Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’ ?“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.” Matthew 21:42-46
It’s Holy Week in the scriptures for me. I’m going through Matthew for my journey his year. In reading the above passage, I can’t help but to think about all of the nice guy images that people paint of Jesus so often. You have probably seen some of those images on TV. I have heard that the images in the History Channel Bible series don’t necessarily portray that, which I applaud. I haven’t seen it yet (gave up TV for Lent), but I plan to catch it later. But when you think about it, nice guys don‘t stir up the religious leaders to want to kill him.
When Jesus was “nice”, it was usually to the “sinners” whom everyone else condemned. When he was . . .stern, it was to the religious people who were supposed to be teaching the people the ways of God. When he spoke to the religious folk, he said stuff like what is written above. The kingdom of God will be taken from those who will actually be fruitful with it. And the religious leadership (Pharisees and chief priests) knew he was talking about them. Well they would have none of that! This guy has to be stopped! Who does he think he is saying these things in front of people who need to know that we are the true rulers of them? No way will we lose power to this guy and his people. But, yes way. Once people awaken to what Jesus really does for them, you realize that no one but God has power over you. And many who are in power never want that to happen. Because then you are free. Truly free. You realize that no one has ever taken your power from you. You gave it to them. But Jesus came to give it back to you. He came to give it back to the people who have been fooled into thinking that they are powerless. Because when Jesus frees those people, they produce for him. They tell people about the truth. They are free and they free others, because only free people can free others. You can’t teach me to be free if you are in chains.
Economically speaking, this is the argument of many government leaders about giving tax breaks to the wealthy. They say that if you give tax breaks to people who are already poor, it does nothing to stimulate the economy because they will just waste the money. Rich people know what to do with money when they get more of it, so give it to them and the country will thrive. In the kingdom of God, the "poor" are the rich ones. God says, rich people and people in power don’t know what to do with their freedom. They lord it over others. So give it to those who will be fruitful instead. Take it away from the people who have used it simply for their own personal gain, and give it to those who will use it to free others. Not those who will enslave others.
During this week, take some time to reflect on your own relationship with God. Are you using it to become fruitful for the kingdom or are you using it for your own personal gain? Let's not fool ourselves. Much of what is happening in the world today reflects a shift in who is bearing fruit. Religious people do not like it at all. I pray that God does not take his presence and all of the benefits of the kingdom away from me for lack of bearing fruit. May I never use my power or authority to keep people in bondage. Amen.
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