Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: You.
[00:00:00] Speaker B: Hey, thanks so much for listening to this message. My name is Jason and I'm one of the ministers here at the Madison Church of Christ. It's our hope and prayer that the teaching you hear today will bless your life and draw you closer to God. If you're ever in the Madison area, we'd love for you to stop by and study the Bible with us on Sundays at 05:00 p.m. Or Wednesdays at 07:00 p.m. If you have questions about the Bible or want to know more about the Madison church, you can find us online at Madison Church. Be sure to subscribe to this podcast as well as our Sermons podcast Madison Church of Christ Sermons thanks again for stopping by. I hope this study is a blessing to.
[00:00:37] Speaker C: You.
[00:00:40] Speaker D: Okay, anybody remember what the reading assignment was for night chapter ten? Anybody read it in preparation for the class?
[00:00:54] Speaker C: Good.
[00:00:55] Speaker D: Some read it set the stage again. So pretty big on review.
My hope there is, since I'm sure most of us have studied Matthew multiple times throughout our lives.
We've read it multiple times, but I think the more we read, potentially we just read and praise over things.
So let's review a little bit. What we started out, what the purpose was, what the audience was, the beginning of the quarter. We studied Matthew the man, Levi, the tax collector, talked about his radical life changes when he accepted or procured that role, and then when he was chosen to become an apostle.
The target audience, that being the jewish audience. And we're actually going to see if you read, I don't know that we'll get to that tonight, but you're going to see in chapter ten some examples, strong examples of what his target audience was, and that God was indeed faithful to Israel in bringing and delivering the Messiah.
And we also talked about his extensive use of Old Testament prophecy to fulfill that. Then we flowed into jesus'authority to be the Messiah, his legal qualifications, that being his genealogy. Remember, we talked through that, talked about the one in Matthew and the one in Luke.
I think we misstated that first class. So his genealogy helps Matthew convince the jewish community that this man has a right to be the messiah. His virgin birth played a key role in that, the way he was protected from Herod.
Then John the Baptist is on the scene. And we talked about the baptism of Jesus.
And God's attestation to Jesus at that time flowed into his perfect response to temptation.
Then we went into the sermon on the mount, which helped demonstrate, improve his authority through his teaching. He called everyone that was very knowledgeable and surprised a lot of the jewish community.
So that substantiated that as the way. Then last week we talked about, we really touched on the ten miracles. There's more in that chapters eight and nine. But the intent there was to show or demonstrate Jesus'deity, his authority by demonstrating his power through his deep. We saw in those examples of those miracles that he had power over sickness, diseases of all kinds. He had power over the world of nature.
He had power over the supernatural, even demons, and even life and death. So keep remembering that review. And now when this quarter is over, let's just look at something in Matthew. I hope it comes to mind. Here's what this mindset, here's what his goal was.
Help us make application for that time, put ourselves in those shoes, and apply.
[00:04:22] Speaker C: To our lives today. For next week, go ahead and read Matthew eleven and twelve in preparation, and Dave may be back next week.
All right. Before we get started in chapter ten, what's the three or four word summary of chapter ten? What was chapter ten about?
Go to chapter ten and look at the little title of the very first section.
Yes, he's calling out the twelve.
Before we get to that, I think it's very interesting, the last part of chapter nine. I want us to read that starting at verse 35.
And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them. We talked about that last week, a lot of the intentions and purposes for his miracles, but we also talked about the obvious compassion that was behind every one of them, because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. Verse 37. Then he said to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest.
Thought it was very interesting that that ends the way we have chapter nine in the very next chapter is him doing the sending of some that he selected. So I thought that was a good intro to chapter ten.
So in chapter ten, he calls the twelve and sends them out as laborers. Like he mentioned. At the end of chapter nine, he gives some instruction about their basic ministry, what they need to do and not do, in some cases, gives them some warnings about things they're going to encounter and how to deal with those.
He talks about the real costs of following Christ and the difficulties and costs they're going to experience in their ministry.
And then at the very end of the chapter, he speaks about the rewards so perspective just for a minute. Let's think about if we had the task that was given at that time and the task being Jesus, go select these men that are going to represent him and spread the gospel.
If we had a task where we were going to select missionaries for several of the countries that we try to minister in, how would we go about selecting those men today?
Just quick thoughts. What comes to your mind? What might you look for or seek out?
[00:07:41] Speaker D: Prayer.
