool new shirt and jeans. Marla and I stuck around the house the rest of the day and my friend Matt came in from west Texas Friday night. Matt is one of my closest friends in the world, he was my first friend in medical school. As my brother puts it, he was my “starter friend” because he introduced me to his group of friends that subsequently became my best friends in the world (John, Samuel, Josh, Clayton, etc…). Matt just returned from a 6 week trip to Africa where he served as a medical missionary over the holidays (he is single and holidays are always hard on him so he took initiative and served in Africa). During his time in Africa, Matt (family practice physician) was able to further his knowledge by practicing as an Obstruction, General Surgeon, Orthopedic Surgeon, Infectious Disease Doctor and good old FP. As he puts it, he was the “big medical center” and took referrals from all over Kenya. Thankfully, my friend (now more of a brother since I’ve stayed at his house with his parents for 6months now) made it back safely in time to spend a weekend with Marla and I before I leave.

30 January: Slept in again, woke up round 0800 and made breakfast for Marla and Matt. Marla laughed at me for putting hot dog’s in the eggs but I maintain that these were special hot dogs that taste more like breakfast sausage. After breakfast, Matt and I cut down branches that were touching the house so that the would not scare Marla on windy nights. In the process of my good deed, I was on the top rung (the one that says “not a step”) of our 8 foot ladder sawing with a hand saw when a large branch kicked back and hit me in the head. It is a huge blessing that I was not knocked out and did not fall from the ladder because it hit me hard and removed a large chunk of skin from my forehead. Not 30 seconds prior had Matt said, “I think you better come down and we’ll pull it down from hear.” I should have listened. I always laugh at peoples dumb stunts when I see them in the ED; well put one down for me! After taking care of my wounds, Matt and I went for a long off-road run through McCalster Park with Sadie. Apparently it was too long because Sadie has been too sore to stand up since. I was up most of the night helping her around as she cried all night and was unable to get up from sitting. She brought me to tears on more than one occasion and when I wasn’t helping her around, I was praying that God would at least take away the pain. I’m worried that she is suffering from Hip Dysplasia and I will take her to the Vet this week for films. This has happened before, always after long runs, but it has never been this bad. She’s on bed rest today and we are praying she’s just sore.

Bible (NT/OT):

Matt 25

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

25 "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, 'Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' 9 But the wise answered, saying, 'Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.' 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, lord, open to us.' 12 But he answered, 'Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.' 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

The Parable of the Talents

14 "For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' 21 His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' 23 His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' 26 But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

The Final Judgment

31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' 40 And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'

41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' 44 Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' 45 Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Bible Thoughts:

1. “Bridegroom” Christ is symbolized as a ‘Bridegroom’ in many instances by authors throughout the New Testament. The use of ‘Groom’ in reference to Christ depicts his irrevocable vow (covenant) to be our provider, sustainer and protector. This is not a marriage covenant as we may understand it in the 21st Century (with a 50% divorce rate) but in the biblical sense, a covenant that is not reliant on the whims of man but on the unchanging character of Christ as True and Just. Today, many argue for a changing God (one more loving, forgiving, and tolerant than the Old Testament deity) I maintain, that a changing god is no god at all and in fact not good news at all. How are we to rely on the promises of this changing god? How are we to know this changing god? No, Christ declares himself to be unchanging, 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Heb 13:7-9.

2. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' 9 But the wise answered, saying, 'Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.' 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. This parable follows Jesus’ discourse on the timing of His return. Perhaps because of my looming deployment or perhaps because of my job in the ER, the fact that tomorrow is not a given is very clear to me. Whether it is Satan or our own flesh that falsely reassures us of the certainty of tomorrow, have no doubt, it is not God. On the contrary, the bible speaks of the uncertainty of tomorrow and, as in this parable, the necessity of our constant readiness to face our Lord either in his return or in our death. It is the folly of the young to put off Christ today for the lie of tomorrow. To live for the flesh today with the false certainty of a lifetime to repent and believe. No, tomorrow is never a guarantee; bodily death is life’s one and only certainty. What’s more depressing than a world that focuses on death is a world that denies its inevitable, inescapable approach. A world that is more concerned with Lindsay Lohan’s sexual orientation, or Brad and Angelina’s 6th, no 7th, no 8th child, than the eternal salvation of the soul. A people that will devote decades of their life to slow down the hypothetical global warming but not a day to the study or consideration of their eternal dwelling. That is until their last day on earth, the day of their death, at which point (as I have seen often in the ER), when, in a frantic, pitiful plea they will demand any chaplain, priest, yeoman, witch doctor (no, not a DO), or other “holy man” no matter his/her religious affiliation to somehow do something to ensure their eternal soul goes to “heaven;” someone to explain the now emergent mysteries of the afterlife; someone to give them a trinket…password…anything to ensure their last breath on this earth will not be their utter annihilation. People become mighty religious and aware just before their death. But, this is not how it is to be for a Christian. No, we are to know in what and in whom we believe. We are to live ever-ready to face our death in the confidence that our last breath on earth leads to our first breath before our King.

3. 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' A talent has come to mean more than a coin, but a special skill gifted to man from his creator that his fellow men may not have. Whether believer or unbeliever, we were each supernaturally gifted with “talents”. At the final judgment, God will separate the sheep (his chosen) from the goats (unbelievers) based on their saving faith in Christ. As believers when we, in faith, use our talents for the kingdom they serve to confirm our belief and confer to us individual reward in heaven. The unfaithful, unbeliever who does not use his talents for the Kingdom instead stands rightly condemned as denying his creator and giver of his talents. Indeed, every person in the world, as created in the image of God, has His handy work written on our hearts and exhibited in our talents. When we deny such a gift and insult the giver we stand rightly condemned as an unfaithful servant. I long to hear God say to me, “Well done, good and faithful servant” and, though at judgment I will surly lament many unused talents and missed opportunities, I know that my faith (be it smaller than a mustard seed and solely a gift of God), will apply Christ’s goodness and faithfulness as a loving wing over my depravity and enable my joyous welcome into the kingdom as an adopted son of the King.

4. 41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' The bible affirms a final judgment in which an internal love and service for Christ will be judged by the external expression of love for our neighbor. While many “Christian’s” may claim a love for Christ in words, a true love is not in words alone but in action as Jesus later says, “34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34-35. And later, “15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” John 14:15. Thus, our Love for Christ saves us (independent of our love for our neighbor) but, our love for our neighbor exemplifies this love of Christ.

