Taxes for Jesus? ...

Not talking about tithes, they are an opportunity to share in the ministry of redemption with Jesus.  Tithes are asked of your increase (to remind you that you experience increase).  Tithes help you prioritize the value of what is important to you – hint: if money is what is important, you are missing quite a lot.  Then there are offerings.  Offerings are as the base of the word implies, an offer, of your treasure back to God from the free will choice of your heart.  You give to Him whatever you see fit to give.  You are not constrained to any limits of 10%, so no gift from you is too small, or too large.  It is only a reflection of your heart as you give it.  The joy you experience doing that, is a joy you alone can realize, and God alone can share as your heart shines open to Him.  Your gift is never made fun of.  It is never ridiculed.  It is never wasted.  It changes your heart each time you give it.  Repeated giving has a profound effect on you, and if it is accompanied by joy you feel from doing it, even more so.  If you would rather keep your treasure than give it, or giving it makes you angry, the sacrifice is not truly an offering.  Keep it.  Hold on to it; and realize the futility of trying to hold on to something as fleeting as treasure.  Give it; and learn to experience that giving is truly better than receiving, and far better than hoarding.  But tithes and offerings are not anywhere near the category of taxes.

Taxes are non-negotiable.  Taxes are certain (like the death they inevitably represent).  Taxes are imposed usually by governmental, or controlling entities interested in the preservation of power.  Taxes are not part of the system of government of heaven.  In heaven, people will long to find another way to give something more of themselves they have not thought to give already.  Ideas will be exercised full time in trying to give more, and make the lives of someone else in heaven, just a bit happier (as if that was possible).  No one will ask you to.  You will do it, because you cannot bear to do otherwise.  This is how God does it.  When you come in closer harmony with Him, it will rub off on you as well.  So in heaven, there is no need for even the concept of taxation.  But in this world, the devil is duly pleased with implementing as harsh a method of taxes as he can impose.  Taxes are never pleasant, usually wasted, utterly futile, and always too high.  So who could have imagined imposing a system of taxation in the name of Jesus?  Church leadership, that’s who. 

Matthew records an incident in his gospel to the Hebrews in chapter seventeen of just such a thing.  Let us take a second look at it and see what lessons may be hiding in these few verses.  Picking up in verse 24 it begins … “And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?”  Ouch.  To begin, the Temple at Jerusalem was more than just the physical place idealized by the nation as the best place to worship God.  It was also a symbolic seat of power.  What should have been dedicated to God alone, had become corrupted by the politics of trying to run a nation.  Sound familiar?  We need only turn on any news outlet today, and see where the influence of protestant churches attempts to influence the policy of the USA.  Catholics as well, continue to look to influence policies in nations all across the world.  It would seem, Christianity, which should have been a thing left to the pure worship of Christ, has now also become a symbolic power of political influence.

And where there is politics, and where there is power of any kind, there must also be funding to keep it so.  Thus a system of taxation is imposed for the maintenance of the Temple (or at least in theory that what it might be used for).  But then, have you ever known any kind of tax to be used on the thing it is supposed to be used on?  And more likely, have you seen taxes seem to find there way into the pockets of those in power, be they in the church, or out of it.  Here in this system of taxation, yet again the Sanhedrin looks for a way to trip up Jesus.  If Jesus refuses to pay the tax; they will claim He does not care about the upkeep of the Temple.  If He pays it, then He shows humility or deference to the Temple, and by proxy, to them.

Since Capernaum was Peter’s home town, the tax masters approach Peter, hoping to embarrass him when Jesus refuses (or at least that is what they expected).  Matthew continues in verse 25 saying … “He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?”  Jesus however, had a different lesson to teach.  Instead of focusing on making the tax they asked for, He poses an entirely different question, about ownership.  Jesus divides the audience for tax payers into two camps, the children of the King, and strangers to the King.  He then asks Peter who the King is likely to taxes from, His own children, or total strangers.  Look closely my brothers and sisters, Jesus is here putting you into a classification you might forget you belong to.

Matthew continues in verse 26 saying … “Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.”  Peter responds what common sense calls for, a King would take taxes from strangers, never from His own kids.  Jesus then makes a very profound statement – Then are the children free.  You are not a stranger to your King, He calls you His child, and loves you so, and treats you so.  The children are provided for by the King.  The children eat because the King puts His food on their tables.  They wear the clothes the King has seen fit to dress them with (one day this will include a robe of righteousness none of us deserve, but all of us receive washed clean in the blood of our King).  The children need not concern themselves with how they survive, for the King takes care of ALL these worries.  It would stand to reason then, with our survival insured by our King, we are free to give of ourselves completely, without fear or regret.  To mirror for others what our King chooses to do in the great love of His kids.  Religious taxes are an anachronism we need not be bothered with.  However even free children must concern themselves with helping others come to Jesus to find freedom.

Matthew continues in verse 27 saying … “Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.”  Jesus ultimately paid the tax (for all of us), not because He needed to, but because He was free to.  Jesus was more interested in trying to find a way to the tax master’s heart, than He was about making a principled stand on why He did not need to pay this tax.  So He creates a miracle, where money, gold that is, is found in a random fish Peter catches in his hometown Sea of Galilee shores.  I imagine something that had never been done before.  The tax masters bear witness to the miracles of Jesus, even though they never asked for a sign.  The tax was still unfair.  But Jesus paid it.  He did not argue, or raise arms, or hold a revolution.  He did not even try to make sure His next church would never be consumed with thinking about these kinds of things again.  He just went the extra mile.  Because He still craved for the soul of those assigned to collect the taxes, and those wicked enough to dream up that system.

