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““What is your request?” he asked. She replied, “In your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.””Matthew‬ ‭20‬:‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This woman asked Jesus for a very significant request . To be in places of honor on both sides of Jesus is a big thing , the people who will be on his right and on his left will be the people God has selected to help Jesus judge everyone in the end times . So by asking this she and her sons knew that they would have trials and obstacles in their way such as the bitter cup of suffering mentioned in the next verse 

“But Jesus answered by saying to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?” “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!” Matthew‬ ‭20‬:‭22‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The bitter cup of suffering isn’t an actual drink, it was a metaphor for what Jesus was about to endure . He was asking since they wanted such a big request was they willing to suffer the way Jesus was, Was they going to be able to go through with all the suffering that was about to happen in order to be on his right and his left.

“Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. My Father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”Matthew‬ ‭20‬:‭23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

After they said yes Jesus went on to tell them that they would indeed drink from his bitter cup, meaning they were going to suffer with him but he also states that he will not be the one choosing who gets to be on his right and left but that his father has already prepared those places . 

Like I said before those places were a big responsibility, those 2 people would be helping Jesus judge the unrighteous and the righteous. So it only makes sense that God would personally hand pick those 2 people . 

“When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant.” Matthew‬ ‭20‬:‭24‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The word indignant means feeling or showing anger or annoyance at what is perceived as unfair-treatment.

The reason they felt like this is because there was 12 disciples who all followed and served Jesus yet these 2 seemed to believe they were better than the other 10 and that they should be on Jesus right and left side in the kingdom of heaven so of course they were mad. 

“But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world Lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them.” Matthew‬ ‭20‬:‭25‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I’m the world then as well as now any one who is a ruler such as a king or a president lord it over their people , meaning they act in a way that shows one thinks one is better or more important than everyone else.

And he also says officials flaunt their authority over those under them , meaning that the officials which are people in power with military or the Roman armies fault that they are better and have more power than any other person in the town ,city ,or kingdom. 

“But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave.”Matthew‬ ‭20‬:‭26‬-‭27‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus is telling them that for example (in my own words) if John wanted to be the leader of the disciples he must be their servant and give and serve them in everything they need, and if he wanted to be First he would have to be their slave , mind you he does has to do all thing willingly and humbly because what would anyone benefit if he did this out of anger or force?

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew‬ ‭20‬:‭28‬ ‭NLT‬‬

 The same way as Jesus is our king and savior Even though he didn’t come here to be served he should have been served , yet he gave his life for us  and he served others. he did it out of the kindness of his heart he did it because he wanted to help and serve people, and to show how a leader and king should be . So if anyone of the disciples wished to be the leader or first or merely an ounce better than the rest, then that person must be willing to serve and give humbly and sincerely with their heart to the other 11 disciples. 

This was a beautiful passage because it shows that even if we have more power or authority over someone else we should flaunt around acting as if we are better than them in anyway. Instead we should help, serve, and be willing to give to that person no matter who they are weather they are a unfamiliar homeless person or a family member who is having a hard time we should give , help , and serve them willingly, sincerely, and wholeheartedly from the bottom of our hearts with out feeling we are more superior than them. Jesus was a king and yet he served and helped people who didn’t have enough to feed their families, people who had awful diseases. He even gave his life to help everyone including us even tho we are far beneath him and his status for he was and IS the Son of God and our one true King and Messiah 

lets look at a couple things before I get into the whole study

1. God created marriage as a union between Man and Woman,
   not man and man or woman and woman,
2. Marriage between man and woman is sacred.
3. .it says ”Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate” meaning no one should come between a marriage God himself put together.

Now lets get a little deeper in.

where is marriage first ever mentioned

Genesis Chapter 2 Verse 24 ” This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”

Here the word marriage isn’t exactly mention but its referred otherwise the word wife wouldn’t be used if no one was married.

‘Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” Matthew 19:3

The pharisees didn’t like Jesus , they wanted to see him fail and say the wrong things so they can have something against him. They wanted I’m to give the wrong answer here , this is why they ask a question they believe Jesus will have a hard time answering.

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’ ? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”Matthew19:4-6

Jesus is mentioning when God first created Man and Woman back in Genesis. He is reminding the pharisees that he knows the word of God and what was said then, reminding them that God is the one who created marriage and what God has put together no man shall separate.

“Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” ‘
Matthew 19:7

The pharisees are now referring to Deuteronomy Chapter 24 Verses 1-4 which says
Suppose a man marries a woman but she does not please him. Having discovered something wrong with her, he writes a document of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house. When she leaves his house, she is free to marry another man. But if the second husband also turns against her, writes a document of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away, or if he dies, the first husband may not marry her again, for she has been defiled. That would be detestable to the Lord. You must not bring guilt upon the land the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession.

