E N D
“When Jesus and his disciples came to Capernaum, the collectors of the Temple tax came to Peter and asked, ‘Does your teacher pay the Temple tax?’ ‘Of course,’ Peter answered. When Peter went into the house, Jesus spoke up first, ‘Simon, what is your opinion? Who pays duties or taxes to the kings of this world? The citizens of the country or the foreigners?’ ‘The foreigners,’ answered Peter.
‘Well, then,’ replied Jesus, ‘that means that the citizens don‘t have to pay. • But we don’t want to offend these people. So go to the lake and drop in a line. Pull up the first fish you hook, and in its mouth you will find a coin worth enough for my Temple tax and yours. Take it and pay them our taxes.’” (Matthew 17:24-27 GNB)
“That same day some Sadducees came to Jesus and claimed that people will not rise from death. ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘Moses said that if a man who has no children dies, his brother must marry the widow so that they can have children who will be considered the dead man's children. Now, there were seven brothers who used to live here. The oldest got married and died without having children, so he left his widow to his brother. The same thing happened to the second brother, to the third, and finally to all seven.
Last of all, the woman died. Now, on the day when the dead rise to life, whose wife will she be? All of them had married her.’ Jesus answered them, ‘How wrong you are! It is because you don’t know the Scriptures or God’s power. For when the dead rise to life, they will be like the angels in heaven and will not marry. Now, as for the dead rising to life: haven’t you ever read what God has told you? He said, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ He is the God of the living, not of the dead.’ When the crowds heard this, they were amazed at his teaching.” (Matthew 22:23-33 GNB)
“He is the God of the living, not of the dead, for to him all are alive.’ Some of the teachers of the Law spoke up, ‘A good answer, Teacher!’” (Luke 20:38-39 GNB)
“When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they came together, and one of them, a teacher of the Law, tried to trap him with a question. ‘Teacher,’ he asked, ‘which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus answered, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and the most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ The whole Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets depend on these two commandments.’” (Matthew 22:34-40 GNB)
“The teacher of the Law said to Jesus, ‘Well done, Teacher! It is true, as you say, that only the Lord is God and that there is no other god but he. And you must love God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength; and you must love your neighbor as you love yourself. It is more important to obey these two commandments than to offer on the altar animals and other sacrifices to God.’ Jesus noticed how wise his answer was, and so he told him, ‘You are not far from the Kingdom of God.’ After this nobody dared to ask Jesus any more questions.” (Mark 12:32-34 GNB)
The Kingdom of God – Where is it? • “Some Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. His answer was, ‘The Kingdom of God does not come in such a way as to be seen. No one will say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’; because the Kingdom of God is within you.’” (Luke 17:20-21 GNB)
“Turn to God and change the way you think and act, because the kingdom of heaven is near.” (Matthew 3:2 – GW) • “He taught in the synagogues and spread the Good News of the kingdom.” (Matthew 4:23 – GW)
“He used parables to tell them many things. ‘Once there was a man who went out to sow grain. As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.’” (Matthew 13:3-4 GNB) • “Those who hear the message about the Kingdom but do not understand it are like the seeds that fell along the path. The Evil One comes and snatches away what was sown in them.” (Matthew 13:19 GNB)
“And the seeds sown in the good soil stand for those who hear the message and understand it: they bear fruit, some as much as one hundred, others sixty, and others thirty.” (Matthew 13:23 - GNB) • “Otherwise, their eyes would see, their ears would hear, their minds would understand and they would turn to me, says God, and I would heal them.” (Matthew 13:15 - GNB)
“What shall we say the Kingdom of God is like?’ asked Jesus. ‘What parable shall we use to explain it? It is like this. A man takes a mustard seed, the smallest seed in the world, and plants it in the ground. After a while it grows up and becomes the biggest of all plants. It puts out such large branches that the birds come and make their nests in its shade.’” (Mark 4:30-32 GNB) • Jesus told them still another parable: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A woman takes some yeast and mixes it with a bushel of flour until the whole batch of dough rises.’” (Matthew 13:31-33 GNB)
“The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man happens to find a treasure hidden in a field. He covers it up again, and is so happy that he goes and sells everything he has, and then goes back and buys that field. • Also, the Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man is looking for fine pearls, and when he finds one that is unusually fine, he goes and sells everything he has, and buys that pearl.” (Matthew 13:44-46 GNB)
“Do you understand all these things?’ ‘Yes,’ they said, ‘we do.’ Then He added, ‘Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old.’” (Matthew 13:51-52 NLT)
The kingdom of God – who receives it? • “Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!” (Matthew 5:3 GNB) • “I tell you: the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the Kingdom of God ahead of you.” (Matthew 21:31 – GN)
“The greatest in the Kingdom of heaven is the one who humbles himself and becomes like this child.” (Matthew 18:4 GNB) • “They came to Capernaum, and after going indoors Jesus asked his disciples, ‘What were you arguing about on the road?’ But they would not answer him, because on the road they had been arguing among themselves about who was the greatest. Jesus sat down, called the twelve disciples, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all.’” (Mark 9:33-35 GNB)
