Well, here we are another week, another episode
of the Semi -Seminarium. This week, we continue
on our journey of a study through gospel according
to Matthew. This week, our talk is entitled Clash
of Kingdoms. We find Jesus now entering into
Jerusalem, that last... weak of his earthly human
existence. And we're going to find that instead
of hiding out, instead of trying to convince
people to be quiet about the fact that he is
the Messiah, he has decided to take the truth
of his kingship to the people of Jerusalem. I'll
see you on the other side. Some stories that
are contained within Matthew, chapters 21 -25.
Tonight will be our subject matter. Tonight I'm
entitled in Clash of Kingdoms. And I think what
we're going to see as we look through these chapters
of kind of the last part of Jesus' ministry,
we're really seeing a true confrontation now.
the kingdom that is perceived by the religious
leaders in Jesus' day, and the coming kingdom
of God that Jesus is advocating for, is describing
to us, is letting us know that it has been near
the earth, and it is a kingdom that is upside
down, because it is a kingdom that is not going
to resemble The relationships, the power structures,
the sense of righteousness or justice that is
being exhibited in the earthly kingdom at this
time. So we're going to see a clash of these
two ideals right off the bat beginning in chapter
21. And I would like for us to look at this initial
clash of kingdoms. Three acts, okay? So this
first one, Act 1, Scene 1, is beginning in verse
21 of Matthew. And I'll just begin reading and
then I'll stop and I'll refer us to different
spots as we go. So as they approached Jerusalem
and came to a place called Bethphage, is actually
how that's pronounced, Bethphage. Bethphage in
Hebrew means the house of the early fig. And
that will come back here in a little bit. So
Bethphage, the house of the early fig, on the
Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of his disciples,
saying to them, Go to the village ahead of you,
and at once you'll find a donkey tied there with
a colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.
If anything says anything to you, I think that
this is a code word. Say, The Lord needs them,
and he will send them right away. And I believe
that this part of the story, this detail, is
actually intended to show us something that this,
what is about to unfold, this, what is about
to happen, is not something that just happened.
But rather, Jesus had somehow, we don't know,
Scripture doesn't indicate how, had somehow prearranged
this event. This is not something where people
are just going to get caught up in the moment
and things are going to happen. He has planned
this out for this to take place. This took place.
We're on the Mount of Olives. Outside of Jerusalem,
this took place to fulfill what was spoken through
the prophet. Say to daughter Zion, see your king
comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt the foal of a donkey. She should
be here just a little bit. Now that is a prophecy
fulfilled from the Old Testament or Hebrew Scripture
prophet Zechariah. We find this same prophecy
in the ninth. Chapter of his prophecy, the ninth
verse. Rejoice greatly, daughter Zion. Shout,
daughter Jerusalem. See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on
a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. So,
what we're seeing here is Old Testament Scripture
being fulfilled. Now, I know someone has already
heard this story, but... I think that this is
super interesting. This isn't the only time that
a king has ridden into Jerusalem on a donkey,
right? Anybody recall when else this may have
happened? Does anybody know of anything else,
any other time where a king rode into Jerusalem
from the Mount of Olives on a donkey? I know
what person does because you were here in Sunday
school. All right, so. Here's what's funny because
it's King David. And what's so funny to me, or
funny in an interesting, not funny, it's ha -ha,
but funny in an interesting way is we seem to
like to claim that we sure know a heck of a lot
about David. And I think we know that King David
was the king, and we know that he killed Goliath,
and we know the story about him being the shepherd
boy. And we know that he's a man after God's
own heart. We even probably know about the adultery
part of David. The truth is you should probably
go back and revisit 1 and 2 Samuel because there's
a lot more to David's life that we just don't
know a lot about. I would invite you to turn
with me to 2 Samuel 16. 2 Samuel 16, I believe
it's the first verse. Yes. We're going to look
at the first 14 verses of 2 Samuel chapter 16.
And so let me kind of put it in context here
in just a second. I'm going to go ahead and get
the scripture reading started. Verse 16, chapter
1, 2 Samuel. When David had gone a short distance
beyond the summit, the summit is the Mount of
Olives. There was Ziba, the steward of Mephibosheth.
Now you may or may not recall we had a talk about
Mephibosheth one time, but let me go ahead and
just very quickly recall the story of Ziba, Mephibosheth,
and David to you. Mephibosheth is the son of
Jonathan, who is the son of King Saul, the first
king of Israel. So King Saul, first king of Israel.
David is the anointed king of Israel, but not
in charge yet, right? King Saul has a son named
Jonathan. Jonathan and David are best friends.
I think they'll be here in just a little bit.
Thank you, ma 'am. Jonathan and David are best
friends. We also know that David grows up. There
are many exploits as a general in Saul's army
that David does, right? And we know that... Saul
becomes jealous of David and his popularity.
We also perhaps would say that Saul may even
be aware that David was the one that should be
king. And so there's kind of a back and forth
battle between the two of them. Jonathan, Saul's
friend, often would protect David from his jealous
father. One day, Jonathan asks him, Whenever
you do become king, because he does believe that
he's going to be king, will you show kindness
to my family? Because if Jonathan is a part of
the dynastic line, the king's family, and they
get thrown out of power, what happens to king's
families that get thrown out of power? Right
off with your head. And so as a friendship thing,
Jonathan says, look, when that time does happen,
When you do become king, show kindness to my
family. We know that at the end of Saul's reign,
they're fighting. The army and the rebels are
fighting. And Jonathan is killed and Saul is
killed, both in battle. And we know that Mephibosheth
is back at home in the palace. And the people
come bursting in. And let this five -year -old
Mephibosheth boy know that his father and his
grandfather had been killed in battle and we
have got to run away. And Mephibosheth might
have been thinking, why? Because David is coming.
