Transcript of Radio Show #350:
Event #5, Galilean Ministry of Jesus, Part 4
from “the Four Gospels series by events" based on the book "Horizontal Chronology of the Four Gospels"

Radio Show...

This program continues on various series of different topics on theology such as end times, prophecies, daily living, etc. as the subject matter comes up.

The e-book on End times, Prophecies and Revelation, answering the questions “where are we in the events of the end times?” and “Are we now in the tribulation?” is available on this web site, which you can find throughout the pages.

Opening Narrative

Hello and welcome to another exciting radio program today on end times and prophecies and scriptures to live by... which is all about old-time gospel and worship music, praying for needs and preaching the Word of God....

And remember this radio programs Virtual Church for the Spiritual Unchurched is broadcast every Sunday at 7 am and 7 pm pacific time... and if you unfortunately miss it for whatever reason at any time, you can hear the program any time after that for 4 weeks...at my web site TimingRevelation.com

So, we continue today in the new series started a few weeks ago, based on my book “The Horizontal Chronology of the Four Gospels”...

And I did mention to you before that with this series begins the start of the 8th year of these radio programs Virtual Church for the Spiritual Unchurched.

As you already know In this series we look at the four gospels in a new light as they are presented by chronological events taking place within the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John which are presented separately in the Bible ...

It is all the same gospel.... but in chronological order of events taking place, which lets us hear or see side by side who reported and what each said on these events taking place in the gospels.

So, we continue today in the new series started a few weeks ago, based on my book “The Horizontal Chronology of the Four Gospels”...

It is all the same gospel.... but in chronological order of main events taking place, which lets us hear or see side by side who reported and what each said on these main events taking place in the gospels.

So as you will recall if you were with us in the last few weeks, there are 9 particular events that we are looking at – if you miss any program at any time, remember, they are replayed on my web site TimingRevelation.com for up to four weeks.

The 9 events we're looking at in this series are:

#1--Pre-human existence of Christ
#2--Pre-natal to Jesus's Incarnation
#3--Birth and Childhood of Christ
#4--Beginning of Jesus' ministry...
#5--Galilean ministry of Jesus,

which is where we are right now, as we continue from the hard topic of adultery... outside and inside of marriage...

Future events yet to come:
#6-- Judean and Perean ministry of Jesus
#7-- Jesus' last week
#8-- Jesus' last 6 hours
#9-- From the Resurrection to the Ascension

So we will pick up from here right after this opening music, prayer and worship...

Prayer
Praise God Doxology
Worship music

Narrative 1

Alright so let's move on with the reading of our Lord's famous Sermon on the Mount that took place very early in His public ministry...

So last week, as you will remember, we ended on the subject of Fasting in verses 16 to 18 of the book of Matthew, chapter 6...

today we pick up right after that in verse 19 to 21, which is headed up in my King James Bible with the words:

Treasures in heaven

So let's read:

v.19 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

20 “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

So this is quite clear by itself. However there is an interesting reference that we should be aware of, that we find in the book of 1st Peter, chapter 1, where Peter wrote to the believers in around A.D. 60 – some 30 years after the sermon on the mount was given in person by our Lord Jesus Christ...

Let's read that in 1st Peter 1, verses 3 and 4:

3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4 “To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you...”

Wow, isn't that beautiful... what a reference to what our Lord is speaking about right here in the Sermon on the Mount, now some 30 years after His death and resurrection... it's just amazing how the Word of God is totally cohesive throughout all of its revelation from beginning to end...

Now let's move on to the next verses...

Verses 22 and 23:

“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

“But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

Now, here we need to talk about this a little. A lot of people don't quite understand what Jesus is talking about, when He says, “if your eye is single and “if your eye be darkness”...

Well, we'll take a close look at these 2 scriptures right after this:

Narrative # 2

So, yes a lot of people are asking about the meaning of these two puzzling verses: 22 and 23...

v.22, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

v.23, “But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

I also wondered about that for a long time... until I looked at the Hebrew thought behind this. We must always remember that the Gospel was delivered to the Jew first. All of the teaching of Jesus and the apostles were with reference to Jewish thought and knowledge of the Old Testament laws and teachings and so on...

In doing my research on these two verses (and the ones immediately following, as well that we will see in a moment), I found that the Bibles that are based in an understanding of New Testament thinking, looked at these two verses as separate from the context of this passage of scripture...

