I Taught About the Kingdom

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

October 17, 2019

I Taught About the Kingdom

Page 145-147

Matthew 18:1-35; Mark 9:33-50; Luke 9:46-50

Jesus is using a bit of hyperbole in his teaching in today’s passage. The use of such grand exaggeration was a pretty common teaching method in Biblical times. The problem this presents for contemporary readers is our tendency to focus on the wrong emphasis. Once you hear something about cutting off your hand or gouging out your eye, it is hard to think of anything else. Jesus wants us to focus on the Kingdom of God which is so very wonderful, beyond anything we could describe. Jesus believes when we are focused on the Kingdom, we will want to overcome any obstacles preventing us from entering into God’s presence.

We would do well to ponder Jesus’ comments about sin. We live in an age of entitlement. Personal responsibility or accountability is not emphasized nearly as much as the notion that we have a right to expect to be cared for regardless of the decisions we make in life.

Jesus has been teaching that our entrance into God’s Kingdom brings about a change in our way of thinking. As followers of Jesus, we learn to think of ourselves, others, and the world we live in from God’s perspective. Children of God’s Kingdom have a new vision for life that centers on a hunger for God, a heart for other people, and a hatred of sin.

Our human nature wants to negotiate with God. “Come, let us bargain” we want to say to Jesus. Just how much do we need to hunger for God? Just how much do we need to care for our neighbors? Just how seriously do we need to hate sin? Anything we do, in any way, shape, form, thought or deed, to live our life apart from God, is sin. To make it possible for us to enter into the Kingdom of God, Jesus gave his life as a sacrifice for our sin of living our life apart from God.

My Takeaway: Can my response be any less than hating the sin in me, for which Jesus was crucified?

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2019 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.