Matt 20:17-34

One "Mind Blowing" passage.
Now the last reading was basically teaching that God pays a 'fair' wage. Not so much that we are worthy of any compensation (but HF) but rather He's nice and so people get far better than they other wise would. Its on the heels of this that Jesus starts to talk about the atonement and the prophetic nature of the violent death that is coming.

So in this context these guys do exactly what I would do. They get their Mom to ask for something on their behalf. (doubtful if such a thing would work today) never the less... Mom Zebedee come to Jesus, "can my boys sit on your right and left?" The human logic (If they even bothered to think of it) is "it can't hurt to ask." Well, who knows!? But what they say after that, is a good indication of why its important to "dereference variables." (Decode symbols) 'Oh sure we can do your cup and baptism', they say. er, oops... Now don't say, Isn't it great about Peter's big mouth!! Look at these two guys!!

Naturally it causes an upset. The other ten guys think things like, 'are you pulling rank on us?' So Jesus goes right back to what He's been saying. God determines peoples wage and rank. You should concentrate on service. And consider my example.

In closing the men are head up and out to Jerusalem. These blind guys want their sight, and they are even schooled enough to know the recent OT exposition. (The Christ is the son of David) The crowd wants them to shutup. The crowd is not to be obeyed, and there is a blessing for making racket. The language of Jesus initial response to them is very plain. And when they got what they asked for they followed Him.

Matt 20:1-16

This entire reading is a single parable. A possible name would be 'the laborers and the landowner.'
At an unspecified time 'early in the morning' this man hires men to work in his vineyard. I would think it was harvest...
The man keeps an eye on the marketplace, and at the third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh hours he finds more people to work, so he sends them in.
Now the agreement he makes with the first party differs with the others who come in later on. He says to the late comers "whatever is right" I will pay you. In vs 8 the setup is done and the outcome begins. This guy does something obvious, he just pays everybody the days wage. But that's not what the first outfit wanted to see. They protest in vs 12 'you have made them equal to us.' In short 'we worked harder.' And that isn't untrue.
Why is this ok? Well because the its really a sinners working for God scenario. We the sinners start out so far in the hole that just breaking even is impossible. The MDB remarks "everyone finishes in a dead heat." So verses 15 and 16 are really about God, who can do what He wants with what is His. I assume 16 is about God's judgment, being perfect there's no real telling who comes out on top when everybody's in such a state to begin with.

Matt 19:1-30

There's a lot here... I'll just make some points...
1) The question about divorce
The MDB makes a great point here. These guys say Moses gave a command regarding divorce. Its really a distortion of Deut 24, which was a restriction on remarriage after divorce. The men are shocked by the reality about marriage being temporally permanent. Then the Lord makes some remarks about going without which I am again more literal than most about.

2) Suffer the little children to come to me
It seems like lately people are not living up to Jesus standards, which is not a surprise. The note about childlikeness I take as one about contrission.

3) The rich young ruler
Again the MDB remarks here are good. And the basic gist of the stuff Jesus is saying just shatters the ideas the disciples have. It takes reassurance from the Lord see vs 26 and note the discussion vs 27 to 30.

I was listening to Ravi Zacharias today and just to illustrate the power in Verse 26 let me point out a man Zecharias noted. Adolf Eichmann was executed for Nazi War Crimes on June 1st '62. At his execution he gave all the clear indications of being headed for hell. I don't make the decisions, but I'm pretty sure that's what happened to him. Never the less, lets make the real point Jesus made. "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matt 19:26 Jesus was talking about riches and rich men in the context, but the meaning is applicable. God can save and there is no stopping Him. If God wants to save Adolf Eichmann who will be able to object? Or, I should make a distinction, who will be able to interfere? Talk amongst yourselves, or return to your work, but don't think about this like you did before. It is sovereignty that makes our God trustworthy. Well actually that and his unchangeable goodness, and his incorruptible nature, and ...

