Scripture Reading:

Matthew 19

Please comment below with your conversation with God and/or insights from today’s Scriptures.

You can answer the following:

1. What are your overall thoughts about the chapter?

2. What is your impressions about what Jesus teaches in this chapter?

3. What is your prayer to God brought on by this chapter?

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Chapter Notables:

1. Pertaining to divorce - verses 11-12

2. The Kingdom of heaven belongs to the children - verses 13-15

3. The rich, young ruler - verses 16-30

Beyond the Surface | Lemuel Ayudtud

Understanding the Bible requires time and dedication. There are phrases, thoughts, and concepts that if read without intention of understanding can be missed. Deeper, some may say, hidden teachings and nuggets of truth can be glossed over if one does not take time to fully uncover them. And, of course, when reading superficially, what we miss can make us mistake certain things.

For instance, the Pharisees questioned Jesus about divorce. Huge issue for them in that time. (Somewhat still an issue today.) The issue with the Pharisees is that they wanted the Scriptures to suit them, so their question about the divorce was whether or not it can be done “for any and every reason”. Jesus corrected them, of course. One can’t just divorce anyone at will for any other reason than sexual immorality is not doing the will of God with regard to marriage. Marriage is highly esteemed in the sight of God and so we ought to treat it that way.

We’re not going to break down the doctrine or the issue of divorce here, rather the maladaptation that the Pharisees concerning divorce and how that may apply for us. The Pharisee asked a good question, but we see here what the Pharisee have done that people often do: they view the Scripture in the way that suits them.

How do we get a better at understanding Scripture then? Here are a few tips to consider:

1. Know your personal prejudices, desires and wants. Understand that you may reject the very thing God wants you to receive so you will often read the Bible in the way that will benefit you.

2. Be careful with pride and self righteousness—this may lead to you reading Scripture in ways that glorifies you. Be wary of feeling a sense of right over someone else because you seem to be “getting it right”. Always consider that we’re only “right” because of what Jesus has done and not what we do.

3. Make sure that you anchor yourself in the Work of Christ at the cross and not on your own failures and inability to meet what the Bible is teaching. Know that if God has called us to do something, He will empower us to complete it or walk in it.

4. Read in context. Yes, there are verses and even chapters that seem to tell us something about God, make sure you read before and after to get the full picture.

5. Study the Scriptures, cross referencing other passages,

6. Go deeper by reading scholarly writings about it,

7. Search concordances and Bible dictionaries to make sure the words are defined in their original language,

8. Discuss topics with peers and elders of the church,

9. Check your personal understanding against the heart of the Scripture and the Spirit of God.

10. Do not make your own conclusion of a matter and declare it as “truth”. Fear being in error, acting as though you have found some new revelation. This is the most dangerous.

And number 10 is actually the very thing that the Pharisees had done with the Scriptures—the reason they were asking Jesus all about them, not to be corrected, but to have Jesus conform to their foolishness!

Let’s consider the rich, young ruler who came to Jesus showing off how good he thought he was. “What good thing must I do to get eternal life?” Like the Pharisees, you know he asked that question not because he was really trying to get into the heart of it, right? He was asking that to Jesus so he can feel good about himself (number 1) and show to others how much more righteous he was than them (number 2). New flash! He wasn’t all that after Jesus finished poking a hole through his self righteousness. The young man thought he was good because he had done all the laws of Moses since he was young. Fortunate for the braggart, Jesus had another thing coming—Jesus said, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

The young ruler needed to go beyond the surface of following the laws into the heart of the laws: serving others. Maybe all his life he had followed the laws to be a nice, obedient Jew, but it was an act of self service. Maybe he did it to get in nice with the religious parties because it allowed him to make money in business. Who knows? One thing’s for sure, the Bible tells us that he was heavy hearted when Jesus told him to give up everything. He actually left the crowd. Why would someone so “perfect” be so bummed about helping others? If he was so righteous, then why was he so bothered by Jesus telling him to be selfless? Sounds like a definite misunderstanding issue, right? His heart for wealth misdirected his following of the Word. On the surface, the young ruler thought all he had to do was obey the 10 Commandments and that Jesus was going to applaud him for performing them, but the young man needed to go deeper.

The heart, bro! We have to watch it. Even those of us who study God’s word and desire to live for God with a life that’s pleasing to Him must be careful. We probably ask the same questions the 12 asked Jesus after the rich, young ruler left, “Who can be saved?” Right? If we can’t trust our goodness, then how can we have God? Jesus answered, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Maybe what Jesus was truly saying was “Man can’t save himself, only God can.” Ultimately, when it comes to understanding salvation, it’s God’s work. That’s deep. Understand that.

Lord, help me not to just read Your Word to suit and soothe myself. Help me to yield to Your plans for me. Teach me on how to get a grasp of Your word Lead me to understand fully that You are the heart of what I need to know and no matter how well I maybe following You, You are ultimately giving me the power to do it. Let me desire the deeper things in You, in Your Name, Jesus, I pray. Amen.