Prepare to Listen.  Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
 
Prayerfully Read Matthew 18:1-7
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’  2He called a child, whom he put among them, 3and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  4Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  5Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.  6‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea.  7Woe to the world because of stumbling-blocks!  Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling-block comes!
 
Prayerfully Wonder
When Jesus told his disciples that Messiah would suffer and die, Peter rebuked him.  Despite Jesus’ harsh rebuke of Peter, and further teaching about his suffering and death the disciples still didn’t get it.  They showed their ignorance when they asked: “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  Did they hope Jesus would name them?  Let’s face it, don’t we also long to be great?
 
Jesus’ response was to put a child among them.  Children, in that culture, were seen as less than human, having no value.  They were “the weakest, most vulnerable, least significant human being you can think of.”  And yet Jesus taught they were “the clearest possible signpost to what the kingdom of God will be like.” [1]  That’s what greatness,  Jesus’ way is about.  The disciples’ ideas of greatness, not to mention our own, were tossed out.  Jesus lifted up the least, a child, and said, “unless you change and become like children,” that is, humble, meek, poor in spirit, “you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  In other words, as John put it, “You must be born again.”[2]  Only then will we change and become like children.  Sadly, we too often resist change.  The essential nature of being Christian, followers of Jesus, is a willingness to change and become—more like a child, more like Jesus.  In other words, born again.
 
Prayerfully Reflect
What is your concept of greatness?  Is it in line with Jesus’ teaching?
 
Respond in Prayer
Lord Jesus, you keep forcing me to re-think my ideas, even my dreams.  Your concept of greatness is a challenge.  Give me the courage to live your way, the way of weakness rather than power.  Amen.
 
Live Obediently.  Change and become like a child.
[1] Wright, N. T.  Matthew for Everyone Part 2.  Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.  2004, p. 27.
[2] John 3:1ff.

Prepare to Listen.  But this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting.
 
Prayerfully Read Matthew 17:14-21
14When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, 15and said, ‘Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; he often falls into the fire and often into the water.  16And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.’  17Jesus answered, ‘You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you?  How much longer must I put up with you?  Bring him here to me.’  18And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly.  19Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’  20He said to them, ‘Because of your little faith.  For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there”, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.’  [21But this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting.]
 
Prayerfully Wonder
This story is puzzling for many reasons.  First, Jesus’ behavior.  When the father explained about his son and the disciples’ inability to heal him, instead of showing sympathy, Jesus seems to have lost it: “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you?  How much longer must I put up with you?”  The disciples were so slow to learn, and Jesus sounds like he’s had enough.  This isn’t the way we expect him to behave.  But he did and Matthew faithfully records, without explanation, Jesus’ impatient response.
 
Second, Jesus’ answer to his disciples’ question about why they couldn’t heal the boy is even more puzzling.  He accused them of having “little faith.”  But then he said they only needed ‘little faith,’ in fact, the size of a mustard seed.  It’s confusing.  They couldn’t do it because they only had little faith, but all they needed was little faith.  Some try to explain this by reminding us, as Wright does, “that the size of the faith isn’t important; what’s important is the God in whom you believe.”[1]  And that’s true.  Was Jesus trying to tell the disciples that their faith was in the wrong thing?  Perhaps.
 
Seeing perplexed expressions on the disciples’ faces, Jesus said: “But this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting,” a verse omitted in some of the best ancient copies of Matthew.  But it dispels some of the mystery about little faith.  Some things need more than faith, big or little.  They need prayer and fasting.
 
Prayerfully Reflect
What puzzled or intrigued you this story today?  In what/whom is your faith placed?
 
Respond in Prayer
Lord, keep me focused, not on the amount of faith I do or don’t have, but on you, in whom I have faith.  Amen.
 
Live Obediently.  Have faith in God.
[1] Wright, N. T.  Matthew for Everyone Part 2.  Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.  2004, p. 22.

Prepare to Listen.  Get up and do not be afraid.
 
Prayerfully Read Matthew 17:1-8
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.  2And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.  3Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.  4Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’  5While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’  6When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.  7But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Get up and do not be afraid.’  8And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
 
Prayerfully Wonder
Six days after explaining that his messianic mission included suffering, death and resurrection; six days after the disciples failed to hear, really hear what he said, Jesus went up a high mountain with Peter, James and John.  “And he was transfigured before them,” Matthew matter-of-factly writes.  There was much to see, and all of it bright.  When Moses and Elijah arrived, there was also much to hear.  But it seems the disciples didn’t hear it, or weren’t listening.  Peter didn’t hesitate to interrupt the conversation with a dumb offer to build three dwellings.  What was he thinking?  Did he hope to hold onto this once-in-a-lifetime experience forever, just for themselves?
 
