Devotional Thought – “Jesus did/said What😕?” – 02/13/2024 – Faithful Steward Ministries and FSM Women's Outreach

*Internet issues again so delayed posting

As everyone who reads these posts or knows me personally, I am a H U G E advocate of CONTEXT is everything, especially when one is showcasing scripture. You also know I had no interest in the Super Bowl or most professional sports at all. So when a friend posted the comments/information on social media (see below) I thought I would check out this commercial myself. Sure enough, its argument (Jesus Didn’t Teach Hate | He Washed Feet) is that Jesus is an all-loving, benevolent servant who is accepting of all, no matter the circumstances. Of course, this is completely unbiblical.

The fact that Jesus was born (it is a fact) set in motion the final leg of the promised war between God, Man, and Sin. Jesus was the most dogmatic of teachers (I am the way…) yet today folks want to make Him out as some easygoing love everyone and everything, above all else. They forget He came to earth bearing a Sword.

Jesus of course is not advocating violence, (parallel verse in Luke renders Sword as Division) but making it plain it is His way (narrow gate) or the Highway (to Hell). Implying that He (Jesus) was accepting of all things is nothing more than an attempt to water down the Gospel and claim that Christians should be accepting of everything even if the Bible says it is an abomination.

Matthew 10:34

Matthew 10

CONTEXT:

In verses 34-39, the great Head of the Church winds up His first charge to those whom He sends forth to make known His Gospel. He declares three great truths, which form a fitting conclusion to the whole discourse.

In the first place, He bids us remember that His Gospel will not cause peace and agreement wherever it comes. “I came not to send peace, but a sword.” The object of His first coming on earth was not to set up a millennial kingdom in which all would be of one mind, but to bring in the Gospel, which would lead to strifes and divisions. We have no right to be surprised, if we see this continually fulfilled. We are not to think it strange, if the Gospel rends asunder families, and causes estrangement between the nearest relations. It is sure to do so in many cases, because of the deep corruption of man’s heart. So long as one man believes, and another remains unbelieving—so long as one is resolved to keep his sins, and another desirous to give them up, the result of the preaching of the Gospel must needs be division. For this the Gospel is not to blame, but the heart of man.
There is a deep truth in all this, which is constantly forgotten and overlooked. Many talk vaguely about unity, and harmony, and peace in the Church of Christ, as if they were things that we ought always to expect, and for the sake of which everything ought to be sacrificed. Such persons would do well to remember the words of our Lord. No doubt unity and peace are mighty blessings. We ought to seek them, pray for them, and give up everything in order to obtain them, excepting truth and a good conscience. But it is an idle dream to suppose that the churches of Christ will enjoy much of unity and peace before the millennium comes.

In the second place, our Lord tells us that true Christians must make, up their minds to trouble in this world. Whether we are ministers or hearers, whether we teach or are taught, it makes little difference. We must carry “a cross.” We must be content to lose even life itself for Christ’s sake. We must submit to the loss of man’s favor, we must endure hardships, we must deny ourselves in many things, or we shall never reach heaven at last. So long as the world, the devil, and our own hearts, are what they are, these things must be so.

We shall find it most useful to remember this lesson ourselves, and to impress it upon others. Few things do so much harm in religion as exaggerated expectations. People look for a degree of worldly comfort in Christ’s service which they have no right to expect, and not finding what they look for, are tempted to give up religion in disgust. Happy is he who thoroughly understands, that though Christianity holds out a crown in the end, it brings also a cross in the way.

J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1860), 105–107.

A SOCIAL MEDIA POST IN REBUKE OF SB COMMERCIAL

To whoever dreamed up the “Jesus didn’t teach hate, Jesus came to wash feet” commercial on the Super Bowl, let me just say that was a perfect example of how “one verse theology” can totally twist the meaning of scripture in pursuit of one’s own objectives.

Who are you talking to? It seemed to be pointed at Christians specifically as if it’s the Christians who are full of hate and who need to be reminded of who Jesus was. If we want to be real about things, Jesus’s earthly ministry never told people to be accepting of sinful behavior or lifestyles. Jesus, as part of the triune godhead, is, was, and always will be the same God as the God of the Old Testament. The same God that destroyed entire populations who were wicked, sinful, and deserving of judgment. Jesus didn’t come to change or undo any of that. Anyone with a reasonable amount of knowledge and understanding of the Bible would know and understand that. But again, using one verse theology, all too often people like to paint Jesus as a pacifist liberal hippy type when in reality, time and time again, he proved with his own words and actions to be the opposite of that. “Do not think I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Mathew 10:34). This wasn’t to say his people were tasked with starting wars in his name. It was rather the fact that those who would not go along with a sinful society and follow his word instead would find themselves at odds with that society and with the people who chose to take sides with that society. Jesus didn’t come to be accepting of sinful lifestyles. He came to fulfill God’s covenant and to pave the way for salvation for all who accept him, regardless of their sin, and repent from their sins. He also talked very seriously about how hard it would be for some on judgment day, even though they conveniently leave those parts out. Should we go on about two-edged swords and blood-covered robes?

But, I digress, I could go on for days, but back to the main point–I think the intent was to wag a finger at Christians who do not want their children sexualized, mutilated, aborted, or indoctrinated, or who stand against the myriad other serious socially driven evils in our world today and somehow paint them as the haters for not wanting to go along with it.

Let me remind you, it’s not the Christians (actual followers of Christ, not governments under that banner) who are committing acts of hatred and violence against those with whom they disagree. It is those who disagree with the teachings of Jesus who are actively persecuting and committing acts of hatred and violence against his followers. One such example occurred just today, and such acts of true hate are becoming all too common. Trying to spread the actual word of God and not just some socially acceptable version of it and trying to get people to leave their sinful ways behind is not hate. It’s the ultimate form of love, and it’s the harder path to take. It’s easy to just look the other way and pretend things aren’t happening…to go along to get along. It’s much harder to tell people the truth when they need to hear it. Speaking the truth today is labeled as hate, and spewing hate against those who speak the truth is somehow considered righteous behavior for the new religion of wokeness.

So, wag that finger elsewhere. You can’t take the lesson Jesus taught to his disciples about acts of service for your brethren and use it to whitewash the atrocities going on in our world today. At least not with any honesty or pure intentions.

Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, that he might teach us to think nothing below us, wherein we may promote God’s glory, and the good of our brethren. We must address ourselves to duty, and must lay aside every thing that would hinder us in what we have to do. Christ washed his disciples’ feet, that he might signify to them the value of spiritual washing, and the cleansing of the soul from the pollutions of sin
Matthew Henry and Thomas Scott, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), Jn 13:1.

What was the significance of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples?

THE SUPER BOWL AD

What did Jesus mean by coming to bring a sword in Matthew 10:34-36?

A Brief Explanation of the Sword in Matthew 10:34 – First time reading this guy but this article is spot on.

Just how narrow is the narrow gate?

What did Jesus mean when He said, “I never knew you. Depart from

‘Stop Hating, Wash Feet’

During the Super Bowl, leftists crusaded to recreate Christ in a cultural Marxist mode