June
JUNE 1
“How Often?”
Read Matthew 18:21-35
Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.”
Matthew 18:21-22
Peter asked for a statistical count; Jesus gave him a story. We do not calculate forgiveness by numbers; we live it out in a world of incalculable mercy. Careful bookkeeping gives way to extravagant generosity.
Whom do you need to forgive?
Prayer: Your stories, Jesus, describe a world I can’t really see, a world large with generosity. Every mean act and every failed task is released from condemnation. I want to share in this world, Lord, of forgiving and being forgiven. Amen.
JUNE 2
“Is It Lawful?”
Read Matthew 19:1-9
He answered, “Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
Matthew 19:4-6
Some people come to Jesus and say, “Help me; have mercy upon me.” Jesus responds immediately and graciously. Others, like these Pharisees, come and say, “Is it lawful… ?” They are interested not in what God can do for them, but in what they can get by with. All they get from Jesus is some quotations from Genesis they could have read on their own.
What scripture does Jesus quote?
Prayer: Now, Father, I see why some of my prayers are unsatisfactory: I am interested in my possibilities rather than in your grace. I ask for information rather than for mercy. I see the difference; now help me to pray the difference. Amen.
JUNE 3
“To Whom It Is Given”
Read Matthew 19:10-12
His disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” But he said to them, “Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given…. Let anyone accept this who can.”
Matthew 19:10-12
Jesus doesn’t impose a uniform way of life on everyone. There are different ways of life in which to pursue a committed discipleship. God gives the means to accomplish the ends that he commands in us.
In what station in life has God placed you?
Prayer: Create a contentment in me, God, with the circumstances of my life. It is so inwardly destructive to be always wishing I were in a different situation or involved in other relationships. Show me how to do the best in love and faith right where I am. Amen.
JUNE 4
“Lay His Hands on Them and Pray”
Read Matthew 19:13-15
… But Jesus said, “Let the litde children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.
Matthew 19:14-15
The extremities of existence are joined in Jesus’ life: he touches children, immersing himself in the sensual, physical realities of die human; and he prays, laying hold of the unseen, spiritual realities of God.
Do you separate the physical and spiritual?
Prayer: I want to be equally at home, Lord Jesus, in material, physical things and in spiritual, divine realities—in the same way that you were, touching and praying. Amen.
JUNE 5
“Give to the Poor”
Read Matthew 19:16-22
“If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”
Matthew 19:21
The young man diought that he had kept the Le-vitical command, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” but it had never occurred to him that his neighbor might be the poor man and that love had something to do with how he spent his money.
Who are some of die unseen “neighbors” in your life?
Prayer: I know the commands, O God, but I need your help in seeing the people and circumstances where my obedience is commanded. Open my hands diat have been clutching possessions; open my eyes too long blind to certain neighbors. Amen.
JUNE 6
“Who Then Can Be Saved?”
Read Matthew 19:23-30
“Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
Matthew 19:23-24
We have to make a choice between possessing as much as we can manage, proving we are worth something by our visible wealth, and traveling light in faith, believing that we are wordi every-tiiing simply because God loves us. What have you left?
Prayer: As long, Father, as I harbor covetous desires to be among the first, I am never free to respond quickly and spontaneously to your presence and your word. Forgive me for wanting to be among the rich, and for avoiding the company of the poor, where you are. Amen.
JUNE 7
“The Last Will Be First”
Read Matthew 20:1-16
” ‘Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Matthew 20:15-16
Christ doesn’t run the world by consulting us, asking what we think is right or proper. Naturally, we make our share of complaints against Iris administration. But much of our discontent, phrased as a concern for justice, is only petty envy and small-minded jealousy.
What don’t you like about how God runs things?
PRAYER: You are right on target, Lord, when you ask me, “Do you begrudge my generosity?” It is not easy to get used to a life of extravagant mercy, when I have grown up on nit-picking calculations of rights and benefits. Amen.
JUNE 8
“The Son of Man Will Be Handed Over”
Read Matthew 20:17-19
“… and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified; and on the third day he will be raised.”
Matthew 20:18-19
Association with Jesus puts us in the company of healing, enlightenment, and unanticipated joys. But it also puts us in the place of betrayal, humiliation, and crucifixion. We must, if we are faithful to the Christian way, accept the one as readily as the other.
