The questions had been flying through the air, targeted at Jesus, trying to shame and discredit Him to the throngs of ordinary people. These people had great esteem for Jesus and hung on to His words as if they were their very life.
The increasingly frustrated, annoyed and even jealous, religious leaders tried and tried again to bring Jesus down. This time they employed an indirect "attack" and sent "spies", bribed and primed with a specific double-edged question.
This question was designed to either cut Him down to miniscule size in the eyes of the crowds and/or to make the Romans, under whose rule the Jewish people were captive, suspicious of sedition and rebellion.
So was Jesus loyalty to Caesar, the Roman Emperor, or to God. We know that, from the earlier part of Luke 20, that Jesus effectively rebuffed and refuted both sides of the equation by His wise, masterful rebuttal. He informed the devious inquirers,
"Give what belongs to Caesar, to Caesar; and what belongs to God, to God" (vs 25).
That silenced them. The Sadducees then had a go at Jesus, in regards to resurrection. As you may remember, the Sadducees did not believe in resurrection or an after earth life, so their question was more a mockery than sincere.
They made up such a far-fetched story to lend superciliousness to their arrogant demeanor. They said a woman had married seven brothers in succession after each previous one had died, leaving them each childless. In the end the widow passed on was well. They asked whose wife she would be in the resurrection since all had had her to wife.
Jesus answer, again refuted their brazen pomp. He told them that they were mistaken about the afterlife. You see, there is no marriage, nor dying in the resurrected state; just as the angels are even now. Some of those listeners declared Jesus a "Good Teacher" but we do not read of any of their lives being changed to a more genuine, from-the-heart, allegiance to Jesus nor to God.
As noted in the blog entry, Questions, Questions and More Questions...
If only they had instead, shown some positive change acknowledging Jesus and who He was (and still is). If only they had been obedient and sought out understanding of the Law of God, as written by Moses that they purportedly treasured, they would have been on the right track to obeying and believing in Jesus and that He was their Messiah. They would not have made excuses for not realizing and/or admitting who Jesus was but instead, accepted Him as their Messiah. They would not have continued to plot Jesus' arrest and death.
After that we learned about Jesus comparing Himself to a cornerstone. In those ancient times, a cornerstone, well-placed, was used to align the walls of a building. The cornerstone itself had to be more or less perfect in shape in order to proceed with the construction of the structure so as to be sound and withstand the elements and wear and tear.
The cornerstone could be rejected. We know that the Jewish religious leaders, for the most part, rejected Jesus. The analogy did not miss its mark in the minds of those men. Although they were silenced and dared not ask further questions, they had not stopped trying to trick or trap Him in order to arrest Him and/or demean Him in the eyes of the general Jewish populace.
Jesus words of wisdom as seen in His most ingenious replies is amazing to us However, we too can ask Him for such wisdom. He may give it directly through the Holy Spirit and/or from our reading, meditating upon and obeying God's Word. Jesus' answers of wisdom silenced His interrogators. He then asks them a question that is difficult to understand but let's take a look....
Do read about it in Luke 20:40-44.
If Jesus was only just David's descendant, how could he refer to Jesus as "Lord"? Isn't "Lord" reserved for those older - much older - than one's self?
Jesus was not "just a descendant". No. He was far greater; therefore, David called Him "LORD".
"The Lord said to my Lord..." (Luke 20:42).
This, by the way, is a quotation from Psalm 119:1, penned by David, about twenty-four generations earlier. In addition to that, it is to be discovered, that the word, "Lord" has two connotations in the Hebrew language. Both are applied here (www.gotquestions.org). The first "Lord" refers to Eternal God of the universe - the Great I AM, omnipotent God and Creator, whereas the second "Lord" refers to Messiah, the Christ or Son of David (this term again). According to the promise God gave to King David to have an heir forever on the throne (no change of dynasty), Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of this promise.
As we all know, Jesus is Eternal.
The Messiah (Lord) sits at God's right hand, triumphing over His enemies; in fact, using them as His footstool!
Thus David, speaking of the Messiah, was speaking prophecy. The Pharisees agree that it was the Messiah being referred to (but obviously NOT that Jesus was/is the Messiah) and so Jesus uses this to impact His meaning in their minds. Would any of them, "get it"?
Jesus' question about the "Son of David" title being reference to the Messiah, yet David (a great king and ancestor) calls the Messiah "Lord," then Messiah must be greater than "just a son" of David.
Do you follow?
If David could speak to "the Lord Messiah, then He must have been alive at David's time and greater than David especially as seen in his referring to Him as "Lord".
