Heip!

Meditation June 13, 2020

Matthew 7

When we read the words, “ask,” “seek,” “knock,” we are immediately aware some need has been recognized. There is concern, an apprehension or disquiet indicated. There is something more here than a simple request to “Pass the butter, please.” There is the urgency such as one has upon the sudden discovery they have a missing credit card or their cell phone has been misplaced. There is a bit of desperation on the edge of this prayer. 

Ask, seek, knock implies an earnest prayer, a prayer that is humble, persistent and expectant. I don’t think we go astray to say that is implied in the words Jesus choose. One asks always in some humility. Asking is what beggars do if they expect to obtain that which they need or desire. Seeking, implies a more persistent asking, a pleading and striving after, a determination to obtain that which is desired. A hungry man may ask for food, a starving man seeks it. A knock expects an answer. One does not go to the door of a house where it is known there is no one home and knock at the door. One knock only when he expects an answer.

Spurgeon makes an interesting observation regarding this verse. He says that until God made this promise, ask and receive, seek and find; knock and it will be opened, “It was at His (God’s) own option whether to hear our prayer or not. (But now, if it is true prayer offered through Jesus Christ, His truth binds Him to hear it.” (2 Cor. 1:20) This is a thought to take one’s breath. The God who is in the heavens, the creator and sustainer of all this vast mysterious world that science has hardly scratched the surface to understand, God whom we have massively offended by our sin and disobedience has yet out of his great love for us condescended to bind Himself to hear our prayers. But here it is from the Son Himself who came to teach us all the Father told Him: Come to me poor in spirit, humble, asking, seeking as the persistent neighbor (Lk. 11:5ff), expecting Me to keep my promise, believing what I say is true (Matt. 21:22) and whatever you ask according to my will, I will give you. (John 5:14-15)

There is some question about the sudden change of subject to prayer. There is no stated connection to what has gone before. Yet it is not, as many commentators indicate, so far off the subject it was surely added by someone and was not part of the sermon at all but a teaching of Jesus from some other point in time that was included here. That is a possibility but one of little consequence. If it is a teaching of Jesus, it’s truth remains regardless of when He taught it. There is also the possibility that Matthew’s record of the sermon is a condensed version and there may well have been exchanges between the teacher and the followers that were not recorded. We must remember Jesus is giving instruction to people who have found themselves suddenly to be new creatures, quite literally two people, an old man and a new man in a war within attempting to learn from the instruction Jesus is giving how the new may overcome the old and live to the glory of God. Now he has told them do not judge but judge; judge not but don’t cast pearls to hogs. We can reasonably assume someone, no doubt many, among his listeners asked “How can we do this? We are but men and weak, how?” Whether is was asked aloud of Jesus but just not recorded by Matthew is of no consequence. Jesus knows our thoughts (Psa. 139:ff, Matt. 9:4; Lk. 11:17) and surely such thoughts were going through their minds as they go through our minds. And if one does not have those thoughts at this point in Jesus sermon, they simply have not been listening.

“From Mt 5:20, onwards, Christ had presented a standard of moral excellence which is utterly unattainable by mere flesh and blood. He had inculcated one requirement after another, which it lies not in the power of fallen human nature to meet. He had forbidden an opprobrious word, a malignant wish, an impure desire, a revengeful thought. He had enjoined the most unsparing mortification of our dearest members (Mt 5:29, 5:30). He had commanded the loving of our enemies, the blessing of those who curse us, the doing good unto those who hate us, and the praying for those who despitefully use and persecute us (Mt 5:44). In view of which the Christian may well exclaim, “Who is sufficient for these things?” Such demands of holiness are beyond my feeble strength: yet the Lord has made them—what then am I to do? Divine assistance is imperative if we are to meet the Divine requirements”. (A. W. Pink)

 

We, as surely those who sat on the mount with Jesus, hear these teaching and realize we are called to that which is beyond our strength and ability. Christ was as truly man as He is truly God. He knows our weaknesses and needs, He knows the cries of “How?” going through our minds as we ponder that to which we are called and gives us that which is both an invitation and a command: God for the strength we need for the wisdom, ask, seek, knock and it will be given.

 

We must keep this in context. This text is famously, or infamously to be more correct, is taken out of context and used by the name and claim it crowd as a carte blanche promise for whatever our hearts may desire. God has promised no such thing. God acts toward us out of His great love for us. He gives us only such as is good for us. For as long as we are in the flesh, this flesh, we are going to encounter evil, dogs and hogs, and we will have to be discerning, we will have to make judgements and the temptation will always be to censorious judgments. There will always be the temptation to see those we judge as not quite so ‘right’ as we. Somehow, we have a talent for seeing their specks larger than our logs. It is no easy task to which God has called us. “For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 6:12) Without persistent, expectant prayer, we will never succeed.

 

Father, how? With God all things are possible. Ask, seek, knock and it will be given. The labor of prayer never fails. "One may be a truly industrious man, and yet poor in temporal things; but one cannot be a truly praying man, and yet poor in spiritual things" (John Broadus).