WEBVTT

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Well, here we are another week, another episode

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of the Semi -Seminarium. This week, we continue

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on our journey of a study through gospel according

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to Matthew. This week, our talk is entitled Clash

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of Kingdoms. We find Jesus now entering into

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Jerusalem, that last... weak of his earthly human

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existence. And we're going to find that instead

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of hiding out, instead of trying to convince

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people to be quiet about the fact that he is

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the Messiah, he has decided to take the truth

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of his kingship to the people of Jerusalem. I'll

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see you on the other side. Some stories that

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are contained within Matthew, chapters 21 -25.

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Tonight will be our subject matter. Tonight I'm

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entitled in Clash of Kingdoms. And I think what

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we're going to see as we look through these chapters

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of kind of the last part of Jesus' ministry,

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we're really seeing a true confrontation now.

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the kingdom that is perceived by the religious

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leaders in Jesus' day, and the coming kingdom

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of God that Jesus is advocating for, is describing

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to us, is letting us know that it has been near

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the earth, and it is a kingdom that is upside

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down, because it is a kingdom that is not going

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to resemble The relationships, the power structures,

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the sense of righteousness or justice that is

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being exhibited in the earthly kingdom at this

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time. So we're going to see a clash of these

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two ideals right off the bat beginning in chapter

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21. And I would like for us to look at this initial

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clash of kingdoms. Three acts, okay? So this

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first one, Act 1, Scene 1, is beginning in verse

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21 of Matthew. And I'll just begin reading and

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then I'll stop and I'll refer us to different

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spots as we go. So as they approached Jerusalem

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and came to a place called Bethphage, is actually

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how that's pronounced, Bethphage. Bethphage in

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Hebrew means the house of the early fig. And

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that will come back here in a little bit. So

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Bethphage, the house of the early fig, on the

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Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of his disciples,

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saying to them, Go to the village ahead of you,

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and at once you'll find a donkey tied there with

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a colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.

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If anything says anything to you, I think that

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this is a code word. Say, The Lord needs them,

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and he will send them right away. And I believe

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that this part of the story, this detail, is

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actually intended to show us something that this,

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what is about to unfold, this, what is about

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to happen, is not something that just happened.

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But rather, Jesus had somehow, we don't know,

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Scripture doesn't indicate how, had somehow prearranged

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this event. This is not something where people

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are just going to get caught up in the moment

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and things are going to happen. He has planned

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this out for this to take place. This took place.

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We're on the Mount of Olives. Outside of Jerusalem,

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this took place to fulfill what was spoken through

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the prophet. Say to daughter Zion, see your king

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comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey,

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and on a colt the foal of a donkey. She should

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be here just a little bit. Now that is a prophecy

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fulfilled from the Old Testament or Hebrew Scripture

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prophet Zechariah. We find this same prophecy

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in the ninth. Chapter of his prophecy, the ninth

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verse. Rejoice greatly, daughter Zion. Shout,

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daughter Jerusalem. See, your king comes to you,

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righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on

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a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. So,

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what we're seeing here is Old Testament Scripture

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being fulfilled. Now, I know someone has already

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heard this story, but... I think that this is

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super interesting. This isn't the only time that

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a king has ridden into Jerusalem on a donkey,

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right? Anybody recall when else this may have

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happened? Does anybody know of anything else,

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any other time where a king rode into Jerusalem

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from the Mount of Olives on a donkey? I know

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what person does because you were here in Sunday

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school. All right, so. Here's what's funny because

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it's King David. And what's so funny to me, or

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funny in an interesting, not funny, it's ha -ha,

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but funny in an interesting way is we seem to

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like to claim that we sure know a heck of a lot

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about David. And I think we know that King David

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was the king, and we know that he killed Goliath,

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and we know the story about him being the shepherd

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boy. And we know that he's a man after God's

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own heart. We even probably know about the adultery

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part of David. The truth is you should probably

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go back and revisit 1 and 2 Samuel because there's

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a lot more to David's life that we just don't

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know a lot about. I would invite you to turn

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with me to 2 Samuel 16. 2 Samuel 16, I believe

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it's the first verse. Yes. We're going to look

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at the first 14 verses of 2 Samuel chapter 16.

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And so let me kind of put it in context here

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in just a second. I'm going to go ahead and get

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the scripture reading started. Verse 16, chapter

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1, 2 Samuel. When David had gone a short distance

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beyond the summit, the summit is the Mount of

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Olives. There was Ziba, the steward of Mephibosheth.

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Now you may or may not recall we had a talk about

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Mephibosheth one time, but let me go ahead and

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just very quickly recall the story of Ziba, Mephibosheth,

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and David to you. Mephibosheth is the son of

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Jonathan, who is the son of King Saul, the first

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king of Israel. So King Saul, first king of Israel.

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David is the anointed king of Israel, but not

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in charge yet, right? King Saul has a son named

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Jonathan. Jonathan and David are best friends.

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I think they'll be here in just a little bit.

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Thank you, ma 'am. Jonathan and David are best

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friends. We also know that David grows up. There

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are many exploits as a general in Saul's army

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that David does, right? And we know that... Saul

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becomes jealous of David and his popularity.

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We also perhaps would say that Saul may even

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be aware that David was the one that should be

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king. And so there's kind of a back and forth

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battle between the two of them. Jonathan, Saul's

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friend, often would protect David from his jealous

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father. One day, Jonathan asks him, Whenever

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you do become king, because he does believe that

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he's going to be king, will you show kindness

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to my family? Because if Jonathan is a part of

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the dynastic line, the king's family, and they

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get thrown out of power, what happens to king's

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families that get thrown out of power? Right

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off with your head. And so as a friendship thing,

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Jonathan says, look, when that time does happen,

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When you do become king, show kindness to my

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family. We know that at the end of Saul's reign,

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they're fighting. The army and the rebels are

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fighting. And Jonathan is killed and Saul is

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killed, both in battle. And we know that Mephibosheth

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is back at home in the palace. And the people

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come bursting in. And let this five -year -old

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Mephibosheth boy know that his father and his

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grandfather had been killed in battle and we

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have got to run away. And Mephibosheth might

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have been thinking, why? Because David is coming.

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Now you could imagine if they were such close

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family friends that Mephibosheth might have said,

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wait a minute. David's on our side. David is

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a good guy. He wouldn't understand. But the servants

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understand. And so they whisk Mephibosheth away.

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And in the tumult and in the chaos, Mephibosheth

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is dropped by the nurse and his legs are broken

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and they're not repaired. And so Mephibosheth

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ends up a crippled man. Living out in a place

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of Lo -Debar. That's the name of the place. And

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in Hebrew, Lo -Debar would mean no place or no

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thing. And so what they're saying is Mephibosheth

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lives out in the middle of nowhere. That's what's

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being said. And so David remembers that Jonathan

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has this thing. He has this thing with Jonathan.

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And he says to Ziba, he says, hey, is there anybody

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else in Jonathan? David's or Jonathan's family

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that I could show kindness to. And Ziba says,

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well, yeah, there's this one guy, but he's crippled

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and you don't want him. He's the only family

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member left, but he's a cripple and you don't

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want him. And David says, yeah, send him to me.

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So he calls Ziba to get Mephibosheth out of Lodabar.

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He brings him into the palace. And then David

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gives Mephibosheth all of King Saul's former

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land holdings. Which at the time of his kingship

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would have been vast. It's not like he gave him

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40 acres and a trailer house and a septic tank.

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I mean, this would have been a lot of property.

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And made Ziba his servant. So that's these characters,

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Ziba and Mephibosheth, if you've never heard

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that. You can hear more detail of the story of

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Mephibosheth if you go to my podcast, TheSemiSeminarian

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.com. The latest episode is actually on Mephibosheth.

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So you can hear that story in much more detail.

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So there's Ziba, who is Mephibosheth's servant

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waiting to meet him. And Ziba had a string of

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donkeys for David, saddled and loaded with 200

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loaves of bread, 100 cakes of raisins, 100 cakes

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of figs, and a skin of wine. The king, David,

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Back to 2 Samuel here. The king David asked Ziba,

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why have you brought these? Ziba answered, the

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donkeys are for the king's household to ride

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on. The bread and fruit are for the men to eat.

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And the wine is to refresh those who become exhausted

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in the wilderness. The king asked, where is your

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master's grandson? Ziba's master would have been

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King Saul. Mephibosheth would have been his grandson.

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So he's saying, where's Mephibosheth? Ziba said

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to him, he's staying in Jerusalem because he

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thinks today the Israelites will restore my grandfather,

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right? He's talking about King Saul. Mephibosheth's

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back in Jerusalem thinking that right now David

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is fighting his own son Absalom in a revolt.

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And so Mephibosheth's thinking, I'm staying out

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of this battle because I think Absalom is going

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to win. David's going to die. And if I show up

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on Absalom's side, I might... be able to get

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back to being in the royal kingdom, right? And

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he says, man, he chickened out. And the king

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said to Ziba, David said to Ziba, all that belonged

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to Mephibosheth is now yours. I humbly bow, Ziba

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said, may I find favor in your eyes, my lord,

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the king. As King David approached Bahum, a man

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from the same clan as Saul's family came out

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there. His name was Shimei, the son of Gerah.

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And he cursed as David came out. He pelted David

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and all of the king's officials with stones.

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Though all the troops and the special guard were

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on David's right and at his left. As he cursed,

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Shimei said, get out. Get out, you murderer,

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you scoundrel. The Lord has repaid you for all

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of the blood you have shed in the household of

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Saul and whose place you have reigned. The Lord

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has given the king into the hands of your son

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Absalom. And you, David, have come to ruin because

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you are a murderer. Then Abishai, the son of

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Zariah, said to the king, why should this dead

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dog curse my lord, the king? Let me go over and

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cut off his head. But the king says, what does

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this have to do with you, David? What does this

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have to do with you, you sons of Zariah? If he's

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cursing because the Lord has said to him, curse

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David, who can ask why do this? Let him do it,

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man. David, and David's on these donkeys, right?

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riding down the Mount of Olives into the city

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of Jerusalem. That's what's going on right now.

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David then said to Abishai and all of his officials,

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my son, my own flesh and blood is trying to kill

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me. How much more then than this Benjamite? Leave

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him alone. Let him curse for the Lord has told

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him to. It may be that the Lord will look upon

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my misery today and restore me to his covenant

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blessing. instead of his curse today. So David

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and his men continued along the road while Shimei

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was going along the hillside opposing him, cursing

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as he went and throwing stones at him, showering

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him with dirt. The king and all the people with

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him arrived at their destination, which is the

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palace in Jerusalem, exhausted. And there David

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refreshed himself. So let's kind of just rewind

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a bit and let's get the mental image. So Ziba

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has brought David some donkeys to ride on. David

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gets on a donkey and is riding down the Mount

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of Olives to return to the palace in Jerusalem.

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David is the king, right? David has guards and

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soldiers on his left and on his right. And there's

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people, particularly one guy, but a clan of people

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that are basically cussing him out and throwing

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rocks at him as he goes back to the palace. Now,

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would King David, the king of Israel, have every

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right as the king to have these men's heads cut

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off? Yep. Does he? No. No. And we kind of get

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a reason why, don't we? He recognized him. Maybe.