Matt 18:21-35

This part of the passage is something I find myself articulating to people all the time... I always like to make light of Peter's remark in vs 21 "up to seven times?" he asks... 'hint hint, nudge nudge' rabbi Peter laying the foundation for a whole new doctrinal idea... Jesus's answer well.... no.
The MDB remarks lend to a comparison... One guy owes ten thousand talents (the bad guy) and the other owes a hundred denarii. (the incidental debtor) Its only an estimate, and I can't even tell you the error figures, but let me put the debits in perspective... The first guy is really way in debit. Its the kind of outlay I would never (knowing what I do at my age) take on personally. This is the kind of debit that belongs to corporations, speculative investors, and governments. Its the same kind of debit that one (you and I) incur when we are created in the image of God... (if not that, then when we sin) Jesus doesn't leave us an option of rationalizing that our debit to God is a minor one. The second guy is in for 100 days wages, so more than 3 months of work, but less than 6.
Lets look at it in approximate dollars.. (again its only an estimate, based on forces like inflation and studies like world economics) Being conservative lets say the talent figure represents Silver (Gold being the more expensive) our man is in for about 3.8 Billion dollars in modern approximation. (Gold gives a number like 57 billion) Now when you go out and spend this kind of money, its assumed that there will be some kind of good fruit to show for it... But this guy's "air and space program" or his interstate highway system was a total loss, or he drank up the profits...
The other guy owes a few days wages... If its $32 a day then this guy owes $3200... Like a used car or a hot-tub or something...
I'm supposed to be a math person, so lets make a ratio.. ³²⁰⁰/_{3,840,000,000}
that's reducible to say ¹/_1,200,000.
In scientific notation 8.33 x10^-7
as a decimal 0.00000083333
Now the bad news. The debit any sinner owes to God individually is the big figure (probably the 57 billion) not the 3200. The small number is the stuff we get upset at each other about. Man kind has seen wars and holocaust over the 3200 bucks. But God hasn't even sent an collection agent. The superlatives stack up and up from here, firefly - search light... ALL THIS TEXT AND I'VE SAID NEXT TO NOTHING ABOUT THE TEXT.
Couple things... Notice how the Master decides to relieve the debit based on a "FEELING" ok well that's nice of him. Look however at the alternative... He could have been sold, oh and his wife and kids too... I guess the other possibility is debtors prison... Which BTW is where he sends the guy who owes the small amount. (how does this work? Surely not well) Well the onlookers aren't just nobodies, they are peers, and they object. Nothing is said about those who saw the incident, and nothing need be. These folks just did what was right, they cried for JUSTICE. And the master who was all about feelings before turns out to have a rather more objective side to him. Our "bad guy" had two choices, being sold or debtors prison i.e. the torturers. He thought up an alternate action, beg. But could he live with the mercy? Well sure its easy to ignore mercy. er that's not living with it at all really. Well I go on and on, go read it yourself. You'll surely get more out of it.

Matt 18:1-20

The little children remarks might be easily overlooked... but for the atomic bomb warning message in vs 6. "ummm millstone?...er sea?" The brutal reality is just this that God is Holy, not flexible. The World vs 7 is worthy of its coming destruction.
I won't be protracted about Vs 8 and 9... Sin will be dealt with severely by believers, because they don't really deal with it at all. God just won't tolerate it, so the true believers are the ones who DO deal with sin, because they are just obeying their master. I'm more literal with these two verses than many.
The vs 6 warning comes up again, in 10 this time with information about angels. Its hard to know exactly what the statement means. Context clues lend to concepts like 'guardian angels' but reading on, verses 12-14 seem to indicate God takes care of 'business' personally.
The remainder of the reading (to vs 20) is on confrontation and discipline. Its hard to practice right, and harder to take to heart as personal responsibility. But the standards for truth are no-negotiable, witnesses are required, and there is no death penalty, [understand the context] only (and this is severe, just differently severe) the shunning of the unrepentant.
The MDB gives good remarks on vs 20 which intern help with vs 18 & 19... These two are similar to what Jesus just said 'apparently' to Peter (really to the whole) in chapter 16 vs 19...

