Matthew 15

Notes for BSF

OUR HEART DETERMINES OUR CLEANLINESS (Matthew 15:1-20)

The Scribes and the Pharisees cared more about fulfilling the traditions of man than the commandments of God
The religious leaders wanted Jesus to admonish His disciples for not following the traditions of the elders, specifically in regards to the hand-washing ceremony before partaking in a meal. And how did Jesus respond?

Matthew 15:3
Why do you transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?

What did Jesus mean by that? There are at least two levels of understanding here.

1. Specifically, hand-washing ceremony was a tradition of man, NOT God

2. Generally, the religious leaders cared more about fulfilling traditions of man than the commandments of God

The book of Leviticus (and some passages in Exodus and Deuteronomy) is a collection of laws that God gave to the Israelites. Comb through it (and even through the entire Bible), and we will find that while God taught the Jews to distinguish between clean and unclean things and how to cleanse something that had been defiled, the painstaking details of hand-washing, for example, were not part of God's commandments.

Historical documentation shows that the religious leaders took the commandments of God and developed hundreds of laws to further define what God "really meant." For example, God gave the commandment to rest on the 7th day (the Sabbath), to do no work. The idea of this rest is to remember that God created the world in 6th days and rested on the 7th, to bathe in God's provision, and to return our heart to the Lord (Exodus 31:16-17).

As always with God, it's always about our heart condition. However, not grasping this concept, the religious leaders created hundreds of laws that define "work," and to this day, when we visit Jerusalem, we will find these laws at work. For example, there are Sabbath elevators that automatically stop on every floor, because pushing a button on Sabbath is considered work, and the Sabbath elevator circumvents breaking this law. But whose law is this? God's or man's?

Similarly, the hand-washing ceremonies the religious leaders held so close to their heart weren't commanded by God but developed and defined by man. Worse, the heart condition of those who were so intent on obeying these man-made traditions has lost sight on the point of it all: To return our heart to God. The religious leaders held themselves above the rest because of their ability to carry out these man-made traditions to perfection. They used it to prove how they were better than the rest, how they were so much more holy than the rest. They certainly weren't keeping these traditions to get closer to God, to return their heart to God! This isn't just my opinion, as Jesus immediately rebuked the religious leaders for holding the traditions of man more dearly than the commandments of God (Matthew 15:3-9).

Mark 7:8-9
For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the traditions of men -- the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do. ... All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.

Jesus points out the hypocritical heart condition of the religious leaders
Jesus gave examples of how the religious leaders took the Law of Moses out of context and manipulate it so that the Law would benefit their own personal gain.

Matthew 15:4-6 (cf. Mark 7:10-13)
For God commanded, saying, "Honor your father and your mother"; and, "He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death. But you say, "whoever says to his father or mother, 'Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift/Corban to God' -- then he need not honor his father or mother."

Here, Jesus uses the Law, "Honor your father and your mother," as an example. Clearly, the Law tells us to treat our parents with respect and to take care of them. However, the Pharisees created their own law that states, any money they make is a gift to God – and so, they can’t give any it to their parents, because, gosh darn, that money belongs to God. (They had no qualms with using it to purchase beautiful priestly robes and silverware, etc., all in God's name, of course.)

"Corban" was a man-made practice set up by the religious leaders. The original intent was good (just like the original intent of hand-washing ceremonies), for it encouraged people to set aside money dedicated to God as a gift that could be given until a later date. However, here, Jesus rebuked the religious leaders for taking advantage of this tradition for their own personal gain.

The religious leaders used the law of Corban to avoid giving any financial support to their parents. They used methods such as these to siphon off money that was meant to go toward God to their own pockets instead. One of the most basic commandments of God is for us to honor our parents (Exodus 20:12). Yet, what did the religious leaders do? They manipulated the good intentions of the law of Corban to claim that since all that they have belonged to God, they had nothing left go give to their own parents.

Matthew 15:6
Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.

In sum, the religious leaders believed all the laws that they have created make them holy, but in reality, Jesus condemned them for caring more about the traditions of man than following the true commandment of the Lord. Jesus openly rebuked the religious leaders for their dishonest, hypocrite behavior. They claim to be the most holy representatives of their people, and yet, time after time, they chose to disobey God's commandment for selfish gains.

As a side note, it is good to tithe, to give back to the Lord, but not at the risk of missing the fundamentals of God's love -- and taking care of our parents is one of those fundamentals. God is not poor. God does not need our money. When we tithe, we give to help the church to continue to spread the Gospel, to do God’s work -- which includes taking care of our parents, the poor, the needy!

Jesus clarifies the true definition of cleanliness
Quoting Isaiah 29:13, Jesus said of the religious leaders, "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:8-9).

While the religious leaders evaluated holiness based on outward actions, Jesus turned our attention back onto our inner heart condition.

Matthew 15:10-11
Hear and understand: Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.

