Wednesday Bible study: The end of all things- Matthew

 

The last Chapter of Matthew hinges on the reactions of four groups of people to the Resurrection of Jesus- and on meditation, you see that three of the four are in the categories we learned from Proverbs:  the simple, the fool, and the scoffer.  To remind us, we learned that the simple is one who doesn't follow God somewhat innocently, because they haven't been taught (or taught properly). The fool "says in his heart, there is no God", but through witness and disaster, their heart can be turned.  The scoffer has become his/her own god, and almost no amount of convincing will turn them, because it's not in their vested interests.  But out of this, I'm going to focus on the good person who obeys God- and where he might cross the line.

The simple

Mat 28:1  Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
Mat 28:2  And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.
Mat 28:3  His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.
Mat 28:4  And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.

The guards are our simple folk- brought up in superstition, without an idea of what was going on, instead of even being curious about the momentous event, they shut down and passed out.

The scoffer

Mat 28:11  While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place.
Mat 28:12  And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers
Mat 28:13  and said, "Tell people, 'His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.'
Mat 28:14  And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble."
Mat 28:15  So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

I want you to pause a minute and consider what really happened here.  They had been given eyewitness accounts of a supernatural event.  Whether they understood what it was or not doesn't matter so much as the BELIEVED it happened, because why would you bribe someone to lie about something you didn't think actually occurred?  So why would not this event TURN you to belief?  Because, that belief would destroy much of what they taught and all of how they lived.  And maybe the first wasn't valuable to them, but the second sure was.  They would rather manufacture a "truth" that sustains their agenda than seek the truth.  I was just reading a book in which I came across a quote from revered liberal justice Oliver Wendell Holmes which not only shook me with its dishonesty, but explained perfectly to me the mindset of ONE of our political parties (and to a great extent, both):  "The best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market."

Truth is truth, not something that you manufacture, send it into the market, and see how it flies.  Unfortunately, we have an electorate that goes by this maxim, and believes whatever lie suits their perceptions.  Which is why I recently told a former Congressman, "This is why I believe myself to be a Bonapartist displaced in time."

But I digress.

The fool

Mat 28:16  Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
Mat 28:17  And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.

Of course we all know the finger here is pointing at Thomas.  (Perhaps there were others among the disciples who hadn't yet seen Him- perhaps the 500 Paul mentions in 1 Cor. 15.)  But what makes Thomas a fool rather than an honest doubter is the ATTITUDE he came at it with.  Let me compare Thomas with another famous doubter- Gideon.  First, Gideon's words:

Jdg 6:36  Then Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said,
Jdg 6:37  behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said."
Jdg 6:38  And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water.
Jdg 6:39  Then Gideon said to God, "Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew."

See how you never lose the concept in his doubt that he truly believed in the God that spoke to him.  Now, Thomas:

Joh 20:24  Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.
Joh 20:25  So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe."

The arrogance of ignorance.  And here is the lesson from this passage for me, as this has been a year of changes and I want to know I do right by God.  I want to follow the path He directs- but am unsure of my own ability to judge. And so I am "putting out fleeces", hoping to be seen by God as Gideon-like and not Thomas-like.  And there is one more, related, lesson in this, and it came with a verse that my Bible linked to an earlier verse in Matthew:

Mat 28:9  And behold, Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.
Mat 28:10  Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me." 

The reference verses:

Mat 26:31  Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'
Mat 26:32  But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee."
Mat 26:33  Peter answered him, "Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away."
Mat 26:34  Jesus said to him, "Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times."

I want you to see that the promise of 26:32 was fulfilled:  Jesus always fulfills His promises. But also, that Peter let his big mouth and his pride get in his way of LISTENING to the promise.  Instead of bragging on himself- as the others did as well- he should have been looking into the where and when of Jesus meeting them afterwards.  Pride and self-importance kept Peter from realizing his Lord was coming back; it kept Thomas from believing He was coming back.  How is it keeping us from seeing Jesus's fulfilled promises?