August 10, 2025 • 20 mins
Jesus turns conventional wisdom upside down as he addresses marriage, wealth, and true greatness in God's kingdom. He challenges cultural norms by returning to God's original design for marriage, confronting prosperity theology, and revealing that those considered least important now may be greatest in heaven.
• Marriage is not merely a social contract but a sacred spiritual bond where "two become one"
• Divorce was permitted by Moses as a concession to hard hearts, not God's original intent
• Jesus welcomes children, declaring the kingdom belongs to those with childlike faith
• The rich young man walks away sad when Jesus challenges him to sell his possessions
• It's "easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter heaven"
• Salvation is impossible with man but possible with God
• Those who sacrifice everything for Jesus will receive a hundred times more in return
• Many who are greatest now will be least important then, and vice versa
Make sure to like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and podcast. Leave us a five-star review and join the Bible Breakdown discussion on Facebook. Get all links at thebiblebreakdown.com.
Contact us-
Ask a Question
Send Encouragement
Take a Next Step-
SOAP Bible Study Method.
Bible Reading Plan.
Free Weekly Newsletter.
Socials-
Facebook.
Instagram.
X.
YouTube.
The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everybody, welcome back to the Bible
Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today, matthew
, chapter 19,.
And today's title is theKingdom Right Side Up.
The Kingdom Right Side Up.
I don't know if you've everseen this before, but I one time
was watching this YouTube videoand it was this guy who was in
front of thousands of people andhe started painting a painting
(00:22):
and I could tell on the YouTubevideo that it was only like two
minutes long.
So I was like, okay, this guybetter hurry and he's painting
and it absolutely makes no sense.
I mean, he's got like a linehere and a color over there and
all this kind of stuff and I'mfeeling sorry for him.
I'm like man, this guy, they'vegotten him up on this stage
thousands of people and he'sjust freaking out stage
(00:45):
thousands of people and he'sjust freaking out, he's just
panicking and he's just notdoing it right.
Of course, you know, with my,with my wonderful artistic
knowledge, you know, and I'mwatching him and it just is
making less and less sense.
And then he steps back and helooks at the painting and he
looks at the crowd and he goesand he's almost like he goes, oh
, and he turns the paintingupside down, but actually he
turns it right side up.
Because when he turns it upsidedown now you see a beautiful
(01:07):
picture of the face of Jesus andof course the crowd just goes
wild and realize actually thewhole time he was painting
upside down.
And so what looked like it wasupside down actually, when it
turned right side up, then itmakes sense.
Well, today we're going to lookat some of the most
controversial topics in the bookof Matthew.
We're going to talk aboutdiscussion of divorce and
(01:27):
marriage, about blessing othersand about what is most important
in the kingdom of God.
I mean, one of the things Ilove about Jesus is he'll mess
around, he talks abouteverything, he doesn't avoid
anything, and we're going totalk about it and we're going to
go all the way through this,and this is one of those that
I'm not looking forward to it,but I do at the same time,
(01:47):
because it's the truth of God'sword and it's always worth it,
right?
So, if you have your Bibles,open up with me to Matthew,
chapter 19.
While you're doing that, asalways, make sure to like, share
and subscribe to the YouTubechannel and the podcast.
Make sure you leave us afive-star review on the podcast.
It really does help and makesure you're going to the Bible
Breakdown discussion on Facebook.
There is an amazing team doinga wonderful job.
(02:09):
The more we dig, the more wefind, and you can get all of
those links atthebiblebreakdowncom.
Well, if you've been with usover the past several weeks,
while you're getting your Biblesready, getting your coffee
ready, getting your popcornready, we have been walking
through this idea in Matthewthat the overall goal is that
Jesus is the king, and we'vebeen talking about this idea
(02:30):
that there were so manydifferent things that were
covered in the gospels, but theywere framed with different
topics.
Mark was mainly written to theGentiles talking about the
suffering of the Savior, and themost used word in the book of
Mark is immediately.
Luke was an orderly account,like a chronological order, of
what happened.
(02:51):
John was about the message ofJesus.
Matthew was primarily writtento the Jewish audience about the
kingship of Jesus, because theyhad been waiting on the
promised Messiah, and so already, just in one chapter, matthew's
got the receipts and he's likeI can prove that Jesus is the
rightful king of earth, but thenhe spends the rest of the book
(03:12):
talking about how he is.
So much more than that, andwe've been talking through this
idea of what that is, and one ofthe things the king does is the
king brings order to hiskingdom and he turns right side
up things that have been turnedupside down, and some of that we
have seen him talk through.
But one of those things is theidea of divorce and remarriage
(03:35):
and what the kingdom of God hasto say about it.
Now, here's the thing Just likenow, divorce and remarriage and
marriage in general is a thingit was back then as well, and
the idea is what does God thinkabout marriage?
