|
The approaching Jewish Passover observance would provide the occasion for the show-down of Jesus' Messianic declarations which were not in accord with Jewish religious expectations. You are also free to transmit this article and quote this article provided that proper citation of authorship is included.
The time had arrived for Jesus to go to
the Jewish Passover observance in Jerusalem, where He knew He
would face a show-down with the religious authorities. This would
provide the occasion to make an unmistakable Messianic declaration
and demonstration, while at the same time explicitly exposing
the religionism of Judaism. Passover, the most important annual holiday of the Jews when they gathered in Jerusalem to commemorate the passing over of the death angel prior to the exodus from Egypt (Exod. 12), was approaching, and speculation was running rampant whether Jesus would attend the feast and confront the Jewish leaders. It was now public knowledge that the Sadducean chief priests and the Pharisees had conspired together to put Jesus to death (cf. Jn. 11:53). Jesus was on the "most wanted list" of Judea, and notice was given that if anyone knew His whereabouts they should report such to the authorities. When threatened, religion will often resort to silencing its critics and opponents by any means possible. Six days prior to Passover Jesus arrived in the village of Bethany just outside of Jerusalem to visit Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Hearing of such, the Sadducean chief priests determined to murder Lazarus also, for he was a painfully obvious documentation of Jesus' power. On the first day of the week Jesus sent two of His disciple into a village to find a mount, the colt of a donkey who had never been ridden. This borrowed beast of burden served as a purposeful reverse symbol to contrast the kingship of Jesus with the popular royal demonstrations of that time. Victorious kings and military leaders often made triumphal entries riding atop a white Arabian stallion leading a procession of conquered foes. The prevailing religious expectations of the Jews was for just such a triumph of the Messiah-King over the Romans. To counter such expectations and to contrast the spiritual non-political kingdom which He came to bring in Himself via lowliness and humility, Jesus chose to ride on the colt of a donkey. This was a fulfillment of prophecy going all the way back to Israel's prophecy of the offspring of Judah tying the donkey's colt to the choice vine (Gen. 49:10,11), amplified by Zechariah's prophecy of the "king coming, humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey" (Zech. 9:9). As Jesus descended from the Mount of Olives and entered into Jerusalem the multitude of Jewish people were still attempting to cast Jesus into their nationalistic expectations of a Messiah-King. They spread their garments and palm-tree branches before Jesus and the procession of His disciples. They proclaimed that Jesus was the "King of Israel" (John 20:13), the "Son of David" (Matt. 21:9; Mk. 11:10), the "Blessed One who comes in the name of the Lord" (Ps. 118:26; Matt. 21:9; Mk. 11:9; Lk. 19:38; Jn. 12:13), crying "Hosanna" ("Save us now!"). Hearing these accolades of the people, some of the Pharisees lamented with the hyperbole that "the whole world has gone after Him" (John 12;19). Other Pharisees advised Jesus to rebuke the followers for their acclamations, to which suggestion Jesus responded that if the people were silenced even the stones of the natural creation would cry out in proclamation of His identity. With a broken heart of compassion Jesus wept over Jerusalem, knowing that the people in the "city of peace" had refused to accept the peace of God available only through Him and His incarnational visitation, desiring only political peace on their own terms. He foresaw that judgment was going to come upon Jerusalem and Palestine in an unprecedented disaster which would leave "no stone upon another," as was fulfilled in 70 A.D. Within the city of Jerusalem and the temple itself Jesus was acclaimed as the expected Messianic prophet, and even the children were crying "Hosanna to the Son of David." The religious authorities were indignant and livid that Jesus would allow such. Jesus simply pointed them to the words of the Psalmist that "from the mouth of infants and nursing babies God perfects praise" (Ps. 8:2). The message of God's redemption and restoration of mankind in Jesus Christ will be proclaimed; it cannot be stopped, quenched or silenced. Jesus returned to Bethany to lodge for the evening. (192) Judaic Religion Will End - Matt. 21:18,19; Mk. 11:12-14 Monday morning Jesus and His disciples departed Bethany, and perhaps in Bethphage, the "house of figs," Jesus noted a fig tree from which He might eat some fruit. Though it was not yet the time of year when the figs