Latest / Journey Elgin / Journey Through Scripture- Mt 21-2, Mk 11-2, Lk 20
Transcript
- Phillip Thomas: It's good to see you today. My name is Philip Thomas, pastor of Journey here at Elgin. And we're continuing our journey through scripture. ⁓ Last time we, Jesus has now made his way into the city. Passion Week has begun ⁓ and there's lots of things that go on. There's unbelievable teaching by Jesus. Also you see the tension between the religious leaders and Jesus continue to ramp up. And we're gonna see some of those questions today that Jesus is being trapped with, or they're trying to trap Jesus with them. today we'll be in Matthew 21, starting in verse 23, and then getting into 22, Mark chapter 11, the end of chapter 11, and part of chapter 12, and we'll be going through a lot of Luke chapter 20. So that's Matthew. 21 and 22, Mark 11 and 12, Luke 20. All right, so the first thing that we see in all three of the synoptic gospels is them questioning Jesus' authority. And I thought this is really brilliant. So in Matthew 21, 23 through 32, they come and the chief priests and the elders, they confront Jesus saying, by what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority? they're kind of conceding that Jesus is doing some pretty amazing stuff. You would think that may get them to start thinking, hey, maybe there is something more to this guy, all this. No, they're just concerned about what authority, because they're concerned about their own authority. And they know that Jesus isn't doing it by their authority or by their created religious structures authority. ⁓ And so therefore, ⁓ you can start to see the tension. ⁓ rise. So then Jesus asked them, well let me ask you one thing and then I will tell you by whose authority I do these things. The baptism of John, so he's talking about John the Baptist. Where was it from? From heaven or from me? So basically he's questioning do they believe was John a prophet sent by God or not? So what John was doing was that godly ⁓ or not. And so they start talking amongst themselves and you can just picture this happening, right? They may even call a sidebar, say, okay, Jesus, give us a few minutes. Let's come back after lunch. And so they go and they start to discuss and they say, they actually don't answer the question because they probably didn't believe that what John was doing was godly. So they say, well, if we say it was from heaven, then he will say to us, why did you not believe him? But if we say it was from men, so that John was doing this on his own, we fear that the group, the multitude of people who liked John, that they will turn on us. ⁓ So they're trying to play this political game. So they just answered, ⁓ we don't know. And so Jesus says, well, then I'm not gonna tell you by whose authority. Because again, he knows once... That is completely out with no question at all that he is claiming to be the Messiah, the Christ. He knows what that means for him. And so this is buying him a few more days. And then he goes in in Matthew, the parable of the two sons. And I just want to read this as a verse 28. But what do you think? A man had two sons and came to the first said, go to work in my vineyard today. He answered and said, I will not. But afterward he regretted it and he went. Then the owner came to the second son and said likewise, and he said, I will go, but then he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father? He said to him, the first. So the first actually said, no, I'm not going to, but then ended up doing it. The other said, sure, I'll get that done, but then didn't. And Jesus said to him, Assuredly, I say to you, the tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but tax collectors and harlots believed him. And when you saw it, you did not ⁓ reward, you did not afterward relent and believe him." So this is pretty harsh, right? Jesus is basically saying, okay, you're like that son who says, sure, God, I'll go do what you want me to do, but then you don't do it. So basically you are in today's terms, you're a Christian on the outside or you're a Christian in appearance when it suits you, but you don't really live that life. You don't really hold on to the teachings of Jesus. We're seeing that quite a bit right now. It's that there are those who will claim to be Christian, but yet not hold to what Christians have believed since the teachings were taught. Jesus basically says, get away from me. Either you're in or you're out. Jesus is getting more and more pointed with the religious leaders. Mark 11, 27 through 33 also has this challenging Jesus's authority. Luke 21 through eight. also has them challenging his authority. Then we have the parable of the vine dressers. So Jesus in Matthew 21, 33, and it spills into 22. You have the vine dresser, so you have the basically kind of the father, the owner, who would be illustrative of God, has a vineyard and he asks people to take care of it. They neglect it, they don't take care of it. So he sends people to go to check on it and they just keep getting killed. And so it just keeps escalating. So then the vine dresser or the owner finally sends his own son and the people there see him and say, we will just kill his son and we will take the vineyard. We'll take the ⁓ inheritance. And then Jesus referred, what he's referring to is Isaiah chapter five verses one through seven, talk about this in reference to the Messiah. And so Jesus says to them in verse 42 of Matthew 21, it says, have you never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. And this was the Lord's doing and it was marvelous in our eyes. Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. I love verse 45. Now, when the chief priests and Pharisees heard this parable, they perceived he was speaking of them. They aren't complete idiots, but when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitudes because they took him for a profit. So again, they are getting very upset. Chapter 22, the first part of verses one through 14 in Matthew is the parable of the wedding feast where the wedding is prepared. The people that were invited decided that they didn't want to come in. So it's opened up to anyone. But yet it also is a reminder because at the end of the passage in verse 11, but when the king came in to see this guest, saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, how did you come here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless. And he said, kick him out. So. He opened it up to everyone, which the parable is basically, it's not just the Jewish people. This is for all who want to come to the wedding, right? But you have to want to come to the wedding. You will have to want to receive ⁓ that gift. The guy who's just randomly there, who didn't even prepare, who didn't get, didn't want to be at the wedding. He just followed the crowd. He got kicked out. You have to want to be there, but it's open to everyone. Mark 12 also has the parable of the vine dressers. Again, this is clearly a messianic claim that Jesus is, whenever he's referring back to Isaiah, and he is basically saying he