[00:07:42] Speaker C: Prayer. Pray about it. Absolutely.
Yeah. What would we look for in men? Or what men would we look for?
Someone who knows scripture.
[00:07:54] Speaker A: Leaders.
[00:07:55] Speaker C: Leaders experience what other characteristics or traits, and some of them might be characteristics that we look for in leaders, things like that. I just want us to think about it and then JR is going to share some thoughts with us. But do you think we would have done it at all like Jesus? Did you think the result would have been the same?
Look at the men he chose.
Do we see leaders with experience?
Maybe knowing old Testament scripture.
[00:08:46] Speaker A: He can see their heart. He has the upper hand.
[00:08:51] Speaker C: Okay, somebody else had a comment.
[00:08:54] Speaker A: They were hard workers.
[00:08:55] Speaker C: They were hard workers.
What other characteristics would you say that we see from what we have recorded about those men?
They were willing.
Willing at the drop of a hat. Right. So that was probably key to it.
And what I'm kind of pulling at here, when we read about those men, I think we see a lot of weakness, don't we? During some period of that ministry training while they were with him, it lasted for some time. Where we saw pettiness, we saw a little bit of greed and self positioning. We look at these men and we see things. If we saw that in those men that we were trying to select to go sin, probably wouldn't select them to sin, would we?
Because we can't see the heart and we can't see necessarily prayer is going to help us what God can do through those men that we send and select. And I think that's what Jesus could see, their heart, and that was his focus on what God could do through those men that had those weaknesses. Just like every one of us have a little bit about perspective.
Let's see. Is there anything else?
I think I'll leave it at that and let you go ahead and start into whatever thoughts.
[00:10:36] Speaker E: Yeah, and just kind of stepping on your thought right there about choosing characteristics of men to lead.
Put us in the shoes of Jesus and what these men were meant to do. I mean, number one, they're supposed to learn from Christ, be sent out, which we're about to read, but also they're going to be the people left behind. Christ knew that his ministry was only going to last so long, and these were the people who were meant to grow the church. So those things that the twelve apostles were meant to do, those carried serious weight.
So thinking and characteristics, identifying what's in their hearts. I'm sure Jesus spent a lot of time praying, thinking and trying to choose who they were, and another kind of thought to go along with that. I think we can identify different characteristics within these men by comparing them to the people that Christ didn't choose. Throughout Matthew, we see John the baptist disciples, we see them identified, and that's not who Christ chose. They had experience. They had listened to someone and followed them for a ministry. But he didn't choose them. He needed someone new. He didn't choose Pharisees who potentially knew scripture or who knew how to teach and speak aloud in public places. He didn't choose them. He choose people who were willing. And personally, how I connect with it and how I see kind of a personality to these men is they were willing to start from ground zero. I think the biggest thing in starting a new job, starting as a new Christian, the quickest way to learn is to not act like you know more than you know. Does that make sense? They were willing to admit that they didn't know anything about it. They were willing to admit that they were ready to start from ground zero with Jesus, listen to everything, ask questions, go everywhere that he went. They were willing just kind of jumping more on that, but it shows more into the heart of them. So we'll go ahead and jump into chapter ten and read through the first few verses. And I just have one more thought to add on to that. But in verse 36 of chapter nine, when it says, when he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. I think it's very key that that was mentioned right before he sent out his twelve to just think about.
[00:13:11] Speaker C: The.
[00:13:12] Speaker E: Reason he sent out these twelve. The reason he spent so much time choosing these men, the reason he chose the right men, is because of his compassion for us, for his compassion for the people all around him. He saw that the world needed a savior, and he saw that the world needed more men to step up and guide his church. So just kind of connecting with the message of Matthew right there. So I'll go ahead and read verses one through three. In chapter ten, it says, and he called to him, his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal every disease and every affliction. The names of the twelve apostles are these. First, Simon, who is called Peter and Andrew, his brother James, the son of Zebedee and John, his brother Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector. James, the son of Alphaeus and Thaddeus. Simon the zealot. And Judas Scariot, who betrayed him. So we're given a few different kind of context clues in these verses. Did anything stick out to you all in these verses? Specifically in verse one?
[00:14:21] Speaker C: I didn't know if you had it up there.
[00:14:23] Speaker D: The one thing that hits me right off the bat says that he gave them this miraculous power.
And I think that goes back to him being able to know their hearts.