would be ripe, there should have been some immature fruit set on the tree. There was nothing but leaves, foliage without fruit, which Jesus used as a tangibilized parable to illustrate the Jewish nation and peoples (cf. Lk. 13:6-9), whose religion had the appearance of life, but they were not receptive to deriving fruitfulness in Jesus Christ. The Jewish religion and the people of Israel would therefore be unable to provide the fruit of God's blessing to any man henceforth forever. (193) Religious Housecleaning - Matt. 21:12,13; Mk. 11:15-18; Lk. 19:45-48 Entering into the Jewish temple Jesus again began to clean house as He did when He made His initial public Messianic claims (John 2:13-22). Observing the corrupt religious practices of commercialism and economic extortion, as well as the superficiality of using the temple area as a short-cut for business errands, Jesus halted the unholy usage of the temple of God. He cited the prophets' allusions to making the temple a "den of robbers" (Jere. 7:11), when it was intended to be "a house of prayer for all peoples" (Isa. 56:7). Isaiah's prophecy was an indictment on the religious exclusivism of Judaism and their failure to recognize that the physical temple was but a pictorial type of the spiritual temple of the Body of Christ wherein God would dwell and facilitate genuine worship in the manifestation of the worth-ship of His character within His people of all races, genders and economic classes. The Sadducean chief priests and the Pharisaic scribes were outraged and sought to destroy Jesus, acting in accord with the character of the Destroyer with whom they were aligned. Such religious destruction is often restrained only by the paranoid fear of public opinion. (194) Dying In Order to Live - John 12:20-50 Gentile proselytes were allowed on the periphery of the Jewish religion in the Court of the Gentiles within the temple. Some of these Gentile proselytes approached Philip requesting an interview with Jesus. Perhaps due to a religious residue of racial prejudice against Gentiles, Philip seeks the assistance of Andrew and together they report the request to Jesus. Speaking to the disciples, the Gentiles and to the surrounding crowd, Jesus announced that the time had come for the Son of Man to be glorified by accomplishing what the Messiah had come to do on man's behalf, even universally inclusive of the Gentiles. Contrary to the self-glorification of religion, the way to be glorified in the kingdom is to be humiliated; the way to live is to die; the way to keep is to lose; and the way to be honored is to serve. Jesus would personally illustrate such when like a grain of wheat buried in the earth unto death, He would die in order that the fruit of His life might be manifested in mankind. Those identified in spiritual union with Jesus Christ must likewise be willing to be detached from personal interest in order to live, be preserved, honored and glorified into eternity. Jesus admits that His human soul was troubled by both the burden of the sin of mankind and the thought of personally dying, but He will not choose the flight of escapism to avoid what He came to accomplish as the Messiah, taking the death consequences of mankind in order to invest God's life in man. Jesus asserted His intent to allow God to glorify Himself through Him, saying "Father, glorify Thy name," at which time a loud voice from heaven indicated that He had glorified Himself in creation (cf. Ps. 19:1), and would now glorify Himself in the re-creation of mankind via redemption and restoration in His Son. This served as a full-disclosure and affirmation of Jesus as the Messiah. The judgment of the world would be effected by Christ's death and resurrection. The diabolic ruler of this world (cf. II Cor. 4:4) would be cast out by the victory of Christ. Though not obliterated or annihilated, Satan would be rendered powerless (Heb. 2:14) and his works destroyed (I Jn. 3:8). When lifted up on the cross in crucifixion (cf. Jn. 3:14; 8:28), dying for the sin consequences of mankind, Jesus would then in His resurrected spiritual form draw by spiritual providence and persuasion (cf. Jn. 6:44) people from all races and nations into spiritual union with Himself. Some in the audience voiced their misunderstanding of whether Jesus' direct prediction of His death by crucifixion contradicted the statements of the old covenant that the Messiah would remain forever (cf. II Sam 7:12,13; Isa. 9:7; Ezek. 37:25: Dan. 7:14; Micah 4:7), apparently forgetting references to the Messiah being cut-off and slaughtered (Isa. 53:7,8; Dan. 9:26). They were not completely convinced that Jesus was the Messiah and not another Messianic impostor. Jesus explained that He, the divine revelatory light (cf. Jn. 8:12; 12:35) would be in their presence a little while longer, during which time they should walk in