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July 28, 2021

7/28/2021

Confrontation Is a Two-way Street: Number 1

        Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying..."tell us...what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax." And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They said, "Caesar's." Then he said to them, "Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." When they heard it, they marveled. Matt. 22:15-21, ESV.

    Confrontation is a two-way street. When Jesus challenged the Jewish leaders in His parables, they were quick to counterattack. In the query about paying taxes they presented Him with a loaded question that contained a dilemma. If Jesus replies that it is unlawful to pay taxes to Caesar, they will promptly report Him to the Roman authorities, with arrest quickly following. On the other hand, if He approves the lawfulness of paying taxes to Caesar, He will lose influence in the eyes of the people. The Jews held that God alone was King and that to pay taxes to any earthly ruler was to admit the validity of that kingship and thus insult God. Whatever answer Jesus gives to His detractors will open Him to trouble.

    Jesus' answer is both unique and wise. Asking to see one of their coins, He gets them to admit that it has Caesar's portrait on it. At that point He sets forth the maxim that both Caesar and God are to be paid their dues. That unexpected answer ends the attack. The Jewish leaders quickly see that Jesus has escaped from the trap they had so carefully laid for Him.

    Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Jesus' answer is His point that Caesar's realm can be separated from God's. As a result, His followers hold dual citizenship in both the kingdom of God and in a particular nation.

    Unfortunately, in a less-than-perfect world, a Christian's responsibility to those two realms comes into conflict from time to time. Matthew 22 does not tell us whether God's kingdom has priority over Caesar's or vice versa, or whether the two are equal. The early church had to work out that problem. While Paul and Peter argued that the rulers of earthly governments ought to be obeyed since they are God's agents (Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13, 14), the New Testament also makes it clear that when the dictates of an earthly ruler come into conflict with God's commands, the Christian "must obey God rather than human beings" (Acts 5:29, NIV).

July 27, 2021

7/27/2021

Confrontational Parable Number 3

        Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come....Then he said to his slaves, 'The wedding is ready, but those who are invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.' Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests. But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him. 'Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?' And the man was speechless." Matt. 22:1-12, NASB.

    The third confrontational parable is that of the wedding banquet. As in the first two, it ends in judgment for those who reject the Father and the Son.

    The parable divides naturally into two parts. The first deals with Jesus' historic call to the Jews and ends with an explicit allusion to the destruction of Jerusalem in verse 7. It replays many of the themes evident in the parable of the tenants.

    But at verse 8 the parable makes a shift as it advances beyond the Jews to those not initially invited to the banquet. Verses 8-10 foreshadow the gospel invitation moving from its earlier preoccupation with the Jews to concern for Gentiles in the larger world. Verse 9 begins with a close parallel to the great gospel commission of Matthew 28:29, 20--"Go therefore..." The command to preach to "both evil and good" reflects Christ's own preaching ministry. The gospel is truly the "good news" that everyone is invited to the wedding.

    But not all can stay. They must be in harmony with the king, who has commanded everyone to wear a wedding garment. Those without one are judged unfit to remain at the feast.

    A great deal of discussion has taken place as to the exact nature of the wedding garment. F. B. Brunner appears to be correct when he writes that "the wedding garment in the context of Matthew's Gospel is not passive, imputed (Pauline) righteousness; it is active, moral (Matthean) righteousness (5:20)...); it is doing God's will (7:21; 12:50...); it is evidence of repentance by law-abiding discipleship (3:7-10...)." That interpretation is in line with Revelation 19:8, which tells us that the fine linen of the redeemed "is the righteous deeds of the saints" (RSV).

    Thus once again we find Jesus indicating that a genuine faith relationship with Him includes not just believing but doing God's will. Faith is not mere mental assent that Jesus is Lord. It includes living the Christ life.

July 26, 2021

7/26/2021

Confrontational Parable Number 2

        "Hear another parable. There was a householder who planted a vineyard...and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. When the season of 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....Afterward he sent his son to them....But...the tenants...killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" Matt. 21:33-40, RSV.

    The second confrontation parable takes the sequence a giant step forward. Whereas the parable of the two sons pictured the resistance of the Jewish leaders in a passive mode, this one is active--so much so that it points both to rejecting the prophets and to killing the son. It would be almost impossible for any Jewish hearer to miss the allusion to God's much-loved Israel in the description of the vineyard. Isaiah 5:1-7 describes that vineyard in quite similar terms to what Jesus employs. But in Isaiah the fault lies with the vines, whereas here it is with the tenants. In both cases, the result of failure is divine judgment.

