OUR FATHER WHOSE JUDGEMENT IS COMMENSURATE WITH REVELATION

Having just spoken to the people about their propensity for rejecting the servants of God who were sent to them, Jesus, in Matthew chapter 11 verses 20 - 24, rebuked the cities in which He had done great miracles and yet had found excuses not to turn back to God.

20 Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”

In this passage, the Lord Jesus revealed the operation of a relative scale of judgement in the kingdom of heaven that is pegged to the level of investment that is sunk into the territory for the redemption of its people.

Tougher measures of judgement were allotted to the cities in which many great signs were done for them to witness and yet did not repent and turn to God.

The cities in the time of Jesus like Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, had been visited by Jesus and great miracles had been performed there but instead of taking the miracles as gracious invitations to repent, these cities judged and scandalized Jesus for doing miracles on the Sabbath day and for eating and drinking and associating with outcasts. They formulated excuses to diminish the significance of the message that was brought to them.

As a case study, Capernaum, a city near the sea of Galilee, had these miracles, among many others, occur within its vicinity;

• Healing of the man with the withered arm
• Healing of the woman with the issue of blood
• Raising of Jairus' daughter from the dead
• Delivering a demoniac in the synagogue
• Healing of Peter's mother-in-law
• Healing of many people who came for help

Because of the many miracles that occured there, the Lord Jesus singled out the city of Capernaum as an example of a city that would suffer great judgement.

He had chosen Capernaum to be the epicenter of His ministry which elevated it in prominence before heaven and yet it would fall into Hades because the people did not repent inspite of all the miracles that were performed there.

Jesus compared the city of Capernaum to the ancient city of Sodom saying that Sodom, a lawless city in the time of Abraham, would have repented and been spared from destruction if the people had seen the same miracles that the people of Capernaum had seen.

The opposite end of this sliding scale represents the people who, with almost no leading and no attesting miracles, repented of their sins and cried out to God for mercy. 

The city of Niniveh, for example, had a reluctant prophet named Jonah sent to them  and he merely crossed from one end of the city to the other warning of a coming judgement and yet, in response,  the whole city, including the king and the animals, were cloaked in sackcloth and ashes and they repented for their sins before God.

Mercy was shown to Ninevah on account of their unreserved reaction to the lean presentation by Jonah.

This sliding scale of judgement can be manipulated by regulating the amount of revelation that the people are exposed to.

Mark chapter 4 verses 11 - 12 captures this in action where Jesus explains to His disciples why He spoke in parables;

11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, 12 so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.’ ”

The disciples were in the kingdom and it was for them that the mysteries were revealed but for those outside the kingdom, these mysteries are hidden in parables lest they understand and turn and their sins are forgiven.

If, however, they receive the greater understanding and do not repent, they are subject to greater judgement and would have been better off not being exposed to the knowledge prescribed for those already in the kingdom of God.

Amen.

4

OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS PROPHETS BUT THE PEOPLE FOUND EXCUSES TO DISREGARD THEM

The Lord Jesus, continuing His explanation of John the Baptist's ministry in Matthew chapter 11 verses 16 - 19, said this;

16 “But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, 17 and saying:

‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament.’

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.”

The Lord commented on the state of the society and its leaders at the time of John the Baptist and the Messiah.

The scoffing and cynical status quo had two citizens of heaven arrive in rapid succession with opposite modes of operation.

John conducted his ministry in a mournful mode codified by reclusion and fasting. The establishment, finding this to be too austere, labled John a demonniac as a way of denigrating and dismissing him.

On the other hand, Jesus conducted His ministry in a celebratory mode codified by sharing in food and drink and by gathering with people from all sectors of the society.

For Him, the establishment gave the labels of glutton, drunkard and associate of outcasts.

In current parlance, we would use the idiom  'damned if you do, damned if you don't' to describe the establishment's critical attacks on any person who was sent to them proclaiming a standard of righteousness that was not welcome. No matter how the messengers approached and how they presented themselves, their message was always rejected.

Jesus compared this conduct by the leaders of the society to the silly games that children played in the market place where some of them would not cooperate and join in no matter what form of activty was initiated. This would prompt calls by the kids (who wanted to engage everyone in play) to say;

‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament.’

The Lord concluded His commentary on the stance of the society by saying that wisdom is justified by her children.

If wisdom is used, the validity of the wisdom is vindicated by the results it yields.

