BIAY - Humble Service
Matthew 23-25, Psalm 67
Welcome to the Bible in a Year for 2025. Intro to this series and resource links available here, plus here’s how I’m approaching this year.
Scriptures for Today:
Reflection:
Exaltation and humbling (23:12) - It’s worth noting again that this teaching shows up in one form or another here in the Gospel and in the letters of 1 Peter (5:5-7) and James (4:10). Historically, that this shows up in three different sources strengthens the authenticity of this idea as a teaching of Jesus and the reliability of the Bible. Spiritually, it suggests this is a really important spiritual posture and ethic. When we are committed to puffing ourselves up, we are headed for a fall. When we humble ourselves, we are trusting and obeying the Lord.
Day or hour unknown (24:36-37) - Why there is a fascination with calculating or guessing at the end times I’m not sure. Jesus describes the sort of picture that has happened hundreds or times or more since He first uttered the words (“wars and rumors of wars”), then later states, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” The point is not to try and figure it out (impossible), but to get close to Jesus and stay aware of what’s happening in order to know the true Messiah and avoid deception of false claimants.
Serving Jesus (25:31-46) - The parable of the sheep and the goats is striking and incredibly memorable. Today I’m noticing in particular that neither party who are facing judgment recognized Jesus in the faces of the hungry, thirsty, naked, stranger, sick, or imprisoned. The actions of the righteous, therefore, were not motivated by seeing Jesus in those they were serving. Their service came from the heart, not from religious calculations. This is what Jesus desires and what He can do for us. I’m drawn to Paul’s words in Romans 12:1-2. We offer ourselves to God as a “living sacrifice” and He transforms us by renewing our minds to have the mind of Christ.
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Questions:
When are you tempted to puff yourself up for others to think highly of you?
What opportunities do you have nearby to be involved in ministries of “mercy and justice” based on Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, may my life bear witness to your love in action so that all the peoples of earth would come to praise you. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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