March 15th, 2024
Friday, March 15th
Come With A Hungry Heart
By: Pastor Todd
Matthew 22:23-46
23 That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 24 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him. 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. 26 The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. 27 Finally, the woman died. 28 Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”
29 Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 31 But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’[a]? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[b] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
“The son of David,” they replied.
43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,
44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet.”’[d]
45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
In today’s text the Pharisees and Sadducees have formed a partnership. This would be like the NRA and PETA having a potluck together. These two groups had no fondness for one another and viewed everything very differently. Clearly, they saw Jesus as a formidable foe who had to be stopped- at any cost.
What an absolute tragedy to have an opportunity to learn from Jesus, and they spent their time arguing with him instead. Had they been truly inquisitive about heaven, or truly cared about what summed up the entire law, they could have walked away with life-changing information. Instead they left as frustrated enemies of God.
As we come to God’s living Word in our own lives, there will always be things we don’t understand. Still, if we come with a hungry heart, viewing God as a loving Father waiting to instruct us, we will leave built up and blessed. I want God to help me avoid making his Word a means of argument or division, and rather have it make me more like him every time I read it.
Come With A Hungry Heart
By: Pastor Todd
Matthew 22:23-46
23 That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 24 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him. 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. 26 The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. 27 Finally, the woman died. 28 Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”
29 Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 31 But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’[a]? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[b] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
“The son of David,” they replied.
43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,
44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet.”’[d]
45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
In today’s text the Pharisees and Sadducees have formed a partnership. This would be like the NRA and PETA having a potluck together. These two groups had no fondness for one another and viewed everything very differently. Clearly, they saw Jesus as a formidable foe who had to be stopped- at any cost.
What an absolute tragedy to have an opportunity to learn from Jesus, and they spent their time arguing with him instead. Had they been truly inquisitive about heaven, or truly cared about what summed up the entire law, they could have walked away with life-changing information. Instead they left as frustrated enemies of God.
As we come to God’s living Word in our own lives, there will always be things we don’t understand. Still, if we come with a hungry heart, viewing God as a loving Father waiting to instruct us, we will leave built up and blessed. I want God to help me avoid making his Word a means of argument or division, and rather have it make me more like him every time I read it.
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