So make sure on the outset, ifyou're someone who has been
divorced and been remarried,this scripture is not intended
(03:57):
to pick on you.
Okay, this is not that.
This is trying to get back tothe beginning about what does
God think about marriage?
The great thing about thekingdom of God is there's
forgiveness.
But is marriage just a socialcontract?
Is it something that we do forthe sake of tax benefits?
Is it so that we can share therent around here, you know, and
(04:17):
this kind of stuff, or is itsomething spiritual that's going
on?
Well, we're going to talk aboutthat.
We're going to talk about howJesus blesses others.
What is most important in thekingdom of God, and we're going
to come together at the very endof this and break these down
one at a time.
So we're going to read thechapter and then we're going to
break it down.
If you're ready, let's justdive into it.
Matthew, chapter 19, verse 1,says this when Jesus had
(04:39):
finished saying these things, heleft Galilee and went down to
the region of Judea east of theJordan River.
Large crowds followed him thereand he healed their sick.
Some Pharisees came and triedto trap him with questions.
Should a man be allowed todivorce his wife for just any
reason?
Now pause Once again.
Don't forget we talked aboutthis a few days ago.
(05:02):
This is not a bad thing.
The fact that they're evenasking questions actually give
respect to Jesus.
The problem is that they're notasking because they want to
learn.
They're asking because theywant to trap him.
That's why Matthew is quick tosay this.
He wants the reader tounderstand.
They're not asking questions,as most people would, to learn.
(05:24):
They're asking questionsbecause they're trying to trap
Jesus.
But just the fact of askingwasn't a bad thing.
Here we go, verse four Haven'tyou read the scripture?
Jesus replied.
They record that from thebeginning, god made them male
and female.
And then he said this explainswhy a man leaves his father and
mother and is joined to his wifeand the two are united into one
(05:48):
.
Since they are no longer twobut one, let no one split apart
what God has joined together.
Then why did Moses say in thelaw that a man could give his
wife a written notice of divorceand send her away?
They asked.
Jesus said Moses permitteddivorce as a concession to your
hard hearts, but it was not whatGod had originally intended.
(06:10):
I tell you this whoeverdivorces his wife and marries
someone else commits adultery,unless his wife has been
unfaithful.
Jesus' disciples then said tohim well, if that is the case,
it's better not to even marry.
Not everyone can accept thisstatement.
Jesus said Only those to whomGod helps.
Some are born as eunuchs.
(06:31):
Some have been made eunuchs byothers.
Ouch, some have chosen not tomarry for the sake of the
kingdom of heaven.
Let anyone accept this who canOne day.
Some parents brought theirchildren to Jesus so he could
lay his hands on them and prayfor them, but his disciples
scolded the parents forbothering him.
But Jesus said my paraphrase ofthis is stop that and leave
(06:56):
them alone.
But this is what Jesus actuallysaid Let the children come to
me, don't stop them, for thekingdom of heaven belongs to
those who are like thesechildren.
And he placed his hands ontheir heads and blessed them
before he left.
Then someone came to Jesus withthis question Teacher, what good
deed must I do to have eternallife?
Why ask me about what is good?
(07:18):
Jesus replied there is only onewho is good.
But to answer your question, ifyou want to receive eternal
life, keep the commandments.
Which ones, the man asked?
Jesus replied you shall notmurder, you must not commit
adultery, you must not steal,you must not testify falsely,
honor your father and yourmother and love your neighbor as
(07:38):
yourself.
I've obeyed all thesecommandments.
The young man replied what elseMust I do?
And then Jesus told him if youwant to be perfect, go and sell
all your possessions and giveyour money to the poor, and you
will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me.
But when the young man heardthis, he went away, sad, for he
(07:59):
had many possessions.
And Jesus said to his disciplesI tell you the truth, it is
very hard for a rich person toenter the kingdom of heaven.
I'll say it again.
It is easier.
I'll say it again.
The disciples were astoundedThen.
Who in the world can be saved?
They asked.
Jesus looked at them intentlyand said Humanly speaking, it is
(08:22):
impossible, but with Godeverything is possible.
Peter said to him we have givenup everything to follow you.
What will we get Then?
Jesus replied I assure you thatwhen the world is made new and
the Son of man sits upon hisglorious throne, you who have
been my followers will also siton twelve thrones judging the
(08:43):
twelve tribes of Israel, andeveryone who has given up houses
or brothers or sisters, orsisters or father or mother or
children or property for my sakewill receive a hundred times in
as much return and will inheriteternal life.
But many who are greatest nowwill be least important then,
and those who are leastimportant now will be the
greatest then.
(09:04):
Wow, you want to talk aboutturning the world right side up
from being upside down?
That is exactly what Jesus justdid.
Let's break this down.
