Copy Him!

The legendary Hollywood motion picture executive, Samuel Goldwyn, was one of those people who “saves” everything. Through the years, he refused to allow his staff to throw anything away. His secretary began to get the feeling that she was drowning in the stacks of old telephone messages, letters and inter-office memos that were piled everywhere in the office. Consequently, in desperation, she pleaded with Goldwyn: “Please,” she said, “Won’t you allow me at least to throw away the memos and letters that are more than ten-years-old?” To which Samuel Goldwyn replied, “All right. But don’t forget to make a copy before you do.”

In a sense, that is exactly how we see the Grace of God working in Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus, having selected the twelve apostles, is now training them to carry on His ministry to the world. In a few short years He will be gone, but before His seeming destruction on the Cross He will teach them to imitate Him, copy His…