Scripture referenced 11 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
-
2 Corinthians 4:6 opening verse about God making light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God seen in the face of Jesus
6 seeing it is God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Keep this verse
Luke 12:32
Jesus telling his disciples not to be afraid, little flock, for it gives the Father great happiness to give them the kingdom
32 Don’t be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Psalm 150:1-2
quoted before the offering song: praise God in the sanctuary, praise him in his mighty heavens, for his acts of power and surpassing greatness
1 Praise Yah! Praise God in his sanctuary! Praise him in his heavens for his acts of power!
2 Praise him for his mighty acts! Praise him according to his excellent greatness!
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Matthew 22:23
Sadducees who say there is no resurrection came to Jesus and questioned him about levirate marriage and the resurrection
23 On that day Sadducees (those who say that there is no resurrection) came to him. They asked him,
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Mark 12:18
Mark's parallel account of the Sadducees questioning Jesus about the resurrection
18 There came to him Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection. They asked him, saying,
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Luke 20:27
Luke's parallel account of those who maintain there is no resurrection questioning Jesus
27 Some of the Sadducees came to him, those who deny that there is a resurrection.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Exodus 3:6
Jesus quotes God saying I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob to argue God is God of the living not the dead
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.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Deuteronomy 6:4-5
the Shema, quoted by Jesus as the foremost commandment: hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength
4 Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one.
5 You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Psalm 110:1
Jesus quotes David in the Holy Spirit saying the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet, to question how Messiah can be both David's son and David's Lord
1 Yahweh says to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet.”
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
James 3:1
let not many of you be teachers because you will receive a harsher judgment, connected to the warning about scribes receiving greater condemnation
1 Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
1 Peter 3:15
closing: revere Christ as Lord and always be prepared to give a reason for the hope you have, but do this 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:
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Before Ray got into the message, the service took an unplanned turn when Diane from the church office brought the staff forward so the congregation could pray over the pastors. The sermon itself walked through Tuesday of Holy Week, following Jesus as he fielded challenges from the Sadducees and Pharisees in the temple courts and then turned the questions back on the crowds.
What was said
Ray explained that the gospel accounts make it possible to trace Jesus' activity day by day through Holy Week, and that Tuesday was the busiest teaching day of all. He was working through the synoptic gospels in the chronological study the church has been in for eleven years, so the passages from Matthew, Mark, and Luke were read alongside each other throughout.
The Sadducees came to Jesus with a hypothetical about a woman who married seven brothers in succession, each of whom died without leaving children. They did not believe in the resurrection, and Ray was direct that this was not a sincere question. It was a straw man designed to make the Pharisees look foolish by putting Jesus on record. Jesus called them mistaken outright, and told them they understood neither the scriptures nor the power of God. He answered that in the resurrection people neither marry nor are given in marriage, and then pointed them to the burning bush, where God says "I am the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob," present tense, showing that those men were still alive to him.
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together and sent a lawyer to ask which commandment was the greatest. Ray noted that the parallel version of this question appears earlier in Luke as the lead-in to the Good Samaritan, and that a version of the challenge had circulated among Jewish teachers before this, including a well-known tradition about summing up the whole law in the time it takes to balance on one foot. Jesus answered with the Shema from Deuteronomy and added the command to love your neighbor as yourself, saying the entire law and the prophets hang on these two. A scribe affirmed the answer, and Jesus told him he was not far from the kingdom of God.
Jesus then asked the Pharisees a question of his own: if the Messiah is the son of David, how does David in the Spirit call him Lord in Psalm 110? Ray pointed out that this is the most quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament. The crowd enjoyed watching, and no one dared to question Jesus any further after that.
Jesus then addressed the crowds and his disciples directly about the scribes and Pharisees. He told them to follow what those teachers say, because they sit in Moses' seat, but not to imitate what they do, because they load people with burdens they will not lift a finger to ease, and they perform every religious act to be seen. He warned specifically that they devour widows' houses. Sitting opposite the treasury, Jesus watched a poor widow put in two small copper coins and told his disciples she had given more than all the wealthy contributors, because she gave out of her poverty while they gave from their surplus. Ray was pointed here: he said this passage is not about seed money, and that anyone who preaches it that way should be walked out on. The point is that the religious structure was supposed to be caring for widows, and it was doing the opposite.
