Matthew 19

The Right Priorities

Matthew 19:21 “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.”

What takes highest priority in your life? There are plenty of things in this life to keep you busy, that should be high on your priority list. Things like getting good grades, getting your homework done on time, being obedient to your parents, going to church, praying reading the Bible, following Jesus, etc. Do any of these take the highest priority in your life?

In Matthew 19 a man approaches Jesus and says to Him “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” This seems like a pretty honest question from a guy who really wanted to go to Heaven. Jesus knew a little bit more about this man than we do at this point of the story. Jesus knew what this man’s priorities were. So Jesus told him to keep the commandments. This man obviously had a very high opinion of himself because he told Jesus that he was keeping all the commandments. But Jesus knew better.

Knowing that this man was rich and had many possessions, Jesus told him to do 3 things. Sell his possessions, give the money to the poor, and follow Jesus. This is not what Jesus requires from us in order to be saved. This man trusted his money. Jesus wanted this rich young ruler to trust him. In the end, the man made the wrong choice. He chose wealth and comfort over eternal life with Jesus. He made his wealth a higher priority than Jesus.

What takes highest priority in your life? Be honest with yourself, what do you live for? Do you live to follow Jesus? The rich young ruler lived for possessions. Are there any possessions in your life that you could not live without? What if Jesus told you to give it up? Would you? It’s not that Jesus wants us to do something in order to be saved because we have been saved by faith. The big idea here is that Jesus wants us to follow Him and make that the highest priority in our lives. The last thing Jesus told the rich young ruler was to follow Him. That is what Jesus wants from us too!

Questions to Ask

• Is following Jesus your highest priority?
• What does it mean to follow Jesus?
• Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what is taking Jesus’ place in your life.
• What is it?
• How are you going to change your priorities?

Pick Up My WHAT????

Matthew 16:24-26

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in return for his soul?

I have never really walked down the street and saw someone wearing a noose around their neck or carrying an electric chair or even a sign that says, “Dead man walking.” But Jesus was talking to his disciples about the meaning of being a disciple. Earlier in this chapter, Jesus was professed to be the Christ by Peter as well as he shared with his disciples that he would soon be killed and then raised from the dead. And then he nails them with the sum of it all, “If you would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” In Roman society they would not even mention the cross in public because it was impolite. It was serious and it was offensive. So, was Jesus trying to be offensive or was he trying to get again to the condition of the heart?

Jesus was getting to the heart. To be a disciple of Christ means you follow Christ completely. Lord, you mean following you is costly? Yes! Lord, you mean I must deny myself and follow whole heartedly after you? Yes! There is no going back to the world? Correct! Jesus said these words to remind his disciples of his duty. They thought there would be this glorious reunion of Israel and Rome would be squashed from its power. They needed to be reminded that Jesus had to suffer and die for the bigger picture, salvation.

These words of Jesus are tough as they point out that followers/ disciples need realize the Christian life is not for the weak or faint of heart. It is not for those that will buckle under the pressures of this world. It is an all or nothing type of commitment. To pick up your cross means that you are daily looking to Jesus as sin has been killed. We must put away with sin (Col 3:5). We must look to the cross to daily resist the devil. We must pick up our cross to be reminded of what awaits this short life, the eternal kingdom. We must count the cost to follow Christ and realize it is all nothing compared to the great gain of knowing Christ (Philippians 3:7-10).

Questions to Ask:

• Do you get discouraged by being a Christian when life is hard?
• How can you remind yourself that following Christ is costly but also the best thing in the world to do?
• What happens if you do not go to the cross everyday to remind yourself of what Christ has done for you?
• Read Philippians 3:7-10 and write down what you have learned and how anything given up is worthless compared to gaining Christ.
• How does suffering lead to glory? What do disciples of Christ look forward to?

True Motives

Matthew 15:18-19

But what comes out of the mouth proceeds the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and slander.

Have you ever had someone try to be nice to you just because they wanted something from you? Maybe you were the one trying to be nice to someone to get something form them, such as a discount at some store, trying to get out of that speeding ticket, have someone not tell on you for something bad you did. The list can go on and we can have the same attitude towards God. Yes, God I will read your Word and pray all the time if this one thing happens or I go to church and wear Christian shirts but the way I act, think, and talk are no different than anyone else. The truth is that we can never fool God, we can never con him, or fake him out with our motives. God knows the heart.

