110th Post Jesus on Marriage & Divorce Con't- Comment on previous post.

The Bible passages we will discuss are printed in the previous post their addresses are as follows: Matthew 5: 31 - 32; Luke 16:18; Deuteronomy 24: 1 -4.
The Matthew and Luke passages state the Law as God had intended it. Deuteronomy 24, was given only after the people cried out to God for relief. During Jesus' time divorce was so easy to get that a man could divorce his wife for burning his food. All a man had to say was "I divorce you", three times in the presence of witnesses and it would be legal. They had come a long way from the actual meaning of the Law. Notice it is the man that is mentioned, that has the power to divorce. At this time in the ancient world the man was in control. This started to change with Jesus and His teaching and really got started under Paul. I will not go into this here. At this time the man could decide if his wife was unfit for any reason and could send her out of his house. This is a whole lot different from what Jesus said, sexual immorality was the only reason for divorce. If you remember Joseph, Jesus' earthly dad, he was studying the different aspects of divorce, to put Mary away quietly. Joseph thought Mary had been unfaithful, so he had the right to have her stoned publicly if he wanted to. God intervened by sending the Angel Gabriel to him to explain Mary's situation. Joseph, accepted what the angel told him, that Jesus was born before Joseph had relations with Mary his wife. That says something about Joseph's character.

109th Post Jesus Said on Marriage & Divorce Con't - Matthew 5: 31 - 32

Matthew 5: 31 - 32; Luke 16: 18
Furthermore it has been said, "Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce." But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.
Certificate of divorce was not something God intended when He created sex and marriage. This certificate was given to the people through Moses. While Moses was leading the people in the wilderness they asked Moses to ask God for relief from marriage. Deut. 24: 1 - 4. "When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and if she departs his house, and if she goes and becomes another man;s wife, and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, then her former husband who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the Lord. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. These verses from Scripture are long and took up most of the space for this post, so the comment on them will be on the next post.

108th Post Jesus Said on Marriage and Divorce - Comment

This is a difficult subject for us to look at, Jesus talks about this subject from God's perspective. Since God invented sex and marriage, Jesus will talk on this subject from God's point of view. Remember Jesus came into the world to save us from our sins. We don't know that we have sinned, until the Holy Spirit makes us aware of the sin. The Bible is the usual way that the Spirit uses. You could have been married and divorced before your relationship with Jesus made you aware that you have sinned. If you ask for forgiveness, your sin will be forgiven. If God has forgiven you, you should have no more guilt. If you still feel guilty, it is not God that is using this to make you feel guilty. It is Satan. Satan wants to drive a wedge between you and God, he does this by telling you, you are not worthy to go to Church. A strong relationship with God is what you need. Christian fellowship is also a way to stay accountable to God.

You have to be made aware that you are sick, before you will seek the services of a doctor. Jesus is your Spiritual Doctor. He has to diagnose the problem before He can fix it. Jesus wants to make you the best you can be. This is accomplished through relieving your pain and suffering.

107th Post Jesus Said on Children Con't. - Luke 17:1 - 2

Luke 17: 1 -2; Matthew 18: 6 - 7; Mark 9: 42 It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! It would be better if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
These are pretty strong words from Jesus. We have to remember that Jesus is God and man, and He is speaking as God when He uttered these words. We tend to forget that God has commanded that we do not cause offense to any of these little ones. In the ancient world children held a position in society lower than women. Jesus was telling people that they could not take advantage of weaker or less experienced just because they could. This teaching is completely different from what the world teaches. Even the Rabbi's and Priests were silent on this issue. We tend to give St. Paul credit for this teaching this because he taught more on stumbling blocks; but Jesus went to the heart of the subject by protecting the weakest in society. Look how Jesus phrases His wording, "it is impossible that no offenses come, but woe to him through whom they do come!" That means everyone who causes an innocent to stumble will be held accountable for their actions. Jesus is holding us to a higher standard than was being used in that day. We very seldom ask if what we are doing, could be causing a weaker to stumble. We need to pay more attention to this in the future.

106th Post Jesus On Children Con't - Matthew 21: 16

Matthew 21: 16 Yes. Have you never read, "Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise"?
This passage is toward the end of Jesus earthly ministry, when Jesus says "Have you never read",
Jesus is talking about the Old Testament, and in this case Psalm 8:2 Out of the mouth of babes and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.
Jesus spoke these words in the Temple in Jerusalem. I am sure He would attract the priests along with regular people who happened to be there. I would think the priests would marvel at His knowledge of the Old Testament, as in this passage Jesus quoted scripture easily, probably making the priests to go to the library to check to make sure He quoted correctly. In quoting Psalm 8: 2, Jesus was saying that the babes and infants are protected by God because their praise is not corrupted. Jesus wants us to be "child-like" in our faith, because it is honest and true. You learn to lie and cheat by living in this sinful world. Babes and infants have not been taught how to lie and cheat. When children start to talk themselves, this is when they discover that words have power. It is at this time that they learn all these bad things. Since we have a sinful nature, we will turn to sin without being taught. It is our knowledge of the world that makes it difficult for adults to believe the truths of God. This is what makes us continue to look for hidden meanings or secret teachings. The Praise and faith of babes and infants is simple and true.

105th Post Jesus Said on Children Con't - Matthew 19:14

Matthew 19: 14; Mark 10: 14; Luke 18:16 Let the children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.
This is the passage we are the most familiar with; you would think this came before Jesus used children to teach the disciples that they (the children) were more important to God than the disciples. From the location of this text in Matthew we know this comes late in Jesus' ministry. The background for this passage is as follows. Jesus is starting to teach, and a large crowd is gathering, and the children are coming to the front for a better view of what is happening. From what we said so far, this could happen today, adults and children still act the same way. The disciples are acting as crowd control much like ushers do at our meetings today. They notice the large group of children gathering close to Jesus and start to try to move them to the back so that they won't interrupt Jesus during his talk. Jesus sees what the disciples are doing and tells them to stop and let the children come up to Him. When the children are allowed to come to Him, He takes them into His arms and blesses them. How different, does Jesus treat the children then we would today. Today we say children should be seen and not heard. Reaching the adults is more important than reaching the children. Children have a whole life to live for Christ, adults may come and listen but seldom do they change the way they live, they are stuck in their ways by adulthood. If you reach the children, you will reach their parents.

104th Post Jesus On Children Con't.- Matthew 18:14

Matthew 18:14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
Jesus is very clear on this point, that we are to teach children correctly concerning the things of God. And not cause them to stumble. Further into this chapter Jesus talks about disagreements with each other. Jesus opens the door for closing them outside the fellowship. Everything else in this chapter deals with nurturing and encouraging their walk with God. As this verse points out. If you decide to throw someone out of the fellowship. you will also be judged by God, that you acted correctly in what you did. We need to remember that when we are contemplating sending people out of the fellowship, we are in fact telling Satan he can have them. God the Father and Jesus caution us on this point. Be very sure you are right. If the offense does not equal the possible outcome, then it should never be brought to this point.
We as adults have trouble dealing with children, I believe this is why we tend to have children young, and grandchildren as we get older. The grandchildren help us remember to treat children with more understanding. Unfortunately we can guess the physical maturity of people by looking at them. We have no idea about spiritual maturity, because we can not see their heart. Spiritual maturity comes from walking with God. Only He knows how mature we really are.