Paula Wiseman

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Home » Matthew

Posts that reference the Gospel of Matthew

No More Wall

By Paula

No more wall title graphic

If you’re as old as I am, you can remember a time when Berlin was divided into East and West by a concrete wall. A few weeks ago, I read that not long after the wall went up, psychiatrists in East Berlin began to see a marked increase in depression, rage, and even addictions. They determined that the only cure for this “Wall Disease” was to bring the wall down. In 1989, jubilant crowds, some with sledgehammers in hand, broke down the wall amid wild celebrations that they were no longer cut off, no longer denied access.

If you’ve ever seen pictures or video from that event, it’s hard not to be touched by the people experiencing not only the rush of political freedom, but emotional freedom as well. I think one reason it connects so deeply with us is that we as believers can relate on an eternal scale.

A very long time ago, in a Garden, a wall of sorts went up. It wasn’t made of concrete, but it was far more formidable. Genesis 3:24 says because of man’s sin, he was driven from the Garden, and God placed an angel with a flaming sword at the entrance to Eden, denying man access to God’s presence. The whole human race has suffered since then.

Hundreds of years later, that separation was reiterated when God gave Moses the design for the tabernacle with its Holy of Holies. There was no wall exactly, but ordinary people had no access to God, and the High Priest was afforded such a privilege only under extremely limited circumstances. The Temple followed that model as well, and for hundreds of years, man was cut off from God’s presence. Separated.

But God would not allow that separation to be the last word.

In Matthew 27:51 is one of my favorite parts of the crucifixion story. “Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom…”

With Christ’s death, the wall that cut us off from God, from his glory, from His presence came down. Christ restored our access and He set us free. Eternally, spiritually free.

Filed Under: Thursday Theology Tagged With: Genesis, Matthew, salvation

Is Anyone Left Out?

By Paula

Is anyone left out?

Jesus said to love God.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37.

He said we should love fellow believers.

 “[L]ove one another; as I have loved you.” John 13:34

Jesus said to love our neighbors.

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:39

In Luke in the story of the good Samaritan, He explained our neighbors included anybody we came in contact with.

He also said to love our enemies.

“[L]ove your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” Matthew 5:44

See who Jesus mentioned? Is anyone left out?
Do we leave anyone out?

Filed Under: Monday Meditations Tagged With: faith in real life, John, Matthew, words of Jesus

Into the Wilderness: Temptation

By Paula Wiseman

Into the Wilderness Temptation title graphic

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Matthew 4:1

We continue our study of the wilderness in Scripture. And we’ve seen a lot happens in the wilderness. Wandering. It is also a place of transition. The restoration of relationships can happen in the wilderness. Sometimes it is an opportunity for instruction. This week we will see it can be a time of temptation.

Jesus Himself was tempted during a time in the wilderness. Now, His experience is unique because first, the Spirit directed Him to the wilderness, knowing that the temptation was coming. Second, it was necessary to prove Christ’s sinlessness so He was more than qualified to be the sacrifice for our sins. But if we look closely at His experience, we can see some lessons for us.

Jesus was physically weakened after a forty-day fast, but He was also alone (humanly speaking). Now I tend to believe that what we see recorded in the gospels is only the final round of temptation. I doubt Satan stood by for forty days and then tried three temptations and left. I believe the temptations were constant through those forty days, making it an emotionally, mentally and spiritually exhausting time as well.

Temptation is a danger for us when we are isolated and exhausted.

Circumstances cut us off from our support system. It’s hard to find enough good, spiritual food, and it’s not long before the tempter is whispering in our ear, drawing our eyes away, sowing rotten seeds in our hearts and minds. “You are alone. God is tired of hearing your complaints. It’s not worth the effort.” These recent days have certainly proven that the temptations to despair, or to laziness in our faith, or to any number of thoughts and actions that don’t honor God, are a very real and very formidable challenge.

Jesus was led into the wilderness after a very public affirmation of His Sonship and His mission. There was no time to simply enjoy that victory before the attacks came.

Temptation is a danger after times of confirmation or victory.