“So Jesus called them all together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the heathen have power over them, and the leaders have complete authority. This, however, is not the way it shall be among you. If one of you wants to be great, you must be the servant of the rest; and if one of you wants to be first, you must be the slave of the others--- like the Son of Man, who did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.’” (Matthew 20:25-28 GNB)
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’” (Isaiah 14:12-14 NKJV)
“The attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had: He always had the nature of God, but he did not think that by force he should try to remain equal with God. Instead of this, of his own free will he gave up all he had, and took the nature of a servant. He became like a human being and appeared in human likeness. He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death--- his death on the cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8 GNB)
“And this Good News about the Kingdom will be preached through all the world for a witness to all people; and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14 GNB)
“So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in itthe righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith…” (Romans 1:15-17 NKJV)
Jesus speaks of his death • “From that time on Jesus began to say plainly to his disciples, ‘I must go to Jerusalem and suffer much from the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. I will be put to death, but three days later I will be raised to life.’” (Matthew 16:21 GNB)
2nd time • “When the disciples all came together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is about to be handed over to those who will kill him; but three days later he will be raised to life.’ The disciples became very sad.” (Matthew 17:22-23 GNB)
3rd time • “As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and spoke to them privately, as they walked along. ‘Listen,’ he told them, ‘we are going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law. They will condemn him to death and then hand him over to the Gentiles, who will make fun of him, whip him, and crucify him; but three days later he will be raised to life.’” (Matthew 20:17-19 GNB)
What is it we can’t hear? • “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your friends, hate your enemies.’ But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil.” (Matthew 5:43-45 GNB)
“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat theirs. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5 NLT)
“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults--unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own.” (Matthew 7:1-3 MSG)
“…Jesus was walking through some wheat fields on a Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began to pick heads of wheat and eat the grain. • “It is kindness that I want, not animal sacrifices” (Matthew 12:1,7 – GNB)
“While Jesus was having a meal in Matthew's house, many tax collectors and other outcasts came and joined Jesus and his disciples at the table. Some Pharisees saw this and asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with such people?’ Jesus heard them and answered, ‘People who are well do not need a doctor, but only those who are sick. Go and find out what is meant by the scripture that says: 'It is kindness that I want, not animal sacrifices.' I have not come to call respectable people, but outcasts.’” (Matthew 9:10-13 GNB)
“When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they came together, and one of them, a teacher of the Law, tried to trap him with a question. ‘Teacher,’ he asked, ‘which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus answered, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and the most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ The whole Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets depend on these two commandments.’” (Matthew 22:34-40 GNB)
“Then Jesus called the crowd to him and said to them, ‘Listen and understand! It is not what goes into your mouth that makes you ritually unclean; rather, what comes out of it makes you unclean.’ Then the disciples came to him and said, ‘Do you know that the Pharisees had their feelings hurt by what you said?’ ‘Don’t worry about them!...Don’t you understand? Anything that goes into your mouth goes into your stomach and then on out of your body.
But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these are the things that make you ritually unclean. For from your heart come the evil ideas which lead you to kill, commit adultery, and do other immoral things; to rob, lie, and slander others. These are the things that make you unclean. But to eat without washing your hands as they say you should---this doesn’t make you unclean.” (Matthew 15:10-20 GNB)
“And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples.” (John 13:34-35 GNB)
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’” (Matthew 16:13-15 ESV)
Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter (petros), and on this rock (petra) I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.* I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:16-19 ESV) • *a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out.
“Petros” - a small pebble or rock • “Petra” is a large, fixed, immovable rock. • “And so I tell you, Peter: you are a rock (petros), and on this rock foundation (petra) I will build my church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it.” (GNB)
“The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.” (Psalms 18:2 NLT) • “All ate the same spiritual bread and drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual rock that went with them; and that rock was Christ himself.” (1 Corinthians 10:3-4 GNB)
“As the scripture says, ‘You have found out for yourselves how kind the Lord is.’ Come to the Lord, the living stone rejected by people as worthless but chosen by God as valuable. Come as living stones, and let yourselves be used in building the spiritual temple, where you will serve as holy priests to offer spiritual and acceptable sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ. For the scripture says, ‘I chose a valuable stone, which I am placing as the cornerstone in Zion; and whoever believes in him will never be disappointed.’ This stone is of great value for you that believe; but for those who do not believe: ‘The stone which the builders rejected as worthless turned out to be the most important of all.’ (1 Peter 2:3-7 GNB)