Month: February 2023

“He went on from there and entered their synagogue. And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse him. He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭12:9-14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

In the synagogue, among religious leaders and worshippers, there was a man with a withered hand. This man had probably been attending the “church” for some time. The leaders obviously had noticed him. The other “church members” also probably knew him. But it seemed none had brought him to Jesus for healing all this while. He was a left-alone handicapped person in the church. Are there many such similar “abandoned” members in today’s church? Worship Services after Worship Services, programmes after programmes, trainings after trainings, ceremonies after ceremonies come and go. It becomes almost something routine and non-event every week where this man with a need in the church was neglected. Are there ignored needs in the church today? Sometimes, programs and activities blind people from seeing real needs. Has the church lost its first love in the midst of lots of activities going on? (like the Ephesus Church in Rev 2)

The moment Jesus stept in, He immediately noticed this man for the first time. Then suddenly out of the blue, the religious leaders’ attention turned to the handicapped man as well as Jesus. Not to show concern. Not to get Jesus to heal the man. Their motive was to frame Jesus for violating the Sabbath knowingly that Jesus was likely to heal the man. They cornered Jesus by the question “is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” See, this synagogue (or church) was only interested in observance of the law but not on the needs of its members. Is this happening in the modern church where church “preliminaries” or “traditional norms” or “corporate policies” displace the meeting of needs? 

After the man was healed, the first thing the religious leaders did was “they went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.” They did not rejoice at the healing of the man. In fact they were indignant that they were not able to win Jesus at the dialogue. All in their heart was how to tear Him down. When you carry a wrong agenda in serving, people getting saved or healed doesn’t make you praise God. 

Reflection Pointers

1. If you are a church leader or someone who decide to serve in a church, evaluate the motivation of your calling or rather your response to the calling. Jesus’ ministry always focus on people, not programmes, activities or traditions. What are yours?

2. On a whole, the church’s mission is to meet needs. A heartening scene Jesus hopes to see in His church is people meeting each others’ needs, people encouraging each other and people loving each other genuinely through practical act of kindness. The call of the end time is that believers will not lose their first love and that their love for each other will not grow cold!

“And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. 

Mark 1:29-31 ESV

Peter & Andrew brought Jesus to their house where Peter’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever. After Jesus came to know about it, He took hold of her hand and lifted her up. Immediately the fever left her. You see, Peter and Andrew didn’t hesitate to bring Jesus to their home after pledging to follow Him. Neither did Peter ran back to tidy the house before Jesus came in. Discipleship begins with inviting Jesus to your “home” just as it is – the home is the place where you will likely let your hair down, and behaving as your true self, conducting your relationship with people at home as usual. No pretense. No cover-up. No camouflage. Genuine conversion and discipleship began when someone comes to Jesus “just as I am” and open his/her life(home) to Him. In Rev 3:20, while Jesus stands at the door and knock there would some(including believers) who hesitate to open the door because they are busily tidying up their house, hide their garbages and put up a neat nice front before inviting Him in. Let’s not belong to this group of believers!

On another note, when you follow Jesus, open your household to Him as well. Introduce each member to Jesus. Jesus doesn’t recruit “secret” followers but people who openly identify with Him not only in the open community or church but in the home. And the next miracle that can happen is that your entire household will be saved! Acts 16:31 tells us that “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household”

The record of the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law shows us that when Jesus comes into your life and family, healing will be released to anyone needing it. Being healed enabled Peter’s mother-in-law to function well to serve Jesus and the household. The moment Jesus release healing to you, he restored your capacity and remove your limitations to serve!

Reflection Pointers:

1. Genuine discipleship calls for a life of transparency before Jesus. Come in your true self with all your natural weaknesses and limitations. There is no need to pretend or ensure that you are good enough neither should you think you are not good enough to be accepted by Jesus. 
2. If you are praying for salvation of your family, introduce Jesus to your family, and your family to Jesus and allow Him to do a salvation miracle in your household!
3. If there are challenges in your life that limit your capacity to serve, invite Jesus into your challenges, and wait for the miracle that restores that capacity to serve! 

“Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.”

Matthew 26:14-16 ESV

These 3 verses described the time when everything went wrong in Judas Iscariot’s life.

Firstly it was wrong associations. He went to the chief priest instead of faithfully stayed in the company of Jesus and the other disciples. He was in the wrong association. How many of us go the wrong way due to bad company? We need to be mindful of the company we associated with. On another note, it is the church’s responsibility as well to protect their members from getting into wrong company even within Christendom as there are those that promote false teachings and heresies especially in the end times. The Bible say says:

“Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.””

1 Corinthians 15:33 ESV

The second wrong was wrong motivation. It seemed that Jesus’ teaching on eternal values did not sink in to Judas Iscariot. He went for visible earthly gains. Do Christians today switch sides because of the want of earthly attractive gains?There are also branches of the Christian community that entice you just with that – for example, the prosperity gospel. They don’t teach discipleship and persecution as prophesied by Jesus but dwell on “feel-good” promises of wealth and health. Such enticing doctrine will be rampant preceding the end times – and beware, it is now!

Thirdly it was wrong occupation – what that filled Judah’s mind and life was to look out for opportunity to betray Jesus. His desire and purpose in life was not longer feeding the hungry and healing the sick as part of Jesus’ ministry. In the secret compartment of his heart was this drive to plot the betrayal. A man who lost his first love has the course of his life run awry. And it was the wrong course with no return. Stop and ask ourselves what is the main occupation in our earthly life. We may not plot to betray Jesus but an intentional nonchalance to Him and His word is a quiet form of betrayal. 

Finally, it was the wrong moment. From the moment he received the bride money, his entire destiny changed from a righteous walk to an evil path. Moments are important – sometimes it decides life and death. Moments can also change destinies. People used to say “I did it in a moment of folly or anger” and mostly regret their action afterwards. Jesus had these moments when He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness. If He just gave way at that moment, the entire Messianic mission would have failed. Don’t give way to such moments!

Reflection Pointers:

1. Evaluate your associations and determine which are the ones to develop further and which are ones to move a step back. 
2. While it is good to have aspirations and goals that you are passionate about to fulfil, it is always good to measure them against the yardstick of biblical principles and perspectives.
3. Watch out for the moments that come and go. Some brings you delight on a good decision made while others may end up with regrets for the impulse actions taken during that moment.