Outloud Bible Project Podcast
Mike Domeny, actor, author, and founder of Outloud Bible Project (outloudbible.com), reads the Bible out loud in a conversational and approachable way so you can read the Bible like it makes a difference! This isn't simply an audiobook version of the Bible! Every episode offers helpful context so you won't get lost, and a brief takeaway to help apply that reading to your life.
Want to invite Mike to read Scripture at your event or gathering? Visit outloudbible.com.
Starting with episode 279, the Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® https://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved
Outloud Bible Project Podcast
Matthew 17-19: Messy Discipleship
Following Jesus often feels so messy? In this thought-provoking episode, we dive into Matthew 17-19 where Jesus consistently challenges conventional wisdom and turns our expectations upside down.
The heart of our discussion centers on a radical proposition: what if we actually took Jesus literally? When he says to cut off a hand that causes sin, to forgive seventy-seven times, or to follow his specific process for conflict resolution – what if we stopped softening these commands and simply obeyed them? We explore how our selective obedience often creates the very messiness we complain about in discipleship.
Don't follow Jesus on your own. Download our Echo seven-day discipleship guide based on the sermons of Jesus at outloudbible.com and journey through these challenging teachings with someone else. Let's take Jesus at his word together!
Send Mike a quick message! (If you seek a reply, instead please contact through Outloudbible.com)
Check out outloudbible.com for helpful study resources, and to discover how to bring the public reading of God's word to your church, conference, retreat, or other event.
Hey, welcome back to the Outloud Bible Project podcast. This is Mike and we're in the book of Matthew. Have you enjoyed Matthew? It's a nice departure from the Old Testament for a bit. I know we're in the Old Testament for a while and now getting to see what all of that points to. The whole Old Testament points to Jesus and he is the one who is coming to fix everything and make it all right. Everything that we saw go wrong in the Old Testament, everything that the prophets prophesied against and about, points to Jesus. Very cool, but we find that when Jesus comes, he's turning everything, especially our expectations, upside down and he's putting forth a whole model of discipleship that's just a bit messy. Now, this messy discipleship is exactly his plan to revitalize and heal the entire world, but it doesn't look like it for a long time, and we're in the midst of that. We catch a glimpse of this Messiah from heaven today here in Matthew, chapter 17, along with the disciples who saw him in that form, but then we go into just some more messy stuff. Let's see how Jesus navigates this here in Matthew 17 through 19. This is the New English Translation.
Speaker 1:Six days later, jesus took with him Peter, james and John, the brother of James, and led them privately up a high mountain and he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. Then Moses and Elijah also appeared before them, talking with him. So Peter said to Jesus Lord, it's good for us to be here. If you want, I'll make three shelters one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah. And while he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said this is my one dear son, in whom I take great delight. Listen to him.
Speaker 1:When the disciples heard this, they were overwhelmed with fear and threw themselves down with their faces to the ground. But Jesus came and touched them. Get up. He said Don't be afraid. And when they looked up, all they saw was Jesus alone.
Speaker 1:As they were coming down from the mountain, jesus commanded them don't tell anyone about the vision until the Son of man is raised from the dead. The disciples asked him why, then, do the experts in the law say that Elijah must come first? He answered Elijah does indeed come first and will restore all things, and I tell you that Elijah has already come. Yet they didn't recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted and in the same way, the son of man will suffer at their hands. Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist. When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him and said Lord, have mercy on my son, because he has seizures and suffers terribly, for he often falls into the fire and into the water. But I brought him to your disciples, but they were not able to heal him. Jesus answered you, unbelieving and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I endure you? Bring him here to me. And then Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him and the boy was healed from that moment. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said why couldn't we cast it out? He told them it was because of your little faith. I'll tell you the truth If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you'll say to this mountain move from here to there, and it'll move. Nothing will be impossible for you. When they gathered together in Galilee, jesus told them the Son of man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They'll kill him and on the third day he'll be raised. And they became greatly distressed.
Speaker 1:After they arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and said your teacher pays the double drachma tax, doesn't he? He said yes, and when Peter came into the house, jesus spoke to him first. What do you think, simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tolls or taxes? From their sons or from foreigners? After he said well, from foreigners. Jesus said to him then the sons are free, but so that we don't offend them, go to the lake, throw out a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you'll find a four drachma coin. Take that and give it to them, for me and you.
Speaker 1:At that time the disciples came to Jesus saying who's the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? He called a child and had him stand among them and said I tell you the truth unless you turn around and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and whoever welcomes a child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the open sea. Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks. It's necessary that stumbling blocks come, but woe to the person through whom they come. If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It's better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It's better for you to enter into life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into fiery hell.
Speaker 1:See that you do not disdain one of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. What do you think If someone owns a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray? Will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go look for the one that went astray? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice more over it than over the ninety 99 that didn't go astray. And in the same way, your father in heaven is not willing that one of these little ones be lost.
Speaker 1:If your brother sins, go and show him his fault when the two of you are alone. And if he listens to you, you've regained your brother. But if he doesn't listen to you, take one or two others with you so that, at the testimony of two or three witnesses, every matter may be established. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, treat him like a Gentile or a tax collector. Church, treat them like a Gentile or a tax collector. I tell you the truth whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven. Again, I tell you the truth if two of you on earth agree about whatever you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three are assembled in my name, I'm there among them.
