Jesus, the Christ, the son of David, the Son of God
Notes
Transcript
Jesus, the Christ, the son of David, the Son of God
Jesus, the Christ, the son of David, the Son of God
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
“Who is Jesus?” is a primary question that still we need to ask and be able to answer accurately.
Our answer to that question has temporal and eternal implications.
Temporal:
How we define life - Did it just happen or is it the marvellous creation of our all powerful , all caring heavenly Father? - , ; Jn 1:1-5
How we see and live life.
Is there, should there be a basis for morals/right and wrong other than the concensus of the populace, the government or the courts?
What is most important
Eternal:
Is Jesus just a greater son of David?
Is Jesus a child of, a son of God or the Son of God, God?
Do we really need to love God, love Jesus and our neighbour? What then? Do we know that is not enough?
Do we understand that those who do not answer and know whom Jesus will receive condemnation?
Those who know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God are in more danger than they can ever imagine.
“Who is Jesus?” can only be accurately answered by those who are aware of and accept/believe what is clearly taught in the Word of God. That is not to say that we cannot have questions and wrestled with gaining a clearer understanding.
We all would do well to remember to confession of the father whose son had an unclean spirit.
And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
Mk 9:
Mk 9
Jesus had said to him,
And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”
That had been an answer to the father’s explanation/request.
And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
Mk
Regrettably, many today come to the Scriptures seeing it as something other than the inspired, infallible, preserved Word of God. For too many, it is an ancient Christian history that contains some truths and moral lessons than when taken with a grain of salt have some value today. But as to most of the miracle stuff some would say that was fanciful thinking and not to taken at face value.
Within that last group, “Who is Jesus?” is seen as no longer a relevant question. This disparaging of the truths of God’s Word and the humanizing of Jesus is in some way the product of 19th, 20th and early 21st century Pharisees, Sadducees and scribes/writers/commentators. More so this thinking is the by product of Liberal theologians who so weakened and destroyed the trustworthiness of the Word of God with the result that living faith in God is demeaned and those who lived a lives of faith are seen as suspect.
After three years of teaching and ministry, Jesus was for the most part rejected, especially by the religious leaders of His day. Sadly and ironically, that stemmed from the fact that their well intentioned religious systems and belief left no room for Jesus, the Christ, the son of David, the Son of God.
The Parable of the Tenants - the son rejected and killed -
Them - Chief priests and the scribes and the elders - - their ?- by what authority do you do these things? - Jesus ? -was John the Baptist’s baptism from God or man? - Jesus’ response - if you can tell me that, I will tell b what authority I do what I do.
John the Baptist’s emphasis - REPENT AND BE BAPTIZED
Because they said, we do not know, Jesus responded that He would not tell them by what authority He did what he did. And did not tell them directly, hut He did tell them indirectly through this parable.
When the season came - first harvest usually 4 or 5 years after the initial plant - - cc John the Baptist
The tenants’ treatment of the owner’s servants/bond slaves - 12:2-5
Increasingly harsh treatment - beat them and sent him away empty handed, struck one on the head and treated him shamefully, killed, beat many others and killed others.
Stephen, the first early church martyr was more than justified in preaching to the high priest, to the elders and the scribes who seized him,
“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”
Acts 7:
Stephen’s conclusion drew truths from Isaiah and Jeremiah.
From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.
Jer
Those sent by the owner came for only the portion due the owner. Because of those to whom Jesus spoke were religious leaders who knew the OT well, the owner and planted and cared for His people and faith service return should have natural.
But the Lord’s portion is his people,
Jacob his allotted heritage.
The OT imagery was clear. Israel was God’s vineyard - His portion.
Let me sing for my beloved
my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and he looked for it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
The tenants’ ultimate rejection of the owner’s beloved son and thereby the owner
Beloved son - legal claim, compassion and trust.
Beloved - Abraham’s love for Isaac - - Jacob’s love for Joseph - - God’s love for Israel - - the Father’s love for His beloved Son.
And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”
Mk
Send - apostellein - sense of divine commission -
The owners’ judgment on the tenants
Tenants not vineyard
Tenants - religious leaders - more politically and spiritually minded , ungodly kings majority
God used repeated foreign invaders - Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Romans ...
Have you not read this Scripture - mixed metaphor or not although what God provided was rejected, God did something marvelous.
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
Ps 118:
Gave the vineyard to others - Gentiles - repeatedly mentioned.
plus
Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem!
Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we have an agreement,
when the overwhelming whip passes through
it will not come to us,
for we have made lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
therefore thus says the Lord God,
“Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion,
a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.
Acts
And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
When they had examined me, they wished to set me at liberty, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case.
Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”
Jesus, the Son of God was being rejected by them. Wanted to arrest them. Feared the people not God.
