Celebration in Christ

Matthew 9:14-17

   In this passage, Jesus gives a unique metaphorical teaching to illustrate He is offering something new which involves celebration, since where there is a groom, there is a wedding, and where there is a wedding, there is celebration.

   Interpreting this passage in the context of other Scriptures helps me to know the fact that the celebration came at a cost of the ultimate suffering.  There is a need to remember Christ’s sacrifice.  Second, we can celebrate our eternal life in Christ.

   Notice the suggestion of both realities when Jesus performed the first miracle revealed in Scripture.  In turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana, Jesus instructed the workers to use containers which were normally used for “ceremonial washing,” as stated in John 2:6.  I think Jesus did that on purpose to gently foreshadow the cleansing which would be available by His blood shed on the cross.  And even though the party looked like it was going to come to a halt, the miraculous wine opened the door for a new celebration, another gentle foreshadowing.

   Jesus would later directly assign wine as a symbol of His blood.  During the supper the night before He was crucified, Jesus used the familiar objects of bread and wine to symbolize His body and blood shortly before He was sacrificed.  Jesus specifically said His blood was poured out for the forgiveness of sins, and He said His blood was of the New Covenant (see Matthew 26:28).

   Regarding the forgiveness of sins, 1 Peter 1:18-19 states redemption was made possible by “the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”  Jesus was the Lamb of God who shed His blood as the atonement for the sins of people.  Cleansing comes from the death of Jesus, the One who died in our place, taking the punishment we deserved.

   Regarding the New Covenant, the shed blood as the sacrificial atonement also was used by Jesus to establish the New Covenant, since the shedding of blood was a necessary action in the Ancient Near East for sealing a covenant.  Jewish people were under the Mosaic Covenant, as they had been for over 1400 years.  The Messiah rocked the Israelite world, and the rest of the world, by establishing a New Covenant which was available to anyone, and which results in an eternal celebration for anyone who believes in Jesus as his or her Savior and Lord.  Such a believer can experience the ultimate celebration in his or her heart, as he or she has been saved from spiritual death forever.

   Thus when Jesus speaks of new wine, I think He is speaking of the blood He shed on the cross.  And when He speaks of new wineskins, I think He is speaking of the New Covenant.  Both involved suffering.  Both brought about a possibility for an eternal celebration.

   Considering this passage is often avoided in sermons, I address one issue which I think presents a challenge: the passage involves alcohol.  Personally, I do not drink alcohol, and I do not advocate drinking alcohol in the least.  What I learned in Biology class in college about alcohol is just a starting point of the negative points I could go on and on about.  Yet what does the Bible say?  The Bible does not prohibit alcohol, however, New Testament Scripture does prohibit getting drunk (see Ephesians 5:18).  And New Testament Scripture does set strict standards regarding alcohol consumption for Christian leaders (see I Timothy 3:8).

   Wine was a staple in the Middle East in ancient times due to the fact people in ancient times did not have refrigeration there in a region where temperatures are scorching hot.  Thus wine was a common beverage, which I read in a Bible encyclopedia in 2015.

   Yet I do not think Jesus was promoting alcohol here.  Jesus further upgraded wine as a drink to be used for remembering His death on the cross.  I also noticed when pondering this passage throughout the week that when Jesus was establishing the Lord’s Supper, He referred to the drink as “the cup.”  For example: “Then [Jesus] took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.  This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:27-28).  He never said wine.  Considering this fact and considering the context of wine being used frequently in that culture, I advocate grape juice can be used for the Lord’s Supper.  There are various convictions on this subject.

   Yet what we should be focused on when partaking of the Lord’s Supper brings us back to the lesson of this passage.  When partaking of Communion, we need to remember the sacrifice Christ made, and we are blessed beyond description to celebrate the forgiveness of our sins and celebrate our new life within the New Covenant.

   The suffering of Jesus is finished, as Jesus proclaimed on the cross as recorded in John 19:30.  Then in due time afterwards, Jesus ascended into heaven.  Though Jesus remains in the heart of a believer by the Holy Spirit, He is not with us in full, and we followers of Jesus suffer in this fallen and hurtful world in manners we would not if we were not Christians.  Thus there are times when even a follower of Jesus is going to feel lonely, or frustrated, or hurt, or rejected, or abandoned.  We Christians sometimes still sin, and we Christians are surrounded by people who sometimes sin and hurt us.  Sometimes giving up something I do regularly helps me focus on God.  There will likely be occasions when a Christian feels compelled to fast, if not from food then from something else.  However such fasting should always be done as a personal choice.