None of them misused that power.
They've been like some of the people they converted later. They could have been out trying to sell you for so much money. But Jesus evidently knew that they had a reverence for God that would keep them from doing that.
[00:14:54] Speaker C: That's interesting. I like that.
[00:14:59] Speaker E: So kind of jumping into that point a little bit of giving them miraculous power. What did Christ also give them? Well, in verse one, it says he gave them authority.
Can we see in verse one that it uses the word and he called to him twelve disciples? And then it uses the word in verse two, the names of the twelve apostles are these. What's the big difference between the twelve disciples he called and then the twelve apostles he called by name? Did I say apostles twice or did.
[00:15:33] Speaker C: I said it right?
[00:15:37] Speaker E: Send on a mission and he gave them authority? Right.
Once they had authority, once they had this power, and once they had this mission, they were apostles. They were set apart from the disciples that he had following them.
[00:15:54] Speaker C: So I find that interesting, that those two terms were used so close in verses like that.
But they have that connection between the two, that there's a difference between a disciple and apostle, and he speaks to it right there in between using the two terms that he gave them authority and some power that Larry talked about and sent them out. So that made them different than all the other disciples. But he did call the twelve disciples first before they were given that authority and that power. Interesting thought that something we might just graze over for sure.
[00:16:35] Speaker E: And how Matthew wrote this, where he called himself out and said, matthew the tax collector, is an interesting little tidbit that's in there where he is.
In my mind, he's kind of going from that perspective I mentioned earlier of ready to call himself ground zero. He knows who he is. He knows that he was called by Christ and he knows the value in himself is that Christ called him. And we kind of skipped over last week. We're supposed to go through chapter nine, but we see in chapter nine that he calls Matthew. In verse nine it says as Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth. And this is in chapter nine. But I think it's interesting going back because Christ sees a man and not a tax collector. Even though he saw a man and not a tax collector, Matthew thought it was pertinent to mention it again, that he is a tax collector. And just part of the message that you can come from anything, you can start from anywhere, no matter how bad, and Christ will give you value no matter where you're at.
[00:17:46] Speaker C: Yeah, that speaks to the dramatic life changes that Matthew went through to get to where he. So for sure.
[00:17:58] Speaker E: I think that's everything on that section.
[00:18:05] Speaker D: You have thought something first, obviously, you have to be a disciple. A disciple. I like the term apprentice.
You watch and observe the master who teaches, showing you it's not just come to class, learn, but you learn by observing. And Jesus was the master teacher, of course, because he did everything first. Then he told them why or what he did after they had already observed it. And you cannot be sent, you cannot be a minister unless you first have been a disciple. That is, an apprentice that has learned through observation.
An apostle is really anybody.
The authority is because it's an apostle of Jesus. Not just any apostle or any prophet that speaks. It's an apostle of Christ. The authority. They were the disciples first, observing the master teacher. That's how we got to do it.
[00:19:13] Speaker C: I agree. And that's important.
These terms can be used generically with other masters, but it's the who sent and who the master teacher is. So that's important in this.
[00:19:29] Speaker E: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:19:30] Speaker C: Yeah. That's interesting.
[00:19:31] Speaker E: And just thinking about their time as disciples, following him through, I mean, the first nine chapters of Matthew, we know that he had disciples following him. And I don't know if that was him teaching and sifting to know who would stick with them, who was there, who learned and became into apostles, but they being apprentices.
Well, I'll go ahead. Do you want to read?
[00:19:59] Speaker C: All right, I'll read.
[00:20:01] Speaker E: I'll start in verse five and go through. Verse 15 says, these twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and proclaim as you go, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons you received without paying, give without pay. Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff. For the laborer deserves his food. In whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet. When you leave that house or town, truly I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than that town.
So the first thing in the section that I think jumps out is the very first verse where it says, go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Why do you think that was?
To skip over Gentiles, skip over Samaritans at this point and go straight to the house of Israel?
[00:21:33] Speaker A: There'd be a lot of conflict among the Samaritans especially. But the message was from the Israelites first.
[00:21:41] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. I think this, it almost comes across as a little bit conflicting. When you first read that, or does to me when he first sent them out, don't go to the Gentiles. Don't go where the Samaritans are. Here's where I want your focus to be.
And I think that was representative and demonstrating God's faithfulness to Israel and to those chosen people that he wanted them to see, that he sent the Messiah, and Jesus was that Messiah. Now along with those, I don't know if you were going to go there, somebody turn and grab Matthew 21 43.
