Living in the Spirit
October 26, 2014
Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:34-46
Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: ‘What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?’ They said to him, ‘The son of David.’ He said to them, ‘How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet’ ”? If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?’ No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
— Matthew 22:41-46
As Matthew reported this discourse, Jesus and the Pharisees had discussed four issues raised by the Pharisees testing Jesus on scripture and religion. The debate draws to a close when Jesus asked the Pharisees a question to which they had no answer. I rather think Jesus enjoyed sparring with the religious leaders of the day. He was as capable of getting into his head as he was his heart. He also knew his Hebrew scripture. He loved all kinds of people and met them where they were on their journey of life. This One who was destined to ultimately be the judge of all peoples seemed to encounter people from the viewpoint of a blank slate. To some he simply said, “Follow me.” To others he said, “Go and sin no more.” To these Pharisees, he said, “Here let me give you something for you to wrap your head around.”
I saw the small gym as I entered the restaurant next door, noted the name, and checked it out on the Internet when I got home. I was morbidly obese, grossly out of shape, and recovering from knee replacement surgery. I had had the normal physical therapy following surgery, but just could not make any headway on rectifying my state of health so I called the gym and went for an initial evaluation where Don Oliver, a trainer, met me exactly where I was. He put me on an eating and exercise plan saying if you do these things you will lose the weight and get into shape, and by golly it worked. I still follow the eating and exercise plan, have learned to love even more than I did fresh vegetables and low glycemic fruit, and just hiked the wonderful archeological ruins of Turkey with no ill effects.
Like my trainer showed me the way to better health, Jesus by his example and his teaching was showing us how to be the Body of Christ in the world today. It starts with loving everyone who crosses our path just as they are, and never stops until the people we meet and we all attain perfection. We are not any of us there yet but by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit we will be (2 Corinthians 13:14a).
Prayer: Grant us your grace O Lord, and mold us together into the one Body of Christ doing your work throughout the world. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.