Gary Gleans

Matthew 17:24-27 24  When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma  tax  came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma  tax? ”  25  He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?”  26  When Peter said, “From strangers,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are exempt.  27  “However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.” Death and taxes are said to be the two unavoidable things in life.  Jesus has clearly stated that He would experience death at the hands of evil men and in today’s text we see that He “paid” taxes as well.  In this passage we see both the human ...

Matthew 17:22, 23 22  And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men;  23  and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved. Mark 9:30-32 30  From there they went out and  began  to go through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know  about it.   31  For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.”  32  But they did not understand  this  statement, and they were afraid to ask Him. Luke 9:43-45 43  And they were all amazed at the greatness of God. But while everyone was marveling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples,  44  “Let these words sink into your ears;...

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_Failure_of_the_Disciples_to_Heal_the_Demoniac_Boy_.htm Daemon possession is a reality that Jesus was confronted with on a repeated basis.  It was also an issue that Jesus gave His disciples authority to deal with when He sent them out as ministers.  It continues to be an issue in the world today especially in areas, as of yet, unreached by the Gospel.  We certainly have more questions then we have answer about this problem.  Most believers in first world countries have never been personally confronted with this but those who are advancing the Gospel to places where it has never gone before are confronted with daemon possession much more often.  The Bible does not give us a manual as to how we should deal with this but we do see how Jesus confronted the problem and what He taught His disciples.  The principles learned from this confrontation can be helpful to us whether or not we ever face someone who is daemon po...

Matthew 17:9-13 9  As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”  10  And His disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”  11  And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things;  12  but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”  13  Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist. Mark 9:9-13 9  As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead.  10  They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant.  11  They asked Hi...

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_Transfiguration_of_Jesus_.htm The mount of transfiguration was a very unique event in the life of Jesus on earth.  It was an opportunity for Jesus to reveal His glory to a select group of His disciples as a sort of preview of the kingdom that is to come.  There has been a sort of tension between the disciples’ expectation of a glorious kingdom and Jesus’s explanation of His suffering and death.  It is that tension between the realities of the first and second comings of Jesus that could be easily confused.  Jesus has been emphasizing His suffering while the disciples have been waiting for the establishment of the kingdom.  Jesus promotes this experience to demonstrate that their expectation is not a wrong one by giving them a glimpse of His glory and a small taste of what the kingdom will be like. A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE: Jesus calls Peter, James and John to come up the mountain with Him to pray.  While they a...

Matthew 16:27, 28 27  “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS. 28  “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” Mark 8:38; 9:1 38  “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” 1  And Jesus was saying to them, “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” Luke 9:26,27 26  “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and  the glory  of the Father and of the holy angels....

Matthew 16:24-26 24  Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.  25  “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  26  “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Mark 8:34-37 34  And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.  35  “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.  36  “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?  37  “For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Luke 9:23-25 23  And He was saying to...

Matthew 16:21-23 21  From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.  22  Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid  it,  Lord! This shall never happen to You.”  23  But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” Mark 8:31-33 31  And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.  32  And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.  33  But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Sat...

Matthew 16:13-20 13  Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  14  And they said, “Some  say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”  15  He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”  16  Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  17  And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal  this  to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  18  “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.  19  “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” ...

Mark 8:22-26 22  And they came to Bethsaida. And they brought a blind man to Jesus and implored Him to touch him.  23  Taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?”  24  And he looked up and said, “I see men, for I see  them  like trees, walking around.”  25  Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and  began to see everything clearly.  26  And He sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.” Secrecy seems to be more and more of a priority in the ministry of Jesus at this point.  As animosity towards Jesus begins to build in the hearts of the religious leaders, Jesus begins to focus more and more on the training of the disciples.  In today’s text a blind man is brought to Jesus and He heals the man, but he strives to keep the healing ...

Matthew 15:39-16:11 39  And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan. 1  The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven.  2  But He replied to them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘ It will be  fair weather, for the sky is red.’  3  “And in the morning, ‘ There will be  a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot  discern  the signs of the times?  4  “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away. 5  And the disciples came to the other side  of the sea,  but they had forgotten to bring  any  bread.  6  And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”  7  They began to dis...

Matthew 15:32-38 32  And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.”  33  The disciples said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in  this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?”  34  And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”  35  And He directed the people to sit down on the ground;  36  and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples  gave them  to the people.  37  And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full.  38  And those who ate were four thousa...

Matthew 15:29-31 29  Departing from there, Jesus went along by the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there.  30  And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them  those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them.  31  So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. Mark 7:31-37 31  Again He went out from the region of Tyre, and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of Decapolis.  32  They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored Him to lay His hand on him.  33  Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue  with the saliva; 34  and...