Chase: Hello and welcome to the Point Church Podcast. We're really glad you're here. Before we jump in, if you'd like to stay connected, you can download the Point Church app. It's a simple way to find messages, resource, and what's happening. And if this podcast is helpful, take a moment to like, subscribe, and share. You can find us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music. Let's get into today's episode. Hello everyone and welcome back to the Point Church Podcast. I'm here with Pastor Sam as we are walking through the Gospel of Matthew verse by verse for forty days. And today we're in chapter nineteen. ⁓ and it begins with this when Jesus had finished saying these things, he departed from Galilee and went to the region of Judea across the Jordan. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. Some Pharisees approached him to test him. They asked, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife on any grounds? Yes. So I'm not answering that for Jesus. I'm just saying, like, yes, this is the question at hand. Yes, not coming out of nowhere. No. This is a specific question because it was an ongoing debate. There were two schools of thought among the religious leaders that it was Shemai and Hillelf, I believe. ⁓ that they had different interpretations of the text of when it said ⁓ basically if a man is displeased by his wife, that one camp was saying only for sexual immorality. The other camp meant for anything that displeased him. So I mean you can get real creative about that. Like she burned dinner, didn't take the dog out, you know, raised her voice, talked back, although heaven forbid, you know what I mean? Anything was reason for dismissal. So one camp was Definitely like adding more to the scripture than what should have been added. The other one seemed like you're saying a little more true to the scripture. But they're like, hey, settle this debate for us. You know, are you on the progressive side or are you on the conservative side? You know, not very different than what we're at today. Yep. And he answers them in verse four. Having you read, he replied, that he who created them in the beginning made them male and female. And he also said, For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and And will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate. Yes. So Jesus answers their debate by not taking a side, but by quoting the scriptures and saying, Let it fall where it needs to fall. But in the beginning, man and female male and female, man and wife is what constituted a marriage according to God. in the garden. So that's what Jesus saying. He's quoting it. And he's like, this debate silly. If you have the scriptures, you know what it is. So that that's what he's doing right here. And then they try to throw scripture back on him. Yes. With this next one. Why then, they asked him, did Moses command us to give divorce papers and to send her away? He told them, Moses permitted you to divorce your wife because of the hardness of your hearts. But it was not like that from the beginning. I tell you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality and marries another, commits adultery. Yes, and we did a podcast already about divorce. So go back, listen to that one. ⁓ but I want to talk about not so much the nuance around the divorce, since we did that already. Yes, but more about the hardness of heart that Jesus is hitting because We just got off of long teaching from Jesus about the servant who doesn't forgive his fellow servant because they don't recognize what God has done for them. And then Jesus is saying, That's husbands and wives. Yeah. Right? Yes. You're not forgiving the spouse who's harming you because you don't understand what God's done in your life and you're still trying to pull something out of them. I I think it's incredibly intentional that these back up next to each other. They're saying, like, hey, the way I treat Melissa, my wife, should reflect the way that Jesus has treated me. The way that she treats me should reflect the way that Jesus has treated her. Like Moses was like these like it's so far gone that God essentially was like, Your parts are so hard that I'll leave one way out, sexual immorality. Yeah. In verse ten it says When Hip or his disciples said to him, If the relationship of a man with his wife is like this, it's better not to marry, he responded, not everyone can accept this saying, only those to whom it has been given. For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made by man men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves that way because of the kingdom of heaven. That one the one who is able to accept it should. Accept it. Yeah, Jesus doesn't walk it back. Really, real quick, maybe describe what a eunuch is. Yeah. Yeah. Someone has a phrase. Yeah. Eunuch is ⁓ someone who, for lack of a word, not able to have children. Yes. so there are and what Jesus is saying, you know, we can kind of let our imaginations go with that one. Yeah. ⁓ not able to have children for whatever reason. Maybe it's in service to a king or Or it was a biological issue, but you know, not able to have children. and there are some who he is saying choose to live that way, that there are some who choose never to marry in order to devote themselves fully to the kingdom of God. This is typically as the argument. I actually think it's a fairly strong argument for the Catholic priests that if you're representing the bride of Christ, then Christ. If you are living that fully. Now so I'm a married pastor, but I do see biblical precedent for what they're saying. Like should not marry because they are married to Christ. Yeah. You know, if you're taking that vow, Jesus does give grounds for that. So ⁓ there are some who aren't Catholic, aren't priests, but have entered in like friends of mine who have entered into a life of singleness because they're like, I I think the Lord has called me to depend on him. And I don't despise marriage. It's still longing in my heart, but I'm trusting him in my singleness. Maybe it's for a season, maybe it's for life. Yeah. But Jesus is saying, take this decision of marriage seriously. This is not flippant. This is not feelings. This is meant to represent God and human beings coming together. This is what it's supposed to look like. Yeah. So it needs to be reflected in your marriage. And verse thirteen it says Then ⁓ little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked him. We just ran real quick. I know. They're ridiculous. And whoever welcomes one child like this in my name welcomes me. So the disciples are still not getting it th the children Jesus loves. So just gotta throw that out there. I know it's it's they're insane. It's crazy. ⁓ in verse fourteen, Jesus said Leave the little children alone and don't try to keep them from coming to me, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. After placing his hands on them, he went on from there. And maybe gave them the same look I give to my children when they really mess up and I'm like, Really? Come on. We're going. But are you serious about that? Yes. ⁓ in verse 16 it says Just then someone came up and asked him, Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life? Why do you ask me about what is good? he said to him. There is only one who is good. If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments. Yes. So