Prepare to Listen.  What do you want me to do for you?
 
Prayerfully Read Matthew 20:29-34
29As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him.  30There were two blind men sitting by the roadside. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, ‘Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!’  31The crowd sternly ordered them to be quiet; but they shouted even more loudly, ‘Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!’  32Jesus stood still and called them, saying, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’  33They said to him, ‘Lord, let our eyes be opened.’  34Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes.  Immediately they regained their sight and followed him.
 
Prayerfully Wonder
Matthew rarely gives geographical locations, so when he does, we probably should take a second gaze.  Earlier he’d told us that Jesus “left Galilee and went to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan” (19:1), which is on the eastern shore, outside Israel’s borders.  From there he crossed the Jordan, back into Israel.  He went to Jericho, before Jerusalem and the cross.
 
This may seem irrelevant except for one thing.  Jesus took the same route as Joshua when he led the children of Israel into the promised land for the first time.  It’s as if Jesus (Joshua in Hebrew) was following his namesake’s journey into the Promised Land.  It’s significant because it signals that Jesus was about to bring all the promises of God to fruition, not just for Israel, as Joshua did, but for the world.  On his mind, was this awesome and frightening mission, that would begin with drinking the cup of God’s wrath for all peoples.
 
As he left Jericho for Jerusalem he was immersed in this mission, but not so distracted that he didn’t hear the cry of two unnamed blind beggars pleading for mercy.  He stood still, called them, and asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”  Instead of asking for a beggar’s usual—money, food, clothing—they asked for their sight, showing a faith not even seen in his disciples.  With the weight of the world on his heart, Jesus was “moved with compassion” for two unknown outcasts on the edge of society.  He stopped and healed them.  Jerusalem could wait.
 
Prayerfully Reflect
How would you answer Jesus’ question: ‘What do you want me to do for you?’
 
Respond in Prayer
Jesus, give me the faith of these two blind men to dare to ask you to do the seeming impossible and open my eyes to see more clearly.  Amen.
 
Live Obediently.  Practice compassion today.

Prepare to Listen.  The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
 
Prayerfully Read Matthew 20:17-28
17While Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to them on the way, 18‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death; 19then they will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified; and on the third day he will be raised.’  20Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favour of him.  21And he said to her, ‘What do you want?’  She said to him, ‘Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.’  22But Jesus answered, ‘You do not know what you are asking.  Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?’  They said to him, ‘We are able.’  23He said to them, ‘You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.’  24When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers.  25But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.  26It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; 28just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’
 
Prayerfully Wonder
Mom wanted her boys to be the greatest.  What mother doesn’t?  She probably knew that Jesus wasn’t anti-greatness.  He once said that whoever keeps and teaches his commandments “will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”  He also taught that the least in the kingdom was greater than John the Baptizer, and he commended a Gentile woman for her great faith.[1]  He wants us to be great.  The trouble is, like the mother of James and John, we still get greatness wrong.  Jesus had just said, for the third time, he would suffer and die, and she asked for her sons to be great, number one and two, ignoring his words about suffering.  She’s not the only one to get greatness incorrect.  Despite what Jesus said and did, we too still think greatness has to do with power to “lord it over” and be “tyrants over” others, having bigger and better weapons, a stronger military, being the boss.  We still haven’t understood Jesus’ way and neither did his disciples.
 
We need to come back to Jesus’ teaching about greatness.  It’s the opposite of what we think and want.  You want to be great?  Then become the least, the servant to all.  Want to be first?  Then become a slave, the lowest of the low; become the weakest, the most vulnerable at the bottom of the power pile.  This is the way of Jesus, the way he lived.  He came, he said, “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”   Our task?  To be like Jesus, a slave, servant to all, giving up desires to be first and the greatest.
 
Prayerfully Reflect
Jesus repeatedly taught about greatness God’s way.  How is his teaching influencing your thinking?
 
Respond in Prayer
Lord, help me live more like you, as a servant to all.  Amen.
 
Live Obediently.  Stop worrying about greatness and simply serve others.
[1] Matthew 5:19, 11:11, 15:28.

