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Kent Hughes · Citado em PreceptAustin
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Hughes adds "This parable’s lesson has often been greatly misunderstood, because most people think it teaches that feverish importunity (troublesome persistence) in prayer is a virtue. Untold numbers of sermons have wrongly used this text to teach that we must frantically beg God to answer our prayers. This is not the idea at all.The parable of the unjust judge and the pestering widow is a parable of contrast. The clear lesson of the parable is that God is not like the judge, for God is good and gracious. And we are not like the nameless widow, for we are his chosen ones. So a distressed bugging of God is in fact inadequate prayer. (See Luke: That You May Know the Truth)(Bolding added) J
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Hughes - As we live in the not yet, longing for the return of the Son of Man, Jesus’ closing question has the same force as it did in A.D. 33: “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (v. 8b). Jesus’ question implies that such faith will not be found on earth unless his disciples learn to “always pray and not give up” (v. 1b). Jesus was saying that continual prayer until he comes is not only the evidence of faith, but the means of building faith until his return. The God to whom we pray is not like the unjust judge who could only be badgered into responding, for our God is loving and gracious. And we are not like the nameless widow, for we are his chosen ones. Because of this, he delights to hear and quickly answer our prayers until he comes. “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Yes, he will, if we have learned to live a life of prayer in the not yet. (Preaching the Word - Luke)
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Hughes - Jesus always demands that those who come to him put away their gods, whether they be possessions, position, power, a person, or a passion! (See Mark: Jesus, Servant and Savior) Leon
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Hughes comments that "The disciples’ motivations are not entirely clear. At best they were protecting Jesus from what they deemed as interruptions or pressure. At worst they saw the situation as a waste of time. But whatever their motivation, Jesus used their intervention to give some of his most penetrating teaching and most often quoted words." (See Luke: That You May Know the Truth) They began rebuking (epitimao) them - Rebuking is in the imperfect tense picturing them repeatedly rebuking -- someone would bring a baby (prosphero is also in the imperfect tense) and they would rebuke them, then another would come and they would rebuke them, etc. This must have been quite a scene! J C
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Hughes comments on the parallel passage in Mark 10:13-15 - In saying, “for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these,” He affirms their full spirituality. They are the hearts He takes to himself! ...Christ affirms and proclaims the spiritual capacity of children. If there ever was a text relevant to child evangelism, this is it. Children can authentically come to Christ early on!...Dr. Jim Slack, head of demographics for the Southern Baptist Foreign Missionary Society, recently shared the results of a Gallup Survey: nineteen out of twenty people who became Christians did so before the age of twenty-five. At age twenty-five, one in 10,000 will become believers; at thirty-five, one in 50,000; at forty-five, one in 200,000; at fifty-five, one in 300,000; at seventy-five, one in 700,000....How are we to understand and apply this? For starters, coming as a “little child” does not infer innocence. Any two-year-old dispels such a notion! Neither does “like a little child” suggest the wondrous subjective states we often find in children such as trustfulness, receptivity, simplicity, or wonder, beautiful as these are. What Jesus has in mind here is an objective state which every child who has ever lived, regardless of race, culture, or background, has experienced—helpless dependence. Every single child in the world is absolutely, completely, totally, objectively, subjectively, existentially helpless! And so it is with every child who is born into the Kingdom of God. Children of the Kingdom enter it helpless, ones for whom everything must be done.....There is no other fundamental meaning for Mk 10:15. Have you come to Christ like this? Is it his grace plus your nothingness?...No one will receive the Kingdom of God without this helpless dependence and humility. (Preaching the Word - Mark) Take The Time Read: Matthew 9:18-26 Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me. —Mark 9:37 A legend is told about a rabbi from a small Jewish town. The people had gathered in the synagogue on the eve of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), but when the time came for the most important service of the Jewish year to begin, the rabbi was nowhere to be found. During the delay, a young mother went home to check on her little daughter, whom she had left sleeping. To her surprise, she saw the rabbi sitting quietly in a chair, holding the child in his arms. He had been walking by her home on the way to the synagogue when he heard the infant crying and stopped to help. He held the little one until she fell asleep. There’s a lesson for us in this rabbi’s example and in Jesus’ love for people (Mt. 9:18-26). In our hectic and busy lives, we tend to get so caught up with our own concerns that we lose our sense of compassion for others. We must take time to observe and respond to individuals—whether they