Daily Lesson for Monday 11th of December 2023
Despite challenges, external and internal, Jesus graciously extends the call to us for His mission to the cities.
Read Matthew 9:35-38. What does this teach us about mission to the multitudes, wherever we find them?
Jesus was moved with compassion for the multitudes, such as are found in cities. Luke 19:41 describes how Jesus wept over Jerusalem. We may not understand the depths of Jesus’ love for His children, even for the “faceless masses” living in cities. This is why in Matthew 9:38 Jesus tells us to pray, so that our motives and hearts can be like His.
Read Matthew 4:23-25. As Jesus began His ministry, from what geographic locations did the people come?
In Matthew 4:25, the multitudes following Jesus came from Galilee, from the ten city-states of the Decapolis to the east, from Jerusalem, and from Judea to the south. Besides Samaria, what region was missing? The coastal region of Tyre and Sidon, part of Phoenicia, along the Mediterranean Sea and northwest of Galilee. We now see why Jesus went to this area! This trip to the region of Tyre and Sidon was one of Jesus’ cross-cultural mission trips.
“After the encounter with the Pharisees, Jesus withdrew from Capernaum, and crossing Galilee, repaired to the hill country on the borders of Phoenicia. Looking westward, He could see, spread out upon the plain below, the ancient cities of Tyre and Sidon, with their heathen temples, their magnificent palaces and marts of trade, and the harbors filled with shipping.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 399.
How can we help people see just how futile, in and of themselves, “their magnificent palaces and marts of trade” are, and why they need Jesus?