Theme of the Week: Meeting the Confused
Bible Verse: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 CSB
Scripture Reading: Matthew 11:1-30
As we prepare our hearts towards celebrating Easter, this past week we’ve seen how Jesus knows who we are, our deepest questions and doubts, and even the very thoughts and ideas that we often struggle with in our Christian walk.
In all of it, Jesus shows us his grace and compassion. These are some of the highlights for your reflection today:
A Fearful Flock: What relieves Jesus’ disciples of this anxiety? Knowing this: if God cares for the birds and for the flowers, how much more do you think he cares for you? Do you see the gospel grammar at work here? He cares for you so much more; therefore you can worry so much less!
The Tellers of Tragedy: Jesus presses home the single most important issue: making sure that we repent of our own sin and turn to God in faith; for there is a court in which our personal sin, and our responsibility for the consequences of our individual actions, will be perfectly assessed.
The Bent-Over Woman: Sinners can never be consistent. But saints are called to be precisely that. And one area in which we should seek to be consistent is in “[calling] the Sabbath a delight” (Isaiah 55:13). To be like Jesus: to use it well. That has a knock-on-effect. It helps you to use the rest of the week well too.
The Questioner Who Missed the Point: “Don’t confuse having seen me and listened to me with coming to me” (Luke 13:26). Jesus had already taught in the Sermon on the Mount that belonging to him is not merely having contact with him or even doing miracles in his name. It is being known by him (Matthew 7:21-23). So, the question is not, “Did you know about me and were you in my presence?” It is, “Did you trust me and enter my kingdom?” The question you should be asking, says Jesus, is not “How many will be saved?” but “Am I saved?”
The Crowd That Needed Challenging: We tend to be much more impressed by crowds than Jesus was. The principle he lays down is this: following him must have absolute priority in your life. In fact, if you don’t hate father, mother, wife, children and your own life, you cannot be his disciple.
Taken from To Seek and to Save
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