Whoever Becomes Simple Again
“At about the same time, the disciples came to Jesus asking, “Who gets the highest rank in God’s kingdom?””
Matthew 18:1 MSG
I love Jesus's response here, "2 For an answer Jesus called over a child."
Jesus teaches that in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, one must become like a child, humble and receptive to God's teachings. He also warns that whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in him to sin, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
This is a pretty stern warning i think, and if you compare this to what is happening in our culture there may be quite a few teachers who are in for a shock . . . Imagine coming before God and being judged on confusing children about gender ideologies and their self worth and indoctrinating them with some of the very insane things we are seeing in our culture today. This may be the exact type of behavior Jesus was warning about.
““Watch that you don’t treat a single one of these childlike believers arrogantly. You realize, don’t you, that their personal angels are constantly in touch with my Father in heaven?”
Matthew 18:10 MSG
Jesus has a statement here that has baffled many including myself, especially if you are trying to read this as a literal book, in verses 8-9 Jesus says
““If your hand or your foot gets in the way of God, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owners of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.”
Matthew 18:8-9 MSG
The imagery of cutting off a hand or foot, or plucking out an eye, is meant to shock and emphasize the severity of the situation. Jesus is saying that it would be better to lose a physical part of our body than to be eternally separated from God because of sin.
This passage is not to be taken literally and Jesus is not advocating for self-mutilation. The idea behind this passage is that if there is something in your life that is causing you to sin or that is keeping you from God, you should get rid of it, no matter how difficult or painful it may be. It is a call to radical discipleship and to take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that our relationship with God is not hindered.
As we read through the old testament, we will see in Levitical law, there were strict rules and severe punishments for those who broke them, as a way to maintain the holiness of the community. Almost like the whole congregation was treated as one body, Since Jesus came and fulfilled the law, we now in the new testament have the Holy Spirit to teach us Gods ways and we should not need the law or the community to the same extent. and as we will read later in Matthew there are similar concepts around the body of the church as well, where if one member is causing mayhem, or leading others to sin such as discussed above, then something needs to be done, a call to repentance or removal from the body.
Work it Out Between You
The famous 99 sheep verse!
““Look at it this way. If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine and go after the one? And if he finds it, doesn’t he make far more over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put? Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He doesn’t want to lose even one of these simple believers.”
Matthew 18:12-14 MSG
This idea gets used a lot in families where one member is off and estranged from the family, or lost in addiction or any other concept of having a prodigal in our life. It leaves us with hope and assurance that God will not stop pursuing us as he does not want anyone to perish. God wants us all to be with Him.
Jesus continues to address how to deal with sins committed by fellow believers, Jesus teaches that if a brother or sister sins, the offended party should go and point out the fault privately, and if the offender repents, the matter should be forgiven and forgotten. If the offender does not listen, more people should be brought in to help confront the situation, and if the offender still does not repent, they should be treated as a non-believer.
““If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him—work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you’ve made a friend. If he won’t listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won’t listen, tell the church. If he won’t listen to the church, you’ll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God’s forgiving love.”
Matthew 18:15-17 MSG
Imagine if we operated like this in our culture, we are so quick to gossip and get 10 other peoples opinions on our offended hearts and usually make things worse, when really we should have just confronted the person face to face to begin with.
Matthew 18:18-20
New King James Version
18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 “Again[a] I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
We see here Jesus giving us information about the power of our words. God created the entire universe as we know it with His own spoken words and we are created in His image. Rightfully so we are to monitor our words as they can also create and destroy!
Proverbs 18:21 - "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."
James 3:5-6 - "Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell."
James 1:26 - "Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless."
Proverbs 12:18 - "The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."
Proverbs 15:4 - "Gentle words bring life and health; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit."
Proverbs 21:23 - "Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity."
Jesus ends this Chapter by talking about Forgiveness, with a powerful parable.
“At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, “Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?” Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.”
Matthew 18:21-22 MSG
Jesus tells a parable of a king who forgives a servant an enormous debt, but when the servant goes out and finds a fellow servant who owes him a small debt, he demands payment and throws him in prison. The king finds out and punishes the unmerciful servant. Through this parable, Jesus is teaching that we should forgive others as God has forgiven us, and that we should show mercy to others, just as God shows mercy to us.
““The king summoned the man and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn’t you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?’ The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt. And that’s exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn’t forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy.””
Matthew 18:32-35 MSG
After reading this parable, and thinking about the unlimited Grace i have experienced first had from God, it sure makes it hard for me to find any justification not to extend that same mercy, grace and forgiveness to those around me. . .