Now you could imagine if they were such close
family friends that Mephibosheth might have said,
wait a minute. David's on our side. David is
a good guy. He wouldn't understand. But the servants
understand. And so they whisk Mephibosheth away.
And in the tumult and in the chaos, Mephibosheth
is dropped by the nurse and his legs are broken
and they're not repaired. And so Mephibosheth
ends up a crippled man. Living out in a place
of Lo -Debar. That's the name of the place. And
in Hebrew, Lo -Debar would mean no place or no
thing. And so what they're saying is Mephibosheth
lives out in the middle of nowhere. That's what's
being said. And so David remembers that Jonathan
has this thing. He has this thing with Jonathan.
And he says to Ziba, he says, hey, is there anybody
else in Jonathan? David's or Jonathan's family
that I could show kindness to. And Ziba says,
well, yeah, there's this one guy, but he's crippled
and you don't want him. He's the only family
member left, but he's a cripple and you don't
want him. And David says, yeah, send him to me.
So he calls Ziba to get Mephibosheth out of Lodabar.
He brings him into the palace. And then David
gives Mephibosheth all of King Saul's former
land holdings. Which at the time of his kingship
would have been vast. It's not like he gave him
40 acres and a trailer house and a septic tank.
I mean, this would have been a lot of property.
And made Ziba his servant. So that's these characters,
Ziba and Mephibosheth, if you've never heard
that. You can hear more detail of the story of
Mephibosheth if you go to my podcast, TheSemiSeminarian
.com. The latest episode is actually on Mephibosheth.
So you can hear that story in much more detail.
So there's Ziba, who is Mephibosheth's servant
waiting to meet him. And Ziba had a string of
donkeys for David, saddled and loaded with 200
loaves of bread, 100 cakes of raisins, 100 cakes
of figs, and a skin of wine. The king, David,
Back to 2 Samuel here. The king David asked Ziba,
why have you brought these? Ziba answered, the
donkeys are for the king's household to ride
on. The bread and fruit are for the men to eat.
And the wine is to refresh those who become exhausted
in the wilderness. The king asked, where is your
master's grandson? Ziba's master would have been
King Saul. Mephibosheth would have been his grandson.
So he's saying, where's Mephibosheth? Ziba said
to him, he's staying in Jerusalem because he
thinks today the Israelites will restore my grandfather,
right? He's talking about King Saul. Mephibosheth's
back in Jerusalem thinking that right now David
is fighting his own son Absalom in a revolt.
And so Mephibosheth's thinking, I'm staying out
of this battle because I think Absalom is going
to win. David's going to die. And if I show up
on Absalom's side, I might... be able to get
back to being in the royal kingdom, right? And
he says, man, he chickened out. And the king
said to Ziba, David said to Ziba, all that belonged
to Mephibosheth is now yours. I humbly bow, Ziba
said, may I find favor in your eyes, my lord,
the king. As King David approached Bahum, a man
from the same clan as Saul's family came out
there. His name was Shimei, the son of Gerah.
And he cursed as David came out. He pelted David
and all of the king's officials with stones.
Though all the troops and the special guard were
on David's right and at his left. As he cursed,
Shimei said, get out. Get out, you murderer,
you scoundrel. The Lord has repaid you for all
of the blood you have shed in the household of
Saul and whose place you have reigned. The Lord
has given the king into the hands of your son
Absalom. And you, David, have come to ruin because
you are a murderer. Then Abishai, the son of
Zariah, said to the king, why should this dead
dog curse my lord, the king? Let me go over and
cut off his head. But the king says, what does
this have to do with you, David? What does this
have to do with you, you sons of Zariah? If he's
cursing because the Lord has said to him, curse
David, who can ask why do this? Let him do it,
man. David, and David's on these donkeys, right?
riding down the Mount of Olives into the city
of Jerusalem. That's what's going on right now.
David then said to Abishai and all of his officials,
my son, my own flesh and blood is trying to kill
me. How much more then than this Benjamite? Leave
him alone. Let him curse for the Lord has told
him to. It may be that the Lord will look upon
my misery today and restore me to his covenant
blessing. instead of his curse today. So David
and his men continued along the road while Shimei
was going along the hillside opposing him, cursing
as he went and throwing stones at him, showering
him with dirt. The king and all the people with
him arrived at their destination, which is the
palace in Jerusalem, exhausted. And there David
refreshed himself. So let's kind of just rewind
a bit and let's get the mental image. So Ziba
has brought David some donkeys to ride on. David
gets on a donkey and is riding down the Mount
of Olives to return to the palace in Jerusalem.
David is the king, right? David has guards and
soldiers on his left and on his right. And there's
people, particularly one guy, but a clan of people
that are basically cussing him out and throwing
rocks at him as he goes back to the palace. Now,
would King David, the king of Israel, have every
right as the king to have these men's heads cut
off? Yep. Does he? No. No. And we kind of get
a reason why, don't we? He recognized him. Maybe.
Maybe for all of the sin that I have had in my
life, maybe this is the very reason why Absalom
himself has revolted against his father. Maybe
for all the wrong things I have done, maybe this
is God's way of making me humble. I have every
right in the world to exercise my power as king,
but because I believe that there's a king greater,
I won't. Right? Back to Matthew chapter 21. Verse
6. The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed
them. They brought the donkey and the colt and
placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit
on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on
the road while others cut branches from the trees
and spread them on the road. The crowds then
went along to him and those that followed. Huge
crowds, huge crowds. He yelled, Hosanna to the
Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest of heaven.
Looking at what we read Scripture tell us or
read in Scripture and what it tells us in Matthew
chapter 21 is how does Jesus react? Does Jesus
say no? Does Jesus say don't tell anybody about
me being the Messiah? Does Jesus say go home?