First of all, during the time,because of the hardness of their
heart, according to what Jesusjust said, that what the people
would do is they would then havethe ability to give a
(09:25):
certificate of divorce.
Now, according to Bible historyand scholars, it was ridiculous
.
They could give their wife acertificate of divorce if she
burned the dinner, if she didn'tlook right, I mean all of this
kind of stuff.
So what had happened was ismarriage had become a social
contract.
(09:45):
And then these men in thesecultures would then hold it over
their wives and say if you dosomething I don't like, I'm
gonna get rid of you.
And you know what jesus is doing.
He is throwing that in thetrash can.
And he is saying that at thevery beginning, god made them.
So jesus is the king.
So let's say it like this jesusis saying in the very beginning
(10:05):
, I made male and female to behelpers and for one another, to
live with one another.
Therefore, when this happens,it's not just a physical thing,
it's a spiritual thing, and theybecome one physically,
emotionally and spiritually.
And so therefore, he's sayingyou can't un-one what has been
(10:28):
won.
Like.
Imagine this have you evertaken two pieces of paper and
glued them together and then,after the glue has dried, try to
separate them?
What happens?
You can separate them, but alittle bit of this page will
break off on that page.
A little bit of that page break.
In other words, you can'tun-one what is won.
You can't put the egg yolk backin the egg once it has been
(10:48):
cracked.
It's cracked.
And so jesus is saying it's thesame thing, which is why he
hates divorce.
And can I say this I come from abroken home.
My parents got divorced earlyin my life.
I have walked with more peoplewho have gotten divorced and
have stayed married and can Itell you I've never heard one
person say that they came out ofa divorce unscathed.
There was a part of it thatbroke them and even if it was
(11:11):
better for them.
I've known women who've comeout of horrible abuse situations
.
I've known some men who've comeout of some horrible abuse
situations and even though theywould say they are better off
for now, having been divorced,they're still not un-won.
They're connected to thatperson for the rest of their
life.
That's why Jesus says whoeverdivorces his wife and marries
(11:33):
someone else, they're actuallycontinuing to perpetuate the
cycle of sin.
That's why what he's saying ishe's saying take it so very
seriously.
Don't marry somebody justbecause they cook well.
Marry somebody because you arenow committing your life to them
.
I think that what he's sayingis you need to pay attention and
(11:55):
make sure that when you marrysomeone, you realize what you're
doing.
And so, once again, that's notthrowing shade at anybody who's
being divorced.
It's saying take what you havenow and realize how important it
is.
I love how he's.
Also later on, he's talkingabout this rich man, and here's
the thing you need to understandhe is not telling everybody to
sell everything that they haveand go and join up with like a
(12:19):
monastery somewhere.
That is one of the things thatI think has been overdone
sometimes is they think well, ifI'm going to really be perfect,
then I've got to selleverything I have and only then
am I going to have treasure inheaven.
He does this once Because thepoint is is this person is
thinking that because they aredoing really good at some things
, god, that their heart is pure?
(12:41):
But Jesus knows what is reallyholding this young man back, so
he's not doing this as acatch-22.
He's saying you really want tofollow me, then come, follow me
with everything you have, which?
Then notice how it says thatwhen Jesus said it is easier for
a camel to go through the eyeof a needle than for a rich
person to enter the kingdom ofheaven.
Do you notice how it says?
(13:02):
It astounded the discipleswhich, by the way, I know
there's this old thing and it'sreally cool this idea that there
was a gate to get intoJerusalem called the eye of a
needle and a camel would have toget on his hands and knees to
get to it.
That's actually not true Makesa really, really cool story.
That's not it.
Jesus is once again usinghyperbole to saying a big old,
(13:24):
fat camel going through the eyeof a needle.
In other words, he's saying itis impossible to do.
But do you notice that thedisciples are astounded by this?
You know why?
Because in the time, it wasthought that the more
financially blessed you were, itwas a sign of God's favor on
(13:45):
your life, lord, help me.
It was a sign that God hadfavored you If you had.
The more you had, the more Godloved you.
And so, therefore, when Jesussays, I say to you it is easier
for something impossible to cometrue than for a rich person to
make it into heaven, that wouldhave rattled the disciples'
(14:06):
worldview, absolutely rattledthem, because they thought that
it was the people who wereclosest to God that could
actually get there.
And so they're saying well then, wait a minute.
Then If the people who are mostblessed by God can't get to
heaven, then who can be saved?
And Jesus says humanly speaking, it's impossible.
In other words, if you justlook at what people are doing,
(14:29):
then you're never gonna getthere, but with God, it's
impossible.
In other words, if you justlook at what people are doing,
then you're never going to getthere, but with God, it is
impossible.
So, in other words, what Jesusis saying is your success in the
kingdom of God has very littleto do with what you have as a
matter of fact.