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Maybe for all of the sin that I have had in my

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life, maybe this is the very reason why Absalom

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himself has revolted against his father. Maybe

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for all the wrong things I have done, maybe this

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is God's way of making me humble. I have every

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right in the world to exercise my power as king,

00:16:21.700 --> 00:16:24.399
but because I believe that there's a king greater,

00:16:24.600 --> 00:16:32.570
I won't. Right? Back to Matthew chapter 21. Verse

00:16:32.570 --> 00:16:38.990
6. The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed

00:16:38.990 --> 00:16:41.970
them. They brought the donkey and the colt and

00:16:41.970 --> 00:16:43.870
placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit

00:16:43.870 --> 00:16:47.490
on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on

00:16:47.490 --> 00:16:49.769
the road while others cut branches from the trees

00:16:49.769 --> 00:16:52.070
and spread them on the road. The crowds then

00:16:52.070 --> 00:16:54.629
went along to him and those that followed. Huge

00:16:54.629 --> 00:16:58.610
crowds, huge crowds. He yelled, Hosanna to the

00:16:58.610 --> 00:17:02.309
Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the

00:17:02.309 --> 00:17:05.710
name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest of heaven.

00:17:07.710 --> 00:17:10.789
Looking at what we read Scripture tell us or

00:17:10.789 --> 00:17:14.450
read in Scripture and what it tells us in Matthew

00:17:14.450 --> 00:17:20.170
chapter 21 is how does Jesus react? Does Jesus

00:17:20.170 --> 00:17:23.309
say no? Does Jesus say don't tell anybody about

00:17:23.309 --> 00:17:26.609
me being the Messiah? Does Jesus say go home?

00:17:26.990 --> 00:17:32.410
Shh, shh, stop. Right? He doesn't know. As a

00:17:32.410 --> 00:17:34.809
matter of fact, we have already learned that

00:17:34.809 --> 00:17:39.450
Jesus organized. The ride, right? The donkey

00:17:39.450 --> 00:17:44.150
Uber, Jesus phoned that in, right? This Jesus

00:17:44.150 --> 00:17:50.349
is no longer hiding. Jesus is saying, yes, bring

00:17:50.349 --> 00:17:58.309
it on. Bring it on. And we know that from countless

00:17:58.309 --> 00:18:00.509
other scriptures. Well, not countless, but numerous

00:18:00.509 --> 00:18:02.930
other scriptures in the gospel accounts where

00:18:02.930 --> 00:18:05.690
Jesus would preach or teach or specifically heal

00:18:05.690 --> 00:18:08.130
someone. And they would thank Jesus and then

00:18:08.130 --> 00:18:11.029
he would be like, Shh, don't tell anybody. Shh,

00:18:11.089 --> 00:18:15.109
go home. Right? Not now. Because now is the time

00:18:15.109 --> 00:18:18.670
for a clash. Now is the time for a clash between

00:18:18.670 --> 00:18:22.960
two kingdoms. Right? When Jesus entered Jerusalem,

00:18:23.079 --> 00:18:25.380
the whole city was stirred. I'm not sure what

00:18:25.380 --> 00:18:27.880
your Bible says. It may say stirred. It might

00:18:27.880 --> 00:18:31.200
say that Jerusalem was in an uproar. It might

00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:34.960
also say that Jerusalem was shaken. Does anybody

00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:38.240
have anything else that I didn't mention? Verse

00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:42.839
16. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city

00:18:42.839 --> 00:18:48.099
was stirred up. In an uproar. Shaken is another.

00:18:49.390 --> 00:18:53.329
And asked, who is this? And the crowds answered,

00:18:53.609 --> 00:18:56.930
this is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth and

00:18:56.930 --> 00:19:01.470
Galilee. And that is the close of Act 1 of our

00:19:01.470 --> 00:19:05.710
class between two kingdoms. Now, what do we call

00:19:05.710 --> 00:19:09.670
this scriptural event? What do we call this today?

00:19:11.640 --> 00:19:13.599
Palm Sunday, right? Palm Sunday. It's the beginning

00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:16.500
of Holy Week. It's the beginning of the last

00:19:16.500 --> 00:19:21.579
week of Jesus' life that begins with this Palm

00:19:21.579 --> 00:19:26.380
Sunday and ends with resurrection, right? Okay.

00:19:27.339 --> 00:19:31.299
Now, that meal that they shared that night before

00:19:31.299 --> 00:19:35.079
that we celebrate as communion, what's that meal

00:19:35.079 --> 00:19:39.009
called? Passover meal. It's celebrating. The

00:19:39.009 --> 00:19:41.410
story of the Passover of the Jewish people when

00:19:41.410 --> 00:19:43.930
they were in bondage and exile or bondage in

00:19:43.930 --> 00:19:49.470
Egypt, right? For 400 years. So that's what they're

00:19:49.470 --> 00:19:53.190
celebrating in Jerusalem. Now that week that

00:19:53.190 --> 00:19:57.190
we call Holy Week, it ends for them in Passover.

00:19:57.190 --> 00:19:59.930
That's their culminating event. But that week,

00:19:59.990 --> 00:20:01.690
does anybody know what that festival is called

00:20:01.690 --> 00:20:04.529
for them? It's called the Week of Unleavened

00:20:04.529 --> 00:20:07.180
Bread. It's the week where they begin to make

00:20:07.180 --> 00:20:09.759
bread that is unleavened, so it doesn't take

00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:12.619
time to make. They can make it quickly because

00:20:12.619 --> 00:20:15.259
it doesn't require leavening, right? That's the

00:20:15.259 --> 00:20:18.960
whole point. So what we call Holy Week, they

00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:22.299
call the week of unleavened bread, and then they

00:20:22.299 --> 00:20:24.700
celebrate Passover and we celebrate the resurrection.

00:20:25.160 --> 00:20:28.440
Okay, that's the parallel. Now, archaeologists

00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:30.940
and historians would have said that in this time,

00:20:31.019 --> 00:20:34.700
in the first third of the first century, that

00:20:34.700 --> 00:20:37.720
Jerusalem perhaps would have had an indigenous

00:20:37.720 --> 00:20:42.200
population of about 50 ,000 people. 50 ,000 people.

00:20:42.339 --> 00:20:46.119
However, at the time of the festival of unleavened

00:20:46.119 --> 00:20:49.920
bread, they estimate that the city may have swelled

00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:56.519
to about 150 ,000. So you go from 50 ,000 to

00:20:56.519 --> 00:21:02.460
150 ,000. The city is electric, and it is jam

00:21:02.460 --> 00:21:07.369
-packed. And people are rubbing up against each

00:21:07.369 --> 00:21:11.569
other. And their nationalism is through the roof.

00:21:12.250 --> 00:21:15.809
And their religious fervor is through the roof.

00:21:16.369 --> 00:21:20.289
Because two -thirds of the 150 ,000 have made

00:21:20.289 --> 00:21:22.970
the trek from wherever it is that they've come

00:21:22.970 --> 00:21:27.029
from on foot or on a donkey or on a camel or

00:21:27.029 --> 00:21:33.299
on a horse, not by jet plane or limousine. pedestrianally

00:21:33.299 --> 00:21:37.000
made their way there to celebrate their existence

00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:44.480
as an Israelite and as a Jew, right? So this

00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:49.220
would have been the most emotionally charged

00:21:49.220 --> 00:21:52.460
time of the year. Not only that, but the city

00:21:52.460 --> 00:21:56.180
of Jerusalem is swelled to three times its size.

00:21:56.680 --> 00:22:22.089
Act 2, verse 12. So the temple courts are, just

00:22:22.089 --> 00:22:24.609
take a guess, are they inside or outside the

00:22:24.609 --> 00:22:28.900
court? I mean inside or outside the temple? It

00:22:28.900 --> 00:22:31.200
is inside. That's right. Just like a courtyard

00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:34.839
at a hotel or whatever, right? Inside where the

00:22:34.839 --> 00:22:39.079
buildings are. It's inside. Now, I recently learned

00:22:39.079 --> 00:22:42.859
that the move from where the money changing and

00:22:42.859 --> 00:22:47.579
the buying of these animals for sacrifice, the

00:22:47.579 --> 00:22:52.920
move from outside the temple mount into the temple

00:22:52.920 --> 00:22:56.500
courts was actually a fairly recent one. And

00:22:56.500 --> 00:22:58.599
because these transactions were taking place

00:22:58.599 --> 00:23:02.740
on the temple property now, Caiaphas, as the

00:23:02.740 --> 00:23:05.680
high priest for that year, right? He's the one

00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:08.460
that had those booths move from the outside to

00:23:08.460 --> 00:23:10.740
the inside. He would have actually received quite

00:23:10.740 --> 00:23:14.039
a handsome profit. Because whenever you exchange

00:23:14.039 --> 00:23:18.099
money, you exchange a fee for exchanging money,

00:23:18.220 --> 00:23:21.259
right? It's not one for one. That's not how money

00:23:21.259 --> 00:23:23.990
changing works. Nobody would be willing to take

00:23:23.990 --> 00:23:28.230
that risk or do that job for nothing. So when

00:23:28.230 --> 00:23:31.309
you have to exchange money, you have to pay to

00:23:31.309 --> 00:23:34.230
exchange money. And a portion of that profit

00:23:34.230 --> 00:23:37.289
went to Caiaphas just because he moved the booths

00:23:37.289 --> 00:23:40.509
from the outside the temple inside the temple.

00:23:41.329 --> 00:23:46.809
So what's going on here? Jesus is mad because

00:23:46.809 --> 00:23:51.000
he's come into the temple. And he is seeing money

00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:54.599
being changed hands. He's seeing commerce being

00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:59.700
done. Let's move a little bit further and see.

00:24:00.859 --> 00:24:08.440
When he turns over the money changers and he

00:24:08.440 --> 00:24:12.079
turns over booths with regard to the animal sacrifice,

00:24:12.339 --> 00:24:14.680
what's the animals that are mentioned there?

