The red letters

[B-A-C]

Matt 7:12; "In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Matt 7:13; "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.
Matt 7:14; "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Verse 12 here, is what many call "The Golden Rule" Treat people the way you want them to treat you.

Verses 13 and 14 have been brought up frequently here on TalkJesus, but Jesus seems to be saying the majority of people won't be saved.
A lot of "Christians" say becoming a Christian is easy, you kind of just "fall into it" (almost by accident). But Jesus the gate is narrow and "few" will find it.

Matt 7:15; "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
Matt 7:16; "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
Matt 7:17; "So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
Matt 7:18; "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
Matt 7:19; "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Matt 7:20; "So then, you will know them by their fruits.

So much could be said about this passage. But basically Jesus is warning about false teachers here. They look like sheep, maybe even sound a little like a sheep...
but inwardly they are wolves. The Bible says we will know them by their fruits. They are easy to spot if you know what to look for.
Often we have people here on TalkJesus who's main message is that God is OK with sin. They post threads over and over again about it doesn't matter how
you live, God loves you, and it seems the only thing they want to proclaim is that sin doesn't matter to God. Apparently it's tree a bad tree cannot produce
good fruit. You will know them by their fruits... if they are proclaiming sin doesn't matter... you should be able to discern what kind of tree they are (whether they are a sheep or a wolf).

 

[B-A-C]

We finally get to the end of the Sermon on the mount and Jesus ends it with...

Matt 7:21; "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
Matt 7:22; "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
Matt 7:23; "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'

This has to be more of the more frightening and sobering passages in the Bible. Not everyone who thinks they are saved will be.
Not everyone who calls Jesus Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. Even if they did miracles by the Holy Spirit.
Now some people twist this and say they did miracles by the power of Satan. But the Bible says No one can call Jesus Lord except by the Holy Spirit. ( 1Cor 12:3; )
It also says Satan doesn't cast out his own demons. ( Matt 12:26; ) So then why is Jesus rejecting them? The reason is in verse 23.
You who "practice" lawlessness, some Bibles say you who practice sin or iniquity.

Matt 7:24; "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
Matt 7:25; "And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.
Matt 7:26; "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
Matt 7:27; "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall."

Jesus closes the sermon with.. EVERYONE (thats everyone, you and me included) that listens to Him and "acts" on what He said, will be on the rock.
EVERYONE (you and me included) that hears Him and doesn't "act" on the words He said, will be on the sand.

.. to be continued .

 

[B-A-C]

Matt 8:1; When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him.
Matt 8:2; And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."
Matt 8:3; Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Matt 8:4; And Jesus *said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

The thing that strikes me about this passage is... "I am willing". I can't think of any place in the Bible where Jesus said "No, I don't want to heal you".

Matt 8:5; And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him,
Matt 8:6; and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented."
Matt 8:7; Jesus *said to him, "I will come and heal him."
Matt 8:8; But the centurion said, "Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
Matt 8:9; "For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it."
Matt 8:10; Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.
Matt 8:11; "I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven;
Matt 8:12; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Matt 8:13; And Jesus said to the centurion, "Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed that very moment.

This passage is about faith. Again Jesus heals, but He doesn't have to be local to where the person being healed was. There may be more to this healing than we first realize.
"paralyzed at home".. "fearfully tormented". Was this person physically paralyzed, or was were they paralyzed in fear of something? Tormented by a demon or something?
In any case Jesus Jesus offers to come heal Him. Now I believe Jesus knew that He could heal anyone in the world, from any distance. But He often does, only what we believe He
can do. So Jesus offers to "come" and heal them. Of course the centurion says he believes Jesus can heal from a distance. He still can today. He can heal people while He is in heaven.
Another interesting thing here is.. He "marveled". Jesus was actually surprised by this man's faith. Can we surprise God with our faith sometimes?
Almost all scholars believe this centurion was likely a Gentile, usually Roman soldiers weren't Jews. But also Jesus says "I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel".
Which seems to infer this man was not from Israel. Likely not a Jew.

