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I wonder if this is just another of Peter’s “foot in his mouth” episodes. He’s well known of course for opening his mouth before engaging his brain.
In the verses just prior to this in Matthews Gospel Peter had declared boldly to Jesus:
You are the Christ,
the Son of the living God.
Jesus responded with:
Blessed are you,
Simon son of Jonah,
for this was not revealed
to you by man,
but by my
Father in heaven.
Jesus even went on to say this:
And I tell you that you are
Peter, and on this rock
I will build my church
and the powers of hell
will not overcome it.
Jesus finished by saying this:
I will give you the keys
of the kingdom of heaven;
whatever you bind on earth
will be bound in heaven,
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
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Matthew 5.38-48 Yr A
Be perfect therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Sometimes we say that a couple are just perfect for each other - in fact I think I said that about a couple I married the other week, they understood each other so well, they had shared interests and yet each was their own person. My husband has had quite a few secretaries in his working life and two of them were just perfect for the job - they were quite different mind you, one was meticulously tidy and organised with a grasp of everything, the other was more intuitive and emotional but with a very secure knowledge of the business.
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How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? |
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There is no one with whom we need to build a relationship with, more than God our Father. The prayer that Jesus gave us sets us a pattern for building up this relationship - through Prayer.
It is given though, no not as a demand but given as a response the request, Lord, teach us to pray.
Prayer is spoken of, by Jesus, as one of the normalities of Christian life. Something that we all do.
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Mt 21: 23 – 32 Phil 2: 1 – 13
In the name of the Creator, the Sustainer and the Redeemer.
Jesus’ words and life didn’t please the powers to be, did they? He continually upset them and broke the laws they had made. He associated with the down and out, with sinners, with people who were diseased and unclean.
Jesus continually challenged and caused consternation and upset. He didn’t stand much truck with the religious authorities who felt that they had it all sewn up, sealed and worked out.
It can be frighteningly easy for those of us who are part of the establishment of the church to become very self-righteous because we regularly say our prayers, because we come to church, read the right books, inhabit the right dwellings.
The kingdom of heaven occupies a different place to the one where we think that we curry favour with God by being good and nice, saying the right things, coming to church. No – in fact we don’t have to curry favour with God. God’s love for us is scandalously reckless and extravagant, generous and boundless.
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