It’s a ‘Third-Day’ Thing

Exodus 19:1-16

Any time something is said to have happened “on the third day” it catches my attention. Our passage from Exodus is no exception. “On the morning of the third day,” we read, “there was thunder and lightning, as well as a thick cloud on the mountain, and a blast of a trumpet so loud that all the people who were in the camp trembled” (Exodus 19:16). In this context the significance of the third day is that the people have been purifying themselves and their clothing for two days in preparation for the appearance of God on the mountain. When the third day arrives the people are warned to stay clear; any human or animal that sets foot on the mountain at that time is to be killed (v. 12-13). Elsewhere in scripture Jonah is also said to have had a “third day” experience: it was the day he was finally spewed up by the great fish (Jonah 1:17; c.f. Matthew 12:40 with its reference to “the sign of Jonah”). And of course Jesus stepped from the tomb on Easter Sunday, the third day.

I don’t want to make too much out of this. The number three carries weight in the Judeo-Christian tradition for several reasons, but sometimes three is just a number. (I recall King Arthur in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” continually confusing the numbers 3 and 5; sometimes numbers are just numbers.) But to be God’s people is to live on the third day, a day of divine power and authority (as in Exodus), of redemption and salvation (as with Jonah), and of an utterly profound transformation (which we find in the resurrection). We have been living all these years and yet on the third day we find ourselves truly alive for the first time, whether we are journeying in the desert, fleeing God across the ocean, or staring at an empty tomb. Wherever we are, faith is a “third-day” reality in many ways.

Prayer: Lord, help us to embrace your grace and truth and to live the joy and meaning of the third day all our lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Worse Than at First

Matthew 12:43-50 The gospel reading for today shares some troubling words from Jesus. “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So will it be also with this evil generation” (Matthew 12:43-45). My first thought when reading this passage was of something that comic Rodney Dangerfield used to say: “You think I look bad now, you should have seen me yesterday!” But Jesus’ words are far more serious than a standup gag.

The truth is that evil is an ongoing problem for humanity. Whatever it’s cause, sin is something that we can’t outgrow or outrun. If we believe that we have cleanses ourselves of evil, or have “learned not to sin,” we are probably even more vulnerable than we were before, open to all the inclinations that serve to lead us astray. Jesus’ concern is for those who will ignore his words or who will fall into bad habits once they believe themselves to be “healed.” In this regard Jesus’ words are similar to the parable of the sower which Matthew relates in a later chapter. There the seeds that fall on rocky soil or among thorns experience short-lived growth before they are consumed by their surroundings (13:5-7).

Jesus’ invitation to us is to hear the good news and by God’s grace to abide in it so that we may experience the hope and the joy that come from discipleship. There is no inoculation against sinfulness, but there is a recognition of the challenges we face and our constant need for God’s forgiveness. There is also the grace which carries us forward toward the coming reign of God. Jesus’ words are good news because they remind us to be alert and to trust, not in ourselves, but in the love of God.

Prayer: Lord help us to trust in you and not in ourselves or in the world, for from you alone come the grace and forgiveness that we need. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Unforgivable

Matthew 12:22-32 According to Matthew Jesus had just healed a blind and mute demoniac by casting out the demon that plagued the man. While the crowds wondered if Jesus could be the Son of David the Pharisees accused him of being of the devil. They reasoned that there was no other way for Jesus to command evil spirits unless he was in league with them. Jesus’ reply to this accusation is direct. He ends by warning the Pharisees that “people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matthew 12:31-32).

The Pharisees had witnessed the work of God and yet willfully discounted it attributing it instead to Beelzebub. It is this hardness of heart, this stubborn denial of the truth, that separates one from God. If we deny the Holy Spirit’s work we have essentially hung a “do not disturb” sign on our lives telling God to leave us alone. According to Jesus, God is inclined to do just that, to leave us to our own sinful destruction. If, however, we acknowledge God’s work in the world, we will find opportunity for grace and forgiveness even when we fall short of God’s intentions. A willing and obedient faith opens us to God’s grace. A refusal to accept what God is doing leaves us closed off and withdrawn from that same grace.

Prayer: Lord, we do not always acknowledge you as we should. Help us be open to your grace and live as you intend. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Something Greater

Matthew 12:1-14

According to our gospel reading for today Jesus said to the Pharisees, “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here” (Matthew 12:6). He was talking about himself and about God’s presence in the midst of the people. God’s work in Jesus was far more profound than the religious institutions of that day. In fact a part of Jesus’ ministry was to set the hearts of the people on God and not on religion per se. But few of the Pharisees seem to have understood what was going on. The institution-law and temple-was what they knew, and Jesus was flaunting it.

In fairness we shouldn’t be too hard on the Pharisees. One of the challenges that we must address today is how to serve God in and through the church without letting the church become the focus of our devotion. When we gather to worship we must remember that something greater than the church is there. When we talk about the future, about stewardship, about ministry and evangelism, about what it means to be faithful disciples, we must remember that something greater than the church is there. When we argue about doctrine and about who is more faithful to the scriptures, we must remember that something greater than the church is there. Otherwise we become the Pharisees of our day.

Something greater than the church is here! It is the Spirit of God at work, leading, teaching, building up, challenging, making restless, confounding, inspiring, and doing so much more. If we rely solely on brick and mortar, if we cling to the fellowship that we find so comforting, if we hold tight to “our kind of music” or “our kind of worship” then we will miss the opportunity to join in the magnificent things that God is doing. Truly, something greater than the church is here.

Prayer: Open our eyes, O Lord, and let us see what you are doing and how we might join you in that work. In Jesus’ name. Amen.