He was interrupted.  “While he was still speaking,” a cloud overshadowed them with a brightness that makes sight impossible.  But this time, sight wasn’t required, only hearing.  A Voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased.”  We’ve heard this twice before in Matthew,[1] but this is the first time God added the command: “listen to him!”  Listen to his words about suffering, death and resurrection; listen to his words about denying yourself, taking up your cross and following Jesus.  Listen.  He has spoken the truth, all that was needed to be said.  Listen to him, that is, hear and obey and be transformed.
 
The bright cloud and the God-Voice was so shocking, the disciples fell to the ground, overcome with fear.  They stayed there until Jesus touched them and they finally looked up, and “saw no one except Jesus himself alone.”  That was all they needed to see.
 
Prayerfully Reflect
Imagine the scene and how you would react to what was seen and heard.
 
Respond in Prayer
In the midst of my busy and cluttered world, Lord, help me see only you and then listen to you by obeying what you command.  Amen.
 
Live Obediently.  Listen to Jesus today.
[1] The other 2 were at his baptism (3:17) and in the prophecy from Isaiah (2:18).

Prepare to Listen.  Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
 
Prayerfully Read Matthew 16:21-26
21From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.  22And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord!  This must never happen to you.’  23But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan!  You are a stumbling-block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’  24Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  25For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.  26For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life?  Or what will they give in return for their life?’
 
Prayerfully Wonder
Peter correctly identified Jesus as Messiah but was shocked when he explained that, instead of overthrowing the Romans, he was destined to end his life in seeming defeat and failure.  Since this wasn’t what Peter wanted or expected from his Messiah, he dared to rebuke Jesus: “God forbid it, Lord!  This must never happen to you.”  Peter believed Messiah was to lead a revolution, topple the occupying Romans, and make Israel great again.  He wasn’t meant to suffer and die.  Peter got it wrong because he hadn’t listened to Jesus’ promise about being raised on the third day.  Jesus rebuked him in harsh terms.
 
Then he turned and spoke to all his disciples, including Peter, giving an uncomfortable and loaded command.  Deny yourself; take up your cross; lose your life!  Was Jesus kidding?  This isn’t a verse we choose as our life verse.  “Some of us,” writes Taylor, “like to believe that Jesus was talking only to his disciples—those twelve special Christians—and that the rest of us are excused from denying ourselves and lugging crosses and things like that.”[1]  But this is the upside-down way of Jesus.  It ought to be our life verse.  His triumph over evil comes, not by charging in with guns blazing, but the exact opposite.  Jesus’ way involves suffering and death, losing our life rather than trying to save it.  He did and called us to the same way.  Denying self, losing your life isn’t about abstaining from something for a period, long or short.  It’s about “coming to see that God is the center of your life,”[2] not yourself.  It’s about living a God-focused not a me-focused life.
 
Prayerfully Reflect
What do you think it means to lose your life?
 
Respond in Prayer
Lord, give me the courage and power to live by denying myself, losing my life for your sake.  Amen.
 
Live Obediently.  Lose your life for the sake of the gospel.
[1] Taylor, Barbara Brown.  The Seeds of Heaven: Sermons on the Gospel of Matthew.  Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.  2004, p. 76.
[2] Brueggemann, Walter.  A Way Other Than Our Own: Devotions for Lent.  Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.  2017, p. 28.

Prepare to Listen.  On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
 
Prayerfully Read Matthew 16:13-20
13Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’  14And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’  15He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’  16Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’  17And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah!  For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.  18And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.  19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’  20Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
 
Prayerfully Wonder
When Peter identified Jesus as “Messiah, the Son of the living God,” he probably had visions of him overthrowing the Romans.  They were in a remote district on the northern border of Israel, far from the attention of both the religious and political rulers.  It was an ideal place to plan a revolution.  Jesus didn’t do so.  Instead, he taught about his church, a new concept for those disciples.
 
He said it would be built on the rock of Peter’s correct confession, “and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”  Hades isn’t a reference to the place of the dead separated from God, but to “all the forces of evil and destruction”[1] and death.  We’ve often presumed Jesus meant the church will withstand attack from hades and evil.  But that’s not what Jesus said.  It’s not the gates of the church that will hold against hades, but the gates of hades that will not hold against the church.  In other words, the church will invade evil forces, taking them head on.
 