Speaker 1:Then Peter came to him and said Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother who sins against me? As many as seven times. Jesus said to him oh, not seven times, I tell you 77 times. And for this reason, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. And as he began settling his accounts, a man who owed 10,000 talents was brought to him Because he wasn't able to repay it. The Lord ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, children and whatever he possessed, and repayment to be made. Then the slave threw himself to the ground before him, saying be patient with me and I'll repay you everything. Well, the Lord had compassion on that slave and released him and forgave him the debt.
Speaker 1:And after he went out, that same slave found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred silver coins, and so he grabbed him by the throat and started to choke him, saying pay back what you owe me. And then his fellow slave threw himself down and begged him. Oh. And then his fellow slave threw himself down and begged him. Oh, please be patient with me and I'll repay you. But he refused. Instead he went out and threw him in prison until he repaid the debt. And when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were very upset and went and told their lord everything that had taken place. Then his lord called the first slave and said to him evil slave, I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not have shown mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed it to you, and in anger, his Lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture him until he had repaid all he owed. So also my heavenly father will do to you if each of you does not forgive your brother from your heart.
Speaker 1:Now, when Jesus finished these sayings, he left Galilee and went to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan River. Large crowds followed him and he healed them there, and then some Pharisees came to him in order to test him. They asked is it lawful to divorce a wife for any cause? He answered have you not read that from the beginning, the Creator made them male and female and said For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and will be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate. What God has joined together, let no one separate. Well, they said to him. Well then, why did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her? Jesus said to them Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hard hearts, but from the beginning it was not this way.
Speaker 1:Now I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another commits adultery. The disciples said to him If this is the case of a husband with a wife, it's better not to marry. He said to them. Not everyone can accept this statement except those to whom it's been given, for there are some eunuchs who were born that way from birth, and some who were made eunuchs by others, and some who became eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this should accept it.
Speaker 1:Then little children were brought to him for him to lay his hands on them and pray. But the disciples scolded those who brought them. But Jesus said let the little children come to me, Don't try to stop them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. And he placed his hands on them and went on his way. Now someone came up to him and said teacher, what good thing must I do to gain eternal life? He said to him, why do you ask me about what's good? There's only one who is good. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments. Which ones, he asked? Well, jesus replied well, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother and love your neighbor as yourself. Well, the young man said to him I've wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws. What do I still lack? Jesus said to him If you want to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you'll have treasure in heaven, and then come and follow me. But when the young man heard this, he went away, sorrowful, for he was very rich.
Speaker 1:Then Jesus said to his disciples I tell you the truth it'll be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I say, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter into the kingdom of God. The disciples were greatly astonished when they heard this and said Well then who can be saved? Jesus looked at them and replied Well, this is impossible for mere humans, but for God, all things are possible. Then Peter said to him Well, look, we've left everything to follow you. What then, will there be for us? Jesus said to them I tell you the truth In the age when all things are renewed, when the Son of man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel, and whoever has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last and the last first, okay.
Speaker 1:Well, like I said at the beginning of the episode, discipleship is messy. Following Jesus is just messy, especially because we're working with other people alongside us, and so Jesus knows that it's messy. He knows that it's tough. We've already talked about some of the costs of following Jesus, which Jesus doubles down on today, and we just find, like, what are we supposed to do? Even the disciples got to that point when they heard that rich people can't even enter heaven. They're like how is anyone supposed to do this? It's just messy and hard, right.
Speaker 1:Well, jesus gives some just practical advice all through this section today of how to follow him through the mess and all the uncertainty and seemingly impossible standards. What's he do? He just asks us to obey, and I think this is a section of scripture here that we can just take literally. And I think in a lot of points here we don't take Jesus literally. We hear him say things like well, if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. And we're like well, jesus, that's ridiculous. I mean, it's extreme. But is it ridiculous? I mean, if your hand causes you to sin and you literally obey him and cut it off, you think you're going to sin with that hand again? No, you think you're going to sin with the other hand? Probably not. You're going to think twice when you look down at your little stub. Okay, so now is that an extreme solution? Yes, if it's the only thing that stops you from sinning, though, it's worth it.
Speaker 1:What about some of the other things? What about forgiveness? Jesus gave a whole long teaching about how God views it. When you don't forgive, you have been forgiven so much. You may not realize that. You may not realize how much you've been forgiven. And so when you do not forgive someone else, when you hold someone else accountable, when you still expect some apology or some reconciliation or some recompense from someone else, you don't forgive them. You hold a grudge. God views that as wow, you are holding a little debt against someone when I forgave you so much. More than that. What's the consequence? Hand it over to the prison guards. We see torment. We see hearts absolutely tormented because of unforgiveness.
Speaker 1:What if we took him literally? How do we resolve conflicts with our brothers and sisters in the church? Jesus gave a whole process, a whole model in Matthew 18. Go to that person. But we don't take that literally, do we? We tend to go and talk to someone else about, oh guess what this person did to me. Oh well, I'll go take care of it, says the other person. That's not the model.
Speaker 1:No, what if we take Jesus literally and do what he says to do? I think we'll find that discipleship is slightly less messy and makes a little bit more sense and we can probably reach the other side a little bit less beaten up and bruised. We cause our own pain when we try to take just the things we like about what Jesus says. We don't really go all in on the things we don't like about what Jesus says. Here's a chance to take Jesus literally. What in this section of scripture kind of convicted you in the sense of well, I get it in principle, but I haven't actually done that. It's time to do that today. That's the thinking out loud thought for the day. And if you want to go deeper on some of these teachings of Jesus and work through this messy discipleship together with someone. Make sure to download your Echo seven-day discipleship guide based on the sermons of Jesus at outloudbiblecom. I know it's going to bless you. Do it with someone else and let me know how it goes. We'll see you next time.
