[Faith-talk] Baffling Bible Questions Answered for Monday, October 10, 2016

[Paul Smith]

Hello and a good day to all my fellow astute Bible students out there.  
Hope your day is going well, by God's matchless grace and His 
providential care.

Today we are still in the book of Matthew, so let's begin with this 
week's column.



Matthew 7:6

Question:  What is the meaning of Jesus' warning not to give dogs what 
is sacred or to throw pearls to swine?

Answer:  The context focuses on judging actions and thus implies the 
establishment of well-defined moral standards.  In 7:3-5, Jesus warns 
his listeners to evaluate themselves by their standards, not to 
evaluate others.  In 7:6, He warns them not to seek to impose high 
moral standards on unbelievers.  The point of the analogy is that 
"dogs" are incapable of recognizing the sacred, and that "pigs" care 
nothing for pearls.  Why then should we expect those without any 
relationship with God to accept the moral standards of believers? 
Rather than respond to efforts at moral uplift, the corrupt are more 
likely to turn "and turn you to pieces" (Matt. 7:6).

The way to affect society is to focus on the Gospel and its promise of 
personal relationship with God.  Morality follows conversion, rather 
than precedes it.  The believer who attempts to use biblical standards 
to reform society is putting the cart before the horse and will not prevail.



Matthew 7:28-29

QUESTION:  How was the teaching of Jesus different from that of the 
Jewish teachers of the law?

ANSWER:  Several books written in the 1970's and 1980's show that Jesus 
was simply another Jewish rabbi whose teachings were squarely within 
one or more of the rabinical traditions of His time.  Most of these 
books ignore or discount the central, radical teaching of our Lord that 
He is the Christ (the Messiah) and the Son of God, coequal with God the 
Father.  They also discount observations such as the one found in this 
verse that sets Jesus apart from contemporary teachers.

What made Jesus' teaching seem different in the eyes of His 
contemporaries? Even in the first century, teachers of the law relied 
on interpretations and insights of many generations of rabbis who lived 
before them.  This approach, the citing of earlier authorities for 
one's own teachings, has remained characteristic of rabinic Judaism.  
But Jesus did not cite earlier authorities, but spoke as if He Himself 
had complete authority to interpret Scripture and explain God's will.  
Christians argue that He did have this authority, because Jesus was God 
incarnate, the giver of the Scripture.



Matthew 8:2
QUESTION:  Why did the leper ask to be made clean than to be healed?

ANSWER:  Matthew's quotation of Isaiah 53 points us to the entire 
context of the chapter, not just this one verse.  That chapter points 
out that the Messiah will suffer for sinners and, in taking their sin 
upon Himself, will heal them spiritually, giving them new life.  But 
throughout Scripture, spiritual and physical healing are linked, even 
as are sin and sickness.  Thus, Matthew's quotation points to the fact 
that Jesus, in bearing the sicknesses of the ill on His day, 
demonstrated His Messiahship; it also points to the ultimate 
fulfillment of the promise of total healing embedded in Isaiah's 
description of the suffering servant.

It is true that the atonement guarantees physical healing, just as it 
guarantees spiritual healing.  But that guarantee is for history's end, 
not for today.  Even the apostle Paul did not claim healing when he was 
ill.  He begged for it, but when told healing was not God's will, Paul 
rejoiced in the fact that God would provide the strength the apostle 
needed to accomplish the Lord's goal, in spite of his sickness (2 
Corinthians 12:7-10).

And there, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of our 
heavenly King-Father and saints of the Most High God, is this week's 
baffling Bible questions answered column.  I hope that it was a 
blessing for you.

Until next Monday (or Tuesday for you in Australia and New Zealand) 
when, Lord willing this column will continue, may the God of Abraham, 
Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, in 
these last days in which we live.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul