Max Lucado Daily: OUR NEED FOR JESUS - April 21, 2025
Matthew was a public tax collector. As crooked as a corkscrew. Everyone kept his distance from Matthew. Everyone, that is, except Jesus. Jesus said to him, “‘Follow me and be my disciple.’ So Matthew got up and followed him” (Matthew 9:9 NLT).
Then Luke 5:29 (NCV): “Levi gave a big dinner for Jesus at his house. Many tax collectors and other people were eating there, too.” An hour or so into the evening the door opens, and an icy breeze blows in. Enter the Pharisees, the religious police and their thin-lipped piety. But Jesus intervenes, saying, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do” (Luke 5:31 NLT).
The Pharisees were unhealthy and self-righteous. But since they did not think they were sick, they saw no need for Jesus. Matthew and the gang, on the other hand, made room for Jesus. As a result, Jesus made room for them.
Jesus, the God Who Knows Your Name
Matthew 17
Sunlight Poured from His Face
1–3 17 Six days later, three of them saw that glory. Jesus took Peter and the brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain. His appearance changed from the inside out, right before their eyes. Sunlight poured from his face. His clothes were filled with light. Then they realized that Moses and Elijah were also there in deep conversation with him.
4 Peter broke in, “Master, this is a great moment! What would you think if I built three memorials here on the mountain—one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah?”
5 While he was going on like this, babbling, a light-radiant cloud enveloped them, and sounding from deep in the cloud a voice: “This is my Son, marked by my love, focus of my delight. Listen to him.”
6–8 When the disciples heard it, they fell flat on their faces, scared to death. But Jesus came over and touched them. “Don’t be afraid.” When they opened their eyes and looked around all they saw was Jesus, only Jesus.
9 Coming down the mountain, Jesus swore them to secrecy. “Don’t breathe a word of what you’ve seen. After the Son of Man is raised from the dead, you are free to talk.”
10 The disciples, meanwhile, were asking questions. “Why do the religion scholars say that Elijah has to come first?”
11–13 Jesus answered, “Elijah does come and get everything ready. I’m telling you, Elijah has already come but they didn’t know him when they saw him. They treated him like dirt, the same way they are about to treat the Son of Man.” That’s when the disciples realized that all along he had been talking about John the Baptizer.
With a Mere Kernel of Faith
14–16 At the bottom of the mountain, they were met by a crowd of waiting people. As they approached, a man came out of the crowd and fell to his knees begging, “Master, have mercy on my son. He goes out of his mind and suffers terribly, falling into seizures. Frequently he is pitched into the fire, other times into the river. I brought him to your disciples, but they could do nothing for him.”
17–18 Jesus said, “What a generation! No sense of God! No focus to your lives! How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this? Bring the boy here.” He ordered the afflicting demon out—and it was out, gone. From that moment on the boy was well.
19 When the disciples had Jesus off to themselves, they asked, “Why couldn’t we throw it out?”
20 “Because you’re not yet taking God seriously,” said Jesus. “The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, ‘Move!’ and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn’t be able to tackle.”
22–23 As they were regrouping in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed to some people who want nothing to do with God. They will murder him—and three days later he will be raised alive.” The disciples felt terrible.
24 When they arrived at Capernaum, the tax men came to Peter and asked, “Does your teacher pay taxes?”
25 Peter said, “Of course.”
But as soon as they were in the house, Jesus confronted him. “Simon, what do you think? When a king levies taxes, who pays—his children or his subjects?”
26–27 He answered, “His subjects.”
Jesus said, “Then the children get off free, right? But so we don’t upset them needlessly, go down to the lake, cast a hook, and pull in the first fish that bites. Open its mouth and you’ll find a coin. Take it and give it to the tax men. It will be enough for both of us.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, April 21, 2025
by Patricia Raybon
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Matthew 23:23-26
“You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but on the meat of God’s Law, things like fairness and compassion and commitment—the absolute basics!—you carelessly take it or leave it. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required. Do you have any idea how silly you look, writing a life story that’s wrong from start to finish, nitpicking over commas and semicolons?
25–26 “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You burnish the surface of your cups and bowls so they sparkle in the sun, while the insides are maggoty with your greed and gluttony. Stupid Pharisee! Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something.
Today's Insights
Matthew 23:13-29 records seven “woes” as Jesus confronts the teachers of the law and the Pharisees for their ritualistic piety and hypocrisy. Woe means “how dreadful or terrible.” It’s a severe condemnation (see Isaiah 3:11; Matthew 11:21-22) in stark contrast to the description “blessed” in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12). The teachers of the law, or scribes, were the scholars of the day, professionally trained in Old Testament law. The majority of these scribes were themselves Pharisees (Mark 2:16). The Pharisees—the “separated ones”—were self-appointed guardians and enforcers of the Mosaic law. They considered the “tradition of the elders”—interpretations and regulations handed down by tradition—to be more authoritative than the Scriptures (7:3-5, 8-9). In six of the seven denunciations, Jesus called them “hypocrites” (Matthew 23:13, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29), “for they do not practice what they preach” (v. 3), and “everything they do is done for people to see” (v. 5). Instead, Christ is concerned with what’s inside—our hearts. He alone can clean us from the inside out (v. 26).
