READINGS FOR FEBRUARY 21: JOB 2, MATTHEW 13, PSALM 9:13-20 JOB 2 Satan was defeated in chapter 1, even though he wounded Job greatly. In chapter 2, we learn the reward for Job’s spiritual victory was an even more severe test. In a real sense, this bigger test was due in part to God’s great confidence in Job. Might this happen to us? We also learn that Satan does not give up easily. Remember, Satan tempted Jesus three times. Jesus, in turn, prepared His disciples for facing evil as we remember from Matthew 10. Paul did the same in his letter to the Ephesians. We should expect these attacks, too. Keep this in mind, though, Satan and all evil will be finally and completely defeated. God will reign forever and forever!
Satan received permission to attack Job with boils from head to toe. Job’s wife compounded the problem by telling Job to curse God and die. This is why we should only marry someone on the same page spiritually (2 Cor. 6:14)! In response, Job said we need to accept adversity from God as well as the good. Job, apparently correctly, believed that this adversity ultimately came from God.
Again, the narrator said Job got it right with his lips. It seems these two statements must be held together: 1) God loved and was totally pleased with Job; 2) God could have kept Job from extreme suffering but did not. Isn’t this exactly the case with Jesus? The Father was totally well pleased with His Son, yet He sent Him to the cross in order to defeat Satan and sin.
This chapter concludes by introducing the other main characters in this story: Job’s friends. They got off to a great start by showing enormous empathy: weeping, tearing their robes, covering their heads with dust, and sitting with Job in silence for seven days and nights. Most of us fall far short of this level of support for our friends. Let’s see if they keep it up.
MATTHEW 13 This chapter is a series of parables spoken to a large crowd by Jesus, interspersed with some explanatory asides to his disciples. It reminds one of a scene from an opera or a play where the main character takes brief pauses in the action to provide some inside information directly to the audience, unbeknownst to the other characters. In this case the asides 1) explain why Jesus spoke in parables and, 2) gives a more literal analysis of the parables.
The most common explanation we hear for Jesus speaking in parables is to help the people understand. That is not the reason Jesus gives! He explains he speaks this way so people will hear the truth but not understand it. He connects this idea to the mission given to the prophet Isaiah to tell the people of Judah, almost sarcastically, to hear but not understand, to see but not perceive. He told the disciples, who left everything to follow Him, they have been granted knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom. Others, who have not fully trusted in
READINGS FOR FEBRUARY 21, 2023 CONTINUED: MATTHEW 12, PSALM 9:13-20 Jesus, not only will not understand these mysteries, but will lose the little tie they do have to the kingdom of heaven.
Another clue that Jesus really means what He says is that this explanation is sandwiched between the telling of the parable of the sower and Jesus’s literal analysis of it to His disciples. This bracketed literary structure (inclusio) often implies connection. In one instance the seed is sown but snatched away, in another the lack of roots makes its life temporary, and in another its growth is choked due to life concerns or wealth. These three situations are another way of saying “whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away.” In the case of the good soil of strong faith, such as the disciples and any who truly receives the teaching, the seed is tremendously productive. This concept has a certain similarity to an earlier parable about giving pearls to pigs. In Matt.13, the pearls of wisdom are disguised by metaphors (i.e., parables). To understand God’s deeper wisdom, we must believe/obey truth we are given.
Some brief thoughts about the rest of the chapter:
- The parables of tares (weeds) among wheat and good and bad fish include truth often avoided in churches. At the final judgment, those rejecting our gentle Jesus will be cast “into the furnace of fire; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Jesus’s words!
- The parables of the mustard seed and leaven remind us even tiny and seemingly hidden sharing of God’s truth can bring huge results. Don’t minimize your potential impact.
- Why did Nazareth, Jesus’s hometown reject Him? They were already familiar with some levels of Him. Do we fail to make Jesus Lord (in charge) of every part of our lives because we have for so long only dabbled in Him?
- Most scribes (i.e., Old Testament scholars) rejected Jesus. Jesus said that for those who do become His disciples (vs. 52), they can possess both old treasures (Old Testament truths) and new treasures (relationship with Jesus). The Apostle Paul is a great example of an Old Testament scholar who was powerfully used by God to spread the Gospel.
PSALM 9:13-20 In verses 13-14, David expresses the best motivation for asking for restoration: to tell others how great God is. Perhaps when we pray for our own healing, we can take that view. (Remember after Peter’s mother-in-law was healed, she served Jesus.)
In verses 16-20, David anticipates kingdom truths Jesus taught in His parables and sermons:
- God has made Himself known (vs.16).
- Humanity’s own so-called achievements apart for God will bring them down (vs. 16).
- The eternal result for those who reject God is totally bad (vs.17).
- Those aware of their need and affliction without God can hope for the future (vs.18).
- Thus, let’s pray that His Kingdom will come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven (vs.19-20).