Again here the pharisees are trying to trap Jesus and make him say the wrong thing so they can have something against him. The pharisees are not asking Jesus these questions because they are curious and want answers, they are asking him these questions so they can trap him and convict him of saying wrong things and misleading people.

”Jesus replied, “Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended. ‘Matthew 19:8

now lets understand what the word concession means it is a thing that is granted, especially in response to demands

so now that we know what concession means we can understand that Moses only granted them the option of divorce because they were very stubborn and hard hearted he was practically forced into giving them this option because they were demanding it. So Moses granted them it to keep them contempt but also gave specific rules to go along with it .

‘And I tell you this, whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery—unless his wife has been unfaithful. ” ‘Matthew 19:9

Since divorce is not what God had intended is a man was to divorce his wife for any reason except for the wife committing adultery and that man was to remarry he himself has committed adultery.

it says here in Hebrews Chapter 13 Verse 4
‘Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.’ So here we see that God tells us to honor marriage otherwise he will judge the immoral and the adulterers. What we can get from that is that God sees marriage as something worth being honored therefore it is a sacred thing God has gifted us with and anybody who abuses that gift by cheating and not honoring their spouse and marriage will be judged by God

”Jesus’ disciples then said to him, “If this is the case, it is better not to marry!” “Not everyone can accept this statement,” Jesus said. “Only those whom God helps. Some are born as eunuchs, some have been made eunuchs by others, and some choose not to marry for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.” ‘
Matthew 19:10-12

The disciples here are now a bit confused it seems because they are asking Jesus whether it is better to just not be married at all or to be married and not be able to be divorced because if they divorce they will commit adultery because divorce is not what God intended . Jesus answers them by telling them that not everyone can accept this statement and goes on to talk about the eunuchs.

Jesus says that ” Some are born as eunuchs, some have been made eunuchs by others, and some choose not to marry for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven” meaning there are 3 different types of eunuchs. One by birth, One by choice, And one by the choice if someone else.
A eunuch by birth means that when the baby was born its parts were defected so from birth they became a eunuch
A eunuch by choice was that the man chose to not marry for the sake of the kingdom of heaven and to serve the Lord most time these men were not castrated but took the title as a eunuch and serves as a eunuch by birth would
A eunuch by the choice of someone else is someone who was castrated with out choice to become a eunuch

Lets talk more about marriage and how God made it such a special gift.

Proverbs Chapter 18 Verse 22 says ”He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord”
the word favor means approval, support, or liking for someone or something. God wants us to be married and when a man finds a good wife he favors them for it.

1 Peter Chapter 3 Verses 1-2 says ”Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.”
Now if a wife is good and holy and knows the difference between right and wrong her husband will see the way she lives her life and the husband will be won over and believe the word of God.

Marriage can save you and your spirit and if you don’t believe me here is scripture to back me up

Corinthians Chapter 7 Verses 12-16 says ”’Now, I will speak to the rest of you, though I do not have a direct command from the Lord. If a fellow believer has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to continue living with him, he must not leave her. And if a believing woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to continue living with her, she must not leave him. For the believing wife brings holiness to her marriage, and the believing husband brings holiness to his marriage. Otherwise, your children would not be holy, but now they are holy. (But if the husband or wife who isn’t a believer insists on leaving, let them go. In such cases the believing husband or wife is no longer bound to the other, for God has called you to live in peace.) Don’t you wives realize that your husbands might be saved because of you? And don’t you husbands realize that your wives might be saved because of you? ‘

Now that you see why marriage is a good thing that God has gifted us with ,let me show you something else.

Isaiah Chapter 62 Verse 5 says ”As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.”

Our relationship with God is a marriage we are the church and the bride and Christ is our bridegroom.
Marriage isn’t just a symbol of a man and woman’s love for each other its also a symbol of Christ and church let me explain how a marriage and our relationship with God are exactly the same.

Ephesians 5:21-33
‘Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.’

