Today’s reading is Matthew 23

Tom writes:

Roasted by the Redeemer. Even rap battles scarcely serve up such a succession of syncopated slam-downs. Man ain’t happy with the Pharisees. You learn a lot about a person when they are angry; what riles Jesus reveals as much about God as the miracles do. So the 7 woes listed here are ambient revelation of our God; they show us what God really cares about. Firstly he cares about His Supremacy. Everything the Pharisees do is for men to see. That is not good. God wants his people back; he wants them to do things for him. The Covenant God wants his Covenant People to hold to their Covenant Promise and give attention to him as their Covenant Partner. Secondly he cares about Ordinary People. The Pharisees had raised the bar and shut the door so many times that the ordinary workers, the hungry sinners, the mediocre masses felt they couldn’t get to God. Pharisee religion was one for the elite. And God was vexed. God wants the ordinary, the normal, the mediocre, the failures. And thirdly God cares about Reality. The Pharisees found all kinds of ways to tinker with the trimmings, to pretend people could paint purity onto their person. But they couldn’t.

You can’t paint healthy arteries onto your chest and claim God’s given you a heart transplant. Well, you can, but God doesn’t want you to - he actually wants to fix you. So let’s talk about your faith. Is it marked by God’s Supremacy? What do you do that is just for Him to see? Does your faith open doors for the ordinary and the mediocre? Are you intentionally building friendships with people who are slightly annoying? And what about Reality? Are you exposing your true self to God for him to meet you and redeem you there? Jesus rebukes the Pharisees and then he wails over them. He wants them still, despite all their sin. If God is convicting you today it is actually his mercy; yield to him, entrust yourself to him because he cares for you - he wants to gather you under his wings and show you his love.

Question for reflection

How does your faith open doors for the ordinary and the mediocre to access your God?

Matthew 23 - Wednesday 4th September