00:24:15.259 --> 00:24:18.240
The doves. Okay, does anybody know why that's

00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:22.160
important? Right? If you come to Jerusalem and

00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:24.759
you have traveled and you want to participate

00:24:24.759 --> 00:24:27.660
in your sacrifice, the sacrifice of atonement,

00:24:27.779 --> 00:24:31.039
and you're poor, right? You're rich enough to

00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:33.619
leave wherever it is you came from and get to

00:24:33.619 --> 00:24:36.059
Jerusalem because it's important. But once you

00:24:36.059 --> 00:24:37.740
get there, you don't have the extra money to

00:24:37.740 --> 00:24:41.400
buy a lamb just to sacrifice it. Right? And so

00:24:41.400 --> 00:24:44.259
the Jewish authorities said, you know what? If

00:24:44.259 --> 00:24:49.079
you're poor, Buy a dove. Right? And what Jesus

00:24:49.079 --> 00:24:52.900
is pointing out here, the reason why he's mad,

00:24:53.160 --> 00:24:57.680
is you're inside the temple and you're taking

00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:01.700
advantage of the poor. You're making them exchange

00:25:01.700 --> 00:25:05.420
their money and taking a cut of their money for

00:25:05.420 --> 00:25:09.140
the right just so they can buy a bird from you

00:25:09.140 --> 00:25:13.640
so they can sacrifice it. Right? Jesus is saying,

00:25:14.109 --> 00:25:16.829
You're taking advantage specifically of the people

00:25:16.829 --> 00:25:20.049
that when they come inside this temple shouldn't

00:25:20.049 --> 00:25:23.910
have to pay through the nose. And that's what's

00:25:23.910 --> 00:25:28.569
making this place a den of robbers. It's not

00:25:28.569 --> 00:25:31.609
by accident. It wasn't that the doves were the

00:25:31.609 --> 00:25:34.589
closest ones to him and that he chose to overturn

00:25:34.589 --> 00:25:38.960
that booth. That's on purpose. Because Jesus

00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:42.259
is making a statement specifically about how

00:25:42.259 --> 00:25:45.880
the Pharisees are specifically targeting the

00:25:45.880 --> 00:25:48.480
poor people. And it was bad enough whenever they

00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:50.980
were doing it outside the temple walls. Now they're

00:25:50.980 --> 00:25:55.819
doing it in the temple courts. Right? Now, in

00:25:55.819 --> 00:25:59.460
a city that is three times its normal size, that

00:25:59.460 --> 00:26:05.319
is fired up, does this not just seem to almost

00:26:05.319 --> 00:26:10.279
cause things to boil over? Almost, right? But

00:26:10.279 --> 00:26:12.380
the blind and the lame came to him at the temple

00:26:12.380 --> 00:26:15.759
and he healed them. But when the chief priests

00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:17.940
and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful

00:26:17.940 --> 00:26:20.319
things that he had done and the children standing

00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:22.779
there shouting in the temple courts, Hosanna,

00:26:22.920 --> 00:26:26.319
the son of David, they were indignant. Do you

00:26:26.319 --> 00:26:31.039
hear what these children are saying? Yes, Jesus

00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:33.720
replied to them. And I love it every single time

00:26:33.720 --> 00:26:36.400
he throws this at them. Have you never read your

00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:39.400
Bible? To the guys who are supposed to be experts

00:26:39.400 --> 00:26:42.599
on the Bible. I love it when Jesus gets in their

00:26:42.599 --> 00:26:46.380
face and goes, do you not know scripture? And

00:26:46.380 --> 00:26:49.539
he quotes from Psalm 8. From the lips of children

00:26:49.539 --> 00:26:52.640
and infants. You, Lord, have called forth your

00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:56.880
praise. And he left them and went out of the

00:26:56.880 --> 00:27:01.000
city to Bethany where he spent the night. Seen

00:27:01.000 --> 00:27:06.640
to. Right? Now. How far is Bethany from Jerusalem?

00:27:06.700 --> 00:27:08.519
We've been talking about this the last couple

00:27:08.519 --> 00:27:12.059
of weeks. About a mile and a half. Right? Who

00:27:12.059 --> 00:27:16.799
lives in Bethany? Mary, Martha, and their brother.

00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:21.880
Back again by popular demand, Lazarus. Right?

00:27:22.440 --> 00:27:26.559
And I kind of sense at the end of Act 2 here,

00:27:26.680 --> 00:27:30.160
of my little three -act play of Clash, I get

00:27:30.160 --> 00:27:32.460
the sense that after Jesus has pulled this stunt,

00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:36.059
In the temple courts, he realizes there's still

00:27:36.059 --> 00:27:39.619
more to accomplish. And if I hung around here

00:27:39.619 --> 00:27:44.400
tonight, I might not make it. So he taps the

00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:47.839
brakes, and they get out of town. And they run

00:27:47.839 --> 00:27:51.319
back up the road to Bethany, where he knew he'd

00:27:51.319 --> 00:27:55.799
be safe. Early in the morning, as Jesus was on

00:27:55.799 --> 00:27:59.180
his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing

00:27:59.180 --> 00:28:01.559
a fig tree by the road, he went up to it, but

00:28:01.559 --> 00:28:05.210
found nothing on it. except leaves then he said

00:28:05.210 --> 00:28:08.809
to it said to it may you never bear fruit again

00:28:08.809 --> 00:28:13.309
immediately the tree withered when the disciples

00:28:13.309 --> 00:28:16.109
saw this they were amazed how did the fig tree

00:28:16.109 --> 00:28:19.750
wither so quickly jesus replied truly i tell

00:28:19.750 --> 00:28:22.750
you if you have faith and do not doubt not only

00:28:22.750 --> 00:28:25.349
can you do what was done to this fig tree but

00:28:25.349 --> 00:28:27.769
you can say to this mountain go throw yourself

00:28:27.769 --> 00:28:31.819
into the sea and it will be done If you believe,

00:28:31.900 --> 00:28:35.039
you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.

00:28:35.220 --> 00:28:38.519
Now, I don't know if this is true, but I love

00:28:38.519 --> 00:28:43.099
the image. I have heard this said that when Jesus

00:28:43.099 --> 00:28:46.759
is talking about a mountain, he's not talking

00:28:46.759 --> 00:28:49.980
about the Mount of Olives. Remember, they're

00:28:49.980 --> 00:28:53.339
just a mile and a half outside the city of Jerusalem.

00:28:54.299 --> 00:28:59.559
Could they see the Temple Mount from a mile and

00:28:59.559 --> 00:29:05.440
a half away? Oh, easy. The argument can be made.

00:29:05.460 --> 00:29:07.920
I think it's fun to at least think it doesn't

00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:11.039
indicate this. But when Jesus is saying this

00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:13.779
mountain can be thrown into the sea, he's not

00:29:13.779 --> 00:29:15.460
referring to a mountain. He's talking about the

00:29:15.460 --> 00:29:18.140
Temple Mount. Now, I know that's not what you

00:29:18.140 --> 00:29:20.319
want to know about this story because we want

00:29:20.319 --> 00:29:22.900
to know. Now, why would Jesus do that to this

00:29:22.900 --> 00:29:26.279
poor old fig tree? Right now, we remember where

00:29:26.279 --> 00:29:30.369
we are in this area. At the very beginning, Bethphage,

00:29:30.650 --> 00:29:35.769
the place of the early figs. At this time, we

00:29:35.769 --> 00:29:39.430
know from the other readings of this story in

00:29:39.430 --> 00:29:42.450
the other Gospels, that it was not the time for

00:29:42.450 --> 00:29:45.509
figs. It was too early spring for them to have

00:29:45.509 --> 00:29:49.309
had mature fruit. So the tree isn't even supposed

00:29:49.309 --> 00:29:52.549
to have fruit on it, right? Because it's not

00:29:52.549 --> 00:29:57.880
time yet. And then you might go, well, no, that's

00:29:57.880 --> 00:30:00.579
still unfair, Jesus. Because if you're mad because

00:30:00.579 --> 00:30:03.019
the tree doesn't have fruit on it, then it's

00:30:03.019 --> 00:30:05.400
not supposed to have fruit on it. But it's not

00:30:05.400 --> 00:30:08.259
supposed to be full of leaves either. It's not

00:30:08.259 --> 00:30:11.819
supposed to be pretending like it has fruit on

00:30:11.819 --> 00:30:16.720
it when there's no fruit to be had. And the illustration

00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:22.960
to his disciples is the other kingdom. The other

00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:25.240
kingdom, the Pharisees, the religious leaders,

00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:30.059
they walk around like they're full of leaves.

00:30:30.680 --> 00:30:34.559
Like they should have fruit. But inside there's

00:30:34.559 --> 00:30:38.940
nothing. There's nothing. That's what this story

00:30:38.940 --> 00:30:49.880
is about. Now, so I want us to stop in chapter

00:30:49.880 --> 00:30:55.319
21 there. And I want us to, I want to read from

00:30:55.319 --> 00:31:00.940
probably my favorite poet in Hebrew scripture,

00:31:01.180 --> 00:31:05.339
a guy by the name of Yahu's Ben Amoz. We know

00:31:05.339 --> 00:31:09.900
him as Isaiah, the son of Amoz. And I'd like

00:31:09.900 --> 00:31:12.099
for us to turn to the fifth chapter of Isaiah.

00:31:13.599 --> 00:31:21.420
Now, I suppose that Jesus. Thought of himself

00:31:21.420 --> 00:31:27.660
as a modern day Isaiah. Now don't hear what I

00:31:27.660 --> 00:31:31.500
didn't say. I'm not saying. I think Jesus thought

00:31:31.500 --> 00:31:33.720
he was the walking around as the reincarnated

00:31:33.720 --> 00:31:38.519
Isaiah. I didn't say that. What I am saying is.

00:31:38.720 --> 00:31:41.720
That I think Jesus knowing his Bible front to

00:31:41.720 --> 00:31:45.500
back. Read the prophecies of Isaiah and went.

00:31:46.279 --> 00:31:49.740
What Isaiah was talking about in the Old Testament

00:31:49.740 --> 00:31:52.799
has a lot to do with what God has called me to

00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:57.200
talk about in the New. Mainly, we're talking

00:31:57.200 --> 00:32:01.000
about a disconnect between God and his people.

00:32:01.519 --> 00:32:06.539
The relationship between God at the time of the

00:32:06.539 --> 00:32:13.069
Assyrian invasion is broken. Same kinds of things

00:32:13.069 --> 00:32:15.829
are happening with the people. Same kinds of

00:32:15.829 --> 00:32:18.490
things are happening. People are going to the

00:32:18.490 --> 00:32:21.769
temple. They are paying their taxes. They are

00:32:21.769 --> 00:32:25.869
wearing really shiny robes and turbans and all

00:32:25.869 --> 00:32:29.130
kinds of stuff. They are playing the part of

00:32:29.130 --> 00:32:32.309
Jew really, really, really well, but they are

00:32:32.309 --> 00:32:37.170
not actually after God's heart. They don't have

00:32:37.170 --> 00:32:39.589
God in their own heart. So what's going on in

00:32:39.589 --> 00:32:42.480
Isaiah's day? That's what's going on in Jesus'

00:32:42.599 --> 00:32:47.700
day as well. And the reason why I suppose that

00:32:47.700 --> 00:32:50.880
Jesus found his earthly connection to Isaiah

00:32:50.880 --> 00:32:54.380
more than any other is the fact that Jesus flat

00:32:54.380 --> 00:32:57.819
out quotes Isaiah more than he does more than

00:32:57.819 --> 00:33:00.579
any other prophet and quotes Isaiah more than

00:33:00.579 --> 00:33:03.559
any other portion of Scripture outside of the

00:33:03.559 --> 00:33:08.920
Psalms. So I think that Isaiah's influence on

00:33:08.920 --> 00:33:13.059
Christ's Public ministry is significant. So,

00:33:13.099 --> 00:33:15.640
let me read a love, this is a love poem. Now,

00:33:15.640 --> 00:33:17.319
I was going to test you guys and say, where do

00:33:17.319 --> 00:33:18.960
you, I was going to read it and then go, where

00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:20.779
do you guys think the love poem come from, right?

00:33:20.920 --> 00:33:23.900
And somebody's going to go Song of Solomon, right?