In the kingdom of God, thosewho are great now are going to
(14:49):
be the least then, and those whoare the least now will be the
greatest.
Then I want to tell yousomething and I know, I know, I
know, I know that I'm going tomake a lot of people mad right
now, and it is not my intentionto do this, but I just want to
encourage you to do something.
If you are somebody who to dosomething, if you are somebody
(15:13):
who absolutely falls into thisidea of the health and wealth
and prosperity gospel and bythat I mean that whatever you
want, if you claim it enough,you can have it and that the way
that God shows he loves you isby giving you everything that
you want.
If you believe that, keepreading the Bible with me,
because that's not at all whatthe Bible says.
Can I encourage you that ifyou're listening to a teacher
that tells you that if you justbelieve something enough and you
(15:33):
just claim it enough, god isgoing to show you how much he
loves you by giving youeverything you want.
Ask for context, like whatscriptures prove that, and then
read the context.
Do you know what the Bible says?
Jesus himself, the king, saysin verse 30, many who are
greatest now will be leastimportant then, and many who are
(15:54):
least important now will begreatest then.
And he even says that it iseasier for something impossible
to happen than for a rich personto enter the kingdom of heaven.
Only through God.
In other words, yes him ofheaven.
Only through God.
In other words, yes, god.
God may bless you.
But that is not always a signthat he is.
He is with you.
(16:15):
I have seen people get blessed.
I knew him, I was their pastorand we had to have some
uncomfortable conversations.
I'm thinking of a moment rightnow.
It was a long time ago.
But I remember a guy one timewho got a promotion and doubled
his salary.
I mean, he was already making areally good salary and it
doubled his salary.
And he was like, pastor, I knowGod is with me, I know he is
(16:37):
for me, he wouldn't have blessedme with this and blah, blah,
blah, blah, all these things andstuff.
And I had to say, buddy, youand I just talked about how the
fact that you travel as much asyou do, you're struggling with
pornography, that you havecalled escorts before and we're
trying to walk through purity,that blessing does not mean that
that God, that the fact thatGod blessed you is not mean that
(16:59):
God is blessing your choicesright now.
That blessing is possibly a bigtemptation, but no, no, we are
blessed because of who God sayswe are, not because of always
what God allows and doesn'tallow into our life, and that's
a hard one.
But on the other side, there isan amazing lesson there,
because that also means thatjust because God doesn't always
(17:23):
do it our way doesn't mean hedoesn't love us.
You know what I think?
I think when we get to heaven,we are going to be amazed at who
is the most honored.
I think the most honored peopleare going to be people that we
never knew.
They're going to be people thatwere the least on earth, but
they're the greatest them.
They're going to be the peoplewere the least on earth, but
they're the greatest them.
(17:43):
They're going to be the peoplewho served in churches and you
never knew their name.
They're the ones who cleanedthe toilets.
They're the ones who handed outworship guides.
Those are the ones who wouldcome up and clean the church
during the week.
Those are the ones who gavetheir life and went into the
mission field and as they livedon the mission field, no one
ever knew their name.
But God did so.
Can I tell you, don't strive tobe the greatest in the eyes of
(18:09):
men.
As a matter of fact, if you'regoing to strive for something,
strive to be the least importantin the eyes of men, because it
is then when you begin to seethe favor of God.
And that doesn't mean that wepurposely try to sabotage our
lives.
It just means we don't care.
I don't care if you know myname, I just care that you know
his name and I care that heknows my name.
If we live our life like that,it takes the pressure off and
(18:29):
then we can serve without caring, because I know the king knows
my name and I love this quote asa pastor.
This is a quote that I put inmy life and you could retrofit
it to fix your life and thenwe're going to pray there.
I put in my life and you couldretrofit it to fix your life and
then we're going to pray.
There was a pastor I don't evenremember his name who once said
(18:52):
live for God, raise your family,preach, die, be for God.
Doesn't that just speak againstthe world?
What they say all the time?
They say you know, create amonument for yourself so people
remember you long after you'regone.
All that kind of stuff.
Not this guy.
He was like I'm going to raisemy family, I'm going to follow
Jesus, I'm going to preach thegood news of God's word, then
I'm going to die and I'm goingto be forgotten, but as long as
you remember his name, that'swhat matters.
(19:12):
Let's pray together right now,god, thank you so much for today
.
Thank you, god, that yourkingdom is exactly the opposite
of this world, and that's a goodthing, because that means that
you are for us in more ways thanwe can imagine.
That means you're doing morethan we can imagine, and we're
so thankful for you.
We're so thankful that youteach us what to take seriously
and how to do that.
(19:33):
You teach us how to live.
You challenge us to be better,to be least in the kingdom of
men so we can be greatest in thekingdom of heaven.
I'm so thankful, lord, thatit's not about what we achieve,
but it's about who we become.
