Бисер пред свињите (20 страна - Матеј):
In His sermon, Jesus uses dogs and pigs as representative of those who would ridicule, reject, and
blaspheme the gospel once it is presented to them. We are not to expose the gospel of Jesus Christ to
those who have no other purpose than to trample it and return to their own evil ways. Repeatedly
sharing the gospel with someone who continually scoffs and ridicules Christ is like casting pearls
before swine. We can identify such people through discernment, which is given in some measure to
all Christians (1 Corinthians 2:15–16).
The command not to cast your pearls before swine does not mean we refrain from preaching the
gospel. Jesus Himself ate with and taught sinners and tax collectors (Matthew 9:10). In essence, the
instruction in Matthew 7:6 is the same that Jesus gave to His apostles when He said, “If anyone will
not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or
town” (Matthew 10:14). We are to share the gospel, but, when it becomes apparent that the gospel is
not welcome, we are to move on. We are responsible to share the good news; we are not responsible
for people’s response to the good news. Pigs don’t appreciate pearls, and some people don’t
appreciate what Christ has done for them. Our job is not to force conversions or cram the gospel down
people’s throats; there’s no sense in preaching the value of pearls to swine. Jesus’ instruction to His
apostles on how to handle rejection was to simply go elsewhere. There are other people who need to
hear the gospel, and they are ready to hear it.
There are some who are open to Christ's message, to the message of loving mankind, of the
worship of the True and Living God. And then there are those who desecrate it, who take the
faith and use it to their advantage, who manipulate what the Lord has given us. They are the
swine and the dogs, who tear and rend what is good as much as the bad, without discernment or
knowledge or learning. To them, it would be better not to extend the hand, for not only will they
attempt to destroy that which is Holy which you attempt to give them, but they will then turn on
you like they did on what you gave them, and will attempt to do the same to you.
Тесната врата (21 страна):
The wide gate and the easy road is the way of the world. St John Chrysostom in On Wealth and
Poverty defines this as those “who have no care for self-control and give no thought for virtue,
who wish to behave recklessly, who yield themselves to luxury and gluttony, who spend
themselves every day in madness and frenzy for money, who strain after the things of the present
life.” St John’s words still resonate strongly in our modern world.
Some people mistakenly think the difficulties in earning a living and accumulating wealth must
mean that this is the narrow gate with the hard road: “it’s a tough world out there.”
Many people think that striving for the pleasures of this world will bring them happiness and
contentment. Paradoxically, the opposite is the reality. Christ said, “take heed and beware of
covetousness [materialism, greed or desire to accumulate possessions], for one’s life does not
consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Luke 12:15).
The characteristics of those who enter the narrow gate and travel on the difficult road are the
opposite of those outlined above. They strive for self-control, concern themselves with gaining
virtues, do not long for luxury, moderate their intake of food and alcohol, do not have the
accumulation of wealth as their main goal, and do not seek after authority, reputation or power.
St John Chrysostom tells us that we can identify such people by the good deeds in humility that
they perform.
https://lychnos.org/the-narrow-and-the-wide-gate/
Верата на една Хананејка, 46 стр, Мк 7, 24-30:
Gentile Dogs?
In the Gospel for the Sunday of the Canaanite Woman (Matthew 15:21-28) we find a phrase
that some have found troubling. The troubling nature of the phrase was brought home to me
in a university lecture I once heard, for the lecturer said that in this passage “Jesus called a
Gentile woman a dog.” He thought it rather odd, and evidence that perhaps the Christians
had an overly rosy view of their Founder. One could, I suppose, point out that the Greek of
the text does not read “dog” (Greek kuon) but “little dog” (kunarion), but this does little to
soften the blow. If someone called me a dog I would not be much mollified by learning that
the dog they had in mind was a diminutive breed. So, what’s going on here? Does Jesus
really call the Gentile woman a dog?