As Jesus said this statement about the heart his disciples came up to him to let him know that his statement offended the Pharisees. When you read verses 10-20 that Jesus never apologized to them for offending them, he just spoke the TRUTH. The Pharisees would teach that holiness comes from what you eat and drink and how one would ceremonial wash themselves. They taught that if you followed after what they did then you were holy and clean but if you did not then you were not clean and holy before God. Jesus was teaching the truth behind this, as it is not on the outside of man that defiles him but the inside, the condition of the heart.

Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” The truth is our heart is sinful and out of the heart comes poor motives to God. The Pharisees were making holiness about what they can do to be holy and Jesus was pointing to the fact that only God can make things holy. The only way you and I can be holy before God is by receiving Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. It is by receiving God grace through faith and not by our own works (Ephesians 2:8-9). 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that we are a new creation in Christ with a new heart and one that can have true motives. When we come before God with a changed heart, we come into the family with freedom. When you are open and honest before God, you have no more guilt, you have nothing to hide, you are not faking him out with your “good boy” or “good girl” facade. Being fake may work in front of some people but never before God.

Here are some questions to think about:

• How have you tried to fool God in the past?
• God knows the heart, have you repented from your sins?
• When you are honest before God and asked for forgiveness what kind of relationship will you have?
• How relieving is it to know that God knows all things about us and he still loves us? How relieving is it to know we do not have to hide our sin from him and that we can be forgiven of our sin (1 John 1:9)?
• When we free before God, how will this affect our other relationships with friends and family?

Matthew 14

Radical Faith!

In the context of Matthew 14, we are given the account of a few different stories that have been taken to the extreme.

We read from Matthew 14:1-12 about the beheading of John the Baptist.

From verses 13-21 the feeding of 5,000 with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Imagine that! To be one of the persons in the crowd, starving, wanting food, being impatient, and yet being full from a meal that could feed 2 people, fed 5,000 people.

And from verses 22-33, Jesus walks on water. This is where I want to focus our attention right now.

We read of radical faith in John the Baptist, trusting in God regardless of him dying for a little girl’s birthday present, by deceit from her mother. We see the radical faith of the disciples being obedient to Jesus to bring forth the food for the multitude. And then we see the radical faith of Peter, seeing God on the water, and being able to work up the courage to get out of the boat and to walk towards Jesus.

When reading verses 22-33, we may be saying to ourself, “yeah right, how could someone walk above the water?” Oh you of little faith! The reason we think of it to be impossible is because it is an “off-the-wall” thing to try and to imagine someone walking on water, who isn’t God, but Peter was curious, he wanted to know what was really happening.

What do we learn from this in Matthew 14? Is it the amount of faith that Peter had, and we can learn from that? Yeah sure we can. Is it the power of the Lord that He has the ability to walk on the water? Yes, of course because He is God and the waves bow at His presence. Or is it the small amount of faith that Peter had in relying upon Jesus?

I think it is the last statement. Why do I say that? Because if Peter continued on walking and kept His eyes on Jesus, he would have not started to sink. But because he was distracted by the waves, because he saw the force of the wind tossing and turning, he became afraid. Once he stopped focusing on Jesus, he started to sink and he started to drown.

Peter said to “the ghost”, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” And then when Jesus heard what he said, “Come.” He went onto the water, he saw Jesus, then he saw the wind, and then he sank.

Now there is something in this text that not too many really see. Jesus told him to come, he was obedient but he was not consistent when he went out in his step of faith, but he did not rely fully on the Lord.

When God calls you to be obedient and to take the radical step of faith, do you take that step of faith? Do you go full-hearted or half-hearted?

2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “for we walk by faith and not by sight,”. That’s it. There it is. FOR WE WALK BY FAITH AND NOT BY SIGHT! Peter was walking by sight, he wasn’t walking by faith. He saw the things around him that instilled a trembling fear into him, because he was not walking by faith.

Let us live the example in our own lives, “for we walk by faith and not by sight.”

