The Mamzers (Cindi Morrison, 06/17/23)

You know, I have to put a title on there to make people kind of wonder what in the world is that.

And it seems a little weird because tomorrow is Father's Day, and today is,

we're celebrating Women's Ministry Sabbath, but there should be something here for everybody and not just for the ladies, okay?

So, our scripture.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

I'm so glad that was written.

I am glad that was written.

Because women used to be considered property.

Something to be used, or that was useful.

But, that's not the way Jesus viewed it.

But before we get started, the Mamsers.

That's a new term to me, by the way.

I heard it for the first time, maybe six weeks, two months ago, something like that.

So, what in the world is a Mamser?

Official definition.

One of illegitimate birth.

Rape, incest, an illicit affair.

One born of a forbidden marriage by the Torah.

And that would be an Israelite man with a Gentile woman, or an Israelite woman with a Gentile man.

Do we have any examples?

Yeah, there's lots in scripture, but two that stand out to me.

One is Timothy.

Timothy had an Israelite mother and a Greek father.

He was officially a Mamser.

Okay?

Another one who was known as a Mamser was Jesus himself.

Because he had an Israelite mother.

But he was considered a Mamser by the powers that be.

Because his father was not Jewish.

We see that in John 8.39.

They said to him, this would be the powers that be.

Abraham is our father.

Who's yours?

And Jesus said, if you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.

But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God.

Abraham did not do this.

You do the deeds of your father, they said.

Then they told him, we were not born of fornication.

We have one father, God.

That's the official definition.

Okay?

Number two definition, it was used more loosely than that.

Lepers, they were Mamsers.

The woman at the well, she was a Mamser.

Tax collectors or publicans, they were Mamsers.

Those with birth defects, they were Mamsers.

Gentiles, they were Mamsers.

So, any of you guys know what it's like to be an outsider?

You know what it's like to be an outsider?

I'm sure everybody in here at one point or another has felt like an outsider.

Diane asked me about my educational background.

Tell you something about high school.

Teenagers, I do sympathize, I want you to know.

Okay?

I was just a normal, everyday farm kid.

But in our school, there were three classes of people.

One, in that day and age, we called them the snobs.

They were the kids with money.

Okay?

They had all the latest stuff, they all had cars.

Yeah, they were snobs.

And then there was another class that had no money.

They were called the hoods.

You know, you didn't really run around with them because the drug scene was just starting to come up.

You didn't want to mess with those kids, okay?

And then there was a few of us in the middle.

Just, and there was 185, 165 in my graduating class.

So 80 plus were girls, all right?

There were like four or five of us who were the farm kids.

And we were the outsiders to both groups.

For whatever reason, I don't know why, teenagers seem to segregate themselves.

Somehow, and there's always those on the outside.

So this Mamzer thing, yeah, it's kind of personal.

Kind of personal.

But something I learned recently that I wanted to share with you was the book of Matthew was written by a publican.

And he was a Mamzer, okay?

Because he was a publican, a tax collector.

He was an outcast.

And the book of Matthew was written by a Mamzer to Jews about a Jew.

And all through the book of Matthew, you find woven in stories about how Jesus treated the Mamzers.

I never thought of it that way until I heard somebody talking to me.

I went, wow.

Okay.

Let's take a look here.

The purpose of Matthew was to present Jesus as the Messianic king.

And he quotes tons of scripture that support the fact that Jesus was the Messiah.

But then he told all these stories and incidents of things that Jesus did.

I want to share some of those with you.

And so this is just a brief overview of the book of Matthew.

I'd invite you to go read the whole thing and see if you don't find it true, okay?

Matthew's purpose was to show that the outcast had a place in the kingdom of God.

So let's start out with the genealogy.

And I'm not going to read the whole thing because I can't pronounce all those names, okay?

But in that genealogy, we find three women, and since this is emphasis on Women's Day,

I'm going to include them.

Tamar, born of a child, or bore a child born of incest.

Her child was a Mamzer, and so was she.

Rahab was a harlot and a Gentile.

So you could say she was a Mamzer Mamzer.

Ruth was a Moabite.

She was a Gentile.

She was a Mamzer.

And then we have in that, we have Solomon.

He was born of an illegitimate relationship, and Mary, Jesus not born of Joseph.

So we have five that I counted.

And there may be more.

I just didn't research it deep enough to figure out if there were more than what was obvious.

But look at the Mamzers in Jesus' genealogy.

