MARCH 17 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#10 “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin?” (Matthew 10:29)

 

MARCH 17  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  

JQ#10 “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin?”

 (Matthew 10:29)

LIVING FOR JESUS Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Lord, may thanksgiving and praise always be on my lips 

for You Lord have blessed me beyond anything I could have imagined

 and certainly more than I deserve. Jesus, thank You for showing me that

 True Blessings are so much more valuable than anything money can buy! 

Lord, to know that we are held safe in the hands of the Father and that

 His Perfect Will is directed towards only “good” for us

 is the most comforting assurance life can provide, and we know that

 YOU LORD JESUS — YOU ARE —  

THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE 

— Praise God from Whom ALL BLESSINGS flow.     

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

JESUS uses two sparrows and a copper coin, common everyday things,

 but leave it to the Master to use the common everyday things in our

 daily lives to Teach the “Sublime”! 

Though the objects are common, the Lesson Jesus Teaches is all 

about “value”! “Value” is a relative term, for instance, if a man has a million

 dollars but is lost in the desert and is dying of thirst, how many millions

 of dollars would the thirsty man give for a single class of water? 

We are all familiar with the term “inflation” and the affect “inflation” has

 on our “household income” — “inflation” is nothing more than money losing

 its “value” thereby we can observe in our daily lives that the “value” of 

money is not constant and therefore the “true value” of money is 

SUBJECT TO THE EVER-BLOWING WINDS OF CHANGE! 

God is addressing “spiritual value” in JQ#10 — and the “Way” that He 

conveys His message about how we think about our 

“spiritual value” is truly “Divine”! 

The immediate context to the Question of “true value” found in 

JQ#10 “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? (Matthew 10:29) 

focuses our attention to the important Lesson of how we

 assign “true value” to our lives. 

Jesus in Matthew 10:28 directs our thinking so that we will understand that

 “value” is relative and that there is both “physical value” and “spiritual value” 

to our lives when He declares to His Disciples 

(whom Jesus is sending out into the world with His Message): 

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.

 But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

 (Matthew 10:28) 

Jesus is very specific and very serious because He specifically uses the terms 

“fear”, “kill the body”, “kill the soul”, “fear Him”, and

 “able to destroy both body and soul in hell”. 

Jesus has just introduced the most serious terms that anyone, anywhere, 

anytime will ever have to address. 

Let’s look at these terms that Jesus uses to introduce the specific topic of

 “spiritual value” and keep in mind that Jesus is in the middle of 

Teaching His disciples how to go out into the world to witness about the

 “kingdom of God”. Therefore there has to be a “Divine Reason” 

that Jesus gets so serious and so specific!!! Therefore,

 we should “listen and learn” with equal seriousness.

 The first term that gets our attention is “fear” and again if we look at how Jesus

 uses the word “fear” it is to tell us first “do not fear” and then 

turns around in the same sentence and says “but rather fear”?? 

Jesus is revealing one of those “deep” mysteries of God! The secret God

 reveals here is the “Truth of God”  that “fear” is a good thing if it is 

directed towards the purpose God intended when He spoke

 “HIS TRUTH” into the world.

 “GOD’S TRUTH” NEVER changes therefore  ——— 

GOD’S TRUTH IS OF ETERNAL-INFINITE VALUE 

so we must dig deep enough into these statements that Jesus makes to

 discover the “Truth of God” about “proper fear” and see the “good” 

that only God can bring forth from every element of His Creation —

 all earthly “value” is “relative” to its association with God’s Kingdom. 

In this case Jesus places “do not fear” with “those who kill the body”

 and immediately Jesus points to the “Truth of God” that there is something

 more “deadly” than killing the “body” and that we should be concerned more 

about our “soul” than about our “body”. 

Jesus is telling us that the death of the “body” is of no “consequence” to 

our “eternity” but that our “soul” is “priceless”!!!

 Jesus is seriously Teaching that all our energy should be expended

 towards consideration of our “spiritual eternity” ——— and that, 

my “brothers and sisters”, is where the “rubber hits the road”.

 Have you checked your “spiritual condition” lately?

