Categories
Scripture

Going Deeper

Going Deeper

The Rich Young Man (4-11-15)

Grab your Bible and let’s go deeper into Matthew 19.

Read Matthew 19:16-26:

Matthew 19:16-17  “And behold, a man came up to him, saying, ‘Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?’ 17 And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good.’”

Jesus (knowing the man’s heart and hang ups) is already trying to correct the man’s over belief that “man” can be and is good.

In other words, he is wanting the man to rethink his idea of what is good since there is no one who is ultimately good or righteous other than God as Romans 3:10 says, “There is no one righteous, not even one.”

This brings us to the root of our problem… our sin!

Every man… has sinned!  Our sin… fully and rightly separates us from a holy God.

Our pursuit of Self Salvation

Matthew 19:17b-20  “’If you would enter life, keep the commandments.’ 18 He said to him, ‘Which ones?’ And Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 20 The young man said to him, ‘All these I have kept. What do I still lack?’”

Jesus directs him to consider the 10 commandments.  The man is excited because this is an area he feels he has nailed.

Jesus being an all-knowing God, knows that this man feels he has earned eternal life because he has kept the laws well and is simply asking his teacher, “Did I get a passing grade on my test?”

Now, this is Religion 101. If there was a banner or phrase that described what religion is, it’s this.

“I obey therefore I am accepted.”

This is the mantra of a religion. “I do these things and because I do these things, God will accept me, God will forgive me, God will be nice to me, and God will bless me.”

In our sin, man has pridefully and self righteously tried to live their lives with the goal of achieving a certain identity, life of significance, level of security, purpose, and joy.

When we try to achieve these things on our own, it is called SELF SALVATION.

Life becomes about our achievement.  We think, “ I have to be more, do more, and prove myself.”

Our sin tells us that we must achieve, on some level, to find a sense of identity, significance, purpose, or joy- job, friends, love, family being proud of you, family, house, car, bank account, recognition/awards.

             It becomes, “Can I achieve to the point of self salvation?”

HEAR THIS:  As long as you live in achieve mode you will live as a slave!

But there is good news…..

Instead of slaving away at trying to achieve, you can receive!   Receive what?

RECEIVE the gospel, which brings us to a different way of salvation.

You need to turn Godward and receive the life of Christ who stands in your place to achieve all that is needed to be restored to the living God and who ultimately is your identity, personal significance, sense of security, and purpose for living.  You need to find in him your happiness and joy.

You need to understand that Jesus came and achieved what you and I could not.  He took upon himself our deserved wrath and died in our place so that we no longer have to achieve, but could be free to RECEIVE his life in our place.

IN Christ we RECEIVE an identity with God that we could never gain nor can we ever lose!

In achieve mode you can constantly search for self salvation but will never find it.  All it will equal is eternal death.   All your trophies,  recognition, bank accounts, toys will be swallowed up and lost forever.

OR

In receive mode we can have Christ’s salvation and truly receive from him all that we truly long for.

Let me be really clear- receiving Jesus is not coming to church long enough so that you are okay or obeying the laws of God well enough to get your life straight or rectifying the wrongs from your PAST.

All of that would just be more achieving by which you would claim some of the worship and glory.

That’s religion.

The gospel is all together different because Christ achieved what we could not.

He makes us a forever part of the church.  He empowers us to straighten our life to honor him. He rectifies the wrongs of our past on the cross.

Now,  there is another way our sin causes us to deny the gracious gift of the gospel.

Back to our text in

Our Idolatry- Love for counterfeit gods

Matthew 19: 21-22  “Jesus said to him, ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’ 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”

Riches in this world are not necessarily the blessing many attribute them to be.  Instead they often and quickly become a curse.  Why?  Because anything that the heart makes ultimate is a betrayal to the one who IS ultimate and is a disease that leaves the heart never satisfied as only God can satisfy.

The building blocks that erect our temporary kingdoms on earth are the very weights that keep the heart from embracing the eternal kingdom of God.

The rich young man thinks he has kept the commandments, but the commandments he has kept are only regarding other people.  What he is omitting is the commandments regarding God directly.    Like the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.”  Exodus 20:3

This commandment basically says, “Do not make anything more necessary or fundamental or valuable than me.”

In our sin, we do this all the time.  We lift up idols in our hearts and make them more necessary or fundamental or valuable than God.

A way we like to define an IDOL is: something within creation that is inflated to function as God. 

 Richard Keyes says,  ”All sorts of things are potential idols,

An idol can be a physical object, a property, a person, an activity, a role, an institution, a hope,

an image, an idea, a pleasure, a hero – anything that can try to substitute for God.”

Another way to define Idolatry is: taking a good thing and making it an ultimate thing.

Idolatry happens when you and I try to find our identity, personal significance, sense of security, purpose for living, happiness and joy in these things, people or status… INSTEAD OF IN GOD!