Why is this announcement a surprise?
Prayer: I will not forget, Lord Christ, when I experience apprehension and dread, that it is an announced and documented part of die life of discipleship. Keep me faithful in the difficult trials as you accompany me with the promise of resurrection. Amen.
JUNE 9
“His Life a Ransom for Many”
Read Matthew 20:20-28
“… but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20:26-28
We attempt to get the respect and recognition of a life of discipleship by acquiring a few pious habits. Jesus demands a life that makes a difference: a life of service, a life of giving. How do you live as a servant?
Prayer: My confession, Lord: I keep hoping that being a Christian will give me an advantage over everybody else; I make a habit of looking for loopholes in your demands for a life of service. Forgive me, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
JUNE 10
“What Do You Want?”
Read Matthew 20:29-34
“Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!” Jesus stood still and called them, saying, “What do you want me to do for you?” They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.”
Matthew 20:31-33
The blind men’s answer to Jesus’ question seems obvious: “Let our eyes be opened.” But had they ever asked for that before? Or had they long ago gotten accustomed to asking for handouts? Jesus forces us to what is basic and essential: what do you really want? What do you want?
Prayer: Gracious Father, years of living in “Jericho” have turned me into a passive consumer, dependent on alms. My desires and wants are exceedingly trivial. You rouse in me soul-sized thirsts I had forgotten I had: I want sight. I want salvation. Amen.
JUNE 11
“Mount of Olives”
Read Matthew 21:1-5
When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me.”
Matthew 21:1-2
First-century Jewish expectation had fixed on the Mount of Olives as the site for the appearance of the Messiah. As Jesus prepared to present himself at the Jerusalem Passover, he partially fit into their expectations. At the same time, he confounded them by selecting a plodding beast of burden to ride rather than a dashing war horse.
Look at a map of the Holy Land and visualize the relation of the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem.
Prayer: I want to be ready, Jesus, for your daily entrance into my life. I know that you will come to me. 1 also know that the way you will come will differ from my preconceptions. Prepare me to receive you as you will to come. Amen.
JUNE 12
“Did as Jesus Directed”
Rkad Matthew 21:6-7
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.
Matthew 21:6-7
Simple obedience is a marvelous act: when we do what Jesus tells us to do, everything falls into place, things work out. Why do we think we have to improve on his commands, edit his instructions? Are you basically an obeyer or a kibitzer?
Prayer: Almighty and eternal God, speak your word to my heart, commanding what you will. And then work in me the grace of obedience enabling me in faidi to carry out your word. Amen.
JUNE 13
“Branches from the Trees”
Read Matthew 21:8
A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
Matthew 21:8
Festivity was in the air. Our custom at parades is to wave banners and pompoms; the Hebrews made a red carpet with garments and tree branches. They knew something eelebrative was taking place in Jesus and they wanted in on it. What is eelebrative for you in Jesus?
Prayer: “Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love; hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above. Melt the clouds of sin and sadness, drive the dark of doubt away; giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day” (Henry van Dyke, “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee,” The Hymnbook, 31). Amen.
JUNE 14
“Hosanna in the Highest!”
Read Matthew 21:9
“Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Matthew 21:9
Hosanna means “Save now!” It is a cry for help in the context of assured response. The Savior has arrived! Salvation is at hand! Everyone’s life is at the point of change for the better. That which none of us can do for ourselves is done for us in Jesus. Read Psalm 118:25-26 for the source of this cry.
Prayer: “Thou didst accept their praises; accept the prayers we bring, who in all good delightest, Thou good and gracious King! All glory, laud, and honor to Thee, Redeemer, King, to whom the Hps of children made sweet hosannas ring!” (Theodolph of Orleans, “All Glory, Laud, and Honor,” The Hymnbook, 171). Amen.
JUNE 15
“The Whole City Was in Turmoil”
Read Matthew 21:10-11
When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Matthew 21:10-11
Many things are put together in this parade: the obedience of disciples, the generosity of the donkey’s owner, the prophecy of Zechariah, the enthusiasm of crowds, the praise of God. The final week of Jesus’ ministry opens with a celebration. It will conclude with a resurrection.
