Devotion:
For an audio version of this devotion, click here.
Read Matthew 25:46.
There are times and situations in which I join with Job of the Old Testament and ask “Why?”. There are scenes in the Bible that I do not understand. There are teachings and situations in the Old Testament that do not seem to fit with what Jesus did and taught.
One of the concepts I struggle with the most is that of “eternal punishment.” I can understand punishment, even for an extended period of time. But forever? But that is a particular emphasis in “The Gospel According to Matthew.” He includes “gnashing teeth and outer darkness” more than any of the other writers. Our verse for today comes at the end of a judgment scene Jesus told about and is also the end of Jesus’ public ministry. The rest of the story focuses on his private time with his disciples and the events surrounding his death and resurrection. So according to Matthew, a word of judgment is the last thing Jesus said to the public.
However, the overall message of this Gospel is that Jesus came to redeem and restore fallen humanity. He offers forgiveness from the cross, not only for the soldiers who literally and physically put him there, but for every human who helped put him there by our sins. And the final word is one of reassurance that he is always with us.
Even though there is much I struggle with, I still believe in God and the way of being and living that Jesus Christ taught us. I believe his kingdom is one of both righteousness and justice. I believe God is going to make everything right in the end. Until then, the invitation and calling for all of us is to keep loving and living his way, so that other may come to know him, love him and serve him.
Personal Worship Option:
I remember hearing an old song as a child that is in our United Methodist Hymnal. Its title is “We’ll Understand It Better By and By.” Written by Charles Tindley, its message is to remain faithful to our Lord, even when we don’t understand everything about our journey. Here is one verse of that song:
Trials dark on every hand, and we cannot understand
all the ways that God would lead us to that blessed promised land;
but he guides us with his eye, and we’ll follow till we die,
for we’ll understand it better by and by.
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