What Do You Want?,
Part 3 Sunday,
February 2, 2014
“Restoration of Marriages”
46 And they came to
Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd,
Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 47 And
when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say,
“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And
many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son
of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus
stopped and said, “Call him.”
And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is
calling you.” 50 And throwing off his
cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.
51 And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to
do for you?”
And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” 52 And
Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you
well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and
followed him on the way. Mark 10:51-52 (ESV)
Three Words for the New Year
1.
RELATIONSHIP
2.
RESOURCES
3.
RESTORATION
1 Now it came to pass, when
Jesus had finished these sayings, that
He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And
great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there. 3 The Pharisees also came to
Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his
wife for just any reason?” Matthew 19:1-3 (NKJV)
The
ATTACK on marriage.
Jesus
came into the region of Perea which is beyond the Jordan River.
He
was TESTED concerning His beliefs about marriage and divorce.
We
are all being tested about marriage and divorce.
There
is story in Matthew 14 that serves as a background here. John the Baptist did his ministry in this
area called Perea – beyond Jordan. At
this time the entire area of Israel was ruled by a tetrarchy from Rome:
Archelaus over in the west, Phillip up north and Herod Antipas in the
east. Here’s what had happened. Herod Antipas took Herodias, the wife of his
brother Phillip. John the Baptist stood
up and said, “That’s wrong!” As a
result, this ended up getting John the Baptist killed. They beheaded him. Ultimately it was because of his stand on
marriage.
The
Pharisees knew this. Jesus was preaching
in the very same territory that John the Baptist was martyred over his stand
about divorce and remarriage. So, the
Pharisees TESTED Jesus.
I’m
sure they hoped Jesus would in some way end up like John the Baptist.
Testimony: Terry and Debra Howard
1. We choose to make marriage work.
4 And He answered and said
to them, “Have
you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a
man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall
become one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two
but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” Matthew 19:4-6 (NKJV)
The
ANSWER from God’s Word
2. We choose to forgive.
7 They said to Him, “Why
then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” Matthew 19:7 (NKJV)
The
ARGUMENT that is raised
8 He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness
of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it
was not so. 9 And I say to you, whoever
divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits
adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.” Matthew 19:8-9 (NKJV)
3. We choose to change.
The
APPEAL from Jesus’ heart
10 His disciples said to
Him, “If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” Matthew 19:10 (NKJV)
4.
We
choose to love.
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