the light, believe in the light, and become sons of light by identification with Himself. Otherwise, the spiritual darkness of unbelief and judgment would permanently overtake them. Jesus departed and was hidden from the crowds and religious authorities. The general response to Jesus was that of unbelief, a stubborn refusal to receive Him for who He was. This fulfilled the prophecies of Isaiah concerning the persistent unbelief and obstinate rejection of the Messiah by the people of Israel, whereupon God gives them over to a hardness of heart and inability to see and respond (Isa. 6:9,10; 53:1). Although some Jewish leaders assented to Jesus' Messiahship, they were men-pleasers and not willing to accept the social ostracism associated with such identification. Jesus explained that to continue to play the religious game in two-faced hypocrisy was an impossible anachronism. To believe on Him was to believe in God. To see Him was to see God. To hear Him was to hear God. To reject Him was to reject God, to reject eternal life, to abide in darkness, and to be condemned of God. The only way to know God and have the eternal life of God is to receive Jesus Christ. (195) Judgment Avoided By Faith - Matt. 21:19-22; Mk. 11:19-25; Lk. 21:37,38 Crossing the Mount of Olives from Jerusalem to Bethany in the evening, the disciples of Jesus noted that the fig tree that Jesus had said would never bear fruit was now withered and shriveled down to the roots. They were astonished that it was so quickly dried up. It was a picture parable of the Jewish nation and religion which was like a fruitless fig tree, unwilling to derive fruit from the character of God in Jesus Christ, and therefore would soon become lifeless, dead wood, destroyed in the judgment to come in 70 A.D. Only the response of faith, man's receptivity of God's activity, allows the humanly impossible to be implemented to the glory of God as God does the impossible. Standing on the Mount of Olives Jesus indicated that receptive faith could request that "this mountain," the Mount of Olives, be removed, and such could transpire if it were God's will to do so. He may have been alluding to the fact that the stand of the Lord on the Mount of Olives would lead to the great divide between Christianity and religion (cf. Zech. 14:4) when all religion was judged by the activity of God in Himself. Faith is not mere cognizance or mental assent, but the reception of the forgiveness of the Forgiving Savior and the function of the divine Forgiver forgiving others through us, an attitude and action that is not natural or possible to man, but is supernaturally possible by the activity of God in man received by faith. (196) The Basis of Authority - Matt. 21:23-27; Mk. 11:27-33; Lk. 20:1-8 On His return to Jerusalem and the temple, Jesus was confronted by a coalition of the religious leaders who questioned by what authority He was doing what He did. Religious authority is derived from the being and character of Satan and is based on hierarchical position and placement, whereas the authority of Jesus was derived out of the Being (Greek word exousia - "out of being") of God. John the Baptist had also ministered by the authority of God, and by identifying Himself with the preliminary ministry of John Jesus had contrasted Himself with the popular nationalistic expectations of a utopian Messianic kingdom gained through routing the Romans, calling instead for personal and collective repentance to avoid the impending catastrophe of divine judgment upon unbelieving Israel along with John. Jesus responded to the question of the Jewish leaders by promising to answer them directly if they would first answer one question from Him, "Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men?" If the religious leaders could not ascertain whether John's ministry was derived from the authority of God, they would obviously not be able to recognize the authority of God in His ministry. Since they had rejected John's ministry, refusing to repent and accept the Messiah John pointed to, but were quite cognizant of the popular opinion of the people that John was a prophet of God, the religious leaders fell back on agnosticism claiming to "not know" whether John was of God and refusing to answer Jesus' question. Jesus therefore refused to answer their question directly, for if they could not admit that John the Baptist acted out of the authority of God, neither would they believe that He acted by the authority of God. (197) Parable of Two Sons - Matt. 21:28-32 Matthew alone records the parable of the two sons who responded differently to the request of their Father to work in the vineyard. One son, representing the Gentiles, first rejected God, but then they repented by changing their mind about their own ability and chose to act by deriving their ability from God in Christ by faith. The other