Week 10 : Matt. 22:43 - 24:51

For just as the days of Noah were, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as they were in those days before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage... so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. At that time two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left. Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord comes.... For this reason, you also be ready, because at an hour when you do not expect it, the Son of Man is coming.
Matt. 24:37-44

So warned Jesus concerning the need for His believers to be watchful and ready, that they would not miss His second coming.

In the days of Noah there were two conditions existing: people were befuddled by eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, and they did not know that judgement was coming, until the flood came and took them away. Similarly, at the time that the Lord returns, people will be befuddled and distracted by the necessities of this life, and will not realise that God's judgement (signified by the flood) is coming upon them.

In the beginning, eating, drinking and marriage were ordained by God for man's existence; however, Satan now utilises these necessities to occupy man and keep him from God's interest. Even a glance at the world situation will confirm that man is fully occupied with material things and has no sense of the coming judgement.

However, a small number of His believers will be watchful and sober. The two men and the two women signify believers, living their normal lives. The two men are working in the field - they're not sitting in a Bible study group; the two women are grinding at the mill - they're not fasting or praying in a prayer meeting. However, one of each group is taken by the Lord at His secret coming, that is, raptured before the great tribulation comes. What is so special about the man and woman who are raptured, and why are the other two not?

This is surely a matter of their condition related to life. Those who are taken have matured in life, while those who are left are, spiritually speaking, immature. This means that in our life, we must firstly be diligent in our work, but at the same time, we must take care of our spiritual condition. We cannot give our all to our work and neglect our growth in life; nor can we be super-spiritual and reject the requirement to work for our daily needs. Instead, we must be balanced and normal.

Week 9 : Matt. 20:17 - 22:42

In Matthew 21:1-11, the Lord made His final visit to Jerusalem. The heavenly King, riding not on a horse, but on a lowly donkey and its colt, came not to minister, preach, teach or perform miracles, but to present Himself as the Lamb of God to be slaughtered, to be crucified.

The story of the Passover is one of the most well-known stories in the Old Testament, together with the many plagues on Egypt, and the flight of the Israelites through the Red Sea. However, these stories are also immensely rich in spiritual significance, and none more so than the Passover lamb. On the night of their flight from Egypt, the children of Israel were to prepare a lamb:

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male... And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole congregation of the assembly of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.... And the blood shall be a sign for you upon the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and there will be no plague upon you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt"
Exo. 12:5-7, 13

For four days, the lamb would be examined to confirm that it was unblemished, before being killed by the whole congregation. Its blood would then form the basis of their salvation from God's punishment. These verses clearly typify the Lord Jesus, and in Matthew 21-22, we see Him coming to Jerusalem to be examined over a number of days, by the Pharisees, the Herodians, the Sadducees and a lawyer. Each group prepared questions to ensnare and entrap Him, yet in each case, His answer silenced them. For instance, the Herodians, a group of Jews who took sides with Herod's regime and who took part with him in bringing Grecian and Roman manners of life into Jewish culture, asked Him:

Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?
Matt. 22:17

If Jesus answered Yes, they would condemn Him before all the Jews, who opposed giving tribute to the occupying Romans; if He answered No, they would condemn Him before the Romans as one promoting rebellion. Yet the Lord's answer defied their expectations:

But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, Why do you tempt Me, hypocrites? Show Me the coin for the tribute. And they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, Whose is this image and inscription? They said, Caesar's. Then He said to them, Render then the things that are Caesar's to Caesar, and the things that are God's to God.
Matt. 22:18-21

When they handed over a coin from the tribute at His request, they were defeated; the coin from the tribute was a denarius, a Roman coin.

For days, He was examined by the religious, cultural and political leaders, yet they could find no fault in Him. Even Pontius Pilate declared several times that he could find no fault in Him (Luke 23:14, 20, 22). Therefore, He was fully qualified to be the Passover lamb, crucified by all the people, and, through the shedding of His blood, redeeming whosoever believes into Him (John 3:16).

Week 8 : Matt. 17:9 - 20:16

Moreover if your brother sins against you, go, reprove him between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not hear you, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to hear the church also, let him be to you just like the Gentile and the tax collector. Truly I say to you, Whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again, truly I say to you that if two of you are in harmony on earth concerning any matter for which they ask, it will be done for them from My Father who is in the heavens. For where there are two or gathered into My name, there am I in their midst.
Matt. 18:15-20.

