SEPTEMBER 26, 2009
5th
LESSON: MATTHEW AND THOMAS
Text:
Matthew 10:3b
I.
MATTHEW
Matthew 9:9
English Standard Version (ESV)
Jesus Calls Matthew
9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a
man called Matthew sitting at the
tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow
me.” And he rose and followed
him.
Matthew 10:3
English Standard Version (ESV)
3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the
son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; [a]
-
Tax
collector: most hated, despised, despicable, human being in the society of
Israel
-
Genuine
humility and sense of sinful unworthiness
-
Never
speaks, never asks questions, never makes a comment, never appears in an
incident
-
Wrote
the Gospel Matthew with 28 chapters on the majesty of the King of Kings
-
Traitor,
extortionist, robber and thief
-
Greedy,
social pariah/outcast
2
kinds of Tax Collectors:
1.
Gabbai-
general tax collectors
-
Collect
property tax, income tax, poll tax
2.
Mokhes-
collected the duties
-
Set
tolls- on roads, bridges, harbors on everything
-
Matthew
taxed everything
2 Kinds of Mokhes:
1.
Great
Mokhes- guy who hired some herding to the tax collecting
2.
Little
Mokhes- too cheap to hire somebody to collect the taxes, he was so greedy he
did it himself.
-
Matthew
is a little Mokhe
-
Levi
– in the flow of Jewish tradition (Gospel of Matthew has more quotes of the Old
Testament than in 3 Gospels)
-
Knew
the Old Testament: 3 sections of Old Testament: the law, the prophets, and
Hagiographa (the Holy Writings)
Following
Jesus:
1.
He
walked away from his career
2.
Identified
with somebody who was equally rejected by the establishment
Reason:
Matthew 9:10
English Standard Version (ESV)
10 And as Jesus[a] reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and
were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.
-
Confession
of sin, repentance, forgiveness
-
Knew
he was a sinner, knew his graft, his abuse, his extortion, his greed, he
betrayed his people, he could be bought for money
-
He
despised all these things, he wanted out, wanted a way
-
He
ran to get the forgiveness of all his sins
-
Was
willing to say goodbye to his career, everything because he needed forgiveness
Matthew was a criminal, an outcast, most hated of men. He
was utterly convinced of his sins and when given an opportunity to believe, he believed and he followed.
GOD USES VILE, WRETCHED,
ROTTEN SINNERS, THE MOST DESPICABLE PEOPLE IN SOCIETY WHO ARE WILLING TO BE
FORGIVEN, SUCH AS MATTHEW.
October 03, 2009
II.
THOMAS
-
Thomas
(Didymus- twin)
-
Always
come in mind “the doubter”
John 11:14-16
English Standard Version (ESV)
14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was
not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 So Thomas, called the Twin,[a] said to his fellow disciples, “Let us
also go, that we may die with
him.”
What we learn:
1.
Initiative
2.
Pessimism
-
Totally
believed in Him
-
Equaled
too John and had such a deep and intense love for Jesus that he could not
endure existence without Him
-
Willing
to die
-
Man
of courage and a man of love
-
He
could die for Him before he’d be disloyal
John 14:5
English Standard Version (ESV)
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going.
How can we know the way?”
John 20:24 (when Jesus died)
English Standard Version (ESV)
Jesus and Thomas
-
Felt
betrayed, rejected, forsaken
-
Out
of love that he was shattered
-
Was
out and he was depressed because he loved so deeply
John 20:25
English Standard Version (ESV)
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.”
-
Pessimist
– won’t believe unless seen
John 20:26
English Standard Version (ESV)
26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and
Thomas was with them. Although
the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
-
The Lord doesn’t
mind wanting to be sure, He accommodates that desire
-
‘MY LORD AND MY
GOD’: the greatest single confession ever made, affirmed the deity of Christ,
affirmed the Lordship of Jesus Christ, affirmed that He was GOD.
GOD
USES TENDER-HEARTED, MOODY, MELANCHOLY, PESSIMISTS LIKE THOMAS.
Father, we thank You that the ability that You want from us is availability. Thank You that You can take the unqualified and do the transforming of their lives. What a happy privilege, God. What a happy privilege that we should be used. I know my own weaknesses. All of us do . . .our sins, our failings. And yet You use us. You use us for Your Kingdom. You use us to advance Your cause, to preach Your truth, to bring people into the knowledge of God. You use us to sing Your praise. You use us to bring petitions that activate Your sovereign power. You use us. We thank You that we are the company of the unqualified who have been transformed to useful vessels.. .vessels of honor, fit for the Master’s use.
Lord, if there are some in our fellowship this morning, who have never come to Jesus Christ, may they confess as Thomas did - My Lord and my God. May their hearts open up. May they receive Jesus as Lord and Savior and in so receiving come into divine usefulness...o the pity of a life without purpose.. .the pity of an eternity without value. May we know that the only meaning in time and eternity comes in serving You. And may we know that You can fit us for that, no matter what our weaknesses are. May the truth that we have learned today linger in our hearts and make us better than we were had we not been here. For Your glory, in Christ’s name. Amen.
0 comments:
Post a Comment