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Submitting
to God-ordained authorities, including the government;
the reality of the resurrection; the truth about
the Messiah - the unique God-Man; the danger of
religious hypocrisy and the true religion of the
poor widow.
If you
knew that you were getting toward the very end
of your life, how would you spend your last week?
You would do what is most important to you. The
Son of God knew He was about to die, and He spent
His last week doing what He knew God had called
Him to do - telling the Chosen People the truth,
correcting us where we needed correction - even
if it meant conflict with the leaders who were
far from God - followed by suffering and death
- but also resurrection!
The miracle
working Rabbi from Nazareth had entered Jerusalem
triumphantly, hailed by many of His disciples
as Israel’s Messiah King. But Yeshua knew that
the majority of the nation and our leaders would
reject Him, and that God’s severe judgment would
come to the Chosen People as a result of not recognizing
the time of our visitation.
When He
entered Jerusalem, Messiah went to His Father’s
house and cleansed it and rebuked the leaders
of the nation. It took tremendous courage and
boldness and zeal for the young Rabbi to go to
the center of power of those who wanted to kill
Him. But, Yeshua had that kind of courage, that
kind of love and zeal and enthusiasm for God and
the things of God, and He didn’t let opposition
deter Him from doing what was right!
The popularity
of the young and courageous miracle working Rabbi
prevented those powerful political and religious
leaders from immediately doing what they wanted
to do - kill Yeshua. But, that didn’t prevent
them from trying - and ultimately succeeding.
They tried
to get into confrontations with Yeshua, hoping
to manipulate Him into saying something that they
could use to destroy Him. But the Wonderful Counselor
is wiser than the wisest, smarter than the smartest!
He was and is and always will be the master of
every situation!
And, what
these men meant for evil, God turned into our
good. Yeshua’s amazing responses to these confrontation
are full of wisdom that teach us very important
lessons that if acted on, will bless our lives.
The first
question/confrontation teaches us about the perspective
we need to have about submitting to God-ordained
authorities like government - even governments
that we might not like.
So
they (the experts in Torah and the leading
priests) watched Him, and sent spies who pretended
to be righteous, in order that they might catch
Him in some statement, so that they could deliver
Him to the rule and the authority of the governor.
They questioned Him, saying, “Rabbi, we know
that You speak and teach correctly, and You are
not partial to any, but teach the way of God in
truth.
If someone
acts friendly toward us, we tend to let our guard
down. We are rightly cautious with our enemies,
but not on guard with our friends. Yeshua’s enemies
knew this and used flattery to try and catch Him
off guard and prevent Him from seeing the trap
they were trying set for Him. After their flattery
they asked their trick question: “Is it lawful
for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not”?
These
men must have thought that Yeshua was cleverly
trapped, and there was no way for Him to escape
danger if He answered their question. If Yeshua
answered yes - it was right for the oppressed
and impoverished Jewish people to pay outrageous
taxes to the unrighteous Gentile conquerors -
that was not the entirely true. It was not the
whole story, and the people knew it and that response
would have offended most of them. Yeshua would
have lost the esteem of the crowds of admirers
who were protecting Him. But if He said no, He
would have been accused of treason against Rome.
It was very serious crime to advocate not paying
taxes to the Roman Empire. There was no way out
of this tricky and potentially deadly question,
right?
But, Israel’s
Prophet, Priest and King is shrewder than the
shrewdest, cleverer than the most clever and saw
through this plot and immediately came up with
an astounding answer. But He detected their
trickery and said to them, “Show Me a denarius.
Whose likeness and inscription does it have?”
They said, “Caesar's”. And He said to them, “Then
render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's,
and to God the things that are God's”.
Roman
coins were used in Israel, and on the coin He
was shown was the image of the Roman emperor.
That coin was connected to Rome. That coin was
issued by Rome. That coin came under legitimate
Roman authority. So, it was right to give that
coin back to Rome. Makes perfect sense!
But, there
is a larger lesson to be learned. The greater
lesson is that we have obligations to the state
- even if it is pagan or secular, as well as having
obligations to God. The Creator raises up political
leaders and governments, and when they do what
is generally right, they are servants of God,
and they have the right to be supported by our
allegiance and by our taxes. This is not always
easy or pleasant for us to do.
Because
of the Fall, we are rebels against authority.
It is easy for us to rebel against authority -
God’s spiritual authorities and human authorities
that He has raised up. We need to learn how to
be obedient to the legitimate authorities that
God has placed us under - the state and the synagogue
- and that includes paying our taxes.
Luke tells
us the conclusion to this confrontation. And
they were unable to catch Him in a saying in the
presence of the people; and being amazed at His
answer, they became silent. They remained
silent - but only for a time. Another group of
those who want to destroy Rabbi Yeshua will bring
a second question/confrontation that will teach
us about the reality of the Resurrection.