Matthew 15:19
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. 

Bringing it back full circle, Jesus concludes:

Matthew 15:20
These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.

Be clean from the inside
While it is easy to point out the follies of the religious leaders, it is more important that we avoid making the same mistakes. The key lesson here is that we can get caught up with rituals and traditions and forget the essential element of worship: returning our heart to God.

We can say things and do things that do not reflect the true conditions of our heart. We might even be tempted to pretend we are doing a good thing and ignore the admonishment of the Holy Spirit. We can pat ourselves on the back thinking we're "good with God" because we regularly attend church or give tithe. However, if we are just doing it to look holy, to put on an act of holiness so that we can feel better about ourselves, if we are just doing it so that we can feel better about our continual indulgences in sin, what is that saying about our heart condition? Without humility, without truly bowing down our heart before God, there is no true worship.

Always check our heart condition. We know ourselves the best. We know the reasons we do certain things the best. There is no hiding our true thoughts from God. If we do something that looks holy but inside our heart, we’re only doing it for our own selfish benefit, we need to repent. God knows our heart. There is no point in hiding it. We may be able to hide it from our fellow human beings, but God always sees through it. Anything we do in the name of God, we have to do it with our heart.

Follow the path of righteousness and live
The power held by the religious leaders back then was to be feared. If a Jew wished to remain in the community, they thought twice and hard about crossing the religious leaders. Hence, upon hearing Jesus rebuking the religious leaders, the disciples timidly reported that the religious leaders were offended by Jesus' comments.

Matthew 15:12
Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?

Being human, we tend to fear the things we can experience. The disciples feared the Pharisees because they have witnessed and experienced the pain and humiliation inflicted by the power of the religious leaders.

The disciples forgot -- No, even we forget today! -- that if we fear men because of the power they hold over our heads, how could we not fear God? He is the Creator of everything that we know. He breathed our world into existence. No matter how powerful, what is man in the eyes of God?

Hence, Jesus comforted the disciples:

Matthew 15:13-14
Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.

If it was not of God, God will not allow it to remain. For a time, man may be able to get away with sinful deeds. People who take delight in this, who take advantage of this are extremely narrow sighted. They fail to understand that this is only possible because of God's Grace. He is withholding judgment so that as many as possible can choose to return to His side.

Who are we to be? We get to decide. Are we blinded, or do we see? We get to decide. Seek to delight man or God? We get to decide.


JESUS HEALS A GENTILE WOMAN (Matthew 15:21-28)

We learn a few tidbits from this story.

1. Even Gentiles recognized Jesus as the Messiah
The Canaanite woman claimed Jesus as her Lord, Son of David. To the people of the time, especially the Israelites, the title, "Son of David," was (and still is today) reserved for the Messiah the Jews had (and still are today) waiting for. Despite that as a nation, the Israelites continuously strayed away from God and thus failed to pass the knowledge of God to the rest of the world, the Gentiles had witnessed enough of God's deliverance of the Israelites to come to learn of God and His prophecies. Ironically, the faith in God shown by this Gentile woman was greater than God's chosen people -- She didn't need to be the apple of God's eye (Zechariah 2:8) to understand and embrace the love of God.

2. Jesus came first for the Jews
In His first coming, Jesus did not come as the Messiah for the Gentiles (Matthew 15:24). He came to be the Messiah for the Jews, as prophesied by many prophets.

3. Great faith heals
Of the multitudes that follow Jesus, many were there for the miracles and the hype -- Much like our society today: Be it at a traffic accident or a great revival, large groups of people gather, but those who are there to provide any kind of help or true devotion are few in numbers. Jesus did not come just to perform miracles; He came to fulfill His role as the Messiah, as illustrated by His initial response to this Gentile woman's request (Matthew 15:26). However, the Gentile woman's response revealed her deep understanding of Jesus as God, revealed her deep faith in God. She understood that Jesus came first to fulfill His role as the Messiah. At the same time, she also understood that Jesus is God and can heal her daughter. Her deep faith thus saved her and her daughter (Matthew 15:28).

We need to realize that God is concerned with our salvation. He is not a magical genie we summon when we need a miracle to save our butts from some catastrophe, natural or man-made. When we pray, what is our attitude toward God? How is our relationship with God? Do we have an understanding of God as mature as the one illustrated by this Gentile woman? When we pray with Faith, God answers. When we pray without faith, when we treat God as our magical genie, why are we surprised that God does not hear us?


JESUS HEALS AND FEEDS MULTITUDES (Matthew 15:29-39)

As mentioned above, of the multitudes that followed Jesus, few followed because they were serious about devoting their lives to Jesus. Instead, the majority followed because they needed something from Jesus. Despite this, Jesus still had compassion for the people.

Matthew 15:32
I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.

The feeding of the multitude was another miracle in itself. With a few loaves of bread and fish, Jesus fed thousands of people -- and still had leftovers (Matthew 15:34-39; cf. Matthew 14:13-21).

