The Father who sees all

Matthew 6:1-18 - "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

"This, then, is how you should pray:

" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.'

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

"When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

On the face of it, this section of Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount" is about giving, asking, and giving up (food). All good things if done according to Jesus' guidelines. But I wonder if Jesus was trying to sneak in another point here that's just as important. Did you notice the phrase he used 3 times? "Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

It's not for the reward in and of itself that we do these things -- giving to the needy, praying, fasting. That's like the icing on the cake. Actually I wonder most about that phrase in the middle -- "who sees what is done in secret." I imagine Jesus saying that each time in a tone of voice that would allow the words "mind you" to fit nicely at the end of the phrase. Maybe even holding his pointer finger in the air too, drawing special attention to it, noting that it's a two-sided coin. It's good that the Father sees the good you do in secret, but the implication is that he can see the bad too. So don't do it!

Satan tempts Jesus

Matthew 4:1-11 - Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"

Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."

Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"

Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

First, I think it's important to note (and this often is glossed over or completely overlooked) that Satan tempted Jesus for 40 days -- not just 3 times on the 40th day. (Mark and Luke make this fact clearer.)

I wonder if Satan really thought Jesus would give in to any of his temptations. Maybe he thought he could wear him down by trying over and over again for 40 days. Who knows how many times he tried! Perhaps hundreds or thousands of times.

Not much different than some of the temptations we experience over and over again, is it?

Locusts and honey

Matthew 3:4 - John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.

How many locusts are there in one serving? What I'm getting at is this: How many locusts did John have to eat to survive out there? Were the locusts plentiful or scarce? Were they hard to catch? How much honey was available? Was it easy to find? Was there any competition with the local wildlife?

I wonder how long John maintained this diet? Was this his only food in the wilderness or just the unusual items that people mentioned first and most often when John's name came up in the conversation?

Another route

Matthew 2:12 - And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

I wonder how many Magi there were in this party that visited Jesus. There may very well have been just three. Maybe only two. Maybe 24. The exact number doesn't matter, but what I really wonder about relative to this verse is this -- How many of them dreamed the warning dream? Did God give them all the same dream (easily done) and allow them all to remember it (not always easy for you to do, right?)?

Whether it was just one, several, or all of the Magi who were warned, they obviously put more stock in the dream than in the command of Herod. I wonder if they knew the dream was from God. That is, did God tell them so in the dream itself? Or did they just know from experience that a dream like this was not one to dismiss lightly without acting upon it? Or did they already know God well enough to understand that he controlled their dream?

I don't know if this is applying too much meaning to the one word "country", but it sounds like they were all from the same one -- contrary to some traditional stories about these Magi. I wonder which country that was. Perhaps Babylon, where Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were once wise men.

Christmas presents

Matthew 2:11 - On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

I wonder why the Magi decided they should bring gifts to Jesus. The items they brought were expensive. I wonder how much of a security force traveled with them.

They seem to have understood that Jesus was more than an earthly king. Sure, some kings claimed to be gods and forced you to worship them and sacrifice to them, but this was a child whom they voluntarily worshiped and gave gifts to.

I wonder what Mary and Joseph thought of all this. True, they already knew Jesus was special, but foreigners tracking them down, bowing down in worship, and leaving expensive treasures? They hadn't publicized this to anyone yet really -- much less to guys like these from far away. Remember, no cell phones or TV yet.

I wonder what they did with the treasures. Probably sold at least some of it for the trip to Egypt. Or maybe used it as needed along the way.

The star

Matthew 2:9 - After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

Bethlehem is not that far from Jerusalem. It's just a few miles south. It wouldn't have taken the Magi days to get there. More likely just a few hours. So I wonder if they left Herod and set out after sunset. How else would they have been able to see the guiding star?

I wonder how specific the star was. That is, did it show them the very house where Jesus was? Does "the place" mean "the house"? Or did they only get led to the city and had to ask around once there? Even just leading them to a new city a few miles down the road would have been pretty special.

I wonder if anyone else noticed the star. Surely it was visible to everyone. Even after the Magi mentioned it to Herod and company, did no one else take an interest in it? I suppose it wasn't the first time nor the last when some important item or event was out in the open for all to see, but only those wise enough to realize what it was took any notice of it.