Sun Tzu:

“Therefore I have heard of military operations that were clumsy but swift, but I have never seen one that was skillful and lasted a long time. It is never beneficial to a nation to have a military operation continue for a long time”
“Some win through speed even if they are clumsy.”

Sun Tzu Thoughts:

One of my favorite military quotes is, “a good plan now is better than the perfect plan too late.”

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) was a Roman general who rose to prominence in the first century BC conquering what is now France, Belgium and western Germany. After his successful campaign, Caesar famously declared, “Veni, vidi, vici” (I came, I saw, I conquered). The Roman Senate, led by Pompey, was threatened by Caesar’s growing popularity and ordered him to disband his army. Caesar refused. He Marched his legions on the Capitol and started a Civil War. He chased his enemies across Europe and ultimately to Egypt where Pompey was killed. Before leaving Egypt, Caesar fell in love with Cleopatra and installed her as queen. When Caesar returned to Rome, he ruled. Despite a senate, Caesar declared a state of Emergency and ruled as a Dictator until his death. In the final years of his life Caesar allowed his Asian subjects to worship him as a god and printed coins with his image and the inscription, “Perpetual Dictator.” These actions fueled the resentment that culminated in his overthrow and murder by his best friend, Brutus.

Matt 24

Date: 29-30 January 2009 D - 12 days

Events:

28 January: Woke up early cause I couldn’t sleep so I read, wrote and had breakfast with John and Gracie. We had a hard freeze, it’s 22 degrees with a quarter inch of ice on the ground (see car picture). I drove to Ft Hood to do the much dreaded medical clearance required for deployment. I say much dreaded because I have been peripherally involved in all of the other soldiers clearing (at least from the medical side) and seen it take days to weeks. The Fort Hood clearance center sees more soldiers than any other in the country. While the 10-15 other centers see one to two thousand a year, Fort Hood clears 10-20K/year. They work on all of the major holidays and weekends to accomplish the mission. People from all over the south west come to Hood to clear. Yesterday, I met a unit out of Puerto Rico that was leaving for Iraq next week. The process was as painful but not quite as long as I expected. The day began with power points. The instructors gave us a risk assessment of the climate and dangers of Iraq and briefings on the live vaccines that we were about to receive (Small Pox and Anthrax). As the day progressed we moved through stations for creating a will, power of attorney, changing our pay (tax free now), hearing, vision, dental and medical screening. Over all the process was completed far more quickly than I expected lasting from 0900 to 1500. I rushed out as soon as I was done and back to the Brigade for a Command and Staff Meeting. After a long day of lines and exams, I went back to Temple to a great dinner (as always) prepared by John.

29 January: I had a PT test yesterday morning (hence the 2 days for 1 deal). The PT test went great, I did better in each event than I have since college, too much time on my hands I guess. I had the push-ups and sit-ups max’ed with 30 seconds to spare and ran a 12.25min 2 miles (max 13.18). All that yoga paid off J. After my PT test, I showered at the brigade and saw patients all morning until my Non-deployable scrub at 1300. I had 1 interesting patient, a 35 year old male that has on two occasions gone into extreme muscle breakdown (called rhabdomyolysis) after mild exercise. The muscle enzymes are poisonous to the kidneys and on one occasion he nearly died and was hospitalized in the ICU on dialysis for a week. When he first came to me he wanted to deploy and thought that if I could give him lighter restrictions, we could get him to Iraq. I complied but have closely followed his progress. I drew labs on Wednesday 4 days after he had completed a Land Navigation course. Much to my disappointment, his muscle enzymes were again extremely high despite him being (at least in his words) asymptomatic. As it is an extremely dangerous situation both for him and the deployed unit for this to happen down range, I gave him a Profile (Orders in a Memo form) that he was never to deploy (or exercise strenuously again). Tough conversation because this will end the career of a good soldier who really wants to accomplish his mission. At the 1300 Non-deployable scrub, I broke the news to the commander who was likewise disappointed, fun job! Meeting lasted till 1500 at which point I went back to the clinic to finish up a couple notes then headed home. I went out to Marla’s speaker program at Silo’s last night (one of my favorite restaurants). The speaker was very impressive, he flew himself down in his own airplane and gave an amazing talk on hypertension. While I find hypertension and all primary care stuff pretty boring, it is important for me to stay up to date as primary care is what I do these days.

Bible (NT/OT):

Matt 24

Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

24 Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2 But he answered them, "You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down."

Signs of the Close of the Age

3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?" 4 And Jesus answered them, "See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
9 "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

The Abomination of Desolation

15 "So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place ( let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, 'Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out. If they say, 'Look, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

The Coming of the Son of Man

29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

32 "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

No One Knows That Day and Hour

36 "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
45 "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed,' 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.


Ps 25:11

11 For your name's sake, O Lord,
pardon my guilt, for it is great.

Bible Thoughts:

1. Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down." In 70 AD, the Romans laid siege to Jerusalem to end a Jewish rebellion. I wrote a paper in college of the relationship of 70 AD to this passage. Truly, the suffering was great,people were forced to eat their dead as the siege lasted months. In the end the Romans invaded the emaciated city, slaughtered its people and burned it to the ground. The families who remembered this passage fled to the hills and avoided the foretold annihilation. While the following passage seems prophesy this event, there are many specific events that did not occur. Thus we see the destruction of 70 AD as both a fulfillment of this passage and a prophesy (itself as an example) of what we will see at Christ’s return.

2. "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?" The disciples ask Jesus to answer two questions, 1) when will this occur? 2) What will the signs of the end be? Jesus answers in reverse order.

3. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. Many Christians subscribe to a doctrine called, “Postmillennialism.” Postmillennialist’s feels that the 70 AD destruction was the fulfillment of both Matthew 24 (this chapter) and Revelation’s prophesy of Judgment. Thus leaving present day Christians in a gradual expansion and ultimate worldly triumph over Satan. I disagree with this interpretation of scripture. First of all I cannot accept that all prophesy was fulfilled in 70 AD, as many prophesies in both Matthew and Revelation were not. Secondly, I cannot look around the world today and say that we are winning. Disappointment does not come from events but from expectations. When we have the correct worldview, that Satan has temporary dominion over this world (thus suffering) but that Christ (not man) will ultimately triumph over Satan and at once bring forth a Kingdom that puts all earthly kingdoms to shame, then and only then can we obey this chapter and be “ not alarmed” when we hear of the intense worldly suffering that goes on today because it does not mean that Christ and Christians are somehow at risk of losing the battle. Instead with the correct worldview, far from becoming alarmed at the intense suffering in the world, we can thrive in the hope that Christ’s return grows imminently closer. We can hope that far from losing the battle to the earthly warlords and terrorists, instead God’s wrath against the oppressors continues to grow until the foretold judgment when every knee will bow to his glory.

4. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. That no tribe in Africa may claim ignorance.

5. 15 "So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place ( let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains These instructions saved many lives in 70 AD but also in this instruction, we see an example of how past event are used by God to foreshadow future events. One of the most amazing prophesies in the bible occurs in Daniel 11 & 12 when Daniel (hundred’s of out) prophesizes the invasion and destruction of Jerusalem and exact day that Antiochus Epiphanes would sacrifice a Pig (unclean animal) on the alter of the Temple (Dec 15, 167 BC). Christ brings the term back foretelling a future abomination of desolation both in 70 AD and at the true end of days. History is doomed to repeat itself. It is because of this prophesy that many believe the temple must be rebuilt for a 3rd time before Christ’s ultimate return.

6. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Out of love for God’s “elect”(his chosen) he will stop the suffering. This is likely not a indication of a rapture as much an indication of the temporary suffering/tribulation the world will go through prior to Christ’s emanate return.

7. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. The false Christ’s will test God’s people and those who are not elect will deny the true Christ and God and worship the Idols. Truly the only ones who make it through this deception will be those enabled not by their own wisdom or power but with the graceful gift of God’s wisdom and power. God will sift the wheat from the chaff with these antichrists (2 Thessalonians 2). I submit that many a “Christian” today already worships a “false Christ” as the Idol Christ of many churchs does not reflect the true biblical Christ but a Christ stripped of justice, a Christ stripped of majesty, a Christ stripped of Glory and substituted is a Christ that serves man’s purpose, a more manageable, tolerant, politically correct Christ. This is why the study of theology is imperative. We must worship the true Christ and in order to do so, we must know the true Christ.

8. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. The Second coming of Christ will be evident to the entire world. There will be no doubt even to the unbeliever of who is coming in the clouds with his armies following. Here is one of my favorite passages in the bible to demonstrate how evident Christs return will be, it brings me to tears every time I read it,
“11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”
Rev 19:11-16

We serve a great and worthy King.

9. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. This is the third time in as many paragraphs that Christ has used the term “elect” to describe his chosen people. My question to the semi-palagean (free choice type) is, do our elected officials have the power to elect themselves or is it an external event that does not reside in the ultimate power of the elected.

10. 32 "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Christ now moves on to the disciples second question, when? His answer is to be watchful for these events, as when they begin, they will progress quickly (3.5-7 yrs) to Christ’s return. The quote, “this generation” has been used to support the interpretation that this chapter only applied to 70 AD but, as Christ did not return, we must take this in context to be speaking of the speed at which the signs and tribulation occur and progress. Once the signs start to occur, the second coming will occur within one generation.

11. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. This verse is the best (and only biblical) support of rapture in the Left Behind sense. While it may in fact describe a rapture, that seems a bit speculative. In context, all that I can say that this verse directly supports is the speed of Christ’s return. In a moment Christ will overpower Satan and bring judgment to the earth, separating the lambs from goats, wheat from chaff, and good from evil.

12. Psalms: 11 For your name's sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. It is for the name and glory of God that we are saved, not for our own. Our salvation echo’s his strength and goodness no ours.

Sun Tzu:

“When your forces are dulled, your edge is blunted, your strength is exhausted, and your supplies are gone, then others will take advantage of your debility and rise up. Then even if you have wise advisers you cannot make things turn out well in the end.”
“A wise government does not keep its army in the field”

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

Abraham is considered the patriarch of monotheistic religion (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). Abraham, married to Sarai, was promised to be the father of a great nation. In a bout of faithlessness, he decided that he needed to sleep with a maidservant named Hagar in order to fulfill the promise, as his wife was in her 90’s and infertile. Hagar had a child who was named Ishmael. Muslims claim Ishmael as the father of their faith. Out of anger and jealousy, Sarai and Abraham banished Hagar and Ishmael. God’s promise was subsequently fulfilled to Abraham as Sarai got pregnant and Abraham changed her name to Sarah. Sarah had a son named Isaac who married Rebecca who bore Jacob (renamed Israel after struggling with the angel) who became the father of the 12 Jewish nations.

Matt 23

Date: 28 January 2009 D – 14 Days

Events:

Yesterday morning, I woke up early to read, write and play with Sadie before heading to Fort Hood. I listened to the most recent White Horse Inn and a couple really good episodes of Renewing Your Mind on my way. I stopped on my way into base at Clothing Sales and bought the Items from the packing list that I was missing, got some dog tags made and had my rank sowed onto my soft cap and boney cap. Arrived at the clinic to a couple patients waiting, nothing very interesting mostly administrative stuff. I had a great weight work out and run yesterday evening before heading to temple for the night. John and Gracie (the couple I stay with in temple) just returned from Israel so we spent the evening talking about their trip. It sounded amazing. I would love to go.

Bible (NT/OT):

Matt 23

Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, 3 so practice and observe whatever they tell you— but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18 And you say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.' 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.
23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Lament over Jerusalem
37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! 38 See, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"
ESV

Ps 24:3-5
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. 5 He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

Bible Thoughts:

1. 2 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, 3 so practice and observe whatever they tell you— but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. At face value, it is true that the scribes and Pharisees were the most externally devout Jews. We often forget that these Pharisees that Jesus criticize most aggressively are the most well educated and “spiritual” Jews of the day. When the laity had a question about religious practice, they asked the Pharisees and as long as the Pharisees responded from their knowledge of the scriptures, they were to be followed. The same applies to our pastors and priests to this day. When a pastor or priest (even the Pope) speaks in accordance with scripture, they are to be heeded. Jesus does not criticize their knowledge, teaching or observance of the scripture; what Jesus questions is their motive and tradition. As we have seen above, Jesus is about to launch into an assault on both their external piety and their legalism. In order to be highly esteemed the Pharisees had inter-mixed many rules of man with the Laws of God. Apparently many of the rules are still in place today; John, just back from Israel, told me that on the Sabbath devout Jews are not allowed to push a button in the elevator. They are forced to wait for a Christian or Muslim to help them. What an unnecessary “heavy burden.” This is not the heart or the letter of the Old Testament Law.

2. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, I rotated with a Family Practitioner during medical school who was a devout Jew. Every morning we would go to his temple and he would strap a Phylacteries (little box) tightly around his head and a strap around his left arm. The “fringes” around his arm were to be as tight as possible both to remind him of how tightly bound to the Jewish law and tradition he was and to leave a visible mark for the world to see the rest of the day.

3. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. The problem was not with the words teacher, rabbi or father but the adoration they were seeking in the title. The motive behind accepting my title, Dr. Smith and demanding that everyone address me as Dr. Smith is entirely different.

4. 13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites” In the next 23 verses it will become very clear that Jesus despises hypocrisy. When religion is based on an individual’s works, hypocrisy will necessarily follow. This was true of Judiasm in Jesus day and it is true of Liberal Christianity today. By far the most common charge leveled against the church today is that it is full of hypocrites, is it not? No one likes a hypocrite, not Christ and not the unbelieving world. I can understand how the outside world can feel this way as I too have stood on the outside and looked in; however, with correct theology this should never be. Contrary to true Christianity, Pelagianism (works based religion) fundamentally relies on a list of ‘to do’s’ that will inevitably breed spiritual pride which invariably deteriorates into hypocrisy. A Pelagian (ex. liberal Christian--all good people go to heaven type) or even a Semi-pelagian (Methodist—in my free will I made a good decision type), believes his salvation to be based on something that he has done. What separates the Pelagian from his neighbor is that he is not as dirty and sinful; he is better, above his neighbor. Further, his dirty neighbor should not be participating in such utterly despicable acts and he’s going to walk over and tell him. What’s worse is the semi-pelagian who feels that he is not simply better than his neighbor in action but smarter/more righteous than his neighbor because he was wise or righteous enough to freely make the right decision and “accept Christ.” These two “Christians” are rightly charged with hypocrisy as, in pride, they hold themselves above their neighbor whether by action or intellect. The neighbor watches with an eagle eye for any inconsistency, any flaw because such pride is so intolerable. And when the flaw comes, the neighbor is redeemed and happily (rightly) accuses the “Christian” of hypocrisy. But the neighbor is not all this “Christian” has to worry about because Matthew 23 echo’s from heaven. Compared to Christ’s righteousness what righteousness do we have? Compared to Christ’s wisdom, what wisdom do we have? Compared to Christ’s majesty, what majesty to we have? How can we as creatures stand on earth in our fallen, despicable sinfulness and in pride stand ourselves up above our neighbor? No, with even the simplest theology, the Christian should realize that he is in no way superior to his neighbor. “But for the Grace of God go I.” A Christian should…must realize that it was nothing good within him that led to his salvation; in fact it was the utter depravity in his soul that led to his salvation. That he could not “do” his way to heaven, nor could he “will” his way to heaven but that all he brought and brings to the equation is the wretched mess of a desperately fallen life. And once the believer is a true Christian the prognosis is no better; although we have now been enlightened to the truth of sinfulness and depravity, our flesh almost irresistibly craves the sin. Prior to being a Christian, all we could do was sin but after our rebirth we now have the free choice to follow the path of righteousness or the path of destruction and, having been given the gift of the holy spirit how much more contemptible is it to follow the path of destruction. But this is the inner war that rages inside the Christian at all times, this is the war that when we are honest and transparent with our neighbor can never breed the charge of hypocrisy. Christians must realize that any and all good that lives inside is the imputed (given) righteousness of Christ not any earned or inherited good of our own. When I get a tattoo, it will include the inscription, “Simul Justus et Peccator” meaning simultaneously righteous and sinner. Any and all good that lives within me is solely Christ, I am nothing but a dirty wretch and my works are nothing but rags. Thereby, I realize that I am no better than my neighbor in fact I am much worse because given the ability to follow Christ, instead again and again I sin. When I have no platform to judge my neighbor from, no pride in my own action how then can I go to my neighbor as anything more than a humble, struggling servant? I cannot. When we have correct theology and the confidence (in God’s love) to be transparent with neighbor in our struggles, doubts and sins, far from our neighbor’s charge of hypocrisy we may find needed help and support. We Christians are a broken and sinful people.

Sun Tzu:

“When you do battle, even if you are winning, if you continue for a long time it will dull your forces and blunt your edge; if you besiege a citadel, your strength will be exhausted. If you keep your armies in the field for a long time, your supplies will be insufficient.”
“War is like fire—if you don’t put it out, it will burn itself out”
“Arms are tools of ill omen—to employ them for extended periods of time will bring about calamity. As it is said, “Those who like to fight and so exhaust their military inevitably perish”

Sun Tzu Thoughts:

I like the quote, “Arms are tools of ill omen…” While at first we were seen as liberators, I fear we will soon be seen (if not already) as occupiers. It is a very difficult thing to wage a war in someone’s hometown and still try to appear as the “good guys.” But it is of vital importance.

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

In Plato’s (427-347BC) work Phaedo, he presented his Theory of Forms. In considering all of the beautiful thing in the world Plato theorized that there is a “Form” of perfect, eternal beauty that all beautiful physical objects reflected in direct proportion to how externally beautiful the physical object appeared. Individual beautiful things are beautiful by virtue of participating in beauty. Plato thought of participation as imperfect imitation. Thus, individual beautiful things imitate beauty, but only to a point. Plato extended “forms” to include our observation of all physical objects. For example, an object was red only in so much as it approached the “form” redness. In Plato’s theory, before our bodies existed, our souls existed in heaven where we learned these perfect “forms” that we subsequently remember in order to observe the world. Our knowledge on earth is merely a recollection of our initial acquaintance with the “forms” in heaven.