Actually, no, but to find out what’s really going on in the passage, one needs to look at it in
its wider context. When we read this wider context we see that in the story of the Canaanite
woman we find a collision of two opposing plights, two opposing sets of needs. The
interpretation is helped when we supplement the Matthew 15 passage with its parallel in
Mark 7:24-30. For in the wider Markan context we see that the Twelve were in a state of
physical and emotional exhaustion. In Mark 6:30, we see that after the Twelve returned from
their mission (Mark 6:7f), they were exhausted, so the Lord took them to what was to have
been a lonely place where they could rest, “for many were coming and going and they had no
leisure even to eat” (Mark 6:31). When they got there they found another great crowd, and
instead of turning away and taking the Twelve someplace else, our Lord stayed there,
teaching and healing the assembled crowds. Of course this long and exhausting day brought
another problem—how to feed the multitude. Our Lord met the need by miraculously
multiplying the loaves (Mark 6:34f). Then another crisis arose: the multitude tried to come
and make Jesus king by force (see John 6:15). Our Lord reacted to this crisis by quickly
sending the Twelve out of the center of danger to a place across the lake while He pacified
and dismissed the nearly riotous crowd. Then as the Twelve were rowing across the lake, a
storm suddenly descended upon them, and they could make no progress in rowing. Our Lord
walked on the water toward them, and stilled the storm (Mark 6:47f). Try to imagine the
effect of all this upon the disciples. They were already stretched to the breaking point before
it all began, which was why the Lord took them to a supposedly deserted place to begin
with. Crisis after crisis broke upon them, so that the disciples were a wreck. The only
solution was for Christ to take them out of the country entirely. That was why He and His
Jewish disciples found themselves “the region of Tyre and Sidon” (Mark 7:24) in the first
place. The Twelve, our Lord’s spiritual children, desperately needed a rest.
While there, they collided with a different desperate need—that of the Canaanite
woman. And let’s be clear what this woman was requesting. She was asking that the Lord
and His disciples accompany her to her home in pagan Tyre or Sidon to heal her
daughter. That would involve not simply a quick quiet trip in and out of her city, but a fullscale mission to the Gentile population of the area. Jesus of Nazareth was not able to make
quick quiet trips anywhere, for wherever He went a great crowd followed Him. Acceding to
the woman’s request would mean days ministering to all the sick, demon-possessed, and
afflicted of Tyre and Sidon. And this was not the time for such a mission to the Gentiles. As
the Lord said, He was then sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel (Matthew 15:24),
and even the Twelve were told to conduct their mission only in Jewish towns, avoiding cities
of the Gentiles and the Samaritans (Matthew 10:5-6). The time for a full-scale outreach to
the Samaritans and Gentiles would come later. That is why our Lord refused her request. To
deny the Twelve their desperately needed rest to minister to the Gentiles of Tyre and Sidon
would be as inappropriate as taking the food from the table at which hungry children were
sitting and giving it instead to the little dogs under the table. Surely anyone could see that the
children must be fed first. The needs of the Twelve for rest must take priority over the needs
of the Gentiles in those cities.
Then the Canaanite woman makes her response—and changes her request. Okay: Jesus will
not accompany her to her place of residence. Let the children be fed. But little dogs can still
eat the odd crumb that falls from the table while the children eat. Let the Lord say the word
and heal the woman’s daughter at a distance, while He and the Twelve stayed here resting!
It was a bold request, and one that showed tremendous faith on her part. Many people had
faith that Jesus could come and heal; this woman had faith He that could heal at a great
distance, His simple word of command working a miracle across the miles. That is why
Jesus did not say, “O woman, great is your boldness” or “O woman, great is your
perseverance”, but rather, “O woman, great is your faith” (Matthew 15:28). And because of
this faith, Christ granted her second request, healing her daughter instantly across the miles—
“she went home, and found the child lying in bed, and the demon gone (Mark 7:30).
We see in this passage that Jesus does not in fact call the Gentile woman “a dog” or even “a
little dog.” Rather, He compares the situation of conflicting needs to the situation of hungry
children sitting at a food-laden table with hungry little dogs underneath, and says that the
children at the table must be fed first—to explain why He cannot accompany her to her
home. His willingness to grant her second and amended request shows His great love for her,
and for all the children of men. That love even bridged the gap between Jew and Gentile,
giving to the Canaanite woman in advance what would later come to all the Gentiles of the
world.
