In the late 19th century, William Carey felt a call to travel to India as a missionary to share the good news of Jesus. Pastors around him scoffed: Young man, if God wants to save [anyone] in India, He will do it without your help or mine! They missed the point of partnership. God does very little on earth without the likes of us.
As partners in Gods work on earth, we insist that Gods will be done while at the same time committing ourselves to whatever that may require of us. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, Jesus taught us to pray (Matt. 6:10). These words are not calm requests but holy demands. Give us justice! Set the world aright!
We have different roles to play, we and God. It is our role to follow in Jesus steps by doing the work of the kingdom both by our deeds and by our prayers.
We are Christs body on earth, to borrow Pauls metaphor in Colossians 1:24. Those we serve, Christ serves. When we extend mercy to the broken, we reach out with the hands of Christ Himself.
Lord, You have called us Your friends. In some small way, help us to show Your love to this hurting world so they will know You.
Insight:
Matthews gospel presents Jesus to the Jewish people as their long-promised Messiah. Matthew primarily uses two methods to make this powerful assertion, both of which were intended to resonate deeply with his audience. First, he repeatedly uses Old Testament Scriptures that describe Christ and are fulfilled in Jesus. Second, a critical part of Matthews argument for Jesus as the King of the Jews was Jesus compassionate power on display. This is seen in Matthew 9 where Jesus rescues the broken, the hurting, the marginalized, and the hated.