Just as Jesus satisfied their physical hunger, Jesus satisfies our spiritual hunger today. He is our Bread of Life, our Manna.

Matthew 14

Notes for BSF 

HEROD BEHEADS JOHN THE BAPTIST (Matthew 14:1-12; Mark 6:14-29)

Herodias used her daughter to manipulate Herod
Herodias had no interest in doing what is right in the eyes of God. John the Baptist rebuked her and Herod for committing the sin of adultery. Instead of repenting, Herodias schemed to be rid of John for good. She had her daughter dance seductively for Herod and his drunken guests just so Herod could be manipulated to give her what she wanted: John the Baptist beheaded.

Herod eagerly pleased men, despite knowing better
When Herod heard Herodias' daughter requesting the head of John the Baptist, he knew he had gotten himself in a hole.

Mark 6:26
And the king was exceedingly sorry; yet, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he did not want to refuse her.

Herod knew John was God’s prophet; he knew of God's word through John's preaching. Sadly, he never internalized this knowledge and live it out. Instead, he chose to remain in his sins, to pursue fame and wealth in the world rather than to follow God. When given the choice, he chose pleasing men over pleasing God every time.

Be cautious of the oaths we make
As God has warned, never make oaths, because that put our name on the line. Worse, it puts His name on the line. If we cannot fulfill the oaths we make, we not only make ourselves a liar but God as well.

Herod should not have made the oath in the first place. But because he made that oath, he put himself in a very difficult position. Herodias' daughter twisted his oath for evil, and now, he was damned if he fulfilled it and damned if he didn't If he didn't fulfill it, he would be known as a liar and lose respect among the influential men he often hosted. If he did fulfill it, he would commit a great sin against God, murdering the greatest prophet of the Old Testament.

Unfortunately, in a series of horrible decisions, we see Herod choose men over God, again and again.

Herod took an interest in Jesus
Herod knew he had beheaded John the Baptist (Luke 9:9). Hence, when people speculated that Jesus could be John who had risen from the dead (Luke 9:7), Herod took an interest in Jesus.

Jesus saw right through Herod
Calling him a fox (Luke 13:32), Jesus knew the heart of Herod (Luke 23:7-12). Jesus knew that Herod took an interest in Him only because Jesus was famous. Herod wanted to use Jesus’ popularity to his benefit, to help boost his own popularity. Jesus knew that and thus did not speak to him. If Herod was not interested in hearing the truth, then he will hear nothing -- for Jesus is nothing but Truth.


JESUS FEEDS A MULTITUDE (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-13)

As Jesus gained popularity, it became more and more difficult to find private time with His disciples. Everywhere He went, people followed. Some sought Him for the Truth, but most sought Him to witness His miracles.

Regardless of the heart condition of the people who pursued Him, Jesus showed compassion. Even after a long day of traveling, teaching, and healing, Jesus continued to give, always welcoming people with love.

Jesus taught His disciples compassion
After a long day, the disciples were tired and hungry. It was late, and it was time that they had rest. They had been traveling with Jesus, working right along side of Him. Hence, when they saw a multitude of people, they wanted to send them away so that they could at least rest. However, 

Matthew 14:16
But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat."

We reside in enemy territory (Ephesians 6:12), and so, the work is never done as long as we remain on this earth. We may grow tired, as soldiers of war grow weary of the fighting. However, if we stop fighting, then who will stand up for the weak and the needy? Here, Jesus taught us to show compassion even when we are exhausted. We are here to serve others, not ourselves. We are here to help others, just as Jesus has helped us -- physically AND spiritually. As Jesus' disciples, we are to continue to spread the love of God.

For a deeper discussion on the 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, see this previous post:
http://aletheia-seekers.blogspot.com/2011/04/5-loaves-and-2-fish.html


JESUS CALMS ALL WINDS (Matthew 14:22-36; Mark 6:45-56)

Jesus slips away to pray
With multitudes of people following Jesus, many Israelites want Jesus to be their king (John 6:14-15). However, in His first coming, Jesus did not come to be King. He came as the sacrificial Lamb of God. He came this first time to serve and to provide salvation. As the pressure to "make" Jesus their king surfaced, Jesus slips away to be with the Father (Matthew 14:23).

The disciples were defeated because they did not rely on God
When facing the storm, they were afraid but did not rely on God for strength. They were troubled and did not even recognize Jesus as Jesus approached them: And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were afraid, saying, “It is a ghost!” (Matthew 14:26)

Peter was the only disciple who had strong enough faith to reach out to Jesus. However, even he lost faith sometimes. When he saw that the wind was boisterous, he became afraid, lost his focus on Jesus, and started to sink (Matthew 14:30). To Peter’s benefit though, he did immediately reach back out to Jesus.