The sermon ended with a disciple drawing Jesus' attention to the beauty of the temple, and Jesus saying that not one stone would be left on another. Ray tied this to the sermon's closing thought: however impressive any human achievement is, if God has not established it, it will fall. He offered three things he wanted people to walk away with. Be humble before God and other people, because you could turn out to be mistaken, the way the Sadducees were. Hypocrisy always harms, while humility always helps. And as stunning as any human institution or building can be, it will not last, so keep what matters real, which he summarized as loving God and actually loving people.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Ray pointed out that the Sadducees were not genuinely seeking truth but were trying to trap Jesus with a straw man argument. When have you caught yourself arguing a position you had already locked in, and how did it affect the conversation?
- Jesus told the Sadducees they were mistaken because they understood neither the scriptures nor the power of God. What does it look like in practice to hold those two things together, knowing what scripture says and trusting God's power to do what it says?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 7,815 words
Good morning, everybody. How are we doing? It's great to see you this morning, and I have a good word from, second Corinthians to lead us into song. Would you stand with me while I, share this verse? It is, for God who said, let there be light in the darkness.
He's made this light to shine in our hearts. Isn't that awesome? So that we could know the glory of God that's seen in the face of Jesus. I'd like to sing of it together. The words are, who breaks the power of sin and darkness?
Whose love is mighty and so much stronger? It's the king of glory. It's the king above all kings. Let's remember who we're singing to this morning.
Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I've got a few announcements. Let's see together what comes up on the screen. Hey, Operation Christmas Child is happening and we're getting closer and closer to that date.
The nineteenth is the date that is they have to be sent off. So the eighteenth, there'll be a packing party here from nine to eleven a. M. That's in the morning, packing party. November 18, nine to eleven in the morning and then we'll send them out on the nineteenth.
Veterans Day.
She real quick. Can we interrupt you guys?
Yeah. Yeah. We're gonna Oh, boy.
That's the sorry. Strong entrance. Strong.
This is not on. Is this on? Okay. And this is unplanned. Obviously, we have knocked our pastors going, oh, what's going on?
If you don't know me, I'm Diane. I work in the office with these fellows. This is our staff. And as we come into the time of Thanksgiving, I just wanted to take some time, hopefully, that we as staff, but also as a congregation, can honor our pastors. I don't see Mike here.
If he's here, he might come in late, but he can come up. But we serve each week, and they we, all of us, are the face and hands of Christ in this church to one another and also to the community. And these guys do an awesome job of that, but they also carry a twenty four seven burden, if you will, for all that they see and minister to each each day. They and then they take it home to their families, and that's that's a heavy load, but we so appreciate what they do. We think of all the times that they sit with grieving families.
They hold hands. They cry with one another. They list provide listening ears. They, drive many miles. They give counsel that's received and sometimes not received.
They also share in the joys of marriages, of birth, of rebirth, of rededication of lives to Christ. They see it all. They see the joys, the upsides, and the downsides of pastoring. And so we just wanted to take this time to pray with them and over them. And if any of you would like to come up and lay your hands on them with us, we'd love that.
Nick's gonna lead us in prayer.
Yes. Any of the elders? Anybody wants to come up? That'd be great. And and before I worked here, I had no idea how how rare it was to see them here because they're always out serving, always out, always out doing something.
We we love them, and, boy, we get a lot out of them that most churches don't get out of their pastors. So yeah.
Yeah. Come on up.
Lord God, we just wanna thank you so much for these men, Lord, who who have blessed us so richly, who give at 03:00 in the morning when everybody else should be sleeping, but they're awake, Lord, because you've had them awake. And Lord, that you bring them in the next morning to pick up right where they they said they would be, Lord, for blessing us so richly, for for being kind, Lord, for shining your wisdom in into their hearts for their humility, Lord. And we just thank you so much for bringing these fine men into our lives, Lord, who who put their their lives on the line, who put everything on hold, who say yes when others say no, who who try, Lord, who just try so hard, Lord. And thank you for these men and these wonderful people who who are friends, who bless us so richly. Lord, would you continue to sow into their lives?
Lord, would you protect their families from the evil one? Lord, would you just bless them richly, Lord, both both here on earth and in kingdom to come, Lord, with with your your joy, your peace, your love, and would you keep infusing us and help us to be the church that you want us to be, Lord. Would you would you direct us? Would you guide them? Would you would you open up new doors, Lord God?
And thank you for their willingness to shift and change, to start up with Awana, to let Monday nights go, to to to go with the times, Lord God. And, and as we go into this Christmas season, which is tough, Lord, would you give them extra joy and energy and fervor for you, Lord, for for peace through the through the processes. People have a tough time during the holiday seasons. Lord God, would you give them extra courage and ability to jump out of bed and be ready to go for good rest at night, Lord God, for time with their families and, Lord, just joy in the process. And thank you so much for how much they've blessed us.