Whether or not  rejecting the message from heaven was wisdom would be evident in the day of judgement. As Psalm 37 verse 6 says;

He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.

Amen.

8

OUR FATHER WHO SENT A PROPHET TO PREPARE THE WAY BEFORE THE MESSIAH

When John's followers left to take the Lord's message back to John, the Lord Jesus taught the people about John the Baptist and the significance of his ministry and the sea change that had occured since his arrival.

Matthew chapter 11 verses 7 - 15 says it this way;

7 As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. 10 For this is he of whom it is written:

‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’

11 “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Jesus asked the group of people around Him what had attracted them out to the wilderness when John was preaching there.

The Lord answered for them and told them that they had gone out to the wilderness because John was a genuine prophet from God speaking with authority and conviction.

The Lord then told them that John was a greater prophet than all other prophets prior to him but in the spiritual  kingdom that Jesus Himself was instituting in earth, the lowest ranking member would be greater than John.

The comparison reflects how momentous Jesus' own mission was because it was bringing in a system of salvation that was so great that the nothing that came before it, even with all the glory that it had, could match it.

Since John started preaching, the Kingdom of Heaven, reaching down to get a foothold on the earth, was suffering a violent counterattack as the agents of darkness were being promted to strike at it in order to snuff it out.

Whereas Moses and the prophets were prophesying into the future about the coming kingdom of heaven, John was the old covenant prophet who actually came into contact with the kingdom of heaven and was no longer prophecying but contending for the platform on which the Messiah would be presented.

John was the warrior prophet in the order of Elijah who was prophesied about and had now come and had plunged into the battle for righteousness headlong for which he was now imprisoned.

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS ONLY SON TO SAVE US AND THERE IS NONE OTHER TO EXPECT

The Lord Jesus, having completed issueing His instructions and guidance to His followers on the side of the mountain, left from that area and began moving through the territory preaching the good news of the kingdom of God. 

As Jesus travelled, John the Baptist ( who was in prison ), heard of Jesus' activities. 

John was perplexed by the variance between what He thought the promised Messiah whom He had  heralded would usher in and what he was actually hearing while in prison.

John believed that the Messiah would come as a conquering king who would deliver Israel out of the hands of the Romans and bring the rulership of the God of Israel to the whole earth.

What was happening instead was that he himself was imprisoned and Israel was still under the control of the Romans with no sign of abatement.

John, as delicately as he could, sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus a question.

1 Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.

2 And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples     3 and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”

4 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 5 The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

The question John asked stemmed from the conflict that John felt over the fact that he had, with certainty, identified Jesus as the promised Messiah when Jesus arrived at the Jordan river to be baptized and yet John found himself languishing in prison and no great political earthquakes were occuring in the country since that day.

 “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”

When Jesus was asked this question, He recognized the cause of John's internal conflict as a misunderstanding of the progression of events that were to transpire once the Coming One was identified.

Jesus told the messengers to watch the miracle services he was conducting and witness with their own eyes that He was indeed doing what was prophesied in the book of Isaiah chapter 35 verse 5 - 6 which foretold of coming time when these things would occur when the arrival of the reign of Zion would draw God's people and they would experience supernatural interventions. 

5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert.

The Lord sent a message back to John to assure him that all his toil was not in vain and that the program was proceeding exactly as prophecied even though it was not playing out as expected.

The Lord added that there is a blessing that stems from not being offended by the unexpected manifestations of the Lord's agenda and from a willingness to dump our own tightly held orthodoxies in the face of new revelation from the scriptures.

Amen.

8

OUR FATHER WHO REWARDS THOSE WHO RECIEVE HIS PEOPLE 

Reaching the end of Matthew chapter 10, we examine verses 40 - 42 that describes an  economy of renumeration that operates in the kingdom of God.

40 “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. 41 He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.”

The Lord Jesus tells His disciples that if a person recieves them and in accepting them,  provides hospitality for them, that person's response is registered as a direct gesture of acceptance towards the Lord Jesus and towards the Father.

An example of this economy of direct action towards God being achieved by actions towards His disciples can  be found in the book of Acts chapter 9 verse 4 where the Lord confronts Saul;

Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

In this case, Saul's harsh actions towards the Lord's followers were transmitting directly to Jesus such that He asked Saul why he was persecuting Him.

Verse 41 enigmatically describes a system of gradation of renumeration that is predicated on the ranking of the person to whom a gesture of a acceptance is made.