Maybe that’s when our pride opens the door. Maybe our guard is lowered. Maybe we are frustrated that the good times ended and we are in the wilderness.

Many, many commentators have written extensively on Jesus’s use of Scripture in the face of intense temptation. We would be wise to follow His example of knowing the Word and being able to apply it to our lives. (The whole reason I write is to demonstrate that.)

In the wilderness (or anywhere else), truth is our best weapon against temptation.

When we hear, “You are alone,” the truth is Jesus said He would never leave you or forsake you. When we hear, “You don’t matter,” the truth is God loves you with an everlasting love. And on and on. Lean on truth, God’s proclaimed truth, rather than our feelings or our circumstances or even our own take on things.

Satan fights dirty and he will come after you at the worst possible times, especially wilderness times. Reliance on Christ and His word can flip the script and remake the temptations in a wilderness time an opportunity to grow stronger in faith, move closer to God and bring Him honor and glory.

This time of temptation was not Jesus’s only time in the wilderness. Next week, we’ll look at another time He got away from it all.

Filed Under: Thursday Theology Tagged With: Into the Wilderness series, life of Jesus, Matthew

Test Time

By Paula

Test Time title graphic how did we treat the least of these

My husband and my son are both taking online classes this summer. This means lots of books to read, online lectures, discussion forums, papers, and the inevitable exams. With these classes, there may only be two or three tests, so doing well on them is key to doing well in the class. So when the lecture comes or the information is posted about what the exam will cover, everyone pays close attention. You may recall classmates (or maybe it was you) in high school or college interrupting a lecture with the $64 question: “Is this going to be on the test?” How the instructor answered that question determined whether we listened for the next few minutes or went back to doodling in the margins of our notebooks. None of us wanted to waste time studying things that seemingly didn’t matter.

In Matthew 24, the disciples ask Jesus a couple of important questions – “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3) Jesus answers their questions in a lengthy passage called the Olivet Discourse. Then He gives His guys a couple of parables to help them understand. After the parable of the talents, one which underscores the importance of seizing the opportunity to demonstrate faithfulness, stewardship, and diligence in service to the master, Jesus gives them one more admonition.

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Matthew 25:35-36

When He comes in His glory, a separation will be made between His sheep and the goats. His sheep will be admitted to eternal rest prepared for them from the foundation of the world, while the goats are consigned to outer darkness. Without arguing the eschatological timing of this separation, let’s focus on the criteria in Matthew 25:35-36.

Feeding the hungry.
Satisfying the thirsty.
Welcoming the outsiders.
Clothing the naked.
Visiting the sick.
Caring for the prisoners.

Jesus, the King, explains, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:40

My friends, this is what is on the test.

Did our genuine faith lead us to care for others? James hits this hard in his short book.

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. James 1:27

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. James 2:15-17

Did we see the unseen? Are we generous? Did we love the marginalized? Did we stand up for those who have no voice?

Or did we hoard our resources? Did we expend them on ourselves? Did we make our names great rather than growing the kingdom? Did we cross over to the other side of the road so we didn’t have to see, so we didn’t have to get involved?

This is not to say that we stop doing the one thing that only we as believers can do and that is spreading the gospel. Not at all, but as the gospel goes out, compassion and caring go with it. We feed the hungry because we know where they can find the Bread of Life. We satisfy the thirsty because we can offer them springs of living water. We welcome the outsiders because Jesus said. “Come unto Me.” We clothe the naked because He offers us His righteousness in exchange for our filthy rags. We visit the sick because the Great Physician has healed us of the sin that was destroying our souls. We care for the prisoners because we have been set free.

Or we abdicate that responsibility, that stewardship and let governments or agencies or nonprofits try it. The body of Christ will continue to grow weak and ineffective and irrelevant.

I believe we have a moment of testing right now. I know Covid-19 has presented challenges to believers and churches unlike any we have seen. But this season of unrest and upheaval in our societies is even greater. The test papers have been handed out. We know what’s on the exam.

How will we respond?