There was more than a few, all right?

And just number one, when the Jews listed their genealogy, they didn't list women in the genealogy.

But Matthew did for a purpose, okay?

Again, Matthew's gospel is by a Jew to Jews about a Jew.

So let's take a look at the other Mamzers in his gospel.

First, he called his disciples Peter, Andrew, James, John.

Ordinary fishermen, not socially elite or of the academia.

At some point they were school dropouts.

The Jewish educational system, between five and nine.

Caleb, how old are you?

You're 11.

Okay.

Anybody in here nine?

Okay, by the time you were nine, you were expected to have memorized the Torah,

the first five books of the Bible, okay?

You know, I took a look at my Bible and I went, they were supposed to memorize it.

And they didn't have it written, by the way.

They memorized it from oral repetition.

Some people had it, but not every synagogue had.

Let's see, Gemma.

Okay, that's that much.

By the time they were nine years old, they were supposed to have memorized that much.

If they couldn't memorize it, they were out of school.

They were done.

From nine to 13, they were supposed to have memorized the entire Old Testament.

To the point where the rabbi could pick up a text, or he could start a verse

and they were supposed to finish it and tell him where it was at.

If you couldn't do that by the time you were 13, you were out of school.

You were done.

And you went back and you learned your father's trade.

So where do we find Peter, Andrew, James, and John?

Father's trade.

Those who could pass the memorization requirement were often invited by a rabbi

to follow the rabbi, and that meant they were with that rabbi 24-7.

They followed the rabbi.

They learned from the rabbi.

They learned what the rabbi knew.

They wanted to be just like the rabbi.

They wanted to talk like the rabbi, become another rabbi.

That was their goal.

Here comes Jesus, and he calls Peter, Andrew, James, and John.

School dropouts, okay?

I don't know where they dropped out along the line,

but at that point Jesus was known as a teacher.

To be called to follow a rabbi was really special.

They were just ordinary people like you and me.

Now, moving along here, let's look at the healing of the multitude.

Remember, we're doing just an overview, okay?

Sick, diseased, demon-possessed, epileptics, paralytics, all of them outcasts or mamzers.

Who did Jesus minister to?

The mamzers.

The Sermon on the Mount.

Upside-down kingdom, not anything anybody expected.

In Matthew 8, there's a bunch of incidences of healing.

Jesus cleansed the leper.

He healed the centurion's service.

Peter's mother-in-law, the demon-possessed, and everybody who was sick.

The demon-possessed men at Gergesa.

The centurion's service, a woman of Canaan.

How many in that list were not mamzers?

Okay, leper, centurion's servant, Peter's mother-in-law, demon-possessed, the sick,

the demon-possessed at Gergesa, the centurion's servant, and the woman of Canaan's daughter.

How many of those are not mamzers?

One.

You're close, Sarah.

Peter's mother-in-law.

She was bona fide Jewish.

The rest of them were either mamzers or really outsiders.

A ruler's daughter that died was another one.

She was probably Jewish because it says ruler.

It doesn't specify anything else.

Two blind men, a mute man.

One out of, maybe two out of the whole list.

They went forward preaching the kingdom of God.

John the Baptist's message to start out with.

Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

And then Jesus' message repeated the same thing.

Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

And then he said, disciples, go out and do what I've been doing.

Heal the sick, cast out demons, heal the lepers, and preach the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

What were the disciples of a rabbi supposed to do?

Do what the rabbi did.

Act like the rabbi, speak like the rabbi.

And he sends them out to do what he had been doing.

This gospel, more than all of the others, talks about the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God.

There are 23 parables in Matthew that teach about the kingdom of God.

And who's the kingdom of God for?

Everybody, but Matthew's point was it includes the mansers or the outcasts.

The parables, I'm just going to list them.

I'm not going to go into detail with this, okay?

He told the disciples, I'm giving you this so you'll know the mysteries of the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of heaven is like the sower who went forth to sow, the wheat and the tares,

the mustard seed, leaven, hidden treasure, the pearl of great price, the dragnet, the withered fig tree,

the two sons, the king's marriage feast, the wise and the foolish virgin, and the talents.

They're all about the kingdom of heaven.

Who's the kingdom of heaven for?

Everybody, including the mansers or the outcasts.

When asked about his kingdom, Jesus gave an interesting answer, Luke 17, 20 and 21.