Shh, shh, stop. Right? He doesn't know. As a
matter of fact, we have already learned that
Jesus organized. The ride, right? The donkey
Uber, Jesus phoned that in, right? This Jesus
is no longer hiding. Jesus is saying, yes, bring
it on. Bring it on. And we know that from countless
other scriptures. Well, not countless, but numerous
other scriptures in the gospel accounts where
Jesus would preach or teach or specifically heal
someone. And they would thank Jesus and then
he would be like, Shh, don't tell anybody. Shh,
go home. Right? Not now. Because now is the time
for a clash. Now is the time for a clash between
two kingdoms. Right? When Jesus entered Jerusalem,
the whole city was stirred. I'm not sure what
your Bible says. It may say stirred. It might
say that Jerusalem was in an uproar. It might
also say that Jerusalem was shaken. Does anybody
have anything else that I didn't mention? Verse
16. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city
was stirred up. In an uproar. Shaken is another.
And asked, who is this? And the crowds answered,
this is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth and
Galilee. And that is the close of Act 1 of our
class between two kingdoms. Now, what do we call
this scriptural event? What do we call this today?
Palm Sunday, right? Palm Sunday. It's the beginning
of Holy Week. It's the beginning of the last
week of Jesus' life that begins with this Palm
Sunday and ends with resurrection, right? Okay.
Now, that meal that they shared that night before
that we celebrate as communion, what's that meal
called? Passover meal. It's celebrating. The
story of the Passover of the Jewish people when
they were in bondage and exile or bondage in
Egypt, right? For 400 years. So that's what they're
celebrating in Jerusalem. Now that week that
we call Holy Week, it ends for them in Passover.
That's their culminating event. But that week,
does anybody know what that festival is called
for them? It's called the Week of Unleavened
Bread. It's the week where they begin to make
bread that is unleavened, so it doesn't take
time to make. They can make it quickly because
it doesn't require leavening, right? That's the
whole point. So what we call Holy Week, they
call the week of unleavened bread, and then they
celebrate Passover and we celebrate the resurrection.
Okay, that's the parallel. Now, archaeologists
and historians would have said that in this time,
in the first third of the first century, that
Jerusalem perhaps would have had an indigenous
population of about 50 ,000 people. 50 ,000 people.
However, at the time of the festival of unleavened
bread, they estimate that the city may have swelled
to about 150 ,000. So you go from 50 ,000 to
150 ,000. The city is electric, and it is jam
-packed. And people are rubbing up against each
other. And their nationalism is through the roof.
And their religious fervor is through the roof.
Because two -thirds of the 150 ,000 have made
the trek from wherever it is that they've come
from on foot or on a donkey or on a camel or
on a horse, not by jet plane or limousine. pedestrianally
made their way there to celebrate their existence
as an Israelite and as a Jew, right? So this
would have been the most emotionally charged
time of the year. Not only that, but the city
of Jerusalem is swelled to three times its size.
Act 2, verse 12. So the temple courts are, just
take a guess, are they inside or outside the
court? I mean inside or outside the temple? It
is inside. That's right. Just like a courtyard
at a hotel or whatever, right? Inside where the
buildings are. It's inside. Now, I recently learned
that the move from where the money changing and
the buying of these animals for sacrifice, the
move from outside the temple mount into the temple
courts was actually a fairly recent one. And
because these transactions were taking place
on the temple property now, Caiaphas, as the
high priest for that year, right? He's the one
that had those booths move from the outside to
the inside. He would have actually received quite
a handsome profit. Because whenever you exchange
money, you exchange a fee for exchanging money,
right? It's not one for one. That's not how money
changing works. Nobody would be willing to take
that risk or do that job for nothing. So when
you have to exchange money, you have to pay to
exchange money. And a portion of that profit
went to Caiaphas just because he moved the booths
from the outside the temple inside the temple.
So what's going on here? Jesus is mad because
he's come into the temple. And he is seeing money
being changed hands. He's seeing commerce being
done. Let's move a little bit further and see.
When he turns over the money changers and he
turns over booths with regard to the animal sacrifice,
what's the animals that are mentioned there?
The doves. Okay, does anybody know why that's
important? Right? If you come to Jerusalem and
you have traveled and you want to participate
in your sacrifice, the sacrifice of atonement,
and you're poor, right? You're rich enough to
leave wherever it is you came from and get to
Jerusalem because it's important. But once you
get there, you don't have the extra money to
buy a lamb just to sacrifice it. Right? And so
the Jewish authorities said, you know what? If
you're poor, Buy a dove. Right? And what Jesus
is pointing out here, the reason why he's mad,
is you're inside the temple and you're taking
advantage of the poor. You're making them exchange
their money and taking a cut of their money for
the right just so they can buy a bird from you
so they can sacrifice it. Right? Jesus is saying,
You're taking advantage specifically of the people
that when they come inside this temple shouldn't
have to pay through the nose. And that's what's
making this place a den of robbers. It's not
by accident. It wasn't that the doves were the
closest ones to him and that he chose to overturn
that booth. That's on purpose. Because Jesus
is making a statement specifically about how
the Pharisees are specifically targeting the
poor people. And it was bad enough whenever they
were doing it outside the temple walls. Now they're
doing it in the temple courts. Right? Now, in
a city that is three times its normal size, that
is fired up, does this not just seem to almost
cause things to boil over? Almost, right? But
the blind and the lame came to him at the temple
and he healed them. But when the chief priests
and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful
things that he had done and the children standing
there shouting in the temple courts, Hosanna,
the son of David, they were indignant. Do you
hear what these children are saying? Yes, Jesus
replied to them. And I love it every single time
he throws this at them. Have you never read your
Bible? To the guys who are supposed to be experts
on the Bible. I love it when Jesus gets in their
face and goes, do you not know scripture? And
he quotes from Psalm 8. From the lips of children
and infants. You, Lord, have called forth your
praise. And he left them and went out of the
city to Bethany where he spent the night. Seen
to. Right? Now. How far is Bethany from Jerusalem?