The Rich Young Ruler – За богатиот млад човек (56 страна)
by Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Seattle, WA
Scripture: St. Mark 10: 17-31
Wealth and generosity. Money and abundant sharing. Riches and giving it away. The combination of
these concepts are at the very heart of Jesus’ teaching. The richest person in the world is the person
who gives it away. Jesus teaches us to give away love. To give away time. To give away your self. St.
Francis, in the spirit of Jesus, said it well when he wrote: “for it is in giving that we receive. It is in
pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born again to Eternal Life.”
In the gospel story for today, Jesus is inviting us to lay up for our selves treasures in heaven. How do
we do that? How do we lay up treasures in heaven? That is the issue. And Jesus answers that
question very clearly: By giving to the poor. Repeatedly in the gospels, Jesus invites us to share our
resources with the poor and hungry in our midst and around the globe and thereby lay up for
ourselves treasures in heaven.
Jesus said in the same thing earlier in his ministry. Quella, the 200 Bible verses which are common to
Matthew and Luke, is thought to be the oldest bedrock of the New Testament, and in those earliest
teachings Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, said: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth
but treasures in heaven; not treasure on earth which are destroyed by moths and rust, but lay up for
yourselves eternal treasures which moths and rust cannot destroy. Where your treasure is, there will
your heart be also.” That was the primary problem of the rich young rule. His money was the treasure
of his heart.
Immediately, our minds often shift to “big money” people like Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and Warren Buffet
in today’s world. Or in yesterday's world to John Rockefeller, Henry Ford and Andrew Carnegie. We
focus on the fact that these richest of the rich people need to become philanthropists with their money
and leave a legacy by giving their huge financial resources to the poor of the world. But if we do that,
and apply this text to them, we miss the fact that Jesus was addressing his disciples and “little money”
people. His disciples, who were “little money people,” applied this teaching to their own situation. We
need to do the same.
Today is also World Hunger Sunday in the life of our church. All the children in Sunday School have
learning about sharing fish and food with the poor of the world. For the past 28 years, our
congregation has given away more than $100,000 a year. World Hunger is our dominant financial
benevolence.
Once again, I would like to do a detailed Bible study of this specific text with you.
Today’s story is known as the story of the Rich Young Ruler. That title, the Rich Young Ruler, is a
blending of the same story from the three gospels. All three gospels tell us he was rich; Matthew tells
us he was young; and Luke tells us he was a ruler, perhaps a Pharisee who was a lover of money.
Let us look carefully at that Scripture, using the Gospel of Mark as the basic text. Please pull out your
bulletins and let us focus together on the gospel reading of the lesson for today. Please have a pencil
with you to make notations on the paper. Let us look at the text.
Above the word, The Gospel, write the title of this story: The Rich Young Ruler.
As he was setting out on his journey. In this section of the gospel, Jesus had left the familiar
scenes of being in Galilee, near the Sea of Galilee, in his home town of Capernaum on the Sea of
Galilee and was now heading eighty miles south to Jerusalem, the capital city of the land.
A man. We will learn that he was a rich man. In the Gospel of Luke, he was called a ruler, that is, a
Pharisee, a scribe, a lawyer, part of the educated elite of the day. In Luke’s gospels, he would have
been a symbol of the Pharisees who the Bible said were lovers of money and hypocrites.
Ran up and knelt before Jesus. This man demonstrates an enthusiasm for Jesus, running up to him
and falling on his knees before him. Circle the words, “ran” and “knelt.” Write about those words, the
word “enthusiastic.” By reading other stories about Jesus, we meet people who were initially
enthusiastic about Jesus and later fell away.
Good teacher. The young, enthusiastic man starts out with flattery. The way people think that you get
immediately on the good side of people is to flatter them, and this enthusiastic young man has
learned to begin the conversation with flattery. Circle the word, “good,” and write in the word “flattery.”