We celebrate you today InJesus' name.
We pray Amen.
Amen, god's word says.
Jesus said say it with me.
Matthew 28, verse 19.
He says all authority in heavenand on earth has been given to
(19:55):
me.
Go, therefore, and makedisciples of all nations.
I love you.
I'll see you tomorrow forMatthew, chapter 20.
Hello everybody, welcome back to the Bible
Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today, matthew
, chapter 19,.
And today's title is theKingdom Right Side Up.
The Kingdom Right Side Up.
I don't know if you've everseen this before, but I one time
was watching this YouTube videoand it was this guy who was in
front of thousands of people andhe started painting a painting
(00:22):
and I could tell on the YouTubevideo that it was only like two
minutes long.
So I was like, okay, this guybetter hurry and he's painting
and it absolutely makes no sense.
I mean, he's got like a linehere and a color over there and
all this kind of stuff and I'mfeeling sorry for him.
I'm like man, this guy, they'vegotten him up on this stage
thousands of people and he'sjust freaking out stage
(00:45):
thousands of people and he'sjust freaking out, he's just
panicking and he's just notdoing it right.
Of course, you know, with my,with my wonderful artistic
knowledge, you know, and I'mwatching him and it just is
making less and less sense.
And then he steps back and helooks at the painting and he
looks at the crowd and he goesand he's almost like he goes, oh
, and he turns the paintingupside down, but actually he
turns it right side up.
Because when he turns it upsidedown now you see a beautiful
(01:07):
picture of the face of Jesus andof course the crowd just goes
wild and realize actually thewhole time he was painting
upside down.
And so what looked like it wasupside down actually, when it
turned right side up, then itmakes sense.
Well, today we're going to lookat some of the most
controversial topics in the bookof Matthew.
We're going to talk aboutdiscussion of divorce and
(01:27):
marriage, about blessing othersand about what is most important
in the kingdom of God.
I mean, one of the things Ilove about Jesus is he'll mess
around, he talks abouteverything, he doesn't avoid
anything, and we're going totalk about it and we're going to
go all the way through this,and this is one of those that
I'm not looking forward to it,but I do at the same time,
(01:47):
because it's the truth of God'sword and it's always worth it,
right?
So, if you have your Bibles,open up with me to Matthew,
chapter 19.
While you're doing that, asalways, make sure to like, share
and subscribe to the YouTubechannel and the podcast.
Make sure you leave us afive-star review on the podcast.
It really does help and makesure you're going to the Bible
Breakdown discussion on Facebook.
There is an amazing team doinga wonderful job.
(02:09):
The more we dig, the more wefind, and you can get all of
those links atthebiblebreakdowncom.
Well, if you've been with usover the past several weeks,
while you're getting your Biblesready, getting your coffee
ready, getting your popcornready, we have been walking
through this idea in Matthewthat the overall goal is that
Jesus is the king, and we'vebeen talking about this idea
(02:30):
that there were so manydifferent things that were
covered in the gospels, but theywere framed with different
topics.
Mark was mainly written to theGentiles talking about the
suffering of the Savior, and themost used word in the book of
Mark is immediately.
Luke was an orderly account,like a chronological order, of
what happened.
(02:51):
John was about the message ofJesus.
Matthew was primarily writtento the Jewish audience about the
kingship of Jesus, because theyhad been waiting on the
promised Messiah, and so already, just in one chapter, matthew's
got the receipts and he's likeI can prove that Jesus is the
rightful king of earth, but thenhe spends the rest of the book
(03:12):
talking about how he is.
So much more than that, andwe've been talking through this
idea of what that is, and one ofthe things the king does is the
king brings order to hiskingdom and he turns right side
up things that have been turnedupside down, and some of that we
have seen him talk through.
But one of those things is theidea of divorce and remarriage
(03:35):
and what the kingdom of God hasto say about it.
Now, here's the thing Just likenow, divorce and remarriage and
marriage in general is a thingit was back then as well, and
the idea is what does God thinkabout marriage?
So make sure on the outset, ifyou're someone who has been
divorced and been remarried,this scripture is not intended
(03:57):
to pick on you.
Okay, this is not that.
This is trying to get back tothe beginning about what does
God think about marriage?
The great thing about thekingdom of God is there's
forgiveness.
But is marriage just a socialcontract?
Is it something that we do forthe sake of tax benefits?
Is it so that we can share therent around here, you know, and
(04:17):
this kind of stuff, or is itsomething spiritual that's going
on?
Well, we're going to talk aboutthat.
We're going to talk about howJesus blesses others.
What is most important in thekingdom of God, and we're going
to come together at the very endof this and break these down
one at a time.
So we're going to read thechapter and then we're going to
break it down.
If you're ready, let's justdive into it.