Matt 17:1-27

This is the transfiguration passage.
In vs 5 the text describes a 'bright cloud' that enveloped the men. I wonder what it was, and what it was like. I can imagine a bright fog, light striking a mist is something I have experienced, obviously this is different. Some remarkable things happen, and then something so ordinary. As they are going down the mountain, one of the men asks "Why .. do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" Where so many other occurrences even in this passage are objects of discussion because the men are 'such fools' or so blind, or they 'just don't get it.' Here 'the guys' do what must be done in order to make the progress of learning, they ask a question. As I was reading Jesus familiar answer I thought of a time when I did something utterly foolish. In Jr. High or High School I made friends with a young man named Joe. Joe's last name is a familiar one, Edwards. As it turns out He's Joe Edwards the 8th. Joe is a descendent of a certain puritan preacher. Well the circumstances don't bare much that I care to repeat, but we were riding our bicycles to my house one day. As we rode down a hill, familiar to me, in front of a certain School building I choose a standard course, one that I had used a hundred times. I broke to the left. Well our speeds were high, and I was not looking for Joe's position on the hill. So my back tire clipped (struck) Joe's front tire, dumping his bicycle. I remember hearing the catastrophe behind me as I began to brake and control my speed. Yes Joe lived. But He was badly injured, and terribly unhappy. There is nothing (or very little) direct about the analogy but I treated him not unlike Jesus anticipated being treated, badly. Knowing what I do now, a previously overlooked choice becomes clear.
In the remainder of the reading two similarly overlooked choices become apparent. In vs 20 & 21 Jesus answers the disciples as to why they are unable to remedy such and such a problem. For them to understand the failure will require an enormous change in perspective. There is an unseen thing that causes great results. As it turns out the thing that keeps husbands and wives returning to each other, and causes parents to continue to care for ungrateful children, is the thing that keeps atoms and planets in their configuration, and keeps Desiel locomotives on the rails. Its not the "law" as stated. Statement of things is not execution, nor explanation. So first Jesus says "because of your unbelief." A nearly incomprehensible answer unless you have the tools to understand it. He goes on to explain the consequences of belief/faith. But the Lord doesn't just flop down some theory and walk off. No, our friend from heaven gives a second remark, and a comforting one a that. He says 'btw this kind requires prayer etc...' What I'm saying here won't necessarily encourage somebody new to the account, but be encouraged, Jesus was gentle, helpful, profound, everything one could want, in the context.
Secondly, after this, somebody ask's Peter, doesn't your teacher pay thus and such tax? My hero Peter!! Does exactly what I do, he assumes... Not the thing to do, consequently I'm not alone when I screw up. So now Jesus explains to Peter how things really work vs 25,26. And the answer is one my friend Joe's Dad Jay could tell us something about... Jay Edwards builds fishing rods and ties flies. Now if we could rely on the fish to eat more coins... ;-)

Matt 16:1-28

1) Give us a sign
Maybe this passage proves that there are no meteorologist christians. What it really says is, you can't watch a guy heal the lame, blind, deaf/mute, and many other sick people, and then say 'we haven't seen any proof of your ability.' Did these guys realize that? Well all I can say is its a sure sign of man's nature.

2) Not bread! Doctrine.
This selection is vs 7 - 12. And it proves to me that there really is only one grownup in the universe, and He's not from the universe, He made it. Poor guys, 'is he talking about the bread?' I'd have been asking the same thing. Now if bread were as easy to come by I'd have a different life entirely.

3) Who do men say I am?
The discussion here vs 13 - 28 is pivotal and covered in great detail by actual commentators, I drew an arrow in my MDB from vs 18 "rock" over to vs 16 "God." There are two other highlights in this passage, Peter's right answer contrasts with the rebuke in vs 23. Second vs 28 is apparently a reference to events six days later (the transfiguration.)