Deep Clean
[Jesus said], “First clean the inside of the cup.” Matthew 23:26
On a frigid November day, our church hoped to fill two hundred backpacks for the homeless. Preparing to help fill them, I sorted through the items donated, praying to find new gloves, hats, socks, blankets. Bowls of chili and sandwiches would also be shared with those who were to receive the gifts. Then I noticed an item that surprised me: washcloths. I’d been focusing on helping people stay warm and fed. Someone had remembered to help our recipients feel clean.
The Bible speaks about another kind of “clean”—cleanliness of heart and spirit. Jesus pointed this out as He decried the hypocrisy of the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. They kept the smallest requirements of the law but “neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness” (Matthew 23:23). Christ told them, “You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean” (vv. 25-26).
Acting as if we are spiritually spotless is just a show if we don’t seek the cleansing found in Christ. “What can wash away my sin?” asks an old gospel song. “Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” A new washcloth can be a gift to wash us on the outside. Jesus cleans us on the inside, washing away even the worst of our sins.
Reflect & Pray
Where do you need spiritual deep-cleaning? How can you pray for Christ to cleanse you today?
Please clean me spiritually on the inside, dear Jesus.
What does it mean to be righteously angry? Learn from Jesus by reading Making Jesus Angry.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, April 21, 2025
Now Don’t Hurt the Lord!
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?” — John 14:9
Our Lord must be repeatedly astonished by us—by how un-simple we are. We complicate the simple things God shows us by adding in opinions of our own, and it is opinions of our own that lead us into
confusion. When we are simple, our sight is clear, and we discern what’s before us all the time.
Philip expected the revelation of a tremendous mystery, but not in the Person who was standing before him. Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father.” Jesus replied, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:8–9). Philip couldn’t see what was right before his eyes. He couldn’t grasp that the mystery of God lies in what is, not in what will be. Philip expected the mystery to reveal itself soon, in some cataclysmic event; he didn’t expect it now. Jesus set him right, saying in essence, “God is here now—always here, or nowhere.”
We look for God to manifest himself to his children, but God only manifests himself in his children. Others see the manifestation; the child of God does not. We want to be conscious of God, but we cannot be conscious of our consciousness and stay sane. If we are constantly asking God to give us conscious experiences, we are hurting our Lord. The very questions we ask hurt Jesus because they are not the simple questions of a child.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled” (John 14:1). Am I hurting Jesus by allowing my heart to be troubled? If I believe in Jesus and his character, am I living up to my belief? Am I allowing something to disturb my heart, asking myself morbid questions? I have to get to the steadfast relationship with Jesus that takes everything he gives as it comes.
God never guides soon, always now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and his revelation is immediate.
2 Samuel 12-13; Luke 16
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
God created man to be master of the life in the earth and sea and sky, and the reason he is not is because he took the law into his own hands, and became master of himself, but of nothing else.
The Shadow of an Agony, 1163 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, April 21, 2025
TRYING SO HARD TO BE GOOD - #9986
It all started when my Dad helped some people lift a piano. There were not enough men to lift it, but they all thought they could handle it. And the next thing I knew, my Dad ended up in the hospital for a hernia operation, all because of lifting that big piano. He never should have tried to lift that much. You know what? I'm talking to somebody now who is sweating, and straining to lift...oh, not a piano! But it might be something you were never meant to lift.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Trying So Hard to Be Good."
Well, our word for today from the Word of God is John 15:4-5. I guess you could say it's about avoiding spiritual hernias! Jesus is probably walking through the Garden of Gethsemane with His disciples. He's now in the countdown hours before He goes to the cross, and He stops and says, "Gentlemen, take a look at that grape vine over there." And in the process, He teaches them a lesson that they probably remembered every time they looked at a grape vine. He said, "I am the vine, you are the branches." And then in verses 4 and 5 He said, "Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. Apart from Me you can do nothing."
Now, what Jesus is saying here in simple language is this: You concentrate on staying close to Me, and I'll produce the results. Not you'll produce the results; I'll produce them. Don't get it backwards. You're not the vine producing the fruit. Jesus said, "I'm the vine. All you are is the branch."
When He says you'll bear fruit, I think that every follower of Christ who has any life at all in Him is going to be a fruit-bearing Christian. What does that mean? Well, it means, for example, the love that you need for that person in your family or at work that's really difficult for you to deal with...maybe somebody at school. The fruit that you need to produce is love for that person who has given you no reason to love them.
How about the patience you need? Or fruit can mean people coming to Christ. So, how do you have the love you need, the patience you need, the self-control you need? How do you lead people to Christ? It is not about you producing the results. Don't forget the vine and the branches picture. You look at that branch on that vine, it looks like the grapes are coming from the branch. But that's wrong! They're coming through the branch. They're coming from the vine. All of the good traits of a Jesus follower, all the love, all the witness, all the persuasion, all the power, all the patience that you need isn't yours. The good result oh, comes through you but not from you.
Imagine a little branch lying off on the side going, "Oh, oh, wait! I've got to get some fruit on me!" You say, "Get back on the vine! That's where the fruit comes from." Maybe you've seen the Christian experience as something where you have to sweat, and strain, and push and say, "Oh, I've just got to try harder. I've tried so hard to be a good Christian." That's why you get a spiritual hernia. All you've got is a self-improvement plan with Christian words. See, your mission is to stay close to your Jesus, and then as you do your part, He will naturally produce what you've been trying to force.
Hudson Taylor, the great missionary leader, said, "I used to ask God to help me. Then I asked if I might help Him, and I ended up asking Him to do His work through me." Listen, "Open your hands, open your arms and relax." Or in the words of Corrie ten Boom, "Don't wrestle, just nestle."