And and, Lord, would you give us many more years with these these fine men, Lord God. And we pray for Mike as he helps out with the youth group too, Lord. Would would the youth be challenged and changed? And thank you for how much you've grown him up, Lord. Thank you for Carl and his blessing of music and his focus on you and and his wow.
Just attendance to to loving people, Lord. And for Ray, for his everything. Because he does so much, Lord God, for his ability to fix cars, for his willingness to listen to anybody no matter what situation they're in, Lord. And thank you, Lord, in your holy name, amen.
And that is gonna do the service. Okay. That's sweet. There's not everything, but I'm sorry. If you are a veteran here this morning, that's something I could not have done.
I flat could not have done, but I honor and appreciate it. Would you all stand if you're a veteran here this morning? If you ever served, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you for serving. My dad was a drafty, I've mentioned several times, into Vietnam War. And he gets together each year, and they go in a little further each year when they get together. And they made it to Missouri, and I'm hoping they'll be in Wyoming by next year to to come visit. But thank you.
Would you all stand now? I don't think there are any other announcements. If there are, we're not gonna do them. Okay.
Just a testament to how good a shepherd that Jesus is. It's from Luke 12. He says to his disciples, his followers, to us. He says, don't be afraid, little flock. He says, for it gives your father great happiness to give you the kingdom.
To give it. We're not earning it. He's giving it away. How do we receive it? By belief, through faith, and Jesus.
Really. Let's not make it complicated. Really. It's through faith. God, we give you praise this morning as you are the resurrected king.
Lord, thank you. Thank you that you are alive and well and you are alive and well in us. Amen. You can have a seat here for a moment. It's the worship through giving part of the service, and I'll invite the ushers to come on forward.
We're gonna sing a new song, a new song that's thousand hallelujahs. And here's the scripture for it. Praise God in the sanctuary. Praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power, and praise him for his surpassing greatness.
But before we sing,
may I ask you a prayer? Yes. God almighty, thank you. We're so thankful. We stand in awe of you, Lord.
We want to be a part of what it is that you're doing in this world, Lord. Would you use us? Would you show us the direction you'd have us to go? Would you give us the strength to walk with you in that direction? I pray, Lord, that we'd be open to anyone and everyone.
Lord, I pray that you would put on, in our hearts new, fresh, mercies every morning, that we're able to actually understand, Lord, and articulate to others. We're crying out for it. We all are crying out for mercy. In Jesus' name, Lord, would you use us, this church, as a part of what's going on in this valley. Would you use the church in this valley as a part of what's going on in the world?
We want to see your kingdom advance, Lord. We wanna see it. Show us the way and allow us the grace to walk in it. We pray that your your will would be done in your way, Lord. Take this, everything that's placed in these plates, Lord, and do what you would with it.
In Jesus name, amen. Amen. Alright. It's time for children's church downstairs. Is that hot out there?
No? Not really. It is now. Well, was not nervous this morning when I got here. I know it's Sunday and that says Tuesday's topics up there.
We are in a chronological study that we've been involved in for, I don't eleven years. We're actually moving forward in the synoptic gospels, and this is Tuesday of holy week of, let's say, thirty three AD. I know there's a debate, but thirty three AD is pretty commonly held to for the the week before the crucifixion, the passion of Christ. So Tuesday's topics. Tuesday is the busiest of the days as far as Jesus' teaching.
And when we're reading through, if you're paying attention to all of the gospels at the same time, you get a pretty clear picture of what's going on each day. I told you last time, we've got a lot to cover. We're not even going get through all of Tuesday today, but this is what we're going to cover today. This is the sessions. I know you can't read that.
It's a little small. The print is small. Luke has a little more to say than Matthew or Mark in this. They're very, very similar. So I'm going to let Matthew tell the story and then add in where the others have a little extra.
And I think I don't usually do three point sermons, but I do three paragraph sermons sometimes, and each paragraph often has a point. I'll try to wrangle those points. But if you have others that you see, tell me afterwards, please, see if something jumps off the screen at you. Matthew twenty two twenty three says this. On that day, Tuesday, Holy Week, some Sadducees who say there is no resurrection, Matthew puts it in there.
Sadducees who say there is no resurrection came to Jesus and they questioned him. Now, we have heard about Pharisees a lot, all throughout the gospels, even from the baptism of Jesus, even from the ministry of John the Baptist, we've seen Pharisees come up. And we've heard about the Sanhedrin, and we've heard about the chief priests and scribes, and we've even heard about them in this chapter. But it says on that day, the Sadducees came forward. They said there's no resurrection.