Matthew 15:1-20

This chapter is an expression of the conflict between human tradition and the perfect Law. Jesus is direct and forceful with the Pharisees, but then he quotes Isaiah who is no kiss on the cheek either. By the end even the disciples have to be instructed. What you eat, and your hands (clean or dirty) do not defile you. (It is the heart that makes the real difference) It is what comes out of your mouth that shows if your Heart/Mind/Soul is defiled. In saying this Jesus does not contradict the necessity of cooking food or being clean in its preparation. So cooking shows on television can still be works of righteousness... ('course that depends on the spiritual condition of those folks)

Matt 9:18-38

The account in vs 20-22 is of particular importance to me, I'll talk about it another time.

Vs 28 makes sense IN CONTEXT

Vs 34 seems easily/clearly to me to be an example of Jealousy...

Matt 9:1-17

Now Jesus turns up in Capernaum (his base/home) and they bring him a paralyzed man.
Vs 1-8 It is to their credit (compared to today's TV watching audiences) that these scribes were listening. The remarks in the MDB are honest about this, they would have been right if they were talking about any other man. But more to the point both parties understood each other, its not some 'misunderstanding.'

Vs 9 Is there a lack of detail here? "Wow"

Vs 10-13 Its time for a meal, and if your popular you draw a crowd... The on lookers however have a problem with things. Knowing what we do now their error is obvious but in all seriousness this was not the ordinary thing for a rabbi to do. There were itinerant people in Israel, and its not like they would just show up and stay wherever. (though the law did allow this) it would reflect on the teacher if he choose a place poorly. And probably like our culture, there were people in town who were eager to curry favor, who would then be disappointed if you went to the slummy side of town.

At any rate the real problem is a blurry understanding of priorities in the Law. On the left is "image is important" ceremony and on the right is God's (apparent)character is at stake, moral law. (the MDB points this out wrt vs 13) I guess I would caution that teaching has very real pitfalls in this respect.

A similar question comes from John's disciples in vs 14 and a more gentle answer is given. By vs 16 the terrain is steep (hard to understand) but its apparent Jesus is talking about transition and decisiveness.

Matt 8:18-34

Vs 18 - 22 In modern terms what these two people were doing was looking for work. Jesus wasn't God to them, and they weren't offering a binding life time (in fact eternal) commitment to Him. They both knew the deal. 'If you want to be part of the Rabbi's outfit you have to go with him.' Jesus looks "right through" them. They only want apparent benefits, but the high price isn't even on their radar screen. The MDB remarks about vs 21 are good.

Vs 23-27 God controls the weather. Jesus is God.

Vs 28-34 The other gospel accounts only focus on one of the men, but Matthew notes that there were in fact two messed up individuals by the tombs. The Gentiles don't know what to make of it, so they exercise their pagan determinism, "voice of fate" mentality and tell Jesus to leave. For now this is reasonable, seeing as the Jews aren't 'mad as hornets' yet so there's no reason to rush that along.

Matt 8:1-17

Vs 1-4 I bet the priest had to go look up what to do with this guy... It just seems unlikely that people were being healed of leprosy two and three days a week until Jesus turned up.

Vs 5-13 PTL this is a positive little event. I'm confident it has subtle meanings I'm presently overlooking...

The last verse for today vs 17 may quote Isaiah 53:4 though my NASB doesn't show the similitude that clearly.

Matt 7:1-29

The MDB remark on this passage is encouraging to me.
It seems I have family and friends who are so ready to take verse one alone. But the text does not leave us room to say Jesus says: Don't criticize. My adversaries would win the day at the outset if it wasn't for verse two and beyond... When the Lord says "For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and your standard of measure, it will be measured to you." Here lies the power of the teaching. It is the child or the rebel in us that we want outside judgment to be impossible, meaningless, or uncalled for. Rather discernment is key to progress in the world and judgment proper is our only hope of dealing with unchecked evil. No, when Jesus says what He does he is condemning the pitiful condition that modern parents get into. aka 'I love you so much I will not correct/punish you.' Its worth mentioning that where people are quick to anounce "your judging me." This remark comes as readily in responce to warnings as it does to prejudice. But that is exactly the problem, If I don't warn you I'm the bad guy.

Further in the reading the Lord gives good reason to trust God and to mistrust human understanding/interpretation/authority... These chapters are so profound it grieves me not to be doing more development, for now this is what I have.

Matt 6:19-34

Thinking about today's remark in MDB
Its really true that human religion can't even mend the emotional maladies of the youngest child. Its my conclusion that if religion can't be a teaching vehicle for the purest truth (or truth at all) its not of much value.

The passage has tons of great stuff.

First what you value shapes your (heart) identity.
Next eyes are for light which is truth, and truth is the good of your soul, which lives in your body.
Next You must choose a master, because worldly value is no less a master than God is.

About worry He makes two points.
Don't worry about what you will eat.
Don't worry about what you will wear.
You can rely on God look how He takes care of ... everything.
and the punch line: Matt 6:33 - there is a reward, but Don't get distracted

Matt 6:1-18

1) secrecy and faith
If God's real... He sees all that stuff nobody else notices, and all that stuff going on in your mind & heart, the drizzle and the meaningful stuff, He sees that too. That's a thought experiment that you can do with pretty much anybody you have a language in common with. To say god can't do that, is really to say there isn't one. Past that you'll need the scriptures. But Jesus' punch line here is no loss (or should be no loss) on me. What if there's no rewards from this cosmic eves dropper? Well in fact there are rewards to be had, twice in the greater passage translated "openly." NKJV (Don't ask me about the original language)

2) the DISCIPLE's prayer
The opening of the prayer is more meaningful if an old testament understanding of names and 'nomenclature' is used. Back up to vs 7 for a vital/critical warning/caveat, repetition may be soothing to you, but it's not meaningful to God.

3) if then statement
The power here is in the value of the reward. The relationship looks like this forgive [men] --> [receive God's] forgiveness. The text states the inverse/corollary principle also. Failure to forgive is more costly than the one broken relationship, because God sees.

Matt 5:27-48

The MDB's remarks on vs 31 are both good and clear. A correct interpretation of Deuteronomy 24:1-4 does not expand into broad permissions for divorce at all. Rather Moses protects the woman in the ancient world setting.

About abuse Vs 45: If you think you've been abused and taken advantage of, do you ever hear God object to what people do with what He gives them? (Rest assured He will, but how hard it is for us to wait.)

Matt 5:1-26

Vs 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them shall be called great...

By itself this verse teaches works, in context it identifies bad religion and unreliable leadership. Reading on to the next verse Jesus says 'unless your righteousness exceeds [that of] the scribes and Pharisees you will by no means enter the kingdom...' Obviously this sort of, punch line here does not address why works don't save. Its my presupposition that the people listening got a clear view of the unreliable nature of the leadership, not a prompt to try and 'do better.' The preceding words of the Lord establish that the Law of God will prevail utterly.

Matt 3:1-17

Vs 11 John the Baptist: I indeed [immerse] you with water unto repentance

This is the first marking I made in the NT readings of my MDB (The MacArthur Daily Bible). What's most noteworthy to me is just this, the business of repentance is as common as the green grass. (now before you say 'How so?' let me go on...) Here's the fore-runner to the Lord, and he's out in the sticks, but people are coming to him. Why? Oh I wasn't there, so how would I know? (I wasn't there at the time, I did go to the land though) Well my point is one based on some presuppositions about religion. I'll not build the case here, but I talk about it all the time, and its worthy of discussion.

It's not all that likely the Scribes and Pharisees, and the temple Priests in the city where dealing with lots of this. Not because it wasn't their job, and not necessarily because they weren't willing to handle it. (the reality is that Jesus rebukes the Lawyers for overdoing things elsewhere.) MY POINT: the nobodies and commoners were not uncomfortable coming to John out at the river. So my APPLICATION: if you think yourself a spiritual leader, don't think you can get around the child rearing part of the work. If your not approachable in the way John was, that may be a problem, but if your not willing to give aid to any and everybody wrt (with respect to) reconciliation (there are many forms, one important form) you are the bad guy.