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UPON THIS ROCK

Matthew 16: The Sadducees and Pharisees asked Jesus to perform a miraculous sign from Heaven and He explained to them that it was peculiar that they knew about weather patterns but could not perceive the signs of the times. He told them that the only sign they would get was ‘the sign of Jonah.’

 

The disciples were in the midst of a discussion about not taking any bread with them, and when Jesus heard it He told them they should be concerned about the yeast of the religious people, referring to their false teachings, and not bread; “Be careful, be on your guard against of the Pharisees and Saducees.” He reminded them how He fed the many thousands of people with just a few loaves of bread.

 

When Jesus entered the district of Caesarea Philippi He asked the disciples what people were saying about Him. They gave Him various answers and then Jesus asked Peter directly as to whom he thought He was. Peter answered, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” (Verse 16). Jesus told Peter that his revelation came from the Father, otherwise he would never know that,  Jesus  then told Peter that He would build His church upon “this rock” and said He would give the disciples the authority they would need to build the church.

 

Jesus then told the disciples about His coming death and how He must suffer at the hands of men; and how He would be raised on the third day. Peter became dismayed at what He said, but Jesus rebuked Peter even though he was not aware of the fact that these events were necessary. Jesus then explained how a man must ‘lose’ his life in order to be saved, through Jesus. He also foretold of His return for the church. He then foretold of His transfiguration that was, in miniature form, a preview of the Kingdom.

 

When Jesus told Peter he would build His church upon ‘this rock,’ He was in fact using the female form of the Greek word Petra that is a feminine form for “rock” and not a name. He does not say “upon you Peter or “upon your successors, ” but “upon this rock,” upon this divine revelation and the profession of faith in Christ. The authority given to them, Jesus said, would be backed up in Heaven and was used on the day of Pentecost for the Jews, and for the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius. There are those who believe that Peter was the first Pope, however this is not supported in the Bible or in the teachings of Jesus. Be as it may the only thing that really matters, is each one’s relationship with Jesus. He is our salvation and it is our choice to accept or reject Him. If you have not accepted Jesus as your personal Savior I pray that you will. If so please pray directly to Him and tell Him that you are a sinner, lost, and need Him as Savior; invite Him into your heart and He will come and you will spend eternity with Him.

 

 

 

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WORSHIP IN VAIN

 

 

Matthew 15: Some Pharisees and teachers of the law approached Jesus and questioned why His disciples were not washing their hands before eating which was a practice at the time. He answered them with a question as to why they don’t honor their father or mother in a proper manner, because when they do they say it is a gift devoted to God. He tells them that they nullify the word of God because of their tradition. Jesus says in verse 9: “They worship me in vain, their teachings are but rules taught by men.”

 

Jesus then exhorts the crowd in verse 11: “What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of the mouth, that is what makes him unclean.” People generally speak from the heart; therefore what they say should be considered before they say it. When people speak evil thoughts it is these words that make a person unclean, not eating with unwashed hands.

 

A woman from Canaan approached Jesus because she had a daughter who was sick and she knew, because of her faith, that He could heal her. Jesus used a parable to explain to her that the time of the Gentiles was not at hand yet and He was concerned only with the Jewish nation; verse 24, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” But she insisted and begged for His healing and He did heal the girl because of the mother’s faith.

 

Jesus continued to preach and teach the crowds and then He realized they had been following Him for three days and needed to eat. The disciples told Him they only had seven baskets of bread and a few fish. Jesus told them to bring them to Him and He gave thanks for the bread and then had the disciples pass the food around. When they finished eating they still had seven basketfuls of leftover bread. The number that was fed was 4,000 plus the women and children.