MARCH 16 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#10 “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin?” (Matthew 10:29)

 

MARCH 16  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   

JQ#10 “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin?” 

(Matthew 10:29)

LIVING FOR JESUS Daily Prayer    

JESUS, each day the sun rises and I awaken to the “Hope” that is Christ Jesus.

 My soul is expectant, for I know that You are FAITHFUL in Your Promises

 and I know You have plans for my good stored up for me. Your Word teaches

 “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed,

 because His compassions fail not. 

They are new every morning: Great is Thy faithfulness.” 

(Lamentations 3:22). 

Lord, I know I deserve “punishment” and I give thanks that I am “not consumed”

 and acknowledge that my punishment was paid for on the Cross because

 of Your Compassion and Great Love for the “unloveable” and that with each

 new day I can look to the faithful rising of the “Son” to “Light” 

my new day with Your Mercy and Grace 

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

JESUS has used two common sparrows and a simple common copper coin

 to point us to a “Spiritual Treasure” of greater value than any 

earthly treasure one could accumulate or even imagine —

 for when the context of JQ#10 is studied we will find that 

the deeper we dig into God’s Word the more 

“spiritual” gems and treasures we will uncover.

 Jesus had already Taught us in 

JQ#02 & JQ#03 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth…” 

which are not lasting but Jesus pointed us to the lasting value of gathering

 “spiritual gems” when He continued commenting on “treasure hunting” … 

“…but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…” 

then Jesus added the bonus gem, 

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21) 

This great jewel of a Lesson that if we lay up “treasures in heaven” that our 

“heart” will be in “heaven” 

also came sandwiched between the reward for praying 

“for those who spitefully use you and persecute you that you may be

 sons of your Father in heaven…” (JQ#02 - Matthew 5:44-45)

 

and 

“…is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 

(JQ#03 - Matthew 6:25)

 Remember Jesus shows us where to look to find our “spiritual treasures” as 

He pointed out how to prioritize our earthly desires and our heavenly opportunities: 

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these

 [spiritual gems/truths] shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33) 

Therefore let us dig into the “treasure filled” Chapter 10 in the Gospel of Matthew 

and see what “spiritual gems” will surface! Matthew Chapter 10 begins 

with Jesus calling His twelve hand-selected disciples (Matthew 10:1-4) and

 then gives them their first “assignment” (Matthew 10:5). 

Again, if we just read the first 5 verses in Chapter 10 and note the obvious

 we are actually robbing ourselves of “spiritual treasures” that are reserved

 for those that dig below the surface of the obvious because they know that 

“treasures” are always “buried” and that in order to find those

 “buried treasures" we will need to allow for “some deep-digging” if we 

are to “uncover the spiritual-treasure”. 

Jesus had Taught in JQ#08 that just our “thinking” about digging never gets

 the hole “dug”, and if we are to grab hold of the treasure we must put 

“feet to our prayers” and “action to our words” 

therefore I paraphrase Matthew 9:5

 “Arise and [dig]”.

 Digging into Matthew 10:1-5 we can notice that:

 

(1st) Jesus called each disciple where that disciple lived. 

(2nd) None of the callings came as the disciples were 

getting out of their Mercedes in fancy clothes in the 

church parking lot or in air-conditioned sanctuaries with padded pews

 but rather Jesus calls us as we are doing the task of everyday living. 

(3rd) Jesus not only knew each of their names,

 Jesus called them by their first names. 

(4th) By example of His Personal Invitation to each

 disciple individually it is demonstrated that 

***JESUS wants a personal and intimate relationship with each individual 

and is willing to come to us where we live***, 

dressed the way we are, doing the things we do on a day-to-day basis. 

(5th) In other words,

Jesus wants us to “Follow Him” 

just the way we are and He knows our name! 

(6th) In verse 5 we read, 

“These 12 Jesus sent out and commanded them…” 

which says that Jesus will Teach those that answer His individual call, 

that His Teachings have purpose, and 

(7th) Jesus trusts us to share His message with others. 

That’s a lot of “spiritual treasures” but keep in mind

 that heaven is big enough to store them all!