If a person hospitably receives a prophet having been identified himself as a prophet, the person shall receive a prophet's reward and likewise for a righteous man.

The nature of the rewards for prophets and righteous men is not explained in the context but, inferring from other biblical contexts, coming alongside a prophet or a righteous man to aid them and facilitate they work results in their mantles being conferred upon the host in the way that Elija's mantle was conferred upon Elisha and Moses' mantle conferred upon Joshua.

Verse 42, in buttressing the principles of verse 41, asserts that even a tiny gesture like a person offering a cup of cold water to one of Jesus'  followers  who identifies himself as a disciple, that person shall never lose the commensurate reward.

This affirms the granularity of the kingdom of God's tracking system. In a realm where every hair on a person's head is numbered, each miniscule act of favour upon the Lord's servants is transmitted all the way to God and will not be forgotten at the time that rewards are issued.

Amen.

2

OUR FATHER WHOSE KINGDOM IS IN OPPOSITION TO THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD

The Lord Jesus, in Matthew chapter 10 verses 34 - 39, continues delving into the heavy spiritual principles that are at work when a person seeks to participate in the kingdom of God.

34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’;      36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ 

37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

The conditions that will surround a person when they commit themselves to the kingdom of God include these listed here;

• No peace while on the earth but battle
• Division between fathers and sons
• Division between mothers and daughters
• Division between inlaws
• Opposition from ones' own household

The Lord explained to His followers that the pursuit of the kingdom of God requires that the kings of the kingdom of God be their highest priority.

Membership in the kingdom of God requires that the love of parents and children be displaced by the love for the King of the kingdom of God or else, one would be disqualified.

Similarly, if a person aspiring to the kingdom of God does not bear the burdens of persecution and hazards of membership in the kingdom, they would be disqualified.

The kingdom of God is an exacting domain and its mission on earth is a pitched battle against the kingdom of darkness that by definition is lawless and cruel.

Where those in the kingdom of God come into contact with the world and the kingdom of darkness, a clash of civilizations erupts and thus the followers of Jesus are advised to be prepared to endure these conditions of conflict.

The Lord completes the laying the groundwork for the concept of spiritual conflict with an axiomatic principle in verse 39; 

He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

When operating in the kingdom of God and serving its King, a person who in the face of danger tries to preserve his own life, will instead lose it while the person who relinquishes his life for the King of the kingdom of God, will gain his life.

Amen.

12

OUR FATHER WHO KNOWS WHEN EVERY SPARROW FALLS 

The Lord Jesus, teaching His disciples in Mathew chapter 10 verses 27 - 33, teaches the mode of transmission that will be used in the dissemination of the goods news of the kingdom of God  in the light of the fierce resistance they will face.

In their secret places of prayer, they would receive the messages from Jesus that they would then proclaim in the open. 

And even in the hostile environment, they were not to fear the response of their detractors who could only kill the body and not the soul. Rather than fear men, the Lord told them that they should fear God who could destroy the body and soul in hell.

27 “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

The Lord informed His followers that the Father knows when every sparrow falls even though they could be bought at the market for almost nothing. If the Father tracks the life of each sparrow, how much more does He track the life of those who trust in Him? 

The Lord adds that the Father knows so much about each of us that every hair on our heads are numbered by him.

This matches verse 17 of Psalm 139 which says in the NIV;

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!

In light of the opposition they would face carrying the good news of the kingdom and in the light of the direct and personal interest that the Father has in each of them, the Lord Jesus then charges His followers to publicly identify with him.

This association with Jesus, even when it is hazardous to His followers, is what formally registers before the Father that the believer is in Jesus and thus can be inducted into kingdom matters by the Father.

Amen.

10

OUR FATHER WHOSE SON ENDURED PERSECUTION FOR THE SAKE OF THOSE BEING SAVED

Continuing with the preparation of His disciples for the reality of their mission, the Lord Jesus, in Mathew chapter  10 verses 21 - 26 explained the severity of the blowback they would encounter as they undertook the spreading of the gospel.

21 “Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 22 And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! 26 Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.

The introduction to the gospel brings such stark divisions into any society such that even brothers hand their brothers over to inquisitors and fathers betray their children and children turn in their own parents to be executed.

Citizens of the kingdom of darkness will respond with revulsion to the announcement of the arrival of the kingdom of light and the messengers of the kingdom will be hated and hunted but the Lord tells his followers that those who suffer persecution and pressure without surrendering their faith even unto death will be saved.