are little children, parents, or older believers. Somewhere amid all the demands on you as a servant of Jesus Christ, take the time to hold the hand of an aging believer, to comfort a tired mother, or to cradle a child until she sleeps. How good to be an instrument Of grace that He can use At any time, in any place, However He may choose! —Guirey Great occasions for service come seldom— little ones surround us daily. Like a Little Child Read: Mark 10:13–16 Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them. Mark 10:14 The little girl moved joyfully and gracefully to the music of praise. She was the only one in the aisle but that didn’t keep her from spinning and waving her arms and lifting her feet to the music. Her mother, a smile on her lips, didn’t try to stop her. My heart lifted as I watched, and I longed to join her—but didn’t. I’d long ago lost the unselfconscious expression of joy and wonder of my childhood. Even though we are meant to grow and mature and put childish ways behind us, we were never meant to lose the joy and wonder, especially in our relationship with God. When Jesus lived on Earth, He welcomed little children to Him and often referred to them in His teaching (Matthew 11:25; 18:3; 21:16). On one occasion, He rebuked His disciples for attempting to keep parents from bringing their children to Him for a blessing, saying, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Mark 10:14). Jesus was referring to the childlike characteristics that ready us to receive Christ—joy and wonder, but also simplicity, dependence, trust, and humility. Childlike wonder and joy (and more) open our hearts to be more receptive to Him. He is waiting for us to run into His arms. Abba (Daddy), Father, help us to be more childlike in our relationship with You. We long to be filled with wonder at all You have done. Faith shines brightest in a childlike heart. By Alyson Kieda INSIGHT The wonder of what we see in Mark 10:13–16 becomes more stunning when we understand the connection with what follows in Mark’s gospel. One phrase that links the two sections is “the kingdom of God”—the rule of God in our hearts (see Mark 10:14–15). God’s kingdom (which includes eternal life) is the possession of those who are childlike in their dependence on God. They are the ones who are welcomed by Jesus (v. 16). On the other hand, we see a full-grown man running unhindered to Jesus, but he ends up leaving Him “because he had great wealth” (v. 22). Three times the phrase “the kingdom of God” is used in verses 17–27. “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” (v. 23); “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (vv. 24–25, emphasis added). Simple, childlike trust in Jesus is better than “adultlike” independence and trust in lesser things. Hugs Of The Heart Read: Mark 10:13-16 He took them up in His arms . . . and blessed them. —Mark 10:16 While Jesus lived on this earth, He took little children in His arms and blessed them (Mk. 10:16). And He is still in the child-embracing ministry today. My friend told me about a touching conversation between her two grandchildren. Five-year-old Matthew said to Sarah, age 3, “I talk to Jesus in my head!” She responded, “I don’t—I just cuddle with Him!” Many other children of God, much older ones, have experienced His unseen everlasting arms around them and beneath them. Brother Lawrence, the 17th-century monk known for sensing the presence of God amid the pots and pans of the monastery’s kitchen, spoke of being “known of God and extremely caressed by Him.” And Hudson Taylor, the pioneer missionary to China, scrawled this note as he neared the end of his life: “I am so weak that I cannot work; I cannot read my Bible; I cannot even pray. I can only lie still in God’s arms like a child, and trust.” God wants us to nestle close to Him in childlike trust, whether young or old, strong or weak. In response, through His indwelling Spirit, He draws us to Himself to comfort and to bless. Have you and God had a hug of the heart today? The Lord took children in His arms To bless them and to show That if we come in childlike faith His presence we will know. —Sper Don't wrestle—just nestle. —Corrie ten Boom Gentle Jesus Read: Matthew 18:1-10 Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. —Matthew 18:3 Charles Wesley (1707–1788) was a Methodist evangelist who wrote more than 9,000 hymns and sacred poems. Some, like “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing,” are great, soaring hymns of praise. But his poem “Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild,” first published in 1742, is a child’s quiet prayer that captures the essence of how all of us should seek the Lord in sincere, simple faith. Loving Jesus, gentle Lamb, In Thy gracious hands I am; Make me, Savior, what Thou art, Live Thyself within my heart. When some followers of Jesus were jockeying for position in His kingdom, the Lord “called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven’” (Matt. 18:2-3). Not many children seek position or power. Instead, they want acceptance and security. They cling to the adults who love and care for them. Jesus never turned children away. The last stanza of Wesley’s poem shows a childlike desire to be just like Jesus: “I shall then show forth Thy praise / Serve Thee all my happy days; / Then the world shall always see / Christ, the holy Child, in me.” Father, give me the faith of a little child. I want to know Your love and care, and to rest in Your embrace. Grant my desire to be like You in all my ways that I might live for Your honor. Faith shines brightest in a childlike heart. Luke 18:17 "Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all."