... to the point of even giving it a heading such as “the light of the body” after the heading of the preceding 3 verses (19, 20, 21) which is “Treasures in heaven”...

...in other words, from v. 16 to 18, the heading in the King James Bible is “Jesus' teaching on fasting” -- which we read last week.

Then verses 22-23 that we are now looking at, are under the heading “The light of the body”, as if it stood up by itself... and again the heading for the rest of the verses in this chapter is “Trusting one master”...

However that is very misleading and actually not correct at all. Yes the headings are based on specific wordings in those verses but they are not specific to the whole context of the topic that Jesus is speaking about (or preaching about) right here.

So here's the thing: the whole of verses 19 to 34 which ends chapter 6, is about one thing -- and that is “treasures in heaven”...

So v.19-21 says: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (verses 19 to 21).

Now, it is the opening of what is coming next in this part of the sermon... it's all about “treasures in heaven”...

How do we know that?

Let's go back to the scriptures in question:

v. 22, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

v.23, “But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! Now Jesus has one thought in mind right here...

What do the words “if therefore thine eye be single” mean?

As I pointed out, the headings added in the King James Bible throughout this particular segment of the the Sermon on the Mount context, leads away from it's original intent...

So here's the crux of the whole matter, which I found in the “Complete Jewish Study Bible”. Remember, the gospel is pointed at the Jews first, all that was said and done in that time of Jesus and the apostles was for the Jewish interpretation...

So, the Jewish commentary on this is:

“The eye is the lamp of the body.” Yeshua quotes a common proverb and comments on it. “If you are generous” is added by the translator, because in Judaism, “having a good eye” (an 'ayin tovah) means being generous or looking at people positively. “Having a bad eye” (an 'ayin ra'ah) means being stingy or having a negative outlook toward others.”

So in other words that's what Jesus is referring to that the Jews knew about...

...so with that, let's read this scripture passage from the Jewish Bible interpretation:

v.22, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So if you have a 'good eye' (that is, if you are generous) your whole body will be full of light;
v.23, “but if you have an 'evil eye' (that is, if you are stingy) your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

That's what Jesus was saying to the people who were mostly Jews at that time.

You will recall in Psalm 119, verse 105 it says: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

Music interlude

Station ID

Narrative #3

Yes, so let's pick up our train of thought and look again at verses 22 and 23:

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So if you have a 'good eye' (that is, if you are generous) your whole body will be full of light;
“but if you have an 'evil eye' (that is, if you are stingy) your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

And these are the words of Jesus.

The Word of God is the lamp that directs our walk through life and the light that lights our pathways.

In this context of laying up our treasures in heaven and not on earth, it is about laying up all our well-doing according to the Word of God which is all about loving God and our neighbour...

So then our lives should be lived out of that light and not darkness, which in turn can only be layed up for us in treasures in heaven...

And thus the rest of the scriptures has to do with all of this... and I'm going to finish this passage of scripture of verses 24, to 34... beginning with v. 22, reading it with the Jewish thought and understanding that we just saw:

So here's the whole context of this passage from the Complete Jewish Study Bible:

v.22, ‘The eye is the lamp of the body.’ So if you have a ‘good eye’ [that is, if you are generous] your whole body will be full of light;

(remember in Judaism, “having a good eye” (an 'ayin tovah) means being generous or looking at people positively.) and “having a bad eye” (an 'ayin ra'ah) means being stingy or having a negative outlook toward others.”

v. 23 but if you have an ‘evil eye’ [if you are stingy] your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

24 No one can be slave to two masters; for he will either hate the first and love the second, or scorn the second and be loyal to the first. You can’t be a slave to both God and money.

(here's where the word “stingy” comes in—when one holds on to his/her money and is not generous to others, that one is stingy with that money.

Jesus continues in v.25, “Therefore, I tell you, don’t worry about your life — what you will eat or drink; or about your body — what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Remember all of this is still under the heading of laying up treasures in heaven..

26 Look at the birds flying about! They neither plant nor harvest, nor do they gather food into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they are?

27 Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to his life?

28 “And why be anxious about clothing? Think about the fields of wild irises, and how they grow. They neither work nor spin thread,

29 yet I tell you that not even Shlomo (Solomon) in all his glory was clothed as beautifully as one of these.

