[00:00:00] INSIGHTS INTRODUCTION

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Hey everybody. Welcome back. This is week 19 of Creative. Come Follow me for the New Testament. And this week we're back in the Tic Gospels. In fact, most of what we're gonna study overlaps with itself. So we're gonna be in two different chapters in Matthew, and then we'll hear sort of echoes of those chapters when we jump into Mark and Luke with a few additions here and there.

So I'll try and highlight some things that are different in each one, but I felt like the overarching message for this week's study is, All about sacrifice and how sacrifice is how we evidence our love for God and that his goal with asking us to sacrifice is not so that we will be left without, but that we will have open space in order to do something.

I. Greater to become more like him. In fact, one of my very favorite quotes, it's in this week's study, it's from Brucey Hain. He was giving a talk on the atonement, and there's this end cap on one of his paragraphs that just almost leapt off the page of me. This is what he said. I had to write it in my margins.

We can have eternal life if we want it. But only if there is nothing else. We want more. I feel like that's the message of the savior this week, and he will teach it to anyone who will listen. He teaches it to scribes and Pharisees. He'll teach it to the rich young ruler. He'll teach in a few different ways.

He'll teach in parables like. The parable, the unjust steward, the laborers of the vineyard. All of these parables are designed to help us understand the goodness of God. You can get fixated on the little details of the parables, and I think there's value in studying them that way as well. But I really think the bigger message is I.

Look how good God is that he has this abundant mercy that he wants to extend to you if you will choose him, if you will choose him above all other things. And I think it gives us enlightenment on things like marriage, which he'll talk about today, about avoiding, you know, hungering for wealth and hoarding it to ourselves even about how to understand where we fit in the kingdom of God.

This understanding of the goodness of God just. Emanate through all of it. So grab your scriptures, grab your notes. You're gonna love this week of study. So let's get started.

[00:02:17] MATTHEW 19

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I know we technically start this week in Matthew 19, but I think it actually helps to read the last few verses of Matthew 18, just to get your bearings for where we were. Cause it's been a few weeks since we've been in Matthew 18. What I'd love about it is Matthew 18 is the one that teaches all about forgiveness.

And how often we need to forgive and why it's hard and why it's worth it. The reason I think that's such a good setup for what you find in Matthew 19 is cause this is one of the few places the Savior himself teaches about marriage and don't even think forgiveness in marriage or just they go hand in hand.

Like I was reading a talk from President Nelson where he said, you know, marriage is, or family is God's laboratory to help us progress. It is this place where we. Learned, and that's kind of how he's setting things up. The Pharisees, the Pharisees approach him in this beginning of chapter 19 and they're trying to trap him.

So they ask him about divorce and they ask if it's lawful for a man to put away his wife for any reason. What you have to love about the way the Savior handles the Pharisees almost every time is. He doesn't take the bait. You know, he knows their hearts and he knows their thoughts, but he still wants to teach truth.

So instead of jumping to where they are, he teaches core doctrine. I, I think if you've been in this course long enough, you've heard me talk about heliotrope questions, but this is for me, this question about divorce is a heliotrope question. Let me backed and tell you why I call it that. Basically, when Violet was little, she loved the word heliotrope.

Heliotrope, she heard it in a. Cartoon of some kind, and she started calling anything that was pinkish or purpleish heliotrope. You know, that color is like this vibrant pink, purple combination. But she, she wanted to call everything in that spectrum, heliotrope. And so to help her understand what Heliotrope really was, I had to dial back a little bit and say like, Hey vi, let's talk about what pink is and let's talk about what purple is, what things do you see around you that are pink or purple?

And then as she got a solid understanding of those two colors, she could start to see the distinction of what is heliot. I feel like that's how we have to handle the gospel as well. So if you have a teenager that comes to you and wants to know about some odd thing in church history or some random piece of, you know, policy or whatever it is, it doesn't matter.

You know, somebody who's coming to ask you about your church or your faith and they wanna know about what happens in the temple or, I think every time, if we can bring things back to the foundation, we can get to the heliotrope questions. It's not that you're trying to sidestep them, I don't think the savior.

Wants to sidestep these questions. What he wants to know is, what do you understand so far? So he takes 'em to the very beginning and I mean like Genesis very, he says to them about crea, he talks about about creation. So he says, and he answered and said unto them, this is a verse four, have you not read that?

He, which made them at the beginning, made them male and female and said, for this cause, shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife and they shall twain become one flesh. He said, this is the fundamental. Foundation of the gospel. The reason you were made this way, the reason there are men and women is so that you can unite together and become one, in fact, that leave cleave and become one.

I loved tho that triple play. There's a great talk in the enzyme that I put in the notes that was all about how we need to do these three things better and if we do, it'll really help our marriages. But he's trying to teach that marriage is ordained of God and it's been that way from the very beginning.

And your this is designed to be, Eternal. That's key foundational doctrine. And if they can understand that, then he can start to talk about the finer points of things like divorce. So you can see him kind of clarifying before he goes into the smaller details. In six, he says, therefore, they are no more twain but one flesh.

What? Therefore, God has joined together. Let no man put us under. What I love about this idea of God putting people together is I feel like we choose our spouses. You know, a lot of us pray about it and we hope for revelation, and we get understandings about what might be the right course. But I think when God brings people together, it actually happens over time.

You know, Jason and I have been married for, Almost 25 years, and it's this process of, as we both ascend trying to come closer to God, we end up coming closer together. I, I think this was said in our ceiling ceremony or maybe in the preparation before it, but we, they talked about how if you look in the mirror in a ceiling ceremony, you can see, you know, the husband, the wife, and that chandelier that can represent God.

