Matthew 17

Sunlight Poured from His Face

1 Six days later, three of them saw that glory. Jesus took Peter and the brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain.2 His appearance changed from the inside out, right before their eyes. Sunlight poured from his face. His clothes were filled with light.3 Then they realized that Moses and Elijah were also there in deep conversation with him.

4 Peter broke in, "Master, this is a great moment! What would you think if I built three memorials here on the mountain-one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah?"

5 While he was going on like this, babbling, a light-radiant cloud enveloped them, and sounding from deep in the cloud a voice: "This is my Son, marked by my love, focus of my delight. Listen to him."

6 When the disciples heard it, they fell flat on their faces, scared to death.7 But Jesus came over and touched them. "Don't be afraid."8 When they opened their eyes and looked around all they saw was Jesus, only Jesus.

9 Coming down the mountain, Jesus swore them to secrecy. "Don't breathe a word of what you've seen. After the Son of Man is raised from the dead, you are free to talk."

10 The disciples, meanwhile, were asking questions. "Why do the religion scholars say that Elijah has to come first?"

11 Jesus answered, "Elijah does come and get everything ready.12 I'm telling you, Elijah has already come but they didn't know him when they saw him. They treated him like dirt, the same way they are about to treat the Son of Man."13 That's when the disciples realized that all along he had been talking about John the Baptizer.

With a Mere Kernel of Faith

14 At the bottom of the mountain, they were met by a crowd of waiting people. As they approached, a man came out of the crowd and fell to his knees begging,15 "Master, have mercy on my son. He goes out of his mind and suffers terribly, falling into seizures. Frequently he is pitched into the fire, other times into the river.16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could do nothing for him."

17 Jesus said, "What a generation! No sense of God! No focus to your lives! How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this? Bring the boy here."18 He ordered the afflicting demon out-and it was out, gone. From that moment on the boy was well.

19 When the disciples had Jesus off to themselves, they asked, "Why couldn't we throw it out?"20-21 "Because you're not yet taking God seriously," said Jesus. "The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, 'Move!' and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn't be able to tackle."

22 As they were regrouping in Galilee, Jesus told them, "The Son of Man is about to be betrayed to some people who want nothing to do with God.23 They will murder him-and three days later he will be raised alive." The disciples felt terrible.

24 When they arrived at Capernaum, the tax men came to Peter and asked, "Does your teacher pay taxes?"

25 Peter said, "Of course." But as soon as they were in the house, Jesus confronted him. "Simon, what do you think? When a king levies taxes, who pays-his children or his subjects?"

26 He answered, "His subjects."27 But so we don't upset them needlessly, go down to the lake, cast a hook, and pull in the first fish that bites. Open its mouth and you'll find a coin. Take it and give it to the tax men. It will be enough for both of us."

Matthew 18

Whoever Becomes Simple Again

1 At about the same time, the disciples came to Jesus asking, "Who gets the highest rank in God's kingdom?"

2 For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room,3 and said, "I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in.4 Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom.5 What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it's the same as receiving me.

6 "But if you give them a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you'll soon wish you hadn't. You'd be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck.7 Doom to the world for giving these God-believing children a hard time! Hard times are inevitable, but you don't have to make it worse-and it's doomsday to you if you do.

8 "If your hand or your foot gets in the way of God, chop it off and throw it away. You're better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owners of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire.9 And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You're better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.

10 "Watch that you don't treat a single one of these childlike believers arrogantly. You realize, don't you, that their personal angels are constantly in touch with my Father in heaven?

Work It Out Between You

12 "Look at it this way. If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn't he leave the ninety-nine and go after the one?13 And if he finds it, doesn't he make far more over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put?14 Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He doesn't want to lose even one of these simple believers.

15 "If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him-work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you've made a friend.16 If he won't listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again.17 If he still won't listen, tell the church. If he won't listen to the church, you'll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God's forgiving love.

18 "Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this.19 When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action.20 And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there."

A Story About Forgiveness

21 At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, "Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?"

22 Jesus replied, "Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.

23 "The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his servants.24 As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars.25 He couldn't pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.

26 "The poor wretch threw himself at the king's feet and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.'27 Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt.

28 "The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, 'Pay up. Now!'

29 "The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.'30 But he wouldn't do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid.31 When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.

32 "The king summoned the man and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy.33 Shouldn't you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?'34 The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt.35 And that's exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn't forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy."

Matthew 19

Divorce

1 When Jesus had completed these teachings, he left Galilee and crossed the region of Judea on the other side of the Jordan.2 Great crowds followed him there, and he healed them.

3 One day the Pharisees were badgering him: "Is it legal for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?"

4 He answered, "Haven't you read in your Bible that the Creator originally made man and woman for each other, male and female?5 And because of this, a man leaves father and mother and is firmly bonded to his wife, becoming one flesh-no longer two bodies but one.6 Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate his art by cutting them apart."

7 They shot back in rebuttal, "If that's so, why did Moses give instructions for divorce papers and divorce procedures?"

8 Jesus said, "Moses provided for divorce as a concession to your hardheartedness, but it is not part of God's original plan.9 I'm holding you to the original plan, and holding you liable for adultery if you divorce your faithful wife and then marry someone else. I make an exception in cases where the spouse has committed adultery."

10 Jesus' disciples objected, "If those are the terms of marriage, we're stuck. Why get married?"

11 But Jesus said, "Not everyone is mature enough to live a married life. It requires a certain aptitude and grace. Marriage isn't for everyone.12 Some, from birth seemingly, never give marriage a thought. Others never get asked-or accepted. And some decide not to get married for kingdom reasons. But if you're capable of growing into the largeness of marriage, do it."

To Enter God's Kingdom

13 One day children were brought to Jesus in the hope that he would lay hands on them and pray over them. The disciples shooed them off.14 But Jesus intervened: "Let the children alone, don't prevent them from coming to me. God's kingdom is made up of people like these."15 After laying hands on them, he left.

16 Another day, a man stopped Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"

17 Jesus said, "Why do you question me about what's good? God is the One who is good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what he tells you."

18 The man asked, "What in particular?" Jesus said, "Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie,19 honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as you do yourself."

20 The young man said, "I've done all that. What's left?"

21 "If you want to give it all you've got," Jesus replied, "go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me."

22 That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crestfallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn't bear to let go.

23 As he watched him go, Jesus told his disciples, "Do you have any idea how difficult it is for the rich to enter God's kingdom?24 Let me tell you, it's easier to gallop a camel through a needle's eye than for the rich to enter God's kingdom."

25 The disciples were staggered. "Then who has any chance at all?"

26 Jesus looked hard at them and said, "No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it."

27 Then Peter chimed in, "We left everything and followed you. What do we get out of it?"

28 Jesus replied, "Yes, you have followed me. In the re-creation of the world, when the Son of Man will rule gloriously, you who have followed me will also rule, starting with the twelve tribes of Israel.29 And not only you, but anyone who sacrifices home, family, fields-whatever-because of me will get it all back a hundred times over, not to mention the considerable bonus of eternal life.30 This is the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.