Mark's version of the Sadducees' resurrection question, cited alongside Matthew and Luke
18 There came to him Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection. They asked him, saying,
19 “Teacher, Moses wrote to us, ‘If a man’s brother dies, and leaves a wife behind him, and leaves no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up offspring for his brother.’
20 There were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and dying left no offspring.
21 The second took her, and died, leaving no children behind him. The third likewise;
22 and the seven took her and left no children. Last of all the woman also died.
23 In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be of them? For the seven had her as a wife.”
24 Jesus answered them, “Isn’t this because you are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God?
25 For when they will rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
26 But about the dead, that they are raised; haven’t you read in the book of Moses, about the Bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?
27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are therefore badly mistaken.”
Luke's version of the Sadducees' resurrection question, cited alongside Matthew and Mark
27 Some of the Sadducees came to him, those who deny that there is a resurrection.
28 They asked him, “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies having a wife, and he is childless, his brother should take the wife, and raise up children for his brother.
29 There were therefore seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died childless.
30 The second took her as wife, and he died childless.
31 The third took her, and likewise the seven all left no children, and died.
32 Afterward the woman also died.
33 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them will she be? For the seven had her as a wife.”
34 Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry, and are given in marriage.
35 But those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage.
36 For they can’t die any more, for they are like the angels, and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.
37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called the Lord ‘The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’
38 Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all are alive to him.”
God declaring 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob' used by Jesus to prove resurrection
6 Moreover he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look at God.
Scribe asks Jesus the greatest commandment and Jesus sees he answered intelligently
28 One of the scribes came, and heard them questioning together. Knowing that he had answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the greatest of all?”
29 Jesus answered, “The greatest is, ‘Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one:
30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.
31 The second is like this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
32 The scribe said to him, “Truly, teacher, you have said well that he is one, and there is none other but he,
33 and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from God’s Kingdom.” No one dared ask him any question after that.
Same greatest commandment question appears just before the good Samaritan story
25 Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
28 He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.”
Mark's version of Jesus questioning how Christ can be both David's son and David's Lord
35 Jesus responded, as he taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?
36 For David himself said in the Holy Spirit, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.”’
37 Therefore David himself calls him Lord, so how can he be his son?” The common people heard him gladly.
The poor widow putting in two lepta coins, worth less than a quadrans, giving all she had
41 Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, and saw how the multitude cast money into the treasury. Many who were rich cast in much.
42 A poor widow came, and she cast in two small brass coins, which equal a quadrans coin.
43 He called his disciples to himself, and said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, this poor widow gave more than all those who are giving into the treasury,
44 for they all gave out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live on.”
Used as the benediction, revere Christ as Lord and be prepared to give a reason for your hope with gentleness and respect
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, with humility and fear:
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This sermon is part of an ongoing chronological study of Holy Week, covering events on Tuesday before the crucifixion. Ray walked through a series of confrontations in the temple between Jesus and the religious leaders of his day, showing how Jesus answered each challenge and then turned the questions back on his questioners. The thread running through all of it was the contrast between humble trust in God's word and the self-serving religiosity that hardens a person against it.
What was said
The Sadducees, who rejected the resurrection, brought Jesus a hypothetical about a woman married in succession to seven brothers, intending it as a reductio ad absurdum to make the idea of resurrection look foolish. Jesus told them plainly they were mistaken, and gave the reason: they did not understand the scriptures or the power of God. He pointed them to Exodus, where God says to Moses, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob," and argued that the present tense "I am" implies those men are still alive with him. The crowds were astonished; the Sadducees went quiet.
The Pharisees, hearing that Jesus had silenced their opponents, moved in with their own question: which is the greatest commandment? Jesus answered with the Shema from Deuteronomy, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and added immediately that the second is like it, to love your neighbor as yourself. A scribe repeated the answer back to him thoughtfully, and Jesus told him he was not far from the kingdom of God. Ray noted that this exchange, unlike the others, did not end in embarrassment but in nearness.
Jesus then turned the tables and asked the Pharisees a question of his own: if the Messiah is David's son, why does David in Psalm 110 call him Lord? The Pharisees had a ready answer about lineage but no category for what lay behind the question. Ray pointed out that Jesus was not dismissing the earthly truth of his descent from David, but pressing his questioners to see that there was more going on than bloodline, more than earthbound thinking could contain.
After silencing both groups, Jesus addressed the crowds and his disciples directly about the scribes and Pharisees. He told them to follow the teaching but not imitate the teachers, because those teachers tied up burdens they would not touch themselves and performed their religion to be seen. He specifically condemned those who devoured widows' houses while offering long prayers, and then, sitting across from the temple treasury, pointed out a poor widow putting in two tiny copper coins, saying she had given more than all the wealthy contributors because she had given everything she had to live on. Ray warned against reading this as a formula for prosperity giving; the point was the heart behind the offering, and it landed in painful contrast to leaders who were exploiting the very people they should have been protecting.
