by Dianne Eckermann
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So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation’, spoken of through the prophet Daniel – let the reader understand – then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains (Matthew 24:15,16).
Read Matthew 24:15–31
Whenever we board a flight, we are taken through what to do in the ‘unlikely event of a flight emergency’. In today’s reading, we hear about a devastating emergency, which is not an unlikely event but an absolute certainty. However, there is no equivalent to the ‘fasten your seatbelt and adopt the brace position’ safety guide. The only advice is to ‘flee to the mountains’ – if you can do so.
Reading about the events leading up to the end of the world is not an easy read. It sounds like a compilation of every disaster movie ever made. To make it even more difficult to understand, there is no indication of when this might happen, other than that it is a time of what seems like unprecedented uncertainty. False prophets, whose main intention is to deceive, add to the great distress we can expect. Nor does there seem to be a safety guide to help people survive.
However, the advice to ‘flee to the mountains’ contains more depth than it initially seems. Frequently, mountains are a source of refuge in the Bible and are symbolic of being closer to God. Many important events took place atop mountains: Moses received the Ten Commandments, Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, the Transfiguration of Jesus occurred, plus more. In Psalm 121:1,2, we read, ‘I lift my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.’ In Psalm 125:1, we read, ‘Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.’
To flee to the mountains, therefore, is to flee towards God. It is God who is our source of help; it is God who endures forever, and it is God whom we can trust. We don’t need a safety briefing. We need only to live in the light of the risen Christ.
Heavenly Father, we ask you to send us your Holy Spirit to help us hold on to our faith in your protection and to flee to you in times of trouble. Amen.
Dianne has served in Lutheran education as a teacher, school leader and system leader at Lutheran Education Australia. Now retired from full-time work, she continues to volunteer on several committees and as a school board member. She lives in the Adelaide Hills with her husband, Robert, and is in strong demand as a babysitter for her three grandchildren.
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‘Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?’ But Jesus turned and rebuked them. Then he and his disciples went to another village (Luke 9:54b–56).
Read Luke 9:51–62
While today’s extended reading has a clear focus on the demands and difficulties of following Jesus, the opening verses direct our focus on the importance of setting our face towards Jerusalem. As Jesus is entering the last stages of his ministry, he is resolutely fixed on Jerusalem. When a Samaritan village is not prepared to host Jesus overnight, James and John’s all-too-human reaction is a dramatic call to totally destroy the village.
In the historical tradition of hospitality, there would be an expectation that the village would host travellers; however, the fiery destruction suggested by James and John for this perceived slight is an extraordinary overreaction. They have now been following Jesus for some time. Following Jesus has meant travelling and eating with him and listening to his teachings. Despite this close contact, they still allow their anger towards the Samaritan village to overrule anything they have learnt from being in Jesus’ constant company. However, before judging James and John, we should look at our reactions.
We live in a world where the reaction to any difference of opinion is frequently extreme. Whether it is a road rage incident, trolling on social media or a disproportionate response to world events, we would do well to follow the example Jesus set for the two disciples. After he rebuked them, he simply moved on – in this case, to the next village.
As we follow in Jesus’ footsteps, we move on from dwelling on the wrongs of others and from the assumption that we must be right. Instead of anger, we can pause, pray and identify what it is, in this moment, that is keeping us from unreservedly following Jesus. Then we, too, can move on.
We thank you, Lord Jesus, for showing us your way and example. We ask for help to follow you freely in a world where many obstacles and temptations divert us. Please support us in moving on with you. Amen.
Dianne has served in Lutheran education as a teacher, school leader and system leader at Lutheran Education Australia. Now retired from full-time work, she continues to volunteer on several committees and as a school board member. She lives in the Adelaide Hills with her husband, Robert, and is in strong demand as a babysitter for her three grandchildren.
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand (Psalm 16:11).
Read Psalm 16
There are some days when I think it would be really nice to have a table-sized map to spread out in front of me that would show the trajectory of my life – where I’ve been, where I am and where I’m going. From that distance, I could see the big picture and have a bird’s-eye view of my timeline. Maybe for the first time, I could see how all the dots of pain and pleasure are connected.
Maybe that’s what David wanted from God?
He recognised God’s power and providence in all things, whether David’s fear or fealty; he knew deeply God’s hand in making him king, conquering his enemies and encountering the delights of existence.
David writes, ‘Therefore,’ or in our more common parlance, ‘Because of all these things, my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices; my body will also rest secure’ (verse 9). Wouldn’t that be nice to know, to deeply understand that gladness would touch my soul, not just in a brief moment of laughter, but in weighty joy. I could speak and sing the assurance of my salvation – praise is as close to my lips as the ‘good morning’ to my family. My body could finally rest – stress shed like an old skin, and take on the new one that is soft, comfortable and wrinkle-free.