00:33:24.500 --> 00:33:26.339
Because that's where all the poetry is about

00:33:26.339 --> 00:33:29.119
love in the Bible, Song of Solomon. Unfortunately,

00:33:29.220 --> 00:33:34.200
there's that and then Isaiah. So, I will sing

00:33:34.200 --> 00:33:36.759
for the one I love a song about his vineyard.

00:33:37.240 --> 00:33:40.259
My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.

00:33:41.059 --> 00:33:43.559
He dug it up, and he cleared it of stones, and

00:33:43.559 --> 00:33:46.180
he planted it with the choicest vines. He built

00:33:46.180 --> 00:33:48.819
a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as

00:33:48.819 --> 00:33:52.319
well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,

00:33:52.400 --> 00:33:56.279
but it yielded only bad fruit. Now you dwellers

00:33:56.279 --> 00:33:58.240
in Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between

00:33:58.240 --> 00:34:02.259
me and my vineyard. What more could have been

00:34:02.259 --> 00:34:04.140
done for my vineyard than I have done for it?

00:34:04.959 --> 00:34:07.460
When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield

00:34:07.460 --> 00:34:09.579
only bad? I think that's interesting because

00:34:09.579 --> 00:34:12.960
it's not even that the fruit ended up rotting

00:34:12.960 --> 00:34:16.699
on the vine or that the fruit got harvested and

00:34:16.699 --> 00:34:21.039
then rotted, but it actually yielded rotten fruit.

00:34:22.260 --> 00:34:24.820
Now I will tell you what I'm going to do to my

00:34:24.820 --> 00:34:27.880
vineyard. I will take away its hedge and it will

00:34:27.880 --> 00:34:29.699
be destroyed. I will break down its wall and

00:34:29.699 --> 00:34:31.619
it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland.

00:34:31.980 --> 00:34:35.920
neither pruned nor cultivated in briars, and

00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:40.880
thorns will grow there. I think, guys, that's

00:34:40.880 --> 00:34:45.000
poetry to me, man. Let's go back to verse 33

00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.199
of Matthew. And Jesus says, hey, I got a parable

00:34:49.199 --> 00:34:54.800
for you guys. Let's see, we are in 21 still.

00:34:57.539 --> 00:34:59.860
Jesus says, hey, I got a parable. Listen to another

00:34:59.860 --> 00:35:03.210
parable. There was a landowner who planted a

00:35:03.210 --> 00:35:06.809
vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a wine

00:35:06.809 --> 00:35:09.349
press in it, and built a watchtower. I mean,

00:35:09.389 --> 00:35:13.329
come on. He's quoting Isaiah. Then he rented

00:35:13.329 --> 00:35:16.349
the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another

00:35:16.349 --> 00:35:19.170
place. When the harvest time approached, he sent

00:35:19.170 --> 00:35:21.090
his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

00:35:21.369 --> 00:35:25.590
The tenants seized his servants. They beat one,

00:35:25.809 --> 00:35:30.159
killed another, and stoned a third. Right? Didn't

00:35:30.159 --> 00:35:32.679
go well. Now, I just want to pause right here.

00:35:32.760 --> 00:35:35.300
I'm going to say this real fast. I think just

00:35:35.300 --> 00:35:37.780
to kind of get an idea of what might be going

00:35:37.780 --> 00:35:40.760
on in the heads of the guys who are working on

00:35:40.760 --> 00:35:45.880
the farm. This guy obviously is a, he owns land,

00:35:46.059 --> 00:35:47.920
but he doesn't live, he might live in Caesarea.

00:35:48.219 --> 00:35:50.579
He might live in, he doesn't live on the property,

00:35:50.739 --> 00:35:52.539
right? We don't know where, but he doesn't live,

00:35:52.579 --> 00:35:54.980
he's an absentee landowner. That's, I couldn't

00:35:54.980 --> 00:35:57.699
think of the word, right? Now, we also know that

00:35:57.699 --> 00:36:02.760
at this time in agrarian Judah, the Judean lands

00:36:02.760 --> 00:36:07.360
of the Roman Empire, that the rules about land

00:36:07.360 --> 00:36:11.239
ownership that went back to Hebrew scriptural

00:36:11.239 --> 00:36:15.769
law were no longer being enforced. The idea that

00:36:15.769 --> 00:36:18.369
land had to stay within the family and then even

00:36:18.369 --> 00:36:20.630
whenever it was mortgaged against, that the jubilee

00:36:20.630 --> 00:36:22.710
year it had to be returned back to the family

00:36:22.710 --> 00:36:25.309
and that the land could never be moved outside

00:36:25.309 --> 00:36:28.989
of the family, that was all gone. None of that

00:36:28.989 --> 00:36:32.070
was happening. But the people still lived there.

00:36:32.429 --> 00:36:35.250
And so what was kind of happening is people had

00:36:35.250 --> 00:36:37.789
grown up in these areas. They lived where they

00:36:37.789 --> 00:36:42.179
had grown up, right? they lived and worked on

00:36:42.179 --> 00:36:44.820
the land that at one time ancestrally was their

00:36:44.820 --> 00:36:47.739
families, but is no longer theirs. Like in the

00:36:47.739 --> 00:36:50.519
1930s, right? Whenever we had the Dust Bowl and

00:36:50.519 --> 00:36:54.159
the banks bought up huge swaths of farmland,

00:36:54.219 --> 00:36:57.480
and then those farms got turned into big major

00:36:57.480 --> 00:37:00.420
farms that could be manufactured, or they could

00:37:00.420 --> 00:37:04.280
be farmed with machinery, right? But whenever

00:37:04.280 --> 00:37:07.960
you needed farmers, Not the ones who couldn't

00:37:07.960 --> 00:37:10.500
afford to go to California. When you needed farmers

00:37:10.500 --> 00:37:13.900
to farm the land, they worked the land for the

00:37:13.900 --> 00:37:17.460
absentee landowner, even though ancestrally their

00:37:17.460 --> 00:37:20.059
grandpa may have owned that land. Sharecropping

00:37:20.059 --> 00:37:22.760
is what we're talking about here, right? So they're

00:37:22.760 --> 00:37:25.780
working on land that at one time was their family's.

00:37:25.880 --> 00:37:30.519
Now they're just a hired hand. And that's these

00:37:30.519 --> 00:37:34.940
tenants. So the absentee landowner has sent a

00:37:34.940 --> 00:37:37.239
servant. They beat one, they killed another,

00:37:37.360 --> 00:37:40.239
they stoned a third. Then he sent other servants,

00:37:40.440 --> 00:37:43.940
more than the first time. And the tenants treated

00:37:43.940 --> 00:37:47.420
them in the same way. Last of all, the owner

00:37:47.420 --> 00:37:51.860
said, he sent his son to them. He says, surely,

00:37:52.099 --> 00:37:57.760
surely they'll respect my son. But when the tenants

00:37:57.760 --> 00:38:01.840
saw the son, they said to each other, this is

00:38:01.840 --> 00:38:06.639
the heir, come. Let's kill him and take his inheritance.

00:38:07.059 --> 00:38:09.960
So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard

00:38:09.960 --> 00:38:13.900
and killed him. Now, let me ask you a question.

00:38:14.780 --> 00:38:17.139
What in the world would make these people think

00:38:17.139 --> 00:38:19.860
that if they already killed two groups of servants

00:38:19.860 --> 00:38:22.360
and then the landowner's son, what in the world

00:38:22.360 --> 00:38:24.719
would make them think that if they killed the

00:38:24.719 --> 00:38:28.039
son, they'd get the land? You want to talk about

00:38:28.039 --> 00:38:31.940
a disconnect? These are people that, even if

00:38:31.940 --> 00:38:36.769
you do that, The landowner still owns the land.

00:38:37.989 --> 00:38:42.070
Nothing you do is going to change the fact that

00:38:42.070 --> 00:38:46.150
this land and all you can see on it and the tools

00:38:46.150 --> 00:38:49.489
that you use to work the vineyard and the shack

00:38:49.489 --> 00:38:51.869
that you live in at night when you're not working

00:38:51.869 --> 00:38:54.130
the vineyard and the food that you eat to give

00:38:54.130 --> 00:38:56.690
you energy so you can work on the vineyard, none

00:38:56.690 --> 00:39:00.809
of that changes. It's still the landowner's stuff.

00:39:02.380 --> 00:39:06.500
And if you kill the son, you don't end up taking

00:39:06.500 --> 00:39:09.539
over the landowner's stuff. That's not how ownership

00:39:09.539 --> 00:39:14.539
works. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard

00:39:14.539 --> 00:39:19.380
comes, Jesus asks, what will he, the landowner,

00:39:19.420 --> 00:39:24.000
do to the tenants? Who's he talking to? Do you

00:39:24.000 --> 00:39:29.059
guys remember? The religious leaders, the Pharisees

00:39:29.059 --> 00:39:32.300
and the Sadducees. He's telling them this story.

00:39:33.079 --> 00:39:35.500
And what do they say? Oh, they figured it out.

00:39:35.579 --> 00:39:39.539
Oh, he'll bring those wretches to a wretched

00:39:39.539 --> 00:39:43.000
end, they replied. And then he'll rent the vineyard

00:39:43.000 --> 00:39:46.880
to some other tenants who will give them the

00:39:46.880 --> 00:39:52.599
share of the crop at harvest time. You're the

00:39:52.599 --> 00:39:58.920
farmers. The Pharisees. Oh my gosh, those people

00:39:58.920 --> 00:40:03.099
are... You're the landowner's God. You don't

00:40:03.099 --> 00:40:07.559
own the world. This isn't your kingdom. This

00:40:07.559 --> 00:40:11.699
isn't your farm, Pharisees and Sadducees. I don't

00:40:11.699 --> 00:40:16.780
care what you think. This is still God's vineyard.

00:40:17.119 --> 00:40:21.400
The servants, right? And we know from Old Testament

00:40:21.400 --> 00:40:24.679
scripture, Hebrew scripture, that the prophets

00:40:24.679 --> 00:40:28.280
of God were called his servants. So God had sent

00:40:28.280 --> 00:40:32.719
his prophets and they had a violent end each

00:40:32.719 --> 00:40:36.079
one after the other. And they still don't get

00:40:36.079 --> 00:40:40.860
it. And God still just wants his fruit. And what

00:40:40.860 --> 00:40:46.360
is that fruit? It's spiritual growth. A healthy

00:40:46.360 --> 00:40:48.940
relationship with God. A healthy relationship

00:40:48.940 --> 00:40:52.639
with each other. Taking the blessings that God

00:40:52.639 --> 00:40:57.360
has given us and multiplying them. Right. Making

00:40:57.360 --> 00:41:00.860
best use of them, being given resource by God

00:41:00.860 --> 00:41:05.019
as an opportunity and then taking that opportunity

00:41:05.019 --> 00:41:09.300
to share righteousness and right relationships

00:41:09.300 --> 00:41:14.269
with one another. And prophet after prophet after

00:41:14.269 --> 00:41:17.789
prophet comes to the people to say, God is desiring

00:41:17.789 --> 00:41:20.530
this righteousness among you. And prophet after

00:41:20.530 --> 00:41:23.590
prophet after prophet, they're stoned and beaten

00:41:23.590 --> 00:41:26.489
and killed. And finally, the landowner sends

00:41:26.489 --> 00:41:31.210
his son. And they think rather than listening

00:41:31.210 --> 00:41:34.789
to the son, maybe we should kill the son as well.