The Lord Jesus gives them a pattern to follow when navigating the gauntlet of spreading the gospel as sheep among wolves. If persecution mounts in one city, move to the next and continue the mission there. The Lord assures His followers that they would not exhaust the available cities to flee to before the Son of Man appears.

The disciples were taught that students are not above their teacher and therefore, if their teacher is subjected to insults and denegrations, the students would be favoured to be equal to their teacher in this regard.

The Lord told His disciples not to fear those who seek to harm them because of the gospel because all things done in darkness will be revealed to all and the things that are concealed will be laid bare

Amen.

2

OUR FATHER  WHOSE SPIRIT WILL GIVE US THE WORDS TO SPEAK WHEN WE ARE DRAGGED BEFORE KINGS

The Lord Jesus, having explained to His disciples mission to which He was commisioning them, laid out for them the hazards they would face but assured them that even in the face of religious violence and political oppression, they would be under the care of the Spirit of God and He would provide everything they required including the words they needed to speak before the councils, governors and kings.

16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. 17 But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. 18 You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

The metaphor the Lord gave to illustrate the nature of their mission was the image of sending sheep out on a mission among wolves.

The sheep would be approaching wolves in their dens to offer them the good news of the kingdom but to the wolves, the sheep would be seen vulnerable prey and so Jesus advised the disciples to be as cunning as serpents and as harmless as doves. They were to be wary of men and understand that the message of the kingdom of God they were bringing would, in some cases, stir up harsh reactions against them.

In the heated atmosphere of persecution and the attempt to suppress their message, the Lord told them not to worry about trying to cobble together verbal defences and explanations but rather, the Holy Spirit would furnish them with what to say and how to say it on the fly.

Amen.

8

OUR FATHER WHO OFFERS SALVATION TO THOSE WHO WOULD WILLINGLY ACCEPT IT

The Lord's instructions to His disciples continued in Matthew chapter 10 verses 11 - 15 with guidance on how to interact with jusrisdictions they came to in their travels.

11 “Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. 12 And when you go into a household, greet it. 13 If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. 15 Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!

These were the observances given to the disciples when they arrived at a settlement;

• Ask around for who could host them
• Once accepted, remain in that dwelling
• When entering the household, greet it
• If worthy, let peace be on it
• If not worthy, retract peace
• If rejected, shake the dust from the feet

When arriving at a city or town to bring the news of the kingdom, the disciples would need a place to stay for the duration of their mission.

They were to ask about a place to stay and when a person accepted to host them, that person was a worthy person. Even if it were a humble household, their hospitality towards God's people would make them worthy.

The disciples were instructed to remain at the house that first welcomed them because after they began ministering and the miraculous power they carried became known, the people of the settlement would start vying to host them to gain proximity to the ministers.

The ones who accepted them first were the ones the Lord wanted to have the priviledge of hosting them for the duration of their stay.

When they were ministering from door to door, they were to greet each household and if their greeting was received, then the peace and goodwill of the disciples could be placed upon that household. If the household reacted negatively to the greeting, the disciples could rescind their peace and goodwill and proceed to the next house.

These steps sifted for the people to whom the good news of the kingdom would be delivered to.

The towns that refused to recieve the carriers of the message or refused to heed their words were going to be subject to a harsher judgement than Sodom and Gomorrah because a message of goodwill and peace was offered to them and they rejected it while that offer was not made to Sodom and Gomorrah and yet they were judged.

Amen.

12

OUR FATHER WHO PROVIDES ALL WE HAVE NEED OF IF WE SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS

Having given His disciples the power to heal the sick and cast our demons, the Lord Jesus, in the next section (Matthew chapter 10 verses 5 - 10), instructs them to go out into the territory.

They were only to go the towns of children of Israel and avoid the gentile and Samaritan  towns because their turn to hear the good news of God's salvation would come after the Lord had accomplished the salvation for the whole world by the sacrifice of His life for us.

5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. 9 Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, 10 nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.

The actions they were to undertake were these;

• Preach that the kingdom of heaven was here
• Heal the sick
• Cleanse the lepers
• Raise the dead
• Cast out demons

Having been given the power at no cost, the disciples were to dispense the blessings on the people at no cost. The Lord instructed them to travel very light as per these guidelines;

• Take no valuables as reserves
• Carry no luggage
• No spare jackets
• No spare footware
• No walking aids or defense implements

In these exercises, the disciples were learning how to undertake these missions with total trust and faith in God's oversight over the missions he sent them on.  As workers, they were worthy of their food and would be provided for by God.