These verses, concerning the way to deal with a troublesome brother in the church, reveal something very precious. In Matt. 16:18, the Lord Jesus revealed the church for the first time, the universal church as the unique Body of Christ. But here, we see something related to the practice of the believers in a certain locality. While the Body of Christ is universal, spanning both time and space (starting from the day of Pentecost and stretching forward to the day when the millennial kingdom ends and the New Jerusalem descends from heaven, and including every believer in every place), it must also be practical, because as finite beings, we can only exist in one place at one time. The church has a universal aspect, and it has a local aspect.

In order to be in the kingdom of the heavens in a practical way, we need to be in a local church. According to the context of verse 17, both the reality and the practicality of the kingdom are in the local church. In a chapter dealing with relationships in the kingdom, the Lord speaks eventually of the church. This proves that the practicality of the kingdom today is in the local church. Without the local church, it is impossible to have the practicality and reality of the kingdom life. Many Christians today talk of the kingdom life, but without the practical local church life, this talk is in vain.

What is a local church? A local church is not a building on the corner with a pointed roof and a bell; instead, 1 Cor. 1:2 shows us that it is simply all the believers in a city; the believers in Corinth were "the church of God which is in Corinth". The situation that Paul addressed in Corinth was full of division, sin, confusion, abusing of gifts and heretical teachings, yet the apostle still called it "the church of God", because the divine and spiritual essence which makes the assembled believers the church of God was actually there. If you look at Christianity today, the believers are divided into a 1001 denominations, taking a person or a practice as a means of denominating, or differentiating themselves. This is absolutely wrong, for God Himself is one, and cannot be divided; yet these believers together, each having the divine and spiritual essence of the Triune God, whether they know it or not, whether they practice it or not, are the church in that locality.

In chapter sixteen, the Lord revealed the universal church. But the universal church requires the practicality of the local church. Without the local church, the universal church cannot be practiced; rather, it will be something suspended in the air. The local church is the reality both of the kingdom and of the universal church.

Week 7 : Matt. 15:1 - 17:8

Far to the north of Jerusalem, the religious capital of Israel, close to the border of the Holy Land, is Caesarea Philippi. In Jerusalem, the holy city and site of the holy temple, the atmosphere of the old Jewish religion filled every man's thought, leaving no room for Christ, the new King. The Lord purposely took His disciples far away from this place to Caesarea Philippi, to reveal something new concerning Himself and the church, which was mentioned for the first time here.

Jesus began by asking them:

Who do men say that the Son of Man is? And they said, Some, John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He said to them, But you, who do you say that I am? (Matt. 16:13-15)

This seemingly simple question is the most important question that we can ever be asked - who is the Christ? The disciples showed us that without a heavenly revelation, our view of who Christ is is limited. As a man, Chris was a mystery to that generation, as He is to people today. Surely He is the greatest of the prophets, yet none knew Him as the Son of the living God. Peter then received a revelation from the Father:

And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in the heavens. (Matt. 16:16-17)

The Christ refers to the One prophesied in the Old Testament and whom His saints through the ages looked for. It refers to the anointed One of God, of His commission, whereas the Son of the Living God speaks of His person. His commission is to accomplish God's eternal purpose through His crucifixion, resurrection, ascension and second coming, whereas His person embodies the Father and consummates in the Spirit for a full expression of the Triune God. The living God is in contrast to the dead religion. The Lord is the embodiment of the living God, having nothing to do with dead religion.

And I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. (Matt. 16:18)

The revelation of Christ is only the first half of the great mystery, which is Christ and the church. Therefore, the Lord needed to reveal the second half of the mystery to Peter, which is the church. This rock refers not only to Christ, but also the revelation concerning Christ that Peter had received. The church is built on Christ and on this revelation concerning Christ.