What part do you play in celebrating Christ’s rule?
Prayer: God, I want to find my proper place among people who praise you. By your grace every day is a festival of salvation. Put a palm branch in my hand and a song in my mouth as I join the people who know the joyful sound. Amen.
JUNE 16
“Den of Robbers”
Read Matthew 21:12-13
Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and die seats of those who sold doves.
Matthew 21:12
Places of worship are bustling centers of activity: centers for discussion groups, work projects, social gatherings—and, of course, a brief prayer to get things started on the right note. Most churches could stand a good temple-cleaning.
Is prayer the central activity in your church?
Prayer: When I next enter my church, Father, I will pray. I will not go to talk about you, or talk to my neighbors, but to address you and be addressed by you. Keep me faithful and attentive to the conversation that you are having with me in Jesus Christ. Amen.
JUNE 17
“Prepared Praise”
Read Matthew 21:14-17
Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,
” ‘Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself?”
Matthew 21:16
The noise of the money changers never, appar-endy, had bothered them, but the noise of children was intolerable. How could they become so quickly accustomed to the clangor of commerce, and be so short-tempered with the shouts of children? How can we?
What psalm does Jesus quote?
Prayer: “Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace; streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above; praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, mount of God’s unchanging love! (R. Robinson, “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” The Hymn-book, 322). Amen.
JUNE 18
“Whatever You Ask in Prayer”
Read Matthew 21:18-22
Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done. Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.”
Matthew 21:21-22
Jesus trains us to seek die essentials from God, to direct our longings and aspirations to the center. Prayer to God must become as common in our lives as conversation with our friends. Is prayer central in your life?
Prayer: God and Father, I find your love in and around me; I realize your salvation working deeply through my existence. Centered in you and surrounded by you, make every word I speak a prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
JUNE 19
“By What Authority?”
Read Matthew 21:23-27
When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Matthew 21:23-24
The question was not an honest request for information, but a tactic for avoiding personal responsibility. They asked questions about Jesus’ credentials so that they would not have to answer the question Jesus’ life posed to their lives.
Do you ever ask questions to avoid giving answers?
Prayer: I want my life, Lord, to be an answer to your love for me: my actions and my words, my thoughts and my dreams—all a response to the great reality of your presence in Jesus, that calls into question my selfishness and my pride. Amen.
JUNE 20
“Which of the Two”
Read Matthew 21:28-32
“Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and
the prostitutes believed him—-”
Matthew 21:31-32
Our life is formed at the deepest levels not by protest and promises, arguments and resolutions, but by faithful obedience. In the silent depths of the soul, the responses formed finally result—in spite of doubts and denials—in a life pleasing to God. Which of the two sons are you?
Prayer: God in Christ: you probe my heart and discover behind the words that I speak the life that I live. Purify and sanctify that inner life so that I may please you and glorify your name. Amen.
JUNE 21
“What Will He Do to Those Tenants?”
Read Matthew 21:33-41
“But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.”
Matthew 21:38-39
Popular-opinion polls condition us to look for truth in the percentages: whatever most people do or think is the most right. The parable exposes the foolishness of statistics: no matter how many times the tenants reject the truth, the truth remains to judge them.
What majority actions today do you think are wrong?
Prayer: How faithfully you approach me, Lord Jesus! How persistendy you enter my life in various ways. Open my eyes to your presence and my heart to your grace so that I will always accept your coming. Amen.
JUNE 22
“The Very Stone”
Read Matthew 21:42-46
“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”
Matthew 21:43-44
All the experts who can’t fit God into their thinking, or dieir living, conclude that there is simply no place for him. But they start in the wrong places: we don’t fit God into our lives, he fits us into his. When we begin with him, the “head of the corner,” our lives arc fit for eternity. What psalm does Jesus quote?
Prayer: Too many times, O Christ, 1 have rejected you because you didn’t meet my specifications. Forgive me for my shortsighted arrogance. Forgive me for my small-minded selfishness. Build me into the life you are making. Amen.
JUNE 23
“They Made Light of It”
Read Matthew 22:1-14
“Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.”
Matthew 22:8-10
We are faced with a life-or-death summons. The responses that we make to God in Christ are the stuff of eternity. The parable administers a shock of realization that jars us out of our drifting dilettantism.