00:41:36.610 --> 00:41:40.469
Jesus said to them, have you never read in the

00:41:40.469 --> 00:41:43.000
scriptures? The stone that the builders reject

00:41:43.000 --> 00:41:46.500
has become the cornerstone. The Lord has done

00:41:46.500 --> 00:41:49.460
this and it is marvelous in our eyes. That's

00:41:49.460 --> 00:41:54.860
a quotation from the 118th Psalm. Therefore,

00:41:54.980 --> 00:41:57.059
I will tell you that the kingdom of God will

00:41:57.059 --> 00:42:00.860
be taken away from you and given to a people

00:42:00.860 --> 00:42:05.239
who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls

00:42:05.239 --> 00:42:08.139
on this stone will be broken to pieces. Anyone

00:42:08.139 --> 00:42:13.619
on whom it falls will be crushed. I love this

00:42:13.619 --> 00:42:15.780
because this reminds me of me because sometimes

00:42:15.780 --> 00:42:19.719
I'm not smart enough sometimes to recognize that

00:42:19.719 --> 00:42:22.300
I've just been insulted, but it's like 30 seconds

00:42:22.300 --> 00:42:26.480
too late. You know, like, did you wait? Yeah,

00:42:26.539 --> 00:42:30.000
I just realized, wait a minute. I thought that

00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:32.579
was a compliment. This is what happens here.

00:42:32.619 --> 00:42:34.679
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard

00:42:34.679 --> 00:42:39.139
Jesus's parables, they knew he was talking about

00:42:39.139 --> 00:42:43.949
us. That's it. We have been embarrassed enough

00:42:43.949 --> 00:42:46.969
by this guy. And they looked for a way to arrest

00:42:46.969 --> 00:42:49.369
him, but they were afraid of the crowd because

00:42:49.369 --> 00:42:53.010
the people held that he was a prophet. Now, this

00:42:53.010 --> 00:42:57.489
testing, clashing of kingdoms is going to continue

00:42:57.489 --> 00:42:59.690
right here in the middle. So let's keep going.

00:42:59.789 --> 00:43:05.110
The next chapter, verse 23. Now it's the Sadducees'

00:43:05.150 --> 00:43:07.489
turn. Now let me tell you really quickly about

00:43:07.489 --> 00:43:10.239
who the Sadducees are. The Sadducees are like

00:43:10.239 --> 00:43:12.820
the Pharisees. They are religious leaders. They

00:43:12.820 --> 00:43:15.380
are the aristocracy, which means they're rich

00:43:15.380 --> 00:43:18.360
and they have important jobs. The difference

00:43:18.360 --> 00:43:21.920
between the Sadducees and the Pharisees is the

00:43:21.920 --> 00:43:25.280
Sadducees do not believe in resurrection. And

00:43:25.280 --> 00:43:27.559
they also don't believe in anything else beyond

00:43:27.559 --> 00:43:29.840
what Moses wrote in the first five books of the

00:43:29.840 --> 00:43:33.360
Bible. So the Psalms, the Proverbs, the writings

00:43:33.360 --> 00:43:35.500
of the minor prophets, the writings of the major

00:43:35.500 --> 00:43:39.429
prophets, all of that is like, Fiction to the

00:43:39.429 --> 00:43:44.269
Sadducees. Right? No resurrection. No angels.

00:43:44.730 --> 00:43:47.710
Nothing beyond the first five books of the Bible.

00:43:48.690 --> 00:43:51.750
So now it's their turn to question Jesus. So

00:43:51.750 --> 00:43:54.909
they come to them and they say, those who say

00:43:54.909 --> 00:43:56.710
there's no resurrection came to him with a question.

00:43:56.789 --> 00:43:59.269
This is ridiculous, but I can't help but think

00:43:59.269 --> 00:44:02.190
of seven brothers every time I hear this story.

00:44:02.650 --> 00:44:05.349
Teacher, they said, Moses told us that if a man

00:44:05.349 --> 00:44:07.469
dies without having children, his brother must

00:44:07.469 --> 00:44:10.030
marry the widow, raise up the offspring for him.

00:44:10.110 --> 00:44:12.989
That we learn from Leviticus and Deuteronomy,

00:44:13.070 --> 00:44:15.449
how you're supposed to live within the people

00:44:15.449 --> 00:44:18.590
of Israel. Okay, that's a part of the law. Now

00:44:18.590 --> 00:44:21.369
there were seven brothers among us. The first

00:44:21.369 --> 00:44:24.030
one married and died, and since he had no children,

00:44:24.090 --> 00:44:25.929
he left his wife to the brother. The same thing

00:44:25.929 --> 00:44:28.070
happened to the second and the third brother,

00:44:28.090 --> 00:44:31.170
right down to the seventh, whatever. Finally,

00:44:31.170 --> 00:44:36.829
the woman died. Now then, Jesus, at this, air

00:44:36.829 --> 00:44:38.869
quotes, I'm sure they're doing, resurrection,

00:44:39.309 --> 00:44:43.710
whose wife will she be of the seven? since all

00:44:43.710 --> 00:44:46.670
of them were married to her. Now, this is probably

00:44:46.670 --> 00:44:48.849
about to take a turn for the worse, and I'm not

00:44:48.849 --> 00:44:51.230
really sure how this is going to go. But, folks,

00:44:51.269 --> 00:44:56.409
this is the truth. Now, I think, firstly, the

00:44:56.409 --> 00:44:58.510
very first question Jesus should have said was,

00:44:58.769 --> 00:45:01.429
okay, you know what? First of all, you're not

00:45:01.429 --> 00:45:04.010
seeking an answer because that story is ridiculous.

00:45:05.099 --> 00:45:08.920
So if you can show me where that story has taken

00:45:08.920 --> 00:45:11.400
place, if you can tell me where that happened,

00:45:11.519 --> 00:45:14.119
then I'll give you an answer. And I think that

00:45:14.119 --> 00:45:17.099
they were counting on him to say that because

00:45:17.099 --> 00:45:20.320
they were going to trap him. That story actually

00:45:20.320 --> 00:45:24.059
shows up in Hebrew Apocrypha, which are books

00:45:24.059 --> 00:45:28.320
of the Hebrew Scriptures, which some Jewish people

00:45:28.320 --> 00:45:32.639
hold to be a part of the Hebrew Scriptures. Some

00:45:32.639 --> 00:45:35.469
don't. Some Christians don't. Churches do and

00:45:35.469 --> 00:45:37.889
some don't. The Catholic Church considers the

00:45:37.889 --> 00:45:42.030
book of Tobit to be a part of their Bible. As

00:45:42.030 --> 00:45:45.150
Protestants, we don't. The story is actually

00:45:45.150 --> 00:45:50.670
in Tobit. It's a story where a woman gets married

00:45:50.670 --> 00:45:53.090
seven times and on the night of her wedding,

00:45:53.150 --> 00:45:54.989
a demon comes along and kills the husband before

00:45:54.989 --> 00:45:56.989
they can consummate the marriage. And it happens

00:45:56.989 --> 00:45:59.869
seven times. So the story actually kind of happens.

00:46:00.519 --> 00:46:03.440
that way in the book of Tobit. Now, I don't want

00:46:03.440 --> 00:46:05.119
to go too far around a rabbit hole here, but

00:46:05.119 --> 00:46:07.260
I think that the Sadducees are trying to trap

00:46:07.260 --> 00:46:09.639
Jesus in doing one of two things. One, if he

00:46:09.639 --> 00:46:12.559
didn't know the story of Tobit, in Tobit, then

00:46:12.559 --> 00:46:14.820
they would have said, you don't even read Tobit.

00:46:14.880 --> 00:46:16.940
So that Tobit can't be a real book in the Hebrew

00:46:16.940 --> 00:46:19.519
scriptures. They could have got him. And then

00:46:19.519 --> 00:46:22.420
this story about the resurrection, right? Instead,

00:46:22.780 --> 00:46:26.840
instead, Jesus replies, you are in error because

00:46:26.840 --> 00:46:28.840
you do not know the scriptures of the power of

00:46:28.840 --> 00:46:33.250
God. This is what the Bible says, friends. At

00:46:33.250 --> 00:46:35.929
the resurrection, people will neither marry nor

00:46:35.929 --> 00:46:38.590
will they be given in marriage. They will be

00:46:38.590 --> 00:46:42.469
like angels in heaven. Now, what is Jesus saying?

00:46:43.289 --> 00:46:46.650
He's saying people do not get married when they

00:46:46.650 --> 00:46:50.190
are resurrected. And marriage is an ordinance

00:46:50.190 --> 00:46:55.510
for this age. And in the new age, we will be

00:46:55.510 --> 00:47:01.099
as angels. We will not be married. Now, this

00:47:01.099 --> 00:47:04.820
does not mean that a husband and wife will no

00:47:04.820 --> 00:47:08.420
longer know each other in heaven. This does also

00:47:08.420 --> 00:47:11.179
not mean that the husband and wife can't still

00:47:11.179 --> 00:47:14.619
have a close relationship in heaven. What it

00:47:14.619 --> 00:47:17.719
does seem to indicate, though, is husband and

00:47:17.719 --> 00:47:23.780
wife will no longer be married in heaven. Now,

00:47:23.780 --> 00:47:25.579
I know you're going to email me about this, and

00:47:25.579 --> 00:47:28.219
that's fine. We can have this talk. That's what

00:47:28.219 --> 00:47:32.920
the Bible says. He continues. But about the resurrection

00:47:32.920 --> 00:47:35.199
of the dead, have you not read what God said

00:47:35.199 --> 00:47:37.579
to you? Yeah. Because I'm not advocating that

00:47:37.579 --> 00:47:40.039
you won't know your spouse. I'm not advocating

00:47:40.039 --> 00:47:42.199
that you can't have a close relationship in heaven

00:47:42.199 --> 00:47:44.760
with your spouse. I'm not saying that. But what

00:47:44.760 --> 00:47:48.480
I am indicating is that marriage as an ordinance

00:47:48.480 --> 00:47:51.579
of the church is something that was invented

00:47:51.579 --> 00:47:56.639
for the actual act of the ring. Right? That physical

00:47:56.639 --> 00:47:59.210
stuff. And that's what the Sadducees were trying

00:47:59.210 --> 00:48:01.190
to trip him up when, because they were trying

00:48:01.190 --> 00:48:05.889
to use this physical law to explain a heavenly

00:48:05.889 --> 00:48:08.869
example. And Jesus is going, when we get to,

00:48:08.869 --> 00:48:12.030
when we get to the new age, that physical stuff

00:48:12.030 --> 00:48:15.250
all burns away, right? It won't even matter.

00:48:15.829 --> 00:48:19.309
So please don't misunderstand. I'm not saying.

00:48:20.090 --> 00:48:22.469
We'll just be spirits and we won't know our spouse

00:48:22.469 --> 00:48:24.829
and we won't know our families. I'm not saying

00:48:24.829 --> 00:48:29.349
that. I'm counting on that to be true. And I'm

00:48:29.349 --> 00:48:32.130
sure you probably are too. I don't want to die

00:48:32.130 --> 00:48:35.010
and just be some wanderlust spirit without having

00:48:35.010 --> 00:48:37.869
connection with people that have gone before

00:48:37.869 --> 00:48:41.590
me, people that will come to heaven after me.

