"They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.' Don't let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,' for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. And don't address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,' for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father. And don't let anyone call you ‘Teacher,' for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."
Matthew 23:7-12

Our promise for today: "But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." Reading Matthew 23:7-12 begs the question of why so many people attached to the church actually use the term "father" or "teacher" as a title when Jesus said don't do it. Is it really any surprise that from many different doctrinal backgrounds we hear sad stories concerning child abuse, sexual offences, financial improprieties and spiritual pride, if we in the church can't follow the simplest of Jesus' teachings? The root of it all is, of course, pride, the sin that caused the devil to be thrown out of heaven. No wonder Jesus' stresses the fact that ultimately "those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." The way forward in the Christian life is through obedience and obedience demands us to be humble.

"But now, as to whether there will be a resurrection of the dead—haven't you ever read about this in the Scriptures? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' So he is the God of the living, not the dead."
Matthew 22:31-32

On Friday we saw that Jesus was replying to a group of Sadducees. Today He continues His reply by referring directly to the reality of the resurrection of the dead. The reason He does this is because the Sadducees were religious leaders who said that there was no resurrection from the dead. Jesus refutes their mistaken belief in a surprising way. He points out that long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' Jesus' conclusion is that as a consequence we can understand that God "is the God of the living, not the dead" and therefore Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were or would be resurrected. In their case Matthew 27:52 may give an answer "…tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead."

"‘So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her.' Jesus replied, ‘Your mistake is that you don't know the Scriptures, and you don't know the power of God. For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven.'"
Matthew 22:28-30

Let's consider a promise that isn't even expressed as a promise but as an aside. Some Sadducees had been testing Jesus with a question concerning a woman who had had many husbands, quite legally. In His reply Jesus says that when we rise from the dead we will neither marry nor be given in marriage. "In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven." Note - "…in this respect…" That doesn't mean we will look like angels or do what angels do. It just means that like the angels do not marry nor are given in marriage we won't marry either. That tells us something about heaven - it's very different from earth. The promise in the Bible is that "He (God) will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever." (Revelation 21:4)

"‘When the owner of the vineyard returns,' Jesus asked, ‘what do you think he will do to those farmers?' The religious leaders replied, ‘He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest.' Then Jesus asked them, ‘Didn't you ever read this in the Scriptures? "The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the LORD's doing, and it is wonderful to see." I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit. Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.' When the leading priests and Pharisees heard this parable, they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, who considered Jesus to be a prophet."
Matthew 21:40-46

I make no apology for the size of today's reading, I really wanted to avoid missing the context of the promise that we see. This is a key moment in history when Jesus announces that because the Jewish leaders rejected Him the Kingdom of God would be taken from them. We believers in Jesus are the beneficiaries of what Jesus said. But God has not turned His back upon the Jews, as Paul wrote in Romans 11:22 & 23 "Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is severe toward those who disobeyed, but kind to you if you continue to trust in his kindness. But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off. And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the tree." Let humility be our watchword.

"In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry, and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, ‘May you never bear fruit again!' And immediately the fig tree withered up. The disciples were amazed when they saw this and asked, ‘How did the fig tree wither so quickly?' Then Jesus told them, ‘I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don't doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, "May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea," and it will happen. You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.'"
Matthew 21:18-22

There are some promises that Jesus made that we can pass over for no other reason than we don't really believe them! For example, we've just read, "You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it." Now any way we read that it's pretty unambiguous. Clearly the key to the promise lies in the words: "if you have faith". We learn from Romans 12:3, "God has dealt to each one a measure of faith." (NKJV) However, I've experienced a sense of going beyond my faith level when praying for healing, provision, and in relation to weather conditions and, importantly, Paul also refers in 1 Corinthians 12 to the gift of faith given to one for the profit of all. In other words if the faith we have is insufficient for the task that lies ahead God can give us extra faith for that specific circumstance.

"As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. ‘Go into the village over there,' he said. ‘As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, "The Lord needs them," and he will immediately let you take them.' This took place to fulfil the prophecy that said, ‘Tell the people of Jerusalem, "Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey—riding on a donkey's colt."' The two disciples did as Jesus commanded. They brought the donkey and the colt to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it."
Matthew 21:1-7

Follow Jesus' story in the Bible from Bethlehem to His resurrection and one thing is clear: we can follow it historically in the New Testament and prophetically in the Old Testament. There have been many who have claimed to point the way to God but only one, Jesus, whose life fulfilled all the messianic prophecies in the Old Testament. From beginning to end the Bible tells us that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life; that Jesus is the Light of the world; that His is the only Name by which we may be saved; that Jesus is our only Saviour and Redeemer. We should never get tired of reading the phrase, "This took place to fulfil the prophecy that said…" because it is a reminder of God's great promise to open up the way back to Him for all sinners who receive Jesus, His anointed One.

"Then Peter said to him, ‘We've given up everything to follow you. What will we get?' Jesus replied, ‘I assure you that when the world is made new and the Son of Man sits upon his glorious throne, you who have been my followers will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life. But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.'"
Matthew 19:27-30

Sacrifice is never a popular subject, after all it's about giving up stuff, pain, putting aside our own desires and accepting something or someone into our world greater than us, isn't it? But what if we took a look at sacrifice from a different direction? Nobody investing financially thinks of loss, their thoughts are upon the yield that will be produced. We can take a similar view of any sacrifices we make in our life as a believer. Today Jesus points out that those who give up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for His sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life. I know of no package I can get from any financial manager that will get anywhere near that return! Sacrifice is not loss but an investment into God's Kingdom with a rich dividend.