How the gears of the minds of those Pharisees must have whirled, sadly to little positive consequence. They only sought to arrest and have this wonderful, almighty God and Lord, whom Jesus was insinuating was greater than just a human descendant of David, killed.
This prophecy of David must have been guided by the Holy Spirit to write exactly what He did. It was just as God had wanted Him to pen it, and so it was (reference: www.gotquestions.org).
Next we read about Jesus warning His disciples about the Teachers of the Law. I like these little asides Jesus often imparts to them, even in the midst of the throngs flocking about them. Indirectly, the word would get out to them too but Jesus expressly teaches His disciples who would one day, believe it or not, become the apostles (minus Judas Iscariot).
Look at the description -- quite the CV! They better not apply for any job! The list enumerates: "walk around in long robes in market places, especially to be greeted and respected there (yes, being greeted thus, and with a title, really feels good -- no doubt); chose the important seats in the Temple (those reserved seats were right up there in the front near the sacred scrolls where all eyes would be focused); they loved the best places at the feasts right near the host, again where all eyes could see them; they took advantage of/devoured widow's houses (even though the law of Moses forbade being paid for their teaching of the law, they could still accept gifts. They encouraged widows, who could ill-afford such gifts, to give more than they actually were able. These widow were already among the poorest of the poor. If the teachers of the law had been practicing it accordingly, they would have helped them, not devoured their houses); and they prayed looooonnnng prayers - not from the heart but for show to give the impression they were very devout and religious.
In summary of all that, the Teachers of the Law failed to interpret Scriptures correctly (refer to the example of the widows) and to respond to them correctly. They were full of pride, making outward show of piety (the quality of being religious or reverent - showing true reverence for God and devout fulfillment of religious obligations). They took advantage of vulnerable widows and robbed them of their homes.
The pretense of piety was vulgar and for external show. Such people, Jesus remarked, would have greater punishment (Luke 20:45-47 NIV). These are the reasons Jesus gave warning to His disciples against the Teachers of the Law.
This is called a "hypocrite". Here's a definition thereof, which I found in a meme, online,
"Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a lie" (author unknown)
They taught the Scriptures which they would have known thoroughly. They practiced outwardly but it was not from the heart.
What about us? When we compare our lives with that of those Teachers of the law, how do we measure up against them? We must always examine our own hearts and not point fingers at others, for as surely as we point a finger at others, there are three fingers pointing back at ourselves.
I've been reading through the Anne of Green Gables series of books, and in some of the incidents there is rampant, hurtful gossiping going on. In some ways it was humorous, it being a work of fiction by L. M. Montgomery; yet her work reflects human nature rather accurately, thus all the more unkind. Some of the characters made a show of piety but had tongues that wagged mercilessly against the defenseless. Often, in the story, the character would get their comeuppance so it was "happily ever after". In real life, that mostly does not happen and a person must endure the brunt of such actions.
So we must look at our OWN hearts and minds and measure them up against God's Word and make our talk and walk, jive. Ask questions such as follows to avoid and minimise living a life of pretense.
Is our Christian life of prayer and praise, sincere? Do we live a life of compromise? Have we been obligated to be a leader in these things because no one else will lead, yet we don't really do so from gratitude and thanksgiving for all Jesus has done for us? Do we do it for show because we like being in the limelight and love the attention? OR, does it truly flow from our hearts alight and brimming with true worship and thankfulness?
What do you think God, our Heavenly Father, may be saying to you? Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the areas that need attention. This is not to condemn yourself but to transform to be more Christ-like and imbue the fruit of the spirit in all godliness and honesty.
Look at this, it says it all...
We are all still in the process and progress of transformation and changes need to be made. Thank God for His Word and the Holy Spirit. We can say this, which I love...
Pause.
We can ASK the Lord God to do that and help us live a humble, honest life as we transform to become more like Christ and build relationship with our Heavenly Father through the Messiah, Son of David, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, belong to Him, we are therefore, children of God and he will not set us adrift to fend for ourselves. The ravages of pretense will not be able to hold sway in our life when we submit our forthright hearts to Him.
May God our Heavenly Father bless our lives as we live to please Him daily. May we all hunger and thirst after God.
~ERC September 2020~
Reference:
SPM The GOSPEL According to Luke - A Study Gide to Bible Knowledge; Issachar Sdn Bhd; copyright 2005.
www.gotquestions.org
Based on: Luke 20:41-44 and 45-47
No comments:
Post a Comment