As they left the temple, a disciple remarked on the beauty of the buildings. Jesus answered that not one stone would be left on another. Ray connected this to his final application: as impressive as human religious achievement can be, if God does not establish it, it will fall. The recurring line at the close of Matthew's account, that whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted, pulled the whole Tuesday together.
Ray closed with three things that he felt the passage pressed on him. Confirmation bias is real, and the Sadducees were a case study in it; humility before God and man means being genuinely willing to be shown where you are wrong. Hypocrisy harms the people around it, while humility helps them, and the scribes and Pharisees were living proof of the damage religious performance does. And the temple, for all its beauty, was coming down, a reminder that whatever God does not build will not stand.
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Ray pointed out that the Sadducees were 'earthbound creatures in their mind' who judged resurrection only by what they had experienced in this life. Where in your own thinking do you find yourself limiting what God can do based only on what you have already seen or experienced?
When the scribe repeated back to Jesus what Jesus had just said about loving God and neighbor, Jesus told him he was 'not far from the kingdom of God.' What do you think the gap was between knowing the right answer and being fully inside the kingdom, and where do you see that gap showing up in your own life?
RayOn now, it's on now. Hey, would you stand with us? We're gonna sing. We and when I say we, I mean we and we are gonna sing Victory in Jesus to begin with. We're gonna shoot for four part harmony.
I know you're used to following me, but unless you are a bass, you probably don't wanna do that today. Follow us. Okay? We're gonna we're gonna shoot for four part harmony this morning. I love to tell the story.
Hymn number four forty four. We're singing from hymnals. Y'all are singing off the wall. The hymnals are up front. If you wanna sing with us the part you can.
The seat. Thank you. Evan and Julia and Emily and Pascal and Jennifer filling in on the piano. The announcements this morning are these. This coming week, prepare your Operation Christmas Child boxes because the packing party is November 18.
So that is November 18 from nine to eleven. Saturday. That's Saturday. Okay. Thank you very much.
Alright. November 18 is Saturday. We are sending them off on the nineteenth. So get your bag your boxes packed for Operation Christmas Child this week. Packing party November 18, nine to eleven, that's Saturday morning next week, and then the nineteenth, we'll send them off.
Oh, yep. Okay. It's not as much of a surprise on this one, but thank you.
Speaker 2During the first service, we surprised Carl and Ray with a little blessing over them, and Diane will take it from here.
Speaker 3If you don't know me, I'm Diane, and I work in the front office with Nick, and we work alongside with Ray, Carl, and Mike. And as we're coming into Thanksgiving season, we are particularly thankful for the staff that we have and the pastors that we work for. And all of us of this church are the hands and feet and heart of first being of Christ as we connect with those in the community. And these guys do that well, but they also do it twenty four seven, and they take it home. And so we want to pray for and support them and their families.
And, coming into a busy holiday season, things tend to bubble to the surface too, so it gets particularly heavy. They sit with people. They sit with grieving families. They have tears with people. They have joy with people.
They, drive many miles for people. They do so much. They also go through the joys of life, marriages and births and rebirths and rededications of people in their lives to Christ. And they give counsel and it's taken and also not received sometimes. And they just go through incredible, heartfelt things, and they don't do it lightly.
They do it with their whole heart, and that's what makes them so dear to us. So we want to pray for them this morning. And we'd invite anybody want to come pray with us for them. Just a quick prayer. And Nick is gonna do that.
Speaker 2Carl, you wanna come up, buddy?
Speaker 3Yeah. And Mike's not here today, so he'll just have to watch it
Speaker 2all. Yeah. Lord God, thank you so much for these great men who've lead the church, who say yes, Lord, whenever an opportunity arises, who in the middle of the night are called into duty and nobody ever knows about it, who, all day long, are are working for you, Lord. Thank you for these men who you've brought to us to be our friends, to be our leaders, to, to be your conduit, Lord God. And I just pray that you bless them.
And, Lord, would you protect them and their families this season as, things do get usually get tough during Christmas. But I pray that this being especially light and joyful Christmas, Lord God. And I just pray for the congregation too, Lord God, would would also be taken care of and looked after. Would you keep the enemy away, Lord, as the tough season kinda comes up, Lord. But but it may be a blessing.