They did not need reserves for money nor clothing or even for self-defense. The Lord would provide all they had need of while they were out in territory to which He had sent them.

As Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6 verse 33,

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Amen.

2

OUR FATHER WHO GAVE HIS SON THOSE WHO WOULD FOLLOW HIM

Matthew chapter 10 begins with Jesus gathering the 12 men to whom He would personally teach the ways of ministering in His kingdom. 

He conferred upon these 12 men the power over demons, diseases and sicknesses.

1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

From verses 2 - 4, the 12 disciples are mentioned by name. Interestingly, in some cases, the disciples are mentioned in pairs. The two sets of  brothers are mentioned first and paired in the list. Others are listed with their background or lineage.

• Simon - Andrew  (brothers and Simon is Peter)
• James - John (brothers & sons of Zebedee)
• Philip - Bartholomew
• Thomas - Matthew (Matthew tax collector)
• James - Lebbaeus (James son of Alpheus & Lebaeus surname Thaddaeus)
• Simon - Judas (Simon Cananite & Judas Iscariot fated to betray Jesus)

As John 17 verse 24 says of these;

“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

Amen.

2

OUR FATHER WHO IS THE LORD OF THE HARVEST

Reaching the last section of Mathew chapter 9, verses 35 - 38, we  learn of Jesus' itinerary and the activities that He carried out at each port-of-call as he traversed the country to visit the big and small settlements of people.

35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 

36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 

37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 

38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

As he travelled among the people and healed them of their diseases, He was moved with compassion for them as He perceived their listlessness and directionless lives.

Jesus pointed out to His disciples that people in this condition were ready to hear the message of the kingdom and that the harvest was truly plentiful  in the territory at that time.

The Lord directed His disciple to pray that the Lord of the harvest sends laborers to assist with the great work of bringing in the harvest.

The lord of the harvest is the in command and control over the operations of the harvest.

Harvesting has many dimensions that fall under the responsibility of the lord of the harvest and once the decision is made to begin the harvest, these components are given into his control.

He will call the shots on hiring, training, firing, workplace policies, wages, quality control, tools and supplies, optimization, processing, transportation, storage, pest control, theft control and delivery of the harvest.

Below are some examples from scriptures reflecting different lords of the harvest looking after different aspects of the harvesting operation.

The parable Mathew chapter 20 verses 7 - 8 captures the lord of the harvest hiring and arranging for wages to be paid and setting the policies of renumeration.

7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

Another lord of the harvest is Boaz in the book of Ruth and we see his adminstration of his authority in helping Ruth in chapter 2 verses 8 - 9;

8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.”

Here we see Boaz setting work policies against harrassment and administrating access to company supplies.

These and many others descriptions of the management of the harvesting operation in scripture reflect the realities and requirements of the harvest of the souls of men into the granaries of the kingdom of God.

God is the Lord of this harvest and He is in charge of hiring, training, firing, workplace policies, wages, quality control, tools and supplies, optimization, processing, transportation, storage, pest control, theft control and delivery of the harvest.

In the time frame of the narrative, in the face of a huge harvest, the Lord indicates that hiring of workers is the priority.

38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Amen.

4

OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO FREE THE CAPTIVES

Mathew chapter 9 verses 32 - 34 records Jesus' encounter with a man who was brought to him who could not speak and was demon possesed.

32 As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed. 33 And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!”

34 But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.”

The demon was cast out and the man was able to speak revealing that a demon can be the cause of specific physical pathologies.

This astonishing intervention by the Lord Jesus created a stir among the people who had never encountered power like that.

The religious establishment, beginning to sense that they were losing relevance in the face of the  dramatic miracles performed by Jesus, issued an explanation for the miracle claiming that Jesus' authority to expel demons came from the ruler of demons.

Later in Mathew chapter 12 verses 26, Jesus counters that accusation against him by asking;

If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE WAYS ARE RIGHTEOUS

From Psalm 119 - Aleph;

Blessed are those whose paths are blameless

Who walk according to Your ways

Oh, that my heart was steadfast

In seeking  to obey 

Seeking  to obey

I will turn to You with all my heart

For I yearn to sing Your praise

I will consider all of Your commands 

And follow in Your ways

Follow in Your ways

Follow in Your ways

Psalm 119 - Aleph

Blessed are those whose ways are blameless,

    who walk according to the law of the Lord.

