Questions On Jesus' Teaching

Answer In the marriage customs of Jesus’ day, after a period of betrothal (generally about a year), there would be a ceremony (always held at night) in which the groom would come for his bride and escort her to the wedding feast. The bride and her bridesmaids awaited the bridegroom as soon as it began to get dark. When the bridegroom came, the wedding procession would begin. As the procession approached the groom’s house (or his father’s house, depending upon where the feast was held), others came out with lamps to meet the procession. All went into the wedding feast together and the doors were closed. In the story of Matthew 25, the bridegroom delayed and 5 virgins were not prepared for that delay. As they went off to get more oil, the bridegroom came, the procession took place, and the doors were shut.

In its context, Matthew 25 follows the discourse of Jesus regarding the destruction of Jerusalem in chapter 24 (there were no chapter/verse divisions in the original texts). The Jerusalem destruction is typical of all of God’s judgments, including the final judgment when Christ will return. The parable of the bridegroom illustrates what Jesus meant in 24:45-51: while the master is gone, be sure to keep His house in order, because when He comes, He will call us into account for the things we’ve done and said while we were in the flesh (2 Cor. 5:10, for example). Although the specific interpretation of this parable is not given here, there is enough information from the other parables as well as other Scriptures to understand what is being illustrated:

In Ephesians 1:23, the church (Gr., "assembly") is defined as the "body" of Christ. Later, in chapter 5:22-33 Christ and His church are compared with a husband and his wife. Note that in verse 31, Genesis 2:24 is quoted, where it is stated that in a marriage "two become one." The meaning is that as man and women are joined together in marriage, so also are Christ and His assembly—His church—joined together. In Rev.21:2, the "new Jerusalem" is described as the bride of Christ. This is important! Jesus had just been referring to the destruction of the "old Jerusalem" in Matthew 24 (His prophecy was fulfilled in 70 AD when the Romans completely destroyed the city and its temple), and in chapter 25, He speaks of a wedding. Galatians 4:26-28 says that the Christian’s "Jerusalem" is in heaven, not earth, because Christians are "children of promise" (vs 28). This final "union" will occur when Christ comes again (1 Thess. 4:1-18; Heb. 9:27-28).

The symbols used in the parables must never be stretched beyond their general intentions (everything in the parable is not necessarily symbolic of something). The general intention here is to "be ready for the wedding." The fact is, all those who have obeyed the gospel of Christ are members of His body. The Lord Himself "adds together (to His church)" those who are saved (Acts 2:47). These will inherit His kingdom if they remain faithful unto death. In this case the "ten virgins" are not to be viewed as mere "observers" to the wedding, but as actually participating in the blessings of it. Contact Doug

Question 2. In Luke 14:26 it appears that Jesus is instructing us that we must hate ourselves and our families to be a true disciples of Christ. This I know cannot be the true point. Do you feel that this is a simple translation error?

Answer No, there is no mistranslation here. In this passage, Luke 14:25-35, Jesus is warning those who would attempt to follow Him what it would cost them in true service to Him. They, like we, should not approach being His disciple in a casual or half-hearted manner, for He demands our supreme loyalty and obedience to His word, above all other interests, including self interest.

Does He then mean that we literally hate and mistreat parents, spouse and self? No, for we have too many passages that teach otherwise. Eph. 6:1-4, Col. 3:20, Eph. 5:22-33.

What He means is, we should place loyalty to Him above all and if parents, spouse or our own desires tempt us to disobey Him, then they must be rejected, as if we hate them. However, insofar as Christ calls upon us to act toward others and self, then we should follow these things based on our loyalty toward Him. Contact Gary

Question 3. Is it possible to be a saved Christian and not believe the entire bible? Can one take the stories of creation, the flood and other miracles in the old testament and throw them out because they do not conform with modern science and yet still be a born again Christian with a solid belief in Jesus Christ?

Answer To thoroughly answer your question, here is a detailed outline I have compiled as to your question.

Jesus And The Bible

Introduction

It is not uncommon today that we hear people, who say they are loyal to Jesus, say that they believe in Jesus, but do not believe in His miracles or in the miracles and historical events of the Old Testament.
A more specific example - I believe in Jesus, but I do not believe that Jonah was swallowed by a great fish and survived.
Another example - I believe in Jesus, but do not believe that God created al things in six days.
Why do people claim such things?

Influence of Science that seeks to explain all things by scientific theory and method, including the creation of the world, miracles and other spiritual matters.
Influence of a permissive morality that denies the marriage relationship and existence of sexual sins.
Sincere people who may have doubts about certain Old and New Testament events, especially miracles.

In this lesson, we raise the question, "Can we be loyal (accept and obey) to Jesus without believing historical and miraculous events of the Old and New Testaments?
To state it another way, "Can we be faithful Christians and throw out certain stories of the Old and New Testaments, such as Creation, the Flood and the resurrection of Jesus, because they do not conform to modern scientific evidence?

