Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Fighting For Power? | New Testament | Matthew 14

Episode Date: January 19, 2023

Nobody likes feeling powerless. But what will you do to maintain power or avoid suffering? Are you a ladder climber? Are you constantly seeking personal gain? In today's episode, Patrick looks at Matthew 14 to discuss Jesus's definition of power. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Join the TMBT community in reading the entire New Testament in 2023. Get your FREE reading plan here. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Matthew 14

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. There's something strange about our cultural moment. We don't seem to expect suffering, or maybe to be a little more precise. We don't expect to be powerless in any way. We expect our voice to be heard. We expect our vote to matter. And we're willing to claw and grab and do whatever it takes to get the power. that we think we deserve or the power that we think we want. And I mean, I guess on one level, there's actually nothing new about this. If you read through human history, you will find civilization after civilization, empire after empire, full of people who thought that maybe because of their ethnicity or maybe because of their cultural products or maybe because of their military supremacy, they deserved the power. They deserved the proverbial vote. They deserve to

live a life where suffering, at least for them, was at a minimum, whatever that cost other people. I mean, of course that was true of ancient Rome. Romans thought that they were greater than any other ethnic group out there. They were greater than the Greeks because they'd conquered them. They were greater than the Jews because they'd conquered them. They were the greatest humans alive. And so being a Roman citizen was a big deal because it meant that you, more than others, had the power. And I think it's what we still want today. We want the power. We don't want to suffer as a result of being powerless. Now, that's fine and well if you're not a Christian.

But if you're a follower of Jesus, is that what you should expect? Again, I ask this in part because as I listen to a lot of Christian voices in politics, on both the right and the left, it seems as though they think that as a result of something inside of them, they deserve the power. Maybe on the right, it's, hey, we're Christians, and we live in a Christian nation. And so Christians deserve the power. They deserve to have the loudest voice. Or maybe on the left, it's Christians who say, as a result,

of my minority identity or as a result of my sexuality and gender, I deserve to have the power. I deserve to have the vote. And again, everybody is clawing for power. And when we don't get the power, when we don't have the loudest voice, it's a form of suffering that we can't seem to bear. So again, some Christians, if Disney has a louder voice than they do, or if the New York Times has a louder voice than they do, or if a Democratic president has a louder voice than they do, they say this is unnatural. I'm suffering. I need the power. I need to be put back in charge. And I will do anything to get myself back in charge. You see where the logic ultimately goes. Because if you think that you deserve the power, if you think that you deserve to be in charge in some sense, whether it's on a

national level or let's just be honest, for people listening to this, maybe it's just in my office or in my family. If you think that you deserve the power and that any ways that your power is compromised is a form of suffering that you can't bear, well, you'll justify doing terrible things to get the power back. You'll gossip, you'll say hurtful words, you might try to cause other people's reputation's harm. We do all different sorts of things. But again, is this the way Christians are supposed to be? I ask this, because in the sermon on the mount, Jesus says, blessed are the persecuted. In other words, blessed are the people who don't have any power. Blessed are the people who suffer under the rule and under the power of others. In other words, Jesus seems to be telling us,

and he does say this later, to expect suffering in this world. He seems to be telling us, you Christians, you are exiles, you will never be the ones who are in charge in this life. The kingdom is coming, but it is not fully here yet. And in this life, the way you will proclaim my kingdom is by suffering for it, is by being persecuted for it. It's not by clawing at power. It's by laying down your power. It's by taking up your power. It's by taking up your cross. This just doesn't seem to be the way that we naturally think. It's not the way I naturally think. And this takes us to Matthew 14, a passage which I think epitomizes exactly what Jesus taught in the sermon on the Mount. It's about John the Baptist. I'll pick up in verse one. At that time, Herod

the Tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, and he said to his attendance, this, he's talking about Jesus, is John the Baptist. He has risen from the dead. That is why miraculous powers are at work in him. Now, we need a little bit of context here because up until this point, we didn't realize that John the Baptist had died, and so now Matthew is going to tell us the story of his death. Now Herodod, arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodius, his brother Philip's wife. For John had been saying to Herod, it is not lawful for you to have her. So John's going around telling the ruler, the guy with all the power, Herod, he's saying, hey, you are sleeping with your brother's wife, and that is not right. Again, most of us can obviously

see the point, but when you're in power, you cannot bear someone trying to tell you that you are wrong. And of course, John has no power to change Herod's mind or to change Herod's behavior. And that's exactly why Herod does what most people in power do. He cancels John. He silences John. He puts him in prison and says, you don't get to talk anymore because you aren't in charge. Let's keep going. Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people because they consider John a prophet. on Herod's birthday, the daughter of Herodius, that's his brother's wife, so his brother's wife's daughter, danced for the guest, and pleased Herod so much that he promised her with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Let's just pause on the creepiness of this whole situation. This is his niece, who is doing, I think what's being implied as a kind of provocative dance, and Herod prepaly likes this so much that he promises her or anything she asks.

verse eight prompted by her mother herodius guess what herodius isn't like john the baptist either because he's been talking trash on her saying you can't be with herod let's keep going prompted by her mother she said give me here on a dish the head of john the baptist the king was distressed but because of his oaths and his dinner guests he ordered that her request be granted and he had john beheaded in the prison his head was brought on a dish and given to the girl who could carried it to her mother. John's disciples came and took his body and buried it, and they went, and they told Jesus. John's story is the living story, or in this case, the dying story, of someone living out Jesus' kingdom values. Blessed are those who are persecuted for Jesus' sake.

You see, John didn't try to claw at power. He didn't try to be the one he was in charge. He spoke truth. And sometimes we won't speak truth because we're afraid of the consequences. But Jesus says you don't need to be afraid because blessed are you when you are persecuted. But on the flip side, when we're persecuted, some of us think, well, this is wrong and unnatural and I shouldn't have this as a Christian. And so we get angry and we try to take the power for ourselves. And sometimes we try to do unto others what they've done unto us. But again, John shows us a different way. He speaks the truth. But when the jailers come, he goes to prison. When they take his head, he doesn't resist. John. is the exemplar of what it looks like to be persecuted for the name of Jesus. And when he did that,

he was a witness to the power in the kingdom of Jesus. Why? Because Jesus is the king whose throne is a cross. Jesus rescued us from sin and death. He defeated the power of the devil, not by taking power. When the devil comes along and says, hey, I'll give you all the kingdoms. He says, no, he does it by laying down his power. He does it by laying down his life. He does it by laying down his self-interest. This is so upside down. If you want real, true power in your life, suffer, suffer joyfully, suffer well, suffer knowing that through that persecution, through that suffering, God will do far more than he ever could have done if you had clawed and grabbed at the power. In your office, are you known as a ladder climber who's willing to step on anybody's head to

get to the next place. And your family, are you always carefully protecting your power, your interests? I have to be in charge. We have to do what I want. With your friends, do you have to be the best, the funniest, have the most influence in the room?

In your politics, are you always just looking out for you? How is this going to affect me and my group and my political tribe? How do you measure up on these things? Remember, blessed or the persecuted? Laying down your interest. laying down your life. That is the opposite of what everything in the world will tell you to do, and yet it's exactly what Jesus calls us all to do. So ask him today, how are you calling me to lay down

my life? How are you calling me to lay down my interest? How are you calling me to lay down my power? Jesus, free me from the drive to grasp, to claw, at power, at being in charge, at having the most important voice, Jesus helped me to lay those things down and trust that you know the true path to life and that true power is found on the other side of death. Before you forget, sign up for the 10-minute Bible Talks newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes and you'll get an email every Wednesday that's going to help you beat that midweek slump and go deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.