And we pray for for Mike and the youth group, Lord, that, you would bless his efforts as he spends hours on those service, sermons every week, Lord God, and that you just see a big change in the schools, Lord, through that. Thank you for Carl and his many hours with the music and the way he loves people who aren't even here. Lord, he he has a huge following of people, as you know, all over the country, Lord, and all over the world. Would you bless him and his family, Lord God? Would you help them to grow close together to enjoy this time together?
And I pray for Ray too, Lord. Thank you so much for this great guy and for how he's led us, how he's brought your word to us, Lord, and said yes, Lord, to teach us to say yes too, Lord. And would you would you bless he and his family, bring them close together, that they share joy, that they have time to slow down. But thank you, Lord God, for his capacity and the way you've built him to to be a uniquely capable person, Lord God. And would you keep away, Satan from him too, Lord God.
Would you would you protect them and that this season would be really warm. But Lord God, thank you for this congregation and these wonderful guys, lord, in your holy name. Amen. Amen. Thanks, guys.
RayThe prayer. I'm thankful. And they're gonna sing now. Spirit of the living God, would you sing with us? Surely the presence we'll sing through this one twice.
Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place. Lord, you are here among us. As we breathe you in and we breathe out your praise, lord. I pray that you would accept it. Surely, the presence of the Lord is in this place.
Can have a seat too. Oh, actually, Emily and Julia are going to sing a special here. Would you pray with me first? Lord God almighty, I thank you for this offering. This This that we're taking up here, Lord, this morning, the money that's going into these plates, one thing.
But, Lord, metaphorically, would you direct us as to what we should put in the plate, Lord? Our time, our conversations, our intellectual resources. What is it that you would have us to lay down part of a gift that you've given to us, Lord? What would you have us offer that you may bless it, that you may make fruit from it. In Jesus' name, we ask that you would advance your good gospel through us, that you would unify the body of Christ in this place through us, that you would advance the kingdom through your humble and willing obedient servants, Lord, that you'd multiply the gifts that you have given to do your work.
Your will, Lord, done in your way. Never lacking your supply. Would you do it through us, Lord? Amen. Wow.
That huge font of Tuesday's topics up there. I know that it's Sunday, but we have been in a chronological study of the ministry life and ministry of Jesus for the last little while in the synoptic gospel. So, we are up to the last week, holy week, before the crucifixion. So I had a professor that was fond of saying, the gospels are all passion narratives with long introductions. We are past the long introduction.
Okay? We are in the midst of passion week, holy week. We're on Tuesday. I covered part of it the last time that we met. We had we had gone about the cleanse of the temple on Monday, and then how he taught on Tuesday last week.
We're still on Tuesday, and next week, we'll still be on Tuesday. It's neat that if you read the gospels at the same time, holy week, we'll call it thirty three AD. If you read them at the same time, this is the information. They are very, very, very close, similar this week to each other. There's not a lot of difference, little nuances here and there that I'll try to bring out, but I'm primarily gonna use Matthew's version of the story referring to Mark and Luke too.
But if you'll pay attention, it does give you a pretty clear idea of what happened when on Holy Week. So it's in the midst of his teaching in the temple on Tuesday before the crucifixion would happen on Friday. It says that in the evenings, they were retired to Bethany, and then they would come back into town. He'd go into the temple area, and he was teaching. On that day, some Sadducees who say there's no resurrection, Matthew says this, and Mark and Luke both say it too, but it is important.
If you just read it and the only thing you know about Sadducees is the old VBS song, I don't wanna be a Sadducee. You know, you don't even know why it is that you that they're so sad, you see. You know, you don't you don't understand. But the Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection. That's a sad existence.
They they didn't believe in the resurrection. They didn't believe that it happened. They didn't believe in angels. They didn't believe in the supernatural. They did hold to the Pentateuch.
The first five books of Moses, the those they held on to those tightly. They knew of the prophets, but they were a little bit out there, a little bit supernatural, a little bit judgy, and so they didn't really go with the prophets. They did. It was in their canon, but they really paid attention to the Pentateuch. They didn't like resurrection.
They spiritualized it in this life saying, well, yeah, of course. It's kind of a modernist thinking. Okay? Sadducees that did not believe in the resurrection and were willing to say so, who say there is no resurrection. On that day, some Sadducees came to Jesus and they questioned him saying, teacher.
Now, if you remember last week, it said they sent some spies to Jesus who pretended to honor him. And this could be that. It's saying, teacher, Moses said so this is their book. Right? Pentateuch.
They Moses said, if a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife and raise up children for his brother. This is in levirate marriage is what it's called. It was intended to take care of the widow. It also was intended so that the lion of that family would not die out. But this sadducee who does not believe in resurrection came in and said, if a man does have no children, his brother is next of kin, shall marry his wife and raise up children for his brother.
That's what it says. Right? Now, consider this. And he gives him probably a hypothetical situation. We do not see leverette marriage come up very often in scripture.