What Jesus Believed About Old Testament History And Miracles

His Attitude toward the Old Testament in general.

He believed (accepted as true and responded) in all that God said. Lk. 24:25-27, 44-45, Mt. 5:17-20.
He accepted every word as being true, without trying to change it. Mt. 22:29-32.
He submitted to the Law of God and encouraged others to do so. Mt. 21:23-27.

What did Jesus believe about Old Testament history and miracles?

God's judgments against nations - Mt. 11:20-24
Historical David - Mt. 12:3-4.
Jonah and the great fish - Mt. 12:38-41.
Historical Solomon - Mt. 12:42.
Truthfulness of the prophecies of Isaiah - Mt. 13:14-17.
Truthfulness of the Law of Moses - Mt. 15:3-6.
God's creation of all things, including marriage - Mt. 19:3-6.
The Flood - Mt. 24:37-39.
Elijah, Elisha and miraculous curing of Naaman - Luke 4:23-27.
Thousands of years of history - Luke 11:48-51.
Sodom again - Luke 17:28-32.
The burning bush, Moses and the Exodus - Luke 20:37-38.
Moses and the serpent - John 3:14-15.
Miraculous bread from heaven - John 6:30-33.

What Jesus Believed About New Testament History And Miracles

Jesus claimed that He, by sending the Holy Spirit, would supply the apostles with all truth. John 14:26, 16:12-13.
Jesus claimed that God would confirm their word through miraculous powers that would be provided to them by the Holy Spirit. Mark 16:17-18.
The apostles acknowledged these things to be true. 1 Cor. 14:37, Heb. 2:1-4.

How Miracles Relate To Believing In Jesus

Jesus claimed that His miracles were done to confirm His identity. John 10:24-26, 37-39.
John states that these miracles have been written so that we might have reason to believe and follow Jesus. John 20:30-31.

Conclusion

If we are to be loyal to Jesus, we must, as He did, accept as true the Old Testament record.
He believed the accuracy of Old Testament history prophecies and miracles.
He also took responsibility for the truthfulness of what would become the New Testament.
To verify His identity before those living then and to us today, He performed many miracles.
Although we may feel pressure to accept scientific and modern interpretations of the Bible and Jesus, we must accept Him and the Bible together if we are going to be pleasing to God. Contact Gary

Question 4. How would you summarize the parable of the sower?

Answer We can find this parable in Matthew 13:1-23 and Luke 8:4-18. This may be the most important of all parables (stories of comparison where a spiritual lesson is compared to a physical event) because it provides us with (1) A basis for understanding all future parables (2) Reasons why people react the way they do, not only to parables but also to the Word of God in general. (3) Reason why Jesus spoke to the multitudes in parables. We will take each of these in order.

First, we see, through this parable, that all parables are to be understood by way of comparison. That is, Jesus takes from events that are familiar to people and uses these things to illustrate spiritual truths. In this case, He took the familiar picture of the sower going forth throwing his seed over the ground. Depending on what type of ground it fell on, determined the type of results that would come forth. He mentions four types of ground, but only the good ground would bring forth the desired results. If there were less than desirable results, the problem rested in the ground, not in the seed.

As explained by Jesus, the seed represented the word of God and the types of ground or soil represented the types of hearts that react in certain way after hearing the word of God. Only those who have hones and good hearts will listen and obey the word and bring forth spiritual fruit in their lives. Luke 8:15. The others because falling to temptation and distraction will not allow the word to produce fruit in their lives. Whether immediately or after a little while, they will eventually reject the word from their hearts. Although the same word is given to all, the difference in how people react to it is determined by the condition of their hearts, minds.

Secondly, this parable not only tells how people would react to it, but also how they react to the word of God in general. If we are seeking after truth, humble and honest, we will obey what the word says. Acts 17:10-12. However, if we are caught up in sin, we will turn away from the word of God and not accept it or if we do, we will not be fruitful in it.

Finally, in how the people and the apostles reacted to this parable, it is revealed to us the reasons why Jesus spoke in this form to the people. Why did He not simply speak in plain language rather than creating these stories? The answer as found in Matt. 13:10-17 shows us that Isaiah had long before prophesied the spiritual condition of the people. They had become so dull of hearing, they would not hear Him even if He had spoken plainly to them. Jesus did not meet their expectations of the coming Messiah, a military leader who would rescue them from the cruel Roman Empire. Therefore, they were not looking for a humble servant who would be willing to die for them so they could be free from their true enemy, Satan and their sins.

Unlike the multitudes, the apostles were of a different heart. Although they did not understand the parable as it was initially revealed, they did have enough interest in seek the truth to ask Him the meaning of it. There was the difference between the, they were humble and honest and desired to know the truth of the coming Kingdom. Contact Gary

Question 5. What does the word, mourn, in Matthew 5:4 really mean to us today?