The New Testament BIBLE STORY #13

 The New Testament  BIBLE STORY  #13

Especially written for children

Chapter Twenty-one:

Being Child-like and Forgiveness

JESUS FORETELLS HIS DEATH A SECOND TIME

     Once more Jesus and His disciples are back in the Galilee

area. For a little while He did not want anyone to know they were

there, for He had some important private teachings to do. For the

second time He instructed His disciples concerning His death,

saying to them, "The Son of man will be delivered into the hands

of men, and they will kill Him; and when He is killed, after

three days He will rise again."

     For the second time the disciples were perplexed and did not

understand what He was saying, although He said it to them in

pretty plain words. They just could not imagine that such a thing

could happen to such a mighty miracle working man as Jesus. 

They also did not understand all the Old Testament writings of the

Messiah and His first coming to earth, and what the prophets of

old had been inspired to write about what would happen to Him.

     And, like before, although they were puzzled by His words,

they were afraid to ask Him about them, to inquire any further

(Mark 9: 30-32).

THE TEMPLE TAX AND THE FISH

     When they arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the

half-shekel Temple tax (a tax imposed on the Jewish people for

the upkeep of the Temple in Jerusalem. It was not a part of the

laws of the Old Testament, yet not wrong either, certain physical

things of God like the then Temple, did need physical maintenance

at times, and God did not issue laws for everything that needed

to be taken care of. Some things were left to the leaders of the

people to figure out how best to keep things in good repair and

order), came up to Peter and inquired of him, saying, "Does your

teacher pay the tax?"  "Well....yes, of course He does," replied

Peter, with a little hesitation in his voice. Peter really was

not sure, as it had never come up before and had never been

talked about with Jesus.

     Jesus later that day said to Peter, "What do you think,

Simon? From who do the kings of the earth take taxes? From their

sons or from others?"  "O, it is from others Master," replied

Peter. "Then the sons are free, yes, indeed that is so." Jesus

said, and continued with, "However, not to give offence to them,

I want you to go to the sea and cast a fishing line and hook.

Take the first fish that bits, and when you open its mouth you

will find a shekel; take that and give it to them for me and for

yourself."

     The Temple in Jerusalem belonged to God, and all the

services done there, all that the Levites and priests performed

there as under the laws of the Old Testament, were from God and

towards God in worship. He owned it all. Jesus as the Son of God,

had part ownership in the Temple and all things performed there.

He really did not have to pay taxes on what belonged to Him.

Kings of the earth collected taxes from others, not from their

own children. God as King of the earth and hence the Temple in

Jerusalem, did not have to collect a tax from His own Son.

     But, Jesus did not want to offend them, the tax collectors,

or those who were keepers of the Temple. They did not understand

who He was, did not believe who He was. Their minds were still in

blindness to a large extent, hence Jesus would not offend

them. He worked a miracle and told Peter to pay the Temple tax.

     Sometimes in life there are many situations where we may be

free to do or not do something that's within the righteousness of

God, and sometimes in order to not offend people, we should do

it, if not doing it would offend them.  You may be able to think

of such circumstances and if reading this Bible Story with more

persons than yourself, you might like to discuss such situations.

     This is a life example that Jesus gives us to not offend

people if it is within your power to not offend them.

WHOSE THE GREATEST AND CHILDLIKENESS

     They had been out in the town of Capernaum and were now on

the way to the house they always stayed in when in that town

(some have speculated that it was a house Jesus had built earlier

in His life as it is always designated as "the house"), and

arriving Jesus asked them, "What were you discussing on the way

here?" They were silent for a while, for on the way they had been

discussing who was the greatest among them (apart from Jesus of

course). "Well, Master," they began in their reply, "we were

wondering who was the greatest among us. And so Lord, who is it,

who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?"

     It was now Jesus' turn to be silent for a while. He sat

down, and called the twelve over to Him, and said, "If any one

would be first, he must put himself last of all and put himself

servant of all." Then calling for a child to come over to Him, He

put the child in the midst of the disciples, and put His arms

around him, and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and

become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven.

Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in

the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in my

name receives me, and receiving me actually is receiving not me

so much as receiving the One who sent me, my Father. But whoever

causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble and

sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone

fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the

sea."

     

     Entering the Kingdom of God, being a part of it now in this

life time, to Jesus was not about trying to be the greatest among

other believers, trying to "out do" in speech, works, power, or

whatever else humans think about in putting themselves greater

than others. To Jesus, the greatest ones were those who were

humble like a child and who served others, who did not even think

of themselves as anything great. Then if some, as they do, think

that riding rough-shod over others is being powerfully great, and

would cause little ones in Christ to stumble and sin, so they

gave up on salvation and remaining faithful to the end, then it

would have been better for that person who so causes such to

stumble, if they had been drowned in the sea, or we may say

today, "never been born." Being great for the Kingdom of God is

nothing like what the world thinks about "being great" is.