Therefore … because God has been so good, I don’t have to worry about this present moment but believe in my heart, speak with my mouth and feel in my rested body that I will be filled with joy in God’s presence and experience eternal pleasure once this life is done.
And in this trust, I don’t have to worry about spreading the table-sized map to make sure of my path. And I don’t have to stress about where I’m going because it’s already planned. And I don’t have to worry that death will be a finality (verse 10).
This is the good news, friends. God has not abandoned us but is always present.
Therefore, rest securely.
Jesus, thank you for being my portion, my cup and my delightful inheritance. Help me to experience a glad heart, a praising tongue and a body that rests in you. Amen.
Reid Matthias is the school pastor at St Andrews Lutheran College in Tallebudgera, Queensland. Reid is married to Christine, who, together with their three incredible daughters, Elsa, Josephine and Greta, have created a Spotify channel (A 13) where they have recorded music. Reid has recently published his seventh novel, A Miserable Antagonist, and maintains the blog ireid.blogspot.com
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. ‘Tell us,’ they said, ‘when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?’ (Matthew 24:3).
Read Matthew 24:1–14
If any one subject holds a large swathe of attention in Christian circles, it’s the End Times. Everyone, from pre-Jesus to the 21st century, wants to know exactly what time things are going to wrap up here on this pale blue dot.
Reading this passage through 21st-century lenses, we might approach Jesus and say, ‘When, exactly, are you planning on coming back? You know, setting things right, getting rid of pain and suffering and, like, evil people?’ After a pause, we might say, ‘Can you just text me about an hour beforehand so I can get everything all tidied up?’
We want to know it all, really. We want to know the time, the manner, and our readiness for that moment, just like those first disciples. Jesus had drawn their attention to the buildings around the temple and the huge stones, and he said something shocking: Everything is going to be thrown down. What the temple stood for, the law and its burdens, will be overthrown, and the gospel of the kingdom will be preached (verse 14).
Jesus does not tell them the time but opens their eyes to the temperature of the world at that time: God’s people are persecuted; people will stray from the faith; they will betray and hate each other. False prophets will appear and deceive. Because wickedness will be the currency of the age, love will die out to an ember.
Maybe it’s always been like this, but it sure feels kind of ending-ish right now, doesn’t it?
But for the Christian, that’s not a source of fear or dread, though the end may be both fearful and dreadful; we cling to the life buoy of the gospel of the kingdom. In that gospel circle, we are saved. It is through Christ that we will be rescued even when everything around us, everything we know and may have clung to, is thrown down.
‘Turn your eyes upon Jesus,’ as the song says, ‘look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace’ (Helen Lemmel).
Jesus, author of salvation, help us to keep our eyes on you when we are fearful of what is happening in the world around us. Give us your peace and reassurance that you hold all time and space in your hands. Amen.
Reid Matthias is the school pastor at St Andrews Lutheran College in Tallebudgera, Queensland. Reid is married to Christine, who, together with their three incredible daughters, Elsa, Josephine and Greta, have created a Spotify channel (A 13) where they have recorded music. Reid has recently published his seventh novel, A Miserable Antagonist, and maintains the blog ireid.blogspot.com
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
[Jesus said,] ‘Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean’ (Matthew 23:27).
Read Matthew 23:27–39
In the middle of the acreage where I grew up, there was a little white building next to a large red one. Both buildings were used significantly during the summer when our spring chickens would arrive on the postal truck, chirping away at the top of their voices. My father would take us kids out to the white building, where, after unloading the crates of chicks, we would get them settled into their new life.
Throughout the summer, before they moved from their little white house to the large red one, the chicks spent their days scratching through the henyard, digging for insects and worms. Then, when the day was over, they would retreat into the white house for the evening.
In there, they would sleep, yes, but with 350 of them, they would also deposit plenty of … er … you know … fertiliser.
It is for this reason that I, to this day, dislike chickens because it was the kids’ job to get out the shovel and dispose of said fertiliser.
One summer after the chicks had moved, my father said we were going to paint the white house, but he asked us to muck it out first. Unwilling (and unwanting) to shovel any more fertiliser, I painted the outside first. Unfortunately, as the summer sun came up, an overwhelming stench arose from the unmucked chickenhouse, and what would have been an easier job before the painting was now a trial at best. It was one thing to whitewash the outside but another thing to clean out the shed first.