Intel Devo Thoughts: Interesting concept, not sure I buy it. While the bible does support that Christ inhabited heaven before his bodily existence, it does not seem to support that I did. The Mormons would disagree.

Matt 22

Date: 27 January 2009 D – 15 days

Events:

Yesterday, Marla worked in the morning while I read and wrote. We met for lunch at Papa Sito’s and her partner Meredith joined us. It took me all afternoon to pack up all of my gear. Today is the last trip to Fort Hood that I will make before leaving so I have all of my junk packed up and gear put together for a PCI (pre-combat inspection) tomorrow. I thought packing would be much more depressing than it turned out to be (probably because we still have 2 weeks); I listened to a mix of Stained and Bruce Springsteen and sorted through a lot of cool gear. The Gear that we get issued is amazing, from the infra-red beacon (avoid friendly fire), to the seat belt cutters, to the camel back, it is all brand new top notch stuff. So, far from being depressing I think playing while I packed emotionally prepared me for deployment. After I finished packing, I took Sadie for a long run in the Park. We made salmon last night and watched the Bachelor. Yesterday was a great day.

Bible (NT/OT):

Matt 22

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

22 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.' 5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.' 10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 "But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 14 For many are called, but few are chosen."

Paying Taxes to Caesar

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his talk. 16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax." And they brought him a denarius. 20 And Jesus said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" 21 They said, "Caesar's." Then he said to them, "Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." 22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.

Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

23 The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked

him a question, 24 saying, "Teacher, Moses said, 'If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.' 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother. 26 So too the second and third, down to the seventh. 27 After them all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her."
29 But Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:
32 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living." 33 And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.

The Great Commandment

34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 37 And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."

Whose Son Is the Christ?

41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying,

"What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "The son of David." 43 He said to them, "How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,
44 "'The Lord said to my Lord,Sit at my right hand,until I put your enemies under your feet'?
45 If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?" 46 And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

Ps 23:4

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Ps 23:6-24:1
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Bible Thoughts:

1. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.' The Old Testament hard-hearted Jews (not true Israel, a Jewish remnant that believed Gods promise and subsequently believed in Christ) the Pharisees and Sadducees are symbolized by the first guests who did not show up and ultimately murdered the King’s servants (Old Testament Prophets). God, the King, justly punishes their disloyalty. In this parable, the king then opens his doors to strangers…10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. These symbolize the Gentiles (you and I) who have been welcomed into the promise that had thus far been given only to Israel. As Paul says in Rom 11:11-12 “Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!”
2. And he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. The Guests had all just seconds before been brought in off the street, so how could the King discipline this poor beggar for not being dressed for the wedding? If all of the other guests have wedding garments then we must assume that the King has given the garments. This would be consistent in a broader sense with our understanding of the Gospel and our ability to sit at the Feast of the Lamb (after death) as clothed in Christ’s righteousness not in our own filth. This understanding is also consistant with the refaine that follows, “many are called but few are chosen.”
3. 14 For many are called, but few are chosen." This is the second time we have encountered this verse. The first usage was in Matthew 20:16 after Christ’s parable of the Laborers. As this phrase is one of the few that Christ repeats, it must be important. In the Parable of the Laborers God is depicted as a generous landowner who pays the workers hired at the last hour the same wage as those hired in the first. In the Parable at hand, God is depicted as a King who tortures his unfaithful subjects and brings in, dresses, and feasts with strangers. The commonality between the two parables is God’s ability to do what he wishes despite man’s effort or will. The “call” Christ refers to is a “general call” referring to all who hear the gospel (all who were invited to work/wedding). There is also an “effectual call,” an internal call that is irresistible (those workers/attendants that were brought in by the landowner/King). Thus the general call goes out to the world but only those who are effectually called truly respond and believe. As Luke says in Acts, “48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.” Acts 13:48-49. The appointment and effectual call occur then we respond with belief. Many argue the Doctrine of Election/Predestination by saying that all are chosen but with free will, some of these chosen deny the gospel, I argue with this verse, “few are chosen.” Unless we deny the truth of this verse all are not chosen, all are not invited. People all have the freedom to follow their will, their will, however, is unable to follow Christ without God’s supernatural effectual call.
4. The following two questions are posed by the Pharisees and Sadducees to trip Jesus up. The first ends, “ 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" The Jews were under the rule of Rome. Most resented Rome as an occupying force and resented the Tax that they had to pay to Rome because they were funding the occupier. Thus, if Jesus answers that we are obligated to pay the tax he would have been seen as a traitor to the Jews and if he would have denied the tax he would have been broken the law. His response, “give to Cesar what is Cesar’s” is simple but effective because he plays on a feeling amongst the Jews that the picture of a glorified Cesar the Golden coin had become an Idol. In this way he kept the law and, far from being seen as a traitor to the Jews, was seen as a hero for casting out Cesar’s idolatrous image. The following question from the Sadducees, “28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her." Christ likewise answers. The Sadducees were a sect that altogether denied the resurrection. Jesus however not only affirms the resurrection but support’s it with the very words of God in Genesis that no Jew could deny. Christ demonstrates a profound knowledge of scripture that would not have been available to any mere carpenter
6. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Truly, the entire law can be summed up into these two simple commandments. Many a spiritual Californian will quote this verse as support free, abundant love is all that it takes to get to heaven. We must however remember the true purpose of the law. The law was never meant to Justify, the law was meant to demonstrate our need. Much as I use an MRI do diagnose physical illness, the law diagnoses spiritual illness. How many of us can say that we have always loved god and our neighbor first? How many of us can say that we have ever loved God and our neighbor first? Thus, the law is not the good news. The Good News (Gospel) is that God knows the state of our hearts and in love has made righteousness available to us through the righteousness of his Son and has paid the penalty of our sins through the brutal punishment of his Son. That the promise of the psalms, “6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever,” is now as true for us as it was for Jesus.

Sun Tzu:

The one who figures on victory at headquarters before even doing battle is the one who has the most strategic factors on his side. The one who figures on inability to prevail at headquarters is the one who has the least strategic factors on his side. The one with many strategic factors in his favor wins. Observing the matter in this way, you can see who will win and who will lose.