son, representing the Jewish peoples and religion, first pledged their commitment to do whatever the Father wanted (cf. Exod. 19:8; 24:3,7), but then failed to follow-through in their action. Religious people often pay respect to God but repudiate responsibility and reject obedience by refusal to be receptive to God's work. The tax-collectors and the prostitutes, who were despised by the Jewish religionists more than any other and regarded as having no part in their kingdom expectations, would participate in the kingdom of God before them, Jesus declared. These social outcasts believed John the Baptist, repented and were baptized, being receptive to the promised Messiah, whereas the Jewish leaders repudiated John's message and ministry, thus rejecting God and His righteousness in Jesus Christ. (198) Parable of Murderous Tenants - Matt. 21:33-46; Mk. 12:1-12; Lk. 20:9-19 In another parable of murderous tenants Jesus illustrates again the rejection of the Messiah by the Jewish people and the reception of the Gentiles. Israel had been entrusted with the tenancy of God's vineyard, even identified as the vineyard of the Lord (Isa. 5:7). When the time of harvest came there was no fruit because they were not receptive to God in faith. God sent His servants, the prophets, to collect the fruit of His vineyard, but they were attacked, beaten and killed (cf. Matt. 5:12; 23:29-39; Acts 7:51-53). God sent His only Son, and they killed Him also. The Jewish religion, indicative of most religion, tended to think that God was in some far away place in a detached Deism, judgment was far removed in the future and reserved for others, and the kingdom/vineyard really belonged to them. Jesus asked the religious leaders what the owner of the vineyard should do to these scoundrels who had killed all of his representatives. They verbalized their own indictment, like David (II Sam. 12:1-7), when they said, "Destroy the wretches, and allow others to tend the vineyard." Jesus reminded them of the Psalmist's prophecy of "the stone which the builders rejected, being made the cornerstone" (Ps. 118:22,23), indicating that they were rejecting the One who would be the cornerstone of God's kingdom. The vineyard and the promise of the kingdom would be taken away from the Jewish peoples who had rejected His reign, and would be given to the Gentile peoples of the world who would receive Jesus Christ and bring forth the fruit of God's character. Alluding to the prophecy of Isaiah (Isa. 8:14,15; cf. I Cor. 1:23; I Pet. 2:8), Jesus proceeded to explain that those who would stumble (the Jews) over this Rock of offense (Jesus Christ) would be broken to pieces and scattered like dust, as indeed the Jewish peoples were destroyed and scattered in the divine judgment of 70 A.D. Finally the Jewish leaders realized that Jesus was exposing them in these parables, and they sought to do what the parable had pictured, i.e. murder the Son; restrained again only by public opinion. (199) Parable of Wedding Feast - Matt. 22:1-14 Undaunted by their murderous intent Jesus told another parable of the wedding feast of the king's son, which again illustrated the rejection of the Jewish peoples and the reception of those repudiated by Jewish religion. Wanting to celebrate the kingdom of grace in Jesus Christ, God first invited the Jewish peoples, the people of promise, to the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9). The Jewish people declined, made excuses to avoid God's invitation, killed His servants, the prophets, and rejected the Son. God's judgment of wrath came in the destruction of those peoples and their city in 70 A.D. God's invitation was made available to all men universally, the good and the bad, the religious and the irreligious, who came and filled the kingdom. One guest, in particular, stood out like a sore thumb at the wedding feast for he had refused the wedding garment provided by the host and was not "clothed in Christ" (Rom. 13:14; Gal. 3:27). When confronted by the absence of such he was speechless, for there is no explanation for the refusal of God's grace. Divine judgment is the just outcome for those who refuse and reject the complete provision God makes available in Jesus Christ. Many, that is all, are called and invited to God's provision of grace in His Son in the kingdom; but few are willing to receive Christ by faith alone and become chosen vessels of God's grace activity. (200) Religious Subterfuge - Matt. 22:15-22; Mk. 12:13-17; Lk. 20:20-26 Willing to engage in any guise or treachery to ensnare and entrap Jesus, the Pharisees joined forces with the Herodians, whom they regarded as liberal compromisers. Infiltrating the crowd, they feign support for Jesus, admitting and complimenting Him for being a man of integrity. They were setting Him up for their "loaded question" of whether