Now when he was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come,

he answered and said to them, the kingdom of God does not come with observation,

nor will they say, see here or see there, for the kingdom of God is within you.

Major, major lesson for Matthew.

The kingdom of God is within you.

So application for today, the kingdom and the mansers.

One question again, who's the kingdom for?

Everybody.

Is it for the wealthy?

Yeah.

For the educated?

I sure hope so.

Is it for the popular?

Yeah.

Is it for those in authority?

Yeah.

Is it for the ordinary?

Yeah.

For the ordinary people.

Is it for the outcasts?

Yes.

Today we would probably call them marginalized in our society,

the people who lives on the margin, the homeless.

And you can think of others.

It's for them too.

It's for the everyday working man and woman.

Aren't you glad?

It's for the everyday ordinary person.

You know, there's those who would like to see it's for the educated or for the popular

or for those that have money.

Yeah, it's for them too.

But it's for everybody.

Jesus said, it's not over there.

It's not up there.

It's not over there.

The kingdom of God is where?

It's within you.

The kingdom of God is for those who will accept Jesus and invite him to dwell within them.

The kingdom God of God is for everyone, rich, poor, well placed in society or not,

those in positions of authority and those under authority, men, women, children,

foreigners, those not of our culture, those not of our race.

The kingdom of heaven is for all.

Matthew even gives the invitation.

He says, well, Jesus said, come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I'm gentle and lowly in heart.

You will find rest in your soul for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

His kingdom is a kingdom of peace and everybody's invited and all are welcome.

Diana, you have a few words for us.

This morning I just wanted to give you a short word of hope and encouragement.

Have you ever had a time in your life when your prayers seem unanswered and God felt distant and uncaring?

Did you ever feel like giving up or even stop praying when nothing seemed to change?

I understand how that feels.

I remember feeling as if I were drowning and wondering if I was ever going to come up for air.

I am thankful that I was finally able to catch my breath, but not everyone can.

There are people who live in anguish day after day, month after month, year after year, and nothing changes.

Life on this earth seems like one endless struggle after another.

Many of us deal with some specific personal struggles that will never go away.

The death of a loved one tears a gaping hole in the heart.

An irreversible, debilitating disease reminds us daily of our mortality.

Chronic depression ambushes us when we least expect, bringing with it desperation and inertia.

Rebellious children, difficult marriages, divorce, financial ruin, loneliness, regret.

Some of this pain will never get better, not in this life.

I wonder if the millions of people who have lives marked with pain can ever get better.

Is life worth it all?

One day in heaven, all our longings will be met or will fade away.

Of course, that's it. That's what we need to hold on to.

That is a truth worth suffering for, worth living for, worth dying for.

Heaven will change everything.

Things may or may not get better for us in this life, but one day, one glorious day,

everything will be made new.

One day, in the blink of an eye, it will be changed.

Knowing God on this earth with all his comfort and incredible love in the midst of great sorrow

will pale in comparison to the joys of heaven.

The Bible constantly reminds us that our present sufferings must be viewed in light of eternity.

Romans 8.28 says, I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing

with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

We need to be reminded that we are created to glorify God and enjoy him forever

with the overwhelming majority of forever not spent on earth.

Because of Jesus' death on the cross, we get to spend all of eternity with God in heaven

and on the earth made new.

Satan wants us to think that this life holds pleasures that we cannot experience in heaven.

That in heaven we will sit on clouds, playing harps with no physical bodies and no real fun.

That the excitement of this life is better than what heaven offers.

Those are patent lies.

The Bible says we will have resurrected bodies, physical bodies.

We will not be spirits or disembodied ghosts.

There will be a new physical heaven, a new physical earth.

God created pleasure and he will maximize it in heaven.

Heaven will be incredible because God is incredible.

The life giving perspective of a redeemed world with redeemed people in redeemed relationships

without sin and death where there is music, art, science, literature and culture

should give us a great source of encouragement and motivation.

I anticipate heaven, don't you?

Everything I love and long for on earth will be there, only better.

And it will more than make up for any suffering we've experienced on earth.

Life on this earth can be relentlessly hard and we may live with an ending pain.

But because of the gospel, God has all of eternity to lavish his love on us.

In heaven there will be no more tears, no more crying, no more pain.

Remember this fairy tale ending, they all lived happily ever after?

This ever after is the blood bought promise of God for those who trust in the gospel

and who will live happily ever after in heaven.

What a staggering assurance and what a glorious future we all have.