Saturday, January 28, 2023

Christ vs Riches of this World - Matthew 8-10

 Matthew 8:34 (ESV)
And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

The above verse is the end of a story where Jesus has just casted demons out of two men and into a heard of pigs.  The towns people are relieved that these two men will no longer torment them, but they are frustrated that Jesus costs them the heard of swine.    They discovered a truth that day.  Not only can Jesus significantly change a life, but also that Jesus was not always economically profitable.   

Remember the story in Acts in Philippi when Paul healed the girl who practiced divination:

Acts 16:19 (ESV)
But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.

Remember the story in Acts when Paul was in Ephesus and people came to Christ and burnt their books and idols to the goddess Diana (Artemis): 

Acts 19:24-25 (ESV)
For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth.

We might want to recall, earlier in chapter 8 of Matthew what Jesus said about following Him:

Matthew 8:18-22 (ESV)
The Cost of Following Jesus
Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

Jesus does not fit out economic principles of life.   We learn early on in life that we are better off if we accumulate.   Yet, in Christ, that is not often the case.   Let us realize that Jesus did not come here to make us economically comfortable.  His Kingdom is not this kingdom that we live in.   He came to give us eternal riches, not temporal gain.  

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