Introduction: This morning after PT I completed another reading of the Gospel of Matthew. Of the four gospels, I think it’s perhaps become my favorite. Why? It is because I see in it the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises. The Messiah was promised again and again in the Old Testament. And Jesus came, just as promised, as the Messiah. He was despised and rejected, just as predicted. He was silent before his shearers, just as predicted. He was the Son of David, just as predicted. He was and is the great I AM, just as promised. He is the promised good shepherd. He is the light of world, just as predicted. He was pierced for our transgressions, just as predicted. He was crushed for our iniquities, just as predicted. He was the lamb led to the slaughter, just as predicted. He bore the sins of many, just as predicted. And he saves his people, just as predicted. And one of those people was a Roman centurion (Mt 27:54).

Text: And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Mt 27:51-54, ESV)

Context, Context, Context: In the Gospel of Matthew, this is his description of the history of Jesus’s crucifxion and resurrection. In his gospel, we see the stony hearts of the Pharisees, Sadducees, most Jews, and the Roman officials who oversaw and carried out the crucifixion of the Christ.

And yet, Matthew focuses on this one man’s faith, a faith in Jesus as the Christ. And that faith saved that Roman centurion. No matter how many times I read the Bible, I am struck by nuggets of gold like this. What do I mean? Simply that it’s not a mass conversion we see here in Matthew. It’s one man, a Roman soldier, a centurion. And he believed. While the crowds mocked Jesus, stripped Jesus, spat upon Jesus, pierced Jesus, and eventually crucified Jesus between two robbers, this one man believed . . . and was saved.

And the same thing continues to happen today. Most mock, most jeer, most scoff at the holy–and yet some believe. One by one, God grows his church. And the true church continues to prevail via the truth of redemption and the proclamation of hope.

BLUF: The End of the Matter; Wisdom of a Clear End State

Text: “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Eccl 12:13-14, ESV).

Illustration: It’s been one of those mornings where it seems everything is urgent, and where one’s calendar suddenly fills up with things we didn’t plan for. I had a 0830 Military Funeral Honors (planned). But then I got a call asking for a MFH for a deceased Airman down in Peachtree City (and I was at GA National Cemetery in Canton). So, I reached out to my Air Force peers to see if they could cover down. For whatever reason, they said they couldn’t cover it. Then I reached out to another military chaplain and pastor to see if he could help me out. No answer.

Then I had an SSgt Airman brought to me for triage counseling. Then I had an S1/personnel matter that needed to be addressed via IPPSA, for which I had to link up with personnel. Then my boss wanted to meet with me for how she wanted me to design curricula for future chaplains. Then I had two more Military Funeral Honors come in from Ft. Benning for this coming Friday. I’m not complaining about those, because I love honoring our fallen veterans—regardless of branch of service. On and on it went. Next thing I knew, it was 1430, and I’d not even begun to work ‘my calendared events.’ I suppose we all have days like this—when life hits us at 100 MPH. That’s when it’s crucial to remember the goal, and why we do what we do.

Encouragement: For many years I have had a full-time military job, but it’s not really a ‘job’ to me. The reason is because it’s a calling to me, a vocation, in the truest sense of that term. I get to pastor Soldiers, Airmen, veterans, and Civilians. And I love it. It plays to my strengths of pastoral care and spiritual formation. Remembering always what Solomon calls “the end of the matter” is crucial. It’s the driving passion, the calling, to “nurture the living, care for the wounded, and honor the fallen.” What Scripture calls “every secret thing” speaks to the reality that God sees all that we do and/or not do in the faithful execution of our duties.

Introduction: This morning I was reading in Matthew 7. Towards the end that chapter we read these words from Jesus: “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Mt 7:13-14, ESV).

Context, Context, Context: These words from Jesus are in the last sections of his “Sermon on the Mount” (Mt 5-7). This sermon is arguably the most oft-quoted sermon in the history of Christianity. Folks love to lift verses from the Sermon on the Mount, when it suits their purposes.

That is why proper contextualization is so important. Look at sections before and after Matthew 7:13-14 above. Who’s Jesus addressing? What’s the matter under discussion? To what issues is he speaking?

In short, Jesus had been addressing judgmentalism (Mt 7:1-5), hypocrisy (Mt 7:5), and the call to heal yourself before you rebuke others (Mt 7:12), among other issues.

Verse 12 is such a loaded verse, too: “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also tho them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Mt 7:12, ESV). The Law and the Prophets are two of the genres in the Old Testament. 1st century Jewish readers would have understood the Writings to be another section. But Jesus says here in his sermon that the Law and the Prophets (as bodies of divine authority) taught one overarching theme: the Golden Rule.

But then we get these very alarming words from Jesus in verses 13-14: “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

Those words should strike us. He has just told us to ask, seek, and knock (Mt 7:7), but then he says that the gate is narrow. That is, it’s hard to get through. Why? Well, because it cuts against the grain of human nature. It calls for self-denial rather than self-importance. It calls for loving others rather than loving self. It calls for sacrifice rather than indulgence.

Jesus contrasts the narrow gate of himself with the broad way that leads to destruction (v. 13). The broad way, he says, is the easy way. It doesn’t take self-discipline to go the broad way. It requires merely self-absorption, and that’s in great supply.

He says the gate is both narrow, and it is hard, and that those who find it “are few” (v. 14). That should call us to sober thinking rather than sentimentality. It takes work, diligence, self-discipline, self-denial, and a regenerated soul to be able to live the Christian faith. It’s not just some casual thing.

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