They came to Jesus, and they questioned him saying, teacher, teacher, oh, teacher. Remember last week, there were some folks who were spies and they were coming. They didn't really believe that they ought to call him teacher, but they were feigning that. Teacher, 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. Leverate marriage.
That's what this is talking about. Now consider this hypothetical. Seven brothers among us, there were seven brothers among us. And the first married and died. And having no children, he left his wife to his brother.
It was the same also with the second brother and the third all the way down to the seventh. Now, this is a kind of a ridiculous hypothetical, it seems. It's also a straw man argument from people who don't believe in the resurrection. When Matthew starts off and says, these are the Sadducees. These are not the Pharisees.
They're the Sadducees. They do believe in the Bible. They especially believe in the written Pentateuch, the first five books, the books of Moses. They put great emphasis on the Pentateuch. They don't care too much for the prophets.
They probably read them, but they don't care too much for the prophets because there's a lot of supernatural stuff and judgment in there. Right? And so the Sadducees, most of them were more or less complicit with the Roman government. They enjoyed having their power in the Sanhedrin over their people. So they say there's no resurrection.
So they bring up this argument, and it's kind of a straw man argument. Like, come on. This is ridiculous to even think this might be the case. What's this gonna be like? This is not someone seeking knowledge.
Okay? This is not somebody who's looking for it. He knows his opinion, No doubt about it, and then he's trying to get Jesus to make the Pharisees look ridiculous again. Okay? Because they're his enemies.
It was the same also with the second brother, the third down to the seventh, and last of all, the woman died. Now in the resurrection there, whose wife of the seven will she be? Will she be? For they all had her in marriage. First of all, I want to say something about love marriage too.
We don't see that come up in scripture hardly ever. It does say to provide for and care for, and you can look at it from the lens of the patriarchy and think, well, it's because that man needed to have a male child or needed to have a child, keep the line of the family going. And so that woman's in a bad situation. But she was to be cared for by the brother, taken care of by the brother. That was the thing.
We don't see it come up. In the Old Testament, it hardly ever comes up. In the book of Ruth, that is backstory. It never really comes up, but it's backstory. And so this particular instance, it's not like this happened all the time.
Okay? He's not seeking truth. He's trying to make the Pharisees look ridiculous and get Jesus to say it out loud. Now Mark says, some sadducees who say there's no resurrection. It's a big deal.
Actually, in the book of Acts, when Paul is in a sticky situation do you remember this? He's in a sticky situation. He's fixing to be beat up and torn to pieces. And so in order to stop himself from being beat up, he says, hey. Something about the resurrection to let the people start fighting each other instead of fighting him.
He knows this is a huge fight. It's a polemic issue. There are a lot of polemic issues in our day. Are there not? Yeah.
Okay. Do we ever make straw man arguments for the other side? Holy Moses. Yes. We do.
Some sadducees who say there's no resurrection, they come to Jesus and begin questioning him saying, teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, where does it differ? It doesn't. Oh, same thing. Leaving no children, second with Mary dies all the way down. Nope.
Same thing. Luke, same thing. Who maintain that there's no resurrection. They keep on bringing that up. That's one of their planks in their party platform.
So they bring it up. Question of saying, teacher, Moses wrote for us. It's in the Pentateuch. This is this is one of them that we and they agree on. That, Sadducee, is saying, they said they believe in this.
We say we believe in this. All seven married her. Jesus answered and said to him, you are mistaken. Wait a second. Jesus, love and truth.
Right? He says, alright. I know why you're asking this question. You're not seeking. You already know that your opinion.
You already know what you think, and you are mistaken. Since you don't understand the scriptures nor the power of God, you're missing out. You've already made up your mind. You're mistaken since you don't understand the scripture nor the power of God. For indirection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
And at this point, for those of you who are happily married, you go, oh, I don't want to think about that. For those of you who are not happily married, might be thinking, phew. He's saying it is wholly other. It is different. The age to come is different from the age right now.
In the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, they are like angels in heaven. This is as close as it comes to saying we turn into angels. We don't turn into angels, but we are likened to them in this state. But regarding the resurrection of the dead, this is what your question is about. Have you not read what was spoken to you by God?
This is God's word, he says. He holds it up. He actually holds up an, I think, unusual example, but But he's holding up an unusual example from Moses, from the Pentateuch. Right? He says, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
He's not the God of the dead, but of the living. When he says, I am, he means it. It's ever present tense, self existent one. And he says, I am the God of these who still exist, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He's not the God of the dead, but of the living.
And when the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching. The crowds. The crowds maybe not quite as affiliated as Sadducees, Pharisees, Herodians, maybe not making their living as lawyers or scribes. The crowds heard this, and they were astonished by it going, wow. That was bold.
