Have you ever looked at someone’s actions and thought, “How in the world did he end up there?” Maybe someone that you grew up with or knew for a while but have not seen for a time all of the sudden comes into your life and you wonder how he went from being the person you thought you once knew to doing the things that he is doing now. I’m sure we can all think of such a person.
But how does that happen? It is strange for someone who once thought so close to the truth to walk into a wrong and rebellious lifestyle. I think the answer is that it starts with someone being a little off in his thoughts. That is to say, it is rarely the case that someone goes from following Christ wholeheartedly one day and walking in complete rebellion to him in every area of his life the next day. Rather, it starts with someone being a bit wrong.
Jesus knew this. That’s why in the Sermon on the Mount, he starts back from someone committing adultery and murder to talking about someone looking lustfully at a woman or being angry with one’s brother. He addressed the seemingly little things that are wrong in people’s hearts that lead to great acts of tragedy.
In these chapters in Matthew, Matthew groups Jesus’ teaching in such a way that it is full of Jesus teaching the Pharisees and his disciples lessons about correcting the way they see things. For he knew that if they continued to see these things wrongly, then it would lead to them living a life that is not characterized by following his ways. Therefore, tonight I want to point out what I think some of these things are that we might correct them in our thoughts as well, before they are manifested in great acts of sin. Let us then see how our thoughts need to be shaped and the kind of things that need to characterize us as God’s people.
We need to be actively seeking how to do right instead of asking what we can “get away with” without doing wrong (19:1-12)
This is seen in the Pharisees questioning Jesus on the issue of divorce. Listen to the question they ask. They say, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause at all?”
The question itself shows a faulty thinking. They are asking the wrong question. Therefore, Jesus deters answering that specific question until verse 9 and instead teaches them about the manner and making of marriage. He says, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh’? Consequently they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate” (19:4-6).
Jesus reminds them that man and woman were created in the beginning, with the woman coming from the man. Therefore (‘For this cause’), man leaves his parents and is joined to a wife because it is the fulfillment of how they were made. It is as if marriage is a completion of the cycle. Where once there was one flesh, then woman came from the man so that there were two, with marriage the two join together to become one flesh again. Marriage then displays the work of God, so that Jesus tells them, “What God has joined together, let no man separate.”
Then they misunderstand Deuteronomy 24:1-4 and ask, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” (emphasis added). Therefore, Jesus corrects them again, pointing out that Moses permitted this, and that only because of the hardness of their hearts.
Then he finally answers their question in verse 9, saying, “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” Though there is another listed exception in 1 Corinthians 7, here Jesus tells us (in the words of D. A. Carson), “Men and women should not get divorced, for that is hateful to God. If they do get divorced, they must not get remarried. An exception to this rule is made when the first marriage ends in divorce because of marital unfaithfulness.”1
It is then that the disciples realize that this is difficult and Jesus tells them that those who can be single, who are called to that, should be.
However, this starting place with the Pharisees shows a problem in thought. They wanted to know what they could get by with instead of what all they could do to obey God. I was tempted to do this before Lili and I got married in thinking of marriage. I would find myself lonely, see some girl who was attractive and yet not seeking the Lord, and I would think, “Now, God, how much does her heart have to be turned towards you.”
I would ask God how much I had to value godliness. I am thankful that his answer was, “Very much” and that he brought Lili to me. But such is a good example of asking the wrong questions. And if we live asking the wrong questions, then we will miss opportunities to taste God’s very best in walking in obedience to him.
We need to keep the reality of grace at the forefront of our minds and not think we can earn God’s favor (19:13-15, 19:27-30, 20:1-16)
Jesus teaches his disciples this lesson in a number of ways. First, little children start coming to him and the disciples begin to rebuke them and tell them to go away. You get the sense that they are probably doing this because the children are not good for much: they don’t bring anything to the table. They are not going to make their master more popular. However, Jesus uses this to teach the disciples that those who inherit the kingdom do not do so because of their worth or merit. Rather, the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who come as children, those who know their spiritual bankruptcy and know everything they have is of the grace of God.