00:48:42.670 --> 00:48:47.170
Ultimately, I want my soul to return to the proximity

00:48:47.170 --> 00:48:50.199
of God. That's the number one thing. I want to

00:48:50.199 --> 00:48:53.980
be able to be in heaven with my spouse. I mean,

00:48:54.059 --> 00:48:58.940
so let's continue on. So he continues on this

00:48:58.940 --> 00:49:03.300
story about the resurrection and the seven brothers

00:49:03.300 --> 00:49:06.519
stories. He says, have you not read what God

00:49:06.519 --> 00:49:09.659
said to you? I am the God of Abraham, the God

00:49:09.659 --> 00:49:13.500
of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He's not the

00:49:13.500 --> 00:49:16.559
God of the dead, but of the living. It took me

00:49:16.559 --> 00:49:19.300
a while to figure out what he meant there. I

00:49:19.300 --> 00:49:22.699
think what he's saying there is, if there's no

00:49:22.699 --> 00:49:27.139
afterlife, and Abraham is dead, and Isaac is

00:49:27.139 --> 00:49:30.679
dead, and Jacob is dead, and there's no more

00:49:30.679 --> 00:49:33.920
Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob, then he wouldn't say,

00:49:33.960 --> 00:49:39.179
I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He

00:49:39.179 --> 00:49:42.420
would say, I was. Right? Because there are no

00:49:42.420 --> 00:49:47.510
more. Right? So when God says, I am, he's implying

00:49:47.510 --> 00:49:50.469
you don't see him. Abraham's still here. You

00:49:50.469 --> 00:49:52.769
don't see him. Isaac is still here. You don't

00:49:52.769 --> 00:49:55.469
see him. Jacob is still here. And I am still

00:49:55.469 --> 00:49:58.769
their God. Okay. When the crowds heard this,

00:49:58.909 --> 00:50:02.570
they were astonished at his teaching. And this

00:50:02.570 --> 00:50:06.309
is known as one of the difficult, hard, they

00:50:06.309 --> 00:50:08.750
call it the hard teachings of Jesus. This is

00:50:08.750 --> 00:50:12.340
one of those things where if. I feel like that

00:50:12.340 --> 00:50:14.199
story right there, and when Jesus also talks

00:50:14.199 --> 00:50:18.400
about divorce, that if people were just making

00:50:18.400 --> 00:50:21.619
up stories that made Jesus look good based on

00:50:21.619 --> 00:50:24.199
things that he said, those stories would not

00:50:24.199 --> 00:50:26.480
have been included in the Bible. Because those

00:50:26.480 --> 00:50:30.820
are not popular stories to say, but they're truth,

00:50:31.079 --> 00:50:34.800
right? If they wanted to just write stories about

00:50:34.800 --> 00:50:39.400
how Jesus was love, man, and chill, and divorce,

00:50:39.679 --> 00:50:43.150
man, it's okay. His teachings on divorce, they

00:50:43.150 --> 00:50:45.510
would have just left that out. But they didn't

00:50:45.510 --> 00:50:49.130
because it's the truth. Hearing that Jesus had

00:50:49.130 --> 00:50:51.829
now silenced the Sadducees, now the Pharisees

00:50:51.829 --> 00:50:55.429
have regrouped for another round. One of them,

00:50:55.429 --> 00:50:57.849
an expert in the law, tested him with the question,

00:50:57.909 --> 00:50:59.730
Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in

00:50:59.730 --> 00:51:02.829
the law? Jesus replied, Love the Lord your God

00:51:02.829 --> 00:51:04.909
with all of your heart and with all of your soul

00:51:04.909 --> 00:51:07.489
and all of your mind. The first and greatest

00:51:07.489 --> 00:51:11.309
commandment. The second is like it. So they're

00:51:11.309 --> 00:51:15.070
equal of equal importance. Love God with all

00:51:15.070 --> 00:51:17.849
of your heart, mind and soul and love your neighbor

00:51:17.849 --> 00:51:21.650
as yourself. He says all of the law and the prophets

00:51:21.650 --> 00:51:24.429
saying on these two commandments. Right. And

00:51:24.429 --> 00:51:26.829
what he's saying here is the law is the Torah.

00:51:27.510 --> 00:51:31.369
Right. The Pentateuch, the prophets and other

00:51:31.369 --> 00:51:33.130
writings is what it would have been known at

00:51:33.130 --> 00:51:36.230
that time is basically everything else. It's

00:51:36.230 --> 00:51:38.150
the Psalms. It's the Proverbs. And it's the writing

00:51:38.150 --> 00:51:42.820
of. Well, the minor prophets, right? And the

00:51:42.820 --> 00:51:44.980
major prophets, that's the prophets. Then we

00:51:44.980 --> 00:51:47.559
also have books of wisdom, which are the Psalms

00:51:47.559 --> 00:51:50.099
and Proverbs. Those are included in the other

00:51:50.099 --> 00:51:51.920
writings. Then we have the Torah, which is the

00:51:51.920 --> 00:51:54.739
law. He says all of it, all of Hebrew scripture

00:51:54.739 --> 00:51:59.699
can be boiled down to these two things. And I

00:51:59.699 --> 00:52:02.139
would like for us to focus on this, and you may

00:52:02.139 --> 00:52:04.420
have seen me do this in the past, but if you

00:52:04.420 --> 00:52:06.260
haven't seen this trick, I think that this is

00:52:06.260 --> 00:52:08.670
really neat. So let's use the Ten Commandments

00:52:08.670 --> 00:52:12.510
as a test. And so what Jesus is saying is all

00:52:12.510 --> 00:52:16.949
of God's law boils down to either honoring me

00:52:16.949 --> 00:52:20.369
with right relationships or honoring each other

00:52:20.369 --> 00:52:23.309
with right relationships. So let's see. I'm going

00:52:23.309 --> 00:52:26.670
to put a G or an A. A for other people. G for

00:52:26.670 --> 00:52:29.929
God. So the Ten Commandments. No other gods.

00:52:30.050 --> 00:52:36.739
Honoring God. Yeah? G. No idols. G. Right? How

00:52:36.739 --> 00:52:38.900
about don't take the Lord's name in vain? That's

00:52:38.900 --> 00:52:42.820
a G, right? Keeping the Sabbath? That's a G.

00:52:44.139 --> 00:52:46.539
How about honor your father and mother? That's

00:52:46.539 --> 00:52:49.400
an A, right? That's honoring, that's a right

00:52:49.400 --> 00:52:51.480
relationship with other people, right? Your mom

00:52:51.480 --> 00:52:54.679
and your dad. Now, I'm not saying that doing

00:52:54.679 --> 00:52:57.619
these isn't worshiping God. That's what I'm saying

00:52:57.619 --> 00:53:00.679
is these all worship God. But where is the intent

00:53:00.679 --> 00:53:03.650
of right relationship? Murdering other people,

00:53:03.769 --> 00:53:06.389
that's probably showing other people right relationships,

00:53:06.610 --> 00:53:10.070
right? How about adultery? Right relationships,

00:53:10.409 --> 00:53:13.869
right? How about asking your spouse if being

00:53:13.869 --> 00:53:16.550
an adulterer or adulteress is good for right

00:53:16.550 --> 00:53:18.389
relationships? It's not, right? So don't do it.

00:53:19.070 --> 00:53:23.449
Don't steal. Right relationships. No false witness.

00:53:23.650 --> 00:53:27.969
Don't lie about other people. And then no coveting

00:53:27.969 --> 00:53:30.570
other people's stuff. Can you have a right relationship

00:53:30.570 --> 00:53:33.469
with somebody whenever you want their house or

00:53:33.469 --> 00:53:36.590
their wife or their car? No, so don't do it.

00:53:37.250 --> 00:53:40.949
Now what's interesting to me is here we have

00:53:40.949 --> 00:53:42.730
the Ten Commandments, and sure enough, each one

00:53:42.730 --> 00:53:46.469
of them focus on a right relationship either

00:53:46.469 --> 00:53:49.550
with God or with other people. But what I think

00:53:49.550 --> 00:53:53.409
is interesting is of the ten, four of them deal

00:53:53.409 --> 00:53:56.650
with God. And six of them deal with other people.

00:53:57.369 --> 00:54:01.670
Isn't it interesting? It is to me that God gave

00:54:01.670 --> 00:54:04.889
these to Moses on top of the mountain, right?

00:54:05.010 --> 00:54:09.769
God wrote this in stone. And the first ten that

00:54:09.769 --> 00:54:14.289
God gave Moses, six of the first ten had to do

00:54:14.289 --> 00:54:17.469
with other people. I think that's pretty neat.

00:54:19.050 --> 00:54:21.349
While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus

00:54:21.349 --> 00:54:23.570
asked them, What do you think about the Messiah?

00:54:23.809 --> 00:54:26.369
Whose son is he? Well, he's the son of David.

00:54:26.590 --> 00:54:30.409
Have you not read the prophets? He said to them,

00:54:30.429 --> 00:54:33.489
How is it that David, speaking by the Spirit,

00:54:33.610 --> 00:54:37.710
calls him Lord? Because the 110th Psalm says,

00:54:37.769 --> 00:54:40.110
The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand

00:54:40.110 --> 00:54:43.670
until I put your enemies under my feet. If then

00:54:43.670 --> 00:54:46.650
David calls him Lord, how can he be his son?

00:54:47.849 --> 00:54:51.130
No one could say a word and reply. I'm sorry,

00:54:51.230 --> 00:54:54.969
that's Jesus. If then David calls him Lord, how

00:54:54.969 --> 00:54:59.949
can he be a son? If David calls the Messiah Lord,

00:55:00.429 --> 00:55:05.849
he can't be a son. No one could say a word and

00:55:05.849 --> 00:55:09.329
reply. And from that day on, no one dared ask

00:55:09.329 --> 00:55:13.230
him any more questions. Okay, trapping him around

00:55:13.230 --> 00:55:18.030
his followers is making us look bad. Let's cut

00:55:18.030 --> 00:55:22.269
that out, right? Now, we've already talked with

00:55:22.269 --> 00:55:24.769
some of his dudes, and there's a plot to maybe

00:55:24.769 --> 00:55:27.750
trap him when we can get him away from his followers.

00:55:28.130 --> 00:55:31.070
Let's stop the public shaming. It ain't working.

00:55:31.369 --> 00:55:33.889
Let's start working on the catching him in a

00:55:33.889 --> 00:55:36.969
trap. And that's what's happening there. Then

00:55:36.969 --> 00:55:40.510
Jesus, chapter 23, then Jesus said to the crowds

00:55:40.510 --> 00:55:42.829
and to his disciples, the teachers of the law,

00:55:42.929 --> 00:55:47.650
the Pharisees, sit at Moses' seat. So you must

00:55:47.650 --> 00:55:50.170
be careful to do everything they tell you. They

00:55:50.170 --> 00:55:52.690
know the law, and you're supposed to follow the

00:55:52.690 --> 00:55:57.469
law. So listen to what they say, but don't do

00:55:57.469 --> 00:56:01.269
what they do, for they don't practice what they

00:56:01.269 --> 00:56:05.170
preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads,

00:56:05.309 --> 00:56:08.730
the law that you can't keep, and they put them

00:56:08.730 --> 00:56:11.170
on other people's shoulders, but they themselves

00:56:11.170 --> 00:56:14.440
are not willing to lift a finger. To move them.