Job 15
I really enjoy looking at this picture, It honestly reminds me of being a little kids when i was in trouble for something i absolutely knew i should not be in trouble for. I remember that feeling of just wanting to be left alone and the feeling that there was no was i could explain my innocence in the situation.
Have you ever been accused of doing something when you knew it was not true, but the person making the accusations had a way of keeping you pinned down in the discussion, using your past against you, bringing up things they viewed in you as character flaws?
This is exactly how this story feels, Job wants nothing more than to explain his innocence and die in peace, yet his friends continue to try and get him to admit guilt, the worst part is that they can't even themselves point out anything that he must have done wrong, they just keep telling him that he obviously did something wrong and needs to tell them what it was!
If you were truly wise, would you sound so much like a
windbag, belching hot air?
Look at you! You trivialize religion,
turn spiritual conversation into empty gossip.
What comes to mind as i read this, is how Eliphaz had really good intentions, he was genuinely trying to help Job out. Many of the things he says are probably accurate, just not for Job in this situation.
Job 15
“I’ve a thing or two to tell you, so listen up!
I’m letting you in on my views;
It’s what wise men and women have always taught,
holding nothing back from what they were taught
By their parents, back in the days
when they had this land all to themselves:
Those who live by their own rules, not God’s, can expect nothing but trouble.
This is echoed in the New Testament, Eugene Peterson says it remarkably well in the message translation,
Galatians 5: 19-21 "It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on."
Eugene phrases it as "what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way" while Eliphaz just says "those who live by their own rules" But lets explore what Eliphaz says happens. . .
Job 15
There’s a lesson here: Whoever invests in lies,
gets lies for interest,
Paid in full before the due date.
Some investment!
They’ll be like fruit frost-killed before it ripens,
like buds sheared off before they bloom.
The godless are fruitless—a barren crew;
a life built on bribes goes up in smoke.
They have sex with sin and give birth to evil.
Their lives are wombs for breeding deceit.”
Of course we have a deeper understanding than any of these guys could have had, Romans 5: 12-14 explains this to us
Romans 5:
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men1 because wall sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
Job 16
If you Were in My Shoes
"then Job defended Himself"
Job is responding to the accusations and criticisms of his friends, who have been suggesting that his suffering is a punishment from God for some hidden sin. Job denies these accusations and instead, laments the injustices he has suffered. He speaks of his pain and the fact that God seems to have abandoned him. He also points out that even if he were guilty of some wrongdoing, his punishment would not be as severe as the one he is currently experiencing. He also implies that he is not to blame for his condition, that it's a test from God. Job expresses his desire for God to hear his complaint and to vindicate him.
Job 17
Job continues to express his despair and frustration over the suffering he has experienced. He describes himself as being in a state of deep mourning, with his body and bones wasting away. He also accuses his friends of abandoning him in his time of need, instead of offering him comfort and support. Job also speaks of his confidence in the belief that he will see God and present his case before him. He also wishes to see his enemies and those who have betrayed him punished. He also says that his family and friends are mourning him as if he is already dead. He speaks of his death as the end of his troubles and his release from his physical and mental sufferings.
““Maybe you’d all like to start over, to try it again, the bunch of you. So far I haven’t come across one scrap of wisdom in anything you’ve said. My life’s about over. All my plans are shattered, all my hopes are snuffed out— My hope that night would turn into day, my hope that dawn was about to break. If all I have to look forward to is a home in the graveyard, if my only hope for comfort is a well-built coffin, If a family reunion means going six feet under, and the only family that shows up is worms, Do you call that hope? Who on earth could find any hope in that? No. If hope and I are to be buried together, I suppose you’ll all come to the double funeral!””
Job 17:10-16 MSG
Psalms 18
Second Samuel 22:1 tells us David composed Psalm 18 on the day the Lord delivered him from his enemies and Saul. Second Samuel 19 reports David's victorious return to Jerusalem after David vanquished his enemies.
I love Psalms 18! here are some of my favorite quotes from this chapter.
“God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him. When I got my act together, he gave me a fresh start. Now I’m alert to God’s ways; I don’t take God for granted. Every day I review the ways he works; I try not to miss a trick. I feel put back together, and I’m watching my step. God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.”
Psalms 18:20-24 MSG
“What a God! His road stretches straight and smooth. Every God-direction is road-tested. Everyone who runs toward him Makes it.”
Psalms 18:30 MSG
Wow bro
ReplyDeleteThis is Will btw
ReplyDeleteHello Will!!!!
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