A Cup of Eau Claire

In these chapters we continue to see the “belonging vs. believing” value found in Matthew. The instructions from Jesus in this section are less about “the right thing to believe” and more about how to live well together with people who belong to God (whether or not you think they belong to you!), including children (who appear twice in these chapters) and the most vulnerable/least powerful.  Image: "Let the Children Come to Me" by Vicki Schuck . The last half of chapter 19 is hard for us to read. Are we rich, or not? Does Jesus intend this literally, that we sell all that we have to follow him? Can we own things and still be faithful?  Rabbinic law commands social support for the poor, but not impoverishing oneself to do so, thus creating more poverty to be supported. Is it a test, to see how far we’re willing to go to follow Jesus? Perhaps Jesus recognizes the importance of money in our brains and hearts, how much space it takes up as we think about it and try to get more. J...

Background:  These chapters include several large segments of story: we learn that John the Baptizer has been killed, and how and why; there are two stories of thousands of people being fed by Jesus; Jesus walks on the water in a storm (and Peter tries); Jesus is challenged by the Pharisees and scribes about keeping tradition; and Jesus learns a lesson about God’s grace when he meets a mother whose daughter needs healing.  While these stories may seem like unrelated episodes, there are some common themes.  We see abundance , in the feeding and healing of so many people, Gentiles and Jews alike. God’s grace goes everywhere, spilling out past the borders to include all creation.  Jesus goes places that are hard to get to , like walking on water during a storm, spending time in the wilderness and remote areas, and crossing borders and seas to get to “the other side”. This perseverance is increasing as he seems to learn and focus more on how God’s grace is made real and ...

  Background:  In these chapters we get into the thick of what it means to live by Torah, a central theme for Matthew. As we experience in our own reading of scripture, there’s the question of how to understand the instructions– literally, or liberally? And does context matter? Jesus bumps up against the Pharisees, who question his interpretation. As we saw in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has different, though not more lax, interpretations of how to live faithfully.  The first section focuses specifically on what it means to keep the Sabbath, the third commandment, found in Exodus 34:21. There’s a long tradition of what this means, and a list of specific kinds of work which are prohibited on the Sabbath (you can learn more about it here ). Jesus is challenged on whether his habits, like plucking grain for food and healing a person, are “work” and thus breaking this commandment. The importance of this commandment, for them and for us, is that there be time set aside that...