He just said that. He didn't he just said, you're mistaken straight up to this guy. Jesus said to him, is this not the reason you're mistaken in Mark? You don't understand the scriptures or the power of God. You read them, but you don't understand them, and you don't understand the power of God.
You think that it's always gonna be just like it is here. Actually, that's exactly what Sadducees believed. They believed that at death, not only the body, but also the spirit. It was it. Nothing.
Goes into nothing. Is this not the reason you're mistaken? You don't understand scriptures nor the power of God for when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. Regarding the fact that the dead rise, have you not read in the book of Moses in the passage about the burning bush how God spoke to him saying, I am the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. That was years before Moses.
Right? And he's still saying, I am their God. They are still alive. He's not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are not just mistaken.
You are greatly mistaken. You're very wrong regarding the fact that the dead rise. You say it doesn't happen, but you're not paying attention to scripture or the power of God. Luke, same thing. And then it says, some of the scribes some of the scribes answered.
I like this. Some of the people who are listening go, So I've been believing that for a long time. But this guy is speaking as one who has authority, and some of them said, Wow, teacher, you have spoken well. They're willing to be open to God's truth. Some of the scribes answered said, Teacher, you have spoken well, for they did not have the courage to question him any longer about anything.
If I keep on asking, you're going keep on telling me where I'm wrong. Does that sound like us? I don't want to watch that. That bothers me. Confirmation bias is very, very real now, and it was very, very real then.
But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees what what we hear about the Pharisees all the time. Right? When the Pharisees heard, oh, he got him. Oh, snap. It's like a rap battle.
All of a sudden, Jesus has quieted the Sadducees. They gathered together. Let's huddle up. Let's see. And one of them, a lawyer, one of them who's really into it, asked him a question.
Now Matthew says testing him. He's testing him. I suppose he's testing him. Usually when I hit this, I say he was testing him. It's usually to catch him in something.
But when we read the other two and we read the end of the story, I'm thinking, wow, this is pretty awesome. He asked him a question, testing him and said, teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Which is the great commandment in the law? Now, have we heard this before? We have heard this before.
We heard it in Luke. We heard it as the lead in for the story of the Good Samaritan. That's where we heard basically the same question. And this is a question that's going to come up from any great teacher. Right?
It's going to come up. So he probably some people said he had a response that, Okay, go back into the speech, right? But I think it was a sincere answer, whether it was prepared or not. A lot of commentators point out that what we hear today refer to as an elevator version of your story, like somebody has a sermon and decent sermon and they say, You need to learn that in an elevator version to just get the essence out of it, get it down to a minute, get it down to just a little bit. Well, in this time period, within fifty years either direction, there was a actually, fifty years before this, there was a fellow that had been asked to sum up the law, sum up the Jewish law.
But the guy said, do it in the time it would take for you to have to put down one leg. If you're standing on one leg, I want you to be able to sum up everything you believe in the time it would take for you to balance out and put that other foot down. Okay? And that's a fairly famous one. And Jesus sums it up very quickly.
He says, you should love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. Now, let's go to Mark and Luke before, but Mark says, what command what commandment is the foremost, the greatest of all? And Jesus answered, the foremost is this, here Israel, Shema Israel. Here Israel, the Lord is our God. The Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.
Deuteronomy six four. This is the Shema. The first time I got here, I had never heard that word out loud because I am from rural Georgia. I did not know any Jewish people. I was not paying attention, and I got here and I said, that's the Shema.
And a fellow of Jewish descent came forward afterwards and said, man, it's Shema. For the second service, please. It's the Shema. Hear, 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 strength, all your soul, all your strength. Mark agrees. Second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There's no other commandment greater than these, in Mark.
And the scribe, the one that Matthew says came and was testing him, said, well said, teacher. You have truly stated that he is one. Now, Pharisees absolutely would have believed the Shema. They would have believed that. You have truly stated that he is one and that there's no one besides him.
God is what it's all about. And to love him with all the heart, all the understanding, all the strength, to love one's neighbor as oneself is much more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. Well said teacher. Well said scribe. This is good.
And Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently. I love Jesus so much. Amen. He didn't hold it against him that he had been a scribe or was a scribe or was a pharisee or was a the other guy was a sadducee. He didn't hold it against him when he saw that he had answered intelligently because it was based on what God had said.
He said, you're not far from the kingdom of God. You're right here. You're right here. You're paying attention. You're listening to what it says.
Don't be deceived. You're paying attention. It is about God. It is about loving him. It is about loving others.