00:56:14.500 --> 00:56:17.320
They think that their job is to put the burden

00:56:17.320 --> 00:56:21.920
of the law on you and that's all. Not even to

00:56:21.920 --> 00:56:24.159
try to help you get down the road carrying that

00:56:24.159 --> 00:56:28.519
burden. Right? And then we get into these things

00:56:28.519 --> 00:56:31.880
called the woe to the Pharisees. And I want to

00:56:31.880 --> 00:56:34.320
quickly go through them. There are either seven

00:56:34.320 --> 00:56:38.039
or eight, depending on how you count. I count

00:56:38.039 --> 00:56:42.699
eight. I'm not a biblical scholar, but I feel

00:56:42.699 --> 00:56:44.380
like there's eight. But we're going to go through

00:56:44.380 --> 00:56:47.559
each one. Woe to you, because this is the clash.

00:56:48.420 --> 00:56:51.840
And he's calling them out. And he's saying, woe

00:56:51.840 --> 00:56:54.179
to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees. You're

00:56:54.179 --> 00:56:56.500
hypocrites. You shut the door of the kingdom

00:56:56.500 --> 00:56:59.639
of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do

00:56:59.639 --> 00:57:02.659
not even enter. Nor will you let those enter

00:57:02.659 --> 00:57:06.179
who are trying. You teach all about God, but

00:57:06.179 --> 00:57:11.340
you don't even love God, Jesus says. Woe to you

00:57:11.340 --> 00:57:13.860
teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites.

00:57:14.019 --> 00:57:16.519
You travel over land and sea to win a single

00:57:16.519 --> 00:57:19.139
convert. And when you've succeeded, you make

00:57:19.139 --> 00:57:22.980
them twice a child of hell as you are. It's all

00:57:22.980 --> 00:57:27.860
about your success. And you, Pharisees, you experts

00:57:27.860 --> 00:57:30.159
of the law, you guys are the ones that are supposed

00:57:30.159 --> 00:57:32.079
to know the difference between right and wrong.

00:57:32.280 --> 00:57:34.900
The person you just converted, the person who

00:57:34.900 --> 00:57:37.699
barely understands, they don't even know what

00:57:37.699 --> 00:57:40.239
they've gotten into. They don't even realize

00:57:40.239 --> 00:57:44.159
that they're now trapped like you. But you know

00:57:44.159 --> 00:57:46.480
the difference and you don't even work to get

00:57:46.480 --> 00:57:50.900
yourself free. Woe to you blind guides. You say

00:57:50.900 --> 00:57:53.260
if anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing.

00:57:53.320 --> 00:57:55.940
But anyone who swears by the gold of the temple

00:57:55.940 --> 00:57:58.619
is bound by that oath. They're teaching at this

00:57:58.619 --> 00:58:00.840
time. The Pharisees are actually teaching people

00:58:00.840 --> 00:58:04.739
to swear oaths on the gold accoutrements within

00:58:04.739 --> 00:58:07.099
the temple. Actually put their hands on the material

00:58:07.099 --> 00:58:11.059
thing. And that's what makes the oath binding.

00:58:11.739 --> 00:58:15.840
Touching the gold altar or whatever. And he said,

00:58:15.880 --> 00:58:18.599
which is greater? The gold or the temple that

00:58:18.599 --> 00:58:21.619
makes the gold sacred? You also say if anyone

00:58:21.619 --> 00:58:24.139
swears by the altar, it means nothing. But those

00:58:24.139 --> 00:58:27.199
who swear by the gift of the altar is bound by

00:58:27.199 --> 00:58:30.739
that gift. You blind men, which is greater? The

00:58:30.739 --> 00:58:32.619
gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

00:58:33.320 --> 00:58:36.420
Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears

00:58:36.420 --> 00:58:38.880
by it and everything on it. Anyone who swears

00:58:38.880 --> 00:58:41.079
by the temple swears by it and by the one who

00:58:41.079 --> 00:58:44.099
dwells in it. Anyone who swears by heaven swears

00:58:44.099 --> 00:58:46.539
by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.

00:58:46.559 --> 00:58:48.639
The teachers and the Pharisees, they worshipped

00:58:48.639 --> 00:58:51.159
at the temple and they offered sacrifices at

00:58:51.159 --> 00:58:53.159
the temple because they knew that the temple

00:58:53.159 --> 00:58:57.440
altar was sacred. How then could they deny oath

00:58:57.440 --> 00:59:02.380
-binding value to the one who dwells in the temple?

00:59:02.730 --> 00:59:06.730
That's truly sacred. And the objects just as

00:59:06.730 --> 00:59:11.150
trivial in their derived sacredness. He continues,

00:59:11.369 --> 00:59:14.150
Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees,

00:59:14.150 --> 00:59:16.570
you hypocrites. You give a tenth of your spices

00:59:16.570 --> 00:59:20.590
down to the mint and dill and cumin. You give

00:59:20.590 --> 00:59:23.710
a tenth of everything down to the little bitty

00:59:23.710 --> 00:59:28.369
leaves of herbs you grow on your kitchen windowsill.

00:59:28.829 --> 00:59:32.780
Right? You follow the law down to the herbs that

00:59:32.780 --> 00:59:35.719
you grow in your house, but you've neglected

00:59:35.719 --> 00:59:38.440
the more important matters of the law, like justice

00:59:38.440 --> 00:59:42.119
and mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced

00:59:42.119 --> 00:59:45.320
the latter without neglecting the former. You

00:59:45.320 --> 00:59:49.119
strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. They taught

00:59:49.119 --> 00:59:50.840
the law, but they didn't practice some of the

00:59:50.840 --> 00:59:53.659
most important points of the law, justice and

00:59:53.659 --> 00:59:56.800
mercy, and their faithfulness to God. They obeyed

00:59:56.800 --> 01:00:00.159
this minutia of the law. like tithing their spices,

01:00:00.340 --> 01:00:03.699
but not the weightier matters. Woe to you teachers

01:00:03.699 --> 01:00:06.059
of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You

01:00:06.059 --> 01:00:08.739
clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside

01:00:08.739 --> 01:00:11.869
you are full of greed and self -indulgence. First

01:00:11.869 --> 01:00:13.869
clean the inside of the cup and dish and then

01:00:13.869 --> 01:00:16.710
the outside will also be clean. It is not about

01:00:16.710 --> 01:00:19.550
how you look. It's not about your appearance.

01:00:19.590 --> 01:00:22.710
It is about your heart. Woe to you, you are like

01:00:22.710 --> 01:00:26.010
whitewashed tombs which look beautiful on the

01:00:26.010 --> 01:00:28.949
outside but on the inside are full of bones of

01:00:28.949 --> 01:00:30.889
the dead and everything unclean. In the same

01:00:30.889 --> 01:00:34.010
way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous.

01:00:34.150 --> 01:00:37.929
On the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

01:00:38.590 --> 01:00:41.489
He continues in 29, you build tombs for the prophets.

01:00:41.710 --> 01:00:43.969
You decorate graves for the righteous. And you

01:00:43.969 --> 01:00:47.590
say, if we have lived in the days of our ancestors,

01:00:47.750 --> 01:00:50.829
we had not taken part with them in the shedding

01:00:50.829 --> 01:00:53.090
of the blood of the prophets. We wouldn't have

01:00:53.090 --> 01:00:55.690
acted that way. We would have recognized Jeremiah.

01:00:55.769 --> 01:00:58.550
We would have recognized Isaiah. We wouldn't

01:00:58.550 --> 01:01:00.269
have done that. But the way that you're living

01:01:00.269 --> 01:01:03.210
today, Jesus says, you are testifying against

01:01:03.210 --> 01:01:06.250
yourselves. That you are, in fact, the descendants

01:01:06.250 --> 01:01:09.190
of those who murdered the prophets. So go ahead.

01:01:09.349 --> 01:01:13.030
Go ahead and complete what your ancestors have

01:01:13.030 --> 01:01:17.829
started. Kill me. You snakes. You brood of vipers.

01:01:18.559 --> 01:01:20.519
You escape being condemned to hell, therefore

01:01:20.519 --> 01:01:23.099
I am sending your prophets and sages and teachers.

01:01:23.300 --> 01:01:28.420
Some of them you will kill and crucify. Others

01:01:28.420 --> 01:01:30.460
you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from

01:01:30.460 --> 01:01:33.260
town to town. And so upon you will come all the

01:01:33.260 --> 01:01:35.000
righteous blood that has been shed on the earth,

01:01:35.059 --> 01:01:37.320
from the blood of the righteous Abel to the blood

01:01:37.320 --> 01:01:39.860
of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you

01:01:39.860 --> 01:01:42.199
murdered between the temple and the altar. All

01:01:42.199 --> 01:01:44.719
of this will come to this generation. Jerusalem,

01:01:44.920 --> 01:01:47.769
Jerusalem. You kill the prophets and stone those

01:01:47.769 --> 01:01:50.389
who sent you. How often I have longed to gather

01:01:50.389 --> 01:01:52.150
your children together as a hen gathers your

01:01:52.150 --> 01:01:55.409
chicks under her wing and you're just not willing.

01:01:56.389 --> 01:01:59.190
Look, your house is left to you desolate. For

01:01:59.190 --> 01:02:01.710
I tell you, you will not see me again until you

01:02:01.710 --> 01:02:04.329
say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the

01:02:04.329 --> 01:02:09.630
Lord. Clash between two kingdoms in your face.

01:02:09.650 --> 01:02:11.530
That's spitting fire in a rap battle, right?

01:02:11.789 --> 01:02:15.519
That's what that is. Let's look at chapter 25.

01:02:17.659 --> 01:02:22.179
Jesus continuing to tell the story. I'm going

01:02:22.179 --> 01:02:24.820
to finish on this story here. I think this story

01:02:24.820 --> 01:02:27.699
is important about this clash kingdoms because

01:02:27.699 --> 01:02:31.440
it shows how God and he works with his people

01:02:31.440 --> 01:02:33.219
in the kingdom. Because again, it's like a man

01:02:33.219 --> 01:02:36.179
going on a journey. Called his servants and entrusted.

01:02:36.179 --> 01:02:39.969
This is verse 14. Sorry. Called his servants

01:02:39.969 --> 01:02:42.789
and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave

01:02:42.789 --> 01:02:45.210
five bags of gold. Now, does anybody have talents

01:02:45.210 --> 01:02:49.730
in your Bible? Talents? Five bags of gold is

01:02:49.730 --> 01:02:52.849
a lot of money, just to let you know. A talent

01:02:52.849 --> 01:02:58.590
would be a year's wage, okay? Five bags of gold.

