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!

STILL NOT CONVINCED?

Three disciples of Jesus have just heard heaven endorse their Master and seen Moses (~1450 years after his death) and Elijah who went to heaven in a whirlwind (~ 850 years ago).  WOW!                                                                                                                                                  
Guess who knew all about fire & water, prayer & fasting?   

Yup, Moses & Elijah. (Matthew 17)                                

So why can’t the disciples heal a lunatic who keeps falling into fire and water? 
Their lack of faith – in a word, unbelief.                                                   

So what connects us with divine power?  Prayer & fasting.                

Would you believe?...popular translations today leave this out! Skipping meals is not welcome, thank you very much.                                                  

Now look who has the faith here – a man is on his knees begging: “Lord have mercy...”

In case we still need convincing who Jesus is...

• He has omnipresence, overhearing the temple-tax collectors: “Does your teacher not pay the didrachmas?”                           
• He has omniscience, knowing which fish has the coin in its mouth!
• He has omnipotence, making that fish take Peter’s hook!

"What the....!?"

Can you imagine a commercial fisherman finding money in the first fish he catches?  You can still hear Peter laughing!

This King has power over demons, power over death, power over Creation, all-seeing, all-knowing, all powerful... Jesus Christ is awesome!                                                                                                                    

He is the real temple of God and... He’s now on a mission...

“The Son of Man...they shall kill Him 

and the third day He shall be raised up”

HEAVEN'S SOUND & LIGHT SHOW

 WHOAH!...Jesus sure didn’t like Peter disagreeing over heading to Jerusalem to be killed then rise from the dead...“Get behind me Satan!”                                                                                             

The disciples must be wondering:  ‘If He really is ‘the Christ, the Son of the living God’ why aren’t we allowed to tell anybody?  Whatever’s next?’  

Maybe it’s time for heaven to endorse Jesus Christ with a spectacular sound and light show...                                                                             

To show He means business Jesus heads up a mountain with 3 witnesses in tow! (Matt 17) 

‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”

Wow! Grown men cowering in fear??                                                 

Hang about to feel the power - regardless of death!...   Who did you say is present?

• Moses (representing Law)...  died and was buried by God!
• Elijah (representing Prophets)...  ‘went up by a whirlwind into heaven’!
• Who will they now leave behind?  The One who came to fulfil the Law & the Prophets – Jesus alone...now heading to Jerusalem... ‘to be killed and raised again the third day’!   

How will Simon Peter remember this?                                          
‘His majesty... with honour and glory’... as Jesus was transfigured. (Gk: metamorphoo)

So what about you?                                                                                              
Are you listening to the Son of God?

CRUCIFIXION BEFORE GLORY??

Jesus has led His disciples all the way to Caesarea Philippi and told them:                    

“...upon this Rock I will build my ‘ekklesia’ [church] and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.”

Are the disciple impressed? Or were they thinking...               

‘Big deal! At least He’s finally admitted to being the Messiah.           

Where to from here?                                                     

Jerusalem?? To suffer and be killed?...then rise on the third day??        

You’ve got to be kidding!’ (Matt 16:21-28)

Peter is not impressed – at all!  It looks like he now grabs ‘the Christ, the Son of the living God’  - maybe by the arm (from Gk: proslambano: take aside) and gives him a piece of his mind!! (from Gk: epitimao: censure/rebuke).

How did Jesus answer?...

“Get thee behind me Satan: thou art an offence to me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”

Whamo! – take that!

Is this what Jesus meant?

So what does the Catholic Church now say?                                    

“Peter will remain the unshakeable Rock of the Church...the bishop of the Church of Rome, successor to Peter, is head of the college of bishops, the Vicar of Christ and Pastor of the universal Church on earth.”

Does that sound to you like taking up your cross to follow Jesus Christ the Rock?

Yes guys, you heard right. Crucifixion lies ahead! 

AT THE GATES OF HELL!

Jesus takes His disciples all the way north to Caesarea Philippi.   
(Matt 16:13-20)                                            

Whatever for??                                                                         
No self-respecting Jew would dare come near this place... obscene fertility orgies would be held here at the ‘Gates of Hell’ where water once gushed out of this rocky cave!                                                                        
Perhaps there’s an important announcement coming, but first up...          

“Who do men say that I the Son of Man am?”                              

(Wow, that’s a bold claim: the right to universal dominion!)                                  Matthew has already told us Jesus is the Christ (Messiah) but now Simon is sure –                                                                                

“Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God”

To mark the moment Simon is named Peter, meaning ‘a stone’ (petros), then...  

“...upon this Rock (petra) I will build my ‘ekklesia’ and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

This probably seems no big deal for these disciples...                     

‘You’ve brought us all the way here, just to tell us this?’                                      

We know this is the first reference to the Church (ekklesia) but already they are ‘an assembly of men called out’... and why should they feel threatened by the gates of hell?  
So far the only surprise for them is Peter being given authority with ‘the keys of the kingdom of heaven’.

Before we move on... Who or what is the Rock?                                  

Is it really Peter, like the Catholics so boldly claim?                                

Apostle Paul spells it out for us... “that Rock was Christ”               

...and later, Simon Peter agrees... “Ye also, as lively stones...” while Jesus Christ is “a rock of offence”

Where to from here?                                                                                            
Could Jesus possibly build His church - any church - on Peter?...NEXT! 

IS THERE ANY HOPE FOR GENTILES?

What a contrast!...                                                           

A Canaanitish woman has just shown her great faith in the Lord as Son of David, then some 10,000 people have climbed a mountain for Jesus to heal and feed them with just 7 loaves and a few small fish.                                                  

Now we have antagonists – Pharisees and Sadducees - joining forces to trip up Jesus by demanding a sign from heaven. (Matt 16:1-12)

Hello??  We all know...

    Red sky at night – sailors delight.                       

Red sky in the morning – shepherds warning! 

What does Jesus give them? A sign from the depths of the ocean instead – the prophet Jonas - vomited out to go preach to Gentiles!...after 3 days and nights in the whale’s belly.

How that must have stung! Religious Pharisees are too ‘special’ to welcome Gentiles, while rationalist Sadducees would ridicule God’s ability to bring Jonah back alive.  It’s time to abandon (kataleipo) them.

Even the Jewish disciples are rebuked as ‘ye of little faith’, forgetting that Jesus could easily feed more people with less bread and fish and still produce left-overs. 

As the hymn says: ‘O God, thy grace no limit knows’

What was that sign from heaven?  
Grace!...yup, undeserved favour.                

Perhaps there’s hope for Gentiles yet?