AUGUST 22 JQ#22-2 “Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?” (Matthew 20:15) The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

AUGUST 22   JQ#22-2  “Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?”  (Matthew 20:15) 

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, Lord, my Redeemer, King of kings, there is no end to the Wonderful Names of Jesus, You are the Messiah, the Savior, the Chosen One, Lord I call upon that Holy Name for each day that You grant me because I need Your Mercy and Grace. Jesus, there just is no other name that I can call upon that gives the weary Rest and strengthens the weak, so Lord Jesus, teach me to “wait upon the Lord” that I may know the Peace that cannot be understood that only You can give our troubled souls.        AMEN

The Jesus Questions

AUGUST 22   JQ#22-2  “Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?”  (Matthew 20:15)  Jesus was constant in all His responses to the questions of the “legalists” that always attacked Jesus with their “traditions”. When the Pharisees attacked Jesus because Jesus and His disciples were picking grain to eat on the Sabbath, Jesus asked the Pharisees, “Have you not read what David did…” (Matthew 12:3) pointing the “traditionalist” to the Holy Scriptures and while eating the grain Jesus summarized the Scriptures and declared “For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8) Jesus concluded that session with the traditionalist by stating very clearly, “Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath” thereby putting to rest any attack on His Authority and Jesus did it by referring the Pharisees to the Truth of God written in the Holy Scriptures. Jesus was attacked still another time by the Pharisees and this time they attacked Jesus because His disciples had not washed their hands before they ate bread which broke the tradition of the Pharisees and  Jesus reminded them that washing hands was not “God’s law” but “washing hands” was a “tradition” of the Pharisees and by observing their “traditions” that they were “breaking the commandment of God” and “following the doctrine of men” (Matthew 15:1-9) Now Jesus is under yet another attack and this time the Pharisees are trying to trick Jesus by using the Holy Scriptures as they bring up the subject of “divorce” and they ask Jesus if it is “lawful” for a man to “divorce his wife for just any reason” and Jesus answered again, “Have you not read…” (Matthew 19:4a) directing them again to the Holy Scriptures. The Pharisees thought they had Him trapped this time for they shot back from the Holy Scriptures and what Moses had declared regarding divorce, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” Jesus continued His constant response to the legalists attacks and pointed out the Truth of God that “in the beginning” that God had “made them male and female” and God declared “and the two shall become one flesh…”and concluded “Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matthew 19:4-6) Then to make sure that once again the Pharisees were making the mistake “following the doctrines of men” and not obeying “the commandments of God” Jesus pointed out that Moses was the one that “permitted” divorce and not God! (Matthew 19:8) This lesson on what is “lawful” should be used to know that Jesus is the Son of Man sent by God to do the will and work of God and that God’s Law has never changed and will never change! God’s Law is eternal and every soul that ever lived or that will ever live will be under the same moral standard that every other soul that was ever  created by God must live under, and that constant moral standard under which we will all be judged is the written commandments of God — Jesus made it clear in His Ministry that God was and eternally will be the authority!!! Jesus remained constant in His response to the Pharisees and their “traditions”, their “legalism” and that constant response from Jesus still rings TRUE today — We should obey the commands of God instead of following the doctrine of men!