Now, he just repeated back exactly what Jesus had said. And Jesus saw that he answered intelligently. He said, you're not far from the kingdom of God. And then and then no one dared to ask him any questions any longer. So the first one, it sounds like, oh, he's gonna keep on telling me.
Both of those ways of telling the story, though, it's it's an interesting thing that it gets down to the individual level. From the collective, it gets down to the individual. What are you gonna do with Jesus? Jesus said, this is the greatest and the foremost commandment, and the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Upon these two commandments are suspended. Hang. The are suspended. The whole law and the prophets. So this is that speech.
Right? This is the one legged speech where you just are able to say all of it hangs on this. If you go back to the Decalogue, the 10 commandments, the first four are about your relationship with God, and the last six are about your relationship with people. Love God and love people. Our motto here, by the way, is with all we are, loving God and loving people through Christ.
Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, after they heard silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And then while he's got them all gathered up, Jesus asked them a question. He says, what do you think about the Christ? What do you think about messiah? He actually uses Christ and Matthew uses Christ, the Greek anointed one, messiah.
Whose son is he? And they said to him, son of David. It's immediate. This is Bible this is a wanna verses. This is Bible one zero one.
This is no doubt about it. They knew that. Son of David. Messiah is son of David. Messiah.
David's throne is gonna last forever. Messiah is son of David. Got it. I need a gold star. Yes.
Son of David. No pun intended. Anyway, he said to them, then how does David, in the spirit, Jesus recognizes recognizes the spirit breathed word through David. Then how does David, in the spirit, call him Lord saying, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet. Now Luke says, for David himself says in the book of Psalms, in the book of Psalms, by the spirit, Matthew says, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet, Mark says.
David himself said in the Holy Spirit. I love the little subtle differences. God protects his word. He is the one who moves and stirs these guys to write his word. He protects it.
Jesus responded and began saying, as he taught in the temple area, how is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? Tell me. David himself said in the Holy Spirit that the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet. Now, that is from Psalm one ten, which is the most quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament. Comes up a lot.
The Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. There was no doubt about it in their minds that son of David was a messianic title. And some of these guys were probably present when he was coming up from Jericho and blind Bartimaeus and the other guy were yelling out, son of David, have mercy on us. They were saying, messiah Jesus, have mercy on us, and it really perturbed the pharisees and the scribes. You hear what they're saying?
They're attributing that to you. And so Jesus, while he's got them all together, says, what about this? That's why you're so upset. But of the line of David is a way to consider, and he was of the line of David. But Messiah, how could it be that the Lord says to my Lord?
Therefore, if David calls him Lord, how is he his son? That would be unthinkable in their mindset. If David calls him Lord, how is it that he's his son? Therefore, calls him lord. So how is he his son?
Y'all tell me. David calls him lord. So in what sense is he his son? Tell me. Tell me what you think.
And the large crowd enjoyed listening to him. You know, when there are people that are fussing and fighting and fussing and fighting, it will gather a crowd. And sometimes when you don't care who wins, it's just fun to watch the fight, and Jesus was blasting both sides. It was very subtle, I think, because he was open to them changing their mind. People don't change their mind easily or very often.
He who is convinced against his will is of the same opinion still. Have you all heard that? He who is convinced against his will is of the same opinion still. The large crowd enjoyed listening to him. It's like, I like hearing him shut them down because they're always telling us what we've got to believe.
No one was able to offer him a word and answer nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask him any more questions. Sadly, they were cutting off communication. And Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples. So now it goes from being sadducees first, pharisees next, then spoke to the crowds and to his disciples saying, listen. The scribes and the pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses.
They put themselves in that seat. Therefore, whatever they tell you, do and comply with it all. But don't do as they do for they say things and they don't do them. They put themselves in that. He doesn't say God put them in that position.
They put themselves in that position. Whatever they do, you got to do it. Don't do as they do, for they say things and not do them. They tie up heavy burdens and they lay them down on people's shoulders, and they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as their finger. Every time I see this in the New Testament, think of Jesus riding in the dirt, the woman caught in adultery.
I think of the finger of God writing the law that they say that they're adhering to absolutely, and not even a human finger will they lift to actually do anything helpful. They do all their deeds to be noticed by other people, the definition of hypocrisy. They broadened their phylacteries, and they lengthened the tassels of their garments, religious garments, and they were exaggerated to make them look even more holy. And they loved their place of honor at banquets, at the seats of honor in the synagogues, and personal greetings in the marketplaces, and being called rabbi by the people. But as for you, don't be called rabbi.
