The Kings Authority is Questioned and RL hearts are revealed
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· 10 viewsThe Jews question King Jesus' authority and King Jesus addresses their insubordination.
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The Kings Authority is Questioned and RL hearts are revealed
The Kings Authority is Questioned and RL hearts are revealed
Passport and Customs Checkpoint- Tanzania
Always interesting- they ultimately determine if your coming in, what your bringing in, and upon what authority you have to do so.
As King Jesus comes into Jerusalem for the last time- He is hailed as he always should have been
He cleans the temple and pronounces a curse upon the false teachings of the RL and Judaism
That attracts the eye of the RL- Customs agents of Judaism- so to speak
And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
Vs 23-As Jesus enters he does what he normally did- teach
-His presence draws their immediate attention
To an extent rightly so- You just flipped over tables, kicked out merchants and set animals loose
Now your back teaching- what are you doing here?
But their desire wasnt sincere but a question of authority--- Who gave you this right to come into “our” house so to speak- We are the boss here
Vs 24- Jesus flips there question on them- if you answer me, I’ll answer your question
Vs25- Where did Johns baptism come from? Heaven or from man?
Tough question for them
To answer from heaven would require them to admit their sin and need for repentance as well as why they didnt believe Gods messenger
John 2- JTB tells them if you claim to be the sons of Abraham, then do Abrahams works but instead your just a brood of vipers- a den of uncontrollable poison
They didnt like John too much
Vs 26- If they say he is just a man than they lose clout in the eyes of the people
For many viewed JTB to be a prophet of God as he was
So, set before them is the decision- admit sin or lose face with the people
Vs27- They choose option 3- appear ignorant
With that we have the perfect picture of the RL- they hear the truth but they are unwilling to pay the price of repentance because their self righteousness produced the reward they really loved
If they wont listen to JTB clear cut message and believe Jesus says you wont listen to me
Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus-RM begs for Abraham to send Lazarus to go tell his family
He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
Moses, the Prophets, JTB- all told of Jesus- If you wont believe them, you wont believe Jesus
Jesus will give two parables to explain their hardness and depravity and instead what they hear is a indictment of their self righteousness
“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.
Vs 28-31- the first parable begins
One son was asked to work and said no but did go eventually, the second son said yes but never went to work
Vs 31- is a kick to the teeth for the RL
Jesus ask who is right? they respond the first
As they sought to set the trap on the King, he has reversed the tables on them
Look at the comparison- the tax collectors and prostitutes will go in the kingdom before you
Wow- the outcaste of all outcaste in Jewish society- there still is a stigma around today TC and clearly on prostitution
But kicker is this- Jesus identifies who the first group is in the parable- the TC and Prostitutes
The kingdom is open wide for the absolutely immoral if they will repent and trust Christ as Lord
They may not have at first but they see their sin and submit in obedience to God
Unlike the RL who are the perfect picture of the RL- who say they know the truth, have all the church practices memorized but yet wont repent and will therefore will not be let in
There is no free pass into the kingdom
A person must first come to grips with the fact that we are completely depraved and come do nothing for ourselves
And therefore heed the call of God to turn from our sin into his grace to be forgiven
Its all a work of God
For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.
Jesus makes his connection back to JTB
JTB came declaring this very truth and you didnt believe them but the tax collectors and prostitutes did
JTB message wasnt a message of Im sorry for your lifestyle choices but turn from your sin and repent
There is hope for the ungodly- but it is only there if you repent
The RL saw peoples response, they heard the message themselves and they walked away unchanged
There is hardness here that is deadly and we see that played out more in the next parable
“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”
Master plants a vineyard and all that would be necessary for successful work in the vineyard
Master goes away and returns when its time for harvesting
He sends servants to go get his fruit and the beat one, kill one and stone another on two different occasions
Then in final move of authority, he sends his son, the owner by blood of the field, thinking clearly they would never act this way against my own son
They plot to kill him and steal his inheritance- and they do just that
Vs 40 the question is clear for all- what do think the Master will do to the tenants?
Vs 41- the strong reply is kill the miserable wretches and give it to those who obey the Master
So the parable is explained like this:
Master: God , Vineyard: Israel , Tenants : Leader past to present, servants: Prophets of God, son: Jesus
What we see is the continual rejection of Gods words and Gods Messengers by the people of God especially by their leaders who keep taking the nation into deeper sin
The whole chapter of Ezekiel 34 describes the leaders of Israels waywardness
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.
“Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As I live, declares the Lord God, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.
Vs 41- the Religous crowd rightly discerns what should be done but they cant discern the truth if Ez 34 and the work of Jesus
So Jesus response Vs 42 is so critical
As he stands in the temple- center of worship and now the hideout for thieves and robbers he delivers the crushing blow
As he quotes from Psalms 118:22-23- Jesus says Im the Messiah and I am center of worship
You may have rejected me but thats not taking away the fact I am the Messiah
You should rejoice but you dont, you should repent but you dont
Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.
How heartbreaking? they were chosen people, they had the law, they had the prophets, and they had the Messiah but they rejected him and he rejected them
To those who before fruit their is hope, their is hope for every Jews, American, Afghan, Somali you fill the blank but only if they repent and bear fruit of repentance
And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
The outcome is definitive- there no hope for self righteous, godless, sexually immoral, pagan, athiest, agnostic, muslim, or anyone who does not repent and trust in Jesus
Its a crushing blow-
The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Oh the joy for the persevering saint in the end, but the unbeliever- the end is crushing
I heard this said the other concerning this passage- the cowardly are mentioned first
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.
All throughout the Gospels- the RL fear the people not God
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
To be in the kingdom requires submission to the authority of Jesus
Salvation is available to all who will repent and believe
But a hell awaits the unbelieving
Let me make this plea
“Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.