What part of the parable speaks to you?
Prayer Lord, preserve me from such deficiencies of will and love that will keep me from being counted among the blessed celebrants in your presence. I know that I am among the called; grant diat I will also be among the chosen. Amen.
JUNE 24
“Whose Likeness?”
Read Matthew 22:15-22
Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
Matthew 22:21
The question was designed to drive a wedge between the secular and the sacred, between what we owe to God and what we owe to society. But Jesus calls us to live in a world without partitions, to the glory of God, responsible to our nation. How does this help you live well as a citizen?
Prayer: I want my life, O God, to be consciously and deliberately lived under your sovereign lordship; but I also want to live responsibly as a citizen, through Jesus Christ. Amen.
JUNE 25
“In the Resurrection”
Read Matthew 22:23-33
“And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and die God of Jacob’? He is God not of the dead, but of the living.”
Matthew 22:31-32
Jesus has little patience with people who love nothing better than a good “religious discussion.” He is interested in bringing people new life, bringing them into relationsliip with a living God of resurrection. Why did the Sadducees ask the question?
Prayer-. No empty disputes today, Lord, but empty tombs. I don’t want to waste any time in clever arguments, but immerse myself intelligently in the scriptures and respond devoudy to the living God. Amen.
JUNE 26
“Asked Him a Question”
Read Matthew 22:34-40
” ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Matthew 22:37-39
Most religious questions are not in order to acquire information or wisdom, but frivolous camouflages for indolence. As long as we are asking questions, we don’t have to do anything. Jesus’ answer put a stop to the questions: his answer confronts us with the basic question of our lives. Will we love, or not?
What scripture does Jesus quote?
Prayer: What will it be for me today, Lord? asking questions or loving in obedience? I don’t need to know more, but I do need to love more Keep me faithful to your command. Amen.
JUNE 27
“Whose Son?”
Read Matthew 22:41-46
He said to them, “How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying,
‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”‘?”
Matthew 22:43-44
Jesus answers the question by asking a question. We do not come to Christ to get answers; we come to have our lives called into question, and find how our lives become an answer to him.
What question does Christ address to you? What is your answer?
Prayer: “I find, I walk, I love, but O the whole of love is but my answer, Lord to Thee! For Thou wert long beforehand with my soul; always Thou lovedst me” (Pilgrim Hymnal). Amen.
JUNE 28
“Do Not Practice”
Read Matthew 23:1-12
“… Therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilhng to lift a finger to move them.”
Matthew 23:3-4
Most people do not start out to be hypocrites. We begin sincerely enough, with good intentions. But as it becomes easier to talk about God than engaging in the arduous process of deepening and growing in faith, we take the easier road. Outside fluency and expertise covers up inner sloth and emptiness.
Are you the same inside as outside?
Prayer: God, especially when people look to me as some kind of authority on religion, I find it easy to take on the role, meeting their expectations, but ignoring yours. But I want my life to be an on-the-knees response to you, not an on-the-pedestal lording over others. Amen.
JUNE 29
“Woe to You”
Read Matthew 23:13-36
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
Matthew 23:27-28
Jesus’ anger, verbalized in these lines of indignant thunder, sounds more terrifying after each repetition. The effect is cumulative. The hammering denunciations break up the false front of glib performance and expose die imier emptiness of self-centered smugness.
How many woes are pronounced?
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, I accept the designation “Pharisee” and put myself under your prophetic analysis: expose every tendency in me to separate the inner life of faith and the outer life of reputation; convict me of every instance of saying more than I am living. “Unite my heart to fear thy name” (Psalm 86:11). Amen.
JUNE 30
“How Often!”
Read Matthew 23:37-39
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you, desolate.”
Matthew 23:37-38
The most religious city in history is the site of the worst religious persecution. The place where God showed himself most completely, is the place where God was rejected most vehemendy. And the very streets where men and women shouted their hate, Jesus expressed the pathos that would finally convert them to singing hallelujahs.
Who are some of the prophets who were killed and stoned?
Prayer: Forgive me, O God, for the many times I have rejected your words of invitation, your servants of love. I have not been as loud and public in my rejections as many, but my silent and private unbelief has been, all the same, a refusal. Amen.
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