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Hughes - in Jesus’ day it was a breach in religious decorum to call Jesus “good teacher.” There is not one example in the Talmud of a rabbi being addressed as “good.” So was the ruler’s use of “good” casual, thoughtless flattery? Or was it simply “the poverty of his moral perception”? Or was the ruler breaking decorum to voice what he sensed in his heart? (See Luke That You May Know the Truth)
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Hughes - Jesus used the occasion to do some metaphysical probing so the man would reflect upon his own soul. “Why do you call me good? No one is good—except God alone” is a challenge to reflect on Jesus’ ministry as it related to God as the only truly good person in existence. If the ruler could see this level of goodness in Jesus’ ministry, he would realize that the kingdom of God was present. “Think, man! If I am good, and if only God is good, then who am I, and what am I doing? Think!” Having pushed the goodness question, Jesus then focused upon the insufficient goodness of the ruler. Jesus did so by calling him to keep the second half of the Ten Commandments, the commandments that have to do with our social ethics, our duty to other people. (Preaching the Word - Luke) John Martin - Apparently the man thought Jesus had gained a measure of status with God by His good works. Jesus was implying that if He were truly good, then it would be because He is God. This, then, is another of Jesus’ claims of deity. (Bible Knowledge Commentary)
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Hughes asks "What are the disadvantages of wealth? Primarily what it can do to the soul. How easy it is for an earnest man or woman to become so attached to material riches that he forgets what is infinitely more important. Wealth naturally works at perverting one’s values. We soon know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Paul tells Timothy, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant” (1 Timothy 6:17). Pride, arrogance, insensitivity, indifference, self-satisfaction, worldliness, and other ungodly mind-sets feed on affluence. Most tragic, wealth can steel one against the objective requirement for entering the Kingdom of God: helpless dependence. Jesus said to the Church, “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” (Revelation 3:17+), and he says it today to thousands." (Preaching the Word - Mark) And one other point of application - It is easy for a person in America to read Jesus' warning and say "That does not apply to me because I am not rich." We need to keep in mind that EVERYONE in America is RICH compared with the majority of the people in the world. For example, the per capita annual income in the Democratic Republic of Congo is about $730 compared to the per capita income in USA of $58,030! And so most people in America earn more in one week ($1116/wk) than a resident of Congo earns in one year! It follows dear American reader - YOU ARE RICH! And it follows that you are in grave danger of falling into the same trap as the rich young ruler and that you might end up as the "camel" who never makes it supernaturally through the eye of the needle! "Set your mind (present imperative = enabled by the Spirit, every morning when you get up, yield to Him [Eph 5:18+] and allow Him to press the "reset button" in your mind so that it is oriented toward Christ, toward His Second Coming, toward eternity - see Vertical Vision, Maranatha Mindset) on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died (YESTERDAY=PAST) and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, our life, (TODAY=PRESENT) is revealed (TOMORROW=FUTURE), then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. (Hallelujah!) " (Col 3:2-4+; See Three Tenses of Salvation) O'Connell adds that "There is always something more on earth to buy or look forward to when one has wealth. Wealth often lures us into believing that everything can be had for a price. In most cases with wealth comes self-indulgence, self-reliance, self-importance, and self-security. Wealth has a way of ruling one’s life, ruling one’s time, ruling one’s vocation, ruling one’s commitments, ruling one’s concerns. And the whole point of Jesus’ “colorful hyperbole” about the camel and the eye of the needle reinforces the truth “that those who are ruled by money cannot be ruled by God.” Thus, while it is true and not to be forgotten that “it is not so much the having of money, as the trusting in it, which ruins the soul,” it is likewise true that it is easier to trust in it if you have it to trust in. And what is required by Christ and his gospel is a childlike faith in the heavenly Father. What is demanded is a poverty of spirit that so often goes hand in hand with a poverty of possessions." (Preaching the Word - Matthew) Ryrie - In this proverbial expression, Christ does not say that a rich man could not be saved (v. 26), but only that, for him, it is more difficult, since such a person seldom senses his personal need as readily as a poorer man does. (Ryrie Study Bible)