Matthew, chapter 19, verse 1,says this when Jesus had
(04:39):
finished saying these things, heleft Galilee and went down to
the region of Judea east of theJordan River.
Large crowds followed him thereand he healed their sick.
Some Pharisees came and triedto trap him with questions.
Should a man be allowed todivorce his wife for just any
reason?
Now pause Once again.
Don't forget we talked aboutthis a few days ago.
(05:02):
This is not a bad thing.
The fact that they're evenasking questions actually give
respect to Jesus.
The problem is that they're notasking because they want to
learn.
They're asking because theywant to trap him.
That's why Matthew is quick tosay this.
He wants the reader tounderstand.
They're not asking questions,as most people would, to learn.
(05:24):
They're asking questionsbecause they're trying to trap
Jesus.
But just the fact of askingwasn't a bad thing.
Here we go, verse four Haven'tyou read the scripture?
Jesus replied.
They record that from thebeginning, god made them male
and female.
And then he said this explainswhy a man leaves his father and
mother and is joined to his wifeand the two are united into one
(05:48):
.
Since they are no longer twobut one, let no one split apart
what God has joined together.
Then why did Moses say in thelaw that a man could give his
wife a written notice of divorceand send her away?
They asked.
Jesus said Moses permitteddivorce as a concession to your
hard hearts, but it was not whatGod had originally intended.
(06:10):
I tell you this whoeverdivorces his wife and marries
someone else commits adultery,unless his wife has been
unfaithful.
Jesus' disciples then said tohim well, if that is the case,
it's better not to even marry.
Not everyone can accept thisstatement.
Jesus said Only those to whomGod helps.
Some are born as eunuchs.
(06:31):
Some have been made eunuchs byothers.
Ouch, some have chosen not tomarry for the sake of the
kingdom of heaven.
Let anyone accept this who canOne day.
Some parents brought theirchildren to Jesus so he could
lay his hands on them and prayfor them, but his disciples
scolded the parents forbothering him.
But Jesus said my paraphrase ofthis is stop that and leave
(06:56):
them alone.
But this is what Jesus actuallysaid Let the children come to
me, don't stop them, for thekingdom of heaven belongs to
those who are like thesechildren.
And he placed his hands ontheir heads and blessed them
before he left.
Then someone came to Jesus withthis question Teacher, what good
deed must I do to have eternallife?
Why ask me about what is good?
(07:18):
Jesus replied there is only onewho is good.
But to answer your question, ifyou want to receive eternal
life, keep the commandments.
Which ones, the man asked?
Jesus replied you shall notmurder, you must not commit
adultery, you must not steal,you must not testify falsely,
honor your father and yourmother and love your neighbor as
(07:38):
yourself.
I've obeyed all thesecommandments.
The young man replied what elseMust I do?
And then Jesus told him if youwant to be perfect, go and sell
all your possessions and giveyour money to the poor, and you
will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me.
But when the young man heardthis, he went away, sad, for he
(07:59):
had many possessions.
And Jesus said to his disciplesI tell you the truth, it is
very hard for a rich person toenter the kingdom of heaven.
I'll say it again.
It is easier.
I'll say it again.
The disciples were astoundedThen.
Who in the world can be saved?
They asked.
Jesus looked at them intentlyand said Humanly speaking, it is
(08:22):
impossible, but with Godeverything is possible.
Peter said to him we have givenup everything to follow you.
What will we get Then?
Jesus replied I assure you thatwhen the world is made new and
the Son of man sits upon hisglorious throne, you who have
been my followers will also siton twelve thrones judging the
(08:43):
twelve tribes of Israel, andeveryone who has given up houses
or brothers or sisters, orsisters or father or mother or
children or property for my sakewill receive a hundred times in
as much return and will inheriteternal life.
But many who are greatest nowwill be least important then,
and those who are leastimportant now will be the
greatest then.
(09:04):
Wow, you want to talk aboutturning the world right side up
from being upside down?
That is exactly what Jesus justdid.
Let's break this down.
First of all, during the time,because of the hardness of their
heart, according to what Jesusjust said, that what the people
would do is they would then havethe ability to give a
(09:25):
certificate of divorce.
Now, according to Bible historyand scholars, it was ridiculous
.
They could give their wife acertificate of divorce if she
burned the dinner, if she didn'tlook right, I mean all of this
kind of stuff.
So what had happened was ismarriage had become a social
contract.
(09:45):
And then these men in thesecultures would then hold it over
their wives and say if you dosomething I don't like, I'm
gonna get rid of you.
And you know what jesus is doing.
He is throwing that in thetrash can.
And he is saying that at thevery beginning, god made them.
So jesus is the king.
So let's say it like this jesusis saying in the very beginning
(10:05):
, I made male and female to behelpers and for one another, to
live with one another.