is the cornerstone that they are rejecting. Luke 29 through 19 has the parable of the vine dresser as well. Then we have some... questions by the Pharisees and Herodians. The Herodians were very loyal, of course, to Herod and to Rome. And so they try to trick Jesus. It's important whenever we're reading these to try to understand the teaching of Jesus. These are actually the people, the religious leaders are trying to trap Jesus and they're trying to trick Him into getting Him to say something that will will get him arrested. And so they talk about taxes. It says the Herodians, verse 16 of Matthew 22, and they sent him to their disciples with the Herodians saying, we know that you are true and teach the way of God in truth. No, they're just flattering because they don't believe that he is actually true. ⁓ Nor do you care about anyone for you do not regard the person of men. He's basically saying, you stand up for what you believe. You're not swayed by others. You believe what is true. However, they of course don't agree with Jesus' truth. says, verse 17 of Matthew 22, tell us therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? And so Jesus says, give me a Daenerys and it has a picture of Caesar. And he says, render and. to Caesar, things that are Caesar's to God, things that are God. When they heard these words, they marveled and they left him and went their own way, right? See, so they really didn't care about the answer. They were just hoping that he would say blatantly, openly, that he is God and not Caesar, which would get the Romans all upset. But Jesus very deftly says, no, you pay your taxes to Rome. But you know, on that coin, Though on one side would have been Caesar, but on the other side, many times there was a temple, there was an inscription about kind of divine nature. So Jesus has actually said, okay, part of this, yeah, pay your taxes to Caesar, but God, render those things to God who is God, and that is me, right? He is acknowledging there is a difference. Mark 12. 13 through 17 has the same encounter. Luke 20, 20 through 26, again, the same rendering to Caesar what is Caesar's. Then we get to Matthew 22, 23 through 33. This has the Sadducees. So another group, remember there's lots of different groups. The Pharisees, the Herodians, the scribes, the Sadducees. The Sadducees are questioning about the resurrection because they don't recognize the resurrection. They do not believe that there is life after death. That was one of their main differences with the Pharisees. One of the ways that I learned in Sunday school, how you can remember that the Sadducees didn't believe in life after death. That is why they were sad, you see. Right? Okay. Yep. That's a pretty good dad joke to help you remember. what the Sadducees believed. All right, so they come and they say, if there is no resurrection, and they give this long list of this person who was married multiple times, because their spouse just kept dying and she just kept marrying down, kind of one of those hypothetical questions that probably would never happen. But Jesus answered, it says, you are mistaken. Again, they're trying to get him to deny that there's going to be a resurrection, because look how confusing it would be. Who would this woman be married to? She'd been married to seven different men. And Jesus answered, you are mistaken not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God, for in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, you do not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. God is not God of the dead, but of the living. So this is interesting. And again, the main point of this is not the marriage aspect. We don't fully know what the resurrection life will look like, life with God for eternity. We don't fully comprehend that it's going to be something different. But ⁓ what the... To me, the most important is they saying that they don't know the scriptures nor the power of God. Don't you think God's gonna be able to work this out? Yes, God understands this. We do not because that is a different place and a different time, right? It is in the future. We are not going to be able to fully comprehend that, but God can and God will have that worked out. The thing that is the biggest that he refutes though, is verse 32, when he says, am God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that word is in the present tense. He says, I am the God. So what he is saying is that those people are still living, just not on this earth. They are still living. God is still their God. ⁓ And so he is refuting the idea that there is no resurrection. ⁓ Mark 12, 18 through 27 has the same encounter, Luke 20, 27 through 40 also has that encounter. And then continued on into Matthew 22, 34 through 46, you have a scribe again. So see, we have all these different groups that are trying to trick Jesus, trying to him to say something wrong. But you have the scribe who has actually shows a little openness that it's not just here to manipulate. So the scribe comes and asks the question saying, teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law? And verse 37 of Matthew 22, Jesus said, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and your mind. Now this is like the Shema in Deuteronomy chapter six. This is the first and the greatest commandment. And the second is like it. You shall not love your neighbor as yourself. on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. And then he also refers to David in verse 41, while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, what do you think about the Christ whose son is he? said, how does ⁓ the son of, then he said to them, the son of David, ⁓ he said to them, they answered the son of David. said, how then does David in the spirit call him Lord? Saying the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. If David then calls him Lord, how is he his son? And no one was able to answer him ⁓ a word, nor from that day did anyone dare question him anymore. You know, again, Jesus is showing them that he knows more than they do. They're not going to be able to trick him into making a mistake. So then we see that in Mark chapter 12 as well, and then talking about the son of David, because again, they viewed the Messiah as going to be like a legitimate heir of David, like a son of David who would rise to become a king like David. That is not who it was. The son of David when used to refer to the Messiah, What Jesus saying, remember David, said it was his Lord. That means it's God. The son of David is actually going to be God present ⁓ and that he is going to be the Messiah. He is going to be the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. ⁓ And it's going to be different than you expect. All right, so we're going to do Matthew 23. Luke. ⁓ The rest of Luke 20 and 21, Matthew 23 and 24, we'll do both Matthew 23 and 24, Mark 12 and 13, and Luke 21. All right, and I think that will probably... We may end up doing, go ahead and read Matthew 25. So 23, 24, and 25. Mark, the rest of 11, 12, and 13. And then Luke 21. All right, we will see you on.