Somebody else be looking at Matthew 20 414.
Somebody else grabbed 20 819.
And let's see, was that his instruction for the entire ministry of the Apostles?
Who has 21 43, read it loudly.
Anybody? First one there.
[00:23:03] Speaker D: Therefore, I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.
[00:23:11] Speaker C: Okay.
20 414.
[00:23:15] Speaker D: And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
[00:23:24] Speaker C: And 20 819.
[00:23:33] Speaker D: Therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
[00:23:39] Speaker C: Okay, so even though it might have come across a little conflicting. When we first read something like Jesus saying, don't go to the Gentiles, it's obvious throughout their ministry that instruction changed or evolved. And Matthew gave us multiple examples of that in his gospel.
Any questions or thoughts on that?
[00:24:07] Speaker D: I'd say just one advantage of that would be they go to people they know already, like going to your family before you go out to everybody else.
[00:24:17] Speaker C: Sure, that makes sense.
[00:24:21] Speaker D: It's been a minute since I studied. It's fulfillment of the scriptures to where, like you were saying, the promise was to the house of Israel.
Again, it's been a long, long time since I've looked into it. So trying to be careful with what I say. But I think it took their rejection for us to be able as gentiles to receive that, even though that was God's intent, he foresaw it coming and that sort of thing. But he was trying to keep that promise with them. And when they completely rejected and he knew they were going to, like, you just read scriptures, you just gave. So then that opened the door because they didn't go after the apostles until, was it Cornelius conversion in acts, I said apostles, but the gentiles.
[00:25:11] Speaker C: Okay, right. There's no examples of conversion.
[00:25:17] Speaker D: Hold on. If they got the Holy Spirit, then yes, they're part of the inheritance as well.
[00:25:23] Speaker C: Okay, good.
[00:25:24] Speaker D: Acts, chapter one, right after Jesus said, go into all the world, he's getting them ready for the Holy Spirit to come on the day of Pentecost. And he said, you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and then to the most parts of the world. So he kind of reminds them of the plan there.
[00:25:43] Speaker C: Yeah, very good.
Go ahead, Robert, are you going to.
[00:25:51] Speaker D: Romans in a bit?
[00:25:54] Speaker C: I don't think so. Go ahead.
[00:25:57] Speaker D: Well, it just seems that he also, I noticed this a while back when you get in Romans. In first chapter, he says, the righteous will live by faith. And I'm not ashamed of the gospel because power of God for salvation to everyone who believes first to the Jew and also to the Greek. So his blessings. And long, long ago, someone I knew very well was saying at some point early on in our Bible study was, what a stupid God and unselfish God. Why would you just choose one people to bless them and all that? And the best I had was to say that, well, these were people who, number one, started from one man. And I got thinking more recently, we don't even know how many men God called. And they didn't leave everything and follow him, but Abraham did. So it grew out of that. And he said, I'll make you a great nation. And Abraham was faithful and so forth. You know the story.
But he also ultimately was planning for the world, obviously, salvation of all men. And some people did become proselytes and so forth. So cutting to back to Romans, the salvation was planned for them. And I think this was to show what it is like to be one of God's children. All these blessings, and they squandered them ultimately. But there were other nations. They were watching all this, and many of them did follow them and say, hey, whatever. So they were told to be mindful of those foreigners among them. But anyway, in Romans chapter two, it goes, talking about what happens to people who don't follow God. And it says, there will be affliction and distress for every human being who does evil. First to the Jew and into the Greek. So they are blessed first. But boy, when they didn't do right, God punished them thoroughly too. And then he also punished Greek.
[00:27:54] Speaker C: Very good. So other examples of this.
Good. Thank you for sharing that. Does this shape at all, maybe the way you'll read Matthew the next time or three?
It does if we just kind of keep this in mind.
Yeah.
[00:28:19] Speaker E: One thing with the section with kind of going on to the next point of this is he tells them not to acquire gold, not to acquire silver for their healings, for the power that they have.
And in my mind with that, I think it's very important to see Christ as a master teacher, but also a master mentor to these men, where we know that this journey is purely spiritual for them to heal others. And what happens when you start doing stuff for money?