We've been talking about this the last couple
of weeks. About a mile and a half. Right? Who
lives in Bethany? Mary, Martha, and their brother.
Back again by popular demand, Lazarus. Right?
And I kind of sense at the end of Act 2 here,
of my little three -act play of Clash, I get
the sense that after Jesus has pulled this stunt,
In the temple courts, he realizes there's still
more to accomplish. And if I hung around here
tonight, I might not make it. So he taps the
brakes, and they get out of town. And they run
back up the road to Bethany, where he knew he'd
be safe. Early in the morning, as Jesus was on
his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing
a fig tree by the road, he went up to it, but
found nothing on it. except leaves then he said
to it said to it may you never bear fruit again
immediately the tree withered when the disciples
saw this they were amazed how did the fig tree
wither so quickly jesus replied truly i tell
you if you have faith and do not doubt not only
can you do what was done to this fig tree but
you can say to this mountain go throw yourself
into the sea and it will be done If you believe,
you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
Now, I don't know if this is true, but I love
the image. I have heard this said that when Jesus
is talking about a mountain, he's not talking
about the Mount of Olives. Remember, they're
just a mile and a half outside the city of Jerusalem.
Could they see the Temple Mount from a mile and
a half away? Oh, easy. The argument can be made.
I think it's fun to at least think it doesn't
indicate this. But when Jesus is saying this
mountain can be thrown into the sea, he's not
referring to a mountain. He's talking about the
Temple Mount. Now, I know that's not what you
want to know about this story because we want
to know. Now, why would Jesus do that to this
poor old fig tree? Right now, we remember where
we are in this area. At the very beginning, Bethphage,
the place of the early figs. At this time, we
know from the other readings of this story in
the other Gospels, that it was not the time for
figs. It was too early spring for them to have
had mature fruit. So the tree isn't even supposed
to have fruit on it, right? Because it's not
time yet. And then you might go, well, no, that's
still unfair, Jesus. Because if you're mad because
the tree doesn't have fruit on it, then it's
not supposed to have fruit on it. But it's not
supposed to be full of leaves either. It's not
supposed to be pretending like it has fruit on
it when there's no fruit to be had. And the illustration
to his disciples is the other kingdom. The other
kingdom, the Pharisees, the religious leaders,
they walk around like they're full of leaves.
Like they should have fruit. But inside there's
nothing. There's nothing. That's what this story
is about. Now, so I want us to stop in chapter
21 there. And I want us to, I want to read from
probably my favorite poet in Hebrew scripture,
a guy by the name of Yahu's Ben Amoz. We know
him as Isaiah, the son of Amoz. And I'd like
for us to turn to the fifth chapter of Isaiah.
Now, I suppose that Jesus. Thought of himself
as a modern day Isaiah. Now don't hear what I
didn't say. I'm not saying. I think Jesus thought
he was the walking around as the reincarnated
Isaiah. I didn't say that. What I am saying is.
That I think Jesus knowing his Bible front to
back. Read the prophecies of Isaiah and went.
What Isaiah was talking about in the Old Testament
has a lot to do with what God has called me to
talk about in the New. Mainly, we're talking
about a disconnect between God and his people.
The relationship between God at the time of the
Assyrian invasion is broken. Same kinds of things
are happening with the people. Same kinds of
things are happening. People are going to the
temple. They are paying their taxes. They are
wearing really shiny robes and turbans and all
kinds of stuff. They are playing the part of
Jew really, really, really well, but they are
not actually after God's heart. They don't have
God in their own heart. So what's going on in
Isaiah's day? That's what's going on in Jesus'
day as well. And the reason why I suppose that
Jesus found his earthly connection to Isaiah
more than any other is the fact that Jesus flat
out quotes Isaiah more than he does more than
any other prophet and quotes Isaiah more than
any other portion of Scripture outside of the
Psalms. So I think that Isaiah's influence on
Christ's Public ministry is significant. So,
let me read a love, this is a love poem. Now,
I was going to test you guys and say, where do
you, I was going to read it and then go, where
do you guys think the love poem come from, right?
And somebody's going to go Song of Solomon, right?
Because that's where all the poetry is about
love in the Bible, Song of Solomon. Unfortunately,
there's that and then Isaiah. So, I will sing
for the one I love a song about his vineyard.
My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.
He dug it up, and he cleared it of stones, and
he planted it with the choicest vines. He built
a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as
well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it yielded only bad fruit. Now you dwellers
in Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between
me and my vineyard. What more could have been
done for my vineyard than I have done for it?
When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield
only bad? I think that's interesting because
it's not even that the fruit ended up rotting
on the vine or that the fruit got harvested and
then rotted, but it actually yielded rotten fruit.
Now I will tell you what I'm going to do to my
vineyard. I will take away its hedge and it will
be destroyed. I will break down its wall and
it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland.
neither pruned nor cultivated in briars, and
thorns will grow there. I think, guys, that's
poetry to me, man. Let's go back to verse 33
of Matthew. And Jesus says, hey, I got a parable
for you guys. Let's see, we are in 21 still.
Jesus says, hey, I got a parable. Listen to another
parable. There was a landowner who planted a
vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a wine
press in it, and built a watchtower. I mean,
come on. He's quoting Isaiah. Then he rented
the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another
place. When the harvest time approached, he sent
his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
The tenants seized his servants. They beat one,
killed another, and stoned a third. Right? Didn't
go well. Now, I just want to pause right here.
I'm going to say this real fast. I think just
to kind of get an idea of what might be going
on in the heads of the guys who are working on
the farm. This guy obviously is a, he owns land,
but he doesn't live, he might live in Caesarea.