it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not. If Jesus said, "No," it would be a violation of Roman law, and they could report Him to the Roman authorities. If Jesus said, "Yes," it would be a violation of the contemporary interpretation of the Jewish Law and the fallacious theocratic concepts that advocated revolution against Rome. The religious leaders thought they had Jesus in a bind that would expose Him either as a rebel or a blasphemer, guilty of treason against Rome or of being a traitor to His own people. Jesus saw through their hypocrisy and their attempt to tempt Him in alliance with the tempter. He knew that the underlying perceptions that caused them to ask such a question were the monetary preoccupation and greed of the Jewish peoples and religion, and the galling displeasure of having to give some of their money to the Roman government in the form of taxes. Jesus was quite aware that the people of Palestine were oppressed and exploited more by the Jewish religion than they were by the Romans. So Jesus asks the religious leaders to show Him a denarius coin which was used for paying taxes. The fact that they had such coins readily jingling in their pocket served as an indictment of their involvement and a tacit admission of the legitimacy of the authority and advantages of the Roman government. Taking the coin they handed Him, Jesus asked, "Whose likeness and inscription is on this coin?" They replied, "Caesar's." Then Jesus seems to say, "If it has Caesar's picture and name on it, and he issued it, coined it and distributed it, then it belongs to him. Why do you want to hold on to it and hoard it? Does it reveal that you are lovers of money (Luke 16;14; I Tim. 6:10)?" R.T. France explains that
Jesus did not advocate political rebellion, revolution or insurrection, even though such an attitude of Zealotism was growing in Palestine and integrated with their Messianic expectations. Rather, Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's." For the Jewish leaders this meant that they should pay their Roman taxes willingly, give up their religious pursuits for power, prestige and possessions, and give themselves wholeheartedly to God. Despite Jesus' clear statement about paying taxes, He was falsely accused of forbidding the paying of taxes to Caesar at His trial (cf. Lk. 23:2). (201) Religion Divided on Resurrection - Matt. 22:23-33; Mk. 12:18-27; Lk. 20:27-40 Some Sadducean religionists approached Jesus with an hypothetical test-case about a woman who was married to seven brothers in her earthly life according to Mosaic Law (Gen. 38:8; Deut. 25:5,6), asking whose wife she would be in the alleged resurrection existence. The Sadducees were annihilationists who did not believe in the resurrection or an afterlife. They seem to have been trying to caricature and ridicule belief in resurrection in order to show the absurdity of Pharisaic ideas, or perhaps hoping that Jesus' answer would enflame and infuriate the Pharisees even more against Jesus. Jesus' response to the religionists, both the Sadducees and the Pharisees (and all subsequent varieties), was, "You are in error, not understanding the Scriptures or the power of God." Religion misinterprets the written revelation of God and is ignorant of the divine dynamic of the living revelation of God in Jesus Christ. The Pharisaic religionists were just as wrong as the Sadducees. They believed in the future physical resurrection of Jewish bodies which would engage in Jewish relationships of marriage, religion and nation exclusive from other races and with the benefit of materialistic abundance. Heaven was conceived of as an elitist Jewish ghetto or enclave. Resurrection was but reanimation and resuscitation of physical bodies. Jesus counters such thinking by explaining that resurrection-bodies are not physical bodies capable of death and marital relationships of "celestial sex." Resurrection-bodies will have no racial, sexual or nationalistic differentiation. Those who will participate in resurrection are those who are spiritual sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:26), sons of resurrection by their identification with the One who is Resurrection and Life (John 11:25). By their ontological spiritual union with the One who is Life (John 14:6), Christians will participate in the perpetuity of His eternal life and immortality (cf. I Tim. 6:16: II Tim. 1:10), having resurrected-bodies which are heavenly (I Cor. 15:40), eternal (II Cor. 5:1), glorified (Phil. 3:21) and spiritual (I Cor. 15:44), like angels. Directing their attention to the self-identification of God to Moses at the burning bush, Jesus reminded the religionists that God is the eternally present-tense "I AM" (Exod. 3:16), the living reality of which cannot die. Resurrection is inherent in the Being of the Living God, and those who are spiritually united with the