This is the task of the church, to force its way into evil, destruction and death.  Places where the weak, the vulnerable, the wounded struggle to live and find meaning.  The church isn’t meant to bring about change by working with the rich and powerful.  It’s meant to prioritize compassion, mercy, solidarity with the outcasts and wounded and get its hands dirty, touching the wounds of those caught in the trap of evil.  Until the church does, it will not prevail against the evil in the world.
 
Prayerfully Reflect
How do you think the church can be the church against which hades can’t prevail?
 
Respond in Prayer
Lord, guide and strengthen your church so that it takes on evil and prevails.  Amen.
 
Live Obediently.  Be the church that takes on evil.
[1] Green, Michael.  The Message of Matthew.  Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.  2000, p. 181.

Prepare to Listen.  Watch out, and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
 
Prayerfully Read Matthew 16:1-12
The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test Jesus they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.  2He answered them, ‘When it is evening, you say, “It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.”  3And in the morning, “It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.”  You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.  4An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.’  Then he left them and went away.  5When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread.  6Jesus said to them, ‘Watch out, and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’  7They said to one another, ‘It is because we have brought no bread.’  8And becoming aware of it, Jesus said, ‘You of little faith, why are you talking about having no bread?  9Do you still not perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?  10Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?  11How could you fail to perceive that I was not speaking about bread?  Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!’  12Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
 
Prayerfully Wonder
Pharisees and Sadducees disagreed on theology and politics but agreed on opposing Jesus.  Together they demanded to see a sign, proof of his credentials.  Jesus rebuked them, and for the second time called them “an evil and adulterous generation,” and warned that “no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” [1]  Jonah was a recalcitrant prophet who reluctantly preached repentance to Gentiles in Nineveh.  Jesus, as the sign of Jonah, was a willing prophet who preached repentance to both Gentiles and Jews in Galilee.  Pharisees and Sadducees rejected him, and Jesus departed.
 
He warned his disciples: “Watch out, and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”  They took him literally and assumed he rebuked them for forgetting bread for the journey.  They should have known better.  They grew up using leaven as a symbol of impurity and evil, but they thought Jesus used it literally to refer to bread.  He was warning not rebuking them about religious leaders who blindly taught as truth what was false, as good news what was bad news.  They corrupted God’s message from Jesus until it became an all-pervasive and blind unbelief, and like leaven, invaded everything.  Beware of that, Jesus meant.
 
Since it’s easy to think literally and miss the symbolic lessons in Jesus’ teaching (we still do it today), we too need to think and heed Jesus’ warning to beware of false teachers who claim to be from God, but aren’t, a warning Jesus often repeated urging us to THINK.  We need to take him seriously
 
Prayerfully Reflect
False teachers abound and it’s up to us to be thoughtful and discerning and reject their teachings.
 
Respond in Prayer
Lord Jesus, give me a discerning mind so that I think beyond literal interpretations to the core of your deep words and see the truth.  Amen.
 
Live Obediently.  Watch out and think.
[1] The first time was in Matthew 12:39.

Prepare to Listen.  Woman, great is your faith!  Let it be done for you as you wish.
 
Prayerfully Read Matthew 15:21-28
21Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon.  22Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’  23But he did not answer her at all.  And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’  24He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’  25But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’  26He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’  27She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’  28Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith!  Let it be done for you as you wish.’  And her daughter was healed instantly.
 
Prayerfully Wonder
What Jesus said and did resulted in confrontation with the Jewish leaders so he escaped to Tyre and Sidon, Gentile territory.  For one who claimed he was “sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” it seems strange that he retreated far from them.  But there, he met a Canaanite woman who confronted him with his larger mission.  As an outsider she instructed Jesus, the insider who was willing to be instructed.
 
It’s a mystery how this woman heard about Jesus, let alone believed in him.  She is one of a handful of people who recognized and called him by the Messianic title, Son of David.  She also knew that his mission was not only to the lost sheep of Israel, but also to Gentiles like herself.  Something powerful happened because she stood her ground and Jesus was brought back to his larger mission for all peoples.  She persisted even though Jesus ignored her until his disciples begged him to send her away.  Why didn’t they beg Jesus to heal her daughter instead?
 