We should not lose sight of Jesus. Although our situation can be really bad, although the storm may be really scary, we ought to remember that God made the wind, He made the water – He therefore has command over them. So, when we are scared and think nothing can save us – remember God. God can always save us.

Blood Moons Rising

From the November 19, 2013 eNews issue
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There has been much talk lately of what is termed the coming “Blood Moons.” We have put off any public comment on this due to our stance of extreme caution on these sorts of issues. In order to have a foundation from which to evaluate what you are hearing, we thought it wise to give you a framework of information from which you can build a perspective. This is in no way designed to be exhaustive.
It seems almost every day we are confronted with yet another prediction that culminates in the “world” getting its just due. Honestly, the world has ended some 20–25 times in the last twenty years. We do realize that some day, possibly soon, it will.

A rational and skeptical approach to the End Times can be healthy and a worthy use of the days we have been gifted with. That being said, we must be careful to not become part of the problem. We are called to be Watchmen, but false alerts are a detriment to the cause of Christ.

Biblically, those that were in error were dealt with in the harshest of manners. what caught our attention about this issue is that although there are timing issues still unresolved, the statistical probabilities involved are impressive.

The Facts of the Matter Are…
The “Blood Moons” that are spoken of are actually four somewhat rare eclipses. Blood moons are not uncommon in and of themselves. They are an astronomical event much like an eclipse. They occur cyclically.

The “blood” effect is from the sun being at just the right angle to project through the atmosphere onto the moon. It is actually more pink than red (unless it is harvest season and there is particulate matter in the air).

There are rarer occurrences when several blood moons occur in proximity. The ones spoken of as “The Blood Moons” are rarer still and consist of two sets of two, a year apart, occurring on Passover (Spring) and Succoth (Fall) in each of the paired years. This has only occurred three times in the last 500 years.

The Dates
The dates are reported as 1492–93. 1948–49 and 1967–68. As you can see these are somewhat momentous occasions. Those that are finding greater meaning in this right now are drawing patterns from the Jews being persecuted to God rescuing them to them being provided a safe haven.

In 1492, of course, the Jews in Spain were just coming out of the Inquisition. God rescued them by their being cast out. They were provided a safe haven by Columbus’ discovery of the New World, which came to house the largest population of Jews by any country in the world.

In 1948 the Jews were just coming out of the Holocaust and God rescued them by having, for all intents and purposes, cast out of Europe. A rightly guilty world provided them refuge as a nation in an area cut out of the deserts of Jordan–Only coincidentally this location was the site of the historic Israel, but only a small portion of it.

In 1967, not only did they win an impossible war against impossible odds and recapture Jerusalem, but they recovered large areas of Judea and Samaria, increasing their borders.

The fourth time in the last 500 years is about to occur in 2014–15. This Spring, April 15th will be the first of the next set of four Blood Moons.

This type of event will not occur for another 100 years.
Coincidentally, President Obama has said there must be a two-state solution achieved by March 15th, 2014. This will include requiring Israel to give up land. In the Administration’s words “there will be” an agreement. Obviously Israel is yet again being persecuted by the world (we certainly, as a country, no longer support them).

There is land that was given to Abraham that Israel doesn’t control yet. Psalm 83 is a reasonable use to achieve that. And we are told that there will be peace (no walls) by the time that Ezekiel 38–39 comes. The approximately 18-month period that is marked by the Blood Moons is an opportunity for the next great leap of the end times scenario. Maybe not the Second Coming, but certainly the Rapture and God finally dealing with Israel.

Can We Be Sure?
We have a saying that has held true for at least twenty years. “If you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything.” In these situations, we have to be extremely precise. In fact this type of situation actually supports the idea of a literal fulfillment of prophecy, as opposed to something that has to be “translated” to fit. Anything less than precision opens issues of a prophetic nature to manipulation.

Predictively, when these never come to pass (in our day and time) no one is ever held accountable. Although Israel became a nation in 1948, the actual years of the set of blood moons were 1949–50. It wasn’t until 1949 that the UN recognized Israel as a nation. This is (depending on who you listen to) the same situation with 1492 (actually 1493–94). Both dates actually fall outside the 18-month period. The 1967 event is the only one that falls inside.

The majority of times we have made mistakes in this regard it was by not taking the Scripture precisely enough. Again, we can watch and see if the pattern repeats itself this next year and the following. World events are in place that could quickly lead to Psalm 83 and following. God is very specific in these issues. Small “leaps” to fit the paradigm are a concern and we urge extreme caution.


For Further Study
* Four ‘blood-red’ total lunar eclipses will fall on Passover and Sukkot in 2014 and 2015, the same back-to-back occurrences at the time of 1492, 1948 and 1967
* “The Four Blood Moons” by John Hagee
* BOOK REVIEW: Pastor John Hagee’s “Four Blood Moons”

Matthew 13:31-35, 44-58

Notes for BSF

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (Matthew 13:31-50)

Jesus did not interpret the following parables most likely because His disciples told Him that they had understood everything that Jesus had told them (Matthew 13:51).