2 Blessed are those who keep his statutes

    and seek him with all their heart—

3 they do no wrong

    but follow his ways.

4 You have laid down precepts

    that are to be fully obeyed.

5 Oh, that my ways were steadfast

    in obeying your decrees!

6 Then I would not be put to shame

    when I consider all your commands.

7 I will praise you with an upright heart

    as I learn your righteous laws.

8 I will obey your decrees;

    do not utterly forsake me.

OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO BRING SIGHT TO THE BLIND

Departing from the rulers house where the young girl was brought back to life,  Jesus was followed by two blind men who cried out to Him for mercy and Matthew chapter 9 verses 27 - 32 captures a revealing encounter.

27 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”

28 And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”

The Lord Jesus asked them if they had the prerequisites for healing their sight which was belief in Jesus' ability to restore their vision.

The two men vocally affirmed that they did believe and Jesus touched their eyes and according to their faith, their eyesight was restored.

29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” 

30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows it.” 31 But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.

In an attempt to manage the political temperature surrounding His ministry, Jesus did not want it known that it was He who had healed the men and so He warned the men to keep the source of the miracles to themselves but the two men could not contain themselves and divulged Jesus' involvement throughout the region.

A few verses further and we see the political effects of the news of the occurences of the miracles. The religious establishment began commenting on Jesus' work and ascribing it to the powers of darkness.

Matthew chapter 9 verse 34; But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.”

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT A SAVIOUR MARKED BY THE ABILITY TO HEAL AND RESTORE

Matthew chapter 9 verses 18 - 26 recounts the events of one miracle that occurred on the way to performing another one.

As the Lord Jesus was speaking to John's disciples, a ruler in the city interupted their conversation to ask Jesus to come lay hands on his daughter who had died so that she would live.

That ruler was at the synagogue at Capernaum when Jesus healed the man with a withered arm and at a time of personal anguish and desperation, turned to the only person he had encountered who had the power to reverse the tragedy that had visited his house.

18 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.” 19 So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.

Jesus ended his conversation and He and his disciples followed the ruler to go his home where his daughter was. As they traveled, a woman who had be plagued for twelve years with a reproductive disorder that caused her to bleed continously.

She, needing a miracle and knowing of Jesus' ability to miraculously heal the sick, decided to discreetly touch the edge of His cloak to get her miracle without anyone noticing.

20 And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. 21 For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” 

To her horror, her touch that was meant to be inconspicous did not go unnoticed but brought everyone to a stop on the road. However, instead of reproaching her, the Lord Jesus told her to be encouraged because her faith had healed her.

22 But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.

23 When Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, 24 He said to them, “Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him. 25 But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. 26 And the report of this went out into all that land.

When the Lord arrived at the rulers house, there was active and noisy mourning underway and He spoke to the people as He pushed through the crowd telling them that the girl was not dead but merely sleeping but in response, the people rolled their eyes and scoffed. They knew the girl was dead and found it laughable and naive that someone would claim otherwise.

When the crowd was cleared from inside the house, Jesus went in and took the dead girl's hand and she woke up. The news of this event spread like wildfire throughout the territory.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON WAS GIVEN AS A SACRIFICE TO REDEEM US INTO A NEW AND BETTER COVENANT

Matthew chapter 9 verses 14 - 17 captures a meeting between John the Baptist's followers and the Lord Jesus.

John the Baptist, having been prophetically tasked with identifying the promised Messiah to the world, had, during baptism in the River Jordan, pointed Jesus out as the One who was to come according to prophecy.

Subsequent to that time, John and his followers had been keeping abreast of the activities of Jesus and His followers and were trying to make sense of the difference between what they had expected would occur and what they were hearing was actually occurring.

14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?”

15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. 17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

John the Baptist and his followers lived austere lives of deprivation as did the religious leaders of Israel at that time. They had noticed that Jesus' disciples were not fasting and they asked Jesus why this was the case.

Jesus, making clear that fasting is an act of mourning, explained to those questioning Him that while His followers were with Him, they were in celebration mode because they were like a groom's friends while the groom was with them.

Jesus assured John's followers that just as a groom's friends would mourn when the groom was taken away from them, Jesus' disciples would fast when He was taken away from them in the approaching days.

