Day 6: Ever Confused

First Tuesday in Lent

Scripture: Matthew 15:10-16

^{NRS 10} Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, "Listen and understand: ¹¹ it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles." ¹² Then the disciples approached and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?" ¹³ He answered, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit." ¹⁵ But Peter said to him, "Explain this parable to us." ¹⁶ Then he said, "Are you also still without understanding?

Devotional: The Gospel accounts are full of people asking questions. The rich young man asked, “What else must I do to inherit eternal life?” The Canaanite woman asked Jesus to heal her daughter. Nicodemus asked how a person could be born again. The questions are endless. Sometimes they are about personal knowledge and gain: “Will You teach me Lord? Will You heal me Lord? Can we come with You Lord?” Other times they are just plain “dumb.” These are the ones Peter never failed to ask and the Gospel writers were always content to record.  “Dumb questions” were the ones Jesus responded to with, “Are you still without understanding?” In today’s scripture passage, they have been with Jesus for fifteen chapters. One would think they had at least some understanding, but apparently Peter was still in the dark. Luke generally had him speak up on behalf of the disciples, so they probably didn’t understand either.  How often are we in the exact same boat as Peter? Despite the length of time we have been a disciple, we still encounter things that we just don’t understand. We should be able to “get it,” in the same way the disciples should have gotten it, but for whatever reasons we don’t. This is a moment of choice. Are we willing to reveal that we don’t understand? Peter was and that is why I prefer to describe his questions as honest ones. He was never afraid to reveal his lack of understanding and that should be good news for us. Peter asked the question and Jesus, despite being exasperated, still explains. It is okay if we don’t understand, but it is not okay to remain in that state. God wants us to understand and that means we must be bold like Peter and ask questions. Questions of each other, “Will you help me understand what this means?” Questions of God, “Will You open the eyes of my heart to this scripture, this truth, this doctrine?” When we come to Jesus we are entering a world of deep things and there are going to be times that we just don’t understand. It is okay; some things like Holy Communion or Baptism are things that we will never fully understand. While we may feel “ever confused,” we must admit our confusion by following Peter’s example of asking questions so we can understand.

Prayer: Lord when we struggle to understand, help us be humble, yet bold enough to ask questions. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Song of praise: Open the Eyes of My Heart performed by Michael W. Smith

                                              

Spiritual discipline challenge: Our challenge today involves prayer. At its simplest, prayer is talking and listening to God. Today spend time asking God to enlighten us about something we don’t yet understand and then quietly listen.