Matthew 13

The Value of Heaven

Matthew 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.”

What do you value most in this life? For many, it is their family or friends. For some it may be their iPod, computer, or game system. For others it might be getting good grades. But what do you value most? Here is a good test, if your house was burning down and you could only go in and save 1 thing, what would it be? We all put high value on something or someone.

In the chapter today, Jesus tells 8 parables. Parables are stories that Jesus would tell to make a point. Each of the parables has a meaning that relates to the story. Jesus explains some of the parables(the parable of the sower, The parable of the weeds), but not all of them. Some are easy to understand, others are not. It is wise for us to stop and study these parables.

On of the parables in this chapter that really stands out is the parable of the Hidden Treasure(above). It is a simple story of a man who found a treasure in a field, hid it, sold all that he had, and bought the field with that money. What point is Jesus trying to make?

The Kingdom of Heaven is Like a Treasure
Obviously this man values whatever treasure it is that he found(we are not told what it is). So valuable was this treasure that the man sold everything in order to have it. In the same way, Heaven is valuable. There is nothing greater that anyone can value more than Heaven. Heaven is not just a place, but also the presence and glory of the only God of Heaven and Earth. Its value is beyond description or measure. Nothing even comes close in comparison.

In his joy he sells all that he has and buys that field
The knowledge that this man had about the treasure that he found gave him joy. So much joy in fact, he was probably excited to sell all of his possessions to gain that treasure. There was joy in the sacrifice. Jesus said in Matthew 10:39 “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” The life that Jesus calls us to is one where we give up our lives and submit to Jesus as Lord and Savior. If we want the eternal life that Jesus offers, we must submit our lives now to Jesus. If you value Heaven, if you have a right view of what we gain from a life submitted to Christ, you will have joy. If you are not excited about Heaven and if you do not understand all that we gain in Jesus, you will not have joy.

What do you value most? Do you value Heaven? Would you do anything that you could to go there? Make Heaven valuable to you. Make Christ valuable in your life. Center your life in Him and give your life to Jesus. You wont regret it!

Matthew 12

Jesus Family

Matthew 12:50 “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

My sister and I used to be so mean to our younger brother. When he was young we would pick on him and tell him that he was adopted. I know that this is a common thing among siblings but there were a few times we had him convinced. I always wondered what it would be like to find out one day that your parents are not your actual parents. I know being adopted does not make you any less part of the family but I still think it would be shocking.

In this short little section in Matthew 12:46-50 Jesus teaches us an important lesson. Earlier in the chapter Jesus made the Pharisee’s really mad because he picked some grain and healed a man on the Sabbath. They took the sabbath day very seriously and made a day that God intended for our benefit a burden on the people. And from then on the Pharisee’s were planning to kill Jesus.

But now Jesus is teaching and apparently the crowd is so large and it is so crowded that His own family could not get to Him. So a man told Jesus that His mother and brother were there to talk to Him and Jesus made His reply in 12:49-50(above). What does that mean? Was Jesus disrespecting His Mom when He said that? Jesus was making a point. His point was that even being a part of Jesus earthly family does not earn you salvation. He was not dishonoring His family.

A right relationship with Jesus is the only thing that brings salvation. But, this relationship is not just a verbal acknowledgment of Jesus as Savior. Matthew 7:21 says “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” It would be shocking to say the least to get to die believing is Jesus only to stand before God and Him tell you that you are not His son or daughter. It is a belief in Christ that submits to God that saves. It is the will of God that you trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior! Are you part of His family? Look at your life, do you live a life that is honoring to God? What is holding you back?

If Jesus paid it all on the cross and I can not earn God’s favor, why do I need to do the will of God? In Matthew 12:33-37 Jesus talks about a tree that is know by its fruit. You know wether or not a tree is good by the fruit that it produces. A tree that produces apples is an apple tree. A tree that produces Oranges is an Orange tree. In the same way a person is known by how they live their life. A person who does evil is an evil person. A person that acts like Christ is a Christian. When you become a Christian, you become a new person(2 Corinthians 5:17). So if you are a new person, you will act like a new person. If you are not a new person, you will act the same. You are known by your fruits. What kind of fruit does your life produce?