And so talked about ascending together that we both are trying to be better disciples of God. Trying to love God more wholeheartedly. And as we do that, we actually naturally are brought together. And that's the visual I love for marriage. I think he's trying to help them understand priorities and why it.

Why it's eternal, why it matters so much. So he does touch a little bit on divorce, but I think it's important to understand, at least from what I read with um, Bruce Summer Conky, he said, the commentary we have from the savior about marriage and divorce is fragmentary and imperfect as it is in the scriptures.

So you need more, this is what you'll find in the notes. So I think beginning to understand marriage and divorce in these verses is great. But you can't stop there. You know, it's really helpful to go into places like the gospel topics or recent conference, talks about marriage and divorce and family, and see what the prophets and apostles have taught for our day.

That's where I found a lot of richness about why it, why it matters so much to God, why he's placed us in this kind of arrangement, and how we can benefit from it, and also when necessary, how it's. How it can be broken up and what the ramifications are. It can get kind of sticky in the verses, so that's why I think you need additional light and knowledge that comes from profits and apostles.

So go in the notes. You can find a lot more. Another thing I learned this time that I had never noticed before, I really love after talking about forgiveness, marriage and divorce. He focuses a big spotlight on the children. So if you look in 13, and they were brought onto him little children, that he should put his hands on them and pray, and the disciples rebuke them.

But Jesus said, suffer the little children and forbid them not to come onto me for of such as the kingdom of heaven. And he lays his hands on them and departed things I think. Reinforcing this message of the reason you are here. And the reason God wants you to join together and be one is because of the blessings that come to children in the process that you create, homes and families of refuge, a place of safety for people can grow and learn the gospel and.

You know, develop in the way he hoped. And I love that when you read it in the proclamation to the family, you can see that there are exceptions. There are adjustments that need to be made in all of all different kinds of families, but that he will teach this ideal of, this is all about family, this is all about children, and they can come onto me.

In fact, I love that he puts his hands on these children and he blesses them. There are lots of other points of doctrine and we might touch on a few more in the other gospels, but. I, I love this understanding that even when family life is imperfect, there is this promise that when little children come to the savior, he will help.

He will bless, he will make up for the gaps in my imperfect parenting. And you know, Jason i's imperfect marriage. Like he will come and he will bless all in the home. And I just think there's beauty in seeing the flow between this, these parts of this chapter. In verse 16, we see a new character introduced.

This is the rich young ruler. You're gonna actually read about him in all three gospels and we'll get a little taste of new things about him in each one. But you get the core of the story in Matthew. So you see in verse 16 and behold, one came and said unto him, good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?

He has a good goal, right? He wants to know how he can get closer to God and how he can gain access into the kingdom of God and gain this eternal life. That's his goal. And so the Savior teaches him in this moment, same he, same way. He teaches anyone who comes to him with the question, and he said unto him, why call salami good?

There is none but good, but one, and that is God. But if that will enter into life, Keep the commandments. He, I think he's trying to teach two core doctrines. Remember, he always takes you back to the foundation. He wants this man to understand that goodness comes from God, just the same way the Savior over and over again defers to his father.

Whenever he has a compliment or a miracle is seen, he directs attention to the Father and he does that here as well. They also teaches a key component of how we can love God back. Uh, that, that we can keep his commandments. In fact, I loved seeing the commandments as this gateway to abundance. You know, how we've been talking the last couple weeks about how he wants us to have this abundant life that comes from keeping the commandments.

And so you can see him talk to the virtue ruler about that. It's just really interesting to me to see how the rich young ruler replies, this is unique to Matthew's account, and he say it unto him, witch. And Jesus said, thou shall do no murder. Thou shall not commit adultery. Thou shall not steal, thou shall not bear false wi witness.

He, he goes on to list a bunch of the commandments, but it's the witch part that I thought was kind of intriguing. You know, it's, it's almost like if you've ever talked to a teenager and. They're wondering about curfew. You know, like we have a midnight curfew for all of our kids. It just never changes. Um, and so when you're 16 till you get married, your curfew is midnight.

And oftentimes they will ask things like, well, what if I'm in the driveway? By what if I'm on our street by midnight? What if I, you know, like they want to know how close they can get to that cutoff before there are consequences. And you sort of get that feel when this rich young ruler asks. Which commandment, like he wants to know which one he should focus on, and maybe he can not pay attention to the other.

I'm not sure. I don't know where his heart is exactly, but I think it's something we need to be cautious about, that we're not trying to parse out the commandments. The commandments are designed to be these guardrails that keep us from going too far over the edge, but doesn't mean we're supposed to bounce from one guardrail to the other, like, you know, a bowling ball in a lane.

We're supposed to stay centered and the commandments are designed to keep us. You know, almost like a gravitational pull. They keep us in the center. And so I think the Savior's trying to help him understand that. So in 20, the young man said on Tim, all these things I have kept from my youth up. What lack I yet, I think this is an innocent question.

He's saying like, oh, I've done all those things, but what am I missing? And it's really sweet to see the savior's response. Jesus said unto Tim, if that will be perfect, go and sell the thou hast and give it to the poor, and thou shall have treasure in heaven. And come and follow me. I think this is, The key test.

It's not so much about checking the boxes of discipleship. It's about have you become something in the process. In fact, the very fact that he asked which man maybe shows that he's been checking boxes, I think what the Lord is trying to say here is, will you still be my disciple without all of these things?

I don't think it's just about the wickedness of riches. I, I think a lot of verses on the Book of Mormon teach you that. Riches can be used for good. And that's not a bad thing to see for riches if you've sought the Kingdom of God. So I think what he's trying to teach here is like, well, honestly, I think it's similar to what you taught Joseph.

