Daily Blast - The Book of Matthew: Chapter 21
Scripture
“And we know that God causes everything to work together[a] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them”
Reflection
Matthew 21 is another chapter that is split into sections. The first is Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday. I am not going to focus on this as Ellie wrote a great blast during our Easter series on this topic so check it out!
Jesus clears the temple
Obey scriptures – (21 v13). Obeying how God intended the temple to be used, it was not intended for selling and money-grabbing, but for prayer and time spent with the Father.
Jesus curses the fig tree.
Obeying with faith and not doubting. (21 v21-22) Here Jesus is reminding the disciples that if they obey God and put their faith in Him then they can do all things! And it is the same for us, we need to remember this!
The parable of the two sons
Obey the Father. In this parable that Jesus told, He was pointing out to the teachers that they were like the 2nd son, who said he would obey, but did not. In the same way, they had listened to the teachings of John the Baptist but had not changed the way they lived. Whereas the tax collectors and prostitutes had listened, changed, and repented, and the teachers needed to do the same!
The parable of the evil farmers
Something that stood out to me was how in this story, a number of servants were sent to collect the owner's share but were beaten and or killed. So, in the end, the owner’s son was sent – in the same way, Jesus was sent. The wicked farmers should have listened to and obeyed the owner’s son, and in the same way, the teachers should have listened to and obeyed Jesus’ teaching. But the farmers killed the son, in the same way, the teachers were going to kill Jesus! However, it is not until the teachers have condemned the farmers in the story to death that they realise they are the farmers. However, they still don’t change their ways!
The common theme throughout this chapter is obeying in all areas. It is so important to trust in God with all things and obey Him. It says in Romans 8v28, “and we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose for them.”
Challenge
This is something that we can take so much courage in when we are going through tough times and it could be easy to stray from God and His teaching. Remember to put God on TOP through Trust, Obedience, and Prayer! I would like you to pick an old testament story and think about how the main characters put God on TOP in their story, and how God works for their good!