He might live in, he doesn't live on the property,
right? We don't know where, but he doesn't live,
he's an absentee landowner. That's, I couldn't
think of the word, right? Now, we also know that
at this time in agrarian Judah, the Judean lands
of the Roman Empire, that the rules about land
ownership that went back to Hebrew scriptural
law were no longer being enforced. The idea that
land had to stay within the family and then even
whenever it was mortgaged against, that the jubilee
year it had to be returned back to the family
and that the land could never be moved outside
of the family, that was all gone. None of that
was happening. But the people still lived there.
And so what was kind of happening is people had
grown up in these areas. They lived where they
had grown up, right? they lived and worked on
the land that at one time ancestrally was their
families, but is no longer theirs. Like in the
1930s, right? Whenever we had the Dust Bowl and
the banks bought up huge swaths of farmland,
and then those farms got turned into big major
farms that could be manufactured, or they could
be farmed with machinery, right? But whenever
you needed farmers, Not the ones who couldn't
afford to go to California. When you needed farmers
to farm the land, they worked the land for the
absentee landowner, even though ancestrally their
grandpa may have owned that land. Sharecropping
is what we're talking about here, right? So they're
working on land that at one time was their family's.
Now they're just a hired hand. And that's these
tenants. So the absentee landowner has sent a
servant. They beat one, they killed another,
they stoned a third. Then he sent other servants,
more than the first time. And the tenants treated
them in the same way. Last of all, the owner
said, he sent his son to them. He says, surely,
surely they'll respect my son. But when the tenants
saw the son, they said to each other, this is
the heir, come. Let's kill him and take his inheritance.
So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard
and killed him. Now, let me ask you a question.
What in the world would make these people think
that if they already killed two groups of servants
and then the landowner's son, what in the world
would make them think that if they killed the
son, they'd get the land? You want to talk about
a disconnect? These are people that, even if
you do that, The landowner still owns the land.
Nothing you do is going to change the fact that
this land and all you can see on it and the tools
that you use to work the vineyard and the shack
that you live in at night when you're not working
the vineyard and the food that you eat to give
you energy so you can work on the vineyard, none
of that changes. It's still the landowner's stuff.
And if you kill the son, you don't end up taking
over the landowner's stuff. That's not how ownership
works. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard
comes, Jesus asks, what will he, the landowner,
do to the tenants? Who's he talking to? Do you
guys remember? The religious leaders, the Pharisees
and the Sadducees. He's telling them this story.
And what do they say? Oh, they figured it out.
Oh, he'll bring those wretches to a wretched
end, they replied. And then he'll rent the vineyard
to some other tenants who will give them the
share of the crop at harvest time. You're the
farmers. The Pharisees. Oh my gosh, those people
are... You're the landowner's God. You don't
own the world. This isn't your kingdom. This
isn't your farm, Pharisees and Sadducees. I don't
care what you think. This is still God's vineyard.
The servants, right? And we know from Old Testament
scripture, Hebrew scripture, that the prophets
of God were called his servants. So God had sent
his prophets and they had a violent end each
one after the other. And they still don't get
it. And God still just wants his fruit. And what
is that fruit? It's spiritual growth. A healthy
relationship with God. A healthy relationship
with each other. Taking the blessings that God
has given us and multiplying them. Right. Making
best use of them, being given resource by God
as an opportunity and then taking that opportunity
to share righteousness and right relationships
with one another. And prophet after prophet after
prophet comes to the people to say, God is desiring
this righteousness among you. And prophet after
prophet after prophet, they're stoned and beaten
and killed. And finally, the landowner sends
his son. And they think rather than listening
to the son, maybe we should kill the son as well.
Jesus said to them, have you never read in the
scriptures? The stone that the builders reject
has become the cornerstone. The Lord has done
this and it is marvelous in our eyes. That's
a quotation from the 118th Psalm. Therefore,
I will tell you that the kingdom of God will
be taken away from you and given to a people
who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls
on this stone will be broken to pieces. Anyone
on whom it falls will be crushed. I love this
because this reminds me of me because sometimes
I'm not smart enough sometimes to recognize that
I've just been insulted, but it's like 30 seconds
too late. You know, like, did you wait? Yeah,
I just realized, wait a minute. I thought that
was a compliment. This is what happens here.
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard
Jesus's parables, they knew he was talking about
us. That's it. We have been embarrassed enough
by this guy. And they looked for a way to arrest
him, but they were afraid of the crowd because
the people held that he was a prophet. Now, this
testing, clashing of kingdoms is going to continue
right here in the middle. So let's keep going.
The next chapter, verse 23. Now it's the Sadducees'
turn. Now let me tell you really quickly about
who the Sadducees are. The Sadducees are like
the Pharisees. They are religious leaders. They
are the aristocracy, which means they're rich
and they have important jobs. The difference
between the Sadducees and the Pharisees is the
Sadducees do not believe in resurrection. And
they also don't believe in anything else beyond
what Moses wrote in the first five books of the
Bible. So the Psalms, the Proverbs, the writings
of the minor prophets, the writings of the major
prophets, all of that is like, Fiction to the
Sadducees. Right? No resurrection. No angels.
Nothing beyond the first five books of the Bible.
So now it's their turn to question Jesus. So
they come to them and they say, those who say
there's no resurrection came to him with a question.
This is ridiculous, but I can't help but think
of seven brothers every time I hear this story.
Teacher, they said, Moses told us that if a man
dies without having children, his brother must
marry the widow, raise up the offspring for him.
That we learn from Leviticus and Deuteronomy,
how you're supposed to live within the people
of Israel. Okay, that's a part of the law. Now
there were seven brothers among us. The first
one married and died, and since he had no children,
he left his wife to the brother. The same thing
happened to the second and the third brother,
right down to the seventh, whatever. Finally,
the woman died. Now then, Jesus, at this, air
quotes, I'm sure they're doing, resurrection,
whose wife will she be of the seven? since all
of them were married to her. Now, this is probably
about to take a turn for the worse, and I'm not
really sure how this is going to go. But, folks,
this is the truth. Now, I think, firstly, the
very first question Jesus should have said was,
okay, you know what? First of all, you're not
seeking an answer because that story is ridiculous.