It comes up as a way of taking care of the widow. Yes. But we don't actually ever see it practiced much. It is the background behind the book of Ruth. You know that it's there, that the idea of it is there, but it's not something that we see this happening very often in scripture.
It comes up a time or two. But when the seven brothers they're he's this is coming up with kind of a ridiculous example. I'll call it a straw man argument since they don't believe in the resurrection. Now there were seven brothers among us, and the first married and died having no children. He left his wife to his brother.
And it was the same also with the second brother and then the third brother, all the way down to the seventh. That's an extreme example. One at a time, all of the brothers dying in order. And then last of all, the woman died. So you can see that this is sort of a ridiculous example, probably one he's used a few times on the other party, the Pharisees.
Right? Teacher, Moses said this. Now, last of all, the woman died in the resurrection, which I don't believe in. Okay? This is his stance.
In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven would she be? For they all had her in marriage. Well, what does Mark say? Mark says some Sadducees who say there's no resurrection says, basically, exactly the same story, slightly different wording. Luke says, now some of the Sadducees who maintain that there's no resurrection came to him.
They questioned him. Same story. Therefore, the resurrection, which one's wife does the woman become? For all seven married her. But Jesus answered and said to them, you are mistaken.
That's Jesus. He told somebody they were mistaken. He told somebody that they were it's the truth. It's it's also the truth in love. He he says that you're mistaken.
You're mistaken because you don't understand the scriptures because they're true. You know? It's good. They're meant for our benefit. You're mistaken because you don't understand the scriptures nor the power of God.
You are judging things by the way things are here. You're earthbound creatures in your mind, and you cannot escape to open up and believe the scriptures and the power of God. He goes on in Matthew, say, for in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like angels in heaven. And I I I don't know if I should have said it in the first, I'm gonna say it again in the second. I said, if you're in a happy marriage, you look at that and go, oh, that's sad.
But if you're not in a happy marriage, you look at that and go, phew. Not all eternity like this. No. For in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage. Jesus says is saying that it's different.
Now he's saying so as someone who has been there. Okay? They've never been there. They're judging only on what they have seen. And to them, it makes sense that that's ridiculous.
Resurrection can't be, oh, maybe somebody could have a new life after they convert and come to be a sadducee and understand like we do. Yes. They are. They are in that sense resurrected. They might have that earthbound sense, but he's saying in the resurrection, it's going to be different than you're able to comprehend right now.
In the resurrection, they're neither married nor given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven. This is as close as the Bible gets to people turning into angels. They don't turn into angels. We will not be angels, but it'll be different than it is right here. But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read?
Jesus is constantly referring back to that which has been written. He's constantly referring back to the scriptures. And in this case, he used an example that I probably would not have used, but I'm not Jesus. Right? He used an example from the Pentateuch of Moses, of the initial conversation, really, with Moses.
But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken by God? God spoke to Moses and said, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. And Jesus said, so he's not the God of the dead but of the living. When he says I am, the self existent one, eternally present, right, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, that implies that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob still are in existence and with him. When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.
The crowds heard this because Jesus had just silenced the Sadducees, basically. Now this was a hotly debated topic at that time. We have some hotly debated topics at this time, do we not? We do. There are some that are almost third rails.
Like, you don't get near it because you know everybody's got an opinion. They just leap on it. That's the way it was. And in this case, when the crowds heard this, the crowds were not Sadducees or Pharisees. They're just they're the crowds.
Now they have to put up with the Sadducees and Pharisees, and they're constantly trying to get them swung to their side or the other and polarize them. But the crowds heard this, and they were like, That's a good point. I hadn't considered that point. Jesus said to him, is this not the reason you're mistaken? He doesn't just say you're mistaken.
He said, this is the reason. This is how you're mistaken. You're mistaken because you don't understand the scriptures and you don't understand the power of God. Now, if you know more about Pharisees and Sadducees, Pharisees did believe in the resurrection. They did believe in angels.
They did put a lot of stock in Messiah and looking forward to him even if they missed him. Sadducees were more glad to be in power over their people. They were parts of the underneath the Roman oppressive government, they were mostly in charge of managing the little bit of kind of a puppet kingship over their peoples. Complicit with the government would be a good way to put that. So I've always said kind of pharisees are like the right wing and Sadducees are like the left wing.
That's not left wing. That's not quite true, but they are opposed to one another. And he says to the Sadducees, you don't understand the scriptures or the power of God for when they do rise from the dead, and they will, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they're like angels in heaven. It's a different thing than you have experienced yet. But regarding the fact that the dead rise, it's a fact.