Christians often quote (and sometimes mis-quote) that we are saved by faith. As if believing there was someone named Jesus is all that God is looking for.
But Jesus says here, that many will come from the east and the west.. seemingly Gentiles, people who aren't Jews. Jesus says these people will dine with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The patriarchs of the Jewish race. It seems we Gentiles will dine with these patriarchs. But the sons of the kingdom... now wait a minute, Jesus is shifting gears slightly.
He is talking about two different kingdoms. "the kingdom of heaven".. and then just "the kingdom". So who are the sons of the kingdom who will be cast out?
This is the kingdom of David and Solomon, the kingdom of the Jews. Now obviously thousands of people saw Jesus, they believe He existed. Even the Pharisees saw and talked
to Jesus, they believed He existed as well. But did they believe who Jesus actually was? Did they believe what Jesus could do? It is this kind of faith that surprises Jesus.
It is this kind of faith that qualifies us to dine with Abraham and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

 

[B-A-C]

Matt 8:18; Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea.
Matt 8:19; Then a scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."
Matt 8:20; Jesus *said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
Matt 8:21; Another of the disciples said to Him, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father."
Matt 8:22; But Jesus *said to him, "Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead."

When Jesus was traveling around doing ministry, He didn't concern Himself with material things. He could have charged people to heal them, but He didn't. He didn't live in a
million dollar mansion, and have a fancy 4 horse chariot with power windows and air-conditioning. He didn't even really have a home. Sometimes He slept out under the stars.
Sometimes He stayed at people's houses (Zachias for example) but truly following Jesus means giving up some things.

A lot of people want to "stay home" and take care of things at home. They want to keep on trying to save people who don't want to be saved.
But Jesus says "Follow Me". Quit following and worrying about your family. Love them yes, pray for them yes. But like Jesus in the previous post, you don't have to with them
for miracles to happen. Perhaps some of your family will never be saved. Jesus says "let the dead bury their own dead". Stop getting in God's way. You can't change them, only God can.
But even He doesn't force anyone to change who doesn't want to. We should do as Jesus asks and "Follow Me (Jesus)".

 

[Hekuran]

Matt 8:18; Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea.
Matt 8:19; Then a scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."
Matt 8:20; Jesus *said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
Matt 8:21; Another of the disciples said to Him, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father."
Matt 8:22; But Jesus *said to him, "Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead."

When Jesus was traveling around doing ministry, He didn't concern Himself with material things. He could have charged people to heal them, but He didn't. He didn't live in a
million dollar mansion, and have a fancy 4 horse chariot with power windows and air-conditioning. He didn't even really have a home. Sometimes He slept out under the stars.
Sometimes He stayed at people's houses (Zachias for example) but truly following Jesus means giving up some things.

A lot of people want to "stay home" and take care of things at home. They want to keep on trying to save people who don't want to be saved.
But Jesus says "Follow Me". Quit following and worrying about your family. Love them yes, pray for them yes. But like Jesus in the previous post, you don't have to with them
for miracles to happen. Perhaps some of your family will never be saved. Jesus says "let the dead bury their own dead". Stop getting in God's way. You can't change them, only God can.
But even He doesn't force anyone to change who doesn't want to. We should do as Jesus asks and "Follow Me (Jesus)".

A puzzling passage.

Jesus is pretty brutal in his responses to people who wanted to follow him. The scribe promised to follow Jesus wherever ... and Jesus pretty much turns him down. And you'd say that asking for a little bit of time to sort out a funeral was a reasonable request? Surely, he could have held back for a few weeks and joined Jesus' band of followers at a later date?

I think I could be content being a homeless traveller and not knowing where I was to sleep each night. But I'd baulk at the demand to go absent from my own father's funeral.

Why do you think Jesus was so demanding of these people? What was he trying to convey?

 

[B-A-C]

Why do you think Jesus was so demanding of these people? What was he trying to convey?

Luke 14:26; "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

I don't think Jesus really means hate your family here. But rather, you need to love Me even more than you love your family.
I think if Jesus asked us to do something that caused us to miss an important family event, a wedding, a birthday, perhaps a funeral, and you went and did what Jesus wanted,
people would say things like "Man, you must hate your family". When in reality you don't hate them, you just love Jesus more.

I think this is the message He is saying... count the cost. If you're going to follow Me, then Follow Me. Don't let all the diversions of the world distract you from doing that. Even family.

Luke 9:62; But Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."