Daily Readings and Thought for January 14th. “WATCH AND BEWARE”
The stage has now arrived in the life of Jesus for the really serious issues to be raised with his disciples. His disciples were challenged as to what they really understood and believed. They are told to “Watch” and this means, Jesus is telling them, keeping the eyes of your mind open so that you correctly understand. Only by doing this will you act in the right way and do the will of God.
Life has many things to “beware” of when we commit our lives to serve God and do his will. Jesus says, “watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” [Matt. 16 v.6] They puzzle over what “leaven” means in this context. Natural leaven is, of course, the agent put into bread dough to make it lighter and more palatable. Were some doing this to spiritual teaching? Yes! Jesus explains to his disciples, “I did not speak about bread …. but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees” [v.11,12].
History shows that there has always been a tragic tendency to take the teaching of Jesus and make it more palatable. His disciples are going to be required to take on a very responsible role. He began to tell them that “he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests, and be killed and on the third day be raised,” [v.21] Their human thinking is locked into one way of thinking so they cannot accept this. Their understanding is headed for a steep and painful learning curve.
Has the life of those truly trying to serve Christ ever been any different? No. Climbing up from the slippery unstable sands of human thinking to the “rock” [v.18] has always been a challenge. We see in reading the book of Acts that Peter, through much agonizing, became the first “Rock.” So let all of us take special note of the advice to “watch and beware” and gain “the keys of the kingdom” [v.19].
What kind of “life” matters most to us? Jesus said, “For what will it profit a man (or woman) if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?” [v.26]. What did Jesus mean? Everything is said today about the need to have the best possible career path – so that you can gain the best rewards offering in life. That is fine – IF this life is all that you are interested in. But if you are interested in more than this life – “watch and beware