The value of what you're doing kind of gets skewed. And I don't know what y'all's thoughts on it are, but right now, the value of them healing other people is to bring people closer to Christ. And for them to reach out to people is to help others as well. And when you bring gold and silver and all that into it, you start putting other values to it where it's. I'm doing this for two pieces of silver versus four pieces of silver. I need to do greater healings to make more for the church. And kind of reflecting that into us is when we start skewing different acts for more dollar amounts. We've got to remember the true value of our actions to help people, because we are bringing them closer to Christ, the ultimate thing, and helping them out of it, but to keep on going through this.
Why do you think Christ told them to go knock on doors one by of. It's pretty specific to do that. Instead of kind of doing what Christ has been doing, right. He's been going and people have been following him. He has healed them. He did the sermon on the mount where it's a big crowd, he could reach so many people. Why didn't he say, go find your own crowd, stand on a rock and start preaching?
[00:30:28] Speaker C: Why don't you tell us?
[00:30:30] Speaker E: I don't know, because I don't have the answers. I hope you all do well. And this is in my mind, if we look at the characteristics of Christ that we've seen in the past chapters, which we skipped over a few of these healings, but, for instance, when he cleanses the leper, what does he do? He touches them. When he heals the woman who had been bleeding for a very long time, she touches his garment, and he turns around and speaks to her. He could have just kept on walking, but he shows who he is. We see Christ showing his personality, and he wants people to know that he is a personal.
Not a personal person, a personal Christ savior. But I think through door knocking, going one by one, number one. I think it kind of goes back to his point of, it probably was easier for them to go one by one instead of stand up and be intimidated by large crowds thinking they had to say everything right. But what they're doing is having conversations with people about the Christ that they saw, the Christ that they experienced, the person within the savior that they had experienced, and that's all they had to do and just reflect that on ourselves.
Do we get more when someone comes to us and tells us their story, their interaction with Christ one on one? Or do we get more from somebody telling it in front of multiple people?
I think Christ had a plan, and he had a very efficient plan. And this is going into another.
[00:32:20] Speaker C: I was just going to say it fits several other things we've said here. Their characteristics, possibly their target audience, people they knew.
Start with those, but you're going out into other cities and towns, so you're looking for those that you can relate to to begin with. But then that gets expanded after that. We don't stop there. But if we apply that to ourselves, we can't all necessarily stand up in front of 700 people and preach a sermon, necessarily.
Maybe we can, and we just don't have the faith to do that in ourselves. But we can go person to person, house to house.
We can share with those that we see every day at work or at school, things like that.
[00:33:23] Speaker E: Yeah, and you bring up one core thing, and what I think is really awesome about just how Christ has linked us all together is the one thing that we all have in common that we can all share, that gives us all no excuse not to is we all have an interaction with Christ. Kind of like what we talked about last week is we all were probably brought to, through someone, to Christ or to Christ's story.
But we all have a story. We all have some way or another how Christ has affected us and brought us here tonight. And that means something to all the people out there who aren't here tonight. And I just want to let y'all know that to where you have something powerful. If you keep on telling yourself the excuse that you don't have a background, you don't know what to say. Just start with how Christ has impacted you and how you have seen him work, just like these apostles did when they first started.
[00:34:30] Speaker C: Can we skip on? Sorry.
I want to make sure we get.
There's a section on persecution where he tells them what they're going to experience.
Was there anything that you had specifically in that section you wanted to highlight? Because I want to get to some of the harder.
[00:34:52] Speaker E: Yeah.
The only thing I would say is, I think there's one point in verse 23 when it says, when they persecute you in, well, chat. Or verse 20 where it says, for it is not you who speak, but the spirit of your father speaking through you. He's talking to people who are new to being apostles, and he's telling them about being sheep among wolves, not just one wolf, but multiple wolves. And just putting yourself in the shoes of the apostles of getting all these potential persecutions that are going to be coming your way, when you thought it might be easy, he throws something in there saying, trust me, when you don't know what to say and when you don't know how to handle something, it's not you who's speaking, but it's the spirit of your father speaking through you. I want you to know that you have that power. And then skipping down to verse 23, when it says, when they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. For truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the son of man comes.
I think that's really important for these men to hear. Where I feel like as men, when somebody persecutes you or says something against your savior, you want to stand and defend and fight. I mean, Peter, Simon Peter the zealot wanted to stand up and fight. But Christ gives him the permission to flee. Because what's more important, spreading the gospel. Not fighting, but reaching as many people as possible.