You remember, I think he was in Liberty Jail when Joseph is struggling and the answer that comes from the Lord is thou are not yet as job because he still has his friends and people still stand by him. And Job didn't have those things. And I think it's not so much about like, how hard can I make your life to be like job.

I think it's job still stayed despite all those things being stripped of him. He still stayed and you're not quite there. Joseph. Like we, I just think that's what he's trying to teach. The rich young ruler, it is this will you still stay. For me, it's, it echoes what we learned from Martha last week. That she and Mary still stand by the savior and will in Martha's case, testify his of his ability to heal and resurrect despite the fact that their brother just died.

You know, if, if you're able to stand at testimony meaning, and teach about the power of priesthood, blessings when priesthood blessings haven't worked in your life recently, you know, like that is testimony. That means your testimony is not based on the circumstances around you, but on what you know from the spirit.

What is true. I think that's what he is inviting the rich young ruler to do, is to say, strip yourself of all of this stuff and tell me if you still believe, you know, tell me that missions are a good thing, despite the fact that you've never had a good companion. Can you stand and testify to me that that all of this matters?

Even if I pull all of the blessings you thought you'd have away, I just think there's. He wants. He wants him to change. That's what I think is really powerful about his invitation to come and follow. What he's asking this rich, young ruler to do is not just to set down what encumbered him. He's asking him to come and follow.

He's basically saying the same thing he said to Peter, put down your nets. You're not gonna need those anymore. Will you still follow me despite all of the heart that's in front of you? Will you still choose me and I, I just. I think there's weight to that sometimes. I think we teach this right at the surface and talk about not holding onto our riches.

And although I think it teaches that lesson, I think it's something much, much deeper. You can go into the notes and read a few quotes about this, but I think there's more, and it's a question of, are you all in no matter what? And what I love is what comes next. So this is when you hear Peter say, well, we have been all in, you know, Peter is one who did set down his nets.

He did follow Jesus Christ. And he's saying, what do we gain from it? I, I don't know the tone in Peter's voice here, but I just love the way Peter is constantly learning and he's not afraid to ask questions in humility. Like he, he doesn't know and he wants to understand. And so basically what the savior teaches him is that the 12 will be judges in Israel.

They will be. In the eternities, they will be judges. And I think this life of humble discipleship allows that to happen the same way we trust Christ to be our judge, cuz he's suffered everything we've suffered and he's experienced all our pains and all of our trials. I think choosing to condescend, choosing to set aside comforts and luxuries so that you can understand p people better, puts you in a better position to be a righteous judge.

So I think there's a tie there. I also love the promise where he says Everything you've had to give up, you know, and he lists some big things. You've forsaken houses, brothern, sisters, fathers, mothers, wives, children. They've had to set. Aside time to be disciples of God and set aside time with people that they love, and then he promises that you'll receive a hundred fold in everlasting life.

What I love about that phrase a hundred fold is it doesn't just mean a hundred times. It's not like if I have one penny in Earth and I give it away, I'll get a hundred pennies in earth. I don't think that's what it means. A fold is talking about a harvest. So just like we've talked about in the past, if you have a hundred fold crop, that means you can then harvest a hundred times more than you had before.

And now I've got all the seeds in all those crops that I can then replant and have an abundance that's exponential. You don't, we cannot limit this to multiply by a hundred. This is an infinite capacity for joy because the ultimate promise is you'll have everything the father has, like that's what he wants to offer you.

That's why the sacrifice is worth it. It's. All that he has and it doesn't get bigger than that.

[00:17:24] MATTHEW 20

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While we're on the subject of all that the father had, that takes us right into Matthew 20 where you learn about the parable of the laborers of the vineyard. I think it's important to understand that this parable is given as an answer to Peter's question. So remember Peter had a question about. Well, all of us who came early, you know, we sat down our nets a long time ago.

We're following the, what do we get? And Parable is actually designed to answer that question. It helps Peter understand. Who gets what and based on what time of day they show up, what happens. So I'm sure you know the story of the parable, of the laborers of the vineyard. This is when there's a vineyard owner and he needs people to come and work his fields.

And so he goes out early in the day and recruits people to come from the streets. They come in, they agree to a wage of one penny a day, and. They begin to work and then throughout the day, the owner of the vineyard realizes that he needs more laborers. And so he actually goes out four more times about every in three hour increments to recruit more people.

And there are people to recruit, which I think tells you something about their circumstances. I think the very fact that there are still laborers standing idly at the gate means that they are. Eager to work. Uh, I, I read, I think it was Elder Holland who taught, he has a great talk all about this, but I think he was saying like, people who get hired first have the comfort of knowing that they're gonna be able to feed their families that day.

Whereas all those who are standing idly at the gate are wondering if they'll have a chance, what they're gonna do that night, and that that in itself is a weight. I think they're hungry for work. They're not idle in a lazy way. They're idle, meaning like, I want to get to work, but I don't have an opportunity.

And so over and over again, this vineyard owner comes out, brings more people in until the very end of the day where there's just one hour left of labor. He brings that last batch, and then the payment process begins. So if you look at the end, you can see well in seven it shows that they wanted to work.

So when he asked them why they've been standing their idle, it says in seven, they say him because no man half hired us. And he said unto them, go eat also into the vineyard. And whatsoever is right that shall you receive those last four waves of people who come in don't know what they're gonna earn.

Only the the people, the very beginning, no the compensation plan. And so in eight, so when even was come. The lords of the vineyards sayeth unto his steward, call the laborers and give them their hire beginning from the last until the first. And when they came that were hired about the 11th hour, they received every man a penny.