Don't be called rabbi, for only one is your teacher. And y'all are all brothers and sisters. It does say y'all there. Y'all are all brothers and sisters. There's not one of you who's elevated over any of the others.
Y'all are all brothers and sisters. And don't be calling anyone on earth your father, for only one is your father. That's he who is in heaven. And don't even be called leaders, for only one is your leader, and that is Christ. Christ is to be the head.
And he says Christ right there. He's just said to them, and these are disciples and the crowd. He's saying, you have to connect directly to Christ. There's not another priest between. Don't be called leaders, for only one is your leader, and that's Christ.
But the greatest of you shall be your servant. He will show this every day for the rest of this week after the resurrection, and he still is showing that the greatest of you shall be your servant. And then the teaching, he was saying, beware of the scraps, look out for them who like to walk around in long robes, that's the tassels and phylacteries. And they like their personal greetings in the marketplaces and seats of honor in the synagogues and place of honor at banquets, who devour widows' houses. And for appearance's sake offer long prayers.
These will receive all the more condemnation. Well, he didn't go on and on about it as long as Matthew, but he gets to the point that Jesus sat down opposite the treasury. Now, this is right there in the temple area, and he began watching how people were putting money into the treasury, how many rich people were putting in large amounts, and a poor widow came and put in 2 lepta coins, which amount to a quadrans. A quadrans, is by most people, it's thought to be the smallest of the coins. It's the smallest of the bronze coins.
At that time, it was worth a 0.25 of an AS, a of an AS. A poor widow came and put in 2 lepta coins. So these are copper coins that are even less valuable. Two of them equal the quadrants, which is not much. 0.375 of a penny is what I've read recently.
It's supposed to be. So a quadrants, it's not much. Colin and his disciples to me said to them, truly, say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury. For they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned and all she had to live on. And if anybody ever starts preaching this passage from a you need to put in that seed money, stand up and walk out the back door.
That is not the point of this. He's saying the religious structure is supposed to be helping the widows, and they're not willing to help the widows. They're actually devouring widows' homes. He said, yes. She put in out of her poverty.
She felt like she had to. She did free will offer, and we'll we'll give her the benefit of calling that free will, but their expectation was that she would. While all the people were listening, he said to his disciples, beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes. He says the same thing, who devour widows' houses and for appearance's sake offer long prayers. These will receive all the more condemnation.
This has reminded me a lot of the book of James. This says, let not many of you be teachers because you'll receive a harsher judgment. To hear and know and to not do, to break the law even in one area, you've broken the whole law. Now he looked up and he saw the wealthy putting the gifts in the temple treasury, and he saw poor widow putting in the 2 leptic coins. And he said, truly, I say to you, this poor widow poured him more than all of them for they all contributed to the offering from their surplus, but she from her poverty put in all that she had to live on.
The clicker is not clicking. I don't mean for the point to stick that long. Alright. Here we go. He was going out of the temple, and one of the disciples said to him, teacher, look at this.
You think he's changing the subject? Because it's an uncomfortable thing to think about if the religious structure is not helping the people, but they're harming them. It's a really hard thing to think about. He might be trying to change the subject. I don't know.
And he was going out of the temple, and one of the disciples said to him, teacher, look. What a wonderful stones. What wonderful stones. They're huge and enormous and beautiful and brilliant, and what wonderful buildings. This is an amazing place.
It is an amazing place. It's awe inspiring. While some were talking about the temple that was it was decorated with beautiful stones and vowed gifts. I had to look up vowed gifts. Votive gifts is what this is.
I I was wondering, is this is this, I don't know, estate planning? I'm not sure what this is, vowed gifts. The vowed gifts here is like a votive gift. It's sort of like lighting a candle, in a church. Or in Mexico, they put up retablos.
They call them retablos. They're like little pieces of tin that they've painted with things that they are thankful for and hope to be. I don't know. It's it's a free will offering. It's decorating the temple.
Some people, commentators even say that it may be some of the foreign lands that have sent gifts that have been put up. I don't know. It's decorated with beautiful stones and vowed gifts, and he said, as for these things which you are observing, the days will come when there will not be one stone left upon another, which will not be torn down. And that would have been unthinkable for them. Took forty six years to build the place.
It would have been absolutely unthinkable to think how they got those stones here in the first place, there's they're gonna be knocked down. Come on, Jesus. It's not clicking again, bloody. Alright. And Jesus said to him, do you see these great buildings?
Not one stone will be left upon another. And we know that in seventy AD that that temple was destroyed, that the siege of Jerusalem left not one of those stones upon another. And then I'm going to close right here, although he's got lots more to say. Most of what he says from this point, I think, is the Olivet Discourse that's up on the hillside overlooking Jerusalem, and it's to his disciples, and it's about the end times. So whoever exalts himself shall be humbled.