Jesus does not check back up on this tax, to see if it was used rightly.  He knows it will likely never be used rightly.  He is intentionally giving funds to those intent on killing Him.  They may wind up converting this gold coin into several silver ones, that one day briefly line the pockets of Judas who will betray Him over it.  That gold coin may instead have found its way into Roman pockets, funding a spear that would one day pierce His side, or a cross He would one day hang upon.  Where His tax money went was STILL not His concern.  The life of the tax master was.  Life was more important than money.  A pathway to the heart more important that asserting His freedom not to pay.  He did what was not required, because His treasure is in hearts reconciled to Himself.  A silly gold coin was not going to get in the way of that.

And where are we today in how we value our money, and our gold?  Have our Christian churches decided we must defend ourselves, in effect, choosing to take on the role of the King, rather than trusting in the King to do what His love demands of Him.  Have we lost trust in our King, choosing to fight to live, rather than trust that our King has our eternal lives in His hands, and our earthly ones as well.  Have we told ourselves it is our “job” to “provide” for our families, and look to our King, only when we don’t believe we have enough money to get the job done.  We fight to hold on to our taxes, to keep as much as we can.  If not from our churches (and some treat tithes and offerings, not much different than taxation), then from our governments.  And we never once consider trying to find pathways to any heart outside of our own.  We develop a spirit of fighting to keep what is rightfully ours.  And in this spirit, we try to keep those other Christians who may disagree with our beliefs, away from us.  We reason we must fight the devil, and since they do not agree, they must be with the devil.  Yet all of us claim to follow Christ.  And there was no fight in Christ, to keep what was His, not even His life.  He gave all, to reach all, to reach me, and you.

Perhaps our churches today, could abandon ideas of influence and power, leaving behind the provinces of Satan.  Perhaps instead we could hone our skills in loving others, trying to give more of ourselves to others, to meeting needs anywhere and everywhere – without fear, or regret.  In this we would enter the provinces of Jesus, and find a King already there, working so hard already, now looking for those of us who are ready to join with Him, in the ministry of finding a pathway to hearts.  Even if that means we lose a few things along the way or give up what should not be required.  At the end of it all, the real treasure, is the treasure of souls.  Gold is nothing but pavement for city streets, worth nothing more than gravel is today.  But the feet that may one day walk on it, are priceless.

 

Darkness Has a Plan for You ...

We talk extensively about what plans Jesus has in mind for you.  They begin with your liberation.  Your freedom from slavery to self-love, and the sin you embrace.  The plans of Jesus for you, start by breaking your chains to pain and death, and in their place granting you a new life, a real life, something way more than mere existence.  In short, what Jesus has in mind for you (and only you), is unique to you, and offers a purpose without end, an infinite place in His Kingdom that will never expire – and they begin in the here and now, as soon as you allow them to begin.  But unfortunately, these are not the only plans that exist where you are concerned.  Your life is a not a simple choice of what you want, and what Jesus wants.  That is not the two-way choice you face.  If it is not the light you choose to embrace - that will form a shield around you; the darkness is all that is left to you.  The darkness tells you, that “you” are strong and in charge of your fate.  Submission is an act of weakness, you need not submit to Jesus (though the reality is that through submission, you replace your weakness, with His strength).

The goal of the darkness is to first deceive you into believing that there is no darkness at all.  Once you accept this premise, darkness will have full sway over you, and you without the slightest recognition, that events, circumstances, and results are not “just” because of what you choose, and why you choose them; but because you are under attack by a darkness so black its malevolence cannot be fully measured.  Yet so many, even within the church, come to believe the darkness is not real, something of bed time stories, and tools to control the masses through fear.  But fear, is not a tool to escape sin, it is a reason for sin, and a symptom of sin.  Jesus does not want your fear, He wants your trust, and ultimately He hopes you will make a choice to love Him.  The devil is slick in projecting the negative aspects of who he is on to God, accusing God of the things he (the devil) is most guilty of himself.  Obfuscate, hide the idea of darkness at all, and convince you that your life is a matter of luck, and God’s punishment, that darkness plays no role in it at all.

But what happens when you begin to deviate from “normal” behavior.  What happens when you entertain thoughts of the abnormal, of the unacceptable to social norms, and find them attractive, appealing, and ultimately ideas you wish to follow and embrace?  What is perverse, becomes a part of who you are, and who you have chosen to become.  And perversity need not have only to do with sexual expression, it can exist in a number of plains.  The kleptomaniac steals, like you and I take a breath.  We look at these people and refer to their condition as a sickness, as a form of mental disorder.  But that is not how they see themselves.  What is aberrant and perverse to us, is fully normal to them; even if normal is different, just a different idea of normality.  The drug addict, and addicts of every variety, understand logically the danger of their behavior but choose it anyway to get the fix.  The child who entertains the ideas of torturing small animals, and works his way up to humans, becoming a serial killer and a sociopath – chooses not to see himself as a “problem” but as a “solution” to our society.  The perverse expanding its reach across our populous more insidious than any virus, and more effective in its spread.  Until every man looks in the mirror and determines that they are good person, despite whatever differences there might be in how they behave.