ontological essence of God through Jesus Christ will participate in the perpetuity of His life and resurrection. Resurrection is far more than the epistemological doctrinal tenet that religion often makes of it, as evidenced by the error of both Sadducean annihilationism and Pharisaic reanimation of the physical. (202) Law Fulfilled in Love - Matt. 22:34-40; Mk. 12:28-34 With relentless religious fervor another of the scribal Pharisees ventured to tempt Jesus with a question about the Jewish Law, asking "What commandment is foremost and of highest priority?" Religious rigorists and legalists are constantly concerned and preoccupied with the intricacies and priorities of the Law. Jesus quoted the familiar Shema that states that man is to love God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength (Deut. 6:4,5), following that with the commandment of loving one's neighbor as oneself (Lev. 19:18). These love commandments are the greatest of the commandments and the whole of the message of the Law and the prophets is inherent within them for the character of God is love (I John 4:8,16). Following Jesus' pronouncement of the new commandment of loving others as He loved us (John 13:34), Paul would later write that "love is the fulfillment of the Law" (Rom. 13:8-10; Gal. 5:14). The Jewish scribe affirmed Jesus' answer about love in the law, but added his awareness that such love was more valuable before God than religious offerings and sacrifices (I Sam. 15:22; Ps. 40:6-8; 51:16,17; Isa. 1:11-15; Mic. 6:6-8). When an individual begins to recognize the vanity and impediment of religious ritual, rules and regulations, then he is open to God's grace-activity and not far from accepting the kingdom of God in Christ, able to differentiate between religion and Christianity. (203) Messiah: Human and Divine - Matt. 22:41-46; Mk. 12:35-37; Lk. 20:41-44 Jesus posed a question to or concerning the Pharisaic scribes, asking who the Messiah was to be the son of within their Messianic expectations. He knew that they expected the Messiah to be the "son of David," a Davidic descendant who would establish the kingdom forever (II Sam. 7:12,16). A problem is posed for their preconceived religious limitations of monotheism when Jesus asks why David then referred to the Messiah as "Lord" within the Psalm that he wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. "The Lord (God the Father) said unto my Lord (the Messiah), 'Sit on My right hand, until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet.'" (Ps. 110:1), and this was regarded by the Jews as a prophecy of Messianic victory and triumph. The question is: If the Messiah is David's divine "Lord," how is He David's son? Such a question produced an inscrutable quandary for Jewish thinking, and they were unable to answer because religion is limited by human logic and wisdom to predetermined parameters of plausibility. They were unable to conceive of the Messiah being both human and divine as a God-man. Within the kingdom thinking of Christianity all of the doctrinal details do not have to be figured out with epistemological human reason, but we can be content with the apparent antinomies of divine dialectic, viewing Jesus as both eternal Deity as well as humanity from the royal lineage of Davidic descendancy, the God-man. (204) Burdensome Religion - Matt. 23:1-12; Mk. 12:28-40; Lk. 20:45-47 In an extended and explicit exposure of the Pharisaic religion of Judaism, Jesus denounces their hypocrisy and warns the people to beware of the scribal rule-setters who do not understand the kingdom and have rejected the Messiah. They may occupy the legal place of Moses, and insofar as they stay with the Law they should be heeded, but they do not practice what they preach, imposing deeds and observances on others which they avoid. Pharisaic religionists and their perpetual ilk do not understand the provisional grace of God in Jesus Christ and inevitably place heavy burdens of religious performance on others which they do not perform (cf. Lk. 11:46). In addition, such religionists have a vain pride in visible and ostentatious theatrics, carrying enlarged Bible verse boxes, wearing religious robes and vestments, and saying pious prayers conspicuously in public (cf. Matt. 6:5). Such religion fosters personality-cults wherein mere men are esteemed and admired with special admiration and veneration, even assuming pretentious honorary titles which should refer to God alone. God alone is Father and Reverend. Jesus alone is the Master and Leader. The Holy Spirit alone is Teacher and Director. When religious men accept such self-important titles of deity, they rob God of the honor, worth and esteem due only to Him. Those who would be great in the kingdom of God must have a servant-heart for others, rather than seeking veneration for themselves. Self-exaltation will