 

A very interesting lesson in this chapter deals with religions and the religious people creating rules and regulations which place a heavy burden on people taking their attention away from the things pertaining to what God wants. It is obvious throughout the New Testament that God does not want sacrifices nor does He want people to sacrifice. Yet we find the religious world teaching this very thing. I believe that if we were to reduce the entire New Testament to what God desires, it could be achieved with two commandments that Jesus gave us which super cede everything: ‘Worship the Lord your God and love your neighbor as you would yourself,’ notwithstanding the fact that one must believe in and accept what Jesus did on the cross. My friends if you are among those who have yet to accept Jesus as Savior I pray that you will make that decision soon. Pray, if you will, that Jesus does come into your hearts because you believe in Him. Just a simple request is all that Jesus desires from you and He will do the rest.

 

 

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JESUS WALKS ON WATER

 

 

Matthew 14: Herod had John the Baptist imprisoned because John told him that it was unlawful for him to have his brother’s wife. He really wanted to kill him but feared the people because they considered John to be a prophet. At Herod’s birthday party the daughter of Herodias danced for Herod and because she impressed him so much he made a vow to her that she could have anything she wanted. She chose to have John beheaded and his head delivered to her mother. Herod reluctantly fulfilled her request, but only because he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of his guests. John’s disciples took his body away and buried it.

 

When Jesus heard of the event He withdrew to a solitary place and the crowds followed Him. He began to preach to them and as it was getting late in the day His disciples told Him to send the crowd home so they could eat. Jesus’ reply: “They do not need to o away. You give them something to eat.” But they explained they had only five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus took the bread and fish, asked His Father to bless the food and supernaturally fed five thousand men plus their families. When they were fully satisfied the disciples gathered up twelve baskets of food.

 

Jesus told them to get into the boat and go to the other side and when they did He went up on a mountain side and began to pray. When the boat was a considerable distance from land a storm came upon them. All of a sudden Peter noticed Jesus walking on the water towards them. Peter said to Him that he would like to join Him on the water and Jesus told him to come to Him. Peter stepped out of the boat and was walking to Jesus until his faith began to weaken and he began to sink. He cried out for the Lord to save him, which He did, but not before admonishing him for his lack of faith: “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When Jesus climbed into the boat the disciples were truly amazed and exclaimed, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’ When the boat landed many people came and Jesus continued to preach and heal them.

 

Again we witness so many supernatural powers of God at work. The one thing that impresses me the most is what faith can accomplish. When Peter obeyed Jesus without question he was able to walk on water because of his faith at that moment, but when he realized what was happening he began to waiver in his faith and it began to fail him at that point. I’m not saying it’s easy to accomplish but we need to have unquestioning faith, Jesus says, ‘believe’ and when we do we are saved, Jesus says to ‘ask and it shall be given to you.’ Have you asked Jesus to be your Savior? Do you want to be saved? Believe it or not there are a multitude of people who could care less about their spiritual state. Mt heart cries for them, but not nearly as much for those who live in spiritual ignorance; people who are so strong in their unshakeable belief that the religious order to which they belong is the answer. But, alas, my dear friends it isn’t that simple. Or is it? It really is simple if you read the Word that God  provided for us and as an example I will quote John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Friends, there is nothing more that I or any one else could add to that verse. Simply believe and you are saved. As Bugs Bunny used to say, “that’s all there is folks.”

 

 

 

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AMONG THE WEEDS

 

 

Matthew 13: We find Jesus sitting in a boat teaching and preaching to the crowd of people assembled on the beach. As was His custom He was using many parables to make His point. The first parable is the story of the farmer sowing seeds telling us that while many seeds are sown only a few will produce good results; this is representative of the Word of God being presented to many and only a few accept it. At this point they asked Jesus why He taught in parables and He explained that the secrets of Heaven will be shown to them but not to the world because the world, by and large, has closed its eyes and ears to the ways of God. Isaiah 6:9 prophesized: “He said, ‘Go and tell this people: “Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving; Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” Jesus said he would have healed them (the Jews) if they would listen but they chose not to. Jesus told them how blessed they were because they listened and accepted the things He said.