    We can learn several lessons from the parable of the tenants. The first is that God is long-suffering. He does not send just one time, but keeps on sending. He does not give up easily on His children. A second lesson is just as obvious--the perversity of the tenants. If the major theme of the gospel story is God's love, a counterbalancing theme is humanity's rejection of that love. The tragedy of both the parable and history is that so often it has been God's own chosen people who have spurned His overtures.

    The third lesson is the centrality and finality of sending the Son. Yet the tenants kill even Him. The parable pictures that act as ultimately bringing judgment on them.

    A fourth lesson is that even though God's judgment may be long in coming, it is nonetheless certain and irreversible. The judgment of the particular tenants in Matthew 21 will come with the destruction of Jerusalem.

    The parable's fifth lesson is the transfer of God's kingdom from the nation of Israel to a new people. "I tell you," Jesus says in His most explicit statement on the topic, "that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit" (Matt. 21:43, NIV). That new people is the Christian church, which has inherited a continuation of the Jewish covenant promises and responsibilities.

    May God help His new people not to exhibit the same perversity as the old.

July 25, 2021

7/25/2021

Confrontational Parable Number 1

        What do you think?   A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, "Son, go, work today in my vineyard." He answered and said, "I will not," but afterward he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, "I go sir," but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father? Matt. 21:28-31, NKJV.

    We have reached the final days of Jesus' life. And the Gospels indicate that He is on a collision course with the Jewish leadership. First came the triumphal entry, then the cleansing of the Temple, and finally the argument over His authority. Those events, which feature His Messianic role, reveal the growing rift between the Jewish leaders and the masses of the people, with the leaders rejecting Jesus and the latter group repeatedly demonstrating enthusiasm for Him.

    Next we find Jesus teaching and dialoguing in the Temple courts. In the process, He presents several confrontational parables, all aimed at the Jewish leaders.

    The initial parable is that of a father (God) and two sons. The first (who represents the tax collectors, prostitutes, and other outcasts) verbally refuses to labor in the father's vineyard but repents and works anyway. The second son (who represents the Jewish leaders) verbally agrees to obey but doesn't put his words into practice.

    Jesus, using an excellent teaching technique, involves His audience in arriving at the parable's lesson. The answer is obvious. All through Matthew's Gospel it is not those who say "Lord, Lord" who enter the kingdom, but those who obey (see Matt. 7:21).

    For Jesus, righteousness is not passive acceptance but active obedience. Faith is belief that acts. That is not salvation by works but rather the fact that love to God and other people flows naturally from the heart of a person who has met Jesus.

    Thus His words stand against the so-called gospel of emotional revivalism that looks for mere verbal acceptance rather than a transformed life. Likewise, this parable puts the lid on the falsehood that suggests that believing certain doctrinal truths is the way of salvation. And again, the parable strikes at the heart of those forms of Christian assurance that tend to equate salvation with accepting Jesus at the point of justification. Jesus' teaching on assurance of salvation is based on both accepting Him and living the Christlike life.

    And with that conclusion we have our marching orders for today and every day.

July 24, 2021

7/24/2021

Authorities in Conflict

        Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. "By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked. "And who gave you this authority?" Jesus replies, "I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John's baptism--where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?" Matt. 21:23-25, NIV.

    Jesus challenged the authority of the Jewish leaders in His cleansing of the Temple. Now they confront Him.

    We need to note what they did not question. For one thing, they didn't dispute the facts that He had authority or that He had been doing authoritative things. He had certainly demonstrated that in the Temple cleansing. A second thing that the delegation from the Sanhedrin did not contest was the righteousness of Jesus in cleansing the Temple. They knew that they had allowed things in the Temple courts that were wrong.

    On the other hand, they couldn't ignore what Jesus had done. After all, He had acted as if He were Lord of the Temple and had a right to do what He did. In that, He was usurping their prerogatives. Thus they had reasons to confront Him. No one could deny them the right to question Him on the source of His authority in His Temple-cleansing actions. But it had a hook in it. As William Barclay points out, "They hoped to put Jesus into a dilemma. If He said He was acting under His own authority they might well arrest Him as a megalomaniac before He did any further damage." Yet "if He said He was acting on the authority of God they might well arrest Him on an obvious charge of blasphemy."

    Jesus was quite aware of the trap. His response would put them into a dilemma that was even worse. His counter question regarding the authority of John the Baptist was a stroke of genius. They couldn't answer that the Baptist's authority was from God because he had pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God. Yet they couldn't say that his authority came from men because the people held that John was a prophet.

    The stark alternatives left them with "we don't know" as the only possible answer. Jesus retorted that their refusal to answer His question gave Him the right to ignore theirs (see Matt. 21:27, NIV).