This is the only time in the gospels where Jesus was addressed as “good” teacher.
What must I do to inherit eternal life? This is the big question and write that in our margin: THE BIG
QUESTION, all in capital letter. We all ask The Big Question. What must we do to inherit eternal life?
What are the rules? Who is getting in at the final day? It is interesting that the identical question was
asked of Jesus previously by a lawyer who asked in the Gospel of Luke, “What must I do to inherit
eternal life?” It is the identical same question and that question became the occasion for Jesus telling
the story about the Good Samaritan and showing mercy to your enemy. “What must I do to inherit
eternal life” is THE BIG QUESTION for you and me.
Jesus said, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.” Immediately, Jesus
pokes a hole in his flattery and challenges the young man. Jesus was saying to the young man, “Don’t
flatter me. Don’t focus on me. Focus on God and God alone is good.” It is like flattery gets you
nowhere with Jesus.
You know the commandments. Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear
false witness or lie. Do not defraud (a person’s family or possessions.) Honor your mother and
father. There are two tables or sections of the Ten Commandments: The first commandments are
commandment about our relationship with God; the second commandments are about our
relationship with people. Jesus clearly spells out the commandments: avoid killing, avoid adultery,
avoid stealing, avoid lying, avoid defrauding our neighbor, and honor our parents.
Teacher, he declared, I have done these from my youth. That makes sense to us. The young man
declares he is normal and respectable. He is Mr. Respectable. He is Mr. Honorable. Mr. Upright. He
has obeyed the basic Jewish moral law and has lived a respectable, honorable and upright life. He is
like you and me. He avoids hurting people.
Jesus looked at him and loved him. The other two parallel gospels do not report this significant little
comment. Jesus looked at the young man and loved him. Jesus had a sympathetic attitude towards
the man; he liked the man; he loved the man. Jesus wasn’t hostile to the young man; he did not want
to embarrass him or harass him or belittle him.
One thing you lack. Oh, oh, something bad is going to be said about me. How can you love me and
criticize me? Well, maybe you can. We know that often, the person who loves us most is the person
who is able to speak the truth about us to us.
Sell everything (what) you have and give it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven.
Focus on and underline the phrase, “give to the poor and you will have treasures in heaven.” That is
the way you lay up treasures for yourselves in heaven: by giving to the poor. Jesus also said that
earlier in his Sermon on the Mount.
Jesus was asking for a positive action from the young man: do something positive for poor people. In
the Ten Commandments, people were commanded by God to avoid doing bad things to others. That
is good; that is proper. We should avoid doing bad things to others but that is not the same as doing
good for others, especially poor people. Avoid doing bad to someone is not the same as doing
something good for them. We expect people to avoid doing bad to others…killing them, committing
adultery with them, stealing from them, lying about them, defrauding them. But it is something else to
do something beneficial for them. That is what this text is all about. The young man was Mr.
Respectable, Mr. Honorable. Mr. Upright. He didn’t do anything bad to people but he didn’t do
anything good for people, to make their lives better, to share with those poor people the enormous
financial resources that he had.
Sell everything. It is important that you understand this passage and not take it literally. It is part of
Aramaic hyperbole or exaggeration in order to make a point. You don’t take these words literally or
you get in trouble. Other examples of Aramaic hyperbole or strong exaggeration in language is
“anyone who does not hate your mother and father and brother and sister cannot be my disciple.” Or,
“if you hand sins, cut if off. If your eye sins, cut it out. If your foot leads you astray, cut it off.” These
are all illustrations from the gospels where Jesus used Aramaic exaggeration to make a point. The
point is: we are to generously share our economic resources with the poor and hungry of the world.
There are three examples of Aramaic hyperbole in this text.
Similarly, Jesus did not ask Zaccheaus, who was the richest tax collector in town, to sell all he had
and give it to the poor. Jesus did not ask Joseph of Arimathea, who the Bible says was rich, to sell all
had had and give it to the poor. Jesus did not ask Nicodemus, the wealthy man from the Jewish
Sanhedrin or Senate, to sell all they had and give it to the poor. Nor does Jesus ask us today to sell
all we have and give it to the poor. To think such a thought would misunderstand Jesus and the text.
