Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes’?”

Matthew 21:42

I’ve recently discovered the joys of being an eBay seller. I know I’ve come to the party a little late, but in the past it has always seemed like so much hassle. Aware of the inordinately large amount of junk I have cluttering up my house, however, and an impending wedding, I thought that it would be a good time to have a bit of a clear out. What has amazed me is just how much value people place on the stuff that I consider tat. The stuff I throw out goes on to become another person’s pride and joy. I recently got a message from someone I sold an ancient satnav unit to, telling how her father was absolutely delighted to receive it for Christmas. Having replaced it with satnav on my phone, it was surplus to my requirements, however, and was just sitting in the bottom of my wardrobe.

In today’s verse, Jesus speaks rather cryptically about a stone that builders rejected that went on to become a marvelous capstone, the crowning glory of a building. What had seemed worthless to them, actually had a great deal of value. Of course, Jesus is talking about himself. The rejection that he speaks of is his own rejection, when he was betrayed by a close companion, disowned by one of his closest friends, and rejected in favour of a common criminal by the crowd. Jesus was, as a consequence, executed. This was not the end, however, because he rose from the dead, and subsequently ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. He who was rejected was highly valued by God, and given the authority to judge all human beings.

One of my favourite songs has the line, “ashamed, I hear my mocking voice, call out among the scoffers.” The first few times I sang this song, I thought that this simply could not be true – I would not have been in the crowd baying for Jesus’ blood. A while later, I realised that actually, I probably would have been. Subsequently, I have realised that actually I am in that crowd rejecting Jesus every day. Every day I do things that dishonour Jesus, who died for me. Every day, I neglect to serve Christ as I ought. I might have said that I accept Jesus as my personal saviour, and said that I want to live my life for him, but so often, I fail in that.

I’m sure that I’m not alone in that. The good news is that we have a loving God who forgives if we truly repent – if we say that we will try our hardest to do better in the future. Let’s all reflect on the things that we do that dishonour Jesus, and repent of our sins today.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20

Soon after I joined my university Christian Union, the committee launched a major evangelistic project. At the University of Essex, where I studied for my first degree, most first year students lived in flats on campus, with between five and sixteen people in a flat. The CU committee decided that as an expression of God’s love, we would deliver a loaf of bread and two tins of baked beans to every flat on campus. How effective it was as an attempt to share the gospel with our peers, I don’t really know, but it certainly got us lots of recognition on campus, and people were talking about us for quite a while afterwards!

Evangelism is one of those difficult things about being a Christian. Lots of people feel uncomfortable doing it, and there is much discussion and debate (sometimes even arguments!) about how we should go about doing it. Today’s verses, the final verses in Matthew’s gospel, indicate that however we go about sharing the good news of Christ, we should be doing it!

The key for me in this verse is Christ’s stipulation that we should be teaching people to obey everything that he has commanded us. In order for people to be taught that they should obey Christ, though, they need to be taught why they should obey Christ. Before people can be taught why they should obey Christ, they need to understand who Christ is. It is vital, therefore, that we all make an effort to help our friends, colleagues and acquaintances to understand who Christ is. Most people have preconceived ideas about Jesus, and it is up to us to deal with wrong ideas about Christ, and to replace them with more accurate views. What better way to do this than to introduce people to the Jesus of the Bible – to help them to see for themselves just who Jesus was, and what he taught?

Today, then, why not make another New Year resolution? Why not resolve to help people understand not just that you are a Christian, but why you are a Christian? Share with them the miracle of Christ.

Today Crossring begins a short series entitled simply “The Gospel.” We hope that you will find this a useful way of getting “Back to Basics” with your faith as we enter a new year, and that it will help equip you to “make disciples of all nations.” Why not refer your non-Christian friends to this article series, and begin a discussion with them about what they have read?

The Greatest Commandment

Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’”

Matthew 22:37-39

Twenty first century life is full of rules. There are literally thousands of laws in the United Kingdom telling us what we are not allowed to do, from driving to fast to murdering people, from shoplifting to fraud. Working in a school, I am only too aware of the abundance of rules; homework must be done on time, go to lunch at the correct time, don’t walk over the grass next to the classroom block. I supervise detentions on Wednesday and Thursday lunchtimes, and you would be amazed what some people are punished for!

Sometimes, to non-Christians, our faith can seem like a religion based solely on rules. Most people know the ten commandments, and lots of people are aware of the seemingly rather stranges laws of Leviticus and other Old Testament books. Christianity can seem like a whole long list of rules about things that we, as Christians are not allowed to do, and things that we are required to do. This makes Christianity seem like a very restrictive religion to many. Yet Paul tells us that “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1). This suggests that Christianity is actually more freeing than restricting!

Just prior to today’s verse, a Pharisee has tried to trick Jesus by asking him what the greatest commandment was. Jesus succinctly summaries the whole of the Old Testament law, and the nub of Christianity, by stating that we must firstly love God with every fibre of our being, and secondly that we should love our neighbour as ourself. Unfortunately, Matthew does not indicate the reaction of the crowd to Jesus’ answer, but I can imagine them being fairly stunned. All those rules and regulations that they thought they had to keep are summarised into just two lines!

As we being a new year and a new decade, it is perhaps worth thinking how much we adhere to this rule. Can we honestly say that we love God with all of our heart, all of our soul and all of our mind? Is he the single most important thing in our lives? And do we really love others as much as we love ourselves – those we do not get on with as well as those that we do? Are there people at work, for example, who wind us up who we treat in a manner that does not conform to this commandment? Let’s all resolve to love God, and our neighbours, more this year.

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

Matthew 2:13

In a previous job, on my very first day at work, my new boss made it clear to me that she did not like me. She commented that she did not like people who had been educated in private schools, and since I went through the independent sector, there could be no doubt that she resented me for my educational background. She proceeded to try and make me life as uncomfortable as she possibly could. As a consequence, the dislike that she felt for me became mutual.

Sometimes people can provoke strong reactions like that, and sometimes for what amount to very trivial reasons. Jesus is also a person who has attracted strong reactions for the last two thousand years. People love and worship him, but people also hate and despise him for what he represents, usually because he poses a challenge to their lives or their understanding of the world. Herod clearly felt greatly threatened, since he ordered the murder of all baby boys in order to eradicate the one that the wise men had called a “king.” He knew that he was the king, and anyone who dared to challenge his position would be dealt with most severely. Herod feared that if Jesus was allowed to grow up, he might attempt to overthrown him, and bring his rule to an end.

There is a little bit of Herod in most of us. We all like to be in control of our own lives – to be the king of queen of our own existence. We like to make decisions for ourselves, and do things our own way. When someone poses a threat to us, we start to panic and fear what might happen if they become more powerful than us. If anyone challenges our view of the world, or the way we live our lives, then we try to disregard them. After all, we know best.

Apart from we don’t really. We only understand the here and now. God, however, has an eternal perspective, and knows what will be in our best long term interests. If only we were less selfish, and surrendered control of our lives, ambitions and plans to God, then things would be a lot better – for us, our families, for God’s people, and probably even society as a whole.