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Jesus taught with many parables. Some of them were directed at the scribes and Pharisees as rebukes as in the one about the man with two sons. The man told the first son to go work in the vineyard, but the son said, “No, I won’t.” Then later he thought better of it and went to work as his father asked. The second son said, “Yes, I will.” But he did not go.

Jesus then asked, “Which of the two did the father’s will?”

They said, “The first son.”

This was the correct answer. Jesus highlighted it by saying,…  ( Click for more )

God provided the disciples with great power to further the building of His church. We have all the power given to the disciples because Jesus is sitting by the right hand of the Father; we are in His service. He told them they could do the same as He did. Is there any power greater than that exhibited by raising Jesus from the dead?

If you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do the miracle of the fig tree, but even if you should say to this mountain, Be taken up and thrown into the sea, it will be so. And all things, whatever you may ask in prayer, believing,…  ( Click for more )

Jesus had a huge problem with the moneychangers because they were sticklers for Law rather than ministers to the people’s needs. When those scribes and Pharisees asked, “By what authority do you do these things?” Jesus uses the same source as He did with Satan… “It is written.” Reformation is always right, when laws corrupted by humankind are reduced to their primitive institution; in other words, going back to basics of the Ten Commandments, or rather to God’s literal words. In this case, to God’s decree that His house is…  ( Click for more )

We have a gorgeous water oak tree in the back yard. Its leaves shade my bedroom and the den from the sun's hot rays. I treasure this tree because life flits around it and lives in it. Birds, squirrels, and even three turtles flit, romp, and waddle around its branches and its roots. My cat loves to watch the bird show every morning. Its been dropping limbs. We thought it might need some trimming and pruning, so we called a tree doctor. He told us it was rotten clear through and would topple over in the next big wind. It would have to come down. I won't go into the exorbitant…  ( Click for more )

There is a story told of a missionary and his wife who finally retired.

They happened to be on the same airplane as a famous sports star. The sports star got off the plane first. Many people cheered him as he strode into the crowd. They were patting his back, congratulating him on his perfect game won, and clapping in exuberance. The band played. The mayor gave a speech. People lifted him up on their shoulders, and carried him to get his baggage.

The missionary and his wife carried their own baggage. Hailed a cab. Paid their own cab fare, and carried their own bags up…  ( Click for more )

The Kingdom of Grace is like a man who went to gather laborers for his vineyard. If we dig a little deeper, we'll see what Jesus is describing according to Robert Hawker:

Kingdom of Heaven = Kingdom of Grace, not the Kingdom of Glory after the end of ages

The Owner = God in Heaven

The vineyard = the Church

The day of hire = earthly life

The workers hired = all those called and chosen by God to enter into Grace

The different hours = the different seasons, ages of the world, and ages of life

The marketplace = the world

The wages = the gift of God.…  ( Click for more )

Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" Matthew 19:16

Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" Mark 10:17

Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Luke 18:18

Looking at each different passage we find several things about this man.

1. He is young.

2. He is a ruler (whether religious…  ( Click for more )

There are several points to ponder in this chapter in Matthew.

Once Jesus left Galilee, He never came back except to just pass through the region (Luke 17:11). This is where He grew up; this is where His ministry began (Cana); this is where He was rejected first (Nazareth). A prophet is rarely recognized among his own people (John 1:46). Is this because he is better remembered as the snot-nosed toddler, or is it because people remember his childish escapades?

Jesus was fully divine from the very beginning, therefore from the time He was able to demonstrate the difference…  ( Click for more )

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?" Matthew 18:21

This is the kind of offense like the in the sense that somebody has done you wrong. It won’t take you long for one of those things to pop into your mind. There it is. What was it about the dirty deed that really hurt you? Betrayal of trust? Lied about you? Bullied you? Cruelly joked about you to others? Misused authority over you? Led you astray? Seduced you and left you cold-heartedly?

Everyone has a broken…  ( Click for more )

Ever notice the directions on products? Some of them are quite humorous, such as “do not operate this hair dryer when sleeping.” Really? Visions of women lying in bed with their blow dryer grasped in a white-knuckled grip trip through my mind. Another favorite is the peanut package on airplanes which says, “Open packet. Eat nuts.” I guess that is for those who would rather slip the packet into their purse and smuggle it off the plane. Found on a Korean kitchen knife, “Keep out of children;” on a batman costume, “This cape does not…  ( Click for more )

At the transfiguration of Jesus, three disciples observed the difference between heavenly glory and earthly bleakness. Jesus had spoken to all the disciples of what was about to happen at the Passover. They probably thought that the kingdom of God would suddenly transform into this great earthly kingdom as soon as Jesus rose from the dead. There was no other way except supernaturally that this kingdom could happen because Jesus had gathered no army, no cache of weapons of war, or horses with which to conquer the Romans. The must have reasoned that God would take over, and…  ( Click for more )

This was Moses’ first time to set feet upon the Promised Land. What an amazing thing to see in that isolated spot on the mountain: Victory and glory suddenly appear before their eyes. Peter, James, and John were the only three disciples that had this experience. What reason could God have had to show them this?