Have you not read in the book of Moses in the passage about the burning bush how God spoke to him saying, I'm the God. I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, and you are greatly mistaken, Sadducee, who doesn't believe in the resurrection. Wow. He's not just wishy washy.
He's willing to tell them where they're wrong. Regarding the fact that the dead rise, it is a fact. And you are greatly mistaken for not believing in that fact, Sadducees. Luke says basically the same thing. And then at the very end, it says, Some of the scribes, some of those Sadducees said, Wow, teacher, you have spoken well.
That's a good answer. That's a better answer than I anticipated. I put this ridiculous example out there, this ridiculous hypothetical, just to make the Pharisees look like clowns and to give you the chance to speak on the matter. And when but when when you say it that way, you have spoken well. But then it says they didn't have the courage to question him any longer about anything.
He had just slaughtered one of their sacred cows. And if that's the case, let's don't ask him about those other things. They they don't wanna talk to him. That's the way Luke puts it. I kinda like that is that, oh my goodness.
He just he kinda put us in our place. I have to reconsider a lot of stuff now. But I'm not gonna ask him about anything else. I'm gonna have to deal with this one for a while. If there is an afterlife, if there is such thing as a resurrection, then I ought to be living this life differently than the way I'm living it right now.
I won't ask him about how to vote. Oh, sorry. No. Sorry. When the when the pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees I love this.
It's it's almost comical how often this comes up. Are we, as people, are we are we just apt to divide off in teams at almost any moment? You can get people betting on which bird would fly off a post first, and you could have two of them opposed to each other immediately just because. This is when the Pharisees heard that Jesus silenced the Sadducees. He's like he says, oh, he got him.
He got him. Let's get on in there. So they gather together. They huddle up. Let's go to him.
And one of them, holy as they were, a lawyer said a question, and they were testing him. This says testing him. I I I'm glad I'm fine with that. It's it's a common stance for the pharisees to be testing him, trying to trick him in something. But this one goes differently than I would expect when they're testing him.
One of them, one guy, a lawyer, somebody who knew what he was talking about, had studied the law, studied Torah, studied the prophets too, I'm sure, asked him a question, testing him and saying, teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Out of all of them. And, you know, we've you heard it a thousand times that they had 613 laws. They had the 10 commandments, they expanded on those, putting the hedges around them. And they had gotten the whole of their message was pretty expansive at this time.
I forget the guy's name. It's something like Aqaba. Aqaba. He's a teacher within seventy years of Jesus' time. And he had summarized what the Jews believed famously into a short section, and he did so at the challenge of an outsider coming in and saying, just tell me what it is you believe while standing on one leg.
Okay? We might say, you better yeah. I'm good with your message. Whatever. You can go on all day about it, but I wanna know, give me the elevator version.
Give me the short version of that message. And so the standing on one leg version is what Akaba is famous for, is saying what it meant. But teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Have we heard this before? In our study here, we have heard exactly this question before in Luke 10, just before Jesus tells the story of the good Samaritan.
Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? And he said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. That's Jesus' answer to the question. In Mark, the scribe comes up, had heard them arguing and recognized that he had answered the Sadducees well. He asked and says, so tell us, what's the greatest commandment?
What is foremost of all? And Jesus, the foremost, he says, hear, o Israel, the Lord is our God. The Lord is one. And this is the Shema, the Shema. Shema is here.
In Hebrew. Here, Israel, the Lord is our God. The Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. That's the Shema. When I first got here, I'm from Georgia, from rural Georgia, I did not really know any Jewish people.
I did not know any Hebrew whatsoever. And when I got here, my first sermon when I came up where we hit up against the Shema, I said, that is the Shema. And I went on and on about the Shema. And a dear brother, messianic Jewish believer came forward afterwards and says, hey, man. It's the Shema.
It's not the Shema. Don't embarrass yourself. It's from Deuteronomy six four. Here, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. And the second one is this.
He asked which was the greatest, love God. And the second one is this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There's no other commandment greater than these. So he gave both, love God and love people. Our motto here that's been around a lot longer than I have is with all we are, loving God and loving people through Christ.
That's the only way that's possible. Loving God and loving people is what Jesus came down to. That's his one legged speech. Right? It doesn't take long to tell that.
In fact, in Mark, the scribe says to him, well said, teacher, you have truly stated that he is one. God is one, and he is a circumlocution right there, to not say God, is one, and there is no other besides him. He is saying, well said, teacher, and then he reports back to Jesus exactly what he just said. God is one. There is no other besides him.
And to love him with all the heart, understanding, strength is and to love one's neighbor as oneself is much more than all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices. Amen. I love this. Because in Matthew, he says he's testing him. And I loved it.