The rich young man’s two big problems were:

  1. He thought he could earn his way through obeying the laws in religious self- salvation.
  2. As Jesus helps him see, his greatest affection, his idol was his money. He loved his money more than God. And he walked away from Christ that day because if having God meant giving up his greatest love for his money, he chose his money.

Do you see how enslaved to his idol he was?   We have to see we are just as enslaved to our idols.

The truth is, you become a slave to your idols and they begin to control you.

They become a functional counterfeit god in your life.  They become your master.

Herein lies the irony for all those who intentionally say no to God because they don’t want to be to controlled by God.

What they don’t realize is: they are inevitably controlled by the idol of their heart.

Now, every one of us thinks we can control it in the beginning, but it gains power and priority over you and, in the end, controls you.  So much so that you become a slave to your idol.

It looks like Jesus gives this guy a way to save himself- a work to complete. But this is not so.  He is revealing his IDOL.  He is showing him the reality found in  Matthew 6:24  “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

Jesus is using the man’s love for money to reveal where his heart is, where his treasure really is, and who his God really is!   In the end, the man did what so many of us do. We want God’s kingdom for eternal security not because we want God.

The rich young man kept his possessions and his status in this world but in doing so, he never knew true life- life with God.    Instead of his riches being just the beginning, they are his end.

Our Idolatry at work

Matthew 19: 23-24  “And Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.’”

There are so many reasons that this is true.

Rich people have a lot of ways to distract themselves from the beauty of God’s grace.

When the wealthy feel lonely, when they feel afraid, they can easily go on a vacation or buy a new trinket.

And trinkets have an amazing amount of power, don’t they?

A new car, a new phone, a new television- they just make things better for a bit.

Here is what many of us must realize.  We are incredibly wealthy by the world’s standards and the opportunity to do this is very much at our doorstep all of the time.

Now watch this, I believe it is God’s mercy on us when he takes away our idols or when he turns our life upside down because in those moments, we are freed up to finally embrace him and to see through the cloud of lies that have told us for too long that all we need is our idol.   NO… all we need is Jesus.  Anything else you say that you need is a lie, a distraction, and an idol that owns you.

Now, the crowd who just saw this happen is beginning to freak out. Here’s why….

Because if this guy isn’t saved, then what does it even look like to be a believer?

Here’s this guy- he’s wealthy, powerful, he looks blessed by God in all of his dealings, he is morally upright, he teaches Saturday school at the synagogue and if he’s not in… then who gets to be in?

This needs to be our burning question in the room today too….

How is one free of their deadly grip on self salvation and idolatry?

How does one inherit the kingdom of God?   

How can this life not be our end or our best but instead be our beginning and the worst we will know forever?

Our Salvation

Matthew 19: 25-26  “When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, ‘Who then can be saved?’ 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”

The truth is:  it is impossible for man to set down their idols or for man to stop pursuing their self salvation.

Why?  Because in our sin, man is spiritually bankrupt.  Even worse, we are spiritually dead!

A DEAD MAN HAS NO ABILITY TO SAVE THEMSELVES- NO ABILITY TO UNSHACKLE THEMSELVES FROM THEIR SLAVERY TO THEIR IDOLS.

The good news is, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

We call this the act of regeneration – to be free from our slavish hold on sin and our idolatry.

God must free us.  If we are ever going to see the gospel as TRULY good news, we must have our hearts awakened.  We must be reborn.  The only one who can and does do this is God the Holy Spirit.

In God’s divine providence, he awakens hearts to life when he decides.  What this means is we are utterly dependent on God for this.

Now, we must understand that this is why the good news of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is the greatest news we can ever know.  Because it is the NEWS that God has acted and provided a way for us to be redeemed.  If God is opening your heart to him, then you will not respond like the rich young ruler who denied God to keep his slavish love for his money.  You will be like the little children who run to be in God’s embrace and receive his ransom for your sin.

When God has opened your heart to him, you will respond with two actions- repentance and belief.

Repentance- a clear picture of the wickedness of your sin and a turn towards honoring God with your life or “taking up a new course in light of the gospel”.

Unlike the rich young ruler, you will give up everything to have God not because you have to, but because it is your joy to!

Matt 13:44  “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

Matt 13:45-46 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

These parables describe how someone is converted and brought into the kingdom of heaven.

A person discovers a treasure and is compelled by joy to sell all that he has in order to have this treasure.

The kingdom of heaven is the home of the King.

The longing to be there is not the longing for heavenly real estate, but for deep relationship with the King.

The treasure in the field is the fellowship of God in Christ.

I love how John Piper says this in his book, Desiring God….

“We must be deeply converted in order to enter the kingdom of heaven.

We are converted when Christ becomes for us a treasure chest of holy joy—

a crucified and risen Savior who pardons all our sins, provides all our righteousness, and becomes in His own fellowship our greatest pleasure.”

