Dave's Diary

Prayer

Before you read, I invite you to pray this prayer, which is the second verse from the modern hymn ‘Speak O Lord‘:

Teach us, Lord, full obedience
Holy reverence, true humility
Test our thoughts and our attitudes
In the radiance of Your purity
Cause our faith to rise, cause our eyes to see
Your majestic love and authority
Words of pow’r that can never fail
Let their truth prevail over unbelief. Amen.

Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your awareness to the voice of God, coming to you through His Word.

Reading

Matthew 17:24-27

Right at the heart of Matthew 17:24-27 is Jesus’ command that His disciples should not cause unnecessary offence (v.27).

The word used for “offence” is “skandalon”. In the New Testament it always refers to something done which insults, annoys, or injures the pride of another person; thereby putting a stumbling-block in their way.

Although we can think of any number of times that Jesus’ actions caused offence to the religious leaders, these were all occasions when He was standing up for an important truth or standing up for the vulnerable. Jesus had no problem causing offence if it was an inevitable consequence of loving the weak and vulnerable and seeking their highest best.

But here in this incident, Jesus was supremely unwilling to cause offence for the sake of not having to pay the prescribed temple tax, because to do so would have been selfish. The temple tax was prescribed by Exodus 30:13 and was used for the upkeep of the temple in Jerusalem, Jesus explained to Peter that, as the Son of God, He was not technically under this “household obligation” in relation to His Father’s House (Luke 2:49). And yet, even so, Jesus was not willing to legitimately save Himself two drachma if it meant creating an obstacle that prevented even one religious leader from being open to receiving the Kingdom. What is two drachma, after all, when Jesus was willing to lay down His entire life for the salvation of the same religious leaders.

We modern disciples live in an age and in a society where standing up for one’s “rights” has become quite idealised, and if others are offended by one’s actions, “that’s their problem.” But Jesus expects us to stand up courageously for others and to look after their interests. He also expects us to be willing to sacrifice our own desires and preferences, and even our “rights”, if doing so means that the door to the Kingdom will be kept open for another soul.

As the apostle Paul would later say in 1 Corinthians 9:12, “If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.” This is the spirit Jesus expects from us.

Contemplation

Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn these declarations over in your mind. Keep them in mind throughout the day and live in step with our King, Jesus.

As a disciple of Jesus Christ,

• I will sacrifice my own desires, preferences, privileges and rights for the sake of Christ and the extension of His Kingdom.
• I will not cause offence to others unnecessarily.

Holy Spirit, help me to put others and their best interests above myself and my own interests in all things. Amen.