It is soon clear, however, that the disciples did not learn the lesson as Peter soon begins to tell Jesus how great he is and how he has shown this in his sacrifice. Jesus reminds them again, however, that there is no real sacrifice as they will be blessed, and then reminds them that they have been blessed as his followers because of his grace as he tells them the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. This point of the parable is, “Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own?” (20:15).
Indeed, it is. And God had shown great grace to the disciples, and us, and we should walk in an attitude of remembering that by the grace of God we are what we are.
We need an attitude that is as concerned about our hearts toward the Lord as much as whether we are appearing to do things externally right (19:16-26)
This is displayed as a rich young ruler comes to Jesus and wants to know what he needs to do to obtain eternal life. Jesus responds, “Keep the commandments,” (19:17) to which the man replies that he has done all of them (19:20). Then Jesus says, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (19:21).
In this statement, Jesus hit on the real issue with the man. He was willing to try to do all the external things right, but his issue was a divided heart. And it is that that he was unwilling to deal with.
Make sure that you don’t make the same mistake. It is enough to have other men speak highly of you to do external things rightly, but God looks at the heart of a man, and he wants hearts that are wholeheartedly his. Stop periodically and ask if your heart is turned toward him. Otherwise, you mind find yourself ignoring his leading and sinning in your attempt to do everything externally “right.”
We need to remember our call to service and dismiss notions about being prominent before men (20:17-28)
It’s interesting to see the flow of this next passage. At the end of chapter 19, Jesus has told them, “But many who are first will be last; and the last, first” (19:30), then he has ended the parable of the laborers in the vineyard saying, “Thus the last shall be first, and the first last” (20:16), and finally he has told them about how he (the greatest among them) would give his life over to death (20:17-19). Therefore, you think that the disciples would all be in a mindset of brokenness, asking how they might show themselves to be last here.
Instead, they again find themselves in an argument over which one of them is the greatest. It starts with the mother of James and John coming to Jesus and requesting that they sit at his side in the kingdom, but it is not long before all the disciples are involved (no doubt indignant at the fact that they had not thought of it first).
But again, Jesus points to himself as to what needs to be their mindset. He reminds them of what he had spoken to them before this whole conversation began, telling them, “Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (20:26-28).
They were wanting to be great but they didn’t think about what the greatest one among them (Jesus) was doing. He was serving them, and eventually he would serve them in laying down his life for them.
I think we often do much the same thing. Even (maybe especially) Christians get caught up in the idea that being prominent is our goal and not serving. For example, when is the last time you heard one pastor ask another, “How are your people serving one another?” to see how the Lord is blessing them? Rather, the questions we ask are, “Are you building another building, taking up much in offering, and crossing numerical lines?” And these things aren’t bad, but is not the reason we love to talk about these things that they show prominence in the Christian community, whereas service does not put us in such a prominent position?
Well, we need to change our mindset here. May we begin to celebrate greatness when we see the community of believers praying for one another, loving one another, exhorting one another, teaching one another, and laboring to present one another complete in Christ.
We need to remember to live reflecting Jesus’ character even as we are trying to exalt Jesus (20:29-34)
The final scene of this text teaches us a lesson that is a difficult one to learn. The disciples are walking along the road with Jesus, and they are wanting to exalt their leader before the people. Therefore, they are crying out for all to be silent. It is much like a situation where some big name person enters a room and someone begins to quiet all others so that the entire group might stop and look in awe and appreciate the scene.
The occasion is a bit different, however, for the ones they are silencing are the ones who need Jesus to minister to them. And as I read this, I thought of how many times we labor in the task of exalting Jesus’ name and forget to reflect his character. We gossip about someone not living like Christ or become arrogant toward one for not recognizing the grace of God as you do. It sounds weird, but it’s not as far-fetched as we might imagine.
Therefore, let us focus on actively seeking the things of God, remembering we are what we are by his grace, having an undivided heart toward him, making sure our focus is service and not prominence here, and making sure that as we seek to exalt Christ, we are also seeking to reflect his character.
By his grace, Amen.