But facts remain.  The timeline for darkness is finite.  It will one day come to an end.  John wrote in revelation about the very end of evil, when Satan himself will finally be consumed in the lake of fire.  And once that is done, death itself will be consumed.  The ultimate death of evil.  The ultimate death of death.  No eternal minions to propagate the existence of evil, or torture, or dying.  Instead the absolute end of it, in thought, in motive, in deed, and in instruments of its expression.  This means Satan is on a clock.  Where once he existed from his creation, in a life not intended for an ending, now he is destined to one day be finally consumed in fire, never to exist again.  That clock ticks loudly in his ears.  Every day is a day closer to his final end.  He cannot avoid it (though he will try).  He cannot overcome it.  He is bound to his fate.  So as evil does, it looks for a way, to plot revenge.  Forgiveness does not exist in the mind of evil, any more than mercy does.  And to strike with revenge, he must strike at what God loves the most, namely at you.

So darkness formulates plans for your life, just as firmly as what Jesus does.  The darkness can hurt God, by hurting you.  They can make the pain of God greater, by having you blame God for the pain that comes your way (when in secret it was never Him).  They can make the pain of God better, when they get you to hurt yourself.  They can make this pain better when they can deceive you into believing that a “new normal” is just as good as any old normal, even if that includes being a serial killer, or an addict, or someone who thinks forced sex is better than consensual sex especially as it relates to children.  In morphing what you do, the evil spreads, and impacts itself on other children of God further increasing the pain.  And do you then have value in the dark kingdom … no.  You are nothing to them, merely a tool to spread pain, and a victim to have pain inflicted on.   Lest you believe any differently, or think it could never happen to you, or think you are too innocent (or your baby) is too innocent, to ever be caught up in this – lets take a look at a story Matthew recorded in his gospel in chapter seventeen.

Matthew picks up in verse 14 saying … “And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, [verse 15] Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.”  First note, that the victim is not the man himself, a father, and someone who believes in the power of Jesus Christ.  The victim is the son, a child, presumably an innocent child.  But his state or age in life, did not prevent his possession, by a demon of the darkness.  And what does this demon force the victim to do, to fall into fires to burn, or into waters to drown.  The darkness plagues this boy, to send pain to his father, his parents, his family.  The darkness tortures this boy to rebuke the church (whether old or new).  And the boy, or what happens to the boy is of no consequence.

Matthew continues in verse 16 saying … “And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.”  Yikes!  This father, brought the boy to the disciples of Jesus.  You know, the ones with the keys to the kingdom, who are able to bind things on earth (figuratively) and have them reflected or heard in heaven.  James the future leader of the church in Jerusalem, Peter the future evangelist to the world, and John the chief prophet of the Christian faith, as well as all the others and none could cure him.  Now everyone of us, looks at Judas and says in our hearts – figures.  But then Judas had the same gifts of demon repulsion as did any other disciple, and was no less a leader in the church, and in the faith as Peter, or as you, or as me.  So the failure of Judas was no more or less the same failure as Peter.  It was not about what Judas would ultimately do, that causes him to fail.  For Judas could have been forgiven of that future sin, just as Peter was forgiven for ones he would commit in the heat of those events.  The problem of this father, and his boy, were in the here and now, and in the here and now – not one of the disciples could overcome the darkness nestled in this boy.

Matthew continues in verse 17 saying … “Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. [verse 18] And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.”  First note, that the child is healed immediately.  There is no delay on the part of Jesus.  The misery the darkness brings to this child’s life is over for now.  But the words of Jesus look none too happy.  “O faithless” generation.  Is Jesus speaking to the dad, seems very unlikely as the dad believes, and tried the disciples of Jesus, before coming to Him personally.  And the boy may or may not even be present, and is infected with a demon, so unlikely Jesus is challenging his faith.  There will be no blaming of the victim here.

But the church?  Is Jesus challenging his own disciples?  Is He challenging the Pharisees and Sanhedrin?  Or is He challenging you and I?  Perhaps all of the above.  But it is not just our faithlessness that warrants the attention of Jesus, it is also our perversion.  Have we adopted the aberrant as normal, perhaps just a different kind of normal, but one far outside of harmony with the laws and character of a God of love?  Do we see ourselves in the mirror, and see nothing wrong.  Have we perverted the Word itself.  Have we used the Word to justify our traditions, our ideas, and our notions of separation with the brotherhood of Christ – each group claiming purity, while ostracizing any other “less informed” groups of believers.  Our perversion need not just be in our sexual expression, it can also be founded in how we read the Word, and what we do with what we find, using it as a weapon against other sinners, instead of a hospital field manual of how to love others back to the feet of Jesus, ever pointing them there for the relief they so desperately need. 

How long shall I be with you?  And more poignantly; how long shall I suffer you?  These questions of Christ imply a seeming limit to His patience.  But I believe it is more a statement of His absolute frustration with us.  He offers total healing.  He offers a path to perfection, and a life beyond our wildest dreams.  And we sit around delaying that choice, avoiding it, postponing it.  As if the pain and death we now embrace is somehow better than what He offers.  Our blindness, our stupidity, so amplified against what the alternative is.  This is the plans of darkness for you, unfolding in your real life.  To keep you from submission to Jesus.  Making up all kinds of excuses why you should ever avoid that choice.  Not yet, you need to make more money first.  Not yet, you need to have unbridled sex with as many as you can first.  Not yet … the list goes on and on … each choice a hidden pathway to pain and death and misery along the way.  The words of Jesus reflect a coming finality to making that choice for something better.  There is a clock, and it is ticking – whether for Satan, or for you with him.  This is not about fear, it is about a choice for something so much better, that could be made now, right now.