Filed Under: Thursday Theology Tagged With: James, Matthew, our mission, words of Jesus

Jesus and Women: The Canaanite Woman

By Paula

The Canaanite Woman title graphic

Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. Matthew 15:28

One of the things that set Jesus’s ministry apart was the way He interacted with women. Each encounter teaches us something about Jesus and our relationship to Him. It is important to notice in each case, Jesus treated these women with dignity and respect that was unheard at that time and in that culture. That in itself is instructive as we interact with people now.

So far we have looked at an exchange between Jesus and His mother at the wedding celebration in Cana of Galilee, His conversation with the woman from Sychar who had come to draw water from the well and a woman who reached out to Him in a crowd. This week we’ll consider His exchange with a Canaanite woman.

At the end of Matthew 14, Jesus is in Gennesaret, on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. After a confrontation with the Pharisees in the beginning of chapter 15, Jesus and his guys slip over to the area around Tyre and Sidon for a break. (Incidentally, if you check the map, both of these cities are Mediterranean port cities, that is, beach towns. I can totally understand why Jesus would head here for a quick respite.)

A woman from that area approaches Him in desperation and calls Him by His messianic title. The woman is not Jewish. Matthew calls her a woman of Canaan. This would have triggered many cultural memories in the minds of his Jewish readers. She was one of the wicked people who forfeited the Promised Land, whom God judged. Jezebel was from Tyre, after all. Ezekiel tells us the king of Tyre exulted in the destruction of God’s people. Mark calls her a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician, tipping off His Gentile readers that she was one of them.

The Canaanite woman begs for mercy, and for healing for her demon-possessed daughter. Jesus’s reputation had spread beyond the borders of Israel. Whatever the woman may have known about Jesus, she at least knew He was her only hope. The Sidonian gods brought no help or relief.

Jesus did not respond. Sometimes silence teaches as much as words. In this case the silence reveals the hearts of the woman and of the disciples.

Do we typically see God’s silence as an opportunity for us to examine our hearts before Him?

Finally the disciples respond, “Send her away. She is annoying us. She is interrupting us on our day off.” Jesus says He was sent to the lost sheep of Israel. This ties the encounter to the most recent debate with the Pharisees and it forces the disciples to consider who is worthy of salvation and, by extension, His intervention. Is it a matter of genuine faith or of national heritage?

Do we ever determine some are worthy of salvation, while others are not?

The disciples would one day carry the gospel throughout the world. Right now, they can’t see past their deeply rooted prejudices. The Canaanite woman, watching this exchange, senses that in spite of the words spoken, she still has hope. She throws herself down at Jesus’s feet and begs for His help.

Jesus responds to her plea with a parable, but I believe He says it more for the disciples’ benefit. It is not right to take the children’s ( that is, the Jews’) bread and give it to the dogs (that it, the Gentiles). Jesus doesn’t use the common pejorative Jews used for Gentiles, but the point is unmistakable. “We can’t take precious ministry energy, reserved for our people and spend on people like this, right guys?”

Is the kingdom of God only for those in a certain race, or class, or station? Or is it open for everyone who seeks it?

The woman, understands the question. Her answer is, in essence – the kingdom of God is for those who draw near to receive it. “Bingo!” Jesus replies. Well, something close to that. He praises her great faith, and with that her persistence and humility.

Do we ever stand in the way of those who are seeking the kingdom? Are our prejudices and preconceptions off-putting rather than welcoming?

Jesus heals the woman’s daughter and then spends several days in the Gentile region healing and teaching, including a miraculous feeding of 4000 Gentiles mirroring the feeding of the 5000. It all began with this Canaanite mother helped Him demonstrate to His disciples what true faith looks like.


Read more of the Jesus and Women Series

Filed Under: Thursday Theology Tagged With: Ezekiel, Jesus and Women series, Matthew, miracles of Jesus

Jesus and Women: The Woman with the Issue

By Paula

And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” Mark 5:34

One of the things that set Jesus’s ministry apart was the way He interacted with women. However, each encounter was chosen because it teaches us something about Jesus and our relationship to Him. It is important to notice in each case, Jesus treated these women with dignity and respect that was unheard at that time and in that culture. That in itself is instructive as we interact with people now.