   And in spite of the continued challenges for Christians in this world, we followers of Jesus can still celebrate in our hearts, and hopefully in other ways, our new life in Christ.  The Holy Spirit is with us now, and one day we will be with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in full for all eternity.  Indeed all genuine believers in Jesus will never suffer again as we feast at the wedding supper of the Lamb, as was foretold in Revelation 19:7-9!

Hunter Irvine

We all need Jesus

Matthew 9:9-13

   Jesus said, “For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  Before I gave my heart to Jesus in 1990, I was a sinner, yet Jesus kept reaching out to me.  Now in the 6th grade, I was Captain of the safety patrols at my school, and at the end of the year I was recognized as the number two safety patrol in my county.  In junior high school and in high school, when we would do yearbook signings near the end of the year, a vast majority of women would write I was a “nice guy.”  My primary activity in my youth was Scouting, and I earned the rank of Eagle!  At Virginia Tech, I was a dedicated student and a successful Resident Advisor.

   But I was a sinner not doing God’s will.  I did not have true love in my heart, and I was spiritually dying.  I needed the forgiveness of my sins.  Jesus died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone since He loves us.  Jesus was the substitutional atonement.  I gave my heart to Jesus in 1990, receiving His offer of forgiveness.  I am ever thankful He forgave me.

   And I live daily with His true love.  Jesus remains with me through the Holy Spirit, still working even 31 years later, to keep healing me and to keep making me a better person.  I am such a different person than I was 31 years ago in my heart.  In the midst of the countless challenges in my life, it is a blessing to remember that this Jesus lover, student of the Bible, ancient virgin, and passionate witness, was a sinner saved from spiritual death thanks to the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ.  And even though after all this time this Jesus lover, student of the Bible, ancient virgin, and passionate witness sometimes really messes up, I am able to keep relying on God for mercy and for help to be a better man.

   Please know today that Jesus loves you!

Hunter

Forgiven

Matthew 9:1-8

   For Matthew 9:1-8, which records an event also witnessed in Luke 5:17-26, I dive right into the main message.  The message: Jesus forgave the sins of the man.  The personal message: Jesus offers the forgiveness of sins to anyone.

   Though not a comfortable topic, the issue of sin is central to both the need of people and the mission of Jesus, because sin is what caused the separation of people from God, and the atoning sacrifice of Jesus is what will bring the redemption of a person so that he or she can be forgiven and united with God.

   I do add that Jesus forgave this man of his sins prior to when He died as the atonement for sins on the cross.  Whether it was simply temporary forgiveness, or eternal forgiveness by the atonement on the cross in advance, I do not know.  Yet Jesus had authority to forgive sins, just as He said.  The bottom line is Scripture reveals the atonement made by Jesus on the cross is permanent for any person who receives Christ.  The atonement made by Jesus on the cross was not confined by time or space.  All people before the time of Christ could be saved (see 1 Peter 3:18-20).  All people at that moment could be saved.  And all people until judgment day have an opportunity to be saved (see Acts 16:31).  To be saved, a person must believe in Jesus.

Hunter

   Please join me in considering one sin you have done recently.  After thinking of one, you can ask God for forgiveness for that wrong doing.

   And if you would like, close this time by saying the Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father

who art in heaven

hallowed be thy name

Thy kingdom come

thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread

and forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

And lead us not into temptation

but deliver us from evil

For thine is the kingdom

and the power

and the glory

forever and ever.

Amen.

Humbly ask for help

Matthew 8:23-27   Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him.  Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat.  But Jesus was sleeping.  The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”

Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.  The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this?  Even the winds and the waves obey him!” (NIV)

Why would Jesus lecture His disciples who were pleading for help?

I think what they were doing was smart.

   The problem was not the fact they were asking for help, though granted they seemed to be demanding help.  But such emotions are natural when there is a crisis.  The problem Jesus identified was their mode of fear and despair.  Reacting to desperate circumstances in a mode of despair only makes things worse.  But if things look hopeless, fear and despair are natural.  Why not fear?  Because God is willing to help.

   Honestly, for years the response of Jesus seemed to me to be a bit harsh.  I did not understand why He was being so critical of His disciples in such a life or death situation.  Yet I think Jesus wanted them to be certain, and for us to be certain, of a critical fact: He is God.  He was sleeping in the boat, being fully human.  Yet Jesus stopped the wind and the waves, the One who is fully God, One with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

   The disciples asked the right question: “What kind of man is this?”  The answer is He was Immanuel, which means God with us (see Matthew 1:23).  And we can turn to Him.  When desperate, if we humbly come to Jesus and ask for help, there can be goodness, even if it is nothing more than His peace.  Why can we rely on Jesus?  Because He is the One who has overcome the world (see John 16:33).