The second part of our conversion, in addition to repentance, is belief!

Saving faith or belief is trusting Jesus with your life!

It is the confidence that if you sell all you have and forsake all sinful pleasures, the hidden treasure of holy joy will satisfy your deepest desires.

Saving faith is the heartfelt conviction not only that Christ is reliable, but also that He is desirable.

It is the confidence that He will come through with His promises and that what He promises is more to be desired than all the world.

Romans 15:13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing.”

So to review…  How does one inherit the kingdom of God?

  1. Regeneration: regeneration is the work of God making our dead, sinful heart come to life. This work is impossible for man but possible for God!
  1. Conversion: conversion is repentance (turning from sin and unbelief) and faith (trusting in Christ alone for salvation).

Please don’t miss what is meant by believe!

We are surrounded by unconverted people who think they do believe in Jesus.

Drunks on the street say they believe.

Unmarried couples sleeping together say they believe.

Elderly people who haven’t truly served God for forty years say they believe.

Belief about Jesus and a life-transforming belief in Jesus are two very different things.

All kinds of lukewarm, world-loving church attenders say they believe.

The world abounds with millions of unconverted people who say they believe in Jesus.

Let me ask a different way:  a way that relates to what Jesus asked the rich young ruler.

 “Do you receive Jesus as your treasure?”

Not just Savior (because everybody wants out of hell, but not to be with Jesus).

Not just Lord (because you might submit begrudgingly).

The key is: Do you treasure Him more than everything else?

Do you agree with Paul and can say, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8).

Although you may struggle with the practical application of this verse in your daily life, your salvation is real if God is your treasure and not your self salvation or idols of the heart.

Praise be to God that he makes this possible for us through the life, death and resurrection of his Son and by his saving grace.  May we hold loosely all that He has entrusted to us so that he remains our treasure in all things!

For His glory and by His grace,

-Shepherd

Soldiers for Jesus MC

National Chaplain

Categories
Scripture

April 10, 2015

Matthew 21

The Triumphal Entry

21:1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,


  “Say to the daughter of Zion,
  ‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
    humble, and mounted on a donkey,
    on a colt,1 the foal of a beast of burden.’”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

12 And Jesus entered the temple2 and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,


  “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies
    you have prepared praise’?”

17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

18 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

20 When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 21 And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

23 And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

33 “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants3 to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:


  “‘The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;4
  this was the Lord’s doing,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”5

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.

Footnotes

[1] 21:5 Or donkey, and on a colt

[2] 21:12 Some manuscripts add of God

[3] 21:34 Or bondservants; also verses 35, 36

[4] 21:42 Greek the head of the corner

[5] 21:44 Some manuscripts omit verse 44

(ESV)

Categories
Scripture

April 9, 2015

Matthew 20

Laborers in the Vineyard

20:1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius1 a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’2 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

17 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death 19 and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

A Mother’s Request

20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21 And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 22 Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23 He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” 24 And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,3 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,4 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

29 And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. 30 And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord,5 have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31 The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 32 And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33 They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” 34 And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

Footnotes

[1] 20:2 A denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer

[2] 20:15 Or is your eye bad because I am good?

[3] 20:26 Greek diakonos

[4] 20:27 Or bondservant, or servant (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)

[5] 20:30 Some manuscripts omit Lord

(ESV)

Categories
Scripture

April 8, 2015

Matthew 19

Teaching About Divorce

19:1 Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”1

10 The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

Let the Children Come to Me

13 Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, 14 but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And he laid his hands on them and went away.

The Rich Young Man

16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27 Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world,2 when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold3 and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

Footnotes

[1] 19:9 Some manuscripts add and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery; other manuscripts except for sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery

[2] 19:28 Greek in the regeneration

[3] 19:29 Some manuscripts manifold

(ESV)

Categories
Scripture

April 7, 2015

Matthew 18

Who Is the Greatest?

18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,1 it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Temptations to Sin

“Woe to the world for temptations to sin!2 For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell3 of fire.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.4 12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of my5 Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

If Your Brother Sins Against You

15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed6 in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.7 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.8 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant9 fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii,10 and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,11 until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Footnotes

[1] 18:6 Greek causes . . . to stumble; also verses 8, 9

[2] 18:7 Greek stumbling blocks

[3] 18:9 Greek Gehenna

[4] 18:10 Some manuscripts add verse 11: For the Son of Man came to save the lost

[5] 18:14 Some manuscripts your

[6] 18:18 Or shall have been bound . . . shall have been loosed

[7] 18:23 Or bondservants; also verses 28, 31

[8] 18:24 A talent was a monetary unit worth about twenty years’ wages for a laborer

[9] 18:26 Or bondservant; also verses 27, 28, 29, 32, 33

[10] 18:28 A denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer

[11] 18:34 Greek torturers

(ESV)