2. Paying taxes to Caesar -
Pharisees and some of the Herodians -
Their disciples were sent with the Herodians -
The PHARISEES - their hypocritical statement & question. They asked a question not because they wanted an answer but because they hoped whatever answer Jesus gave would discredit Him.
And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?”
Mk 12:
Jesus was well aware of their hypocrisy
But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.”
Coin brought - image of Caesar
Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and RENDER TO GOD THE THINGS THAT ARE GOD’S - cc
Taxes need to be paid to whatever government - ; ; Matt 22:21
Implications - that which has God image
No where is the image of God more evident than in the creation of man and women
Created in the image of God.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
Gen 1:
Very good
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Gen 1:
Process unique - man a living soul
then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
Created to have fellowship with God but rejected that.
And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
Gen
3. The SADDUCEE’S insincere question about the resurrection -
Although they did not believe there would be a resurrection, they asked a question that seemed spiritual and biblical because they extrapolated on what Moses wrote re Levirate - Latin - husband’s brother - marriage - no reference to 7 successive brothers.
Main emphasis - the widow should merry within the family rather than a stranger - ? what to do if the next brother did not fulfill his duty - widow to go the elders at the gate, pull off the brothers’ sandal and spit in his face. Such was the shame of he who would not build up his brothers duty.
They had not interest in the context. They were using the text as pretext. This portion had nothing to do with the resurrection. The portion had do with the here and now, trusting the Word and the power of God.
God assured Moses that He continued to be the God for those who had gone before.
And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Ex 3:
Whose wife will she be in the resurrection?
You are wrong because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.
“Their ignorance of the Scriptures extended to their lack of understanding regarding the miracles that God performed throughout the OT. Such knowledge would have enabled them to believe in God’s power to raise the dead.” - (MacArthur Study Bible)
Jesus’ testimony -
He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”
Mk
Like angels - Spiritual, eternal beings that never die - do not propagate and therefore have no need for marriage
Life, death and the resurrection are not about us but about God.
Life, death and the resurrection are not about us but about God.
They had erred in not understanding the Word with the result that they tried to understand from a purely physical perspective.
The Apostle Paul - - and John gives us glimpses.
1 Cor 15:
So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
1 Cor 15:
I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Rev 21:
4. The greatest commandment -
SCRIBES - Which commandment is most important?
Only when we understand the 1st century Jewish religious context does the complexity of the scribes’ question become clearer.
“The rabbis had determined that there were 613 commandments contained in the Pentateuch, one for each letter of the Ten Commandments. Of the 613 commandments, 248 were seen affirmative and 365 as negative. Thus the laws were divided into heavy and light categories, with the heavy laws being more binding than the light ones. The scribes and rabbis, however, had not been able to agree on which were heavy and which were light. This orientation to the law led the Pharisees to think that Jesus had devised His own theory. So the scribes asked this question to incriminate Himself by revealing his unilateral and unorthodox beliefs.” (MacArthur Study Bible)
Love the Lord your God - with all of your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
The Shema - Hebrew for - “hear”
Jesus confirmed the practice of every pious Jew who recited the entire Shema every morning and evening - ; ; Deut 15:37-41 by quoting the first part
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
The whole Shema is as follows :
The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord your God.”
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deut 6:
“And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you.
“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.
The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord your God.”
Nu
Love your neighbour as yourself.
The Scribes asked for only the greatest commandment. Jesus took it a step further by adding the second commandment -
You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
In the OT neighbour meant fellow neighbour, not Israelites or Gentiles.
The early Christians understood that Jesus expanded the idea of neighbour to caring for anyone in need. This demonstrated best by the good Samaritan, who demonstrated not who is my neighbour but who is a neighbour and shows mercy -
We love our neighbour when we are neighbour to them.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark The Test of the Scribes (12:28–34)
Love of neighbor, moreover, is the chief means of loving God, and is received as love of God; likewise, love of God expresses itself in love of neighbor
If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
Jesus command combatted both mysticism and humanism.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark The Test of the Scribes (12:28–34)
Jesus’ answer avoids the danger of mysticism, which results in a detached and disembodied love of God; as well as the danger of humanism, which acts toward humanity without reference to God and without the understanding that human beings are inviolable creatures of God.
Loving God is the prerequisite for loving man. And one cannot say that they love God when they do not love their brothers and sisters in Christ.
Love - agapn not phileo- self sacrificing love of God -
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 Jn
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
,
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
1 Jn
ONE OF THE SCRIBES’ COMMENDATION - You have answered well. - You are right - You have said truth (KJV)
Loving God and neighbour more important than burnt offerings and sacrifices - offerings consumed by fire rather than eaten - therefore dedicated to God alone.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark The Test of the Scribes (12:28–34)
Even the most sacred duties, in other words, may not take precedent over agapē love—and they have no meaning unless they are expressions of it.
