The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke share a great deal of common material, made up primarily of the sayings of Christ.  The material fascinates students of the bible because the presence of this material indicates that Matthew, Mark, and Luke had access to a common body of knowledge.  This body of knowledge has become known as the “Q Document” (from the German word for source; Quelle) because it served as the source of information for the Gospel writers.  The reason bible scholars find the “Q Document” so fascinating is that no such document has ever been uncovered.  It is apparently lost to history except for those passages preserved in the Gospels. 

Even if Matthew, Mark, and Luke shared material from a common source (some believe that there never was such a document), a quick reading of the gospels will reveal them to be anything but repetitive.  The Holy Spirit of God (the Divine Author of Scripture) inspired these writers to record these sayings in different ways to bring out different truths for the readers of scripture to ponder.  I recently had this kind of experience in my personal devotional reading.

Matthew 11:21-24 parallels almost exactly Luke 10:12-15.  They both contain the “woes” Christ pronounced on the cities of Galilee.  Take a look at them.  They’ll be familiar to you.  But in my devotional reading, I noticed an introduction of these sayings by Matthew I had not previously noted.  Matthew 11:20 says, “Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.” (ESV). 

Christ had done mighty works in Galilee.  There had been healings.  There had been exorcisms.  Powerful instruction had fallen from His lips.  But the response was tepid.  There was not burning desire to reconcile with God.  There was no movement among the people to repent of their sinful arrogance.  In short, Matthew informs us that they had wasted an amazing spiritual opportunity.  And the result was a pronouncement of God’s judgment upon the cities of the region.

As I reflected on this statement by Matthew and the subsequent words of Christ, I wondered how well I was “seizing the moment” spiritually.  I wondered how well you were as well.  We are in the midst of an amazing time spiritually.  I’m not just talking about the phenomenal growth of our church.  I’m talking about what is going on all around us.  Churches all throughout the KC metro are experiencing exciting growth and the blessings of seeing people reconcile their heart to God through Jesus Christ.  I’m not ready to call it an “awakening,” but there are some exciting things happening spiritually in our parts.

And what are we doing with it personally?  If Matthew 11:20 tells us anything, it tells us to “seize the day” spiritually.  Since we are obviously in the midst of God’s work in our area, we should be proclaiming that our personal spiritual lives are charting upward, that our times reading the Word are alive with God’s Voice, and that our prayer times are intimate conversations with the One who is the Creator and Sustainer of all things.  Most of all, we should be saying that God’s activity in our midst is leading us to purge our lives of hidden pockets of sin?

I’m thrilled to be in close proximity to an exciting work of God.  I’ve never been a part of something like this.  More than anything, I want to make the most of this amazing time.  I’m not speaking as a pastor.  I’m speaking as a child of God.  I want my life to be different as a result of my experience during these exciting events.  Let’s not waste this opportunity to make our lives more like His.