Pastor Jim Thomas
Matthew: The King and His Kingdom
- We must beware begrudging the generosity of God’s grace towards others. (v. 1-16; “The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard”)
- The paradox that the cross becomes the power of salvation (v. 17-19)
- Our endemic lust for privilege, prestige and power (v. 20-28)
- Jesus shows compassion on all who cry out for His mercy. (v. 29-34)
“Jesus’s message is as uncomfortable as it is destabilizing; in the kingdom of God, all the petty calculating hierarchies of merit and virtue by which we compulsively rank ourselves against others are dashed aside to make way for a richer ethic of generosity. Our petty bastions of social superiority are unceremoniously flattened by the generous juggernaut of the kingdom of God” – Christopher Watkin, Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture
“The death of Christ in utter weakness would turn out to be the demonstration of the saving power of God that will ultimately destroy all powers of evil and violence. What a paradox! But it lies at the heart of the Gospel.” – Christopher J.H. Wright, To the Cross: Proclaiming the Gospel from the Upper Room to Calvary
“Most of the trouble caused in this world is by people wanting to be important.” – T.S. Elliot
“Grace and mercy are both expressions of God’s love, grace to the guilty and undeserving, mercy to the needy and helpless. Peace is that restoration of harmony with God, others and self which we call ‘salvation.’ Put together, peace indicates the character of salvation, mercy our need of it and grace God’s free provision of it in Christ.” – John Stott
“Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the one who hears it and not in the one who says it, our prayers do make a difference.” – Max Lucado