Even the most sacred duties, in other words, may not take precedent over agapē love—and they have no meaning unless they are expressions of it.
Edwards, J. R. (2002). The Gospel according to Mark (p. 373). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos.
Edwards, J. R. (2002). The Gospel according to Mark (p. 373). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark The Test of the Scribes (12:28–34)
This story, however, along with others, reminds us that Jesus found within the traditional confessional elements of the Torah the distinguishing canons of his own belief and ministry. It further reminds us that Jesus and his Jewish interlocutor—and surely not this scribe alone—found themselves in substantial agreement on the sum and purpose of the law.
You are not far from the kingdom of God.
note of irony
The scribe had come to pass judgment on Jesus having a higher authority passed judgment on the scribe.
The scribe could judge whether a person was faithful to the Torah, but Jesus
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark The Test of the Scribes (12:28–34)
as he supersedes every creedal confession and formulation. One draws near to the kingdom of God not by proper theology but by drawing near to Jesus. Jesus exhibits his filial and messianic authority in declaring who is on the threshold of the kingdom of God, which is present not in the Torah but in himself.
5. Who Son is the Christ? -
The preceding record ends with the note - And after that no one dared to ask Him any more questions.
Jesus had prevailed over:
The Sanhedrin and its various segments- Chief Priests , Elders, Scribes11:27-33
The Pharisees - 12:13-17
The Sadducees - 12 :18-27
Scribes - 12:28-34
Jesus asked the Scribes about their understanding of the Messiah/Christ - quoted David’s words who under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote,
The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”
Jesus interpreted this:
The Lord -Yahweh - God’s covenant name - said to my Lord - a different word that the Jews used as a title for God
The Jews of Jesus day understood this Psalm as Messianic.
David called one who was from his line as my Lord.
David would not have called on of his descendants “Lord” unless the Messiah was more than the son of David and in fact he was the Son of God.
Jesus was proclaiming the Messiah’s deity and therefore His own deity.
concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel,
If David calls Him Lord. So how is He his son?
6. Beware of the Scribes -
J
As Jesus began to teach again, He directed the attention of His listener s- smaller group - 12:38 to the Scribes - disciples - 12:43 - to the widow - one poor widow - literal Greek.
Beware - proud and greedy
Liked to walk around in long robes - long flowing cloaks shouting that devout and noted religious scholar
Like greetings in the marketplaces - titles of honour
Have best seats in the synagogues - near the scrolls
Places of honour at the feasts
Devour widows houses - with demands for the best and more devoured the little bit that widows had
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark A Widow’s Two Cents’ Worth (12:38–44)
Unlike the Sadducees, for example, the scribes were not as a rule wealthy. They were largely dependent on gifts of worshipers and benefactors for their livelihood. Then as now, some persons exploited the esteem in which they were held to abuse the generosity shown to them by others.
For a pretense - make long prayers - to heard and attract attention - prayed to be heard and seen by others rather than for God alone.
They will receive the greater condemnation.
7. The widow’s offering - all that she had -
Offering box - treasury - 13 trumpet shaped vessels on the walls of the court of women
Rich people - large sums - of their abundance
A poor widow - 2 copper coins - lepta - 1/64 of a denarius - a days wage for a labourer - a penny - 2 mites = a farthing (KJV)
Out of her poverty gave ALL THAT SHE HAD TO LIVE ON
Lessons that Jesus would have us remember with regard to to receiving Him, the Son of God:
Not giving God and His Son what they are due has dire consequences.
More often than not we are wrong we know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.
Being near the kingdom of God is heart warming but does not count for eternity.
“Who is Jesus?” remains life’s most important question. How we answer it has eternal consequences.
Application for points #1 & #2
King’s City - King City, Kingsville, Kingstown or Kingston
Unigue place to live - need to invite others
King’s City intriguing - if accept to invitation to move to this city - virtual city.
When you move there everything prepared for and prepared. You will be entrusted with property and resources. The more wisely you use what is entrusted to you, the more that you will be given
Everything prepared for you to meet your needs. Some of the provisions are obvious. For the others, if they are needs you have only to ask.
You are expected to work and you will be paid.
No taxes on anything.
You will encouraged though to reinvest from each pay cheque in King’s City expansion - 10% - promise that 90% will go further.
Notice given that after a while when you will have prospered and have more than enough, the benefactor of King’s City will send someone whose credentials will be impeccable. That someone will ask if you out of the gratitude of your heart give to the owner of Kings’ City a bit more of what is really His as the owner King’s City.