But when the first came, they suppose that they should have received more, and they likewise received every man a penny. This is, he's trying to help Peter understand that there is no. Ranking in heaven. What there is is service opportunities. So when he taught Peter, stop worrying about your placement in the kingdom of God.

Instead, understand that because of your goodness and your discipleship here on Earth, you will be a judge. Like I, I think that's the message of the Savior over and over again. To receive a place of greatness means you're gonna serve greatly, and that's what he's been trying to teach Peter, and he's trying to teach it in this parable as well, that what tends to happen in our natural man hearts is.

We get envious and we start to count blessings of others and we get we murmur. We've talked about murmuring several times in the Old Testament and heavily in the beginning of the Book of Mormon. Like murmuring is something where it just, you hope for the blessings of something you did not earn, and it is.

Kind of sinister in nature because it turns us and separates us from God. And you can see them separating from where they thought this was a good master and this is a good job. And now all of a sudden there, there's bitterness sinking in. And so they murmur against the man of the house. Saying that these lasts have brought but one hour and now house made them equal to us, which have borne the burden and the heat of the day.

You know, they agreed to the penny wage that this was their compensation for working through the heat of the day. They were comfortable with it until they started to compare. And just like we've heard over and over again, comparison is the thief of joy. And you can see it. Stealing the joy of these final laborers.

But I love the way the Lord of the Vineyard handles it. So he says unto them, friend, I do the no wrong. This does not agree with me. For a penny, take that dine is and go th way. I will give unto this last even as unto the, is it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own Is thine nine evil? Because I am good when we see blessings.

Poured out on others, even blessings that we have prayed for ourselves. It doesn't mean we receive less. To think that way. I think the real problem with this is it puts a finite nature on the blessings of God. And we know that God is infinite in his ability to produce goodness. So if I worry about other people getting too much, that means by default, I must think that it's not infinite.

I must think there is a limit to God's blessings and they got more, which means I, by default, get less, and that is not the nature of God. His love and capacity for goodness are infinite in nature. So we don't have to worry when we see blessings poured out on someone else. We are not in a race against someone else.

Like Elder Holland said, we are in a race against sin, and that's all. So he tries to help them understand. I just love the under that, um, sweetness that comes from. Realizing that this is actually, um, parable that's all about the goodness of God. This is an elder Holland to talk to you, but he says, you know, we should stop fixating on what we get and what we don't get, and start thinking about the goodness of God that is evident in these verses.

What it must have felt like to those who came late in the game, who thought they weren't gonna be able to feed their families that night, or thought they might get a fraction of a penny that might feed one child and not their whole family, like what they had to wrestle with all day long. And then when they stood in line to receive wages, were abundantly blessed.

I mean, don't you think all of us have felt that way or you've received an abundant blessing that you did not earn? At least I know I have. Like I know I haven't liven lived righteously enough to earn the blessings I have seen. I just think it's his nature to do good. I love, there's a quote from Elder Christ that I wrote in my margins.

He said, no one is predestined to receive less than all the father have. There is this. Beauty. In his justice. He's a god of justice and mercy. And one of the ways he shows justice, it's not in this harshness. Sometimes when we talk about the God of justice, we think about it with him enforcing the rules.

But one of the ways he enforces justice is he creates equal opportunity for everybody. You know, my parents are converts to the church. Uh, they joined before I was born, but nobody in my family, Leon, either side, is a member before them. So this understanding from the parable of the laborers of the vineyard means.

Those ancestors that I love or will love when, when I ever get to meet them like they are people who have an equal opportunity to hear the gospel of Christ and choose it. The same opportunity that my parents had and that I have, they will have. That's the justice of God. That's why we worship a God of justice and a God of mercy because his justice is comforting.

Those with limited understanding or don't get a full under, you know, full access to the gospel in their lifetime or. In a limited portion of their lifetime, whenever they choose to come to God and they choose to, you know, follow those, that same covenant path that we have chosen to follow, they have equal access to all that the father had.

That's what that penny represents. It's eternal life. And eternal life isn't bounded by mortal constraints. It is infinite in its goodness and in its potential reach. So we need to stop counting and just. Find relief in the trust that we feel about the goodness of the Lord of the vineyard. They have to love that parable.

When you go a little bit further than you see, I don't know if. James and John's mother heard that parable, or if he's trying to teach the same message to her because she didn't hear it, but she essentially is asking if her sons, James and John can get kind of a preferred seat and, and you can't blame her for it.

I think all of us moms hope for that. You know, like when your kids put in their papers, you, you hope that they get the, a good mission with good companions and like, that's just a mother's instinct. So I, I can't fault her for that. Request. But what the savior teaches her is the same thing he just taught to Peter with laborers of vineyard.

He basically says like, there, God chooses what? What happens here? My father will choose where, where people serve and what that service looks like. He also tries to teach her about the weight of his service. That in a different talk from Elder Holland, he talked about. He talked about how the cup and the throne are inextricably linked.

The cup meaning all the things the savior has to endure and suffer in order to. Get to that place where he will sit on a throne and he sort of talks about that in relation to the apostles. Cuz they're gonna endure and suffer similar fates. Uh, they won't, uh, you have to separate it from the atonement. I don't, I don't mean to imply that they'll suffer like the savior did, but all of them will suffer some to the extreme.

Like James will be the very first martyr of the New Testament. He will lose his life early. And I think the savior is trying to teach their mother this, this. Please understand what you're asking in order to, in order to access the blessings that you're asking for. There is a heavy cost, and what you have to love about the apostles is they say, we are able, you know, like it's in the end of verse 22.