 

The parable of the weeds is indicative of the world then and now. We believers have to live among the non believers, but at the end of the world as we know it all believers will be separated from them; believers going to Heaven and the non-believers going to hell. He used a mustard seed as an example of how many people will eventually find rest in Heaven; though Christianity began in a small way it would eventually reach world proportions. The parable of the treasure and the pearl demonstrate that one should be willing to give all they have for the Kingdom of Heaven. In summation He compares the likeness of a net full of fish and Heaven, when the fisherman, at the end of the day, separates the good fish from the bad.

 

When Jesus finished, He went to His home town and began to preach to the crowds who were astonished at His authoritative teaching and yet they refused to believe and accept His words, resulting in Jesus stating in verse 57: “…Only in his hometown and his own house is a prophet without honor.”  Therefore, He cut short His visit.

 

There are so many valuable lessons to be learned in this chapter, yet the one that I would like to highlight is the parable of the weeds. Perhaps it is because I, too, need to be reminded on a daily, or moment by moment basis that we are lights for the world to see.

We desperately need to watch our behavior and be forever in an example mode. If we are what we say we are, do we live it? We must pray in earnest for the Holy Spirit to help us in our daily living, we need to demonstrate that we are the new creature in Christ that Paul tells us we are in 2^nd Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”

 

Do you know Jesus as your Savior? If not perhaps now would be a good time to ask Him to come into your heart. Remember, He is coming back for His church (us), but we don’t know when. I pray you will be ready as I am.

 

 

 

                                                                                       

 

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WHO IS MY MOTHER?

 

 

Sometimes I get caught up in the message and forget to say hello, so I say hello to you all and pray that all is well both physically and spiritually.

 

Matthew 12: Jesus and His disciples were walking through the grain fields one day and the disciples were hungry so they picked and ate the heads of grain. The Jews were quick to criticize Jesus because they were picking (working) on the Sabbath which was unlawful. Jesus was also quick to point out what David and his men did when they entered the Temple and ate the Temple bread. And He explained how the Priests broke the same rule every Sabbath by doing the work associated with the daily sacrifices. Jesus told them in verse 7, “…I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” He demonstrated this when He went into the Temple on the Sabbath and healed a man of his ailments, and of course they criticized that miracle also. He asked them if they would pull their sheep from a pit if it had fallen in on the Sabbath, and isn’t a man more valuable than a sheep?

 

The Pharisees went out to devise a plan to kill Jesus. Jesus knew their thoughts so He left and continued to heal people to fulfill prophecy. Then they brought Him a demon possessed man and He commanded the demons to leave him and they did. No sooner had He performed that miracle they accused Him of having demonic powers. Jesus tried to reason with them by explaining that a house divided cannot stand. Of course they wouldn’t listen because they had hardened hearts as was foretold by the Prophets of old. Jesus told them that if they were not with Him they were against Him (Here we see Jesus telling us that there is no neutral ground as so many try to claim). He explains to them that a man can be forgiven if he curses Him but no one will be forgiven if they curse the Holy Spirit, as this is an unforgivable sin. As Jesus so aptly put it in verse 37: “For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”   

 

Some of the Pharisees asked Him to show them a sign, (can you believe these people?) and he told them about Jonah which was a sign and He was also going to be in the heart of the earth for three days and nights. The men of Nineveh repented when they heard Jonah and now they had the same opportunity with One greater than he and they still refused to believe. Jesus proclaimed them to be a wicked generation. While Jesus was still talking they came to Him to say His mother and brothers were outside and wanted to talk to Him and His reply was that everyone who believes is His mother and brother. His words in verse 50, “…whoever does the will of my Father in Heaven is my mother and sister and brother.”

 

Two interesting thoughts occur to me in this chapter, the first being Jesus’ request of His requiring mercy and not sacrifice, as religious people are prone to proclaim and practice. The second is ‘doing the will of the Father’ which is two fold; to worship Him and to love your neighbor. These commands of Jesus replace the Law. Friends, to do this one must first know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. Seek Him and He will find you.