Matthew concludes this snippet picking up in verse 19 saying … “Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? [verse 20] And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. [verse 21] Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”  We have our answer.  Jesus tells the disciples, that it is “their” unbelief that caused their failure.  That was not a slight against Judas alone.  It was an assessment across all of them, even the ones who will one day take a more leadership role in the faith.  And perhaps a continued assessment of you and I.  Faith as small as a grain of mustard seed is a tiny thing, and yet none of us seem to wield it.

We accept the cancer we encounter as “a fact of life”, never once considering it might be a direct result of the darkness.  We accept the need and the poor, as just another “fact of life”, again ignoring the influence and direct plans of the darkness on the lives of those impacted.  And none of us wield our grain of mustard seed to provide the fix – not a relief to suffering, only an accompaniment through it – instead of a true miraculous fix.  We just let the pain linger.  Afraid to test our mountain to be moved.  Afraid to be shown publicly, we lack the faith to even make it rumble a little.  And the plans of darkness triumph at the expense of the weak wielding of our mustard seeds of faith.  What is more, Jesus offers that this particular demon requires prayer and fasting to get it to leave.  As we try to pray with our tiny faith, perhaps our faith would be better augmented if we were willing to fast quietly, pray incessantly, and then look again to see if our mountains have been moved, and the demons of darkness vanquished against the bright light of Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray.

Your life will come down to only two paths.  It will not be a choice between good and evil.  That is too easy.  It will be a choice between submission to Jesus, and a liberation and freedom that leads to real life as it was meant to be enjoyed.  Or it will be consumed with the plans of darkness who care no more for you than does a tyrant stepping on an ant as he moves from one place to the other.  There is no middle ground.  There is no happy median.  There is life abundantly.  Or there is misery even more abundantly.  Everything else is deception.  Everything else is fear.  There really is only one way out, and His name is Jesus Christ.  And Jesus had more yet to say …

 

A Vision of His Kingdom ...

Does Jesus lie?  Non-believers may not have a good basis to answer that question.  And even believers sometimes doubt its answer.  But to answer in the affirmative, it would help to have an explicit example of where Jesus did lie.  Otherwise given the vast history of things He predicted that came true, and the personal examples in your own encounters with Jesus, I believe you will find that Jesus does not lie.  So lets give it a stretch and look for an instance that proves this theory wrong.  You might begin with prophecy and its interpretation.  Does being wrong about how you interpret prophecy make Jesus the liar?  To believe that is to state, you are completely right, and if reality deviates with what you believe, it must be Jesus who lied about it.  Given how often you are wrong in life in general about a great many things.  It seems hardly plausible, that in matters of scriptural interpretation, you suddenly became all knowing – and Jesus must have lied, if reality does not work out the way you interpreted it would.

More likely, a second look, a deeper study, will find more meaning in the same texts you studied before.  More likely, the other meanings that may emerge offer you a different way to see things, perhaps a better way, perhaps a way closer to what Jesus originally intended, than what you gathered the first time you read it through.  To trust to the interpretation of the church leaders, and church tradition, is to walk the path of our Pharisee forefathers, and wind up in the same end result – kill Truth, rather than change our minds.  On the other hand, looking to so many of the Biblical prophecies that have been fulfilled, and so accurately, tends to give one confidence that Jesus knows what He is talking about.  His record is very very good.  This inspires confidence that again Jesus does not need to lie.  The Truth is always better for us to know, and always what He reveals to us, even if the revelation is slow – because that is the speed our minds need to receive it without blowing a gasket.

Just a few segments ago, Peter stated that Jesus was the Son of God, a revelation given to him by God the Father.  Jesus called him blessed to receive it.  And immediately Jesus asked His disciples not to tell anyone about it yet.  Instead He began revealing to them that He was to die at the hands of church leadership, be tortured no less, and crucified; but then to rise on the third day.  As for Peter’s revelation, Jesus asked His disciples to keep this from His otherwise would be followers – they were NOT ready to hear it yet.  While it was true, it was a Truth, not everyone was ready to hear.  Then the remainder of what Jesus told His disciples, they DID NOT LIKE hearing.  Peter even tried to rebuke Jesus, and tell Him this would never happen.  Yet again an unpleasant truth, but then a truth so glorious the history of the universe would soon be defined by it.  Even then His disciples could not get over the fact, their own interpretation of the role of the Messiah, like the church leadership of the time, was wrong.  Did it make Jesus a liar?  No.  Things unfurled exactly as Jesus had predicted, including the fantastic parts that could only happen after the horrible parts.

Outside of the miracles (and they were astonishing, perhaps terrifying, and yet so glorious), the disciples looked up to Jesus as one of their own.  Jesus was different to them, but more the same than different.  For the most part Jesus looked like any other man, since Adam, until then.  But to increase their faith yet again, this was about to change.  Matthew picks up the story in the last verse of chapter sixteen, that in context, continues the next thoughts right into the first verses of chapter seventeen.  Perhaps it would have been better if placed there, but no matter, we are capable of continuing a read as needed.  It begins in verse 28 saying … “Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”  And so begins our intense analysis; did Jesus lie?

