Matthew’s uncompromising words help us recognise the urgency of the gospel message.
19 October Kingdom currency
In Matthew 22.15-22 Jesus is again confronted by religious authorities intent on tripping him up. This time they use a Roman coin to test his allegiances. The challenge by the Pharisees to Jesus was a hot topic of the day. The imperial tax was imposed by the Romans on people of occupied countries like Palestine; it was not paid by Roman citizens. This was a political question – should the Jewish people pay a tax to the hated occupying power?
But Jesus isn’t easily caught out and neatly avoids the trap. The answer for him is clear-cut: we should give to the temporal authorities what is theirs, and give to God what is God’s.
26 October Kingdom questions
In Matthew 22.34-46 a lawyer now poses a question about the greatest commandment. Jesus’ answer will be familiar to us, although not easy to act out in practice.
In the second part of the passage, Jesus turns the tables by asking a question that no one can answer. It’s a classic conundrum – if the Messiah is the son of King David, how can he also be David’s Lord, seated at God’s right hand? Jesus gives the answer of a politician and a teacher; he isn’t trapped into saying something that would get him into trouble, and he’s making them work it out for themselves. Do we sometimes shy away from this challenge ourselves?
2 November Kingdom models
In Matthew 23.1-12 Jesus teaches about humility, contrasting its qualities with the ostentatious behaviour of those who seek to exert power and influence. This is a direct attack on the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees whose actions do not match their fine words. Instead, Jesus teaches us that the greatest among us is to be a servant of others.
9 November Kingdom waiting
In Matthew 25.1-13 Jesus tells the well-known and pictorially vivid story of the ten bridesmaids: five were wise, and had brought plentiful supplies of oil for their lamps so that they would be ready for the arrival of the bridegroom. But the five foolish, ill-prepared bridesmaids were shut out of the wedding banquet. It is one of Jesus’ pointed parables: we are to keep awake and alert, for we do not know the time of Christ’s coming.
16 November Kingdom choices
Jesus continues with another familiar story in Matthew 25.14-30 – the parable of the talents. But do the talents refer to money alone, or other kinds of gifts? In either case, we are warned not to bury them in the ground but to do our best to increase them for the glory of God. It’s a puzzling parable in many ways, and we must wrestle with its meaning for us.
23 November Christ the King Thy kingdom come
On Christ the King Sunday we come to the end of the Church year. In Matthew 25.31-46 we encounter sheep and goats who look surprisingly similar on the outside; yet their deeds will mark one group out from the other. The sheep are those who serve God and others without showiness, while the goats ignore the needy. The parable reminds us that Christ is a different kind of ruler, and his kingdom is one of topsy-turvy values.
See also Living every day as first and last (Adult & AllAge).