What are key components in a marriage?
commitment – we need to commit to our spouse fully
communication- without communication we wouldn’t have a marriage, how can you be married and not communicate?
love- this is the main thing in any relationship you need love to make anything last and love needs to go both ways
faith- you need to have faith in the person your marrying otherwise you will only have doubt and then your marriage wont last
trust- without trust we will always wonder what is going on and that will prevent us from having faith
patience- you need patience in your marriage , you cant rush it otherwise it will fall apart faster then it came together

what is the meaning of commitment? the meaning is being loyal and willing to give your time, attention and energy to something you believe in

now that we know what makes a marriage work lets see what we need to have a relationship with God.

commitment – you need to be fully committed to serving God otherwise you will be lukewarm
communication- in order to have a relationship with God you need to communicate with him by praying, talking, and worshipping him.
love- for God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son so that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. He loved you so much but that love needs to go both ways with out love how can we be committed to him?
Faith- we need to have faith in God otherwise how can we believe in him? if we have no faith in God how can our relationship last Hebrews 11 6 says ”And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
trust- we need to trust that God is doing what he knows is right for us, we need to trust that he will deliver us from evil because if we doubt him then we lose faith.
patience- we need patience in our relationship with God because if we try to rush the blessings he is giving us we can destroy them as well as ourselves and our relationship with God

We need to not only be committed to our marriage on earth but we need to be committed and honor our relationship with God we need to open our eyes and see what’s missing in our relationship we God. Are you not communicating with him enough? Are you not having enough faith or trust in him? Or maybe you are not being patient . What ever it is we need to pray that God opens our eyes and shows us how to get back in our walk and relationship with God.

This parable is about forgiveness 

But let’s first understand a couple of things 

First off what is a parable ?

The definition of the word “parable” is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels.

490 times the Bible tells us we should forgive people 

But why is it so important? Why does the Bible tell us to forgive? 

Well if we can’t forgive someone, then we begin to harbor feelings of hate, anger, dislike, and resentment towards the person we can’t forgive. 

Jesus forgave the people who tortured and crucified him , are we any better than Jesus? No, of course not. We are not even 1% as good as he is. So if he can forgive those people who literally killed him we need to forgive people who hurt our feelings.

Now the king forgave the debt of the servant who owed him millions of dollars yet when that same servant went to the man who owed him a few thousand he wouldn’t forgive his debt and sent him to prison until the whole amount was payed off 

This man was a hypocrite he begged the king to let him pay it off instead of selling his wife and children yet when someone owed him money and begged him to for time he denied him and sent him to prison . 

We all do this and not one of yous can tell me otherwise . We expect to be forgiven from our family , friends and especially from God . Yet we won’t forgive the person who called us a bad word or was a jerk to us.

In Matthew 18 verses 32-34 it says 

“Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.”

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If you haven’t caught on God is the king we are the servant he has forgiven and the other servant is the people we can not forgive. 

What anyone says or does to us is grains of sand compared to the things we do to God daily because Since every sin we commit is committed against God, those who are forgiven by Him are forgiven for every sin, every wrong and wicked choice, we ever do over the course of our lifetimes. Nobody will ever sin against us anywhere near to the amount we have sinned against God. 

We break Gods commandments every day and yet when we ask for forgiveness he always forgives us , we break his trust, his heart, his word ,and his law every second of every day of our entire lives yet he will always forgive us, but we can hold a grudge for years and not forgive a person over a small fight with mean words. 

We owe God so much the least we can do is forgive our brothers and sisters for being mean . Even as Jesus was dying on the cross he asked God to forgive the people who crucified him. So again why are we any better than Jesus and won’t forgive people for petty things?

In verses 34 and 35 it says 

“Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.””

Jesus is telling us that is we don’t truly forgive others from our heart not just saying we forgive them but really forgiving them then in the end God will punish us. 

Verse 24 says 

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.”

Jesus is telling his disciples if you want to follow him you must give up your own way take up your cross and follow him. Now what does that mean. It meant that they would have to give up the lives they lived  and they ways they lived if they ate with their left hand they needed to stop and do it the way Christ did they needed to give up everything from the way they walked to their family’s and dreams to sacrifice everything they had and their selves  to follow Christ with no regrets and to take up their cross  and to take up their cross now  in the first century, the cross meant one thing and one thing only: death by crucifixion. To carry a cross was to face the most painful and humiliating means of death human beings could develop. So they must be willing to through pain humility and suffering in order to follow Christ . 

Verse 25 says 

“If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.”

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If you hang on to your life in the world you begin to desire worldly things and become to love the world and when you love the world and the life you made in it you loose sight of the blessings God has gave you 

When you desire worldly items you have no interest in the holy items that God can bless you with so you will loose your life to the world . But if you give you your worldly life and devote your self to God and Holy things he can offer than you will find that you have no need or desire for worldly things and your life will be saved from the world . 

Verse 26 says 

“And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?”