You know, if he's testing him, that's fine. He believes what he believes. When he comes in, he's trying to test him. But in Mark, I love it says, when Jesus saw that this scribe had answered intelligently How had he answered intelligently? He repeated what Jesus just said.
Every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. He repeated back to him the Shema, the truth from God's word. When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, he said to him, you're not far from the kingdom of God. You're right there. You're right there.
You're right on the edge. Your trust in the scriptures. He had just said, you're mistaken because you don't understand the scriptures or the power of God. But now with this person who says, you're right. It is about loving God and loving people.
And he says, you're not far from the kingdom of God. You're getting it. You're getting it. Here you are. And then it says no one dared to any longer to question him.
The one of them felt like he had gotten them and and put them in a place where they're offensive about what their own thoughts were. And then this one, he's saying, you're right here at the edge of entry into the kingdom. And they didn't question him any longer. This is the greatest and foremost commandment. The second is like it.
Love your neighbor as yourself. Upon these two commandments hang the whole law and the prophets. Everything suspends from this. If you go back past the 613 laws and you get back to the 10 commandments, the first four are about your relationship with God, loving him, and the last six are about your relationship with people, loving them. Upon these two, all of the law and the prophets suspend.
I'll come back at the end. I'm gonna try to make some application points. There's a lot of words on those screens today. Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, so Sadducees get silent. Pharisees are like, oh, now's our time.
Come on in. And Jesus says, well, while I've got you here, while we're all together in the temple studying together, you're listening, let me pose a question to you. What do you think about the Christ? What do you think about Messiah? Tell me.
What do you think about Messiah? Whose son is he? And they said, son of David. Immediately, oh, Bible one zero one, Awana. You know, we know this one.
This one, we can answer with absolute clarity. The Messiah is the son of David. We know that David's gonna have a throne that'll be established and will last into the future eternally. Son of David. No doubt about it.
Final answer. And he said to him, then how does David, King David, how does David in the spirit call him Lord? How is it that he's the son of David and David in the spirit calls him lord? Saying the Lord said to my lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet. That is well, let's go forward.
Luke says, David himself says in the book of Psalms. So in the spirit, Matthew, in the book of Psalms, we know that the Bible is God breathed. It was written dual authorship of scripture by the Holy Spirit through inspired men that were moved to write. How is it then that they say Christ 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 to your feet for your feet.
Mark. How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself said, in the Holy Spirit. So we've got three different, slight different angles. In the spirit, in the Psalms, in the Holy Spirit, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.
That's Psalm one ten. It's the first verse from Psalm one ten. That's the most quoted. Psalm one ten is the most quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament. Comes up all the time.
The Lord says to my lord, sit at my right hand. And David is saying, God says, to my lord, messiah. Everybody knew he's the son of David. Duh. But he's saying, consider that.
You're considering it's just a lineage, a bloodline, which was true of Jesus, by the way. But he's saying, how is it that David can say that? In fact, he says it right there. Therefore, if David calls him lord, how is he his son? How can that be?
You're thinking earthly thinking. I'm not just thinking earthly thinking. The earthly thinking part is true, but there's more to it than that that you're not seeing. Therefore, David calls him lord. So how is he his son?
Think about this. David calls him lord. So in what sense is he his son? Is it just that line? Remember Matthew's genealogy at the beginning where he has all those names?
Adam, son of God. He gets all the way through. How is it that David David's in that line. Both sides actually. David's in that line.
But in what sense is he his son? He gives the pharisees who do believe the scriptures and do believe the resurrection, they're just misapplying them. They were super upset just a couple of days before when blind Bartimaeus called out in between Jericho. Right? Blind Bartimaeus calls out, have mercy on me, son of David.
And they said, did you hear what they're saying? Are you hearing what these people are saying? They're attributing you. They're calling you the Messiah. Stop them.
And the large crowd enjoyed listening to him. I imagine they were kind tired of Pharisees. I imagine they were kind of tired of the Sadducees and tired of the people telling them what they had to believe. But when they hear Jesus as one speaking with authority and silencing both sides, stymieing them in their arguments with his wisdom. The large crowd enjoyed listening to him.
Now, no one was able to offer him a word and answer, nor did anyone dare from that day to ask him any more questions. So then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples. Oh my goodness. If you consider yourself a disciple of Jesus, this is for you. I mean, all of it's for us, but he's speaking to the crowds and the disciples and saying, listen, the scribes and the pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses.
They have put themselves in that chair. They've elevated their own opinions, and they've elevated themselves. And therefore, whatever they tell you, you do it and comply with it all, but don't do as they do, for they say things and they do not do them. Jesus looks on the heart, and he knows them. And they tie up heavy burdens and they lay them on the people's shoulders, but they themselves, they're unwilling to move them with so much as their finger.