We interpret this text to mean … some of you disciples … not all, but a few … will not die … until you see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom (or in our minds, the second coming of Christ, which the whole world continues to wait for).  Since ALL the disciples died, we know this could not have been true.  In fact, ALL the disciples (short John but not for lack of trying) met martyr’s deaths, ugly, gruesome, torture of extreme bodily pain, which was only relieved by death itself.  That was how reality unfolded, which definitely does not jive with our traditional interpretation of this verse – so again I ask did Jesus lie?  Or perhaps, did Jesus have something else in mind, then what we traditionally think?  The answer is contained in chapter seventeen of Matthew’s gospel, in the very next texts as this story continues.

It picks up in verse 1 saying … “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,”  You will note this is a few of the disciples, or “some” of them.  In reality, these represent three key disciples who will serve in the new Christian church’s leadership.  James will head the new church in Jerusalem (its traditional headquarters, as the impact of the Messiah was first to be felt by the traditional bloodline of Abraham if they but accepted it).  Peter will be the first great evangelist, spreading the gospel far and wide across the then known world.  John would be the chief prophet to not only the Hebrew church, but to the Christian faith all the way from that time to the last remnant to walk the earth before His return.  These three disciples were taken apart from the rest, and up the mountain they hiked, likely to the place where Jesus went to pray at night.  Chances are, none of them thought anything strange about it at first.

Matthew continues in verse 2 saying … “And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.”  This is the true form of the Son of Man.  This is Jesus, NOT like one of them, burdened by our world of darkness, but how the Son of Man looks in His kingdom – just as He said only six days earlier at the end of chapter sixteen in the gospel of Matthew.  This is not baby Jesus in a manger.  This is not good-time Jesus at the Wedding in Cana.  This is not tortured Jesus upon a cross, dead.  This is Jesus alive as He was following the resurrection, the same way He will look past His ascension from this world forever more.  This is Jesus at home in His kingdom.  And true to form about the kingdom of Jesus, it was not meant to be alone in.

Matthew continues in verse 3 saying … “And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. [verse 4] Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.”  The first thing that appears in the Kingdom of Jesus are the redeemed for which He is destined to die and return again triumphant.  These represent the first fruits of the Kingdom.  Elijah is there never having tasted death, translated while still alive (like Enoch before him).  Moses did die, but was resurrected by Jesus and taken to heaven early (partially because Satan was trying to mess with the body).  Both architypes are representations and reminders that Jesus will go through whatever comes to Him personally because His ability to visit with Elijah, and Moses, and Peter, James, and John depends on it.  His love will motivate Him to face whatever comes, because His Kingdom is not a Kingdom at all without His children in it.  It is not home without you, without me.  He so loves the countless millions He intends to fill His home up with, that association and fellowship have become the treasure He prizes above all else.  The streets of gold are for you to have fun with – your company, is what He is looking forward to with such a passion you can hardly comprehend it.

Peter offers the best his brain can think of.  He immediately assumes the place must be the important thing.  He offers to build three tabernacles, that is, three temples to worship in.  One for Elijah, one for Moses, and one for Jesus.  But Elijah wants no temple, nor does Moses.  The lives of men are not worthy of worship, even those of the great Biblical heroes we admire still today.  It is only Jesus that is worthy of worship.  The cleaned-up versions of Elijah and Moses, depend on Jesus following through with the sacrifice He is still to make.  There is no holiness in Elijah or Moses, that does not first originate in the transformative power of the love of Jesus, which they have fully agreed to accept, even though it will change them completely from who they were, unto who they are at this moment, and every moment going forward.  Peter is too much a baby in the faith to begin to contemplate this yet.  He has not even finished speaking when he is interrupted, by none other, than God the Father who is also present.

Matthew continues in verse 5 saying … “While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. [verse 6] And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.”  God stops Peter in his tracks, there is no need for tabernacles that honor men, not even elaborate temples to honor Jesus, there is ONLY need to listen to what Jesus says.  God the Father appears clouded in a brilliant cloud, barely able to contain the majesty and glory of who He is.  He speaks saying … This is my beloved Son.  Any doubts about the identity of Jesus, or the fact, that this is what His kingdom is and will be are shattered into a million pieces.  God the Father proceeds to acknowledge the life of Jesus to this point, in saying that He is well pleased with His Son.  In case you thought Jesus was ever wrong, let it go.  In case you thought Jesus did not have all the facts, well, one of you might, but it is not Jesus.  God the Father wants you to listen to Jesus His Son.

And in this verse crumbles the entire Muslim faith.  An endorsement of Jesus as the Son of God, and the way by which entry to the Kingdom is attained.  The One God is in three parts, and the Father says, to listen to His Son.  Case closed.  Every other supposed claim to deity is shattered in this one verse.  One God who asks you to listen to His Only Son.  This right here is all you need for salvation.  This Jesus will be all you ever need.  And listening is free.  Just like the transformation Jesus longs to bring to your life, to end the pain and death you embrace, and offer you a life beyond imagination that starts in the here and now, not just after the grave.  And what happens when human men encounter the God of the ages.  They fall flat on their faces and become exceedingly afraid.  The fear in them, is a reflection of the sin in them.  Before Adam fell he looked forward to the walks with Jesus in the Garden of Eden.  But after he fell, he immediately feared allowing his sin to come in to contact with the perfect love of God.  And no matter how good you think you are – the mirror of the Father God – will reveal the truth of how much farther you have yet to go.