So Jesus puts it to the hypocritical Pharisees and teachers of the law. What good does it do to make the outside nice and shiny if the inside is full of … fertiliser. Woe to our contemporary Western culture and, in some ways, Christian culture, which has made the visible surface seem beautiful but failed to clean up and clean out the rubbish inside. I could enumerate the ways in which our social media culture has influenced (an ironic word, don’t you think?) the organised religions. Instead, I’ll pose the question to you today.
If Jesus were to inspect Christianity, what things do you think he would say were whitewashed tombs? What kinds of things are we called to clean up and clean out so that God’s holy presence can continue to inhabit the body of Christ?
Jesus, speaker of truth, open my eyes to the beauty of a temple cleaned both inside and out. Give me the strength to be part of change. Amen.
Reid Matthias is the school pastor at St Andrews Lutheran College in Tallebudgera, Queensland. Reid is married to Christine, who, together with their three incredible daughters, Elsa, Josephine and Greta, have created a Spotify channel (A 13) where they have recorded music. Reid has recently published his seventh novel, A Miserable Antagonist, and maintains the blog ireid.blogspot.com
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
[Jesus said,] ‘Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness’ (Matthew 23:23a).
Read Matthew 23:13–26
It’s incredibly difficult to read Jesus’s litany of ‘woes’ without feeling a squeeze of discomfort that I, too, can sometimes be a little teacher-of-the-law-ish. Throughout chapter 23 of Matthew, there are seven woes, ranging from generalised hypocrisy to full-out ignorance of humanity by these leaders of the religion.
As a Christian, despite my best attempts to be faithful to God’s law and the beautiful order of how that word holds things together, I sometimes point to the wrong things and proclaim to God:
But look! See my sacrifice! See the minty goodness of my time spent volunteering and note my diligent attempts not to be a dill. Full disclosure here: I don’t have a realistic understanding of what cumin does, but … come on over to my side and pat me on the back for all the good things that I do so that other people will see what a good person I am.
Woe to the Pharisees. Woe to me.
At times, I am more impressed by these little things than presenting myself as a living sacrifice to God, poured out by his good and pleasing will, for the benefit of these beautiful people around me. Jesus points me and Christian communities back to Micah 6:8: ‘What does the Lord require of me but to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God?’
These things are much more difficult, requiring perseverance and often pain. But woe to us, not just that we don’t do them, but that we miss out on the blessings of being part of God’s work in this world of administering justice and mercy and finding faithfulness.
The good news is this: the seven woes that Jesus speaks can be turned into words of wonder. He actually gives us the communal blueprint for joy rather than woe. As you read through this passage again, focus instead on the latter halves of Jesus’ statements and ponder how they might change your perspective on the life of your community.
From woe to wonder!
Heavenly Father, thank you for your wonderful gifts to me. Help me to live a life of wonder and assistance to others. Amen.
Reid Matthias is the school pastor at St Andrews Lutheran College in Tallebudgera, Queensland. Reid is married to Christine, who, together with their three incredible daughters, Elsa, Josephine and Greta, have created a Spotify channel (A 13) where they have recorded music. Reid has recently published his seventh novel, A Miserable Antagonist, and maintains the blog ireid.blogspot.com
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
[The teachers of the law and the Pharisees] tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them (Matthew 23:4).
Read Matthew 22:41–23:12
Perhaps you’ve heard of the Hippocratic oath before. Some of you may have uttered it as a physician, and it is often distilled down to this: first, do no harm.
Our extraordinary doctors and nurses, who dedicate their lives to easing pain and suffering, are bound by this oath. This means not purposefully causing additional pain and suffering to the individual. It means doing everything in one’s power to release the victim from the grip of disease or tragedy and bring them a restored life.
Jesus might have intended the oath to be instilled in the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, also. Firstly, do no harm and do not burden your people.
Especially if you, yourself, do not fully intend to follow your own advice. As we all know, this is hypocrisy at its core.
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees dreamt up long lists of rules and regulations, statutes, and sub-statutes that the people had to follow to gain righteousness. They loved being the bearers of bad news – put the Ten Commandments on your doorjambs; sew the correct tassels into your clothes; do this and do that; be humble. Yet they were unable to locate the bone of humility inside themselves. They loved the place of honour at banquets, and they loved being greeted with honorifics in the streets. ‘Rabbi!’ people would call out.
This passage reads as though Jesus implies that the teachers of the law and Pharisees have taken a Hypocritic oath: ‘Firstly, everybody else must be humble and burdened, but I’m too good for that.’ What does this have to do with the 21st century?
Jesus speaks to me by saying, ‘Don’t saddle anyone, anywhere, at any time, with rules and regulations about how to get Jesus to love you. Jesus’ love is not coerced by good works. And don’t suggest, “If you’re a good person, then Jesus will like you”, or “You have to go to church, read your Bible daily, and pray morning, noon and night to get God’s attention.”’ These are burdensome rules that I don’t even impose on myself because I know that God’s power in Jesus, through his death and resurrection, is the only source of righteousness known to God. Thus, I need not pretend that these apply to everyone else.