As Jim Bell said at the Men’s Breakfast yesterday, as we studied this text together, Jesus was putting
the rich young ruler to a test to see whether he loved God and his neighbor more than money. In
Jim’s mind, this test was similar to the story about Abraham in the Old Testament when God asked
him to sacrifice his own son, Isaac. God was testing Abraham to see if Abraham loved God more than
his son. Similarly, Jesus was testing this rich young man to see if he loved his riches more than God.
Jim said: that is what the story is about. God is testing us to see if we love our money and material
possessions more God. We remember Jesus’ teaching when he said: where your treasure is, there
will be your heart. The man’s heart was in his treasures.
Give it to the poor. Focus on the word, “poor,” and circle it. “Poor” is a good word for Jesus. Jesus
looked with love at people who were poor. In his very first sermon in the synagogue, the first thing that
Jesus mentioned in his sermon that day was that he had come to preach the good news to poor
people. In his beatitudes in Luke, we heard that Jesus said, Happy are poor people. Throughout his
whole gospel, Jesus reaches out to poor people like the lepers, maimed, sick and dying. Poor is a
symbolic word that symbolizes people who need food/water. Today, many people look down on their
noses of poor people and often think that poor people are lazy and slovenly. Not Jesus. Not the
followers of Jesus.
That you will have treasures in heaven. Jesus has told us that before in the Sermon on the Mount.
As we give to poor people here on earth, we lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven where rust will
not decay those heavenly treasures nor will moth eat and make holes in those heavenly treasures.
The way you lay up treasures in heaven is by doing positive actions for the poor here on earth. Jesus’
teaching is quite simple and direct.
Come and follow me. Jesus in the New Testament and today in this sanctuary is inviting us to come
and follow Christ, that we would be his disciples, that Christ would be our master and we would be his
servants, that Christ would own our hearts, time and money.
At this, the man’s face fell. He went away sad. All three versions in Matthew, Mark and Luke say
this. Why was he so sad at what Jesus had said? Mark said that he “went away” and we need to
underline that statement. When he didn’t like what Jesus said, he went away from Jesus. That often
happens to us when we hear things from Jesus we don’t like. We simply leave the presence of Jesus,
so we will not hear his teachings. In other words, Abraham passed the test and the rich young ruler
did not.
For he had great wealth. The gospel of Luke says, he was “very rich.” Jesus had read the young
man’s heart correctly. That is, the young man had come to love and trust in money, riches and
material possessions. His heart was in his money.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples. We remember that the man has left Jesus and so
his teachings are now directed to his disciples.
How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. The question will ask is this: why is it so
hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. Underline the word, “enter” and we will focus on it in a
few moments. Underline the phrase, “kingdom of God” because we have experienced a subtle shift in
focus from “what must I do to inherit eternal life” to “what must I do to enter the kingdom of God.”
Why is it hard for people with riches to enter the kingdom of God? To become a true disciples of
Jesus? We can think of at least three reasons. Please write these three reasons down in the margin.
1) It is easy to fall in love with money. Money and wealth is seductive and very easy to fall in love
with. We become addicted to money and material possessions and like most addictions, we initially
don’t realize that we are addicted. 2) Wealth creates a false sense of security. We think that wealth
will protect us from the disasters of life and we find out that it doesn’t. 3) Money often makes people
more selfish, where the purpose of time, talents and energy is to serve ourselves.
The disciples were amazed at his words. Why were the disciples so amazed at his words? The
disciples knew the Old Testament teachings that a sign of God’s blessedness was to be rich. To be
wealthy was a sign of God’s blessings on you. Jesus was teaching just the opposite religious values
that the disciples had learned from childhood. From childhood, they knew that God would bless the
religiously wise with great wealth.
Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God. Underline the word “children” because Jesus
often referred to the disciples as children, people who were learning about the faith. Underline the
word “enter” because that is what this text is all about. Jesus wants us to enter the kingdom and it is
difficult. Jesus had earlier taught that the gate was wide that went to hell, but the gate is narrow that
goes to eternal life. This is the second time that Jesus has said this in the text. Jesus wants us to
enter God’s kingdom. When we enter God’s kingdom and way of life, we love God more than home,
family and income.
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the
kingdom of God. Cross out the words, “go through,” and write above them the word, “enter.” This
text is about entering the kingdom of God. Christ wants us to enter the kingdom of God where God
rules our life as the number one power in our lives. That is what the kingdom is all about. That God
would rule us and we would love God more than our home, family and income … A camel was the
largest animal that the Jews in that era would have known of. For us, the camel would be equivalent
to an elephant. It is impossible for an elephant or a camel to go through the eye of a needle. Some
scholars have suggested that there was a Needle’s Gate in the wall of Jerusalem that was very low
and camels could stoop to get in but most scholars disregard this conclusion. This teaching was part
of his Aramaic exaggeration to make a point. It is impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a
needle. Similarly, it is impossible for a rich man to be saved. This is the second example of Aramaic
hyperbole in this text.
The disciples were even more amazed. I like the RSV which says, “the disciples were exceedingly
astonished.” The rich cannot be saved? Whoever heard of such a thing?
And said, then who can be saved? The answer. No one. Nobody. This is THE SECOND BIG
QUESTION. Circle the word, “who.” Who can be saved? Can I be saved? You be saved? WHO is to
be saved? The answer: NOBODY.
Jesus said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. All things are possible with God.”
This statement is pure grace. Salvation is a pure gracious gift from God. That is why our church the
name, Grace Lutheran Church, so we are reminded that we are all saved by God’s pure grace and
not anything that we have done. Write in your margins: PURE GRACE. We are all saved by pure
grace.
Sometimes, we convert these words, “with God, all things are possible,” into a slogan to hang on the
wall or positive pep pill. It becomes “possibility thinking.” With the Sound of Music, we can sing, “Climb
every mountain and ford every sea. Follow every rainbow, till we find our dream.” With the man from
La Mancha, we “can dream the impossible dream and fight the unbeatable foe and bear with
unbearable sorrow to run where the grave dare not go.” But these words from Jesus aren’t simply
positive pep pills as much as we like positive pep pills. Rather, in these words in the text for today,
Jesus is clearly telling us that we are saved by God, by grace. We cannot save ourselves but God
can. God can save rich people and poor people, good people and bad people. God can save
anybody. All things are possible with God; that is, God can save us.
It is possible for rich people to be saved. In the gospels, Zacchaeus was rich and he was saved.
Joseph of Arimathea, who prepared Jesus’ body for burial, was a rich man according to Matthew
27:37 and he was saved. Joseph’s friend, Nicodemus, was a member of the wealthy establishment
and he was saved. God can save rich people too.
Peter said: We have left all and followed you. Peter is the spokes person.
Jesus replied, There is no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or
children or fields for me and the gospel who will not receive a hundred times as much.
Circle the word, “home,’ and underline the words, “brothers, sisters, mother, father children.” Circle
the word, “field.” These are our natural loves in life: home, family, income. Jesus is again stressing
that our love for God is to be above all of these natural and good loves of life.
A hundred times as much. This again is Aramaic hyperbole or strong exaggeration to make a point.
This is the third example of Aramaic hyperbole in the text. The phrase is equivalent, in one of Jesus’
parables, to a plant bearing one hundred fruit. Imagine a tomato plant with one hundred tomatoes on
it. A person will experience from God great blessings, abundant blessings, overflowing blessings. This
does not mean that those blessings will be material as spiritual and emotional.
In this present age. The blessings from God will flow to us in this life on this side of the grave.
And in the age to come. God’s blessings will be showered upon us in the next life.
In the story for today, Jesus invites us to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven. Amen.
“The last will be first, and the first last” - The most direct interpretation, based on the
content of the parable, is that all believers, no matter how long or how hard they work during
this lifetime, will receive the same reward: That is eternal life.