Young People’s Blog

“But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none…for the fashion of this world passeth away” (1 Corinthians 7:29,31).

This is an important day for my wife and me, for it is our wedding anniversary! As I write this in 2023, we have been married 53 years, and by the time you read this, if the Lord has not come, and we are both still alive, we will have been married 55 years.

It is wonderful to enjoy the marriage relationship, but our verse for today says something rather strange. It tells us that since the time is short, we are to be as though we did not have wives. What does this mean?

It does not mean that Christian husbands are to neglect their wives, so that they do not care for them, and enjoy them. Rather it means that we are to live and move in the light of eternity, and not just for time. We can enjoy happy times together naturally as husband and wife, but if that is all that we enjoy, it will not last for eternity. What is done for the Lord will last, and we are to remember this.

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33).

When I went to university, I had many discussions with my classmates about the things of the Lord. One of them told me that he wanted to study the whole subject of God, and eventually arrive at a conclusion that satisfied him. I read this verse to him, and told him that all the studying he could do would never find out all about God. God must reveal Himself, and He has done this through His Word, and through His Son Jesus Christ. It is impossible to know about God unless He chooses to tell us about Himself. How wonderful it is that He has done so!

God wanted to have a relationship with us, His creatures, and sent His Son to reveal Him. Then the Lord Jesus went to the cross and died for us so that we could be brought back into a relationship with God. Before sin came into this world, man had a relationship with God, but sin spoiled it all. Now we can know God in a way that we never knew Him before.

“As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man” (Proverbs 27:19).

At first glance this verse might seem a bit confusing, but it is really quite simple. Before the days of good mirrors, people often polished copper to make a mirror for themselves, and sometimes simply looked into still water. What they saw was of course the image of their own faces.

It is the same with our human hearts; they are all the same. Your heart, my heart, and the hearts of everyone else, are all naturally the same. When we look at someone else who is doing something bad, we are seeing only the reflection of our own natural hearts. They are wicked hearts, ready to do evil, and we must remember that. Referring to yesterday’s verses, we may be surprised that the Jews would choose a man like Barabbas to be released from prison, and would condemn the Lord Jesus. How could they do that? But unless God had touched our hearts, we would have done the same thing. God tells us in the Bible that “the carnal mind is enmity [hatred] against God” (Romans 8:7). Without a work of God to give us new life, we would all reject the Lord Jesus. How thankful we should be that we have been brought to Christ, to have new life in Him, and to know and love Him! But once again we ask the question, Have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior?

“And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him [Pilate] to do as he had ever done unto them. But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews? …But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them…And they cried out again, Crucify Him” (Mark 15:8-9,11,13).

It was evidently only a few days between what we talked about yesterday, and what is described in today’s verses. At one point the people were ready to praise and honor the Lord Jesus, but then a few days later they could be persuaded by their leaders to cry out, “Crucify Him!” How could they make such a sudden and drastic change in their behavior?

It was because they did not recognize who the Lord Jesus really was, and more than this, they did not recognize the sinfulness of their own hearts. They considered themselves quite ready for the presence of God, and although they were happy to have the Lord Jesus heal them or feed them, they did not realize that they needed much more than this.

Pilate (the Roman governor) had a custom of releasing a prisoner to them on the occasion of the Passover, and they could choose which prisoner. This time the choice was between the Lord Jesus and a man named Barabbas, who was a murderer, a terrorist, a rioter, and a robber. The people chose Barabbas; it is hard for us to imagine! Because of their choice, the world continues to have plenty of crime in it.

“And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way…and the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 21:8-9).

It must have been a wonderful sight to see the Lord Jesus riding triumphantly into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, and with all the people shouting out His praises. Evidently many of them spread their clothes in the street so that He could ride over them, while others cut down branches from the trees and spread them in the way too. We might think that finally the people really understood who the Lord Jesus was, and were ready to acknowledge Him as their rightful King. According to verse 15, even the children took part in the celebration.

But sadly, the Jewish leaders—the chief priests and scribes, were greatly displeased, while others in the city inquired, “Who is this?” Even though many praised the Lord Jesus, the vast majority were more interested in His healing power than in recognizing Him as their King. For this reason, the Lord Jesus did not even stay the night in the city, but went out and stayed in Bethany. We will see tomorrow what eventually happened.

“Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually. The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even” (Exodus 29:38-39).

“The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out” (Leviticus 6:13).

In our verses today, we see that a lamb was to be offered upon the altar every morning and evening, and that the fire on the altar was never to go out. Whether the children of Israel carried this out faithfully, we do not know. But it is an indication to us of how much God the Father values the work of His beloved Son on the cross. God never forgets what the Lord Jesus suffered on the cross, and it will be remembered for all eternity.

However, the Lord Jesus has asked us to remember Him now, and He has shown us how to do it. When He instituted the remembrance of Himself with the loaf of bread and the cup of wine, He said, “This do in remembrance of Me.” He expects that every one of us who are truly saved will want to honor His request.

“Then came to Him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons…She saith unto Him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on Thy right hand, and the other on the left, in Thy kingdom” (Matthew 20:20-21).

As we saw yesterday, the Lord Jesus told His disciples three times that He would be crucified and rise again the third day. But it seems that at least some of His disciples wanted to have a chief place in the kingdom, and here we see James and John, with their mother, coming to the Lord Jesus and asking for places beside Him when He set up His kingdom. They had not yet understood that the kingdom would not immediately be set up, and that they would be following a rejected Christ.

At another time, all the disciples disputed among themselves, as to who should be the greatest.

This is a real warning to us, for it is easy for Christians to want to “be somebody” among other believers. This is often the case with older ones, but the tendency usually starts when we are young. Naturally we all want to be considered important, but this is a sinful thing in the sight of God. All the glory belongs to Him, and as the Lord Jesus points out to the disciples, the one who wishes to be the greatest should be the servant of all. This was the place the Lord Jesus took in this world, and we are to follow Him.

“Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify Him: and the third day He shall rise again” (Matthew 20:18-19).

This is now the third time in the book of Matthew that the Lord Jesus tells His disciples about His death and resurrection. He wanted to make it clear to them what was going to happen to Him. However, they did not realize what He was saying, for their minds were still expecting an immediate kingdom on this earth. Although He had told them three times, yet they still did not really believe that it would happen.

We can be a little like this too. Sometimes the Lord speaks to us several times, perhaps through His Word, perhaps by another believer, or perhaps by His Spirit. Yet we can fail to understand, because our minds are bent in a different direction, and we do not want to believe what the Lord is clearly telling us. We will see tomorrow at least one of the things that was making it hard for the disciples to understand what the Lord said.

“And he [Abraham] looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah…and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace” (Genesis 19:28).

The whole story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is a very solemn one, and one that is meant to be a warning to this world. Lot and some of his family were saved out of it, but Lot lost his wife and two of his daughters and their husbands, all because they lived in Sodom. Like the men of Sodom, Lot’s daughters and their husbands did not believe that judgment was about to fall on that city. Yet God’s word was true, and many perished because they did not pay attention to God’s warnings.

God is warning this world today in many ways, and especially with natural events such as tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, droughts, volcanoes, hurricanes, wildfires, and other events over which man has no control. We can be thankful that some are listening and are coming to Christ.

In our story, Abraham was safe, for he was nowhere near Sodom and Gomorrah when the judgment fell. So also those who know Christ as their Savior will be safe when the judgment falls on this world, for we will be at home with the Lord.

“And Abram said to the king of Sodom…I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet [a sandal-thong], and that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich” (Genesis 14:22-23).

Lot had eventually gone to live in the wicked city of Sodom, and had been taken captive in a war that involved several kings, including the king of Sodom. Abram had been used of the Lord to rescue Lot, and also the whole city of Sodom. The king of Sodom was very grateful, and wanted to give Abram a reward.

However, Abram knew how wicked the city of Sodom was, and did not want to be connected with it in any way. He would not take any reward—not even something small, for what he had done. It should be the same for us today. We may be used of God to help people of this world when they are in trouble, but we should not be connected in any way with this world. We are told to “do good unto all men” (Galatians 6:10), but we are to remain separate from this world, for it is under the judgment of God.

The king of Sodom should have realized that God was giving them a warning, but apparently they did not repent, and later God destroyed that city.