Read: Luke 18:9-30; Mark 10:1-31; Matthew 19:1-30
Jesus gave them a parable about being humble and not thinking themselves better than another, then he showed them what it looked like. He took the time to lay his hands and bless the children. He used them as an example of how we get into the kingdom of heaven. From the parable he had given about the publican and the Pharisee we can understand that he was saying that it is not our knowledge or our righteousness that is going to get us to the kingdom… it is our total reliance on God. A child is totally reliant on their parents and they have no cares about all the hard things in life. We have to know that our Father in heaven is totally taking care of us.
The Pharisees asked Jesus if it was lawful to divorce your wife if she had done something of fault. Jesus explained that God’s plan was for God to unite a man and woman in marriage and they become one. This fulfills the picture of the Bride and Jesus. But because man’s hearts were hard and unforgiving, God wrote them a law of divorcement. It was not God’ original plan. The condition was adultery or fornication and it had to be accompanied with a written contract. During this time, they were just divorcing their wives and not giving them a letter of divorcement which did not break the contract. So, if one of them remarried they would be committing adultery because they were not legally divorced under God’s eyes.
A righteous man came to Jesus and asked how he could have eternal life. He obeyed all the commandments so his actions were righteous. But, when Jesus dealt with the mote in his heart, he was not so righteous. He was not willing to sell out for the Lord. Jesus stated that it was not easy for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. He did not say it was impossible and there are many very wealthy people who are Christians and use their wealth for the kingdom. He was dealing with the hold money had on the heart. Those who do give up their wealth for the sake of the kingdom will receive an hundredfold and everlasting life. This life is so temporal but eternal life is forever!
Lord, help us to live our lives with eternity in mind.
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