Matthew and Denying Our Rights

So far we've learned that according to Matthew's gospel, Jesus came to BLESS ALL people (just like Abraham) by FREEING them from an EVIL kingdom (just like Moses) and bringing them into His GOOD kingdom under His good RULE (just like David). So how did Jesus envision His people going about BLESSING ALL people on the earth? Let's find out...

THE UPSIDE DOWN KINGDOM 

In Matthew 16, Jesus foretells of His imminent death and this surprises and disturbs His disciples. How can the Messiah be put to death? Didn't the Old Testament promise a conquering Messiah (versus a dead one) who would reign with EARTHLY POWER? These are some of the questions that might have been going through the minds of Jesus' followers. But Jesus came to serve and not to be served (20:28). And He calls His disciples to the same posture..."if anyone would come after me let him deny himself and take up His cross and follow me (16:24)." Jesus' kingdom is upside down in relation to the kingdoms of this earth!

But the disciples struggle to embrace Jesus' upside down kingdom. We see this in Matthew 18 when the disciples argue over who will be the greatest in the kingdom. This provides Jesus the opportunity for a teachable moment. Jesus essentially tells his disciples, "People can't embrace My kingdom without first letting go of their supposed RIGHTS! If you want to follow me you need to become like a child who has no inherent RIGHTS (18:2-4)." 

But what does it look like to give up your RIGHTS? Well, if your hand causes you to sin then you need to give up the RIGHT to your body by cutting off your hand (hyperbolically speaking) for the sake of kingdom PURITY (18:7-9). We need to give up our RIGHT to look out for our self-interests and instead look out for the needs of others (especially the most vulnerable) for the sake of kingdom CARE (18:10-14). If your brother sins against you, you need to give up your RIGHT to hold a grudge by taking the uncomfortable step of approaching your brother in love and working through the situation for the sake of kingdom UNITY (18:15-20). Similarly, we need to be willing to give up our RIGHT to collect on non-financial debts by forgiving others for the sake of kingdom GRACE (18:21-35). Additionally, we need to be willing to give up our RIGHT to divorce for the sake of kingdom COMMITMENT (19:1-12) and our RIGHT to our possessions and wealth for the sake of kingdom GENEROSITY (19:16-30).

Matthew gives these practical examples to flesh out Jesus' kingdom principle that "the first will be last and the last will be first." While STATUS (and the pursuit of MORE) governs the kingdoms of this world, SERVICE (and the pursuit of HUMILITY) governs Jesus' kingdom. If you read Matthew 20:1-16, you'll see that Jesus illustrates this fact with a parable that depicts how the kingdom of God works (in contrast to our world). What is the point of this parable? The first receive the SAME as the last! STATUS is irrelevant in Jesus' kingdom! We all receive the SAME blessing in God's humble economy.

OPPOSITION TO THE KINGDOM

But Jesus' kingdom will be a BIG disappointment for people who are addicted to STATUS. And this is why the twelve disciples were disappointed when Jesus began talking about his death and also why the RELIGIOUS LEADERS were hostile toward Jesus. These religious leaders were too PROUD to receive Jesus and accept his invitation to the wedding banquet and so they were excluded and rejected (21:28-22:22); they didn't want to embrace the profile of a citizen in Jesus' kingdom. And this is a problem because the coming of Jesus' kingdom requires the REMOVAL of STATUS, PRIDE, and INJUSTICE. This is why Jesus CURSED the TEMPLE. It was a 'den of robbers' where STATUS, PRIDE, and INJUSTICE were covertly housed and so it had to be destroyed. And so we see that Matthew makes the Temple and the religious leaders a focus in his gospel (Matthew 21-25) because they stand in opposition (and serve as a roadblock) to God's desire to BLESS ALL people.

THE BOTTOM LINE
So how does this speak to our lives? God desires to BLESS all people. But for this to happen, STATUS, PRIDE, and INJUSTICE must be destroyed and replaced with HUMILITY, UNITY, CARE, GENEROSITY, PURITY, COMMITMENT, and GRACE. These values (among others) fit the profile of Jesus' kingdom which is FREE from the PAIN of the Genesis CURSES.

And so how did Jesus envision BLESSING ALL people on the earth? In part, through His followers as they embody these kingdom values and spread Jesus' RULE in this world. And so Jesus leaves you with this question: Are you willing to EMBRACE and SPREAD His kingdom (with ALL that it entails) by being a BLESSING to ALL people?