The Lord's building of His church began on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4, 41-42), yet the prophecy even now has yet to be fulfilled. In the original Greek of the New Testament, the word for church is ekklesia, which means an out-calling. This word is used in reference to a called-out congregation. That the Lord would call it My church indicates that the church is of the Lord, not of any other person or thing; it is not like the Christian denominations, which are denominated according to some person's name (e.g. Lutherans and Wesleyans) or according to some matter (e.g. Baptists and Pentecostalists). Instead, the church that Christ is building is inclusive and non-sectarian. If we see that the church is build on Christ and Christ alone, we will be saved from division.

Week 6 : Matt. 13:8 - 14:36

After His rejection by the Jewish religious leaders (Matt. 12:22-37), His own Galilean countrymen (vv13.53-58), and by the Gentile politicians (vv14.1-13), the Lord Jesus withdrew to a deserted place privately.This indicates that from then on, He would hide Himself in a deserted place, a place without culture, away from the religious, cultured and political circles. He did this by means of a boat (v14:13), implying that He would do this through the church.

In spite of His threefold rejection, there were still many who sought and followed the heavenly King. They did this by leaving their cities; the Lord did not come to them in their cities, but they left them to come to Him in the deserted place. Throughout the centuries, the true followers of Christ have left cultured spheres to follow their heavenly King outside the cultured world.

These followers spent much time in the Lord's presence, with their sick being healed. However as evening fell,

the disciples came to Him, saying, This place is deserted and the hour is already late. Send the crowds away that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves. But Jesus said to them, They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat. (Matt. 14:15-16)

The disciples' concept was that the followers should do something; this is wholly according to the principle of the law. However, the Lord's concept is to give people something to enjoy; this is the principle of grace. Actually, grace is just the Lord Himself coming to us to be our life supply, our enjoyment, and our everything. When we have the Lord, we lack nothing (Psalm 23:1). The Lord intended to show that what His followers need is the proper food to satisfy their hunger. All that they needed was Hs resurrection life, which would satisfy their spiritual hunger, as signified in this miracle. This corresponds with Matt. 6:31-33, where we are told that the kingdom people should not be anxious about what they will eat.

The disciples only had five loaves and two fish between them. John 6:9 tells us that the loaves were barley loaves. Barley, a crop which ripens before the wheat crop, signifies the resurrected Christ (Lev. 23:10); thus barley loaves signify Christ in resurrection as food to us. Both the loaves and the fish are small items, which indicates that Christ came to His followers not as a King to reign over them (which is what the Jews were expecting), but as small pieces of food to feed them.

The Lord took the food, and looking to the heavens, blessed it and broke it. This signifies firstly that the Lord took His Father in the heavenlies as His source, while the breaking of the food shows us that whatever we bring to the Lord must be broken, that it may become a blessing to others. Having broken the food, the Lord gave it to the disciples to distribute to the crowds, indicating that they were not the source of the blessing; they were only the channels by which the Lord's blessing reached the people for their satisfaction.

When everyone had fully satisfied themselves by enjoying the Lord's grace, there were twelve handbaskets full of broken pieces, indicating that not only is the resurrected Christ unlimited and inexhaustible, but that His provision is abundant, more than sufficient to meet all our need.

Week 5 : Matt. 11:2 - 13:7

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered Him, saying, Teacher, we want to see a sign from You. But He answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. (Matt. 12:38-40)

Of all those who opposed the Lord Jesus during His life on earth, none opposed Him more than the religious establishment, the scribes and Pharisees of Judaism. Matt. 12:1-14 show that while they cared only for religious ordinances and practices, He cared only for His members, firstly by leading His disciples to pick grain to eat on the Sabbath, and then by healing a man with a withered hand, again on the Sabbath, a day on which, according to Jewish ritual, no work was to be done. Jesus did not care for such rituals - if He saw one of His children in need, He went to them to help them.

The climax of their rejection of the very One who had come to save them was their asking for a sign. A sign is a miracle with some spiritual significance. 1 Cor. 1:22 confirms this word that the Jews continually seek for signs. Today, many unbelievers challenge God, saying, "If God is real, why does He not give us a sign, to prove He exists? Then we would believe." They are no different to the stubborn unrepenting unbelieving Jewish religionists who opposed the Lord Jesus in that day.