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed
No matter how small or insignificant the seed of faith may seem, once planted, it will grow to become a magnificent tree. As long as we allow the seed of faith to grow in us, it will continue to grow to become the strongest foundation in our lives.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven
The preaching of the gospel works like leaven in the hearts of those who receive it. Leaven works from within, expanding from inside to out. Similarly, the kingdom of heaven comes from within. It works from within us and expresses outward.

This process describes the Church especially well.

In Genesis 18, Abraham was visited by 3 angels. To welcome them, he asked Sarah to make preparations: "Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal" (Genesis 18:6). This was made WITHOUT leaven, because to the Jews, leaven represents sin. And from then on, three measures of meal without leaven is used to represent fellowship offering for honored guests. Hence, this parable would shock the Jews, because how could a symbol of sin be compared to the Kingdom of Heaven?

Matthew 13:33
The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.

While the Jews keep leaven away from all things holy, leaven is used throughout the Gentile world during holy celebrations. For example, leaven is used in the Feast of Pentecost, a celebration that marks the birth of the Church, with the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit.

What could Jesus be saying here then?

In the three measures of meal, leaven was HIDDEN in it. The Israelites were God's chosen people -- chosen, not because they were the only people to be saved; chosen, because they were to teach the rest of the world about God and thereby bringing them to God. They were to live by God's Word (therefore, sinless -- or, without leaven), so that they can reveal the sins of the world and bring cleansing to the world (which is in sin -- hence, represented by leaven). That is, it has always been God's intention to save ALL (2 Peter 3:9) -- The Jews as the chosen ones; the Gentiles as those who would come to understand God through the Jews (hence, "hidden").

The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure
The Kingdom of God is the true treasure of the world -- a thing so treasured, we should give up everything else in the world to keep it. Nothing we have is worth losing this treasure. As long as we are in the Kingdom of God, we will be blessed and have the best treasure.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls
Like leaven, pearls are unclean to the Jews. Therefore, this passage, similar to the passage about the Kingdom of Heaven being likened to leaven, would be confusing to them. They see no value in pearls and may even be abhorred that the Kingdom of Heaven would be likened to these "unclean" objects! Hence, it is clear that the pearl is not a picture of the Jews. Instead, it is a picture of the church.

The pearl is the end product of agitation. As the clam is agitated, it produces a secretion that after a long period of time, a pearl is formed. Just like the pearl, the Church was formed under a great amount of pressure. It has gone through trials and tribulations, trials and tribulations. Yet, because it endures and survives through all difficulty, the end product shines beautifully with the light of God.

Matthew 13:46
When he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

God the Father loved us so much, He gave up everything -- including His only Son -- to redeem us from eternal sin.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Compared to God’s perfection and love, we are very worthless. We are full of sin -- we are selfish, we are greedy, and we take advantage of anything we can. Yet, to God, we are His children, and despite all of our faults, He still loves us. He loves us so much, He sacrificed Himself to redeem us. There is no greater love that that of God.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a dragnet
The kingdom of heaven is like a large net used to catch fish. It is here to save as many souls as possible, like the net that is used to catch as many fish as possible. When the net is full, the fishermen will distinguish between the good and the bad fish -- just as angels will distinguish between the good and the bad souls. The good, they will keep; the bad, they will throw into the furnace of fire (Cf. Matthew 13:39-43).

God's grace gives every one of us the chance to repent and return to Him, but His grace cannot last forever because He is just. And because He is just, God cannot allow sin to continue without judgment. It can be intimidating to envision God in His wrath, but always remember: God is love. God is not a God who enjoys judging evil and punishing evil. God did not make this world to have sin or death. Sin and death came into the world because of pride, through Satan. God will one day deal with Satan once and for all (Revelation), but until then, He is giving the rest of us a chance to be under his love. When we are under His love, we do not need to fear His coming judgment or death!


JESUS IS REJECTED BY HIS HOMETOWN (Matthew 13:53-58)

Jesus was rejected by the people of His hometown, Nazareth. These people either saw Jesus grow up from a baby or grew up with Him. To them, he was a bastard child, who grew up as a carpenter's son with no education and no fortune. How could this boy bring any kind of peace or hope?How could this boy possibly be the Messiah they had been looking for? How could this boy be their King of kings? And because of their unbelief, Jesus left the town having done few miracles.

We should be aware of our personal prejudices. They can blind us and lead us astray.



Note:
The Holy Spirit is consistent in His use of idioms. Birds throughout the Bible, when used in a parable, always represents Satan’s demons, who go and snatch up God’s Word away from people.

Matthew 13:1-30, 36-43

Notes for BSF

JESUS SPEAKS PUBLICLY IN PARABLES (Matthew 13:10-17, 34-35)

A parable is a story that contains lessons and truths to be learned.