[00:36:21] Speaker C: All right. And in this section, 16 through 25, we also see the persecution that's going to happen to families. It's introduced to us there.
And there's no part of the family that's exempt from this persecution. In fact, I would like for us to go ahead and jump to verse 34. Jr. Unless, if you want to start.
[00:36:46] Speaker E: Do you want me to go ahead and read the whole section?
[00:36:49] Speaker C: Yeah. Let's make sure we all read this. Because to me, this is hard. And I think we all experience it, but it's real and we need to. I'll read it. Okay. Let's start in verse 34.
And in my Bible, the title of this section is called not peace, but a sword.
That sounds a little od for Jesus sending out disciples, doesn't it?
But he starts in verse 34 and says, do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I've not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father. And a daughter against her mother. And a daughter in law against her mother in law.
And a person's enemies will be those of their own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it. And whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Is there fuzz on that set of verses at all?
[00:38:23] Speaker D: My opinion. Very timely chapter. And due to the fact there is fuz on it. That allows each one that's going out. Not to introduce fuzz into what they're saying to whoever you're talking to.
He lays it out very explicitly.
[00:38:42] Speaker E: Robin.
[00:38:46] Speaker C: Other thoughts or questions on this section of scripture.
[00:38:55] Speaker A: It's confusing when you're young, when your Bible studio preparing them for what his message is going to do to the Jews. I mean, families are going to be divided. Because some are going to follow him. And some are going to stay with the traditional Pharisees.
And that's going to rock their world.
[00:39:19] Speaker C: And back to that perspective, let's put ourselves in those shoes back then, of the jewish family and the tightness of that family.
And now Jesus comes and he's preaching. Tell them about me. And if they don't receive you, shake the dust off and move on. But some are going to believe and follow.
And there's going to be trouble in the family. And Patty, to your comment, you say to those young, I think it's any age, really, but a new Bible student, it's kind of hard to accept.
And why is that?
Why would that be hard to accept to somebody who is just learning about Jesus?
[00:40:17] Speaker A: You don't have all the intricacies to understand the real situation and what it really is talking about.
[00:40:25] Speaker D: Right.
[00:40:25] Speaker A: All the background.
[00:40:30] Speaker C: It's harsh, it's real and it's true.
And with the context and the perspective of that time, I think we see how hard it would be. But doesn't it flow to today as well?
I'd be willing to bet every family that's represented in here in some way is touched by that.
Any other thoughts or questions?
[00:41:04] Speaker D: The companion scripture that in fact it's referenced at the beginning of verse 34 is Luke 1251 to 53. And there he, rather than using the word sword, he says, do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. He uses a different term there that is that people, as they make their choices, are going to choose differently. And it'll cause division within families when somebody decides to follow Jesus or not. Not an active warfare per se, but it's division as a result of choices that people make.
[00:41:48] Speaker C: That's right.
[00:41:53] Speaker D: Two inches sword that's able to divide.
It's interesting to me to think about.
[00:42:03] Speaker C: One of their next encounters with the.
[00:42:06] Speaker D: Sword is when the soldier slices the sword off of Jesus'ear and he puts it back on.
And then once they get into preaching, Paul preaches about the sword that spirits like a two eight and talks about the sword of the spirit, part of the army that he's put on.
[00:42:30] Speaker C: Right?
So that that sword's a chosen word by that author and it's used elsewhere.
That's a symbol. Any other thoughts on this?
Anybody struggle with this? And I'm not asking for personal stories.
[00:42:54] Speaker D: I think he's doing a really good job of setting up the leaders because some of us kind of expect we can go home with the good news and everybody will like that. And we're delusioned. We haven't heard the stories already. How other people doesn't work, but he sets them up. He's prophetic right here. He's just exactly what's going to happen. Some of us go home and we think, hey, guess what I learned? We tell somebody at home and they're like, less wrong. And if you believe that, you can right away, but they're not going to be caught off guard.
And the leaders got to be prepared because it's stunning to some people. I know they went home with good news.
Wow.
Some of them were told, you can't live anymore.
So it's not going to be a shock to disciples. It's possible.
[00:43:44] Speaker C: Right. Does it draw focus to those teachers, those disciples? I think so. You go around dividing families, you're going to get some attention.
All right.
That was a second bell, wasn't it? Thank you for being here. Thanks for sharing comments and thoughts. We'll see you next week.
