Highly Exalted

The symptoms are ubiquitous.  They are easy to recognize in others but very difficult to diagnose in one’s self.  The symptoms point toward a spiritual disease that has ravaged believer and unbeliever alike.  Stephen Altrogge identifies discontentment in western society in his recent publication by Crossway, The Greener Grass Conspiracy:  Finding Contentment on Your Side of the Fence.  Altrogge does a marvelous job shedding light on the one thing that pierces hearts.  Many people are decidedly tied to the pursuit of material goods and the increasing “high” they receive from it.  Altrogge explains that contentment is something that is increasingly rare, however, it is something to be cultivated.  In a society that preaches, “bigger, faster, stronger,” how is the Christian to respond?  Altrogge suggests finding contentment not in worldly pursuits but in the joy of knowing Jesus Christ. 

 Altrogge also grapples with the hard issues of life that tend to produce circumstances that do not make it easy to find contentment.  Altrogge is clear that circumstances are not the issue; the issue, he claims, is this conspiracy of our hearts.  The conspiracy of our hearts, as it should be no surprise, is the core of the problem.  Contentment, Altrogge explains, is a “disposition of the heart” and not tied to possessions.  He recognizes the idolatry that is so pervasive and points the reader toward redemption in Jesus Christ.  Altrogge’s use of scripture is commendable and fair to the context from which it is taken. 

 Throughout this book, Altrogge, laces a thread of humor that keeps the reader focused on the reality of discontentment in our society and the source of joy in knowing Jesus.  One can easily discern Altrogge’s pastoral heart as he gently rebukes and exhorts readers.  This book will be useful especially for believers who struggle with misplaced desires and who never seem content with themselves or their religion.  This book is written for anyone who has ever thought the grass must be greener on the other side.  After reading this book, people will realize how green their side is when Jesus is the sole caretaker.

Check out the video:  http://vimeo.com/21402348

In this passage of Scripture, we look to the common event of the crucifixion as portrayed by each of the Gospels.  However, only Matthew includes an important miracle that is worthy of our attention.  Several miraculous things are associated with the crucifixion of Christ, perhaps, none so strange as the resurrection of dead saints.  In Matthew’s account of the crucifixion, Christ’s surrendering of His life sets off a chain of events with subsequent enormity. 

When Jesus voluntarily gave up His spirit and said, “It is finished,” at once several things happened.  The temple veil was torn from top to bottom thereby exposing the holy of holies and sealing Christ’s role as the satisfaction of God’s wrath, the ultimate sacrifice, and the Great High Priest who makes intercession on our behalf.  Christ’s death was the long-awaited fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham even though most first century Jews did not recognize it.  At this time as well the earth shook.  As a consequence of this, tombs of the dead were either split or rolled away thereby exposing the graves of some saints and ruining a good cemetery.  Only Matthew records what comes next.  Dead saints began walking.  There is much debate on this particular topic.  Some scholars resign this part of the story to lore while others hold to the factual occurence.  It should be no surprise given the centrality of the doctrine of inerrancy that we must hold to this literal reading of Matthew.  So when we read of dead men walking a few things come to mind.  The first is, who are these who are resurrected?  Secondly, what does one do when resurrected?  Perhaps, thirdly, the poignant question, why?

Scripture is pretty clear that the ones who were raised were the redeemed.  Albeit, how can they be raised or redeemed on that side of Jesus’ empty tomb?  Perhaps they were saints who trusted in God’s provision that He would bring the Messiah or they could have been believers who died during Jesus’ earthly life and knew trusted Him as the coming Savior or they were Old Testaments saints who had faith in God and like Abraham it was reckoned to him as righteousness.  Whichever of the three scenarios, the point is bodily resurrection is real, and it will be our future should we die before Jesus returns.

What do the resurrected do?  This must be answered in light of the entire New Testament, namely 1 Corinthians 15:20.  It is clear in Paul’s writings that Christ must be the first fruits of those who are asleep.  However, Matthew’s account is pretty clear that the bodies of saints were raised and then after Jesus’ resurrection, they came out of the tomb and went to Jerusalem.  “The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many” (vv52-53).

But why?  The satisfaction of God’s holy wrath that sinners should have bore was a transaction that was so monumental that it could only have been done through the will of Christ.  The Bible says He gave up His spirit once the atoning work was done.  So significant was that work that the earth shook and exposed graves.  Jesus’ death was so enormous, it is as if an eternal rippling occured and some of the first rings of the ripple included dead saints’ graves.  This ought to cause us to pause at the glorious work of Christ and see how sinners separated from Christ are being reconciled to God by faith in Jesus even today.  Another ripple of this was the testimony of the centurion in verse 54.  After all these things happened He acknowledged Jesus as the Son of God.  The work of the cross began immediately after Jesus’ death.  Lives were being changed and they are still being changed today.  The cross was meant to be the instrument of death for Jesus, and it has ended up being the instrument of our second birth in Christ.  Soli Deo gloria!