Matthew completes this vision of the Kingdom in verse 7 saying … “And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. [verse 8] And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. [verse 9] And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.”  And here in this sequence of verses is the direct interpretation to the last verse of chapter sixteen.  Some of the disciples, still alive, saw Jesus in His Kingdom, with the saved, and with His Father.  A vision not the complete reality, because until the final days, we will remain unable to see God the Father until all our evil has finally been washed away.  But this version does not require a second coming, only a vision of what the end result of the second coming will one day look like.  Not only does it prevent Jesus from being a liar, you don’t have to bounce around scripture looking all over the place to find a convoluted meaning for what it means.  You literally only have to keep reading.  Just a few more verses in sequence.

And in case you thought prophecy had only one meaning … hang on to your hat … Matthew continues in verse 10 saying … “And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? [verse 11] And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. [verse 12] But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. [verse 13] Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.”  Church leadership, and church tradition, and the common people of the church – all believed that the prophecy of the coming of Elijah before the coming of the Messiah was a literal one.  Jesus, here states, no, it was a figurative one.  It was the message of Elijah to restore all things, i.e. for the nation to repent, that was needed to prepare the way of the Lord.  For if we will not repent, we will not submit, we will not allow Jesus to change us, and so keep Jesus at arm’s length (our choice, not His).

In the very next sequence of texts, as if to reinforce the point that we do not always get it right.  Jesus reinterprets what scripture intended to say for the followers willing to listen directly to Jesus, instead of to tradition, or the church leadership to tell them what they should think.  Does Jesus lie?  Only you can answer that for yourself.  But for me, He never has, and I believe He never will.  He simply does not need to lie.  The Truth is who He is.  The Truth is the core of the gospel.  The gospel is not good news based on lies, it is good news founded in a power that can transform you no matter where you are, what you have done, or how you think today.  Submit yourself to Jesus and watch how much better your life gets.  Watch your priorities change.  Watch what you treasure turn to thinks that really matter, and how your treasure keeps growing based in a love you can barely describe.  Watch your interpretation of scripture begin to change, not towards heresy, but towards a fulfillment and proximity to God that only comes from being in harmony with God.  There is no end to the upside, and in all of it, no reason to lie ever again.  No wonder He is called the Truth.  And the Truth had more yet to say …

 

Your Legacy ...

How are you known?  If you were to be described by your co-workers in a candid conversation, what kinds of things would they say about you?  Would it be the same kinds of things your family would say, or perhaps better, or perhaps worse.  Does your community even know who you are, or like me, do you sit in obscurity barely known by the neighbors on both sides of you, let alone by a wider more public audience in whom you have expressed little interest.  What we do, is so often consumed with activity we feel is essential to our survival, that any “spare” time is usually spent in veins of entertainment.  Well at least for me it is.  I class entertainment time, spent with my family, as “down” time where my stress is relieved.  But few would know that except my family who also participate.  None of this adds up to the actions of my life creating a legacy of any note.  And as I look around me, I wonder, am I alone in this behavior, or do I mimic the countless members of my community, or my nation, who seem equally content not reaching out to me, as I am apparently content, leaving them alone.  We each pursue our own lives, believing that is enough.  It has become the expected, the norm, the natural.  To disrupt this thinking, is to invite the unknown.

What would happen, if I began taking the time each early evening to go up and down my street and begin knocking on a single door each evening, to simply check in with my neighbors.  To introduce myself, to offer any assistance I may be of help with, to invite them to open up with me, and begin sharing who we are with each other.  I am certain not all my neighbors would like me.  Even more would not appreciate being taken away from the normal activities they engage in, to be diverted to a neighbor who just wants to get to know you.  Some might call the police, afraid of my actions as they are so far out of the norm.  Some would likely slam the door in my face and ask me (not so politely) to never return.  Most would probably figure I was probably one of those horrible persistent missionaries nobody likes; and treat me accordingly.  Even if this was not my purpose.  If I was not a nagging missionary, then the next most likely thing for me to be would be a sales-person, trying to make money off our encounter.  That is nearly zero percent effective.  But if neither of those, I get classed with the criminals.  Our neighborhood is not one of great wealth, it is one of great need.  And if I am not trying to bring Jesus, or make money, I am likely trying to steal the little stuff you have, because I believe the little stuff I have is even less.

This is me, trying to get acquainted with my neighbors.  Or at least, what I believe would happen.  But then, I cannot say for sure, because I have never really tried it.  To really try it, would require I get up off the sofa (or in my case, the reclining chair that makes my back feel comfy), and do something.  And what would be my motive to do so?  Fame?  Am I looking only to be known, so that I could create a legacy for when I die, in which the little community that surrounds where I live might actually miss me; or say nice things about me.  Salvation?  Am I looking to prove to God, that His investment in me, His decision to love me enough to save me, was not misplaced.  Am I looking to earn a place in His kingdom, to satisfy the idea of being known for my works and therefore meet the minimum requirements of entry into heaven.  There are a number of texts that seem to espouse this idea.  Love?  Can’t say I have an over-abiding passion for any of my neighbors, or community yet.  Most of my love seems directed at me, or perhaps my family.  So how could this become the motive that rules my life, to the point where it rules my actions.