They hear about him talk about this cup that he will have to drink and the baptism, this martyrdom that will need to occur, and they say, we are able, and he say them to them in 23, you shall drink indeed of my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with. But to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my father.

I think he's trying to help them understand like there's no. There's no campaigning in the gospel to get certain callings or to have certain stewardships. It is simply determined by our father, and it doesn't matter what calling we're in or what position it looks like from our mortal perspective, if we do it diligently, we receive all that.

The father half, there is no. There's no preferential seating in heaven, so you can see him trying to teach that. I also think it's interesting to see how he quells contention. So the other disciples hear this chatter from the mother of James and John and maybe James and John themselves, and they start to get.

Kind of grumpy about, like you can see it's starting to cause some indignation is the word he uses in the verses, but he teaches them the way to neutralize the contention that might have built up by thinking that Jesus had favorites is to teach them truth. Remember, this is how the Savior always deals with contention.

He teaches truth, and so he talks about what it means to be the greatest in the kingdom of God. That means you're going to administer, you're going to serve, and you can go into the notes and learn a whole bunch more about that, and at the very end we'll go into this more in the other. It's in the other books, but you see a healing of blind men.

In Matthew, for some reason it's listed as two blind men. In the other books, it's listed as just one, but a miracle occurs on the way to Jerusalem, and we're gonna talk more about that later. But essentially, what you need to know about this blind man is that he, on this road, he hears the savior coming, but he doesn't know it's the savior.

He just hears commotion and then people alert him that it is a savior and he calls out, you know, Jesus thou son of David, have mercy on us. In this case, there's two of them, and they're. They're pleading with the Lord and people try to shush them and they just keep pleading and so the Lord stops and asks them what they want and he heals them up their blindness.

One of the things I love that you see in this part in the Matthew account is that you can see that they, they are calling to the Lord and then he stands still. Even though there's commotion and chatter and loudness around him, he can hear them and he stands still and he asks them to be brought to him.

I just think. That's a comforting thing about the God we worship. I think He is someone who, when you are in distress, when you feel like your voice is getting swallowed up by the noise of this world, he will stand still and he will hear you, and he will call you to him and ask what it is you need. I I, I have felt this on certain occasions where I'm, I'm asked to say, what is it you want?

What, what do you seek? And I think being ready with an answer to that question is, Is where the real discipleship begins.

[00:29:32] MARK 10

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We'll go a little faster in Mark 10 and Luke 18 because they cover a lot of the same territory that we just studied in Matthew. But there are a few little differences, like when you go into Mark 10, you see that same guidance about marriage and divorce. How we talked about there was there is a higher law from God that marriage is ordained of God.

It's designed to be eternal, but that in Moses' Day, because of the hardness of the hearts of men, they're. Almost like a lesser law was developed, and this is where divorce was allowed. So he teaches that same doctrine, but interestingly in the Mark account, he extends it to women as well. In Matthew, he was just speaking to men and talking about putting their wives away unfairly.

In Mark. He extends it to both genders and says, you both need to be cautious about this. Another thing he talks about is you get that same order where right after talking about the goodness of marriage, he teaches about the goodness of children and receiving them in one of the um, Conference arts I read this week was from Elder Anderson, and he talked about how one of the ways we can receive little children unto us is to be sensitive to their situations.

I thought this was particularly interesting considering all that we just read about marriage and divorce, but that we need to be really cautious that those children who come into our classes or into just our spheres feel safe and warm and welcomed. The, you should go and read the talk, but he, he talked about how we need to be more sensitive to their particular situations and be kind where we can, so I, I would.

Above all the other ones, I would tell you to go over that one. I just thought there were a lot of things that came to mind that I could do better after I read his talk. Some other things you're gonna see is the rich young ruler. This one is a little bit different. He rushes to the savior. So in 17 when he was gone forth in the way there came one running and kneeled unto asking, good master, what shall I do that?

I might inherit eternal life? He seems eager to. I don't, it depends on where you think his heart is. You know, if he's in a position of like, he wants to catalog all the good things he's done already and show that off to the world, maybe, um, or maybe he's just like, The Hermione Granger of this world, and he just can't wait to like ask questions and you know, answer questions.

So he comes to the Lord asking for, what do I need to do to inherit eternal life? And the answer is really similar in the market count. This is what he says. And Jesus beholden him, loved him, and said unto him, one thing that lack is go that way. So what's over though has and give to the poor and thou shall have treasure in heaven and come and take up the cross and follow me.

I feel like in this. Mark count. You get two things. First, I love that he says Jesus beholden him and loved him. I actually think you could take that sentence and put it in front of any interaction the Savior has with people in the entire New Testament because this is what we know from prophets, that God has loved you always and will love you always, whether you follow him or not.

He wants to love and bless you. And for that we need obedience. But he, the fact that we are loved by God has nothing to do with what we've accomplished so far. I wonder that cuz sometimes people. We'll put a spotlight on that phrase and say, oh, isn't it so sweet that he loves this young man who kept all the commandments, but I think he has this.

You could put that same phrase in front of the woman, taken an adultery. Jesus beheld her and loved her, and then he taught her right? He taught her about the commandments and go th way and sin no more. I think you could, you could use that same phrase in front of Peter anytime in Peter's lifetime and say The savior beheld Peter and loved him and so he taught.

You could even go so far as to say he would. To any of those scribes or the Pharisees who are trying to trip him up. When he beholds them. He loves them, and so he tries to teach. I just think it's his nature and what's comforting about that is that means that's what he thinks when he sees us. We don't have to be afraid to encounter our savior.

