7.31-God's plan for marriage. There are no perfect marriages but a million ways to have a good one.

7.31

Matthew 14.

14 At that ^[a]time Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, ² and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; ^[b]he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

³ For when Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. ⁴ For John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded ^[c]John as a prophet.
⁶ But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced ^[d]before them and pleased Herod, ⁷ so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ Having been prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” ⁹ Although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of ^[e]his dinner guests. ¹⁰ He sent and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹ And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ¹² His disciples came and took away the body and buried ^[f]it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

Five Thousand Fed

¹³ Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the ^[g]people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. ¹⁴ When He went ^[h]ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.
¹⁵ When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already ^[i]late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” ¹⁷ They *said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” ¹⁸ And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” ¹⁹ Ordering the ^[j]people to ^[k]sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, ²⁰ and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. ²¹ There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

²² Immediately He ^[l]made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. ²³ After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. ²⁴ But the boat was already ^[m]a long distance from the land, ^[n]battered by the waves; for the wind was ^[o]contrary. ²⁵ And in the ^[p]fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶ When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out ^[q]in fear. ²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
²⁸ Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” ²⁹ And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” ³¹ Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³² When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. ³³ And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!”
³⁴ When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. ³⁵ And when the men of that place ^[r]recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick; ³⁶ and they implored Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured.

Matthew 19

19 When Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; ² and ^[a]large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.

³ Some Pharisees came to ^[b]Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to ^[c]divorce his wife for any reason at all?” ⁴ And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” ⁷ They *said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” ⁸ He *said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to ^[d]divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. ⁹ And I say to you, whoever ^[e]divorces his wife, except for ^[f]immorality, and marries another woman ^[g]commits adultery^[h].”
¹⁰ The disciples *said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” ¹¹ But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. ¹² For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

¹³ Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ But Jesus said, “^[i]Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ¹⁵ After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.

The Rich Young Ruler

¹⁶ And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” ¹⁷ And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” ¹⁸ Then he *said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; ¹⁹ Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁰ The young man *said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” ²¹ Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be ^[j]complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” ²² But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.
²³ And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁶ And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

The Disciples’ Reward

²⁷ Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” ²⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on ^[k]His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother ^[l]or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive ^[m]many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. ³⁰ But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.

Psalm 58.

58 Do you indeed ^[c]speak righteousness, O ^[d]gods?
Do you judge ^[e]uprightly, O sons of men?
² No, in heart you work unrighteousness;
On earth you weigh out the violence of your hands.
³ The wicked are estranged from the womb;
These who speak lies go astray from ^[f]birth.
⁴ They have venom like the venom of a serpent;
Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear,
⁵ So that it does not hear the voice of ^[g]charmers,
Or a skillful caster of spells.

⁶ O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth;
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord.
⁷ Let them flow away like water that runs off;
When he ^[h]aims his arrows, let them be as ^[i]headless shafts.
⁸ Let them be as a snail which ^[j]melts away as it goes along,
Like the miscarriages of a woman which never see the sun.
⁹ Before your pots can feel the fire of thorns
He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the ^[k]green and the burning alike.

¹⁰ The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
¹¹ And men will say, “Surely there is a ^[l]reward for the righteous;
Surely there is a God who judges ^[m]on earth!”