Oh, when I see I I don't know why. When I see the word in the gospels especially about they won't even lift a finger, I think of Jesus riding on the ground, the woman caught in adultery. Right? He's riding on the ground. They're about to stone her, and he's using his finger to twill in the dirt.
The same finger that wrote the law that they respect so much, but they missed the point of it. They were trying to look like they were taking care of everything. They tie up heavy burdens, lay them on other people's shoulders. They're unwilling to do them themselves, and they do all their deeds to be noticed by other people. For they broaden their phylacteries, they lengthen the tassels of their garments.
That's a religious garb that they wear, and it had gotten to be more and more and more exaggerated so that they would look more and more and more holy. And they loved the place of honor at banquets and the seats of honor in the synagogues and personal greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by the people. They just love that. But as for you, disciples, don't be called rabbi, for there's only one who is your teacher, and you're all brothers and sisters. There's not any one of you who's elevated above the others.
Humbling yourself under the mighty hand of God is important, your brothers and sisters. And don't call anyone on earth your father, for only one is your father, he who is in heaven. Don't be called leaders, for only one is your leader, and that's Christ. The headship of Christ, the priesthood of the believer is in view in this passage, but it is a direct relationship that's necessary. And it's a direct, humble relationship.
There's no other way to come to him. Do not be called leaders, for only one is your leader, that is Christ, the greatest of you shall be your servant. This is, if you think about it, the last week, Jesus is literally gonna be laying down his life on Friday for everyone who put their trust in him. He is serving them all. In this in this place right here, by teaching them this, by opening up the scriptures to him, he is serving them all.
Mark, not as long as Matthew, his in in his teaching, he was saying, beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes. That's the religious wear. And like the personal greetings in the marketplaces, the seats of honor in synagogues, the places of honor at banquets, and then he hits this, who devour widows' houses. Oh, what a terrible thing to be said. And for appearance's sake, they offer long prayers.
These will receive all the more condemnation. This sounds so much like the book of James to me, that pure and undefiled religion is taking care of widows and orphans in their time of distress, not devouring their houses. Let not many of you be teachers because you'll receive a harsher judgment. Jesus sat down opposite the treasury. Now, in the temple, there was the temple treasury was there, and he sat down opposite and began watching how the people were putting money into the treasury and how many rich people were putting money in large amounts.
And a poor widow came and put in 2 lepta coins, which amount to a quadrans. If you look up around this time period, what's the is the least valuable bronze coin? Quadrans is the least valuable. It is like a penny, kinda. It's a bronze coin.
A lepta is hardly ever mentioned, but it's a copper coin that you have to have two of those to equal a quadrans. Wow. A quarter of an a s i's. A quarter of an i's is a quadrans. So a lepta would be an eighth as much.
So not much. Three eighths of a penny by our current understanding. Calling his disciples to him, he said to them, truly I say to you, disciples, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to this treasury. Now, what could be done with 0.375? That was not what it was about.
For they all put in out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty, but she put in all that she owned and all that she had to live on. And if anybody preaches this to you and they say, now, look at that widow right there, you and need to be given exactly like that. Put in that seed money and believe God for it and he will just open up the windows of heaven and come walk out the back door. The point of this has nothing to do with that. Okay?
That that widow was giving out of her and I believe her heart was right before God or Jesus would not have called it out. You give as God leads. I believe that she did. But if someone begins to twist what it says, beware. They put in out of their surplus, but she put in out of her poverty.
She put in all she owned, all she had to live on. And while the people were listening, he said to his disciples, beware of the scribes. Luke also mentions him devouring the widow's houses. Luke and Mark both include the story of the widow's mite or the widow's lepta and of the religious leaders receiving all the more condemnation because they're devouring widows' houses, taking advantage of them. Now he looked up and he saw the wealthy putting their gifts into the temple treasury.
He the widow put in more than all of them. She put in all that she had to live on. And as he's going out of the temple, I think this one might have been to change the subject. I'm not positive about that. I don't know that.
But they're there, and he sees this, and it's hard to take. It's hard to take. It's really hard to take when the synagogue is not taking care of the widows and orphans. It's really hard to take when we're not loving God and having that show itself by the way that we love people, especially people in need. So as they're going out of the temple, one of disciples says to him, teacher, look.
Look at this. Isn't this an amazing place? Look at how beautiful. Look what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings. This place is amazing, and it is.
It was amazing. Luke says, and while some of them were talking about the temple, that it was decorated with beautiful stones and vowed gifts. The vowed gifts are votive gifts. I I went back and studied that just a little bit this morning to see exactly what that is. I think it's a free will offering type of gift, but I'm not positive.