Jesus had just told Peter, “Get behind me Satan,” when Peter had refuted Jesus’ going to Jerusalem to be the sacrifice for the world. It was probably because of this, and because these three men would write letters, which God has preserved…  ( Click for more )

The Pharisees were never satisfied. They wanted to trick Jesus, and to do that they asked for a sign from Heaven. Healing the sick, making the blind see (what no one had ever done before), making the lame walk and become productive to society, raising the dead were not good enough miracles for them. As always, Jesus knew their hearts, and replied to them in kind. “You can look at the sky and tell what the weather will be like for that day, but you can’t read the signs of the times?”

How foolish He made them look. Jesus pointed to Jonah. This would be…  ( Click for more )

When surgeons wash their hands before surgery, they wash with scrub brushes all the way up to their elbows. They scrub under fingernails. They rinse thoroughly. Then they put on sterile gloves. I’d say that is about as clean as you can get without soaking in alcohol or peroxide.

When the Jews washed their hands before they ate, they would take a showy, silver bowl, set it on the table, hold their hands over the bowl palms down, have water poured over their hands, then pat their hands dry with a towel. Not exactly a cleansing kind of hand washing.

What really…  ( Click for more )

Matthew indulges in a flashback in his story about Jesus. First we hear Herod talking about Jesus being the resurrected John the Baptist, then Matthew backtracks for a minute to explain how that could be. Matthew understood that

1. Herod was not of the Sadducee sect because he did believe in resurrection and the Sadduccees did not (Acts 23:8).

2. Herod, even though an atheist, let his fear override his opinion as he declared John the Baptist in his risen state to be able to do mighty works showing forth in him meaning John the Baptist. Remember that John did no signs…  ( Click for more )

This is one of my favorite chapters. Jesus explains why He teaches the people in parables. God enlightened the Twelve to understand the mysteries of the kingdom to come, but the scribes and Pharisees refused to believe so understanding did not come to them. They were made blind and deaf by their unbelief. John quotes Jesus:

If I have told you earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? John 3:12

Jesus spoke in parables because those were real-life examples, and the spiritual truths were made simple and understandable…  ( Click for more )

Hungry! Waking up in the early morning, worshiping with Jesus with no time to eat breakfast the disciples were hungry. On the way to the synagogue, they walked through a field ripe for harvest. The most natural thing in the world to do is pluck some grain, rub the husks off, and satisfy that rumbling, empty belly. (Matthew 12:1)

The Pharisees did not object to the disciples taking food from the farmer’s field, but objected to the disciples “reaping” on the Sabbath.

“Didn’t you ever read the story of David and his hungry men? They took…  ( Click for more )

In prison, it is easy to get discouraged, and easy to allow depressing thoughts of failure to creep and settle in the brain. Christ spoke honorably of John after John's disciples were gone from the gathering described in Matthew 11. He didn’t want to flatter John. That wasn’t what John needed at the time. He was in prison, and God knew that John needed the reassurance that Jesus was exactly who He said He was. That reassurance was more comforting than any praise. It meant that God’s words spoken through him were really God’s words of truth. It meant…  ( Click for more )

Jesus sends out the disciples to spread the Gospel. That must have been both scary and exhilarating at the same time.

I remember the first time I walked to school by myself. I was in the first grade. We lived about a half mile away, so Mom walked the distance with me several times, drove over the path several times, so that I’d know how to get there. When she asked me what streets to take, I told her the regular path she had engrained in my brain. Then I said, “But if I want to, I can go down this street and turn at that street to get there. Or I can go down this…  ( Click for more )

How marvelous God is to give us just what we need when we need it for encouragement and strength and a hearty boost when we feel our lowest.Then sometimes we look around and wonder, "Where is God? Why isn't He answering my prayers?"

Is it so bad to want to see results of prayer?

We just cannot know or understand God's ways. We ask, and we receive. Then we ask, and then we receive. It seems to be a results motivated prayer life.

Jesus taught His disciples to pray, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." Why…  ( Click for more )

The Torah was so steeped in sacredness that the elders of Israel put a hedge of protection around it so that no man could misunderstand and break the Law. Then the next generation put a hedge around that hedge, and again another hedge around that hedge on down through the centuries until Tradition out weighed the Torah by 18 volumes of tiny type to one small volume held in one hand.

Deuteronomy 10:16 And you shall circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and you shall not harden your neck any more.

Always the outward symbol of the covenant with God was circumcision.…  ( Click for more )

And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" Matthew 9:11

The Pharisees asked the Disciples, not Jesus … Why?

But Jesus heard the question and replied "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick do. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

The puffed up Pharisees may have thought that they were righteous and had no need for repentance. Jesus'…  ( Click for more )

A leper comes up to Jesus and says: Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.

Not “heal me” or “make me well.” We learn a lot from that Greek word used here. If we look closely at how it is used in a moral sense, we can get an excellent understanding what Jesus’ blood does for believers. The Greek word is katharizō. It means:

1) to make clean, cleanse

1a) from physical stains and dirt

1a1) utensils, food

1a2) a leper, to cleanse by curing

1a3) to remove by cleansing

1b) in a moral sense

1b1) to free from…  ( Click for more )

Centuries before Jesus was led to Golgotha, God provided a picture of that event, a promise to His chosen people in the form of the Passover. He said it was to be an ordinance forever. Even today, Jews have Passover Sedar and speak the Hagadah. All Christians should understand how completely Jesus fulfills the Passover. We remember Him when we take communion, but we need to understand that Jesus was promised for millenea before He was cut off, and that everything prophesied was fulfilled in Him.

The lighting…

The lighting of the candles... Only the woman of the…  ( Click for more )