The Lord's answer was to reveal to the whole universe something further concerning Himself. Jonah was sent by God to preach the gospel of repentance to Nineveh; Jonah feared God, and tried to escape by sea; he was cast into the water, and swallowed by a great fish, which, after three days and nights, spewed him up onto the land near Nineveh, after which Jonah went to the Gentile city and preached the gospel to them, and the Ninevites repented, and were spared God's judgement. Here the Lord, as the greater Jonah, clearly was prophesying concerning His coming death and resurrection, when He would be interred in the earth for three days, before coming forth in resurrection to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles. (Remember, in my previous posting, I covered the matter of the signs of dispensational significance, showing how the Lord would turn from Israel to the Gentiles, before finally returning to Israel at the close of the age).

The Lord then gave them a second sign, the sign of Solomon. King Solomon's two main achievements were to build the temple of God in Jerusalem, and to speak the words of wisdom. As the greater Solomon, Christ is the One who is building the real temple, the church, and speaking the real word of wisdom, the gospel of grace. To Him, the Gentile seekers (signified by the Queen of Sheba) come "from the ends of the earth"

These two signs are interesting because they are seemingly out of sequence; according to history, Solomon preceded Jonah, yet here the Lord deliberately mentions Jonah first. This is because these signs have spiritual significance, which is serious and very meaningful. Jonah is mentioned first because he signifies Christ in His death and burial, while Solomon typifies Christ in His resurrection. Christ must die first before He can be resurrected; then He builds the church and speaks the word of wisdom.

If the Pharisees had taken in the Lord's word, they would have recognised the first sign when He was crucified, buried and resurrected, and they would have repented and believed. Even in His answer to their provoking question, Jesus was merciful, giving them the opportunity to yet receive Him, by giving them such signs. His death and resurrection are the unique sign given to that generation, and they remain the unique sign to this day. The Pharisees, that "evil and adulterous generation" did not care, and they rejected the King-Saviour. From this point on, having been rejected by Israel, the Lord forsook the Jews, and instead turned to the Gentiles.

Week 4 : Matt. 8:18 - 11:1

After delivering the decree of the kingdom's constitution in the "Sermon on the Mount", the Lord performed several miracles (Matt. 8:1-17): healing a leper, a paralysed servant, and His disciple Peter's mother-in-law. Taken on their own, these cases may appear to be simple stories showing His compassion for us, but dig below the surface for a moment, and they take on great dispensational significance.

The first class of people saved by the King to be the people of His kingdom is represented by the leper. Leprosy signifies rebellion and disobedience (e.g. Miriam in Num. 12:1-10 and Naaman in 2 Kings 5:1, 9-14). All fallen human beings have become leprous in the eyes of the Lord, but in His mercy and compassion, He came to save us, even being willing to touch us when no other would. Since the leper worshipped Him and called Him, "Lord", this shows us that the leper signifies more specifically the Jews. The Lord came first to the nation of Israel.

After healing the leper by His touch, He healed the servant of a Roman centurion. The centurion and his servant represent the Gentiles. While the Jews were rebellious and disobedient, the Gentiles are paralysed, dead in function because of their sinfulness. The Lord came first to the Jews, and then to the Gentiles. The believing Jews were saved by His direct touch, while the believing Gentiles are saved through faith in His word. Since the centurion recognised the Lord's authority, he asked only for His healing word, demonstrating such faith that Jesus,

marvelled and said to those who followed, Truly I say to you, With no one in Israel have I found such great faith." (Matt. 8:10)

After bringing full salvation to the Gentiles, the Lord then comes to the third case, represented by Peter's mother-in-law, who was stricken with fever. She represents the Jews living at the end of this age. The Lord will come back again to save them in the house of Israel. Once healed by His direct touch, as was the leper, they will serve Him. Finally, after healing her, He cast out demons and healed many other ill people, in fulfillment of Isaiah 53:4. This healing signifies the power that will be manifested in the millennial kingdom.

So, in isolation, these cases are just examples of miraculous healing, but together, they show in miniature the coming kingdom of the heavens. These cases are reinforced by vv. 9:18-34; the Lord comes first to Israel, represented here by the a ruler of the synagogue and his daughter, to save them with His direct touch (their faith is still insufficient for them to receive their salvation through His word); then to the Gentiles, represented by the woman with a flow of blood, who are again saved by faith (v9:22), and then returns to the house of Israel again, before healing the blind, the dumb and the demon-possessed in the kingdom age.