Matthew 19:17-19…Ready

Matthew 19:17-19…Ready

19:17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” (By answering the question with a question Jesus was challenging the man, to see it he was willing to change his views and perspective and obey what He’s about to tell Him-(New) Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life obey the commandments.”18  Which ones the man enquired. (He may have been asking if he must only keep the commands of Moses in Scripture, or if he must also keep all the commands added to the law by the Pharisees.-(New) Jesus replied Do not murder,  do not commit adultery, do not steal,  do not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’” (When Jesus quotes Leviticus 19:18 He’s summarizing the 10th Commandment. He’s saying if you love your neighbor as yourself your not going to defraud your neighbor, your not going to covet your neighbor or anything your neighbor has, because your going to love your neighbor as yourself.-(New)  (For additional Expository Notes See Book) 

Extended Sermon 

“Displays how many people want a checklist and formula based religion, rather than the hard work of obedience.” → Instead of pursuing a genuine relationship with God, many prefer to follow a set of rules that promise assurance of Salvation or acceptance. This approach often leads to a superficial faith, where religious duties and moral behaviors are treated as boxes to be checked, rather than opportunities to grow closer to God. Such a mindset can cause individuals to miss the deeper purpose behind obedience—true devotion and love for God. When faith becomes just a series of steps or requirements to fulfill, it overlooks the transformative power of grace and the need for a sincere heart. Ultimately, this tendency reflects the challenge of moving beyond external compliance and embracing a faith that is rooted in genuine relationship and heartfelt surrender.

“Warns against thinking God grades on a curve. That as long as were not as bad as the next guy, we’re good with God.” ⇒ So often we rank sin on a sliding scale from not-so-bad to truly awful. We think were right with God if we make in the top 10%. We measure our sins compared to others. Ya we may have committed some little white lies, but we never committed adultery or murdered anyone. But God doesn’t see sin like that. God doesn’t weigh your life against someone else’s and decide whether you’re above average. He doesn’t say, “You’re not as bad as him, but not as good as her”. In God’s system, there are only 2 grades: PASS or FAIL. God does not judge people based on how they compare to others, but rather on an absolute standard, meaning everyone is held to the same high level of righteousness, regardless of their circumstances or their actions; essentially, there is no “curve” to adjust scores based on relative performance. Scripture teaches that God’s standard is absolute and perfect holiness, not a relative goodness based on the shortcomings of others. God’s test (His laws and Ten Commandments) is unlike any other we will ever take and the only passing grade is perfection. In this test, if you fail on one single commandment you have failed the entire thing. God, not people, sets the standard and He does not grade on a curve. In fact the whole idea of God grading on a curve undermines the essence of divine grace, which teaches that our Salvation is not based on our deeds, but on the unmerited favor bestowed upon us by God through Jesus Christ.

“Teaches how in evangelism we need to handle people differently. What’s one persons issue may not be another persons issue.”→ In evangelism, it is crucial to recognize that each person is unique, and their spiritual struggles or barriers to faith can differ greatly. What may be a significant issue or stumbling block for one individual might not be relevant for someone else. Therefore, our approach to sharing the message of the Gospel should be sensitive and tailored to the specific needs, backgrounds, and heart conditions of those we engage with. This means listening carefully, discerning where a person is spiritually, and addressing the particular matters that separate them from God, rather than assuming a one-size-fits-all method will be effective. By handling people differently in evangelism, we show genuine care and increase the likelihood that they will understand and respond to the good news in a meaningful way.