Now
there came to Him some of the Sadducees (who say
that there is no resurrection) - and who were
closely associated with the priests and the temple
- and they questioned Him, saying, “Rabbi
- this group also approached Yeshua with insincere
respect and flattery - calling Him Rabbi. They
really didn't think the young uneducated carpenter
from Nazareth was much of a rabbi. And, they were
insincere because they posed a question they didn't
believe was a real possibility. They didn't believe
in the resurrection. Their question was designed
to make Yeshua look foolish in the sight of the
people and lessen His credibility. Watch out when
people ask you trick questions that they don't
believe the premises to! They are trying to make
you look foolish to further their agenda.
Here is
their question. Moses wrote for us that if
a man's brother dies, having a wife, and he is
childless, his brother should marry the wife and
raise up children to his brother. This is
the law of “levirate marriage” that is part of
the Torah (Deuteronomy 25).
Now
there were seven brothers; and the first took
a wife and died childless; and the second and
the third married her; and in the same way all
seven died, leaving no children. Finally the woman
died also. In the resurrection therefore, which
one's wife will she be? For all seven had married
her”.
Someone
observed: The question of the Sadducees was based
on the premise that the resurrection body and
way of living is an exact counterpart to our earthly
bodies and our way of living on Earth. If that
is the case, then in the resurrection, the woman
would be guilty of incestuous marriage relationships,
or she will need to be arbitrarily designated
the wife of one of the brothers. If so, then which
brother? Or - and this is the real answer that
the Sadducees were pushing for - isn't the whole
idea of the resurrection absurd?
The Sadducees
were in some ways like many people today who do
not believe in the supernatural. Realities like
a personal God who enters into relationship with
human beings, and His ability to hear and answer
prayer, and intervene in the world, and miracles,
and the coming of the Messiah, and the resurrection,
and the day of judgment, and Heaven and Hell are
not believed by many people in today’s secular
society.
But the
Son of God knew better! Yeshua said to them,
“The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage,
but those who are considered worthy to attain
to that age and the resurrection from the dead,
neither marry nor are given in marriage; for they
cannot even die anymore, because they are like
angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the
resurrection. The Son of God, who is never
wrong and knows what He is talking about, informed
these Sadducees (and us!) that the resurrection
is very real, and the bodies and lives of those
blessed individuals who will experience the resurrection
of the righteous will be different from their
bodies and lives in this age. They will not be
married like we are now. They will be more like
the angels who don't marry or procreate. In fact,
Yeshua's mention of the angels is another correction
of the lack of faith of the Sadducees, because
they denied the existence of angels (see Acts
23:8).
The Sadducees
were wrong about the reality of angels, and they
were wrong about the reality of the resurrection.
From the very beginning, right after the Fall,
the Lord wanted us to be very sure about the reality
of resurrection! That faith in the resurrection
very much needs to be part of our core beliefs,
our thinking and our motivation. We will never
have meaningful lives, and the peace and joy that
we are able to experience if we don’t believe
in the resurrection!
Yeshua
knew that the Sadducees were wrong about the resurrection,
and He graciously tried to correct them. The Sadducees
accepted the authority of the Torah, and so Israel’s
Supreme Teacher quoted a passage from Exodus 3
that proves the truth of the resurrection. But
that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in
the passage about the burning bush, where he calls
the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob. Now He is not the God of
the dead but of the living; for all live to Him”.
Here is
what Messiah is arguing. The Lord states: I
am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - not
using the past tense - I was the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. If God is addressing
Moses hundreds of years after the Fathers died,
and He is not using the past tense, then in some
way they must still be alive! They must be present
to Him! If He is still their God, and He is eternal
and living, then they must be resurrected so He
can continue to be their eternal and living God.
Brilliant!
Some
of the Torah-teachers answered and said, “Rabbi,
You have spoken well”. For they did not have courage
to question Him any longer about anything.
Their plans to use trick questions to trip up
the Rabbi weren’t working. In fact, Yeshua’s wisdom
intimated His adversaries and raised Him even
further in the esteem of the people! Now Yeshua
goes on the offensive. The third question/confrontation
is one that Messiah initiates. It teaches us the
truth about who the unique God-Man is.
Then
He said to them, “How is it that they say the
Messiah is David's son? For David himself says
in the book of Psalms, 'the Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet”’. Therefore David calls
Him 'Lord,' and how is He his son”? So many
Jewish people today are not familiar with the
Divinely Inspired Special Writings, especially
what they have to teach us about the Anointed
Prophet, Priest and King that God promised to
send to us to save, rescue and redeem us from
Satan, sin and death; from powerful and wicked
nations; and from all injustice; to bring in unending
righteousness; peace with God; atonement; everlasting
life! But, the majority of the Jewish people 2,000
years ago, especially the leaders, were familiar
with the Messianic prophecies and the qualifications
for messiahship they contain. Everyone knew that
the Messiah had to be a descendant of David, Israel’s
greatest King (see 2 Samuel 7:13-14, Isaiah 9:6-7,
11:1-10, Jeremiah 23:5).