When you desire worldly things you become of the world and when you become of the world it’s more likely you will loose your soul to the worldly things the devil wants us to desire 

Let’s say you have everything you could ever want in the world . You have money, cars, jewelry, mansions, and more . You will loose sight of God and the heavenly things he can offer you because you only desire worldly temporary things this is how you lose your soul to the world . Now if you have everything you ever wanted but you loose your relationship with God is it worth it? You may have everything you want but do you have the 1 thing you really need? 

Verse 27 says 

“For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds.”

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Jesus is talking about the 2nd coming which is talked about in revelation. 

Then he will come and judge people according to their deeds when he says this it’s a big thing because we can say and confess with our mouths every day that we are Christians and we believe in God and that Jesus died for us, but if we have no good deeds to show  it’s just empty air.

An example of a good deed is when you give whole heartedly to someone in need and expect nothing in return, or when you do what is right by God and not sin and expect no blessings in return. These are good deeds. Now if you do what is wrong in the eyes of God but confess with your mouth that you believe Jesus is our one and only savior , this is not a good deed its an empty word. Jesus says in Matthew Chapter 15 Verse 8 ” These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

Jesus is telling us right here that is you confess you believe in him it wont get you anywhere if your heart is far from him and you practice bad deeds.

“On their arrival in Capernaum, the collectors of the Temple tax came to Peter and asked him, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the Temple tax?” Matthew‬ ‭17‬:‭24‬ ‭NLT‬‬

First off we need to know who is asking for the temple tax. This temple tax was not the civil tax that the Romans collected each year for the government. The people who were collecting this temple tax was Jews and the reason is because they need to maintain upkeep and service for the temple or tent of the meetings

It tells us that here in Exodus Chapter 30 verses 12-16 

12 “When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the Lord a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them. 13 Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the Lord. 14 All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the Lord. 15 The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the Lord to atone for your lives. 16 Receive the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the tent of meeting It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord, making atonement for your lives.”

So this is why they asked Peter if his teacher  who is Jesus was going to pay the temple tax .  

““Yes, he does,” Peter replied. Then he went into the house. But before he had a chance to speak, Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Peter? Do kings tax their own people or the people they have conquered?” Matthew‬ ‭17‬:‭25‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus asks peter a question but what does he mean by this? I’ll break it down as simple as I can . If you own a business would you charge your family and friends entry fees? Or would you charge the people whom you know not of? The answer is pretty simple you wouldn’t charge the people you know but you would charge strangers . 

““They tax the people they have conquered,” Peter replied. “Well, then,” Jesus said, “the citizens are free!” Matthew‬ ‭17‬:‭26‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Here is a simple verse Peter answers Jesus saying they tax the people they have conquered and Jesus says “the citizens are free” If we go back to my anecdote  the answer is you would charge the strangers and the friends and family would be free. 

“However, we don’t want to offend them, so go down to the lake and throw in a line. Open the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you will find a large silver coin. Take it and pay the tax for both of us.” Matthew‬ ‭17‬:‭27‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Although there is no reason for Jesus to pay these fees since he is the Son of God ,he still pays this fee because he does not want to offend anyone. At this time and through out all of Jesus’s ministry people was looking for anything he did wrong so they can have something against him so they can arrest him , if he offended them by not paying the temple tax that would give them the perfect reason to arrest him and Jesus couldn’t let this happen he had a path paved for him to fulfill the purpose God had made for him and being arrested would have prevented the other things Jesus needed to do before he was crucified. 

The temple tax was half a Shekel or 2 drachma coins this is why there was 1 shekel in the fish’s mouth. But why was it in the fishes mouth? Now nowhere are we told that Jesus or Peter couldn’t afford it but Jesus shows Peter that once again God will provide for them and that God can provide everything we need. 

There’s a few things that I got from these verses 

 No matter what God is always there he always knows what we need before we even say it and he always blesses us with what we need before we even begin to worry and search for it he shows us this in 2 sections of these verses 

First when Peter walks into the house and before he says anything Jesus begins to talk. But how did Jesus know what to say? 

It’s because God already knew what Peter needed before asking Jesus so before he even needed to ask God gave him his answer 

And second  is when Jesus tells peter to throw a line , catch the fish and open its mouth and their peter found the silver coin to pay for the taxes. 

God shows us that before peter went to look and search and worry how he was gonna pay is Jesus told him where to go and how to do it. No matter what we go through God will provide he knows our problems he knows our worries and he knows our hearts.

no matter what we need to trust that God knows what’s best for us , we need to trust that he knows what we need and what we don’t need because God is all knowing . That means he knows all, he knows the thought we have before we think them.