Sun Tzu Thoughts: Simple concept, but in today’s world I would use it to support the power of positive thinking. There is a recent book that has become quite popular entitled, The Secrete. I have not read it but I listened to an interview with the author and his faithful followers. In The Secrete and existential view that reality is somehow altered by our positive or negative thoughts is put forth. For example, if I think hard enough, I can bring a star into existence or (for Oprah’s audience) my future spouse to my doorstep. This of course is utter nonsense. While advertised as “new and revolutionary” the fallacy is as old as humanity, as Solomon said, “there is nothing new under the sun.” While I entirely disagree with the philosophy that underlies the book, I do feel that the confidence that comes from positive thinking give a strategic advantage in business or in conflict.

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

Medieval/Early Church Music (400-1400AD), Gragorian Chant was the first written music. Also known as “plainchant” it was sung during the Catholic Mass. The Mass was devided into two sets of Chant, the Ordinarry and the Proper. The ordinary consisted of 6t latin prayers (Kyrie Eleison, Gloria in Excelsis, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei and Ite Missa est) which always contained the same text; whereas the Proper which included the Introit, Gradual, Offertory, and Communion, consisted of texts that varied according to liturgical season. Medieval music began as monophonic (no harmony), but around 900AD, musicians began to write in a polymorphic style called organum (2 parallel melodies) and in 1100AD composers Leonin and Perotin (music directors at Notre Dame in Paris), composed organa with up to 4 independent, nonparallel music lines. Eventually in the thirteenth century “Motet” emerged, which is complex polymorphic with a fixed melodic line and several complementary parts. In the 1990’s the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos released a CD called Chant that made plainchant popular for the first time since the Middle Ages.

Intellectual Devo Thoughts: Good stuff very relaxing, it was always a bit creepy to me but now that I know the origin, I’m going to download Chant when I finish.

Matt 21

Date: 26 January 2009; D – 16 days

Bible (NT/OT):

Matt 21:1-16

The Triumphal Entry

21 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, "Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will send them at once." 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

5 "Say to the daughter of Zion,
'Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'"

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?" 11 And the crowds said, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee."

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13 He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you make it a den of robbers."

And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant, 16 and they said to him, "Do you hear what these are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read,
"'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise'?"
17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.
Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
18 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you again!" And the fig tree withered at once.
20 When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither at once?" 21 And Jesus answered them, "Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen. 22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith."
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
23 And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?" 24 Jesus answered them, "I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?" And they discussed it among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?' 26 But if we say, 'From man,' we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet." 27 So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
The Parable of the Two Sons
28 "What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' 29 And he answered, 'I will not,' but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, 'I go, sir,' but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.
The Parable of the Tenants
33 "Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.' 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" 41 They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons."
42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures:
"'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him."
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.

Ps 22:1-2
u My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer.
Ps 22:7-8
All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; 8 "He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!"
Ps 22:16-18
6 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—17 I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me; 18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

Sun Tzu:

“The formation and procedure used by the military should not be divulged beforehand.”
“Attack when they are unprepared and not expecting it, and you will surely win.”
“Securing military victory can certainly not be made uniform—first, see the enemy’s formation, and only then apply the strategy. You cannot say exactly what you will do before the event”


The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

The Greenhouse Effect: discovered in 1824 by Joseph Fourier the greenhouse effect describes the mechanism by which water vapor (primarily), carbon dioxide, methane and other gasses trap the sun’s energy that is reflected from earth’s surface. The Greenhouse effect is why earth is a hospitable planet. Venous has a thick atmosphere saturated with Carbon Dioxide making it the hottest planet in the solar system with an average temp of 456 Degrees, while Mars without an atmosphere (no ability to store heat) cools to a frigid -220F at night. It has been hypothesized that humans have caused a runaway greenhouse effect by our pollution as the average temp has raised 1 degree in the last 100 years with the peak average temp’s occurring in 1998.

Events:

Got up yesterday and read, wrote and went to church. After church, Marla and I went out with 6 or 7 other couples to lunch. Lots of fun! The pictures are attached. We have a great church and have made amazing friends. Our pastor is solid; he gave a great sermon out of Exodus yesterday. We picked the church for it’s fellowship potential as there must be >100 couples our age and in a similar lifestage (married with either no kids or young kids). It will be very difficult to find such a great church when we move. Marla has been very involved with the church; but one of my few regrets is that I did not get more involved. Granted, it was hard through residency and difficult this last 6 months of commuting to Fort Hood but there were defiantly opportunities that I did not take to get connected. I will leave with a few great friends, but given the potential to be great friends with nearly any and all of the people at our church, this seems a loss. I also missed out on a great opportunity to seek out a mentor. There are countless Men that I respect within the church that I could have learned a lot from but never took the time. I look forward to finding mentorship both in Iraq and when we move. It has been hard to ask for that sort of help here as by all external opinion, I must seem quite the carnal (immature) Christian; I have rarely been able to get to church/bible study and I’ve got a touch of social anxiety that makes me get to church late to avoid conversation and run out as soon as it’s over again to avoid the big group. Lacey (Marla’s Cousin) came over for dinner last night. Good times.

Thoughts:

1. 12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13 He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you make it a den of robbers." In the Old Testament, there are many commanded animal sacrifices. Sacrifice was commanded for everything from having a child, to being cured of an illness to being cleansed from sin (Yom Kippur). The Temple in Jerusalem was the recommended place to make this sacrifice thus people traveled from distant cities to Jerusalem. Due to the difficulty of the journey, people would not bring a lamb or dove to sacrifice; instead they would buy the cow/lamb/dove in Jerusalem. The sale of animals at the temple became a lucrative business as the customers were a subject to whatever outrageous charges the seller demanded. As the sacrifice (before Christ ultimate once and for all blood offering) was fundamental to all cleansing and purification ritual in the Old Testament Temple, these sellers were in effect holding the pilgrims purification for ransom. John Piper gives a great sermon over this verse in which he poses the question, “should we then take the book store out of our church?” His answer is of course no on many levels.
a. First of all, a new testament church is by no means the Old Testament Temple. The New Testament physical Church is merely a building to house God’s people, where as the Old Testament Temple was built as God’s house where God’s presence was to reside. The Old Testament Temple was a Holy place where yearly sacrifice was necessary for the remission of the sin’s of the people. The New Testament Chruch has no such prurpose as we now have a clear understanding from Hebrews 9-11 that the Old Testament Temple and Sacrifice was only a glimpse, a foreshowdoding to Christ’s ultimate sacrifice on the Cross and now that this “once and for all” sacrifice has been made we are no longer dependent upon the “blood of bulls” for our justification. Heb 10:1-5 “For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sin? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, (and) said…”"Behold, I have come to do your will." He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
b. Secondly, the purpose of a bookstore is very different than the purpose of a sacrificial animal. While a book (especially one of Piper’s books) can be very sanctifying (maturing) the purpose of the animal was for justification (salvation). An important point because there are those even today who attempt to sell salvation. While the condemnation of this verse does not fall on a book store in a church, it does fall on those such as Tetzel (rightly condemned) who,in order to build Saint Peters Basilica “sold salvation” to the peasants, with his classic quote, “As soon as a coin in the coffer sings, a soul from purgatory sings.” I feel that this condemnation also falls on present day televangelists and revivalists who promise remission from sin’s and favor with god for a small monetary donation.
2. "Do you hear what these are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read, "'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise'?" As Jesus claims this verse, he is again claiming his deity. We are left with 3 options as C.S Lewis articulates, Jesus was either a Liar, a lunatic or truly Lord. But let’s stop with this “Great teacher”, “Great Prophet” nonsense.
3. ...found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you again!" And the fig tree withered at once. Jesus does not lose his temper here and abuse his power for evil as the Green-peace types have charged. No Jesus uses the Fig Tree much for the same purpose that we take communion each week, as a tangible reminder or Christ’s promise…this just happens to be the promise that most Christians would like to gloss over. We love to quote John 3:16 but forget about 3:17-18... "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” Jesus, in this instance, uses the fig tree to illustrate his earlier point that, a tree (person) is judged as either Good or Bad by it’s fruit. The Fig Tree is also a classic symbol of Israel. Christ demonstrates the condemnation that would soon fall on the Jews for their faithlessness.
4. 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' 29 And he answered, 'I will not,' but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, 'I go, sir,' but did not go…, "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. This parable attacks the Pharisees yet again for their hypocracy they are those who, “4…tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger”. Matt 23:4. The tax collectors and prostitutes who had not lived under their Heavenly Father’s authority now found the rest and forgiveness they had sought in Jesus, whereas those “whitewashed tombs” the Pharisee’s who claimed to be holy and pious were too proud to realize their own need and cry out for Christ’s salvation.
5. 43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him." When we truly fall on Christ and realize his incredible love demonstrated in his intolerable suffering we are broken by the immeasurably high ransom that the Father paid for us, sacrificing his only son. But those who deny Christ will be crushed by the wrath of God, justly administered for their sins.
6. Psalms: Great verses that prophesize the death of Christ centuries before his birth.
7. Intellectual Devo: Throw back to an old blog that I wrote about Global warming on 13 Jan 09:
a. I have a couple thoughts on global warming:
i. The pollutants of cars and factories pales in comparison to the natural pollutants of a forest fire or volcano. The world has been adapting fine to the above for billions of years so what is another drop in the bucket if, let’s be honest it’s not hurting anything (best guess maybe a degree warmer over the last 100 yrs and who knows what actually caused this).
ii. My biggest peeve against global climate change is that we are throwing billions of both public and private money towards fixing a theoretic problem when we have real problems that truly need and deserve that money. The fact that the Global warming people could organize a worldwide campaign and raise millions of dollars is great but where did that money go? What could those millions of dollars have done for the troops fighting our nation’s two wars? What could that money have done for the starving and sick around the world? Places where 10 dollars could save a life, not where we throw millions upon millions of dollars at a fictional problem. I don’t fault the good people who are truly concerned about our future on this planet, I fault the media and Al Gore’s of the world that have sensationalized a theoretical problem that even the scientific community cannot agree upon. The theoretical “global warming” needs to be last page news until we have some causal relationship between manmade pollutants and actual warming. It may, in fact, be real but until we have a verifiable diagnosis how can we justify throwing millions of dollars and crazy solutions at it? You would not think me a very good physician if I saw a patient and without any tests or verification, just my hunch not only told the patient that they had Cancer but started them on expensive and extremely dangerous chemotherapy. The treatment that we have attempted for Global Warming is just that, treating a disease without a diagnosis with expensive therapies that are unproven and potentially more dangerous than the original theoretical disease.

Matt 20

Date: 25 January 2009; Deployment – 17 days
Bible (NT/OT):

Matt 20

Laborers in the Vineyard

20 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, 'You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.' 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' 7 They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.' 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.' 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.' 13 But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?' 16 So the last will be first, and the first last."

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

17 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18 "See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death 19 and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day."

A Mother's Request

20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21 And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom." 22 Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?" They said to him, "We are able." 23 He said to them, "You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." 24 And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

29 And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. 30 And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!" 31 The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!" 32 And stopping, Jesus called them and said, "What do you want me to do for you?" 33 They said to him, "Lord, let our eyes be opened." 34 And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.


Ps 21:13-22:1

3 Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power.


Sun Tzu:

“Attack when they are unprepared, make your move when they do not expect it.”
“Strike at their gaps, attack when they are lax, don’t let the enemy figure out how to prepare. This is why it is said that in military operations fromlessness is the most effective.”
“The most efficient of movements is the one that is unexpected; the best of plans is the one that is unknown.”

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

The Venus de Milo (above) is a famous pure marble sculpture of the Greek God of love, Aphrodite (Roman God Venus). The sculpture stands over six feet tall and depicts the God standing, waist pivoting a bit to the right and eyes looking just over the horizon. Venus stands with only a sheet over her lower body. The Sculpture was discovered in 1820 on the Greek Island of Melos but has been dated to 400BC-300AD. The artist is of course unknown but a base found near by Identified a previously unknown Alexandros of Antioch of Menander (Greek). One of the arms was found nearby holding an apple. According to myth, Paris of Troy had given Venus a golden apple to identify her as the most beautiful woman in the world.

Events:

I’m home for the weekend and enjoyed yesterday around the house. Marla and I got up, read, wrote and went to Yoga (awesome as usual). We went to see Slumdog Millionaire yesterday afternoon which was one of the best movies that I have ever seen. Pizza last night and another movie…the waitress. Slow and relaxing day. This section reminds me of how comfortable (and sort of boring) my life is here, guess that’s about to change. Sure gonna miss these days.