So if you can show me where that story has taken
place, if you can tell me where that happened,
then I'll give you an answer. And I think that
they were counting on him to say that because
they were going to trap him. That story actually
shows up in Hebrew Apocrypha, which are books
of the Hebrew Scriptures, which some Jewish people
hold to be a part of the Hebrew Scriptures. Some
don't. Some Christians don't. Churches do and
some don't. The Catholic Church considers the
book of Tobit to be a part of their Bible. As
Protestants, we don't. The story is actually
in Tobit. It's a story where a woman gets married
seven times and on the night of her wedding,
a demon comes along and kills the husband before
they can consummate the marriage. And it happens
seven times. So the story actually kind of happens.
that way in the book of Tobit. Now, I don't want
to go too far around a rabbit hole here, but
I think that the Sadducees are trying to trap
Jesus in doing one of two things. One, if he
didn't know the story of Tobit, in Tobit, then
they would have said, you don't even read Tobit.
So that Tobit can't be a real book in the Hebrew
scriptures. They could have got him. And then
this story about the resurrection, right? Instead,
instead, Jesus replies, you are in error because
you do not know the scriptures of the power of
God. This is what the Bible says, friends. At
the resurrection, people will neither marry nor
will they be given in marriage. They will be
like angels in heaven. Now, what is Jesus saying?
He's saying people do not get married when they
are resurrected. And marriage is an ordinance
for this age. And in the new age, we will be
as angels. We will not be married. Now, this
does not mean that a husband and wife will no
longer know each other in heaven. This does also
not mean that the husband and wife can't still
have a close relationship in heaven. What it
does seem to indicate, though, is husband and
wife will no longer be married in heaven. Now,
I know you're going to email me about this, and
that's fine. We can have this talk. That's what
the Bible says. He continues. But about the resurrection
of the dead, have you not read what God said
to you? Yeah. Because I'm not advocating that
you won't know your spouse. I'm not advocating
that you can't have a close relationship in heaven
with your spouse. I'm not saying that. But what
I am indicating is that marriage as an ordinance
of the church is something that was invented
for the actual act of the ring. Right? That physical
stuff. And that's what the Sadducees were trying
to trip him up when, because they were trying
to use this physical law to explain a heavenly
example. And Jesus is going, when we get to,
when we get to the new age, that physical stuff
all burns away, right? It won't even matter.
So please don't misunderstand. I'm not saying.
We'll just be spirits and we won't know our spouse
and we won't know our families. I'm not saying
that. I'm counting on that to be true. And I'm
sure you probably are too. I don't want to die
and just be some wanderlust spirit without having
connection with people that have gone before
me, people that will come to heaven after me.
Ultimately, I want my soul to return to the proximity
of God. That's the number one thing. I want to
be able to be in heaven with my spouse. I mean,
so let's continue on. So he continues on this
story about the resurrection and the seven brothers
stories. He says, have you not read what God
said to you? 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. It took me
a while to figure out what he meant there. I
think what he's saying there is, if there's no
afterlife, and Abraham is dead, and Isaac is
dead, and Jacob is dead, and there's no more
Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob, then he wouldn't say,
I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He
would say, I was. Right? Because there are no
more. Right? So when God says, I am, he's implying
you don't see him. Abraham's still here. You
don't see him. Isaac is still here. You don't
see him. Jacob is still here. And I am still
their God. Okay. When the crowds heard this,
they were astonished at his teaching. And this
is known as one of the difficult, hard, they
call it the hard teachings of Jesus. This is
one of those things where if. I feel like that
story right there, and when Jesus also talks
about divorce, that if people were just making
up stories that made Jesus look good based on
things that he said, those stories would not
have been included in the Bible. Because those
are not popular stories to say, but they're truth,
right? If they wanted to just write stories about
how Jesus was love, man, and chill, and divorce,
man, it's okay. His teachings on divorce, they
would have just left that out. But they didn't
because it's the truth. Hearing that Jesus had
now silenced the Sadducees, now the Pharisees
have regrouped for another round. One of them,
an expert in the law, tested him with the question,
Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in
the law? Jesus replied, Love the Lord your God
with all of your heart and with all of your soul
and all of your mind. The first and greatest
commandment. The second is like it. So they're
equal of equal importance. Love God with all
of your heart, mind and soul and love your neighbor
as yourself. He says all of the law and the prophets
saying on these two commandments. Right. And
what he's saying here is the law is the Torah.
Right. The Pentateuch, the prophets and other
writings is what it would have been known at
that time is basically everything else. It's
the Psalms. It's the Proverbs. And it's the writing
of. Well, the minor prophets, right? And the
major prophets, that's the prophets. Then we
also have books of wisdom, which are the Psalms
and Proverbs. Those are included in the other
writings. Then we have the Torah, which is the
law. He says all of it, all of Hebrew scripture
can be boiled down to these two things. And I
would like for us to focus on this, and you may
have seen me do this in the past, but if you
haven't seen this trick, I think that this is
really neat. So let's use the Ten Commandments
as a test. And so what Jesus is saying is all
of God's law boils down to either honoring me
with right relationships or honoring each other
with right relationships. So let's see. I'm going
to put a G or an A. A for other people. G for
God. So the Ten Commandments. No other gods.
Honoring God. Yeah? G. No idols. G. Right? How
about don't take the Lord's name in vain? That's
a G, right? Keeping the Sabbath? That's a G.
How about honor your father and mother? That's
an A, right? That's honoring, that's a right
relationship with other people, right? Your mom
and your dad. Now, I'm not saying that doing
these isn't worshiping God. That's what I'm saying
is these all worship God. But where is the intent
of right relationship? Murdering other people,
that's probably showing other people right relationships,
right? How about adultery? Right relationships,
right? How about asking your spouse if being
an adulterer or adulteress is good for right
relationships? It's not, right? So don't do it.
