Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

The Parable of the Two Sons Matthew 21:28  “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.  29  “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.  30  “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.  31  “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”  “The first,” they answered.  Jesus said to them,  “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors  and the prostitutes  are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.   32  For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness,  and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors  and the prostitutes  did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent  and believe him. This story seems very simple at first glance as do many of Jesus' stories.  But before Jesus tells this parable he asks his listeners, " What do you think? "  He is deliberately telling this story to e

Matthew 20:8  “ When evening came,  the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’  9  “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius.   10  So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius.   11  When they received it, they began to grumble  against the landowner.   12  ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat  of the day.’  13  “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend.  Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius?   14  Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you.   15  Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’  16  “So the last will be

Matthew 19:3-9 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife  for any and every reason?” 4  “Haven’t you read,”  he replied,  “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’   5  and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?   6  So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”  7  “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”  8  Jesus replied,  “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.   9  I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” It is important to know the context of this passage before we interpret what it means. (t hese points are adapted from enduringwor

1 8  At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  2  He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them.   3  And he said:  “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children,  you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.   4  Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.   5  And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. The disciples were still not getting the point about what true greatness was all about.  They were still thinking about greatness from an earthly perspective.  Ironically this is why they were so misled about Jesus' identity and purpose.  For this occasion Jesus uses the example of a little child to make his point.   Using children helped Jesus make several good points about his definition of greatness. Children do not try to be humble, but they are so; and the same is the case with really gracious

The Temple Tax - Matthew 17 24  After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax  came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” 25  “Yes, he does,” he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak.  “What do you think, Simon?”  he asked.  “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes —from their own children or from others?” 26  “From others,” Peter answered.   “Then the children are exempt,”  Jesus said to him.   27  “But so that we may not cause offense,  go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.” This is an interesting story that is not written about very much.  It was about a month before the Passover feast when a tax of 2 drachma could be paid as a temple tax.  Technically Jesus did not have to pay this tax as a rabbi.  More specif

16  The Pharisees and Sadducees  came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.  2  He replied,  “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’   3  and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. [ a ]   4  A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.”  Jesus then left them and went away. Jesus had shown both the disciples and the crowds many signs and miracles.  But the Pharisees and Sadducees still tested him by asking for yet another sign.  Jesus knew that if they didn't believe in the other signs what difference would a sign from heaven make. After all healing lepers, demoniacs, and all types of other people who were sick were certainly a sign from heaven.   Jesus was obviously not against performing signs and miracles as

Matthew 15:7-9 " Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.   You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:  “ ‘These people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain their teachings are merely human rules. ’” Most of the Pharisees' attack on Jesus had to do with the fact that they accused Jesus of teaching his disciples to break the Jewish Law, or at least not calling them on it when they did.  They used various examples such as the disciple's not washing their hands on the Sabbath.  Jesus points out their hypocrisy in their own breaking of the law to honor your father and mother.  Some taught that if one dedicated their savings to God, then they were exempt from having to use it to help out their parents.   The lie of hypocrisy can plague any of us if we don't guard our heart which the Proverbs says, " is the wellspring of all life" David Guzik writes, " This was

13  When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.   14  When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them  and healed their sick. 15  As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”  16  Jesus replied,   “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” This story takes place right after Jesus learns that John the Baptist had been killed violently.  Jesus was related to John. John played a special role in his life, so I am sure Jesus was mourning his loss. But instead of having to time to mourn, he is met with crowds who followed him on foot.  They must have really wanted to see him.  "Jesus had come to find peace and quiet and loneliness; instead he found a vast crowd eagerly demanding what h

Matthew 13:10-13 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables.  11  He replied,  “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven  has been given to you,  but not to them.   12  Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.   13  This is why I speak to them in parables:  “Though seeing, they do not see:  though hearing, they do not hear or understand. Some people wonder why some people were able to understand the parables and others weren't.  Why were some in on the secret and some not?  Is that fair?  Since we know Jesus would not intentionally try to block someone from hearing the gospel, how do we explain this passage? “ The parable  conceals truth from those who are either too lazy to think or too blinded by prejudice to see . It puts the responsibility fairly and squarely on the individual. It  reveals  truth to him who desires tru