Thoughts:

1. 12 saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.' 13 But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong…15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?' 16 So the last will be first, and the first last." A good approach to difficult sayings in the bible is to first look at the verses and topics immediately before and after the verse (it was put there for a reason), then consider the immediate and broader audience/culture that the verse addresses, then consider the verse as it relates to the purpose of the Book (Matthew’s purpose was to prove Jesus to be the Prophesied Messiah to the Jews then Gentiles), then in the context of the Gospel. In this way we can avoid “farming” the bible for quotes. Everything must be taken in context if we wish accurately understand the Bible.
In it’s immediate context, this Parable is set between Matthew 19:27- “7 Then Peter said in reply, ‘See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?’” and the following plea from James and John’s mother that they sit at Jesus right and left in heaven. In its immediate context, it seems to be a warning to the disciples not to become too secure or proud of their position. Taken in the broader context of Matthew, the New Testament and the Bible, I do not feel that this one parable can teach that there are not varying positions in heaven against so many other verses in the bible that seem to. Thus, it must be meant to illustrate another truth. This parable seems to illustrate the meaning of the verses immediately before, “Matt 19:30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first,” and immediately following it, Matt 20:26-27, “ But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave." Reminding the disciples that an attitude of humility and submission to God’s authority is what is truly valued in heaven. In the context of the Book of Matthew, this verse may be pointing to the fact that the Gentiles (you and I) were soon to be grafted into the salvation of Israel (Jew’s). Just yesterday, Marla and I were discussing the meaning of Matthew 15:22-28, the story of the Cannonite (Gentile) woman who pleads with Jesus to heal her daughter, the dialogue goes: Jesus: “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. 28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. We must remember that we do not reward/bless God with our salvation but he blesses us with salvation. Too many today forget our place and think that God helplessly awaits our return as the father did prodigal son. God becomes much more an object of pity in such a relationship than a King. To be sure, God does rejoice when his Prodigals come home but it is not a joy born of helplessness. No, as the lost sheep, our shepherd carries us home…that no sheep could boast that we found salvation on our own. Remember, we are Gentiles serving the Unchanging Old Testament God of Israel. The fact that God has adopted us as sons and daughters and “grafted” us into his plan of salvation is not something to brag about but something to humbly rejoice in. This Cannonite woman rightly understands her position; first as a Gentile next as a servant thus Christ praises her highly. Though after the dialogue, we gentile’s are left to wonder, “Am I somehow less as a Gentile ‘dog’ than the true children of Israel?” Today’s parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard is greatly reassuring to us gentiles, it seems to say that even as those “hired in the last hour”, our reward (salvation) is no less than that of the messianic Jews whose lineage is of Abraham, salvation is of Christ and faith has been strong for centuries.
2. 18 "See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death 19 and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day." This is the third time that Matthew documents Jesus fortelling his death. It is amazing that the disciples (like us) forget the gospel message and doubt it’s power so quickly when adversity comes (Chapter 26).
3. She said to him, "Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom." Like any good mom, James and John’s mother pleads for her son’s to sit on thrones with Jesus in heaven. Jesus response is interesting, he does not deny that there are positions for a saint to his right and his left, instead he asks, “Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” This is a clear reference to the cup of God’s wrath that Jesus refers to again in Matt 26:39-43 as he prays about his imminent crucifixion,
"My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." …Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done."
Indeed, Jesus affirms that they will “drink of this cup” as James was martyred and John was exiled for their faith. However, Jesus then says, “but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” In his divinity Christ knew who would sit at his right and left but that sure would take away from the excitement if he revealed the identity here. Maybe he was just letting them down softly. As a young believer, I used to hope that maybe one of those thrones was reserved for me (just being honest). As I have matured though, I have come to a different understanding of what it takes to occupy a seat of honor in Christ’s Kingdom. The facts that we know about these seats from this context are, 1) the last will be first and 2) the servant of all will be first. So the Christian janitor who receives nothing in this world but serves quietly his entire life, that’s the secret right? What poetic justice this would be, a come from behind victory, real Cinderella story. Still probably a bit off the mark. I discussed this yesterday but let's rehash it today. In my opinion, what Christ values most in his people is faith, wholehearted reliance on himself, wholehearted satisfaction in his glory, and wholehearted obedience to his law. I do not feel that there will be any sort of surprise honor. I feel that the proximity that we enjoy to Christ in heaven will be a direct extension to the proximity with which we lived with Christ on earth. As I said yesterday, people end up getting what they want. For those who have lived their lives in opposition to Christ, they will no longer have to tolerate Christ or his people in the afterlife, all common grace will be removed from their life and they will suffer in it’s absence. For those who, while believers, never lived for Christ or found their satisfaction in his glory, the will likewise occupy a more distant seat in heaven. But, for those in this life who picked up their cross and followed Christ everyday of their lives, found their self-worth in his love for them, found their satisfaction in his glory and forsook all others for their first love (Christ), to them belong the thrones at Jesus side.

4. 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Here is the gospel at it’s simplest. Jesus lived a life without sin, was punished as a sinner thus paying the ransom that we owe as sinners to save many. Notice the usage of the term many. Sadly, Jesus did not come to save all (universalism) but many (his chosen).

5. We will sing and praise your power. People seem to diminish God’s power as science advances. There is a feeling among the laity that science can now explain God out of the universe. As one inclined to science let me say that far from driving God out, science proves God’s power. Science gives us a glimpse of how God has intricately, ingeniously, weaved this universe together through billions of miraculous physical laws that keep it 70 degrees outside my house today as opposed to -100 degrees just a few miles above earth’s surface and 500 degrees on Venus. Far from arguing for random, meaningless, existence, the intricacies of the universe argue for an intelligent designer. With every question science answers it provokes hundreds more. It is easy for the uneducated person to look at the human eye and say “we see because we have eyes.” But when you begin to study the eye and quickly come to the end of all human explanation for sight, you realize that you now have millions more questions about how we see then when you simply said, “we see because we have eyes.” This is when you see God in science. Far from diminishing God’s power, science magnifies it. Don’t trust in the power of science, it merely explains and magnifies the power that set the universe in motion and gives sight to our eyes, the power of God.