MATTHEW 11-13: DAY 35 JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
February 4, 2023
MATTHEW 11-13
DAY 35 JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
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Focus Verses for Today: Matthew 13:47-50
Today, our journey continues through the book of Matthew. Our journey is beginning to reveal that the law is not a way to righteousness and, in fact, was used as a means of justification: self-justification. Our journey has revealed that the law’s purpose is to identify sin and not to save from sin. Our And our journey has revealed that justification by faith is the only acceptable avenue to righteousness that God acknowledges.
Take some time to pray about today’s journey, Matthew 11-13. Pray, asking God to help you understand the true meaning of His intended meaning, Read Matthew 11-13. Let’s journey!
Matthew 11-13: John the Baptist sought, through his disciples, clarification on who Jesus was. John the Baptist and Jesus stirred up the hierarchy of the Jewish religious leadership, by John the Baptist’s preaching the Messiah is coming and Jesus preaching that He, in fact, was the long-awaited Messiah. It seems that the only issue considered, by their opponents, was what it would cost in status and position. Jesus is a healer and, more importantly to the Jewish establishment, He is Lord of the Sabbath. Jewish leadership found fault, in the form of breaking a Sabbath law, with everything Jesus and His disciples did on the Sabbath. They measured Jesus using a standard that assumed accepting Him as Lord and Savior meant a loss to them. It is a finite measuring system. An infinite measuring system would measure a relationship with Jesus by what would be gained: eternal life and joy with the Creator of all. Jesus begins teaching in parables, stories that lend themselves to a greater meaning than the obvious facts of the story depict. The parables told in chapter 13 depict two principle themes: one is the way a person lives his life ultimately determines that person’s eternal destination. The second is about the separation of sinners from the righteous when Jesus returns to reign over His eternal Kingdom. (Matthew 11:1-13:58)
Our focus verse for today:
47“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. 49This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
(Matthew 13:47-50, NIV)
Once again we must consider the Law and the Prophets. The Jewish leadership of Jesus’ time on earth struggled with Jesus being the Messiah whom they expected. They wanted to rule the world. Reign over their captors. They were about themselves. The Messiah was about His creation and what was best for it. Ultimately Jesus is rejected by the Jewish leadership. Jesus did not come to rule, but to provide eternal salvation. Stop and consider your expectations of Jesus. Do you truly follow Him? Do you seek God’s guidance in your decision-making today?
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