To His disciples, Jesus spoke plainly. However, when speaking publicly, Jesus spoke in parables.

Matthew 13:11
Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

To those who are not in God, Jesus speaks to them in parables, "because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand."

This fulfills the prophesy proclaimed by Isaiah in Isaiah 6:9-10.

The majority of people remained blind to Jesus, especially the religious leaders. And because they remained blind, they could not understand the parables, which confirmed them to be hearts of unbelievers, as prophesied by Isaiah.

Matthew 13:12 (Cf. Luke 8:18; Mark 4:24-25)
For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

To those who accept Jesus, Jesus will reveal to us the mysteries and the plans of His heaven. We will be given much, but Jesus will also expect much from us. To those who reject Jesus, they will be blind to the mysteries and plans of His heaven. The things they have in this world will all be lost when Jesus’ kingdom comes.

They hear, but they don’t understand.
They see, but they don’t understand.
Their hearts are dull, ignorant of the love of God, ignorant of His teaching.

People who are blind: They only see what they want to see, hear what they want to hear. They have no interest in learning and exploring the Truth. They just want to go on living the way they want to, and so it is easier for them to ignore the Truth. They ignore the truth, and they shut their eyes from seeing the truth. If they would only open their eyes, open their ears to God’s Truth, Jesus would be able to give them salvation!

Truth-seekers: They are after the Truth. Even if the truth is not pretty to see or nice to hear, they will be open to it, because they know that it is better to face the truth than to live in a lie.


PARABLE OF THE SOWER (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23)

The seed in the parable is the Word of God (Luke 8:11). The farmer spreads the seed, just as we, the disciples should spread the Word of God.

The hearts of the people who hear the Word are represented by the 4 different types of soil in this parable:

By the wayside (Matthew 13:19)
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.

Key: Satan and his demons prevent us from receiving God's Word. For example, people who hear the Message are first intrigued, but they then encounter news reports or society norms, and these views confuse them, pulling them away from God’s Word.

Stony places (Matthew 13:20-21)
But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

Among thorn (Matthew 13:22)
Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

Good ground (Matthew 12:23)
But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

John 14:15
Those who follow God’s commands will yield good crops.

John 15:5
Those who remain in God will yield good crops.

Acts 5:29
Those who obey God -- not man -- will yield good crops.

Philippians 2:12-13
Allow God to continue to work in us will yield good crops.

Hearts of thorny soil turn away from God when difficulties overcome our faith. Hearts of good soil keep us solid in God when we face difficulties.


THE PARABLE OF THE WHEAT AND THE TARES (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43)

Matthew 13:37-39
He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.

Satan attacks us when we are vulnerable, when we are weak, when we are not awake. God will not Satan continue his attacks without judgment. However, that day has not yet come because of God's grace for His children. It is not yet time to be rid of the tares, lest the process harms the good crop in the process. In order to give His children the most amount of time and opportunities to return to Him, He will withhold judgment until the time is ripe.

Acts 20:30
2 Timothy 4:3-4
People distort the truth. The media, pop culture, all take the Truth of Christianity and distort it to fit their needs. They take comments out of context so that they can mock it to elevate their status. However, anyone who takes the time and patience to truly study the Word -- in its entirety -- will discover that God’s truth is eternal.

God's grace period cannot last forever, because He is just -- and thus cannot allow sin to run amok without judgement. On that Day, the wheat is harvested and taken into God’s presence, while the tare is burned. Be under God's love!

Matthew 11-12

Notes for BSF

JESUS CONFIRMS TO JOHN THAT HE IS THE COMING ONE (Matthew 11:1-19)

John the Baptist sends messengers to confirm the identity of Jesus
Being in jail and unable to witness the works of Jesus, John the Baptist sent out two messengers to seek confirmation that Jesus was the Coming one.

Jesus proves His identity through His works and through fulfilling prophecies 
Jesus gives numerous proofs substantiating His position as the Messiah.

His works
The blind see
The lame walk
The lepers are cleansed
The deaf hear
The dead are raised up
The poor have the gospel preached to them

His Prophecies
Isaiah 29:18-19
Isaiah 35:5-6
Isaiah 42:1-4 (Cf. Matthew 12:15-21)
Isaiah 61:1-3

Jesus confirms John as the Messenger sent to pave the way for the Messiah (Malachi 3:1)

Jesus praises John as the greatest and the last prophet to close the Old Testament era (Matthew 11:11; John 1:6-9, 29; 1 Peter 1:10-11)

Christians of the New Testament have a different blessing than the disciples of the Old Testament era: As Christians of the New Testament era, we have Christ and the Holy Spirit dwelling within us!


JESUS CONDEMNS THOSE WHO DWELL IN SIN (Matthew 11:20-30)

Jesus compares the cities in Galilee to the ancient cities that God has judged, including Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum.