When he reluctantly responded to her, he wasn’t encouraging, calling her ‘a dog,’ a common derogatory term used to dismiss Gentiles as inferior.  Undeterred the woman challenged him: “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”  The force of her faith touched Jesus deeply, reminding him he came for all the lost.  He commended her: “‘Woman, great is your faith!  Let it be done for you as you wish.’  And her daughter was healed instantly.”
 
Prayerfully Reflect
What disturbed or encouraged you in this story?
 
Respond in Prayer
Thank you, Lord, for this Canaanite woman’s great faith that persisted in her belief in your mercy to save.  Increase my faith and help me see faith in the unlikely around me today.  Amen.
 
Live Obediently.  Pay attention to the outsider.

Prepare to Listen. This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
 
Prayerfully Read Matthew 15:1-9
Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2‘Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?  For they do not wash their hands before they eat.’  3He answered them, ‘And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?  4For God said, “Honour your father and your mother,” and, “Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.”  5But you say that whoever tells father or mother, “Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God”, then that person need not honour the father.  6So, for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word of God.  7You hypocrites!  Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said:
8“This people honours me with their lips,
   but their hearts are far from me;
9in vain do they worship me,
   teaching human precepts as doctrines.” ’
 
Prayerfully Wonder
Washing hands before eating seems a trivial issue to get upset about and make a long journey from Jerusalem to Galilee.  But the scribes and Pharisees were so upset they made the journey.  Did they fear this would be the slippery slope, the beginning of a decline away from their version of truth?  They were so focused on their human tradition they failed to see it wasn’t even biblical.  Jesus saw and challenged them: “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?”  For that matter, why do we today?  Let’s be honest, it’s comforting to cling to familiar opinions and maintain the status quo.  We resist the uncomfortable work of thinking about true biblical and kingdom priorities.
 
Jesus had harsh words for his questioners.  He called them hypocrites, unbiblical.  They were like the ones Isaiah spoke about, he said, who honored God with their lips, while their hearts were far from God.  Their worship of God was “a human commandment learned by rote.”  Isaiah warned that God will do “shocking and amazing” things—wisdom will perish, discernment be hidden (Is. 29:13f).  In other words, they wouldn’t be able to see or know the truth.  They’re tough words that should cause us to pause and reflect on our traditions, the stuff we’ve invested in.  Are they really kingdom priorities?  Are they even biblical?
 
Prayerfully Reflect
What are your traditions and causes that you fear might slip away?  Are they kingdom priorities?  If not, let them go.
 
Respond in Prayer
Forgive me, Lord for pushing my opinions without first examining whether they are in line with your priorities; for worshiping you with my lips and not my heart.  Help me choose today the discomfit of thought so that I live more in line with your ways.  Amen.
 
Live Obediently.  Chose the discomfort of thinking over the comfort of opinions.

Prepare to Listen.  Lord, save me!
 
Prayerfully Read Matthew 14:28-33
28Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’  29He said, ‘Come.’  So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus.  30But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ 31Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’  32When they got into the boat, the wind ceased.  33And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’
 
Prayerfully Wonder
It wasn’t a ghost walking on the stormy sea, it was Jesus.  Or was it?  How could they know for sure?  Perhaps this is what Peter was thinking when he burst out: “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  It’s a strange request.  Why not: If it’s you, please calm the storm now.  That would make more sense.  But Peter wanted power to walk on water, especially in a stormy sea.  Jesus didn’t criticize or chastise Peter, he merely gave a one-word invitation: Come.  Peter did and failed miserably.
 
I’ve heard many sermons on this story and the assumption was always that Peter failed because he took his eyes off Jesus.  The challenge given was: Keep your eyes on Jesus and you won’t fail.  The concluding hymn: ‘Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face.’  But I now wonder about that challenge.  Did Peter fail because he took his eyes off Jesus?  Were they on him in the first place?
 
Imagine getting out of a boat into a stormy sea.  What would you be looking at?  I suspect it would be the waves or your feet!  Not Jesus.  Peter failed, not because he took his eyes off Jesus.  He failed because he lacked faith in Jesus from the beginning.  He doubted Jesus’ words, ‘It is I.’  In his uncertainty he challenged Jesus, ‘If it’s really you, command me to come.’  Reminiscent of Satan’s, ‘If you are….’  Peter doubted and began to sink.  Only then could he cry out in weak faith, ‘Lord save me.’  Jesus did but also rebuked Peter: “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
 
Prayerfully Reflect
Imagine the scene, and put yourself in the story and observe your thoughts, emotions and response to Jesus.
 
Respond in Prayer
Lord, save me.  Amen.
 
Live Obediently.  Have faith, however weak.