Prepare to Listen.  So the last will be first, and the first will be last.
 
Prayerfully Read Matthew 19:30-20:16
30‘But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’  1‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard.  2After agreeing with the labourers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard.  3When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the market-place; 4and he said to them, “You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.”  So they went.  5When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same.  6And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, “Why are you standing here idle all day?”  7They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.”  He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.”  8When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, “Call the labourers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.”  9When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage.  10Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage.  11And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12saying, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.”  13But he replied to one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?  14Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you.  15Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?  Or are you envious because I am generous?”  16So the last will be first, and the first will be last.’
 
Prayerfully Wonder
The parable is bracketed by Jesus’ assertion that the first will be last, and the last first.  Is that fair?  Not according to our standards.  We want people to get what they deserve, but we also strive to be first and great.  It’s ingrained in our psyches.  We need to take the second gaze[1] at the story Jesus told, a story that emphasizes that the way of the kingdom is a reversal of our way.
 
A gut response to the story from many of us is: That’s not fair.  It’s not even morally right to pay all laborers, regardless of time worked, the same wage.  The men who worked 12 hours should be paid 12 times as much as those who only worked one hour.  We support their protest.  However, the story is about God, not fair wages for workers and two things stand out.
 
First, the landowner had a right to do whatever he wanted with his money.  It was his right to be generous or unfair.  And this is true of God, whom the landowner represents.  We might not like the fact that God rewards a person we think should rot in hell.  But God has the right to be generous with his mercy.  Second, when the first laborers signed up, they agreed, without comment, to the usual payment.  They could have asked for more before signing up.  The landowner was generous.  It’s likely he’d agree to a higher wage.  They never asked.  God is a generous giver.  All we need is to ask.  If we don’t, we can’t complain.
 
Prayerfully Reflect
How can you live Jesus’ generous reversal of “the last shall be first, and the first last”?
 
Respond in Prayer
Lord help me live your upside-down way that reverses expectations and accept your way of not seeking to be first.  Amen.
 
Live Obediently.  Live Jesus’ upside-down way.
[1] See explanation for ‘second gaze’ at: https://www.storymakerlife.com/a-second-gaze.htm

Prepare to Listen.  ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’
 
Prayerfully Read Matthew 19:16-22
16Then someone came to him and said, ‘Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?’  17And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good?  There is only one who is good.  If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’  18He said to him, ‘Which ones?’  And Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; 19Honour your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’  20The young man said to him, ‘I have kept all these; what do I still lack?’  21Jesus said to him, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’  22When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
 
Prayerfully Wonder
“Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”  There’s something about earning eternal life by doing that’s attractive.  Jesus didn’t rebuke him.  Instead, he met the man where he was at.  He gave him stuff to do: keep the commandments.  The man responded with: “Which ones?”  Jesus listed six, five from the second half of the Ten Commandments and one, loving one’s neighbor, from Leviticus (19:18).  The man was quick to boast, “I have kept all these; what do I still lack?”
 
I don’t know whether he noticed that Jesus omitted the first five commands about worshipping God alone, and the 10th about not coveting.  When Jesus gave him an opportunity to practice them, saying “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me,” the man couldn’t do it.  He couldn’t love God fully and worship only.  He was possessed by his possessions.
 
It’s unlikely Jesus intended all his followers to sell all before following him, as some have thought and done.  But all of us, especially those of us from wealthier nations, must check our relationship to our possessions.  Do they come between you and God?  Do they possess you?  De Sales taught, “you can possess riches without being poisoned by them if you merely keep them in your home and purse and not in your heart.”[1]
 
Prayerfully Reflect
What is your relation to your possessions?  What intrigued you in this familiar story today?
 
Respond in Prayer
So often, Lord, like the young man, I want to do something to earn my way.  Give me the courage and sense to be empty to be complete; to have nothing to have everything; to follow you all the way.  Amen.
 
Live Obediently.  Resist being possessed by your possessions.
[1] Francis de Sales.  An Introduction to the Devout Life.  1966, p. 162.

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.