He loves us, has always loved us, and will always love us. It's just who he is, and I just think there's comfort in that part of the verse. I also love that he describes taking up your cross and following me, particularly cuz of what we learned from Elder Holland in conference, the last couple conferences where he talked about taking up your cross and what that means and how we can do that with more dignity.

And you know, I love the visual he portrayed. He talked about the cross. The visual itself is a visual of the savior. His embrace is open to everyone. You know, his arms being open like that on the cross is this. Vibrant visual of his ability to take all into his embrace that you should go read Elder Helen's talking.

It was just beautifully written. When you go a little bit further, he warns about not trusting enriches. This is written a little bit differently in Mark. So if you go on 24 children, how hard is it for them that trust enriches to enter into the kingdom of God and then he gives that camel and the eye on eye of the needle?

Example? I like the phrasing, trusting enriches, cuz it, it is more similar to what we see in the Book of Mormon where he doesn't say that riches are evil. It's, it's trusting in riches that gets you into trouble because then you stop trusting in God. You stop. You forget how much you need him and how your blessings came from him.

So he warns about not trusting in those riches. And then you get more about Peter. You can see he gives guidance about leaving all that same thing to Peter that you're gonna serve and you're gonna do good and you'll get a hundred fold back. You'll see all that in Mark 10 as well. But he also echoes his words about his role as the Savior.

So in 33 and 34, behold we go to Jerusalem and the son of men shall be delivered unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death and shall deliver him to the Gentiles, and they shall mock him and shall, shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him and shall kill him. And the third day he shall rise again.

I found myself wondering why he says, you know, why does he tell them like we talked about before? I think he's, I think he's hoping to, He wants their hope to be secure. He doesn't want 'em to have false hope. He wants them to set aside this old Messiah figure that they have in their mind and focus on what is true.

You know, bridge that gap between what they believe and what is true. And so he tries to help 'em understand what's coming. They don't quite understand it. We'll see that better in Luke, but he's trying constantly to teach them truth. And I just thought, I found myself wondering like, why? You know, why does he, if he can see all this coming, why does he.

Choose to go forward. And I really loved some of the verses I found as I studied that question. Uh, like for example, when you go on first Nephi 19 nine, it talks about his long suffering and his loving kindness to the children movement. If you go in Hebrews, this is one that President Nelson pointed out, but he talked about how the joy that was set before him helped him endure the cross.

I think it's the same thing we see with the rich young ruler, his. When he encounters any situation to love and show compassion for the children of men, he chooses to do it even when it means facing this sort of future, and he does it with strength and boldness. When you turn the page, you can see that same direction to James and John, except for this time, their mother isn't mentioned.

It seems like James and John themselves come asking the Lord if they can have that. So the reserved seats at the ultimate lunch table in heaven, and the Savior tries to teach in the same thing. That there's, there's no campaigning. This is not determined by how you perform in this life. It's, it's all about the.

Who, the one who will be the greatest among you is the one who will be your servant. And so he teaches about that. In fact, he even talks about how he is the example of that, that he came to this earth to minister, not to be ministered to. So that he is this ultimate example of what a leader is in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

He is someone who will serve and minister. A couple things I also love on the second half is in 36 and 51. So if you compare those two verses, this is when you see, um, with James and John, what they ask is they come to him approaching him and the savior says, what would you, that I should do for you?

That's the question the savior asks them. When his apostles come, it's the exact same question you see in 51, when the blind man comes, he asks them, what will thou that I should do unto the, I loved. In fact, in my scriptures, I tied those together. I think. This is that question we were talking about in Matthew.

All of us have to be able to answer this key question. When we encounter the savior, what is it we want? What I love about his nature is he will give us. What we want. It's kind of the same thing we just read at the very beginning in the introduction, that quote from Elder Hain where he said, you can have eternal life if it's what you want more than anything else.

And I think the savior echoes that when he asks these key questions of what is it you want from me? What do you need? And then you have to choose where, where you'll go from there. In fact, the very end, in 52, you see the blind man is healed and he is restored to wholeness. So it says, go that way. That faith has made the whole.

And maybe it was residual from last week, but I started to wonder what the difference is between healing and wholeness. And what I found in the Book of Mormon helped me, this is an eus. So if you go in Enus in chapter one, it's around verses seven and eight. This is when he says he feels his guilt being swept away.

And he talks about feeling whole. And he says, how is it this is done? You're, I can't remember the exact words. He's like, how is this done? And it teaches us about repentance and being converted that that's this process that happens. So I don't think it means. He's completely whole at this point in time. I think it means his heart is repentant.

He's converted. You can tell that because this blind man chooses to follow in this moment. He's healed and he chooses to follow the savior from this point forward.

[00:38:47] LUKE 18

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Luke 18 is a little bit different cause it teaches us about prayer. So you have two back to back parables about prayer. The first one is encouraging you to pray always, and it uses a parable of an unjust judge. This is another one of those interesting ones where you're not exactly sure how to line up what things mean, but thankfully Jesus sort of lays it out in the verses.

The storyline is that there is a judge who's in a position of power and he is unjust. In fact, he almost brags about the fact that he doesn't fear God or his fellow men. He, he's in a position of power and he has someone coming to him that has absolutely no power. Because there's a widow that's imploring him to avenge whatever wrong has been committed to her.

And he, over the course of this widow, coming over and over and over again, ends up doing what the widow wants and avenges her. And what the savior teaches is that's basically how you should treat prayer. If someone as wicked as this man in this parable will. Do what this widow wanted him to do. Think of what your father in heaven will do because he loves you and he seeks your welfare, and he wants to avenge the wrongs that have been done to you.

In fact, the j s t in these verses says that he'll do it speedily. I love this because of what we studied in. Um, doctrine and covenants together. Do you remember when we studied about, in Missouri when they were, they were kind of calculating all their damages. They were seeking redress in Washington for the property that they've lost and the livestock that they've lost.

And the, that the Lord will avenge you. Uh, the Joseph even uses this parable to kind of help teach the saints at that time that there will be, he is a god of justice and he will avenge so we can. Detach from seeking vengeance on our own and trust that he will avenge speedily. That's his promise. The second prayer I think, refines this a little bit cuz where he wants us to pray always.

He also wants us to pray sincerely because prayers that are designed to impress men, even if they're constant. Can't breach the barriers of heaven. I think it's the same thing we saw in the Book of Mormon with the Zora mites. Normally they built that ramin tower and they stand on top and they give this great prayer that's all about how lucky they are to be God's chosen people.

And you know, like you can just hear Alma on the side like what is happening? And that's kind of what's happening here. So he gives a parable of a Pharisee and a Republican, and they're supposed to be these two contrasting people. The Pharisee is someone who is an expert in obedience, right? They're on this far side of the Jewish society.

They are so good at obedience that it's become their profession of sorts. And then you have a publican that's on the far end of the spectrum, this way, still a Jew, but someone who works for the Romans and prophets through the Romans and is hated, you know, this is what Matthew is. They're hated in society.

So it's kind of interesting to see that. Spectrum and he compares their two prayers. I think it's the same way the Lord uses a Samaritan in the story of the Good Samaritan to teach us how to be a good neighbor. In this one, he's using a public to teach about prayer. I think even within the Jewish society, he's trying to help people broaden their, to get rid of judgment and broaden their perspective about.

Who is good. And so you see the two prayers. You see the, the Pharisees praying and he says things like in verse 11, the Pharisees stood and prayed to us with himself. God, I thank the that I am not as other men as extortion, as unjust doers, even as this public. Like he, he throws shade on the public in his prayer, and he isn't asking for anything.

There's a great talk from Howard W Hunter on this parable. Where he talks about the stark contrast between these two and how this, this guy isn't even asking for anything. He isn't asking God for anything because he believes he is taken care of on his own. In fact, what you can see in the verses in verse nine, and he faked this parable unto certain, which trusted in themselves and they were righteous and despised others.

That's his audience. He's teaching people who are so confident in their own righteousness that they've. Stopped seeing others that they are in fact repulsed by others. And I think that's what he's trying to help us understand that prayer is a tool that helps you avoid that track. It helps you avoid that kind of self-righteousness and.

Puts you in a posture of humility and repentance, and that's what you see from the Republican. So in contrast, the public who doesn't talk about how much he fasts and all the things that he sacrifices with tithing in 13, the public standing afar off would not so much as lift up his eyes under heaven, but mowed upon his breath saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner.

I tell you, this man went down to this house justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalted himself shall be aas. And he, that humble of himself shall be exalted. The savior is taught in every chapter this week that there is no preferential treatment. It is simply when you are on the covenant path and when you are turning to him for relief and respite, you are on an equal playing field.

What's I think really dangerous about the self-righteous attitude of the Pharisee is you stop thinking you need God, you think you earn heaven, and that simply, Never happens no matter how righteous your life is. None of us can earn heaven with our discipleship. We all need the goodness of the atonement of Jesus Christ.

We need the grace that comes with that gift. And you miss that when you're focused on your own. Goodness. So he warns about that. He also has the same guidance about, you know, calling children and letting them come in, come unto him. You'll see that in this chapter. The Parable of the Rich Young ruler comes out in this chapter as well.

It's pretty similar except for Wasy in verse 22. I really like that, what's phrased in 22. So in Luke's account, he says, yet that lack is one thing. Sell all that thou has and distribute unto the poor. And thou shall have treasure in heaven and come follow me. It's just that word distribute that. I liked that Luke added because I think it implies kind of a hands-on giving.

It's not so much just he's gonna sell all of his stuff and walk away it, it implies he's gonna develop charity. You know, cuz as you take time to evaluate what you have, where your abundance is and how you can share it, the best person who might need it, where you could put it, you, you rely on the spirit.

You rely on the guidance that you get to know who to help and how to help and how much to give. Something about that word distribute to me just means hands-on, be involved in the giving because that's what's gonna make you become as we develop. That Christ-like characteristic of charity, we become worthy to be in the kingdom of God.

I think that's what he's trying to teach. The rich young ruler. You also have to love what see in 27 says, and he said the things which are impossible with men are possible with God. We're talking about this in the object lessons. This is talking about the camel going through the eye of the needle. He's just trying to reaffirm, I think that all things are possible with God no matter how far we, how late to the vineyard we think we are or how weak and.

Sinful. We are like this public and versus this pharacy, no matter where you are, when you turn to him, all things are possible with God. I think that verse just reverberates through every single chapter. You also see some promises to Peter that you don't see in others. So in the Luke account, when Peter asks like, About sacrifice and how he has done all these things from the beginning.

Basically, the savior promises a hundred fold blessings like we saw before, but I also love what you see in 30 says, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time and in the world to come life everlasting? To me, what he's saying is you're not gonna have to wait until the next life to see the blessings roll in Peter.

It's not just, you know, treasures in heaven, it's your life here is better. As you choose to diligently be a disciple of Jesus Christ and carry your cross and follow him, your life here is richer and more abundant. It's both. Sometimes I think we have this future focus of like what we're gonna get later, and I think it's both.

