Month: February 2022

9³⁸ John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”
³⁹ But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.
⁴⁰ Whoever is not against us is for us. ⁴¹ For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward. 

Temptation to sin

⁴² “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. ⁴³ If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. ⁴⁵ And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. ⁴⁷ And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, ⁴⁸ where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

⁴⁹ “For everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰ Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” 

Teaching about divorce

10 He left that place and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan. And crowds again gathered around him; and, as was his custom, he again taught them. 

² Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” ³ He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴ They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” ⁵ But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. ⁶ But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ⁷ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, ⁸ and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
⁹ Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” 

¹⁰ Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. ¹¹ He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; ¹² and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” 

Jesus blesses little children

¹³ People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. ¹⁴ But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶ And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them. NRSV

Get into the Word

1. What is the situation facing Jesus here? Who tells him about it? How does Jesus respond to this situation? What does he say about people who are “helping” him? 

2. What images does Jesus use to describing dealing with sin? Why do you think he chose these symbols? How do you think his listeners reacted to this lesson? How might you have responded?

3. What does Jesus say about salt? Why do you suppose he brought this up, [see Notes]?

4. Who brings up the subject of marriage and divorce? Why did they confront Jesus on this issue? How does Jesus respond to the question? What is the core of Jesus’s response on the subject of divorce and marriage? Why is divorce “permitted” by the Law? What is God’s real idea for marriage according to Jesus? [See Notes for the disciples’ reaction and Jesus’s explanation.]

5. Who comes to see Jesus next? How do the disciples deal with this? What is Jesus’s response to the situation? What does he say about the Kingdom of God? What does he say about faith? What did he do with the children?

Get Personal

What does a “little child’s faith” look like to you? How has God helped you to grow into a child-like faith? How has he helped you grow from a child-like faith?

(cross-references to Matthew and Luke are given in brackets)

9:28-41. Another exorcist — Luke includes this episode, in conjunction with sending out the Apostles, but he does not include Jesus’s references to “deeds of power” or “cup of water,” [Luke 9:49-50].
Matthew does not include this incident, but he does have the phrase, Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters, [Matt 12:30], as part of Jesus’s response to the charge that he casts out demons using Satan’s power.
9:43-48. Hands and eyes — Matthew includes Jesus’s lesson on sin in two places using very similar words. The first is part of the Sermon on the Mount, [Matt 5:29-30]; the second follows Jesus’s response to the disciples’ question about who is the greatest, [Matt 18:8-10].
Luke does not report any comments about hands and eyes.
9:43, 47. Hell — the actual word refers to the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem which became the city’s garbage dump, where the fires did in fact burn all the time to destroy the garbage.
9:44, 46. These verses (repetitions of verse 48) are not in the most accepted manuscripts.
9:49-50. Salted with fire — Matthew’s version of Jesus’s comment is also part of the Sermon on the Mount: You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste,

how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot, [Matt 5:13-16].
Luke reports Jesus’s reference to salt as part of the cost of being a disciple: Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it away. Let anyone with ears to hear listen! [Luke 14:35-35].
The Mosaic Law required grain offerings to be salted: You shall not omit from your grain offerings the salt of the covenant with your God; with all your offerings you shall offer salt, [Lev 2:13]. 
10:1-12. Teaching about divorce — Matthew says Jesus’s initial response is to quote the Scripture about “male and female,” and then the Pharisees bring up Moses. Jesus answers with the “hard heartedness” and tells his disciples, Whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery, [Matt 19:1-12].
Luke records that Jesus said, Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery, [Luke 16:18] as part of a rebuke to the Pharisees during his more general teaching.
10:13-16. Blessing the children — Matthew and Luke both include this incident, [Matt 19:13-15 and Luke 18:15-17].

9¹⁴ When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. ¹⁵ When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him. ¹⁶ He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” ¹⁷ Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; ¹⁸ and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so.” ¹⁹ He answered them, “You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me.” ²⁰ And they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. ²¹ Jesus asked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. ²² It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.” ²³ Jesus said to him, “If you are able! – All things can be done for the one who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” ²⁵ When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You spirit that keeps this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!” ²⁶ After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand. ²⁸ When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁹ He said to them, “This kind can come out only through prayer.” 

Jesus again foretells his death and resurrection

³⁰ They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it;
³¹ for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.”
³² But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. Who is the greatest?

³³ Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” ³⁴ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. ³⁵ He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷ “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” NRSV

Get into the Word

1. What is going on as Jesus approaches? Who is involved? What are they concerned about?

2. Who speaks to Jesus? What is he seeking? Why is this important to him? Why is he asking Jesus? What is Jesus’ initial reaction to this situation? What happens to the boy in Jesus’ presence? How does he respond to the father’s request? How does the father react to this? 

3. How does Jesus heal the boy? What happens as a result? What does Jesus do next? How do the disciples deal with this? What is Jesus’ response to their question?

4. Where do Jesus and the disciples go next? What does Jesus talk about? How do the disciples respond to his statements [check notes on Matthew and Luke]? How might you have responded if you had been there?

5. What are the disciples talking about next? How do they respond to Jesus’ question? How does Jesus answer them? What is the key principle in his answer [check the notes on Matthew]? 

Get Personal

Have you ever been concerned about someone else’s apparent rank or importance? How did you deal with your concern? How has God helped you understand the principle of Kingdom greatness?

(Cross-references to Matthew and Luke are given in brackets)

9:14-29. Healing a boy with a spirit — Matthew’s version [Matt 17:14-20] of this incident omits the argument between the disciples and the scribes and Jesus’s remark about belief [v 23-24]. He also leaves out the demon’s final displays and the boy appearing to be dead. Matthew also changes Jesus’s answer to the disciples’ question about why they could not heal the boy: “Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you,” [17:20].
Luke’s report is briefer than Matthew’s [Luke 9:36-43]. He includes only the father’s description and plea, Jesus’s comments about “faithless people,” the boy’s convulsion, and Jesus’s rebuking the demon and healing the boy.
9:20-32. Jesus’s second prediction of his death — Matthew says nothing about teaching the disciples. He includes Jesus’s statement about the betrayal and death of the “Son of Man,” but records Jesus saying, “he will be raised (not “he will rise”). He says the disciples were greatly distressed, rather than being afraid to ask Jesus what he means, [Mt 17:21-23].
Again, Luke is very brief. Jesus says only, “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed.” Luke does say the statement’s meaning was concealed from the disciples so they did not understand and were afraid to ask Jesus what he meant [Luke 9:44-45]. 

9:33-37. Who is the greatest — Matthew begins this exchange with the disciples’ question. Jesus’s response is considerably different: Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me [18:3-4]. Jesus also tells them not to put a stumbling block in front of children and emphasizes his point be telling them to cut off a hand or foot or eye that causes them to stumble: It is better to enter life maimed or lame . . . or with one eye, that be thrown into the eternal fire [18:8-9].
Luke provides only a terse report: An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest. But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side, and said to them, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest,” [Luke 9:46-48].
Matthew inserts the story of the Temple tax before the discussion of who is greatest. The tax collectors asked Peter if Jesus paid the tax (a small amount each male Jew must pay each year) and Peter said, “Yes, he does.” When Peter went to Jesus, he said the tax really did not apply to him but, so that we do not give offense to them, so go to the sea and cast a hook; take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, and you will find a coin; take that and give it to them for you and me,” [Matt 17:24-27].