Matthew the apostle wrote how, “one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why do you call me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if you will enter into life, keep the commandments”, and in chapter nineteen and verse eighteen of his book, Matthew shares how the man asked Jesus, “which?” where we read:
He said unto him, Which? Jesus said, You shall do no murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shalt not bear false witness,
The verse reads, “He said unto him, Which?”. Matthew began with the words, “and he said” or “the young man uttered, declared, proclaimed and questioned” “unto him” which refers to “Jesus”, “which” which means “what particular one”? Matthew shared how the young man desired to know which particular “commandment” of God he was to “keep”.
The verse continues, “Jesus said, You shall do no murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shalt not bear false witness”. Matthew added the words, “Jesus said” or “Jesus uttered, declared and proclaimed”, “You shall do no murder” which means “the young man was not to kill or slay another person”,“You shall not commit adultery” which means “the young man was not to have unlawful intercourse with another man's wife”, “You shall not steal” or “the young man was not to filch, commit a theft or take away anything by stealth”, “You shall not bear false witness” or “the young man was not to utter falsehoods in giving testimony, testify falsely, be untrue or lie”. Matthew wrote how Jesus told the young man to “keep” God's laws concerning “murder, adultery, theft and lying”.
When we meditate upon Matthew's words in this verse, we see how Jesus referred to God's commandments that are “person to person”. Rather than begin with the first four commandments of God which are directed toward worship of God – (You shall have no other gods before me; You shall not make unto yourself any graven image; You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain, and remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy), Jesus began with the list of commandments which are directed toward other people. God desires for people to love one another, and when they yield their lives to Him as “Savior and Lord”, they are given the ability to do what is unnatural toward other people.
Next time Matthew shares Jesus continued his list with, “Honor your father and your mother: and, you shall love your neighbor as yourself”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
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Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
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