So far we have looked at an exchange between Jesus and His mother at the wedding celebration in Cana of Galilee. Last week, we looked at His conversation with the woman from Sychar who had come to draw water from the well. This week, we’ll break down what happens when a woman reaches out to Him in a crowd.

By this point in Jesus’s ministry, He was pretty famous. His reputation as a healer meant that huge crowds quickly assembled whenever He was in the area. In Mark 5, this is the situation. We don’t know exactly what town He is in, but we know from previous chapters He is in the general area of Capernaum. He has just arrived back in that area after spending a few days in Gentile country casting out demons. Jesus is met by a desperate father, Jairus. He was a synagogue ruler, a local pastor, if you will, whose twelve-year-old daughter was dying. Her condition was beyond medical intervention. Jesus was his only hope.

Of course Jesus consents to go with Jairus, and it is on the walk over that this woman with the issue reaches out to touch Jesus.

Now it is important to understand that this woman was not a distraction. She was not a delay. She didn’t mess things up so that Jairus’s daughter died. Her story is an important reminder to us. She had suffered for twelve years, the girl’s entire lifetime. While Jairus and his wife delighted in their daughter, in watching her grow, in sharing her life, this woman was drained of her finances and her hope for any kind of cure.

One of the ugliest parts of the curse sin brought on the world is that innocent people suffer. Jesus Christ came to overturn that curse, and every miraculous healing is a testimony to that.

When we reach out to Jesus in our moments of desperate need, we are not distracting Him or delaying Him or preventing Him from attending to something more pressing. We need the power of the Gospel working in our lives, and He is gracious to supply our needs.

Now, let’s think for a moment why this woman wouldn’t want Jesus to know she touched Him. Why didn’t she just ask for healing like Jairus had done for his daughter? The accounts say it was a bleeding thing. The older versions say “an issue”. Newer translations say a discharge, or a hemorrhage or something similar. The point is, the woman almost certainly had a gynecological condition. Apart from the physical pain and suffering that caused, she would have been ceremonially unclean the entire time. She had not been able to attend a worship service in twelve years. Anyone who touched her would have been rendered ceremonially unclean. That isolation, that guilt, that burden would have been so, so heavy.

But I like the old word “issue” because of the more current meaning and the play on words. We all have an issue or two we need to bring to Jesus for healing.

But here she is, in a huge crowd. Everyone is jostling one another. I picture it like a crowd leaving a huge stadium or concert. Everyone who touched her will be considered unclean. She knows this and knows the risk she is taking. But it will be okay because as soon as she touches Jesus, she will be healed, and no one will be unclean. She just has to get close enough. For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” Mark 5:28 It won’t slow Him down. He won’t even know.

Except He knew.

When Jesus turns and asks who touched Him, He wasn’t looking for information. He knew. He was offering the woman the opportunity to publicly testify, to declare her faith. Jesus wanted other people to see what kind of faith she had. He was living out what He would soon explain to His disciples. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, Matthew 10:32.

I love the detail Mark includes. She fell down before Jesus “and told Him the whole truth.”

When we have the opportunity, let’s be faithful to tell the truth about what Jesus has done for us.

And then there’s the response. Jesus calls her Daughter. He wouldn’t have had to call her anything. He had her attention. She knew He was talking to her. But He makes a point of calling her daughter. It was a term of endearment, of familiarity, of relationship, and thus, of status. He wanted those around to understand that He had the same concern and compassion for her that Jairus had for his precious daughter. She was not an outcast. She was reconciled to God. Her issue was resolved. And He told her to go in peace.

Jesus has that same gentle compassion for us. He chooses to call us His. Go in peace with that assurance.

(P.S. If you’re not familiar with the what happens next, He raised Jairus’s daughter from the dead. So it was all good.)


Read all of the Jesus and Women Series

Filed Under: Thursday Theology Tagged With: Jesus and Women series, Mark, Matthew, miracles of Jesus

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