MAY 02 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#14-02 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#14 “ Jesus said to them, ‘Have you understood all these things?’” (Matthew 13:51)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY 02  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#14-02  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#14 “ Jesus said to them, ‘Have you understood all these things?’”  (Matthew 13:51)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, indeed Lord we seek to know You and the Father as we seek to know the will of the Father for our lives. We can see from Your Life that we are to “live” the “Truth of God” in our lives so that those who observe our “Gospel” will have the Father revealed to them as You revealed the Father by both the Way You Lived and the Way You Died. Lord Jesus, may the Holy Spirit indwell us so extensively that all that others can see in us is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, that we are all One. Lord Jesus I beg again for mercy and grace and my daily bread and pray that each day I again die to self so that I may be resurrected with the newness of Christ and can claim boldly that  my life is not mine but Thine!     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

MAY 02  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#14-02  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#14 “ Jesus said to them, ‘Have you understood all these things?’”  (Matthew 13:51)  Jesus starts Teaching JQ#14 with a lead in Question to get us thinking about the Truth of God when he asks the “Kingdom Question” ——— “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” (Matthew 12:48) The context for this Question begins with Matthew 12:38 and runs through Matthew 13:52. In the previous verses Jesus had just asked us to consider our “Spiritual Expectations” of the Kingdom of God and had pointedly asked us if our lives are making a contribution to the uplifting of God and His kingdom or are we tearing down the kingdom by our unbelief. Jesus has been Teaching us that it is how we live that is going to be the “Truth of God” in our lives and Jesus has been Living the Perfect Example of what He has been Teaching about “The Father”. Here in this section of scripture running from Matthew 12:38 through Matthew 12:51 Jesus ties several concepts together for us using parables and using the “precept upon precept” method through which we are given insights on the Kingdom of God that can only come from a special understanding that can only be revealed by the Power of the Holy Spirit. By looking at the Lessons Jesus has already Taught we can glimpse where Jesus is taking us next by realizing that He has established the foundation for the next big Truth of God which Jesus introduces with His next Question JQ#14A “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” (Matthew 12:48). All along Jesus has been referring to God as “the Father” and Jesus has proven Himself to be the “Son of God” and Jesus has been Teaching that we are born into a physical life but by the Desire and Design of the Creator we have been given an “eternal spiritual soul” which will ascend to God upon the death of the “physical” body. Now Jesus continues Teaching us on this “spiritual” plane as He transitions to the next revelation of the kingdom by Teaching about “the sign of the prophet Jonah” (Matthew 12:39) where Jesus introduces His Resurrection to the Pharisees who had demanded Jesus give them a “sign”. Jesus answers that the only “sign” the “evil and adulterous generation” will get is the “sign of the prophet Jonah” as Jesus tells them point blank, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:40) The “sign of the prophet Jonah” taken literally can only mean that God’s plan for the kingdom is that Jesus will have to die and be in the “grave” for three days but then God Himself will Resurrect Jesus as He did Jonah for only the Power of God can accomplish such things! Jesus then says that the fruit of Jonah’s resurrection was that the men of Nineveh “repented” and now Jesus is saying that this “evil and adulterous generation” will be given a chance to repent when God Resurrects Jesus on the Third Day. Jesus then adds that the sign of the queen of the South was to “understand” the wisdom of Solomon and now “indeed a greater than Solomon is here” (Matthew 12:42) Then Jesus ties these “Spiritual signs” together as He confirms the spiritual connection as He Teaches about the “unclean spirit” that gets “seven other spirits” and they “enter and dwell” in those that do not accept the Truth of God and therefore are known as “this wicked generation” which is a generation that does not believe in God, they reject God, and they refuse to accept the gift of God which is His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. God is Teaching that in order for us to enter the kingdom of God we must realize it is a “spiritual realm” and we must align ourselves “spiritually” with the “Father”. Jesus now introduces the concept of the “Family of God” as He asks JQ#14A “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” We all know that our “physical life” begins with our biological mother and father so aren’t you curious now to “understand these things” and to know how our “spiritual life” will begin and how exactly do we become a member of this “spiritual family”?