Don't steal. Right relationships. No false witness.
Don't lie about other people. And then no coveting
other people's stuff. Can you have a right relationship
with somebody whenever you want their house or
their wife or their car? No, so don't do it.
Now what's interesting to me is here we have
the Ten Commandments, and sure enough, each one
of them focus on a right relationship either
with God or with other people. But what I think
is interesting is of the ten, four of them deal
with God. And six of them deal with other people.
Isn't it interesting? It is to me that God gave
these to Moses on top of the mountain, right?
God wrote this in stone. And the first ten that
God gave Moses, six of the first ten had to do
with other people. I think that's pretty neat.
While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus
asked them, What do you think about the Messiah?
Whose son is he? Well, he's the son of David.
Have you not read the prophets? He said to them,
How is it that David, speaking by the Spirit,
calls him Lord? Because the 110th Psalm says,
The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies under my feet. If then
David calls him Lord, how can he be his son?
No one could say a word and reply. I'm sorry,
that's Jesus. If then David calls him Lord, how
can he be a son? If David calls the Messiah Lord,
he can't be a son. No one could say a word and
reply. And from that day on, no one dared ask
him any more questions. Okay, trapping him around
his followers is making us look bad. Let's cut
that out, right? Now, we've already talked with
some of his dudes, and there's a plot to maybe
trap him when we can get him away from his followers.
Let's stop the public shaming. It ain't working.
Let's start working on the catching him in a
trap. And that's what's happening there. Then
Jesus, chapter 23, then Jesus said to the crowds
and to his disciples, the teachers of the law,
the Pharisees, sit at Moses' seat. So you must
be careful to do everything they tell you. They
know the law, and you're supposed to follow the
law. So listen to what they say, but don't do
what they do, for they don't practice what they
preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads,
the law that you can't keep, and they put them
on other people's shoulders, but they themselves
are not willing to lift a finger. To move them.
They think that their job is to put the burden
of the law on you and that's all. Not even to
try to help you get down the road carrying that
burden. Right? And then we get into these things
called the woe to the Pharisees. And I want to
quickly go through them. There are either seven
or eight, depending on how you count. I count
eight. I'm not a biblical scholar, but I feel
like there's eight. But we're going to go through
each one. Woe to you, because this is the clash.
And he's calling them out. And he's saying, woe
to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees. You're
hypocrites. You shut the door of the kingdom
of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do
not even enter. Nor will you let those enter
who are trying. You teach all about God, but
you don't even love God, Jesus says. Woe to you
teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You travel over land and sea to win a single
convert. And when you've succeeded, you make
them twice a child of hell as you are. It's all
about your success. And you, Pharisees, you experts
of the law, you guys are the ones that are supposed
to know the difference between right and wrong.
The person you just converted, the person who
barely understands, they don't even know what
they've gotten into. They don't even realize
that they're now trapped like you. But you know
the difference and you don't even work to get
yourself free. Woe to you blind guides. You say
if anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing.
But anyone who swears by the gold of the temple
is bound by that oath. They're teaching at this
time. The Pharisees are actually teaching people
to swear oaths on the gold accoutrements within
the temple. Actually put their hands on the material
thing. And that's what makes the oath binding.
Touching the gold altar or whatever. And he said,
which is greater? The gold or the temple that
makes the gold sacred? You also say if anyone
swears by the altar, it means nothing. But those
who swear by the gift of the altar is bound by
that gift. You blind men, which is greater? The
gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears
by it and everything on it. Anyone who swears
by the temple swears by it and by the one who
dwells in it. Anyone who swears by heaven swears
by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.
The teachers and the Pharisees, they worshipped
at the temple and they offered sacrifices at
the temple because they knew that the temple
altar was sacred. How then could they deny oath
-binding value to the one who dwells in the temple?
That's truly sacred. And the objects just as
trivial in their derived sacredness. He continues,
Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees,
you hypocrites. You give a tenth of your spices
down to the mint and dill and cumin. You give
a tenth of everything down to the little bitty
leaves of herbs you grow on your kitchen windowsill.
Right? You follow the law down to the herbs that
you grow in your house, but you've neglected
the more important matters of the law, like justice
and mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced
the latter without neglecting the former. You
strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. They taught
the law, but they didn't practice some of the
most important points of the law, justice and
mercy, and their faithfulness to God. They obeyed
this minutia of the law. like tithing their spices,
but not the weightier matters. Woe to you teachers
of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You
clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside
you are full of greed and self -indulgence. First
clean the inside of the cup and dish and then
the outside will also be clean. It is not about
how you look. It's not about your appearance.
It is about your heart. Woe to you, you are like
whitewashed tombs which look beautiful on the
outside but on the inside are full of bones of
the dead and everything unclean. In the same
way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous.
On the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
He continues in 29, you build tombs for the prophets.
You decorate graves for the righteous. And you
say, if we have lived in the days of our ancestors,
we had not taken part with them in the shedding
of the blood of the prophets. We wouldn't have
acted that way. We would have recognized Jeremiah.
We would have recognized Isaiah. We wouldn't
have done that. But the way that you're living
today, Jesus says, you are testifying against
yourselves. That you are, in fact, the descendants
of those who murdered the prophets. So go ahead.
Go ahead and complete what your ancestors have
started. Kill me. You snakes. You brood of vipers.
You escape being condemned to hell, therefore
I am sending your prophets and sages and teachers.
Some of them you will kill and crucify. Others
you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from
town to town. And so upon you will come all the
righteous blood that has been shed on the earth,
from the blood of the righteous Abel to the blood
of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you
murdered between the temple and the altar. All
of this will come to this generation. Jerusalem,
Jerusalem. You kill the prophets and stone those
who sent you. How often I have longed to gather
your children together as a hen gathers your
chicks under her wing and you're just not willing.
