When Christmas Break comes up in three weeks (O Happy Day!), it will officially mark the mid-way point of my 9th year involved in public education. However, though I'm only 29!, I've actually been involved in teaching on some level for 25 years. I remember my first position instructing middle and high school students in a parochial school. The first few days (or was that hours, or maybe minutes, okay seconds!) of class came off without a hitch. This was the honeymoon period. Everything went so well I wondered, "what's so hard about this?" But by the time the third day (or was that third hour?!) came about, I discovered that Little Johnny (not the real name so as to protect the not-so-innocent) was constantly trying to shoot a spitball at Little Susie every time my back was turned. I assumed that Little Johnny wasn't acting better because he didn't know better. That assumption led me to believe that my job was to inform him of the inappropriateness of his behavior. As soon as he was educated to this truth, then no doubt his actions would change accordingly. I called Little Johnny to the side, had a private conversation telling him in no uncertain terms that shooting spitballs at Little Susie was wrong, rude, and displeasing to God. He nodded at all the right times, said "yes sir" in all the right intonations, and when asked if he understood assured me he fully did and promised to never misbehave in such a manner again. I sent Little Johnny back to his seat and was thankful to have attended to that problem so efficiently. I know you're probably surprised beyond belief to learn that Little Johnny's reformation was short-lived. If memory serves, the spitball brigade under Johnny's command took a leave until lunch, but after being refueled then resumed a steady stream leaving me disillusioned, wondering what went wrong and what to do next. My assumption that Little Johnny only needed more information for his reformation was indeed a terrible miscalculation. Indeed, false assumptions lead to false beliefs, bad plans, and undesirable results. In this month's newsletter, we will look at four false assumptions from the second half of Matthew 19 that Jesus corrected with the truth of the Word of God.
Matthew 19:13-15 tells of children (the Greek word here implies infants and toddlers) being brought to Jesus. The disciples, well-meaning no doubt, at least in their own minds, rebuked the parents and children and would have sent them away. Surely Jesus, the mighty miracle worker, the promising preacher, the powerful prophet, had more important tasks to attend to and more important people to see. They falsely assumed that Jesus can't be bothered with children. Jesus corrects the false assumption of His disciples with the rebuke to "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." The Lord then laid His hands on the precious little ones and blessed them. Truly, as the old song says, "Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world!" Children ARE NOT a burden!
Matthew 19:16-22 tells us of the encounter between Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler. This young man was someone you would love to have as a neighbor. No loud parties and a well-manicured lawn. In fact, he'd be willing to mow your grass, empty your trash, and check your mail when you were on vacation. And you could trust him! He'd always have that cup of milk or sugar you needed to borrow to finish that recipe with. He'd probably even be there with an interest free loan if you found yourself in a bind. Looking for someone to court your daughter? You'd be more than happy to see him come knocking on the door. He's got good morals and he's got good money. The Rich Young Ruler comes to Jesus and asks, "what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?" Depending upon which commentator you read, some think he sensed something lacking in his spiritual life and was genuinely questioning the Lord to instruct him. Others believe that the Rich Young Ruler came to Jesus more for validation than for information. That is, he knew he was good enough and simply wanted to hear it from the lips of the One many thought was the Messiah. I am more persuaded by the latter view than the former. Still, whatever motivation brought the young man to Jesus, it becomes clear through their conversation that the religious leader was quite self-righteous. Christ responds to his query by telling him that he must keep the commandments such as not committing murder or adultery, honoring father and mother, and loving your neighbor as yourself. The Rich Young Ruler confidently asserts in reply that he has kept these since his youth up. Truth is, that man, like every man, in and of himself, had not kept any of those commandments in word, thought, heart, and deed since sun up on any given day! However, rather than point that out, Jesus tells the man the one thing he lacks is that he must sell all he has, give that sum to the poor, and then come follow Him. This the Rich Young Ruler was unwilling to do, for he owned much property. He turned from Jesus instead of towards Him, showing that he was guilty of breaking the first and foremost commandment, that of idolatry! The man had "good" works (by man's standards), he was in the upper percentile of human morality and money, and yet all of this could not get him into Heaven. Only by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone can that portal be opened. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father EXCEPT through Him (John 14:6). "Good" works DON'T get us into Heaven!
FALSE ASSUMPTION 3—God Likes The Rich More Than The Poor (Matt. 19:23-26)…Many years ago I heard a "sermon" (if you could call it that) from a minister (or mercenary) that nearly "drove" me crazy. The traveling revivalist found it important to take time in his message to declare that ministers should have the best and newest and shiniest (etc.) vehicles in the parking lot of the church. Why? Because that would show "the people" (yes, those lowly people in the pews from his perspective) what the favor of God looks like and cause them to want to be like the minister. What verse did he pull that from? Oh, who needs one of those! It's kind of a long story, but Pastor Shon and I ended up having lunch with this "minister." During the course of our meal next to nothing scriptural or spiritual came up, but financial things, such as his enjoyment of flying on private planes and his next planned vehicle purchase sure did. You see, he liked to talk about money. Why? I think because people generally like to talk about their god! Nowhere in Scripture does it say that God likes the rich more than the poor and that whoever has much of this world's goods is automatically walking in Divine favor. Nowhere does it say that a person driving a Cadillac is to be listened to about spiritual things more than a person driving a Pinto (to those under 30, a Pinto used to be more than a bean!, at least a little more!).
Matthew 19:22 records that the Rich Young Ruler walked away from Christ, unwilling to follow His commands. In response the Lord declared that "it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." The disciples were astonished and asked Jesus, "then who can be saved?" The assumption of the people back then, as it is often proclaimed today in the sanctuaries of many churches and especially across much of the airwaves of "Christian" television and radio was that God likes the rich more than the poor. They thought that a person's possessions in this natural world was a sure sign of their position in the spiritual realm. They drew a direct connection between the balance in one's bank account with their reserve levels of righteousness. Jesus was teaching them something quite to the contrary. Scripture is plain that God is no respecter of persons. That doesn't mean that the Lord will give you a Mercedes just because He's given (or at least allowed) someone else to own one. What it does mean is that ALL (whether rich or poor, Jew or Greek, male or female, slave or free) who genuinely repent of sin and put trust in Christ as Savior will be forgiven, set free, redeemed, restored, and granted eternal life! God DOES NOT like the rich more than the poor!
Matthew 19:27 finds Peter questioning what all of us, if we're honest, have pondered at some point, "is living for God worth it?" The Rich Young Ruler had decided not to sell all that he had and follow Christ, but the 12 disciples sure seemed to. Peter was the only one to verbalize what the others were doubtless thinking, "what's in it for me?" While we don't necessarily focus on rewards in the Christian life (and certainly we don't focus on rewards for rewards' sake), Hebrews 11:6 does teach us that, "he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." Jesus doesn't rebuke Peter for asking about rewards but responds by telling the fisherman that, "everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name's sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life." Truly, anything given up here in this life for Christ will be given back infinite fold and to infinite quality. Rest assured, God will be debtor to no man. The rewards may not be what this world values, but they will be what Heaven values; they may not be seen in this temporal realm, but they will be those lasting through eternity! Indeed, living for God IS worth it!
This entry was posted on December 10, 2018 at 4:52 pm and is filed under The Gracelet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.