I'm loving the study though Matthew Katie and I are attempting. I can feel the person of Christ coming through these scriptures during the times I read this gospel. This morning Jesus was taking me through multi-faceted corrections and encouragement in my walk with him. He starts with an encouragement to interactions with other believers (with implications to interactions with non-believers), a pushing to trust God, moving then to guidelines for living in righteousness, with a line to walk with cautions about the dangers of falling off either side.
Jesus starts off with an awe striking thought on judgement. Don't judge unless you want to be judged. When I do judge people, I will be judged by God with the same rigor I use. Then Jesus clarifies why; we do the same things we so readily judge in others (see Romans 2 as a cross-reference). How can I so harshly judge when I'm also to blame? Just to emphasize correctly, Jesus doesn't forbid judgement but attacks the heart behind it. He seems to ask the question: Do you really want to crush someone who does the same things you do? Then don't crush them. Help them as one beggar to another. Then Christ wisely adds, "Do not give to dogs what is holy..." (Matt. 7:6). I take from this to wait for teachable moments to share observations in someone's life. Two reasons why: 1. I run the risk of pressuring out performance in believers who aren't convinced by God of their actions. 2. Calling into righteousness is the effect of the Holy Spirit not the effect of judgmental corrections. I'm not going to accomplish my agenda on people; the Spirit is going to accomplish His.
The next section is teaching how to trust God. Just keep asking. Just keep coming to God because he is trustworthy. What a great promise for me as I look to God for where I should go! He will answer with GOOD things! He loves me and will keep me. How good is it that the world has no secrets that will just jump out and get me, but that GOD is in control of it all.
After the trusting God section, I found the narrow path. Narrow: doing to others what I would have them do to me. Narrow: hard. Narrow: faith in God. Narrow: walking in mercy. Narrow: asking God for things, not forcing my wants to happen.
False prophets? What the heck does all this stuff have to do with false prophets? I think Jesus has given me the outlines for holy living in the following section. Holy living defined by him. He doesn't want me to live according to a man's design for me. He tells me I will know false teachers by their fruits. What fruits come from false teaching? Bad ones. Galatians 5 expounds this idea:
"Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another (Galatians 5: 19-25)."
I'll leave it up to you to see the connection between false teaching and fruits. Jesus makes it clear; he's smarter than I am. Let those who have ears hear the Lord's word.
This is the line: Follow Jesus through the narrow gate. Falling off on one side lands me in self-centered sinfulness. Falling off the other lands me in a self-centered pharisaical position. Pharisees are the ones Jesus speaks to in the next section. Depart from me you worker's of lawlessness. Pharisee's through teaching too much law (really their own versions of law) became the thing they were trying to prevent, lawless.
Do you see the line of thought all the way through the chapter? I thought it was cool. Leave a comment, I want to read it!
-David
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