The Lord then told them a parable of the unshrunk cloth and a parable of the new and old wineskins.

If an old garment had a tear, it would be counter-productive to patch the tear with new fabric because the old cloth had already shrunk during the many cycles of washing and drying it had been through. 

Conversely, the patch of new cloth, having not done its shrinking yet, would undergo the shrinking process while attached the old garment and the differential would cause the new patch to tear out the stitching and the original tear would be made worse.

The patch of new cloth could be read to be the new culture and new covenant that Jesus was ushering in. 

The old garment would then be the established culture and the old covenant that John and his followers as well as the religious leaders were adhering to at that time.

Jesus explained that the new covenant could not be meshed into the  fabric of the old because the disperate age and exposure would cause them to differentially react and they would rip apart from each other and make the old covenant's insufficiencies even worse.

Similarly, if new wine is placed into old wineskins, the old wineskins burst because, being pre-used, have already stretched to their maximum extent and have lost their elasticity due to aging.

The new wine, when sealed in these old wineskins, begins the fermenting process and the great pressure generated by the gas production then exeeds the old wineskins' ability to contain it and they explode and dump the wine and ruin the old  skins which would otherwise have been useful for storing non-fermenting liquids like water.

The new covenant, if poured into the infrastructure of the old covenant, would expand beyond the capabilities of the old structure and it would have been damaged by the pressures and demands of the new. The old covenant, damaged in this way, would lose its utility of preserving traditions and historic references and fulfilling its ultimate destiny.

In this way, Jesus revealed to John and his followers why the disciples of the new covenant could not stay in lockstep  with the  prevailing culture of the old covenant and the new culture would seem peculiar and out of step to those ensconced in the old culture.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE SON CAME FOR SINNERS

The book of Mathew chapter 9 verses 9 - 13, records the  calling of Mathew himself and also records Mathew's millieu.

9 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

10 Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

The testimony of Mathew, one of the disciples of Jesus, was that he was called by Jesus directly out of his work place at a tax office.

In response, Mathew invited Jesus and his other followers to his home for dinner (as per other translations. NKJV does not identify where the dinner was held)

Others who were invited to the dinner were other tax collectors and people outside the religious establishment's acceptance.

When this came to the attention of the religious leaders, they asked why Jesus, if He were a true man of God, would eat with tax collectors and sinners.

Jesus's irrefutable response was that if a physician came to a location, those who were in good health would not need to associate with him but those who were sick needed to get close to the one who could cure what ailed them.

Referencing Hosea chapter 6 verse 6, which reads;

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Jesus told the religious  leaders to learn what the prophet meant by the phrase, "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice."

This revelation rebutts the sanctimony of the religious enforcers by highlighting that God's primary concern is love and mercy for people over the offerings of sacrifices and religious practices and observances. The verse goes on to include the idea that getting to know God supercedes the presentation of burnt offerings.

With God being represented as One who was focused on the redemtion and reclamation of human beings, it should have been clear to the religious leaders that the One sent from God would be found interacting with sinners as a physician would interact with the sick.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE SON HAS THE POWER TO FORGIVE SINS

Mathew chapter 9 begins with Jesus' departure from Gergesenes and His return to His home base in Capernaum.

1 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. 2 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

3 And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!”

4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

7 And he arose and departed to his house.

8 Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

Upon arrival, a paralysed man lying on a bed was brought to Him and the Lord, seeing the faith of those who brought him, spoke to the paralyzed man and told him to be encouraged because his sins had been forgiven.

Among the witnesses of the event were some scribes who responded within their hearts with an accusation of blaspheme against Jesus because He was dispensing forgiveness as though He were God.

Detecting their inner thoughts, Jesus addressed the scribes with an incisive revelation of what was in their hearts. He then asked them a question that inverted the accusation of blaspheme into a challenge on their presupposition of Jesus' identity.

He asked them the question, "What was easier  to say, 'Your sins are forgiven' or to say 'Arise and walk?'"

If Jesus was a blasphemer, the answer to the question is that neither is harder because saying phrases like these is easy if nothing of substance was going to happen.

However, Jesus was not a blasphemer because He had the ligitimate right to forgive people of their sins being God Himself.

To demonstrate that this was true, Jesus told the paralyzed man to arise and grab his bed and go home.

The man, paralyzed from a neck injury or a nerve disease or a brain disorder, was immediately able to get up and pick up his bed and go home.