01:02:59.710 --> 01:03:03.010
To another two bags, to another one bag, important

01:03:03.010 --> 01:03:06.670
here, each according to his ability. Then he

01:03:06.670 --> 01:03:09.889
went on his journey. The man who had received

01:03:09.889 --> 01:03:12.289
five bags of gold went at once, put his money

01:03:12.289 --> 01:03:15.449
to work, and gained five bags more. So also the

01:03:15.449 --> 01:03:18.329
one with two bags of gold gained two more. But

01:03:18.329 --> 01:03:20.170
the man who had received one bag went off, dug

01:03:20.170 --> 01:03:22.610
a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money.

01:03:23.050 --> 01:03:27.889
After a long time, after a long time, the master

01:03:27.889 --> 01:03:30.090
of those servants returned and settled the counts.

01:03:30.590 --> 01:03:32.670
The man who had received five bags of gold brought

01:03:32.670 --> 01:03:35.110
the other five. Master, you entrusted me with

01:03:35.110 --> 01:03:37.750
five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.

01:03:38.320 --> 01:03:40.579
His master replied, well done, good and faithful

01:03:40.579 --> 01:03:43.000
servant. You've been faithful with a few things.

01:03:43.079 --> 01:03:44.940
I will put you in charge of many things. Come

01:03:44.940 --> 01:03:47.659
and share in your master's happiness. Does anybody

01:03:47.659 --> 01:03:50.739
have the word joy? I think the word joy is probably

01:03:50.739 --> 01:03:54.059
more descriptive there. The man with two bags

01:03:54.059 --> 01:03:57.079
of gold also came. Master, you entrusted me with

01:03:57.079 --> 01:03:59.800
two bags of gold. See, I've gained two more.

01:04:00.329 --> 01:04:02.750
His master replied, well done, good and faithful

01:04:02.750 --> 01:04:04.969
servant. You've been faithful with a few things.

01:04:05.030 --> 01:04:06.889
I will put you in charge of many things. Come,

01:04:07.130 --> 01:04:10.489
share in your master's joy. Then the man who'd

01:04:10.489 --> 01:04:15.190
received one bag came. Master, he said, I knew

01:04:15.190 --> 01:04:17.670
you were a hard man, harvesting where you've

01:04:17.670 --> 01:04:20.150
not sown, gathering where you've not scattered

01:04:20.150 --> 01:04:23.590
seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your

01:04:23.590 --> 01:04:25.969
gold in the ground. See, here's what belongs

01:04:25.969 --> 01:04:29.659
to you. His master replied, you wicked, lazy

01:04:29.659 --> 01:04:34.519
servant. So you knew that I harvest what I've

01:04:34.519 --> 01:04:37.519
not sown and gather where I have not scattered

01:04:37.519 --> 01:04:39.400
seed. Well, then you should have at least put

01:04:39.400 --> 01:04:42.940
my money in the bank so that when I return, I

01:04:42.940 --> 01:04:45.380
would receive some interest on it. You wouldn't

01:04:45.380 --> 01:04:47.460
have lost the thing and I would have gained a

01:04:47.460 --> 01:04:49.159
little something. You didn't even take the time

01:04:49.159 --> 01:04:51.739
to do that. So take the bag of gold from him

01:04:51.739 --> 01:04:55.519
and give it to the one who has 10 bags. For whoever

01:04:55.519 --> 01:04:58.369
he has will be given more. And they will have

01:04:58.369 --> 01:05:01.210
an abundance who does not have, even when what

01:05:01.210 --> 01:05:05.630
they have will be taken from them and throw the

01:05:05.630 --> 01:05:07.949
worthless servant outside into the darkness,

01:05:08.110 --> 01:05:10.429
where there'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

01:05:10.670 --> 01:05:12.989
Now, this is great for about two -thirds of the

01:05:12.989 --> 01:05:15.630
story here. About two -thirds of the story in,

01:05:15.670 --> 01:05:19.150
we're going, yeah, man, yay. And then we find,

01:05:19.389 --> 01:05:22.469
oh, no, wait, the third guy really gets beat

01:05:22.469 --> 01:05:26.039
up. Jesus, man, what are you doing? Let's talk

01:05:26.039 --> 01:05:28.960
about what Jesus is talking about here. He's

01:05:28.960 --> 01:05:31.860
talking about money because no matter what, what

01:05:31.860 --> 01:05:35.739
do we all understand together? Money, right?

01:05:35.800 --> 01:05:40.000
Each one of us understands money, right? I could

01:05:40.000 --> 01:05:42.260
talk to you about the value of cotton. I could

01:05:42.260 --> 01:05:45.159
talk to you about the value of coffee beans,

01:05:45.320 --> 01:05:48.079
right? And you may or may not have any idea what

01:05:48.079 --> 01:05:50.500
I'm talking about. But whenever I talk to you

01:05:50.500 --> 01:05:54.159
about a bag full of gold, you get it, right?

01:05:54.619 --> 01:05:58.199
But this isn't even about money. It's about opportunity.

01:05:59.400 --> 01:06:01.500
The reason why I say that it's not about money

01:06:01.500 --> 01:06:05.000
is because if you notice, the hard man, the hard

01:06:05.000 --> 01:06:08.300
master, he didn't even take his profit, did he?

01:06:08.940 --> 01:06:12.300
He actually let the other dudes keep it. He gave

01:06:12.300 --> 01:06:16.199
them their five bags of his money plus the profit

01:06:16.199 --> 01:06:19.460
that they had earned from using his money plus

01:06:19.460 --> 01:06:21.500
the bag of gold from the other guy. He just let

01:06:21.500 --> 01:06:24.480
them have it. It's not about money. It's about

01:06:24.480 --> 01:06:28.059
opportunity. And what are our resources in our

01:06:28.059 --> 01:06:32.179
lives? What is our money? What is our time? What

01:06:32.179 --> 01:06:35.440
are our talents? Are they opportunities to be

01:06:35.440 --> 01:06:39.239
used? And if we've been given them by God, each

01:06:39.239 --> 01:06:44.400
to our own ability, what happens when we take

01:06:44.400 --> 01:06:47.440
those gifts that we've been given and say that

01:06:47.440 --> 01:06:51.300
I've been given five units of opportunity from

01:06:51.300 --> 01:06:55.530
God? And I use those opportunities, right? What

01:06:55.530 --> 01:07:00.989
happens to me? Is my life blessed, right? Do

01:07:00.989 --> 01:07:03.829
I live a life that is in right relationship with

01:07:03.829 --> 01:07:07.570
God? Do I live a life that's probably free from

01:07:07.570 --> 01:07:13.010
a lot of worry and scarcity and anxiety? More

01:07:13.010 --> 01:07:16.510
than likely. And I'm not talking about if I use

01:07:16.510 --> 01:07:19.010
my five and turn it into ten, I'm richer than

01:07:19.010 --> 01:07:22.380
you. This isn't about money. It's about opportunity.

01:07:22.920 --> 01:07:26.840
It's about using what God has given you. If he's

01:07:26.840 --> 01:07:30.860
just given you one and you're so scared to use

01:07:30.860 --> 01:07:34.800
that one that you choose not to engage in any

01:07:34.800 --> 01:07:38.099
way, you don't engage. Here's the way I look

01:07:38.099 --> 01:07:42.659
at it. In my scenario of opportunity, if I was

01:07:42.659 --> 01:07:45.500
at least going to at least engage with God, but

01:07:45.500 --> 01:07:47.960
nobody else around me, I'd have put my opportunity

01:07:47.960 --> 01:07:51.219
in the bank. At least I would have put it to

01:07:51.219 --> 01:07:54.000
the side and let it earn interest. So I might

01:07:54.000 --> 01:07:57.039
have had barely a relationship with God, but

01:07:57.039 --> 01:08:00.099
nothing else did I use or take an opportunity

01:08:00.099 --> 01:08:02.400
to have right relationships with other people,

01:08:02.539 --> 01:08:08.340
right? Now, what does Jesus say about the value

01:08:08.340 --> 01:08:11.780
of using what you've been given by God each to

01:08:11.780 --> 01:08:16.380
your ability versus not, right? And what Jesus

01:08:16.380 --> 01:08:21.789
is trying to say is, Clash of kingdoms. The kingdom

01:08:21.789 --> 01:08:27.649
of God is every bit as important about our relationships,

01:08:27.949 --> 01:08:30.829
right relationships with other people, as it

01:08:30.829 --> 01:08:34.310
is God. He's going to go on to say, and we're

01:08:34.310 --> 01:08:37.010
going to cover this next time, basically that

01:08:37.010 --> 01:08:41.210
the way that you show God that you worship in

01:08:41.210 --> 01:08:45.770
here is by what you do here. Your opportunity.

01:08:47.789 --> 01:08:50.310
The kingdom of God, the currency of the kingdom

01:08:50.310 --> 01:08:53.670
of God is no longer phylacteries. The phylacteries

01:08:53.670 --> 01:08:55.949
are those things that we see whenever we see

01:08:55.949 --> 01:08:57.729
Jewish people wrapping their arms up with leather.

01:08:58.010 --> 01:09:00.729
There'll be a little box on their forehead or

01:09:00.729 --> 01:09:02.810
on their arms and they put pieces of scripture

01:09:02.810 --> 01:09:05.189
in them because they're told to keep the scripture

01:09:05.189 --> 01:09:06.649
close to their head and their heart and hand.

01:09:07.090 --> 01:09:09.770
Those are called phylacteries. It's no longer

01:09:09.770 --> 01:09:13.069
about your suit and tie. It's no longer about

01:09:13.069 --> 01:09:16.189
your car. You're not showing people you're blessed

01:09:16.189 --> 01:09:21.750
by your stuff. You're showing God that you recognize

01:09:21.750 --> 01:09:25.609
you're blessed by him based on how you treat

01:09:25.609 --> 01:09:28.210
your opportunities to have right relationships

01:09:28.210 --> 01:09:32.649
with one another. That's the currency of the

01:09:32.649 --> 01:09:37.529
new kingdom. And that's what's at clash. That's

01:09:37.529 --> 01:09:41.829
what's at odds with the old kingdom here. This

01:09:41.829 --> 01:09:46.430
story is far from over. And the heat really gets

01:09:46.430 --> 01:09:56.029
turned up. Next time. Well, there you have it.

01:09:56.130 --> 01:09:59.369
Even though we just went through three or four

01:09:59.369 --> 01:10:01.390
chapters of the gospel, according to Matthew,

01:10:01.449 --> 01:10:06.229
there sure is a lot going on. Very, very intense

01:10:06.229 --> 01:10:09.210
part of the gospel, according to Matthew. Hey,

01:10:09.289 --> 01:10:13.000
before you go. I would ask that you do me a favor.

01:10:13.079 --> 01:10:15.399
If you could take a second and first of all,

01:10:15.439 --> 01:10:18.380
subscribe to the podcast. And if you like what

01:10:18.380 --> 01:10:20.640
we're doing here at the semi -seminarian, however

01:10:20.640 --> 01:10:24.020
it is that you listen to the semi -seminarian,

01:10:24.020 --> 01:10:27.720
if you could take the time to rate and review

01:10:27.720 --> 01:10:30.779
the podcast, I'd certainly appreciate it. It

01:10:30.779 --> 01:10:34.539
helps get the story out to other people. Well,

01:10:34.619 --> 01:10:37.199
we'll see you next week. And in the meantime,

01:10:37.500 --> 01:10:39.960
be blessed and be a blessing.