Therefore, when this happens,it's not just a physical thing,
it's a spiritual thing, and theybecome one physically,
emotionally and spiritually.
And so therefore, he's sayingyou can't un-one what has been
(10:28):
won.
Like.
Imagine this have you evertaken two pieces of paper and
glued them together and then,after the glue has dried, try to
separate them?
What happens?
You can separate them, but alittle bit of this page will
break off on that page.
A little bit of that page break.
In other words, you can'tun-one what is won.
You can't put the egg yolk backin the egg once it has been
(10:48):
cracked.
It's cracked.
And so jesus is saying it's thesame thing, which is why he
hates divorce.
And can I say this I come from abroken home.
My parents got divorced earlyin my life.
I have walked with more peoplewho have gotten divorced and
have stayed married and can Itell you I've never heard one
person say that they came out ofa divorce unscathed.
There was a part of it thatbroke them and even if it was
(11:11):
better for them.
I've known women who've comeout of horrible abuse situations
.
I've known some men who've comeout of some horrible abuse
situations and even though theywould say they are better off
for now, having been divorced,they're still not un-won.
They're connected to thatperson for the rest of their
life.
That's why Jesus says whoeverdivorces his wife and marries
(11:33):
someone else, they're actuallycontinuing to perpetuate the
cycle of sin.
That's why what he's saying ishe's saying take it so very
seriously.
Don't marry somebody justbecause they cook well.
Marry somebody because you arenow committing your life to them
.
I think that what he's sayingis you need to pay attention and
(11:55):
make sure that when you marrysomeone, you realize what you're
doing.
And so, once again, that's notthrowing shade at anybody who's
being divorced.
It's saying take what you havenow and realize how important it
is.
I love how he's.
Also later on, he's talkingabout this rich man, and here's
the thing you need to understandhe is not telling everybody to
sell everything that they haveand go and join up with like a
(12:19):
monastery somewhere.
That is one of the things thatI think has been overdone
sometimes is they think well, ifI'm going to really be perfect,
then I've got to selleverything I have and only then
am I going to have treasure inheaven.
He does this once Because thepoint is is this person is
thinking that because they aredoing really good at some things
, god, that their heart is pure?
(12:41):
But Jesus knows what is reallyholding this young man back, so
he's not doing this as acatch-22.
He's saying you really want tofollow me, then come, follow me
with everything you have, which?
Then notice how it says thatwhen Jesus said it is easier for
a camel to go through the eyeof a needle than for a rich
person to enter the kingdom ofheaven.
Do you notice how it says?
(13:02):
It astounded the discipleswhich, by the way, I know
there's this old thing and it'sreally cool this idea that there
was a gate to get intoJerusalem called the eye of a
needle and a camel would have toget on his hands and knees to
get to it.
That's actually not true Makesa really, really cool story.
That's not it.
Jesus is once again usinghyperbole to saying a big old,
(13:24):
fat camel going through the eyeof a needle.
In other words, he's saying itis impossible to do.
But do you notice that thedisciples are astounded by this?
You know why?
Because in the time, it wasthought that the more
financially blessed you were, itwas a sign of God's favor on
(13:45):
your life, lord, help me.
It was a sign that God hadfavored you If you had.
The more you had, the more Godloved you.
And so, therefore, when Jesussays, I say to you it is easier
for something impossible to cometrue than for a rich person to
make it into heaven, that wouldhave rattled the disciples'
(14:06):
worldview, absolutely rattledthem, because they thought that
it was the people who wereclosest to God that could
actually get there.
And so they're saying well then, wait a minute.
Then If the people who are mostblessed by God can't get to
heaven, then who can be saved?
And Jesus says humanly speaking, it's impossible.
In other words, if you justlook at what people are doing,
(14:29):
then you're never gonna getthere, but with God, it's
impossible.
In other words, if you justlook at what people are doing,
then you're never going to getthere, but with God, it is
impossible.
So, in other words, what Jesusis saying is your success in the
kingdom of God has very littleto do with what you have as a
matter of fact.
In the kingdom of God, thosewho are great now are going to
(14:49):
be the least then, and those whoare the least now will be the
greatest.
Then I want to tell yousomething and I know, I know, I
know, I know that I'm going tomake a lot of people mad right
now, and it is not my intentionto do this, but I just want to
encourage you to do something.
If you are somebody who to dosomething, if you are somebody
(15:13):
who absolutely falls into thisidea of the health and wealth
and prosperity gospel and bythat I mean that whatever you
want, if you claim it enough,you can have it and that the way
that God shows he loves you isby giving you everything that
you want.
If you believe that, keepreading the Bible with me,
because that's not at all whatthe Bible says.
Can I encourage you that ifyou're listening to a teacher
that tells you that if you justbelieve something enough and you
(15:33):
just claim it enough, god isgoing to show you how much he
loves you by giving youeverything you want.