Greatness to God is being humble minded and serving others and

making sure little ones in Christ grow and stay faithful to the

end.

     As Jesus was speaking about all this, John broke in and

said, "Master, teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in your

name, and we told him to stop doing such things because he did

not belong to our company of disciples."

     Why did John bring this up at this particular time? Maybe it

was because John thought this man was trying to be great by doing

such works. Greater than they were, as we saw earlier that the

disciples could not cast out the demon from the child that the

father brought to them to have his son healed. Maybe seeing this

man casting out demons in Jesus' name caused them to start

thinking about who was the greatest among them, for surely they

were greater than this man, they probably thought, as he did not

even belong to their group of disciples that Jesus had personally

chosen Himself.

     Jesus replied to John and all present, "Do not forbid him;

for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon

after to speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is for

us. For truly I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to

drink because you bear my name, will not loose his reward."

     Jesus was showing them that God works in many ways. He is

not bound by a certain "club" or "church group." He was showing

them that those who work for Him in a certain time and way, are

not necessarily "the only ones" on the circuit of His work. And

others could be doing huge things in His name or even very small

simple things for Him and for others who believe in Him. Even

those doing small things like giving a cup of water in His name

to others who also believe in His name, will not be forgotten by

God. The man the disciples had seen casting out demons was

believing in Jesus, doing it in His name, and those coming to him

were also believing in Jesus, not the man doing the work, but

believing in the power that was in the name of Jesus. God will

remember those who have the simple attitude of wanting to serve

others through Him, they will have their reward.

     The disciples by their action and words of telling the man

to "stop" because he was not part of "the gang that walked around

with Jesus," could have offended him where he would have given up

his personal conviction of Jesus, been as we say, "turned right

off" and Jesus wanted to make sure His disciples knew the

seriousness of offending people, so He went on to expound with

words very similar to what He had said to them in a previous

teaching. He also did not want them to offend each other by

trying to figure out who was the greatest among themselves.

     "Woe unto the world because of offences! For it must needs

be that offences come; but woe to the person by whom the offence

comes! Therefore if your hand or your foot cause you to offend,

cut them off, and cast them from you, for it is better for you to

enter into life with one hand or one foot than to have two hands

or two feet to be cast into the fire that shall destroy forever.

The same goes for your eyes, if one should cause you to offend,

better cast it off and enter into life with one eye, rather than

having two eyes to be cast into the fire of Gehenna.

     Take heed, pay close attention, that you despise not one of

these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their

angels do always behold the face of my Father who is there in

heaven.

     The Son of man has come to save the lost, that is His main

aim, not to destroy but to save."

     Jesus was making it as clear and as plain as possible, that

He and those who follow Him, are to put away anything in their

lives, that would cause people to be offended and to be lost. He

was in the business of SAVING not destroying lives. As we saw

before when Jesus uttered similar words, of cutting off a hand or

foot or plucking out an eye, He was not talking of doing this

literally to your body, for it is really the mind that offends,

the hand or foot or eye follows what the mind tells it. Jesus is

using an analogy again, whatever is precious and close to you, 

if it is wrong and leads to you offending people, better own up to

it and get rid of it.

     And we notice in passing that it would seem that believers

at least have what some have called "guardian angels" over them.

Jesus here refers to them as "their angels in heaven."

     To show the disciples still further that He was in the work

force that was busy searching and seeking for the lost, to save

them, He went on to say:

      "Think about this. If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of

them gets lost, does he not leave the ninety and nine and does he

not go out into the mountains or wherever, to seek for the one

that has got lost? And if he manages to find it, does he not

rejoice more over that sheep, than over the ninety and nine which

did not go astray or wander off and get lost? Even so it is not

the will of your Father in heaven, that ONE of these little ones

should perish. 

     Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its saltness, how

will you give its saltness back? Have salt in yourselves, and be

at peace with one another" (Mat.18: 1-14; Mark 9: 33-50).

     We are to be the "salt of the earth" as Jesus once told His

followers. We are to be salt not poison to people. We are to be

humble like a child who knows he/she is not self-sufficient. We

are to not think about being great in the eyes of other human

beings, but think about how we can serve mankind. And we are to

do all we can not to offend others, so they and us can be saved

and not lost.

FORGIVENESS - A KEY TO SALVATION

     This was a good time for Jesus to speak about the very

important subject of "forgiveness" and He did:

     "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, 

between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have

gained your brother. but if he does not listen, take one or two

others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the

evidence of two or three witnesses. If he still refuses to listen, 

even to those who have come with you, then tell it to the

church; and if he refuses to even listen to the church, let him

be to you as a Gentile and tax collector."