Have we heard this before? We have. We've actually heard it recently, and it seems to come up more and more often towards the end when Christ is obviously humbling himself, when it's more and more obvious that he is walking this life out in absolute humility. Whoever exalts himself shall be humble. Whoever hums himself shall be exalted.
So I told you I was going to try for some application points. I'll try. And I think that you might think, Ray is just in the middle politically, and he wants to do everything he can to keep the people from fighting with each other and get them to come in. I really believe that's what it says. So if you're on one side or another of any argument, debate, or dispute, whether it's biblical, practical, even personal or otherwise, I think if you're on either side and you know what you believe, you can act on that.
But when you start trying to convince other people of it, you start trying to bring and build a political coalition to your side, I think you're walking on some really thin ice. Does that make sense to you all? It it makes sense to me, but this is my opinion, so I'm being very careful about it. Okay? Be humble before God and man, For after all, you could be mistaken.
Can you imagine being the sadducee there that day and and putting it out there like, listen to this. I'm gonna get him. This is a really ridiculous example about the widow, the seven widows. We do this all the time with the Pharisees. Throw it out there, and Jesus says, you're mistaken.
I mean, I wanna hear well done my good and faithful servant. I wanna I wanna hear that, but I wanna be a servant to be able to hear that. I don't wanna be well done my good and faithful theologian. I I love the way you Twitter battled that guy into into oblivion. Be humble before God and man, for after all, you could be mistaken.
You could actually be mistaken about the other person. One of the things at the Peacemaker Conference that we studied was something called fundamental attribution error. Do you know what that is? It's where you attribute your actions to your circumstances, but you attribute other people's actions to their character. You can be speeding along the highway, speeding, going faster than the speed limit, speeding.
You're going along, you're thinking, I'm in a hurry. I wouldn't do this unless I was in a hurry. It's safe. It's clear day. Now the whoo.
Somebody passes you really quick, you go, look at that idiot. It's their character, but it's my circumstances. Be humble before God and man, for after all, you could be mistaken. This is from that second section. Hypocrisy always harms.
Lots of people these days are studying vulnerability especially, and they're proclaiming how important it is that we would be vulnerable with one another and that we would live in community with one another, that when we try to put forward when we do put forward a hypocritical face, it always harms relationships. Hypocrisy always harms, and humility always helps. And then the last little section there, when they were trying to change the subject, think, As amazing as the greatest and most beautiful of all human achievements are, and there have been some pretty amazing things, they will not last. If God has not established it, it will fall. And I say that, and the temple is the example of that.
And we could very easily say, God established that. God did have them build a tabernacle. God did point towards things that were to come. He did. But when Jesus says, those who worship me must do so in spirit and in truth, it's not a religious obligation that happens.
It is real. So actually, keep it real was my point that I didn't put in the slides. Keep it real. And Carl said it during the service, don't make it weird. Just keep it real.
If you're loving God, the way that you will show that is by loving other people. Loving God and loving people is what we are to be about. I think that getting in touch with God so that we can figure out how to make other people cower by our superior intellect or by our superior theology is the dangerous thing that that we have to watch out for. And I think that's what Jesus was saying. Hey.
All the people said amen. Goodness gracious. Would y'all stand up? This is a song title. That's not my slide.
I I've told I've told this before probably, but in the South, when the preacher after that invitation, after the altar call, after everything, during the last prayer, they usually sneak back. During the prayer, they sneak back to the back door, they stand there and shake hands to everybody on the way out. And everybody that passes by, the general consensus is, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it.
And I thought, we just preached for forty five minutes on hell, on humility, on hypocrisy, on whatever else. How could that have been enjoyable? Would you pray with me? God, I I do wanna get to a place where we can all say amen. We, like sheep, have gone astray.
Lord, would you show us when we're off? Would you pursue us? Thank you that you do. I thank you for pulling us back into the fold, Lord, and when you pull us into the center of the God of all grace that has called us into his eternity in Christ Jesus, would you unify us in body the body of Christ that we would be actively and humbly working out the will of God. In Jesus name, amen.
First Peter three five fifteen says this, but in your hearts, revere Christ as lord and always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks to give a reason for the hope that you have. But do this with all gentleness and respect. Lord God Almighty, we pray that you would establish us in your kingdom, that you would you would perfect us, Lord. You would make us as mature as we can be at this point, but we'd recognize the process. And I pray, Lord, that you would reestablish relationship.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Share this message
Every word on these came out of the message. Download one and post it anywhere.