   All encounter trouble in this world, and desperate circumstances sometime happen.  They have for me.  For some crises, you need to act quickly.  For other crises, ones which are a swelling crisis with potential for terrible long term consequences, you need to invest time pondering the situation in order to make a careful decision.  A person with a heart humbled by God will be able to make a wiser decision.  I will speak for myself and say I sometimes still make mistakes when the pressure is on.  Yet rather than getting upset with Jesus, goodness results when we ask Him for help.

   You will be more prepared for future crises, which often come when we least expect them, if you keep soaking in two truths of Jesus.  First, if you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, your soul has been saved from spiritual death, and you have eternal life.  Jesus is God the Son, and Jesus saves.  Second, if you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, Jesus is spiritually with you!  Jesus wants to guide and encourage you daily, and Jesus is available to help you!  We can humbly, and even quickly, ask God for help.

   To celebrate my vaccination I went to a great water park in the Denver metro area.  Though unemployed, and though all by myself, I made it happen.  After a year of social distancing, there I was with numerous unmasked people outside at a neat place on a sunny Colorado day ready to have fun.

   Being excited, I waded into the giant wave pool.  When the wave machine was turned off, which they do every so many minutes to give people a rest, I went out to the deep end, where few people were, to swim around and tread water.  To give an example of my swimming history, during a period of my life in the past decade, I swam strong for about one mile every week at a recreation center.  Yet being older now, I do not have the stamina I had even a few years ago.  And I had not been to a pool since the pandemic was declared.  Treading water there in the calm wave pool, I could tell my stamina was lower.

   Then the buzzer sounded and the wave maker was turned back on.  Tired after treading water, all of the sudden I was dealing with waves which were too much for me to handle.  I had not even considered the waves would be so much more challenging in the deep end.  I had even thought they would be easier to deal with compared to back where they “broke,” as was the case at the beach I went to in my childhood.  Yet a wave pool is different.  Those powerful swelling waves required intense treading, and much stamina, which I did not have.

   Suddenly I realized I was not going to be able to handle those waves much longer.  It was a moment of realistic panic.  Fortunately, in that moment of crisis I made a humble decision: Head to the emergency steps, those steps at the side of the pool there in the deep end.  I had never seen anyone use those steps the time I was at that water park years before.  Yet I realized I needed help, and those steps were help.  In retrospect I praise God, because thanks to the vast work He has done in my heart over many years, I am someone who is incredibly more humble than I was years ago.

   Slowly swimming towards the steps while working to rise over the waves, I got one gulp of water from a wave I did not completely clear.  Fortunately I drank the water rather than inhaling.  It was scary, because I was weak enough where I could have gone under had I inhaled water.  They have top-notch lifeguards, but I would not have even been capable of yelling up the large wall to her while coughing and weak.  Yet I was soon at the steps, safe.  I made a terrible mistake, yet a humble response resulted in a happy ending.

   Sometimes even Christians make mistakes where there is no safe way out and which lead to tragic consequences.  However, for those who believe in Jesus, He has promised He will be with us always (see Matthew 28:20).

Hunter Irvine

The song “Be Still My Soul” is a grand illustration of this passage.  Over six years ago I added a link to this live version by Selah, and I do so again.  It is a classic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUnil3wo-js

Prepare for life

Matthew 8:21-22   Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead” (NIV).

   Father’s Day was one week ago, and this sure seems like the opposite of a caring Father’s Day message or a caring any other day message.  However, carefully examining this passage we can learn the message of Jesus is a life giving and caring message.  One important context point here: I read years ago from a scholar or minister that the expression “bury my father” probably meant the man’s father was elderly, thus the request was to go and be with his father for a number of months or years in preparation for the man’s death.

   So the message of Jesus: Death is not to be our focus.  Life is to be our focus.

   Thus, Jesus needs to be our core devotion!

   Death is not to be what we are preparing for in this world!  Waiting for the inevitable, physical death, is not to be the mode of a Christian.  I personally committed to ministering to my Grandma in her last five years in this world.  Quite the unique “ministry” for a single man in my thirties, yet it was simply the “ministry” I accepted and gave my all to.  Grandma was not very mobile, yet for us, those years were not a time of waiting or preparing for death.  Instead we lived.  Since she did not drive, and since she could not walk far, I would take her out to eat at her favorite restaurant and a huge variety of other restaurants.  I would take her on drives, and she would be able to see places she had not seen in many years.  I would watch sports with her, frankly over doing it on that activity.  And for a period of time when I was not working as a youth pastor, I took her to church.  We had the privilege of learning from my favorite preacher of all time, Dr. David Beckman.  They were years of living!