In our understanding of discipleship, we come to one of the most difficult commands of Jesus’ most prevalent teaching on genuine discipleship.  In a modern world, with every imaginable convenience at our disposal, many western Christians have grown accustomed to perishable things.  Although there is certainly nothing wrong with owning things or having material wealth, we must come to know where the danger lies.  As followers of Christ, we must understand this passage (Matthew 6:19-24) in light of first century life.  When we think of the first century our minds do not immediately go to the idea of convenience or ease of life.  Yet Jesus addresses the idol of materialism in a first century context.  Fast forward to the 21^st century and think about what consumes our lives and churches.  The danger that Jesus teaches against is the danger of caring so much about our things that it disrupts our devotion to Jesus.  Our love of things so clouds our lives that we either do not trust God with our treasure or we choose our riches over trusting in God.  Could we “do” church without PowerPoint, sound systems, a nursery, pews, hymnals or offering envelopes?  How much of how we do church is wrapped up in the things of church and not the adoration of a Savior who loves us enough to die on a cross in our place. 

 Certainly, God has blessed us as a people, but are we really using our blessing in order to bless other people with the love of Jesus Christ?  Are we being good stewards of God’s blessing?  Is our total aim the exaltation of Christ in everything we do?  If this passage is about anything, it is about idolatry.  Jesus is very clear.  We have a choice to make.  When we try and serve both our wealth and God, we are being idolatrous.  Like Joshua, we must choose whom we will serve.

Sunday will mark the conclusion of two months on this section of Matthew 6 where Jesus teaches about spiritual devotion through the giving of alms, prayer and fasting.  This week we narrow in on fasting.  How do we fast?  How do we not fast?  Why does fasting matter to the Gospel?  When you reduce the point of this part of chapter six, we find that Jesus is addressing the hypocrisy of the “righteous,” and teaching about the regenerate heart of a disciple.

When we talk of fasting, fear strikes the heart of many Christians whose minds move immediately toward the hunger pangs of mid-day and trying to occupy the time that they otherwise would spend eating.  The problem with this all too common understanding of fasting is that it is without mention or concern for the heart of the disciple.  Of all the spiritual disciplines covered in this chapter of Matthew (alms-giving, praying and fasting),  fasting is probably the most misunderstood because the cultural mores of today neglect the heart.  We fast out of spiritual obligation not at all concerned with Jesus or His will or His work or His purposes.  Therefore we find a culture that fasts nominally but not without a feast of excess either before (i.e. Mardi Gras in the Catholic religion) or after (i.e. Ramadan in the Islamic religion).  However, in Christianity, we find Jesus teaching disciples that fasting in and of itself is not spiritual but the heart’s retalitory response to Jesus’ drawing sinners to Himself.  Christians should fast because they want to know God and His Word better.  When a contrite heart seeks after the Lord in this way, we are assured that the Lord is faithful to notice the genuine “faster” and to reward him with the presence of God and a greater understanding of His magnificent will.

We have slowed to a crawl during our study of the sermon on the mount in order to study the disciples’ prayer more closely.  Prayer is a central part of what we do as believers; it should be natural to our very lives.  After all we are creatures created by the Creator for a purposeful and worshipful relationship.  All of us stand to gain something from carefully studying our Lord’s instruction.  In the past few weeks, we have taken this part of scripture a verse at a time trying to discern that which God desires to speak to His people.  During this time we began in Matthew 6:9-10 finding the priority in prayer.  Last week we studied the provision in prayer and this week we will see the pardon in prayer. 

 We turn our attention to the final part of Jesus’ model prayer.  Here we see Jesus re-introduce forgiveness.  This idea of forgiveness is not new.  A careful look at the Old Testament will reveal a God who continually demonstrates His forgiveness and mercy toward His chosen people.  Over and over God is pictured as a God of second and third and fourth chances when it comes to the people on whom His affection rests.  In Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6, we find an imperative that asks God to forgive as we forgive others. 

 The reality of God’s forgiveness is the result of the Gospel.  We see forgiveness afforded to us as sinners when Christ became our substitute on the cross and when we repent and trust Him.  He extends to us forgiveness, and we as His disciples are to mimic His example.  As believers we are called to extend forgiveness as many times as the transgressor repents (Luke 17:3-4).