Jesus' ability to speak a phrase and cause a miraculous healing validated his ability to forgive sins.

The observers of these things glorified God for showing such power through men but they did not know that God himself was doing these things right there with them in person.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE SON CAME TO SET THE CAPTIVES FREE

Mather chapter 8 verses 28 - 34 records the arrival at the other side of the Sea of Galilee and encounter with two demon-possessed men.

28 When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. 29  And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

30 Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. 31 So the demons begged Him, saying, “If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine.”

32 And He said to them, “Go.” So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.

33 Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.

In the country of the Gergesenes, two belligerent men possessed by demons occupied a grave yard and terrorized the area so that people avoided passing by there.

Recognizing Jesus as the son of God, they reacted to His arrival by asking why He had come there when He had no business with them and then they concluded that He must have come there to torment them before the appointed time of judgement.

Realizing that the Lord intended to free the men from their grasp, the demons pleaded that if they were to be cast out, they be permitted to enter a herd of swine that was feeding a distance away.

The Lord said one word. "Go".

The demons came out and swarmed into the herd of pigs and the pigs rushed down a steep embankment into the Sea of Galilee  and drowned.

The caretakers of the pigs ran back to their city and reported the events that had just  occurred  at the sea and all the people of the city came out to meet Jesus and they, seeing the high cost of His activities, begged Him to leave them.

The people of the city had discounted the value of the restoration of the possessed-men to their right minds and return of security to area of the cemetary and adjacent roadways. Instead, they only considered the economic impact of the loss of the herds of pigs and they asked Jesus to leave.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE SON MODELLED THE LIFE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD FOR THOSE WHO WOULD BELIEVE

Mathew chapter 8 verses 23 - 27 captures an incident that occured on the sea of Galilee as the Lord Jesus and His disciples crossed in a boat.

23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

As they sailed across the open water, a sudden and violent squall struck the boat that caused huge waves to engulf it.

At the time, Jesus was asleep in the boat and His disciples, in a panic, woke Him up to get Him to save them because they were certain that they would not survive the storm.

The Lord, having been teaching His disciples about the ways of the kingdom of God, awoke to find them stricken in terror.

He asked them why they were fearful. After all, he had been teaching them not to worry and that their Father in heaven cared for them more than any other creatures and would protect them.

He had also shown them the power of faith by demonstrating the power to heal and evict demons but when they were subjected to the test of the storm, the disciples had lost their composure and frantically awoke the Lord.

The Lord was about to show them that the way of the kingdom was one of power over the elements and He rebuked the winds and the sea and the storm was immediately quelled and calm was restored.

Witnessing this, the disciples had to revise their understanding of who Jesus was.

His sphere of control (which up to that point had touched on healing and deliverance),  now included the forces of nature and they were astounded.

The scope of the kingdom of God was larger than they had comprehended but they would have to expand their understanding to include all of creation because, as Romans chapter 8 verse 19 says;

For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO INITIATE THE KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH

Matthew chapter 8 verses 8 - 22 says this;

18 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.

19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”

20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

Crowds of people surrounded Jesus and He instructed his disciples to set sail to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

Before they left, two men wanted to join Him and approached him. To the one who declared “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go”, Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

This enigmatic statement points to the natural realm on the earth where residences are given to all creatures but when a scribe from the established society decided to follow Him, Jesus let it be known that to follow Him meant that he had to be prepared to abandon his residency among the comforts and accoutrements of this world and be as a vagabond in the same way that Jesus was.

Another man decided to follow Jesus but only after he attended to the funeral of his father and Jesus said to him that to be part of the kingdom of God meant abandoning the engagements of the perishing world and putting all his attention on seeking first the Kingdom of God.

In both cases, a serious decision to following Jesus meant an immediate detachment from their lives bound to the earth in order to ascend into the spiritual life of the kingdom of God.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO FREE US AND HEAL US

From Mathew chapter 8;

14 Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. 15 So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.

16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

“He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”

 The Lord visited the house of His disciple Peter and Peter's mother-in-law was laying down with a fever and Jesus, operating in the authority of the kingdom of God, saw her in that condition and He touched her hand and the condition left her.

Later that evening, other people, stricken by demon-possession and sickness, were brought to Jesus  and with a word, He cast out demons and healed the sick in keeping with the prophet Isaiah's  prophecy about Him that he would take our infirmities And bear our sicknesses.

Amen.

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