    As Christians we can learn much from the way that Jesus handled controversy. We need to keep both eyes open to His inspired strategy as He continues to journey to the cross.

July 23, 2021

7/23/2021

The Other Side of Gentle Jesus

        In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside he went to it, and found nothing on it but leaves only. And he said to it, "May no fruit come from you again!" And the fig tree withered at once. Matt. 21:18, 19, RSV.

    At first glance it seems strange to find the story of the fig tree right after the cleansing of the Temple. But the placement is no accident. That becomes especially clear in Mark's Gospel, which splits the fig tree story into two parts (Mark 11:12-14 and 20-24) with the cleansing sandwiched in between them (verses 15-19).

    Victor of Antioch (fifth century) clearly saw that connection in the oldest existing commentary on Mark. According to Victor, the withering of the fig tree was an acted parable in which Jesus "used the fig tree to set forth the judgment that was about to fall on Jerusalem."

    In its context, the withered fig tree points to the Temple and its failure in preparing the Jewish people for the redemptive activity of the coming Messiah. Despite all that God had attempted to do through the Temple for His people, it had not borne fruit. And just as a tree that does not perform its proper function in bearing fruit gets cut down, so the Temple will meet its end.

    By extension, the parable of the fruitless fig tree has much to say to all religionists and all religious institutions characterized by promise without fulfillment, by profession without practice. Whether it be the Jewish nation, the Jewish leaders, or ordinary Christians, Jesus is adamant throughout the Gospels that outward profession is not enough. "You will know them by their fruits" (Matt. 7:20, RSV). "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire" (verse 19, RSV).

    It has become fashionable for Christians to focus on the gentleness and kindness of Jesus and the Father to the exclusion of the "wrath of the Lamb" (Rev. 6:16). The plain fact that the God of love calls His children to wake up before it is too late. Eventually the God of love will terminate the reign of sin and create a new heaven and earth.

    And just as Jesus judged the barren fig tree, so He will someday judge the world. In fact, no one in the entire Bible had more to say about judgment than Jesus.

    Today is a good one to examine my own "fruitlessness." Let's be honest! Am I all show or is there depth and daily results of the gospel in my life?

July 22, 2021

7/22/2021

Public Statement Becomes Public Challenge

        And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves. Matt. 21:12, 13.

    With the cleansing of the Temple Jesus takes the battle into the very heart of the enemy camp. His demonstration in the Temple is no burst of enthusiasm or righteous anger stirred up by the momentary excitement of the triumphal entry. A reading of Matthew could give that impression, but Mark tells us that it was the "next day" after the entry when the cleansing took place (Mark 11:12, NIV). That is a significant bit of knowledge, since it definitely indicates that it was not some spur-of-the-moment challenge to the Jewish authorities. To the contrary, the fact that a night passes between the entry and the cleansing shows that we are dealing with a premeditated challenge whose purpose is to forcefully call the attention of the Jews to Jesus' mission. Thus in the cleansing we find Him making His Messianic claim and exerting His Messianic authority at the very heart of Judaism.

    The challenge is now impossible for either the leaders or the common people to ignore. The common people flock to Jesus in the Temple and shout Messianic praises to the "Son of David" as He heals the blind and lame outcasts (Matt. 21:14, 15). The chief priests and the scribes react to all the celebration with indignation (verse 15). The enthusiasm of the crowds was bad enough out in the city, but now it has entered their own special territory and casts their lucrative Temple trade in an extremely insidious light.

    Thus it is that in the Temple episode we find a turning point in the description of Jesus' enemies. Heretofore the gospel story has scarcely mentioned the high priests. But from now on out they will play a central role.

    In the cleansing of the Temple Jesus has challenged and judged the formal religious power structure. The high priests will make common cause with the scribes and Pharisees to get rid of Him with a determination not present before. In cleansing the Temple He has truly proved Himself to be a dangerous enemy.

    Father, help us as we meditate on the events leading up to the cross to see the importance and significance of Jesus' every step as He works out our salvation.

July 21, 2021

7/21/2021

A Public Messianic Statement

        The disciples...brought the donkey....Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?" And the crowds said, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee." Matt. 21:6-11, ESV.

    The time for privacy is over. In his triumphal entry into Jerusalem Jesus is making a public statement that He is the Messiah.

    The surging crowd recognizes the moment by giving Him the red-carpet treatment as they spread branches and garments on the road for Him to ride over while shouting "Hosanna to the Son of David!" a title with unmistakable Messianic significance. "Hosanna" translated as "save, we pray thee." The people were ready for the salvational role of Jesus. But it would be much different from what they expected on this glorious day.