Look, your house is left to you desolate. For
I tell you, you will not see me again until you
say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord. Clash between two kingdoms in your face.
That's spitting fire in a rap battle, right?
That's what that is. Let's look at chapter 25.
Jesus continuing to tell the story. I'm going
to finish on this story here. I think this story
is important about this clash kingdoms because
it shows how God and he works with his people
in the kingdom. Because again, it's like a man
going on a journey. Called his servants and entrusted.
This is verse 14. Sorry. Called his servants
and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave
five bags of gold. Now, does anybody have talents
in your Bible? Talents? Five bags of gold is
a lot of money, just to let you know. A talent
would be a year's wage, okay? Five bags of gold.
To another two bags, to another one bag, important
here, each according to his ability. Then he
went on his journey. The man who had received
five bags of gold went at once, put his money
to work, and gained five bags more. So also the
one with two bags of gold gained two more. But
the man who had received one bag went off, dug
a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money.
After a long time, after a long time, the master
of those servants returned and settled the counts.
The man who had received five bags of gold brought
the other five. Master, you entrusted me with
five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.
His master replied, well done, good and faithful
servant. You've been faithful with a few things.
I will put you in charge of many things. Come
and share in your master's happiness. Does anybody
have the word joy? I think the word joy is probably
more descriptive there. The man with two bags
of gold also came. Master, you entrusted me with
two bags of gold. See, I've gained two more.
His master replied, well done, good and faithful
servant. You've been faithful with a few things.
I will put you in charge of many things. Come,
share in your master's joy. Then the man who'd
received one bag came. Master, he said, I knew
you were a hard man, harvesting where you've
not sown, gathering where you've not scattered
seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your
gold in the ground. See, here's what belongs
to you. His master replied, you wicked, lazy
servant. So you knew that I harvest what I've
not sown and gather where I have not scattered
seed. Well, then you should have at least put
my money in the bank so that when I return, I
would receive some interest on it. You wouldn't
have lost the thing and I would have gained a
little something. You didn't even take the time
to do that. So take the bag of gold from him
and give it to the one who has 10 bags. For whoever
he has will be given more. And they will have
an abundance who does not have, even when what
they have will be taken from them and throw the
worthless servant outside into the darkness,
where there'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Now, this is great for about two -thirds of the
story here. About two -thirds of the story in,
we're going, yeah, man, yay. And then we find,
oh, no, wait, the third guy really gets beat
up. Jesus, man, what are you doing? Let's talk
about what Jesus is talking about here. He's
talking about money because no matter what, what
do we all understand together? Money, right?
Each one of us understands money, right? I could
talk to you about the value of cotton. I could
talk to you about the value of coffee beans,
right? And you may or may not have any idea what
I'm talking about. But whenever I talk to you
about a bag full of gold, you get it, right?
But this isn't even about money. It's about opportunity.
The reason why I say that it's not about money
is because if you notice, the hard man, the hard
master, he didn't even take his profit, did he?
He actually let the other dudes keep it. He gave
them their five bags of his money plus the profit
that they had earned from using his money plus
the bag of gold from the other guy. He just let
them have it. It's not about money. It's about
opportunity. And what are our resources in our
lives? What is our money? What is our time? What
are our talents? Are they opportunities to be
used? And if we've been given them by God, each
to our own ability, what happens when we take
those gifts that we've been given and say that
I've been given five units of opportunity from
God? And I use those opportunities, right? What
happens to me? Is my life blessed, right? Do
I live a life that is in right relationship with
God? Do I live a life that's probably free from
a lot of worry and scarcity and anxiety? More
than likely. And I'm not talking about if I use
my five and turn it into ten, I'm richer than
you. This isn't about money. It's about opportunity.
It's about using what God has given you. If he's
just given you one and you're so scared to use
that one that you choose not to engage in any
way, you don't engage. Here's the way I look
at it. In my scenario of opportunity, if I was
at least going to at least engage with God, but
nobody else around me, I'd have put my opportunity
in the bank. At least I would have put it to
the side and let it earn interest. So I might
have had barely a relationship with God, but
nothing else did I use or take an opportunity
to have right relationships with other people,
right? Now, what does Jesus say about the value
of using what you've been given by God each to
your ability versus not, right? And what Jesus
is trying to say is, Clash of kingdoms. The kingdom
of God is every bit as important about our relationships,
right relationships with other people, as it
is God. He's going to go on to say, and we're
going to cover this next time, basically that
the way that you show God that you worship in
here is by what you do here. Your opportunity.
The kingdom of God, the currency of the kingdom
of God is no longer phylacteries. The phylacteries
are those things that we see whenever we see
Jewish people wrapping their arms up with leather.
There'll be a little box on their forehead or
on their arms and they put pieces of scripture
in them because they're told to keep the scripture
close to their head and their heart and hand.
Those are called phylacteries. It's no longer
about your suit and tie. It's no longer about
your car. You're not showing people you're blessed
by your stuff. You're showing God that you recognize
you're blessed by him based on how you treat
your opportunities to have right relationships
with one another. That's the currency of the
new kingdom. And that's what's at clash. That's
what's at odds with the old kingdom here. This
story is far from over. And the heat really gets
turned up. Next time. Well, there you have it.
Even though we just went through three or four
chapters of the gospel, according to Matthew,
there sure is a lot going on. Very, very intense
part of the gospel, according to Matthew. Hey,
before you go. I would ask that you do me a favor.
If you could take a second and first of all,
subscribe to the podcast. And if you like what
we're doing here at the semi -seminarian, however
it is that you listen to the semi -seminarian,
if you could take the time to rate and review
the podcast, I'd certainly appreciate it. It
helps get the story out to other people. Well,
we'll see you next week. And in the meantime,
be blessed and be a blessing.