The ancient cities Jesus mentioned (Tyre, Sidon, Sodom) were judged by God for their corruption and violence (Genesis 19:4-9; Ezekiel 26:2-17; 28:17-19, 24-26).

Korazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum knew the ancient cities were judged because they did not repent. They should have
learned from these cities and repented of their sins, yet they continued to waste away in sin.


TAKE THE YOKE OF JESUS, FOR IT IS LIGHT (Matthew 11:25-30)

God reveals Himself and His wisdom to the humble, to those who want to know about Him. To those who are proud and do not want to learn about Him, they will remain blind to His wisdom.

Lay our yoke on Jesus -- depend on Jesus and not on ourselves -- and we will feel the lightening of our load.


JESUS IS OUR BEST SABBATH (Matthew 12:1-14)

The Pharisees falsely accuse Jesus of breaking the Sabbath (Cf. Deuteronomy 5:12-15; 1 Samuel 21:1-6)
The disciples did not break God’s command, as the Pharisees had accused. If the Pharisees used their heart to love God instead of their evil cunning thoughts to be gods, they would understand the true meaning behind God's commandment to keep the Sabbath: It's all about resetting our heart to God.

1) Spiritually, the disciples were not working.
The disciples were living and learning in the presence of the Lord. They were in Sabbath!

2) Physically, the disciples were not working.
According to the Law, they were not working by going through the fields for food. They were gleaning to eat, which was not considered work. Eating is not working.

Matthew 12:6-8
Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.

When we abide in and accomplish the will of God, we are in the presence of God and are in God’s Sabbath. Showing the love of God is being in God's Sabbath (Matthew 12:11-14)!

Jesus is not about following the Law. Jesus is about living and showing the love of God.


THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS COME UPON US (Matthew 12:22-50)

Jesus casts out demons by the Spirit of God
The above text, we see the Pharisees try to trap Jesus in technicalities of the Law. Here, we see them trying to discredit Jesus by announcing that Jesus casts out demons by the evil spirit of Beelzebub, another name for Satan.

Jesus makes a valid counter-argument:

Matthew 12:25-27
Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?

Jesus healed the demon-possessed man through the Holy Spirit. As we have seen in previous chapters, the demons knew who Jesus is and cower in fear in His presence.

1) Jesus' power is greater than Satan's and demons'
2) Jesus' power overcomes the powers of Satan's and demons' – Therefore, Jesus power comes not from Satan, as the Pharisees bore false-witness, but from God, who is greater than all of His creations.

Matthew 12:29
How can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

Since the Fall, the title deed to this earth has fallen into Satan's hands. He is the Prince of this world (Ephesians 2:2; John 12:31), but one day, he will be bound (Revelation 20:2) -- We can only pray that we have by then made our own decision to follow Jesus.

Blaspheme against the Holy Spirit is the unpardonable sin

John 16:13
When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.

The Holy Spirit guides us in all truths. Blaspheming against the Holy Spirit is the act of rejecting God. God can save us from all sin, as long as we are willing to follow Him. However, God cannot save us if we actively reject Him, which is why blaspheming against the Holy Spirit it the unpardonable sin.

If we have committed the unpardonable sin, we would not care whether or not we are in sin. After all, if we have developed a great enough apathy to ignore the truth revealed to us by the Holy Spirit, how little would we care if continue to sin against God? If we wonder or worry at all about committing sins that would disappoint God, we have not committed the unpardonable sin. Do not allow our hearts to be so hardened that we would turn permanently away from God. Heed the voice of the Holy Spirit within us and reside under His love!

We will be judged by our hearts

When the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked for a sign, Jesus called them a "wicked and adulterous" generation.

Matthew 12:34
Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Jesus knew that in their heart, they did not ask for a sign because they were genuinely curious. Jesus knew they asked because they wanted to put Him on the spot, to force Him to perform a miracle that would "prove" that He was God.

Think back to the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19-31). What did Abraham say to the Rich Man when he begged to have someone be sent to warn his brothers about Hell?

Luke 16:29-31
Abraham said to him, "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them." And (the Rich Man) said, "No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent." But he said to him, "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead."

The Pharisees weren't interested in who Jesus really was. They had already made up their mind about Jesus, and they were not bowing down to a peasant. They were more interested in catching Jesus in a trap, so that they could get rid of Jesus for good. Instead of humbling themselves and sincerely seek God, they demanded that God prove Himself to be God. This is the heart of a prideful people; this is the heart of this generation -- "Wicked," because they were motivated by selfishness and pride; "adulterous," because they worshiped themselves.

Matthew 12:36-37
For every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

Jesus is the greater Jonah, the greater Solomon
The Pharisees and the teachers of the law would be more than familiar with the Old Testament, including the story of Jonah.