“Teaches how the Commandments can be an effective tool to help people recognize they have fallen short of God’s perfect standard.” ⇒ The Ten Commandments can be a compelling tool to use when witnessing. If you we’re to go up to a stranger or anyone on the street and ask them if they think they’re a good person, or think they’re good enough ot go to heaven. They usually always respond; “Yes I think I’m a pretty good person. Not perfect, but not that bad either.”. Then ask them how they think they’d measure up if they were judged based on the Ten commandments. In practice it would look something like this: Have you ever disobeyed your parents. Sinner, yes. Then you broke the 5th Commandment, “Honor thy Father and thy Mother”. Have you have ever taken anything that didn’t belong to you, regardless of it’s value.  Sinner, yes. That makes you guilty of breaking the 8th commandment “Thou Shalt not Steal”. Have you ever lied? Sinner, yes. Than you broke the 9th commandment, “Thou shalt not bear False Witness.” Have you ever looked at a person with lust? Sinner, yes. That makes you guilty of violating the 7th Commandment, “Thou Shalt not Commit Adultery.” Even Jesus said that anyone who even looks lustfully at a woman has committed adultery in his heart-(Matt. 5:28 ) Have you ever been jealous of something or someone? Sinner, yes. That makes you guilty of breaking the 10th Commandment, “Thou Shalt not Covet.” Have you ever swore in God’s name. Sinner, yes. That makes you a blasphemer in violation of the 3rd. commandment “Thou Shalt not use the Lord’s Name in Vain.” If they’re honest enough with themselves they’ll change they’re opinion and recognize just how far they are from God. (See Video https://youtu.be/Y1sLnI5sF-w?si=v03ugf2H7rCOMW3C The idea behind the presentation is that you show the person that they are guilty of breaking God’s moral law by they’re lack of conformity to the Ten Commandments. Before a person is able to understand the gravity of their condition before God or the greatness of the Gospel, they first need to know that they are guilty of violating God’s moral law.

Additional Notes & Applications 

 Teaches since only God is good, if you assume Jesus’ goodness, you must accept Him as God.

Teaches how Jesus expects our profession of Him to be followed with obedience. You can’t claim Jesus God and not follow what He’s says.

Warns if you think your okay with God because your not as bad as the next guy,  Then you don’t know what you’ve been Saved from.

Displays how oftentimes what is not omitted speaks louder than words. Jesus’ omission in leaving out the other Commandments is saying something really important to this man and to us.

Displays how Jesus is not respecter of persons. He doesn’t care how rich or wealthy you are, He doesn’t care how powerful you,  He doesn’t care how influential you are,  He doesn’t care if your some great preacher, He doesn’t care if you’re the Pope himself. Jesus cares about the person. Not what they have done, not what they have achieved, but the person themselves.

Jesus’ reply reveals a fundamental flaw that’s been going around for ever, in which many think mankind, generally speaking, is good. If your one of the many who think that people are basically decent and capable of good, guess what according to the Lord your wrong.

Teaches how being Saved by God’s grace can be liberating and freeing because you no longer have perform to get to God. It is no longer based on our effort, our work, or our performance. We no longer have to do something. We just have to respond to what has already been done for us in Christ’s work on the cross. That’s why Jesus said on the cross “It is finished”, because He accomplished that work for us, therefore it is no longer acquired of us.

At first glance many are startled by Christ’s response. You would think that He would have gave the standard evangelical response; “If you want to be Saved you need to believe in me as Lord & Savior, God in the flesh. That I died for your sins, and was raised from the dead three days later.” But instead the Lord needed to get this man ready first. He needed to get him to that place in seeing himself as a sinner. Which is good lesson for us, that you cannot preach grace until you nail them to the Law. Nobody is even going to know what grace means if they don’t understand that they’ve broken God’s Law. If we don’t see our sin, we won’t see our need for of grace.-(Rom. 3:23, James 2:10)  That’s also why an Evangelism that deals only with men’s felt needs and feelings is so dangerous. Because they never get to that place of surrender and repentance.

Many try to use this verse here as proof against the divinity of Christ. By saying look, even Jesus didn’t want the people to have the wrong misconceptions about Him as being God. So He denied it by saying “Good” is a title that belongs to One Person in the universe alone, and that’s God, and I’m not Him. But if your honest and careful in reading what Jesus is saying, you’ll realize that it’s the exact opposite of that conclusion. When Jesus says and asks “why do you call me good”. Does He say “I’m am not good”. No he doesn’t! Notice in the Gospel of John. When Jesus uses an analogy about a shepherd and his sheep. Does He say “I am the shepherd” No! He says “I am the Good shepherd”-(John 10:1-21) He calls Himself “good”, and therefore by implication God. And He does not deny that He is good here. He simply asks the question for the sake of this man’s reflection. That he wants the man to recognize the divine implications of such a greeting. In fact this is Jesus confirming His deity more than anything else. By challenging the man to rethink His conception of goodness he will realize that to reach this standard of goodness you have to be perfect.