30 If this is how God clothes grass in the field — which is here today and gone tomorrow, thrown in an oven — won’t he much more clothe you? What little trust you have!

31 “So don’t be anxious, asking, ‘What will we eat?,’ ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘How will we be clothed?’

32 For it is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all.

33 But seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

34 Don’t worry about tomorrow — tomorrow will worry about itself! Today has enough troubles (tsuris) already!

And thus ends this whole passage of scripture that has been misunderstood in most readings.

And it is all about treasurers layed up in heaven... that's what we are to worry about!

Music interlude

Narrative #4

Alright, so now let's move on to chapter 7, with our next verses 1 to 5:

and I will read this in the New King James Bible:

1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.

2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?

4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?

5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

This passage of scripture is also often times misinterpreted to be saying that we are not to judge ever. That is not correct. We are to judge sin.

However we must make sure that we are worthy to judge according to our own personal clean conduct. “You hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

It is similar to the Old Testament where someone accused another of sin, that one had to be clean of any sin him/her self. That's why when in the New Testament they brought the woman to Jesus, who was “caught” in adultery, saying that she should be stoned according to the law of Moses.

Jesus told the crowd “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” Of course every one left one after the other.

Why? It is obvious...

I believe that when Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground, He wrote the scripture from the Old Testament that said exactly that.

Our Lord tells us to judge righteously beyond appearances and superficial understanding. For example, in matters of faith and ethics, first impressions can often be misleading. If we don't have the facts, let's not judge. However if there is clear sin in the camp, it is an obligation to bring that into judgment, in the appropriate way within the church.

The Liberty Bible Commentary says:
“Do not judge refers to an unfavorable and condemnatory judgment. This does not mean that a Christian should never render judgment of any kind under any circumstances.
The New Testament scriptures are filled with exhortations to 'mark those who cause divisions among you', 'receive not those who deny Christ', 'exhort, rebuke, etc.'

Certainly judging ourselves and those who have failed in their spiritual responsibility is a necessity of church discipline, (See 1 Corinthians 5 for example).

The point being made here is that we are not to judge the inner motives of another.

John 7:24
“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

Proverbs 31:9 says:
“Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.

There are many scriptures that tell us we are to discern between good and evil. In order to discern, we need to judge.

Music interlude...

Closing Narrative…

Oh how wonderful to appreciate what Jesus has done in our lives to save us from sin by Grace... and how He continues to keep us by His on-going and unlimited Grace...

...that wonderful Grace that comes into our life the moment that we receive Him as for who He is -- the Saviour of mankind and of every individual like you and me personally...

... and this Jesus the Son of God who came to give His life for you and me is the same Jesus who's life we've been reading about in these series of programs right now, and who's death on the cross we will see as we go through the gospel story to where He gave Himself as the sacrificial Lamb of God that took the sin of the world...

...but right now, the question is:

...do you know this Jesus that we're talking about? If you don't know the Lord...

...Just say this prayer, “Lord come into my heart, come into my life, I turn to you right now and ask for forgiveness, I repent of my sins and receive your work on the cross... I receive your gospel as it was delivered through your blood shed on the cross in my place, and I thank you, Amen...

The Blessing

Before I dismiss the service today, I want to read to you the Blessing that was read to the people of God in Numbers 6:24-26 which is the benediction from God to you today:

“The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."

I hope and pray that you will come back next Sunday at SpiritFM.ca, 7 am and 7 pm pacific time. And if you want to hear the service again at any time, you can go to my website at TimingRevelation.com, and click on the Radio Shows navigational tab along the left side. The replays are available there for five weeks, then they are transcribed into articles as new radio shows are put up.

I encourage you to go to your Bible and read further on the scriptures that were given throughout the program today. And if you like these programs and you've been blessed, call or write the station and let them know... if you said the prayer and have accepted the Lord or you've been healed or touched in some way by the Holy Spirit, write to me on the contact form of this web site...

...and this web site is also where you will find the Free Offer of the “Christian Growth and Maturity Chart” that I talked to you about in the last weeks... you will see the graphic on any page called “Get your free CGM Chart”, click on it and it will take you to a page that will tell you about it and how you can subscribe to my newsletter to get your free copy of the Chart sent to you.

Until next week, Maranatha, the Lord is coming, very soon. Goodbye and Blessing.

/DMH

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/DMH

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Blessings,