   Had I been married and thus unable to make that huge commitment for so many years, I could have still expressed love to her, such as taking her out to eat and for a drive on special occasions.  Your expression of love to family and friends, including any assistance, is between you and God.  Yet we can always care, and we can always be witnessing Christ in our own personal way.

   I add Jesus was not instructing the man to skip his dad’s memorial service.  The man’s dad was probably not going to die any second, or the man would not have even been there in the first place.  When family and friends pass away, God wants us to mourn.  In fact, that is the only healthy response.

   Yet key to this passage is the statement by Jesus: “Follow me.”  Why?  Because we can only engage in life in this world full of frustrations and hurts by relying on Jesus.  Jesus is the One who has given believers in Him eternal life.  In following Jesus day by day, we will continue to be a light for Christ to those who are spiritually lost and perishing.  And only Jesus enables us to have genuine joy and peace.  It is imperative that Jesus is your core devotion in order for you to engage in healthy ministry work.  A person whose heart is completely devoted to Jesus can encourage elderly people to flourish in a relationship with Christ.

   I could not have helped grandma as I did without help from Jesus.  Honestly there were times when circumstances seemed hopeless, yet Jesus carried me through.  And when things were going smooth, Jesus enabled me to have fun with grandma, someone who had little fun over many previous years.  We followers of Jesus can engage in life now, and look forward to heaven to come.

Hunter Irvine

The home of Jesus

Matthew 8:19-20   Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (NIV).

Jesus was not at home in this world!  Being holy and being one with the Father, He was not at home.

The kingdom of heaven is the home of Jesus!

Jesus went home when He ascended into heaven.

And when Jesus comes to reign on earth, and then renews both heaven and earth, both heaven and earth will be His home, and the home of all of His children.

And the Lord God Almighty; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, will reign forever!

Hunter Irvine

Decision for Jesus

   God has offered all people an opportunity for eternal life in Christ, and each person is allowed to make his or her own decision.  In Matthew 8:28-34 and Luke 8:26-39, we learn of the event where Jesus entered the region of the Gadarenes (or Gerasenes).  In that region, there were two men who were possessed by demons.  Luke focuses specifically on the one man who was possessed by numerous demons.  These men lived in tombs and were violent.  The result of the encounter with these two men possessed by demons was that Jesus ordered the demons to leave the men and go into a herd of pigs.  The possessed pigs then ran down a steep bank into the lake and they all died.

   This event seems rather bizarre, yet this event exposes the sins of the people in that region.  First, the region of Gadarenes was in the territory of what use to be Israel.  A combination of people who were Jewish and people who were not Jewish probably lived there.  Yet one thing is for sure: Jewish people were not supposed to be eating bacon, ham, or pork chops.  The law given by God through Moses prohibited eating pig meat as is stated in Leviticus 11:7-8 and Deuteronomy 14:8.  Those pig herders were probably not raising pigs for pets.  They were going to sell the meat.  I am convinced this is why Jesus allowed the demons to go into the pigs.

   The end result was the two men were rescued from the demons.  Luke details how the one demon possessed man was healed.  “…When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind…” (Luke 8:35).  But the people were not grateful.  Instead, the end of that verse reveals their response: “…they were afraid” (Luke 8:35).  Their response resulted in them asking Jesus to leave.  “Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus.  And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region” (Matthew 8:34).  And from Luke: “Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear… (Luke 8:37).

   What did Jesus do?  “…So he got into the boat and left” (Luke 8:37).  Tragically, those people put their cash crop or other sins over being with Jesus.  And Jesus honored their decision to reject Him.

   We people have a choice today still.  Jesus does not force Himself upon anyone in a spiritual manner just as He did not force Himself upon the people in the region of the Gerasenes.  You can be with Jesus or you can reject Him.  Receiving Jesus through faith results in eternal life, and rejection of Jesus results in spiritual death.  Why?  Because we all need God our creator for everlasting life.  And Jesus is God the Son who came into the world to save people.

   Rejection of Jesus in this world continued to the extent of Jesus being murdered on a cross.  Yet it fulfilled the mission of Jesus who died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  Jesus was the sacrificial atonement for the consequence of sins which is spiritual death.  Then Jesus was resurrected.  If you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you will have eternal life in Christ.  Thanks to Jesus, you have the opportunity to be saved from your sins.  What you need to do to be saved is believe in Jesus.

Hunter Irvine

+ Thank You Jesus for giving us all the opportunity to believe in You and thus be saved from our sins, and thus be with You forever.  Personally, may I be grateful daily that I have been saved.

It is through Your loving name Jesus I pray.  Amen.