notice what this rich young ruler calls Jesus Teacher Teacher. Which is not wrong, no, it's not wrong. Jesus is a rabbi. Yes, Jesus is a teacher. But that's not all he is either. That there was ⁓ you know, chapter or two before where the man with the demon possessed son says, Lord. Yes. So Jesus is almost pushing him a little bit. Why? You know, like why do you call me good? What about what about is why teacher? Why not Lord? He's kind of prodding, he's kind of ⁓ feeling out where this guy is with his questioning. And eighteen it says, Which ones? He asked him. Jesus answered, Do not mirror. Do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness. Honor your father and your mother, and love your neighbor as yourself. I have kept all these, the young man told him. What do I still let's pause there for a second, because Jesus is clear with quoting the Ten Commandments. Yes. But as we've studied before, he took a new approach on not a new approach, but he revealed the heart of the Ten Commandments, which is The heart of adultery, like adultery begins in the heart. Yes. With lust. That murder begins in the heart with anger towards your brother. And I don't know how caught up that ⁓ this rich young ruler is on Jesus' podcast or on his teachings. But maybe he missed that Sermon on the Mount. You don't know. But Jesus raised the bar pretty high to say, if you're even angry, he's broken this law, but this guy, maybe he didn't hear it or he conveniently forgot, yeah. Says, ⁓ I haven't done anything like that. So again, Jesus is he he's kind of feeling this guy out a little bit. Yeah, because he says in verse twenty one, if you want to be perfect, Jesus said to him, Go sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and then come follow me. When the young man heard that, he went away grieving because he had many possessions. There's a Bible verse that the American church can memorize. ⁓ but If you want to be perfect, another translation is complete. You know, be like your heavenly father, do what your heavenly father has done, and give all that you have. Like Jesus is the the treasure of heaven that was given as a ransom for us. And so again, Jesus like, this is what you should do for others. You should be like this. Like your earthly possessions lose their grip on you. when you again understand the treasure of heaven coming for you. And ⁓ and he's grieved because he loves his possessions. He loves his stuff. Yeah. Yeah. It's pretty pretty clear. Well, and I think he's grieved too, also because he was like, Hey, you just named off everything and I'm good. And then Jesus pulls this one and he's like Yeah, I have many of those. Right. ⁓ and verse twenty three says Jesus said to his disciples, truly I tell you It will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven of God. When the disciples heard this, they were utterly astonished and asked, then who can be saved? Jesus looked at them and said, With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Yeah. There's there's some ⁓ let's pause it for a second. There's some debate on what Jesus means by the camel through the eye of the needle. Yeah. Because there's some speculation that the gate to a city camels would have to crouch down and go through, and it's called the eye of the needle. There's some that speculate that's what Jesus is saying, like not impossible but difficult. Yeah. I don't know if I fully buy that. Maybe it is what it means. ⁓ was it there 2000 years ago? But the the fact that the disciples are astonished does seem to beg the question, what is Jesus really saying here? Because on the surface, again, you and I are both pastors, we're church leaders. This guy, this rich young ruler comes to Jesus, and this is a good member by the standards of the church in many ways. I'm rich, I have influence, and I'm here to be perfect. What can I do? What do you need? And Jesus is essentially give me your heart. And he's like, Can't do it. Like Can't do that. Jesus is like, then I can't help you. So that you can imagine that these disciples who again, you know, finances were so real back then. Like, this could be a benefactor. This could be someone who's gonna lodge us, house us, feed us. And Jesus is like, I'm not lowering the standard. No. I I need your heart. The rest will take care itself. And that's where I think they're asking the question like if it's not him, because they're still thinking like the world. Yeah, if it's not him who's in, who's in? And Jesus says like what seems impossible for human beings is possible with God. Again it all is like your heart. It's about your heart over and over and over again. It is. Verse twenty seven says, Then Peter responded to him, See, we left everything and followed you. So what will there be for us? Mm-hmm. Jesus said to them, Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones. Judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or fathers or mothers or children or fields because of my name will receive a hundred times more and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last of the last first. Yeah. So you can s yeah I think you can read between the lines. Yes. Not trying to say like we're you we're reading between lines of Peter's question. Yeah. Like, are you kidding? Like there's some now they're getting frustrated with Jesus too. Yeah. Like we've done everything and it's not enough. And again, it it goes back to like I'm trying to get the main thing out of you. Like your trust, your faith, whatever you want to call it. But I need you to lean on me and that once you see who I am, the treasure before you, y you're not like What's gonna compare? Nothing's gonna compare. Nothing will compare. And it takes a while for Christians to ⁓ really come to that understanding. Like when you come to church for the first time, if the the pastor is preaching through this passage, which is a great passage to preach to, but ⁓ you know, also even preaching through like you must hate your father and mother, like by comparison to me, like that's what Jesus is saying, like by Compares it to me, like hate your spouse, hate your children, like by comparison of your love for me, be willing to lose everything for me. If that's your first time at church, boy, that's a tough pill to swallow. Yeah. Until you meet Jesus. Yeah. Until you realize who he is. And then retroactively you're like, that all makes sense. Yeah. That all makes sense. Yeah. And that hundred times in return. Is saying, like, even if you lose everything but have Jesus, you still have won something so much greater than what you could have imagined. But the blessing is like, let's say you you keep your spouses and you you stay married, you you are given children to raise, like you're just gonna mean infinitely better. And I'll just use in our case, father, husband, worker, because your highest love and treasure is him. Yeah. And you've entered in. So like. Yeah, like you're able to say, like, hey, the reward is Jesus, not a better life. ⁓ there was a the we'll close on this. The line that ⁓ we came across last week that I think we both loved was we don't follow Jesus because he makes life better. We follow Jesus because he's better than life. Amen. Yeah. Yeah. And that's a good line to close on. So we will see you all tomorrow. Thank you for tuning in wherever you are, and we'll be back tomorrow.