     None Israelites (Gentiles) and tax collectors back then were

viewed as outsiders and not associated with on any social

activities, they were the black sheep of the family so to speak.

Here Jesus gives the basic formula for righting wrongs that

people do to each other within the family and church of God. 

It is really pretty clear and straightforward enough, yet few

observe it as Jesus instructed. 

     You first must go to the person who has wronged and in the

right manner "have it out with them" - or "clear the air between

the two of you." In most cases most problems can be solved

between the two parties involved. If not, then you are to take

along two or three others as witnesses, maybe even as

intercessors, as third party mediators. Once more at this level

the problem can usually be rectified. But in a few cases it may

not be solved at this second level of "problem confrontation" 

and it will need have to go to the "church." 

     The important thing here is that it is the "church" that has

the final say. And the "church" is not the minister or board of

deacons, it is the "church" - the whole body of Christ for that

locality. They then must hear the problem and rule as to the

right and wrong of the matter, and who is right and who is 

wrong and the means to correct the situation, with repentance 

and whatever else is needed to correct the matter. If that person

will not here the "church" then the church is to put them out of

their fellowship. It is then the rule and principle of what Paul

and the church at Corinth was into as we read 1 Corinthians

chapter 5. 

     We need in all of this last ditch circumstance to also remember 

Galatians 6: 1-3 and 2 Thessalonians 3: 14,15.

     The "church" must make a ruling and a decision on matters

that cannot be solved with the first two approaches, and as a

collective decision by the members in whom is the Holy Spirit,

God will back that decision of who is right and who is wrong and

what should be done.

     Jesus showed this by going on to say, "It is truth that I

say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven,

and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again 

I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask,

it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or

three are gathered in my name there I am in the middle of them."

     The context here about binding and loosing even with a small

number agreeing together, is the context of "church problems" 

and the third part of trying to solve them having to be applied.  

Far too many have taken these words out of context and tried to 

apply them to far too many things, including setting rules and

regulations that are directly at odds and against the unmovable

laws and commandments of God (Psalm 111: 7, 8).

     It is also true that the Greek tense here is as we saw

ealier, and can be (and is so in some translations) rendered as

"whatever you bind on earth must be what is already bound in

heaven, and whatever you loose on earth must be what is already

loosed in heaven." Hence Jesus may have been telling "the church"

large or small to be very circumspect in what things it gave

rules on as coming from God or the word of God.

     As Jesus was talking about problems and sins that brother

has with brother, Peter naturally had a question come to his mind

and he wanted Jesus to answer it, "Lord, how often shall I forgive 

my brother if he sins against me? As many as seven forgivenesses?"

     Peter thought there must be after all a limit to forgiving

your brother. Probably all the other disciples thought so also,

but to the surprise of everyone Jesus replied, "I do not say to

seven times, but you must forgive to seventy times seven."

     They all knew that by Jesus using the phrase "seventy times

seven" He was meaning you must be willing to forgive to never

ending, there was no limit to forgiveness.

     And to illustrate the importance of forgiveness that knows

no end, Jesus gave them this parable or story illustration:

     "The Kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who decided

to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed

money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in

who owed him millions of dollars. He could not pay, so the king

ordered that he and his wife, and his children, and all that he

had should be sold to pay back the debt. On hearing this the man

fell down before the kind and begged him,'Oh, king, please be

patient with me, and I will pay it all back.' The king was filled

with pity and compassion for him, and he released him and forgave

him of the huge debt he owed. But, when the man left the king, he

immediately went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand

dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant

re-payment. His fellow servant fell down before him and begged

for a little more time, 'Be patient please, and I will pay back

what I owe you,' he pleaded. But his creditor would have none

of it, would have no mercy or patience at all. He had the man

arrested and jailed until the debt could be paid back in full.

     When some of the other servants saw this, they were very

angry and upset. They went to the king and told him what had

happened. The king called in the man he had forgiven and said,

'You unthankful and evil servant! I forgave you the huge debt you

owed me because you pleaded with me for patience and mercy.

Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I

had mercy on you?' Then the outraged and indignant king sent the

man to prison until he had paid every penny he owed him.

     That's what my Father in heaven will do to you if you refuse

to forgive your brothers and sisters the sins and trespasses they

commit against you" (Mat.18: 15-35).

     Jesus made it quite a simple matter, if you want God to

forgive you your sins and mistakes that really amount to a great

number in a life time, then you had better be forgiving towards

other fellow human beings, of the relatively less in number, sins

and trespasses they might commit against you in a life time.

     Forgiveness - having it towards others is a vital key to

obtain salvation and eternal life in the Kingdom of our Father

who is in heaven.

               ...............................

Written October 2002