cause God to bring religious leaders down, whereas humility and lowliness will lead to the exaltation of God's grace. (205) Denunciation of Religion - Matt. 23:13-39 Jesus pronounced a series of seven woes upon the religious leaders for various religious activities. (1) Instead of showing people to the Door (John 10:9) and the Way (John 14:6) of the kingdom in Christ, whereby He might reign as King in their lives, the religious leaders block and debar people from entering into the kingdom (Lk. 11:52), slamming the door in their face, so they can build religious kingdoms for themselves. (2) Whereas the kingdom of God allows all believers to become a functional part of the Body of Christ, the religious leaders proselytize people to join and belong as a member of their religious group, which Jesus describes as becoming a "son of hell." (3) Within the kingdom truthfulness and honesty are derived from the One who is Truth (John 14:6), without the need for all the intricacies of verification via oath-swearing that are often developed in religion to cover up their falsehood (cf. Matt. 5:33-35). (4) When the King reigns in the hearts of Christian people the givingness of God's character will be evidenced in justice, mercy and faithfulness. The blind guides of religion major in the minors of insignificant and fallacious interpretations of tithing (Lk. 11:42), which Jesus illustrates with the hyperbole of "straining out gnats and swallowing camels." (5) God desires to cleanse people from sin by His Son, Jesus Christ, and by His indwelling presence in the Christian manifest the purity of His character in their behavior. Religion attempts to clean-up the outside of the container by ceremonialism and behavior modification, but inside they remain full of dishonesty, greed and self-indulgence (cf. Mk. 7:4; Lk. 11:39). (6) The life of God in Christ is to be lived out in the Christian in a beautiful expression of purity and righteousness. Religion, on the other hand, is spiritually dead within, full of putrefaction instead of purification. They are like whitewashed gravestones covering up their hypocrisy and diabolic lawlessness (cf. Lk. 11:44). (7) Kingdom participants will appreciate the heritage of those who preceded them. Religion hypocritically builds tombs and monuments to venerate and commemorate prior prophets (cf. Lk. 11:47), when it was their religious predecessors who killed the men of God, and they are still engaging in the same acts of rejecting what God is doing. In a scathing exposure Jesus called the religious leaders a bunch of low-down snakes (cf. Matt. 3:7; 12:34), identifying them with the serpent of old (Gen. 3:1-4), and indicated that they would be unable to avoid the judgment of hell. Religion is derived from the devil, and the destination of those participating in religion is hell (cf. Rev. 17,18). Specifically to that generation (cf. Matt. 11:16; 12:39-45; 16:4; 17:17; 24:34) of Jewish religionists in the middle of the first century, Jesus foretold that they would persecute, beat and murder Christian prophets (cf. Acts 7:54-60), which they did. For such shedding of blood, they were judged of God in 70 A.D. when their national house of Israel and their temple-house of worship in Jerusalem were left desolate (cf. Jere. 12:7; 22:5). F.D. Bruner remarks,
This did not mean that Jesus did not still have loving concern and compassion for the Jewish people. He laments that the people identified by their central city of Jerusalem should have killed God's prophets, but He still wishes He could gather them under His wings as a hen does her chicks to protect them from disaster (cf. Lk. 13:34,35). They refuse such, though, by their persistent unbelief and rejection of God's Messiah. Only in God's final judgment will they see and recognize that Jesus was indeed the blessed Messiah who came in the name of the Lord (cf. Ps. 118:26). (206) Giving One's Life - Mk. 12:41-44; Lk. 21:1-4 Jesus observed the religious people casting in their contributions in the temple treasury. He was aware that religion exploits people's sense of devotion, creating in them a sense of obligation to contribute, which serves religion's own need for preservation and propagation. Many of the rich were contributing much, perhaps thinking that they could buy favors with God. A poor widow cast in two small coins called "mites." Jesus noted to His disciples that this woman had given more than all the others, for the rich had given out of the superfluity of their surplus, just skimming a little cream off the top, whereas the widow had given what was necessary for her livelihood. The widow was willing to give her whole life to God, which is the prerequisite of genuine Christian giving (cf. II Cor. 8:5). 1 France, R.T.,
I Came to Set the Earth on Fire: A Portrait of Jesus.
Downer's Grove: InterVarsity Press. 1976. pgs. 111, 112.
|