Matthew in his gospel to the Hebrews, zooms in on just such a set of texts.  They come from the mouth of Jesus Himself.  Picking up in chapter sixteen and verse 24 it reads … “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”  Pay special attention to the sequence of these proscriptions.  The very first idea is an interest in following Jesus, a response to the great transformative love of Jesus.  The ability of Jesus to heal you, not just your body, but in your soul, to free you from the sin you now embrace, and make your life something different, that is, something way better, than it is today.  Without this interest, why bother with the rest.  Next is the concept of absolute submission.  Submission not to some random guru, or to a random philosophy or idea, and particularly not to the idea that “you” can fix your own problems.  This is submission of who you are, to Jesus Christ alone who can fix who you are. 

The denial of self, is the recognition that what you like, is probably not the best.  What you like, leads to why you do what you do, and your motives are a long way from being in harmony with God, and in harmony with the law of God.  Your motives, are why you sin at all.  Your actions, are only a symptom of your motives.  It is the who you are underneath, it is the what you like in the core of your mind, that is the problem in what you do, and why you do it.  “You” cannot just fix that.  But Jesus can, if you but submit to Him.  You will note in this sequence of events Jesus has yet to discuss action.  First there is love, and a response to love.  Second there is a transformation of who you are through submission to Him.  Now thirdly in the sequence is finally something to do with actions, in the taking up your cross.  That cross is not meant to show an instant death.  Nope, it is worse than that.  It means as you become more like Jesus through submitting your will, your desire to Jesus, you begin to reflect Jesus more and more strongly.  This reaches a point where when others look at you, they see Jesus shining brightly through you.  And how did the world react before at this revelation – they immediately tried to torture and kill it.  If you are that vehicle of the love of Jesus, you should start planning that there is a “cross” in your future.

This is not about self-mutilation; or trying to get to the sleep of death as quickly as possible, so you can fast forward to the return of Jesus.  This is about how the world responds to perfect love.  This is about how those who refuse the love of Jesus react to the love of Jesus.  They hate it.  As does their master, the devil who also hates it.  The world does not reward you for your love, it punishes you for it.  “No good deed” … on steroids.  The world crafts a cross with your name on it as quickly as it can.  The world attempts to take from you whatever you have – whether that is career, or wealth, or reputation, or legacy.  Satan has no use for those who submit themselves to Jesus, so he does everything in his power to keep this from happening.  He distracts as much as he can, makes you believe there is no time for this, or any reason for this.  You should “like” yourself just as you are.  You should insure “you” are taken care of, before you try taking care of anyone else.  These lies of Satan are effective, and exist within the church, to great effect.

But for those who simply look to Jesus for the strength to bear this cross, they reach the final stage of the sequence, they begin to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.  It is at this point where the love of my neighbors has nothing to do with Fame, or Legacy, or Salvation – it has only to do with a love that burns within me to see my neighbors have a better life, and my desire to see that happen, and do what I can to insure it.  It is only after my transformation is something fully in the hands of Jesus, where I care less about me, and more about others (not just my family, but also including them).  If I attempt to take the actions ahead of the motives, I am bound to fail miserably.  The sequence is the roadmap to success.  My attempt to take shortcuts, or ignore the submission part, is the recipe for abject failure on every level.  The common sense of man, is never a greater wisdom than what God asks, even when that does not make sense to us.

Jesus continues in verse 25 saying … “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”  My survival is actually not important.  The survival of my family is actually not the most important thing in my life, or should it be in theirs.  I know this reads like heresy, but hang with me.  My survival is not in my hands.  In Truth, it has never been so.  I survive, or I die, at the will of Jesus, and so does my family.  This earthly life is not really the most important thing there is in my existence.  In fact, it is the sucky part.  My eternal life is really the only thing that matters, or should matter to me and my family.  Recognizing that Jesus always has been in control, is the recipe for having a full life now.  Since my life has never really been in my control, the obsession I have with actions designed for my survival can no longer be my obsession.  I can learn to trust Jesus more for my survival, because Jesus has always been in charge of my survival no matter what I thought I was doing to sustain it.  Since Jesus has always been the reason behind my family’s survival, I can learn to trust Jesus with their survival and assume less, that I am somehow the only reason for it.  It has been, it always will be Jesus, who sustains me, my family, and all life.  Not just in this world, but in the world to come.  The recognition of this fact, allows me to prioritize differently in the here and now, and keeps the fear out of my head.

Knowing my survival is in sure hands; knowing that this life is not even the most important thing; combines to allow me to take the actions that are in harmony with the will of God, without fear.  I can prioritize Jesus first, and if it costs me my life, then so be it.  There is nothing more important than Jesus then.  And no other place to look to find life in any case.  That is freedom.  That is a liberation in how you live both now and later.  It is adopting the philosophy and knowledge of heaven, back here, in the here and now.  Jesus then poses a question to show us the gravity of what is at stake with our priorities.  He continues in verse 26 saying … “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”  All our efforts to survive; all our efforts to excel in our careers, to find the wealth we all seek; what good is it?  What good is our wealth, knowing our death comes.  You can’t take it with you … is a truism that will one day confront us all.  While we may believe that wealth in the here and now will make our lives better, in truth it only adds burden, and solves nothing next to the life we could have in the world to come.