But, the
Messiah will not only be a descendant of David,
but someone greater than David, who was the greatest
King of Israel! Yeshua's argument comes from Psalm
110. In Psalm 110, David is allowed to overhear
a conversation between Adonai - the Lord God -
who is God the Father, and One whom David refers
to as his Adon - his Lord - who is God the Son.
Who is
greater than David, and sits victoriously and
exaltedly at the right hand of God the Father,
waiting for God to defeat all of His enemies,
so He can wonderfully rule over Israel and the
nations? Who is greater than Israel’s greatest
King, and is worthy of being called David’s Lord?
Certainly not Saul who came before David, or any
of David’s descendants who came after him, or
any of the leaders of the nations of the world.
It is the Messiah.
Yeshua
is teaching us that He is the son of David and
the Son of God! He is Adon David - David’s Lord,
but also David’s son. He is a human being from
the line of David, but also the Divine Son of
God. He is that son who was born to us, and yet
also El Gibor - the Mighty God; He is part of
Israel, but also Immanuel - God With Us. He is
fully man and fully God. He is the Divine Messiah,
the ultimate Prophet, Priest and King who is powerful
and authoritative and who will rule Israel and
the nations forever! He is to be believed in,
respected, reverenced and obeyed!
The leaders
of the holy nation were so close to God, and yet
so far from Him. The leaders of the Chosen People
were in the most special city - Jerusalem; they
were in the center of Jerusalem, in the temple
of God, which was closest to the presence of God
on Earth; they were so close to the sacrifices
and the principles of atonement; so close to the
Bible; so close to Immanuel, and yet so far from
God and Messiah and the truth that would save
them! We never want to be like that - so close
and yet so far! We don’t want to find out on the
Day of Judgment that we were religious hypocrites
who will be refused entrance into the kingdom
of God!
Next comes
a warning about religious hypocrisy. Our faith
must be real! It must be genuine. It must be sincere!
We must not use religion as a covering to accomplish
our own corrupt agendas. And while all the
people were listening, He said to the disciples,
“Beware of the scribes - the experts in the
Torah, who like to walk around in long robes,
and love respectful greetings in the market places,
and chief seats in the synagogues and places of
honor at banquets, who devour widows' houses,
and for appearance's sake offer long prayers.
These will receive greater condemnation”. The
experts in the Torah used their knowledge about
the Word of God to gain honor from those less
knowledgeable. But, they were also greedy and
took advantage of the poor - something the very
Torah they were experts in, condemns.
True religion
is demonstrated not only by our knowledge, but
also by our actions. True religion is demonstrated
by our relationship with God and also by our relationships
with other human beings. We must really know the
Creator and we must be loving, kind, generous
people. We must be givers, not takers; helpers
of humanity, not those who take advantage of others.
It is
not enough to claim to know God but wrong other
human beings; nor is it enough to be good to other
human beings but ignore the Three-In-One God.
We must have right relationships with God and
with man.
If you
are not in a right relationship with God the Father,
and with Messiah His Son, and filled with the
Holy Spirit, you need to do so. And, if you are
not being loving and generous toward others, and
teaching them the truth about God, you need to
change and start doing that.
Our religion
must be genuine. We must be generous givers like
the poor widow whose religion was genuine, and
not like the greedy Torah experts. Luke tells
us that Yeshua was in the temple. And He looked
up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the
treasury. Wow! Big donors with big money.
They are easy to notice and easy to honor. It
is nice for a ministry to have big donors, and
thank God for the donors who can give generously
to support good works. But, it wasn’t the big
donors who impressed the One who made the Earth,
the Sun, moon and trillions of stars. And He
saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins.
Outwardly, this was not impressive. A poor
widow who gave two small copper coins to support
all the work that went on at the temple was insignificant.
Her few pennies couldn’t do much to support the
glorious house of God. But, to the God who sees
the heart, to the Creator who looks at the inner
motivation of our actions, and who considers them
more important than the outward deeds; to Immanuel
who came in great humility and who taught that
the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed - these
two small copper coins given by the poor widow
were more impressive than all the gifts of the
big donors!
And
He said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow
put in more than all of them; for they all out
of their surplus put into the offering; but she
out of her poverty put in all that she had to
live on”.
The Lord
wants us to know that it is not the mere size
of the gift that is praiseworthy, but the generosity
based on the ability to give.
It is
not according to mere outward accomplishments
by which we will be judged and rewarded, but our
desire to serve and to sacrifice with the abilities
and talents and gifts that we have. And, each
one of us, no matter how rich, how poor, how gifted
or not, can do this! We can be like this poor
widow! This should motivate us and encourage each
one of us to be the kind of men and women who,
despite our circumstances, generously love and
serve God and man from our hearts!
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