    And where did the crowds come from? And why were they so enthusiastic? For one thing, it was the Passover season that celebrated God's deliverance of the nation from Egyptian bondage. Thus the roads teemed with people from all over the Jewish world heading for Jerusalem.

    A second thing to note is that Lazarus had just been raised not far from the city. That outstanding miracle had caused widespread excitement.

    But perhaps most important is the manner in which Jesus chose to enter the city. His deliberate choice fanned to white-hot flame the excitement and tension already in the air. The Gospels tell us that He entered town astride the colt of a donkey. That is interesting for a man who has just walked all the way from Galilee. Certainly He had no physical need to ride the last two miles. Furthermore, Jesus has always walked. This is the only time we find the adult Jesus riding in any of the Gospels. What He is doing is obviously deliberate.

    It is guided by the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, which says that Jerusalem's "king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey" (NIV). Jesus is making a definite Messianic statement. The crowds do not miss the point. And neither do the Jewish leaders, but to them it is a challenge rather than something to be joyful about.

July 20, 2021

7/20/2021

The Beginning of the End

        Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days."...He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." John 11:39-41, RSV.

    Here we find one of the most dramatic moments in the life of Jesus and His greatest miracle. The two other individuals whom the Gospels report that He had raised to life were only recently deceased. But here was one who had been dead for four days, and that was problematic in the warm climate of Palestine in which decomposition sets in rapidly.

    There is something else important about this story. When Jesus had raised Jairus' daughter in Mark 5, He ordered almost everyone out of the room. And after the event He told them not to tell anyone. But now He operates before a larger crowd, putting His reputation on the line as He shouts to Lazarus to come out.

    And he did! It must have been a heart-stopping moment as they witnessed the bandaged figure staggering out from the tomb.

    As He performed this miracle, Jesus undoubtedly had thoughts of His own approaching death and resurrection. The raising of Lazarus foreshadowed His own experience. But with differences. Lazarus was raised back to earthly existence, but Jesus to a heavenly ministry. While Lazarus would die again, Jesus would live forevermore.

    The very publicness of the resurrection of Lazarus would lead to the final events of Jesus' earthly life. His disciples had warned Him not to go back to Judea because the Jewish leaders were looking for an excuse to kill Him (John 11:8). And now He had provided them with one. "From that day on they took counsel how to put him to death" (verse 53, RSV). Interestingly, they also put Lazarus on their hit list because many of the Jews were "believing in Jesus" as a result of the man's resurrection (John 12:10, 11, RSV).

    This greatest of miracles had taken place in Bethany, just a few miles from Jerusalem. Soon Jesus would make His final entrance into the great city as the crowds surged into it for the Passover feast. And following that entry would come the climatic events of His life.

    The Lazarus miracle indicates the life-giving power of Jesus. It is that power that forms the basis of the good news that He came from heaven to share with us.

July 19, 2021

7/19/2021

Real Firstness

        Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave--just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Matt. 20:25-28, NKJV.

    Correct ideas of Messiahship go hand in hand with right ideas on what it means to be a follower of the Messiah. And the disciples were having trouble with both.

    Sin breeds sin. The wrongheaded ambition of James and John had stimulated intense jealousy in the rest of the disciples. The little band had reached a crisis point right at the edge, so to speak, of Jerusalem with its cross. They were torn apart by tensions that might permanently separate them and frustrate Jesus' purpose in calling them in the first place.

    We don't know if Jesus felt tempted to give up on them, call them blockheads, and walk away. But certainly He must have sighed as He once again began to instruct the twelve on the basic principles of His kingdom.

    This time His focus is on true greatness and what it really means to be first. His upside-down principles are just the opposite of those of the larger world. Unlike the world, where the greatest are rulers, in the kingdom of heaven the "great" (referring back to the Zebedees' request in Matthew 20:20 21) are servants, and the "first" (referring back to the vineyard parable of verses 1-16) will be slaves. Jesus concludes by telling them that He Himself has not come to be served but to serve and to give His life.

    He could not have outlined the concept of servant leadership more clearly. How unfortunate that down through history church leaders and Christians in general have not been any more drawn to that concept than were the disciples. The reason is simple: the servant leadership model goes against human nature. Its successful implementation demands both conversion and transformation.

    Jesus has spent a lot of time on the twin themes of His cross and ours. Yet it is just as difficult to internalize the principle today as it was 20 centuries ago.

    Lord, take my ears and help me to hear. Take my life and live out Your principles in it today and tomorrow and every day. Amen.