And so I love that this verse clarifies that as well. You also see those same things about prophets in the past have testified of the savior, and you see him talking about. What's gonna happen to him and the hard that is coming. And then you see the healing of the blind man. And it's really similar to what we studied in the other gospels.

But one thing that came to me as I was studying this one is I happened to look down in 19 and see that the very next thing that comes is Palm Sunday. Like he, when he's on this road from Jericho, which is like, you can see that progression happening. He's on his way to Jerusalem to begin the end. And so I thought it was really interesting.

To see this blind man's healing because basically his eyes are opened in this moment. That's what he seeks from God, and that's what he gets. He, his eyes are opened and then he chooses to follow him. In fact, it says in 43 and immediately he received a sight and he followed him, glorifying God and all the people when they saw it, gave praise unto God.

And then if you roll into 19, you can see what's coming next, that he's gonna ride triumphant into Jerusalem and have that Palm Sunday entrance. But, I found myself thinking like, what is it this blind man's gonna see? He just started his discipleship. He just started following Christ and the first thing he's gonna see is the week leading up to the crucifixion.

And I just found myself, I. I thought it was poignant to realize that Jesus took time in this hard time where he knows what's coming to heal this blind man and to invite him to see, even though what he's going to see is gonna be hard, it's gonna be a mix of hard and good. And this blind man's gonna have to choose to follow him no matter what he sees going forward.

Cuz this miracle has already happened and I feel like it's the same invitation he's given all of us. That we're gonna have eyes to see as we come closer to him, we'll see more clearly. But what we see is a mix of hard and good and will we choose like Martha has and like Job has and like all those other noble prophets who have sacrificed so much, you know Joseph Smith, all those who've given up so much in order to stand fast.

I think that's the invitation to us as well. Will you still testify of the miracle that has happened? Even when things get hard? Uh, and that's what this blind man's gonna have to wrestle with. Uh, we just don't see it play out just yet, but it's coming.

[00:48:57] CREATIVE PREVIEW

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Welcome back you guys. It's time for the creative side of week 19. All right. I have some good stuff in store. As always. I would tell you those you're watching on YouTube or in the pod listening on the podcast. This is just supposed to, you know, get you excited to teach creatively in. Some way, I'm hoping to show you three quick previews of the object lessons I have in store for the people in the course, just to get your mind spinning, get you excited.

For those of you who are in the course, just keep watching and I'll show you how to walk through each one individually and then give you the tools and the notes so you can pull them off with your families or your classes. But let me show you what we have in store. All right. This week, the savior, in all of the books that we study, talks about that visual of the camel passing through the eye of the needle, and I.

Couldn't resist it, especially cuz after each one of those, when he teaches about the camel and the eye of the needle, he always talks about, with God, all things are possible. So I thought maybe we should come up with a way that a camel can go through an eye of needle. So this week in the printables, you're gonna find a giant needle.

You're also gonna find some camel templates that I'll walk you through in just a second. And you're going to melt some cups. So I call this the Camel melting Challenge. To melt your camels, you just need cups. So the cups we use are five ounce kind of clearish Whiteish cups that you're gonna melt in an oven and get them to go through the eye of needle.

I'll walk you through where to find these and how to pull this off in just a second. But that's really all your supplies you need for this one. The only other thing you might want is something to fill the cups with. This will help you teach. The story of the rich young ruler, just a little bit better. So you want something like rolos, ideally something gold that you can stash in these cups.

And then I'll walk you through what to do with it in just a minute. Okay? Second one. So in this one I wanted to teach about the parable of the laborers of the vineyard. And this one is I created a game. We're gonna, I'm gonna teach you how to play this hand slapping game, and the goal here is that your kids will learn what it felt like to be the laborers at the different hours of the day.

This is one of those ones where you really just have to play a game and your kids will learn really fast what this parable means. In addition to the game, I'm also giving you some supplies so that you can have a prize. So this is designed to just go on a treat or whatever you happen to have on hand.

You just wanna have a treat that's for every single person who's playing the game. So if you have six people playing, make sure you have six identical treats. The principle has these cute little metals that have the scripture versed on them, and you're gonna teach them about. The prize in heaven, that access to the kingdom of God, that he promises to everyone who comes and works in his vineyard no matter what time of day they show up.

So we're gonna learn that one firsthand with this second out lesson. The third one is focused again on the rich young ruler, but this one talking about. How he's supposed to distribute his goods to the poor. And I thought since it's springtime and since we're all tr transitioning our closets from winter to summer, it might be good to take this week to purge a little bit, do what we can to give of our abundance to help other people.

So I'm gonna walk you through how to pull that off and some mom hacks that make that easier coming up next.

[00:51:55] WRAP UP

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Hey you guys. That's it for week 19. So just like I said at the beginning, what Elder Haven taught was true, all of us have access to eternal life. It just has to be something we want more than anything else.

And I think you'll find that in the verses this week, and also as you teach these object lessons. So I hope you enjoy it. Um, if you have any more questions, you're welcome to join me on the live. So Monday mornings 10:00 AM mountain time. I come on Instagram, do a quick live to walk you through some of the insights that I didn't quite squeeze in here, and then also answer questions about the object lessons if you have any.

Um, also, you're welcome to message me on the discussion boards if you're part of the course. That's a really good spot to find me, cuz it all those questions will come straight to my inbox so I can answer those a little more quickly. But, Otherwise, I just hope you enjoy this week. I think there's a lot of rich visuals, there's a lot of scripture that's familiar and some that is new, and I just think you'll really enjoy it.

So get into your scriptures and see what is in store. All you guys enjoy this week and I will see you on Monday.