Season 4 Podcast 154 The Stories of the New Testament, Matthew Ch 19, Pt I, “The Eye of a Needle.”

Season 4 Podcast 154 The Stories of the New Testament, Matthew Ch 19, Pt I, “The Eye of a Needle.”

The Savior’s mission is coming to an end. Matthew, Mark, and Luke focused on the life of Jesus though we all wish we had more. John focused on the doctrine, making him unique of the four gospels. All parts of the New Testament have their importance, each offering something unique. We need the entire record, beginning with the ancient prophets as well, of course, as the record of the apostles and other disciples.

As Christians, though we may have favorites, we cannot pick and choose among what we feel is important and what we feel is unimportant. We need the whole law. In Matthew 4, Christ taught this principle. 

“And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

Christ had been fasting for a very long time in the desert and he was both hungry and thirsty. We can easily jump to the conclusion that he is talking only about food which naturally would be of primary importance. But the wording suggests that bread, or physical nourishment, is not the primary thing he is referring to. Notice the language, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

Logically bread could easily be referring to the word of God. The tempter is quoting scripture—which is a strange thing for Satan to do—but the Savior reminds Satan that we should not just choose the principles of the Gospel that are convenient or that are in harmony with our desires or opinions or traditions, for that can lead to our destruction. We must consider every word word of Christ, every word of his apostles, and every word of his prophets.  If we want to be true followers of Christ, we must strive to live the whole law. We often discover that taken out of context a scripture can be misleading. Often additional doctrines or revelations or scriptures clarify the meaning so that we see the entire picture. 

In 2 Peter 3, Peter warns us:  

“Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being bled away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”

Peter warns us to be diligent, without spot and blameless. Paul in his letters warned them about ‘wresting the scriptures” because that leads to destruction. The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘wrest’ as “to subject something to a twisting movement; to turn or twist.” It means that we distort the original meaning and make if fit our philosophy. It is how we get our word “to wrestle” which also suggest grapple, struggle, tug, pin down, or force.  In addition, still quoting Paul, Peter tells us to ‘grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” In other words, bwe must learn the doctrine. Ignorance is a form of slavery. It was also Peter who in 2 Peter 1 said,