Daily Bible Reading (Thursday, January 25th)

16

Matthew 19 (ESV)

 

Teaching About Divorce

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.”[a]

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,[b] 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 hundredfold[c] and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

Footnotes:

  1. Matthew 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. Matthew 19:28 Greek in the regeneration
  3. Matthew 19:29 Some manuscripts manifold

16 Comments

Spent some time thinking about what Christ said about the impossibility of the rich entering the Kingdom and how the rich young man responds to Jesus. He say "all these I have kept", yet he never actually followed Christ. Praying we would have the same desire as Paul in Philippians 3:8-11, counting our riches and our righteousness as loss that we might know Christ.

However, Christ makes it a point to not neglect the children and with proper cause.

So after just reading the section concerning the children, I am reminded of how children can be seen but not heard. It's the do as I say not as I do concept that many have been brought up to be taught, unfortunately I must say.

Two things stood out to me: 1) Verses 13-15--Jesus' love for children. I am thankful for the opportunities I had in the past to serve in children's ministry, to live out what Jesus is saying here. I am thankful for children's ministry at BF, and for all those who devote themselves to sharing God's love and God's Word to children. 2) The stark contrast between worldly values (even among believers) and the message of Jesus. We see two examples of that in this chapter. The disciples tried to turn the children away, reflecting the attitude of their culture. Jesus welcomes the children. Later, in vs. 24-25, Jesus contradicts the common view of the time that riches were a sign of God's blessing. The disciples are 'greatly astonished' when Jesus says that riches make it harder for someone to believe. May we examine our own thinking--Where am I being influenced by the thinking of my day? Are my thoughts, attitudes, and values truly consistent with Scripture?

What good deed must I do? That's the question the world's been asking for centuries. Jesus made it clear to the rich ruler...you must forsake all and follow Him. This was one of most important passages in my life. At one point in my life, God used this passage to challenge my heart...what do you love more, flying or Jesus. To be honest, it took me a little while to settle this issue in my heart. I chose to follow Jesus and prayed, telling God to take flying away if it ever competed in my heart with my love for Jesus. He did.

In this chapter we often focus on the section on divorce and the passage on the rich, young ruler and they are both very significant especially in our current church environment. But today I am struck by these words of Jesus, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them." Jesus wants the children to be brought to Him. We do not want to do anything that would hinder that. I pray even for my own grandchildren I also pray for the parents of the children at BF as well as all those who serve in our children's ministries. May they all be given wisdom and a love for the children. May we all see what a privilege it si to bring these children to a welcoming Savior. Praying that the children of BF will grow to know, love, and serve Jesus Christ to His honor and glory.

One of the greatest sorrows of my life is the loss of my first marriage and the unsaved status of my children, who keep themselves at arms length from me because they know what i stand for. This verse is a great, great comfort to me! 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 hundredfold[c] and will inherit eternal life. Thank you Lord for your sweet words and love that overcomes a thousand hurts.

This is one of my favorite stories. This man who thinks his deed will give him favor and admittance to heaven. How many people in the Western culture that we encounter daily who believe this to be true. It seems logical... I find encouragement in Jesus' response. Often I get tongue tied and flustered in trying to combat people's logic and reasoning of their "goodness". There is no other way but through obedience to Christ.

Thanks for sharing the FAT and passing the SALT

Theme summary: Because of the hardness of our hearts and loving the things of this world, it is difficult to enter the kingdom of heaven, yet the Lord will grant eternal life and graciously reward anyone who has sacrificed things in this life by faith for his name sake.

V. 29 is an amazing promise! This world is not where our treasure is so we can out of thankfulness to God surrender everything in this world to Him and trust that what we will receive in the Heavenly City is much greater than any of the pleasures or comforts of this world that we will have to forfeit.

"What good deed must I do to have eternal life?" I am thankful that God has revealed to us in this passage that this is the wrong question to ask. Just as Jesus shows the rich young man and explains to the disciples, the answer is that you can't do any deed that will earn the favor of God needed to have eternal life. The only deed that could satisfy God's holy judgement was the sacrifice of a perfect spotless lamb. I am so thankful that God provided that sacrifice through his Son and that "it is finished".

When it talks about the rich young man you don’t just have to obey the law you have to give up every thing you own take up your cross and follow Jesus with all your heart. It’s amazing that Jesus loves the children and he blesses them and takes time out of his day preaching to acknowledge the little children.

The parable of the rich young ruler provides us another chance to see what Christ expects of our faith. Here we see that Christ expects a willingness on our part to fully surrender all to Him. Lord, show me the areas in my life where I am foolishly trying to run on my own and help me surrender them fully to you.

The teaching on divorce is so clear. Yet, jaw-dropping or eye-opening at the questions asked and as well, the response given by the disciples. It is not surprising at the answer given by The Messiah. I must say, even sexual immorality is forgiven. Thank you Jesus for forgiving me for such a serious sin. Amen.

Jesus clearly has concern for what is in my heart, and I am thankful for the lessons we can learn from the rich young man in this passage. We know this man was seeking eternal life, but went about it in the wrong way. He was trying to do good on his own to earn his salvation, but when he was instructed by Jesus to sell all that he owned he could not and did not want to do it. If I were called right now to sell all that I own...would I be able to do it with a cheerful heart? God I pray for the faith necessity to eternally focus and rely on you. I pray that my heart would recognize my possessions are a gift from you. Enable me to offer what I have freely for your kingdom!

Jesus cut to the core of divorce—hard hearted, unrepentant sinners who exchange the truth for a lie. Divorce is so prevalent today that we could become immune to it if we aren’t careful. Father, preserve your church in this world, and do not let us be conformed to its image; make us soft-hearted, faithful believers in the image of Christ.

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