I don’t need a Hypocritic oath. Just the hope in the promises (oaths) of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the beauty of living life within the boundaries of your commands, assured of your promise of grace through your Son, Jesus. Amen.
Reid Matthias is the school pastor at St Andrews Lutheran College in Tallebudgera, Queensland. Reid is married to Christine, who, together with their three incredible daughters, Elsa, Josephine and Greta, have created a Spotify channel (A 13) where they have recorded music. Reid has recently published his seventh novel, A Miserable Antagonist, and maintains the blog ireid.blogspot.com
Jesus replied, ‘You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like angels in heaven’ (Matthew 22:29,30).
Read Matthew 22:23–40
That poor woman.
I know, it’s a Sadducaical parable. (Say that fast 10 times …) But it feels as though they’re asking the wrong question. The Sadducees really shouldn’t be wondering who the woman is married to, but how she will survive the grief of being a childless widow seven times over.
You see, the Sadducees weren’t really concerned with something they didn’t believe in, only making Jesus stumble. And Jesus, for his part, was able to correct them in their defiance of resurrection with a message of good news.
I hope you read this carefully …
The good news of everlasting life, what happens at the resurrection, is that God is unconcerned about who is married to whom, who carries on what lineage, or who gets the house and car keys. No, our Heavenly Father is God of the living, not the dead, and when you have been resurrected, there is no need for these other things. There is only everlasting, joyful life in his presence.
When Jesus says you will be like the angels, that doesn’t mean you’ll get wings and hover about checking on people. What it means is that, like the angels, you will live forever and will no longer need to think about procreation (especially if there have been seven spouses during this lifetime).
For me, Jesus turns the parable on its head on the Sadducees, gives them the good news of the resurrection, and silences their need to distract their followers from God’s love in Jesus.
For me, Jesus might even turn the parable to give hope to men and women, both in marriages and outside of them, that God is the God of the living in their lives, too.
Question: What do you think happens after you die?
Jesus, thank you for your wisdom and uncanny way of sharing great news with all people. Bless me in all my relationships, and remind me you are the God of the living. Amen.
Reid Matthias is the school pastor at St Andrews Lutheran College in Tallebudgera, Queensland. Reid is married to Christine, who, together with their three incredible daughters, Elsa, Josephine and Greta, have created a Spotify channel (A 13) where they have recorded music. Reid has recently published his seventh novel, A Miserable Antagonist, and maintains the blog ireid.blogspot.com
by Reid Matthias
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away saying, ‘Return home and tell how much God has done for you’ (Luke 8:38,39a).
Read Luke 8:26–39
For Jesus, it seems as though this venture into despairing territory has always been part of the plan. Jesus decides that they will go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Here is where all things unclean are, even pigs and pig herders. In the midst of these people is a cemetery and a man who could be considered the ‘uncleanest’ man of all: demon-possessed, surrounded by the dead, naked, in a region of Gentiles, and he has been isolated and chained in the tombs far too many times.
When Jesus encounters this man, he speaks to the demons inside the man. He refuses to allow their voice to be the one that conquers. Instead, Jesus releases the man from the demons and sends them to their rightful place, into the pigs, who rush headlong into the lake and are drowned.
While this story has nothing to do with politics, I can’t help but wonder if, as a devotional, it might speak to us about the polarisation happening in our world. Those on the left side of the lake view the others on the right bank as unclean, demon-possessed, living among the old, dead things. And vice versa, those on the left side of the lake are puritanical Pharisees, pointing fingers and finding ways to be ‘holier than thou’. And in all of this, everyone is seized by the urge to believe things that aren’t actually true to bolster their right-or-left-side-of-the-lake perspective.
Maybe this is where Jesus can (and does) come to us all and can (and does) finally free us from our miserable preconceptions to release us from the demons of uncivilised judgement of our brothers and sisters.
It’s a scary thing, isn’t it? Yet, to be freed from the demon of the age will allow us to beg for the privilege of going with Jesus.
Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, we can be free at last.
Heavenly Father, free me from my inability to see the humanity in the other. Give me the strength to bow at your feet and receive freedom. Amen.
Reid Matthias is the school pastor at St Andrews Lutheran College in Tallebudgera, Queensland. Reid is married to Christine, who, together with their three incredible daughters, Elsa, Josephine and Greta, have created a Spotify channel (A 13) where they have recorded music. Reid has recently published his seventh novel, A Miserable Antagonist, and maintains the blog ireid.blogspot.com