St Matthew, Chapter 12, verses: 15 - 16, The Battle Continues: Christ wins more souls.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The mercy of Jesus) Part 1. 

Christ moves on.  He has finished his preaching and teaching in the synagogue before the people where he spoke against the Pharisees and their interpretation of the Law and the Sabbath.  Christ knew that they now gathered together to consort against him.  But he continued the battle of saving souls and preaching the gospel of the kingdom of heaven.  And the demon possessed Pharisees sought ways to trip him.  They sought ways to trick him.  They sought ways with the evil spirits to bring Christ down before the people because they were loosing control.  

Christ was saving souls.  Large crowds followed him from the synagogue and St Matthew tells us that he cured them all.  He says, "Then, knowing this, Jesus withdrew from the place; and many followed him and he cured them all, and warned them not to make him known."   Christ continues to do the work of the Father by healing the sick, curing the lame, making the blind see and raising the dead.  He was winning souls.  He was bringing back the lost sheep.  He was taking back what had been taken by force by the dark forces of evil.  The battle continued.

Christ did not want to be known.  He did not want to be famous.  He did  not seek large crowds to follow him, yet he preached to the crowds and performed miracles.  And the word spread of him and the works that he performed.  For he wanted the people to know.  He wanted them to understand.  He wanted to remove the blindness from their eyes so that they would see and believe that indeed there was a God who loved them and he came down from heaven to show them his love.  Yet Christ removed himself from those who were controlled by the dark forces of evil.  He removed himself from those who would conspire against him.  For his time had not come.  The time for sacrifice was not yet here.

Christ gave us the example and the principles of how we should live.  He walked this earth with his people.  He gave his life for his people.  He battled with the dark forces for his people.  And he brought us out of captivity from evil.  Do you still find yourself in captivity?  Are you seeking a way to find Christ in your life this day? 

Many preach prosperity in your life, which is what most of us look for in this life.  If I could only be more prosperous today, then I could be a better christian.  If I could only have the anointing upon me to be successful, then I would be living the example of a christian life today.  Christ did not have a bed to call his own nor a roof over his head to call his own.  We pray for success.  We pray for good jobs.  We pray for a house.  We pray for a a good wife or husband.  We pray for all the things of this world and not the things of heaven.  Your home is not of this world and your treasures are not worldly things.  For those who know him, he has blessed with the riches of heaven which no earthly gift can compare.  Come join the battle.  Receive the armor of the Holy Spirit and be convicted of the cause.  

St Matthew, Chapter 10, verse:24, Teacher, Pupil relationship.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Disciple not above his teacher) Part 1.  

We begin our new paragraph with the relationship between pupil and teacher, between servant and master.  Christ tells his disciples,  "No disciple is above his teacher."   Christ has given his disciples great training.  He has taught them many things about doing battle with the dark forces that they will face.  And his disciples have become great learners in absorbing that information and putting it to practice.  They now see the authority that Christ has given to them.  They are aware of the great power that he has assigned to them for this solo journey that they will make to preach the message of the kingdom to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 

Christ gives them this last bit of information so that they will come to know who they are.  A disciple is a pupil, a follower, a person who adheres to the teachings of the teacher.  The meaning of the word disciple is one who holds to the teachings of his instructor.  To call oneself a disciple of a teacher means that one comes to believe in, one holds to, to accept the teachings of the teacher.  If one thinks that the teachings are not acceptable then one does not hold to those teachings and does not consider himself/herself a disciple.  Christ makes this profound statement here to demonstrate to his disciples that they are pupils if they are accepting of his teachings.  They are followers if they hold to the doctrines that he has given them.  And that simple fact puts them under his teachings, not above the teacher.

When a follower does not accept the teachings of the teacher he puts himself above the teacher in believing that the teachings are in error, incorrect, wrong, without merit.  Yet to be a disciple means that one puts oneself under the teachings of a teacher, one accepts the principles taught by the teacher, one comes under the teacher.  Therefore a pupil is not above his teacher, a disciple is not above his instructor, a follower is not above the one that he follows.  If you call yourself a disciple then you adhere to the teachings of the teacher and you are under the instructor.  Christ further illustrates his meaning by stating,  "Nor is the servant above his master."   

With this statement he makes the same profound point that if one is a servant then one is below his master and not above him.  It seems an obvious statement.  But if we think about the consequences of the statement we can find clarity.  If there is to be a servant, one who is to serve, then there must be a master, one to whom the servant serves.  There must be one above to whom the servant serves.   If the disciples, who are pupils of the teacher, are to serve the people then they must serve at the request of one greater than themselves.  Just as there is a pupil/teacher relationship there is also a servant/master relationship.  One is above the other and the other is below the one. 

These are the roles that the person who calls himself a disciple accepts and holds to.  The position of serving is a position of great humility.  One can accept the position of serving but that aspect of serving being below a master comes as a shock today.  In our times of political and social, and religious freedoms and liberties, one would with difficulty find oneself accepting of a master/servant position.  And yet one does not exist without the other.  If one is to serve, one is a servant.  And being a servant one has a master that one comes under.  No one wants to be a servant lorded over by a master.  The idea brings to mind bondage.  Yet Christ came to earth to serve.  He was born that he may serve all men.  He gave his life for this service.  And his father in heaven was his master whom he accepted as being under.  Can we as servants and followers of Christ accept his teaching that, "No disciple is above his teacher, nor is the servant above his master."