Really think about it for a moment.  Assume you were suddenly made a billionaire.  Yes, you could immediately buy anything you wanted.  You could live any way you wanted.  But then, how would you ever know you were loved from that moment on.  Many would profess their love to you, but how many would do so, because of the billions they believed you might share with them.  You could eat anything you wanted, or liked, all the time.  But then, how healthy is the diet you aspire to?  Would turning you loose in Whole Foods kill you from an overuse of a few particular foods instead of the widest variety you could find.  And could you ever eat in peace again, knowing if you suddenly became sick or died (perhaps from poison), your wealth would transfer to someone who loves you less than they profess, and loves your money almost exclusively.  You could travel anywhere in the world you wanted.  But how many security people would you have to hire to keep you safe?  Could you trust them?  Could you enjoy the rest of your life knowing privacy was no longer something you could afford, and still be safe from the criminals looking to cash in on your funds?  Having wealth seems like a dream, and perhaps it could be, but it also introduces problems you may not have ever considered, and risks you did not think possible before.

And at the end of everything when you face your death – was being a billionaire worth more to you, than having an eternal life where a mere trillion dollars is like carrying two pennies in your pocket.  Imagine being able to eat anything, and have every bite be like a new symphony of taste, better than the meal before it.  Imagine being deeply loved by so many you lose count of them all.  Imagine being able to travel not just anywhere in this world, but anywhere in the ever-expanding universe, not just in a crude private jet made out of parts that fail, but at the speed of thought and intent – 100% safe every trip, and at every destination.  And this is just the tip of the iceberg where it comes to life in the next world.  We have not even touched on the proximity to Jesus and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, and the endless creations Jesus has made and will make. 

Jesus then reminds us that these events, and these conditions of life are in fact coming.  He continues in verse 27 saying … “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.”  Jesus will return with His angels.  In the Glory of His Father, not as a simple baby born in a manger once again.  When He returns, He will be revealed as the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.  His love will be His glory.  His benevolence the reason He is glorified.  When this event happens your second life, the life after this one will begin.  The legacy of who you were will be washed away, in the dazzling brilliance of who you are meant to become.  The universe will be laid out before you.  Your possibility limited only by your own now perfect imagination, and perfected motives.  It is that reward that will accompany the next visit of our Jesus to this world of darkness.

So how do you read the phrase “then He shall reward every man according to his works”.  The traditional interpretation focuses your mind on the word “works”, as if that one was somehow bolded. It is read as if your entry into the kingdom depends upon what you have done.  Let us focus on this interpretation just for a moment.  The same series of texts has already outlined how what you will have done, what your legacy looks like to Jesus, will have been molded, changed, by your interest in Jesus, your submission to Jesus, your reflection of who Jesus is, through you, and finally your following of Jesus.  You will have taken the steps Jesus wanted you to take, not the ones you had in mind for yourself.  This same series of texts from the mouth of Jesus, lays out the entire roadmap for heaven, not just a threat couched at the end of it.  This is not about what “could” be denied to you because you did not live up to the actions you were supposed to do.  This is about REWARDS not punishments.

Now re-consider a second look at the same verse.  What if you focused on what Jesus said at the top of the phrase as if the word “rewards” was somehow bolded.  “He shall reward every man according to his works”  Perhaps the triumphant return of Jesus to this world signals a new life, a new purpose for you.  Perhaps His reward for you is based on who you are then, on the uniqueness of your transformed likes, dislikes, interests, aptitudes, and needs the kingdom of heaven has for one created exactly like you.  You are a unique creation throughout all of time.  You are one of a kind.  There is no replacement for you.  You are intended for a purpose only you can fulfill.  If you reject Jesus, reject His love, reject His transformation, and work your way to hell through constant rejection – heaven and the universe will have to go without the contribution you might have made.  But that is not the focus of this text.  The focus is upon rewards based upon the unique composition of who you are.  Your legacy is not meant to look backwards at the second coming of Christ.  It is meant to look forwards.  Your legacy is not about who you were, in a world embraced in darkness.  It is about who you will be, who you were always intended to be, in a world bathed in the light of God the Father Himself.  Your transformation is meant to the introduce the changes in you that will make you ready for just such a new world.

That is an entirely different perspective, but no less centered, in keeping the focus upon Jesus – the certain only mechanism to see you achieve it.  Notice these rewards (whether perceived as threat for inaction, or as reward according to who you will become) do not occur randomly at the return of some guru, or some demon in human form claiming to be Moses, or Elijah.  They only occur when Jesus Himself returns with His angels, in the Glory of His Father’s brilliance.  The whole world will see that at once.  The whole world will know it at once.  It will not be hidden, or broadcast on some news outlet.  You will see it for yourself.  And the person returning will be Jesus, not an imposter, but the real Jesus.  This is what your legacy was meant to bear witness to.  This is what the transformation of your life, through the love of Jesus you find yourself fully submitting to, was meant to prepare you for, and put you in harmony with.  Let us create a legacy, that is grounded in our personal submission to Jesus.  Let our actions come from what is transformed in that process.  And let it ever point forward to this wonderful event, leading others to center their eyes ever on Jesus, and what is to come.  To focus on our works, is to look the wrong way.  To focus on Jesus, is to see it occur in you.