Ask for context, like whatscriptures prove that, and then
read the context.
Do you know what the Bible says?
Jesus himself, the king, saysin verse 30, many who are
greatest now will be leastimportant then, and many who are
(15:54):
least important now will begreatest then.
And he even says that it iseasier for something impossible
to happen than for a rich personto enter the kingdom of heaven.
Only through God.
In other words, yes him ofheaven.
Only through God.
In other words, yes, god.
God may bless you.
But that is not always a signthat he is.
He is with you.
(16:15):
I have seen people get blessed.
I knew him, I was their pastorand we had to have some
uncomfortable conversations.
I'm thinking of a moment rightnow.
It was a long time ago.
But I remember a guy one timewho got a promotion and doubled
his salary.
I mean, he was already making areally good salary and it
doubled his salary.
And he was like, pastor, I knowGod is with me, I know he is
(16:37):
for me, he wouldn't have blessedme with this and blah, blah,
blah, blah, all these things andstuff.
And I had to say, buddy, youand I just talked about how the
fact that you travel as much asyou do, you're struggling with
pornography, that you havecalled escorts before and we're
trying to walk through purity,that blessing does not mean that
that God, that the fact thatGod blessed you is not mean that
(16:59):
God is blessing your choicesright now.
That blessing is possibly a bigtemptation, but no, no, we are
blessed because of who God sayswe are, not because of always
what God allows and doesn'tallow into our life, and that's
a hard one.
But on the other side, there isan amazing lesson there,
because that also means thatjust because God doesn't always
(17:23):
do it our way doesn't mean hedoesn't love us.
You know what I think?
I think when we get to heaven,we are going to be amazed at who
is the most honored.
I think the most honored peopleare going to be people that we
never knew.
They're going to be people thatwere the least on earth, but
they're the greatest them.
They're going to be the peoplewere the least on earth, but
they're the greatest them.
(17:43):
They're going to be the peoplewho served in churches and you
never knew their name.
They're the ones who cleanedthe toilets.
They're the ones who handed outworship guides.
Those are the ones who wouldcome up and clean the church
during the week.
Those are the ones who gavetheir life and went into the
mission field and as they livedon the mission field, no one
ever knew their name.
But God did so.
Can I tell you, don't strive tobe the greatest in the eyes of
(18:09):
men.
As a matter of fact, if you'regoing to strive for something,
strive to be the least importantin the eyes of men, because it
is then when you begin to seethe favor of God.
And that doesn't mean that wepurposely try to sabotage our
lives.
It just means we don't care.
I don't care if you know myname, I just care that you know
his name and I care that heknows my name.
If we live our life like that,it takes the pressure off and
(18:29):
then we can serve without caring, because I know the king knows
my name and I love this quote asa pastor.
This is a quote that I put inmy life and you could retrofit
it to fix your life and thenwe're going to pray there.
I put in my life and you couldretrofit it to fix your life and
then we're going to pray.
There was a pastor I don't evenremember his name who once said
(18:52):
live for God, raise your family,preach, die, be for God.
Doesn't that just speak againstthe world?
What they say all the time?
They say you know, create amonument for yourself so people
remember you long after you'regone.
All that kind of stuff.
Not this guy.
He was like I'm going to raisemy family, I'm going to follow
Jesus, I'm going to preach thegood news of God's word, then
I'm going to die and I'm goingto be forgotten, but as long as
you remember his name, that'swhat matters.
(19:12):
Let's pray together right now,god, thank you so much for today
.
Thank you, god, that yourkingdom is exactly the opposite
of this world, and that's a goodthing, because that means that
you are for us in more ways thanwe can imagine.
That means you're doing morethan we can imagine, and we're
so thankful for you.
We're so thankful that youteach us what to take seriously
and how to do that.
(19:33):
You teach us how to live.
You challenge us to be better,to be least in the kingdom of
men so we can be greatest in thekingdom of heaven.
I'm so thankful, lord, thatit's not about what we achieve,
but it's about who we become.
We celebrate you today InJesus' name.
We pray Amen.
Amen, god's word says.
Jesus said say it with me.
Matthew 28, verse 19.
He says all authority in heavenand on earth has been given to
(19:55):
me.
Go, therefore, and makedisciples of all nations.
I love you.
I'll see you tomorrow forMatthew, chapter 20.
Popular Podcasts
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
Fudd Around And Find Out
UConn basketball star Azzi Fudd brings her championship swag to iHeart Women’s Sports with Fudd Around and Find Out, a weekly podcast that takes fans along for the ride as Azzi spends her final year of college trying to reclaim the National Championship and prepare to be a first round WNBA draft pick. Ever wonder what it’s like to be a world-class athlete in the public spotlight while still managing schoolwork, friendships and family time? It’s time to Fudd Around and Find Out!