If you marry a divorced woman, you're committing adultery!

Matthew 5:32b ...and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.

(See also Matthew 19:9)

PERSONAL COMMENTARY

If your wife was previously divorced, you're in a perpetual state of adultery.

I'm not sure what to recommend to those in this situation. Please don't attempt to divorce your wife to free yourself from this sin. We'll show later that God hates divorce (which could be also considered a sin). This is truly being between a rock and a hard place.

What to do with body parts which cause you to sin!

Matthew 5:29-30 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

PERSONAL COMMENTARY

1. If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out
2. If your hands cause you to sin, cut it off

Of course, if you read this as a principle, it can be applied to any body part. Guys, please be careful.

Eating Flesh and Drinking Blood

John 6:53-60,66 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"

..From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

PERSONAL COMMENTARY

Put yourself in the shoes of these disciples. Would you leave also?

Happy Easter!

Jesus intentionally confuses?

Matthew 13:10-15 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 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. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:

‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.’

PERSONAL COMMENTARY

In public speaking, one may share a story to bring home a point. In most cases, it is in order to make the point easier to understand. Preceding the above passage, Jesus told the parable of the sower. When asked why he spoke in parables, his response leads you to conclude that he does not want certain hearers to understand what he's saying. In other words those with dull hearts, whose ears are hard of hearing, and whose eyes have been closed, are intentionally confused. Otherwise, they may see, hear, understand, have a change of heart and be healed.

This does not make sense since preaching should yield the result of a changed heart. Jesus also said "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Why would he now state that those who are healthy should understand but the sick should not lest they be healed? Why would he now more or less say that those who are healthy will become healthier but those who are sick will become sicker? There's obviously something I'm missing from this passage.

[Read Today's Reading in The Brick Testament - An Illustrated Bible]

Jesus calls a Canaanite woman a dog

Matthew 15:22-28 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession." Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us." He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said. He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

PERSONAL COMMENTARY

Many people think that it was offensive for Jesus to call this Canaanite woman a dog. However, I looked up the explanation for this on the Christian Apologist site christian-thinktank.com.

Here is one of their explanations:

The image Jesus has chosen is an image of endearment, not insult. The picture of supper-time, with little kids at the table, and their pet "puppies" (the Greek word for 'dog' here is not the standard, 'outside' dog--which MIGHT BE an insult--, but is the diminutive word, meaning 'household pets, little dogs'...) at their feet, maybe tugging on their robes for food or play. The puppies, dear to the children and probably so too to the master (cf. 2 Sam 12.3f: but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.), were to be fed AFTER the children (notice: not DENIED food--there was no "NO" in Jesus image--only "WAIT"). But the temporal order is clear--Jesus must take care of His disciples FIRST, and if meeting her need involved interrupting their rest and GOING SOMEWHERE, then it was going to have to wait.

I guess the woman's reaction was unmerited when she responded "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." She must have misunderstood Jesus' "image of endearment."

[Read today's reading in The Brick Testament - An Illustrated Bible]

Divorce and Remarriage

Matthew 19:9a And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery;

(See also Matthew 5:32)

PERSONAL COMMENTARY

The only reason for a MAN to divorce his WIFE is sexual immorality on the part of the wife or he should never remarry. If he does remarry, he commits adultery (which would be violating one of the 10 commandments).

This is one of those commands that is conveniently ignored because it applies to a growing number of Christians. However, it does seem unfair that individuals who divorce and remarry or who marry a divorced woman (see link below) can simply pretend these commands do not exist but homosexuals are not allowed to ignore the commands that apply to their lifestyle.

The same ferver we have as we stand against gay marriage should be applied to these marriages also. We should organize marches, rallies, and make sure everyone who receives our vote do not support marriages under these prohibited circumstances. In fact, I believe we should all support the institution of a constitutional ban against these marriages, which violates the family values as defined by the Word just as gay marriages do.

Jesus did not come to bring peace on earth!

Matthew 10:34-36 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’

PERSONAL COMMENTARY

1. Jesus did not come to bring peace on earth.
2. Jesus did not come to bring peace but war.
3. Jesus came to set a man against his father.
4. Jesus came to set a daughter against her mother.
5. Jesus came to set a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

This is a very confusing verse especially since the angels heralded "peace on earth, good will towards men" regarding the birth of Jesus.