GOT ENOUGH STUFF?

What a contrast!...one young man who loves stuff more than his fellow-man meets another young man who loves His fellow-man more than stuff – yes, Jesus!... on His way to losing even His own clothes, then crucifixion, before receiving the ‘throne of glory’. (Matt 19:16- ) 
He replies...

“Why callest thou me good? There is none good but One, that is, God”

Is this good Man called Jesus really the good God?  

He first tests this guy with the Commandments, especially 5 that are about interaction with others....                                                                      

Okay, that ticked all the boxes but what about Commandment #10?                                              

‘Thou shalt not covet’                                              

Sorry pal, you don’t win eternal life thru your own efforts – you have to accept being a loser first!  

“It’s easier for a camel to go thru the eye of a needle... “

What would YOU give up for Jesus, for His Name’s sake?  
After all...                                              

He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to earn what he cannot lose. 

Me fit thru a needle?? Raspberries to that!

                                                

THOSE PESKY KIDS!

Huge crowds are following Jesus as He heals their sick.  An unmarried 33 year old – ‘a eunuch for the kingdom of heaven’s sake’ – is on His way from Galilee to Jerusalem...... to be CRUCIFIED!

The prophet Malachi has warned:                          

“For the Lord God of Israel saith that He hateth putting away...”   but that doesn’t stop these Pharisees from confronting Jesus over ‘easy divorce’ and adultery. (Matt 19)                                                           

Who hasn’t committed adultery with their eyes?

(Did you notice Jesus said:                                             

“He which made them at the beginning made them male and female”                                                      

Today’s ‘theistic evolutionists’ say: “Jesus was ignorant of modern science”!)                                                                            

So - divorce... guess who gets hurt by divorce?                  

It’s those little children again – just like these children the disciples are trying to stop from coming to Jesus for blessing!

Could you possibly find a more stark contrast?...    

Pharisees trying to trap their Messiah with Mosaic Law....  and a young Man on His way to being crucified, with time to bless those pesky kids!

Let’s see what it takes to follow Him!...NEXT

"WHO'S THE GREATEST IN THE KINGDOM?"

Let’s see how Jesus answers this one in Matthew 18... 
‘Jesus called a little child unto Him and set him in the midst of them’

What did He then say?...“Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven”

Notice how Jesus goes on to teach that...

• All children are precious
• Our souls are precious
• My brother is precious
• Our gathering in His Name is precious

In other words, be careful pursuing your brother over some trespass!  After all - how much have you been forgiven? 
Only 490 times?

(Does He really mean for this to be a pattern on how to dis-fellowship people from the Church?                       

The Church did not even exist when He said: “...tell it unto the ekklesia”)

By the way, did you notice what Jesus thinks of people who entrap, trip up, entice (Gk: skandalizo) little children?   

Better that they had a concrete neck-lace then thrown in the drink!

So after all that....                                                     

Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?                        
The King of kings, of course!