The vowed gifts, I was wondering if it was some sort of estate planning, but I don't see that under Herod anywhere else. Vowed gifts, are just sort of like lighting a candle at the church. Or in Mexico, they have retablos. Retablos are like a little piece of tin where they've drawn or painted something that was that God has saved them from, something miraculous, retablos or melagros, and then also something that they were praying to God for. Could have been that.
But could have been also given by foreign dignitaries to the temple. Who knows? I'm not sure. It was decorated beautifully, though. That's not the point.
The beautiful stones, vowed gifts, and he said, as for these things which you're observing, you're seeing them, and they are pretty astounding. The days will come though when there will not be one stone left upon another, which will not be torn down. And we know that in seventy AD, the temple was destroyed. Every that was the command from the Romans, from the officers is don't leave anything on top of anything else. Tear it down.
And Jesus said to him, do you see these great buildings? They're great. It's pretty amazing. But not one stone will be left upon another, which will not be torn down. Now the last line in Matthew that I'm gonna cover today, and this is right at the beginning of eight woes in a row, maybe nine woes in a row for the Pharisees, for the scribes, for the super religious hypocrites.
This last line right here, though, we've heard before recently, but it comes up a lot. As Jesus is more and more and more obviously walking into towards the cross, humbling himself even to death, even death of a cross, we start seeing this come up more and more and more. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exhausted. We know that God gives grace to the humble, but he opposes the proud. This is Matthew gets the last line today.
So for application points, try and I've had a lot of people say lately, I like it when you give application because I understand when you're reading that, that's the Bible. Yes, it's true. But how does that affect me? How should I change the way I walk my life out? So for me, from the beginning, the Sadducees setting up a straw man argument against the Pharisees, laying it out there before Jesus, or the Pharisees wanting to know how they were right.
Confirmation bias is real. All of us have it. We all wanna see what already agrees with us, and we wanna use that for proof. If you're on one side or another of any argument, debate, dispute, biblical among believers especially, biblical, practical, I can go even personal or otherwise. Be humble.
Be humble with that before God and man. I think that your relationship with God comes first. Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Lord, show me how I should understand this. And I mean that in opposition to the way I already feel.
Show me where I'm wrong. I love you enough. I'm willing to be wrong. Show me. And then allow me to work that out around the people that I'm with.
Be humble before God and man. For after all, you could be mistaken. Put yourself in the position of having been that sadducee that comes up says, I'm gonna get them now. I'm gonna get that Pharisee over there. Listen to this.
I'm gonna get this. And Jesus says, you're mistaken. Not just you're mistaken. You're greatly mistaken because you don't understand the scriptures nor the power of God. Lord, help me understand the scriptures.
Help me understand the power of God. I wanna see it lived out in my life. I want you to transform me into something, Lord, useful for the kingdom. Show me. Be humble before God and man.
For after all, you could be mistaken. Your way of understanding could be wrong. This is something else that I feel like comes out. Hypocrisy always harms. Jesus said, Beware of those hypocrites because they're harmful.
The way that they think, feel, and believe is causing harm to themselves and to you. Hypocrisy always harms, whereas humility always helps. That So in Peace conference that we just went to was amazing. There were a lot of really good things in it. Humility and vulnerability are very, very important in in transmitting the message of the scriptures.
Hypocrisy always harms. Humility always helps. And then, as amazing as the greatest and most beautiful of human achievements are, they will not last. If God does not establish it, it will fall. And you might say, well, God established the temple.
God didn't establish the tabernacle. He did establish and bless Solomon's temple. The way that human beings took it on though was not of God. If God does not establish it, it will eventually fall. So, just as I am.
The first service, the last song was all the people said amen. Thought after that sermon, and then I just flashed it, and all people said amen. I think this is probably a more fitting close, although I believe this this is true, and I believe I've presented it as close to as I can to what it said. Would you stand with us? I'm gonna invite the singers to come back forward.
We're gonna sing just as I am. We'll sing all four verses. And I know the church I grew up in, we might sing all four verses again. We're probably just gonna sing four of them. Okay?
God, would you help us to consider who we are and then who you want us to become? I pray that you'd transform us by your Holy Spirit power, that we would take in your word and it would transform us in the way that you would have us to be in Jesus' name. Amen. As a benediction today, I'm gonna take from first Peter three fifteen. It says, but in your hearts, individual here, in your hearts, revere Christ as Lord.
He's the head. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks of you, to give the reason for the hope that is within you, and do this with gentleness and respect. Lord God Almighty, would you show us your way? Would you calm our fears? Would you relieve us of our burdens?
Would you take away our anxious thoughts and allow us to put all of our hope in you and be able to articulate it. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.
