Cut Open (Matthew 21-22)

Yesterday I had another wheel class at pottery, and honestly it was a little rough. I went to class already frustrated at my puppy for not cooperating with my schedule. Then, when class began, the teacher told us to prepare twice as much clay as usual to throw in our two-hour lesson because we were going to cut our pieces open and examine them. 

Initially this horrified me. If I actually managed to make a piece I liked, it would be sliced in half. Ruined. Destroyed intentionally. My fear was that I would make the prettiest piece yet (still, not much to look at based on my skill level) and would lose it. But I wanted to be better than I was, so I made my preparations, carefully measuring out the same amount of clay for four pieces and preparing each piece by wedging it, working it to make it pliable, to get out any air that might be trapped in it that would prevent our clay from centering. 

Then we sat down at the potter’s wheel, our teacher watching us carefully to see problems with our techniques (did I mention I don't do well under the magnifying glass--imagine that). We finished our first cylinder (taller than I’ve made yet, as I predicted), and I reluctantly allowed her to slice it open for a look. Instead of straight walls, there remained a pool of clay at the bottom angling in from the sides which were not uniform in their structure as they should have been. Near the top, I had continued to apply the same firm pressure that I had used to try to pull the clay up from the bottom, and this resulted in thin spots. It was obviously worse than it looked from the outside. The dissection of my first piece revealed problems that needed work. I could now see what I needed to do.

On to the second pull. Taller, not necessarily prettier, but I moved more clay upward this time, applying firmer pressure at the bottom and offering less pressure as I neared the top. I took the lessons learned and tried again with her encouragement to make a taller vessel, probably my best of the day. Then I made the last, rushing because I had been working too slowly, because we had been interrupted by a tornado warning for some of the lesson. It was the tallest of the day, as I had been asked to do. 

I had moved the clay better and had lost very little clay compared to my usual attempts at the wheel. All four pieces stood, but in the end I decided to let her cut all of them open rather than reserving any of my pieces. Learning was more important; listening, valuable; seeing inside, incomparable. I decided that it was time to improve, not just count pieces fired, not clutter my house with stuff that I honestly couldn't even give away, not valuing my own work over work that had actual value. 

I left my cut-open clay on the table to be recycled, and I learned things.

In the wee hours of the morning today, the Potter woke me up to see my own unwillingness to see myself. I woke up and saw my own hypocrisy in the things that I said yesterday, in things I did. I confessed my sin to God, who is faithful and righteous to forgive me of my sin (1 Jn. 1:9). I wrestled and repented and prayed.

Today, as I read in Matthew 21, I came across the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, who refused to let Jesus cut them apart, to look inside their own sin, much less see it even when it was plainly pointed out to them by Jesus. I read Matthew Henry’s words about verses 41-46: “Many can easily prognosticate the dismal consequences of other people’s sins that see not what will be the end of their own.”

I look back at what I’ve read this week in Matthew 21-22 and see this:

1. The King has come publicly and made Himself known (21:1-7).
2. I am to recognize Him as such (21:8-15)
3. I am to offer Him my praise in childlike faith (21:16).
4. I am to recognize His authority (21:23-27).
5. I am to work in His vineyard as He places me (21:28-32).
6. I am to share the fruit He gives willingly (21:33-46).
7. I am to come to His wedding feast at His invitation dressed in His righteousness (22:1-14).
8. I am to recognize and render what is His to Him and not be distracted by the things of this world (22:15-22). 
9. I am to trust Hm even in death (22:23-33).
10. I am to love Him with all that I am and love others like I love myself (22:34-46).

The Pharisees, who knew the scriptures well, failed to receive Him because they were distracted hypocrites, hardened to the truth that Jesus had laid bare to them yet again. They were without excuse. Matthew Henry in his commentary reminded me that “whatever we have of the world in our hands, our care must be to keep it out of our hearts, lest it come between us and Christ” as it did with these spiritual rulers of Israel. They were only excluded from the kingdom because they refused the kingdom, not because they weren’t invited. The same holds true today for all. The invitation has been cast many times in many ways. The word is available and full of truth. The call is the same. The rules haven’t changed, just the times in which we live and the distortion of our world. Paul’s call in Romans 13:14 to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires” rings in my heart today as it lies cut open and laid bare before Him. Let Him cut yours open and learn things, too. It is painful, yes, but the results are worth the cost of learning, and the yields can’t be beaten by anything this world offers.