Matthew 12:40
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Proud of their understanding of the Scriptures, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law would not have missed Jesus' point here: The Messiah would spend 3 days and 3 nights in the grave and be resurrected. When they see this sign, they would know who the Messiah is.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit
We can be possessed by demons. Our bodies are like a house. Demons can come in, and if they find the "house" empty, they will call their friends over, and they will all come and possess the body. As Christians, we are better protected against demon possession, because our bodies are already occupied by the Holy Spirit! Do you think the Holy Spirit will be open to sharing His temple with demons? Demons come, and they will find the Holy Spirit within us, and they will leave our bodies alone, because they know that they have no power over the Holy Spirit!

1 John 1:4
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Nearing Midnight: The Pope, the Pen, and Peace

from the November 12, 2013 eNews issue
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Jorge Mario Bergoglio—Pope Francis, 266th pontiff of the Catholic Church—seems to be taking the world by storm, as they say. He is, of course, the 112th pope since twelfth-century Irish Bishop, St. Malachy, “prophesied” that the last pope would be number 112 from the time he made the “prophecies,” as we’ve all learned about by now.

Obviously, he hasn’t overtly taken the official name “Petrus Romanus,” Peter the Roman, as Malachy predicted would be the moniker of the final pope who would preside over the Catholic Church during an era of the greatest time of trouble in its history. Let’s think again briefly upon what Malachy said he foresaw. Malachy’s biographer, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, reported in Life of Saint Malachy that St. Malachy wrote briefly, in Latin, on each succeeding pope of the future, and then gave the document to Pope Innocent II, who had it placed in Vatican archives, where it remained for several centuries. It was rediscovered in 1590 and published.

Some scholars who have studied these predictions carefully claim that Malachy was remarkably accurate about succeeding popes right up through Pope Benedict XVI, who abdicated his papal throne in 2013. Others who have looked into these things have found that in most cases regarding the Malachy prophecies, the bishop’s predictions were too oblique, too veiled, or couched in esoteric description to be validated as having been fulfilled to any great extent. Our bottom line conclusion must be that, while most of Malachy’s “prophecies” about the popes arequestionable as to absolute proof that the bishop was accurate in every case, there is little doubt that the 112th pope from the time he wrote the predictions is a strange pope to be sure.

The world at large literally loves the guy. His popularity really jumped on a global scale—and especially in the view of national and international mainstream media, when he implied that there might be many ways to God and Heaven, and declared that Christians must be more tolerant of things we don’t embrace or understand. At least, that was the gist of his statements.

The pope made it clear in a number of statements in various speaking forums that the Catholic Church and all of Christendom must cease condemning and excluding from God’s kingdom homosexuals and those who hold other religious views than those that are Jesus Christcentered.

That sentiment, even among a growing number within so-called Christian churches, is a visceral part of all of humanism’s elite and their mouthpieces. The Christian Bible and its harsh, restrictive, “one way to God” is intolerant, bigoted, homophobic, and bordering on fundamentalist insanity that desires to bring the world to Armageddon. (The pope didn’t say that; I did, based upon the pontiff’s stance of recent days that has won him great accolades.)

America’s current president is perhaps the most recent of the global leaders to express this pope’s elevated standing in his opposition to Biblical restrictions. Barack Obama said recently: “I have been hugely impressed with the pope’s pronouncements.” He described Pope Francis as “somebody who lives out the teachings of Christ [who, by the way, claimed He is the only Way to God, the Heavenly Father]. Incredible humility—incredible sense of empathy to the least of these, to the poor.”

In his interview with the CNBC business news channel, Obama was asked about Francis’ recent comment that the Catholic Church has become too “obsessed” with issues like gay rights and abortion. Obama said:”[Pope Francis is] somebody who is—I think first and foremost—thinking about how to embrace people as opposed to push them away; how to find what’s good in them as opposed to condemn them…And that spirit, that sense of love and unity, seems to manifest itself in not just what he says, but also what he does. And, you know, for any religious leader, that’s something—that’s a quality I admire.”

Sure sounds good, doesn’t it? Unity—that’s the ticket for the coming Antichrist system. Unity means to embrace all belief systems as acceptable to God’s prescription for living on planet Earth, according to the globalist’s elite. This is the route to “peace.”

We are to embrace those religionists who behead women for having been raped. We are to accept as brothers those who murder anyone with whom they don’t agree.

Pope Francis met a week or so ago with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. He wasn’t prepared to give the Israeli prime minister an audience, however. Yet, he is pushing the peace process so Palestine can have its statehood on Israel’s tiny land mass.

The pope gave the Palestinian leader a special pen. He said when handing it to him, “Surely, you have a lot of things you have to sign.”

Abbas responded, “I hope to sign a peace treaty with Israel with this pen.”

My thought was, upon reading about the pope’s generosity, the first beast of Revelation chapter 13 will have a sidekick who will—like Mr. Big himself—push the peace that will be the covenant made with death and hell (Isaiah 28:15, 18).


Reference
http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2013/10/02/obama-pope-francis-cnbc-abortion-gay-rights/2911067/