Matthew 19:13-15

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13 Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, ``Let the children alone and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'' 15 After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.

The disciples seemed to feel that Jesus was too important to be bothered with little children. The term that Matthew uses refers to children in general of any age. Luke tells of this same incident that there were very little children among those brought to Jesus, nursing infants in fact, even babies. There was throughout the culture a low estimate of the importance of children. Jesus did not share that viewpoint. Jesus used the lowliness and unimportance of children to illustrate the humility that he requires of his followers. Everyone must be childlike in the sense that he understands himself to be needy, undeserving of the favor of God and man, and helpless apart from the grace of God.

NOTE: In my way of thinking children are possibly the most vivid and accurate illustration of what Jesus wants-they have nowhere else to turn. C.S. Lewis put it this way: "The gospel is not for the well-meaning, but for the desperate." The Lord made the same point in other ways when he accepted, to the amazement and absolute consternation of the Jewish religious authorities, the sick, the outcasts, Gentiles, and women.

When the blind men cry out for Jesus' attention near Jericho, later in 20:31, the crowd rebuked them for bothering the Master. Their attitude was the same as his disciples here. Jesus had better things to do, more important things, than attend to blind people, to outcasts. But Jesus' warm acceptance of all those who are in need, and now children, indicates this fundamental truth: that we do not qualify for Jesus' attention and help by some virtue or status that we have acquired. It is our need only that attracts Jesus to us. Jesus came as the great physician, looking for those who are sick and in need of Him. Whenever I think of this reference to Jesus my response is, "Over here, Jesus!"

Matthew 19:10-12

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10 The disciples said* to Him, ``If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.'' 11 But He said to them, ``Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 ``For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother's womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.''

Based upon the adulterous nature of messing up within the marriage relationship, the disciples remark that maybe it is better to not marry at all. Jesus’ response has to do with 3 kinds of eunuchs—men who have been emasculated.
1. Born a eunuch.
2. Made a eunuch.
3. Choose to be a eunuch for the kingdom.

There is a myth making the rounds in some circles, that those people identified as eunuchs in scriptures were homosexuals. This is a totally ridiculous idea and nothing could be further from truth. It is indeed astounding that any learned person could come to such a conclusion.

THREE OBSERVATIONS:
FIRST--Remaining single and not entering into marriage is OK with Jesus.

SECOND--Jesus points out that some men (or women) may choose to be “not married” for the sake of the kingdom. To be single gives you a great opportunity minister full-time without consideration of your mate.

THIRD--Each person must choose, because it is a personal choice.

The bottomline and most important of all is the phrase “for the sake of the Kingdom”. Remember, Jesus said earlier to “seek first the Kingdom of God” and everything else will take care of itself. “For the sake of the Kingdom”. Does that phrase reflect how you evaluate your life decisions? FOR THE SAKE OF THE KINGDOM.

Matthew 19:3-9

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3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus , testing Him and asking, ``Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?'' 4 And He answered and said, ``Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, 5 and said, `FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME, ONE FLESH'? 6 ``So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.'' 7 They said* to Him, ``Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?'' 8 He said* to them, ``Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. 9 ``And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality and marries another woman commits adultery .''

There were two Jewish theological positions on divorce-the strict view of the school of Shammai or the lax view of Hillel. They were trying to test Jesus to get something on which to attack Him. Jesus takes them all the way back to creation, before the Mosaic Law. They then bring up the fact that Moses permitted divorce and Jesus pointed out that Moses allowed divorce, but that wasn't the ideal way it was all intended. Then Jesus makes the statement that gives maybe the only legitimate "loophole" given as a reason for divorce.

On this matter of divorce I am convinced that there are two primary teachings:

1-GOD HATES DIVORCE. It destroys His image that He created in the bonding of male and female. It destroys individuals in the process. It's like glueing two pieces of card-board together, then tearing them apart. It is not a clean break.

2-GOD'S GRACE IS SUFFICIENT. No matter what you have done or choose to do, God's grace is able to cover it. This is not to be used as a "Get out of jail free" card, but this is God's response to our brokenness-whether we caused it or whether it was leveled upon us.

Matthew 19:1-2

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1 When Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; 2 and large crowds followed Him and He healed them there.

Although this is a very brief passage, the impact was monumental!

1-NOTE that large crowds followed Him. Jesus is the most irresistible one of all history. Large crowds continue to follow after Him. It's religion and religiosity that distracts and caricatures Jesus.

2-NOTE that when even large crowds come to Jesus, He is more than willing and able to heal them.

3-NOTE this is what Jesus did, but think in present terms that Jesus IS STILL DOING wonderful things among us today. Instead of WWJD?, maybe it is better to see it as WIJD? (What Is Jesus Doing?). He IS presently still in the healing business and He will heal all who come to Him "there." "There" is where a person finds Jesus!

2 QUESTIONS: FIRST-Are you following after Jesus with your needs?

SECOND-Are you allowing Him to heal you THERE right in your area of need?

Matthew 18:23-35

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23 ``For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 ``When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents[about 12 million dollars] was brought to him. 25 ``But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. 26 ``So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, `Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.' 27 ``And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt . 28 ``But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii [about 12 dollars] ; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, `Pay back what you owe.' 29 ``So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, `Have patience with me and I will repay you.' 30 ``But he was unwilling, and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.

31 ``So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. 32 ``Then summoning him, his lord said to him, `You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 `Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?' 34 ``And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35 ``My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.''

Jesus told the story of the servant forgiven a great debt who went out and dealt mercilessly with a fellow-servant who owed him a debt that was an infinitesimal fraction of what he himself had owed. And, for this lack of mercy he was utterly condemned. This parable teaches certain lessons which Jesus never tired of teaching.

1. It teaches that a man must forgive in order to be forgiven. If you are not willing to forgive your fellow-men, you cannot hope that God will forgive you! Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" (Matt 5:7). In what we call the Lord's Prayer ("Our Father") Jesus said, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matt 6:14-15). Divine and human forgiveness go hand in hand.

2. The contrast between the debts is staggering and compares with our relationship with God. If God has forgiven us the debt we owe to him, we must forgive our fellow-men the debts they owe to us. Nothing that we have to forgive can even remotely compare with what we have been forgiven.

We have been forgiven a debt which is beyond all paying-for the sin of man brought about the death of God's own Son-and, if that is so, we must forgive others as God has forgiven us or we can hope to find no mercy.

The essence of it all is your gratefulness to the Lord and in that spirit of gratefulness you will treat others well.