Well, here we are. It's another week and another
step forward in our journey in looking at the
gospel according to Matthew. This week, we're
going to be examining as Jesus continues to preach
and teach following the death of his relative
John the Baptist. Jesus is continuing to show
the people that are listening to him and watching
his miracles that the upside down kingdom has
come and that this kingdom is going to look like
no other that you have ever seen on earth. I
hope that you'll enjoy this episode and I'll
see you back here on the other side. This one
goes a little fast. I hope that you'll enjoy.
There's a lot to cover here tonight. So we begin
tonight looking at chapter 11, and I would actually
like to look at the first part of the chapter
here. This is a story about Jesus and John the
Baptist, and I believe that this part of the
story actually came up in one of our other sessions.
I kind of had went into this story about the
confusion that John the Baptist had when he was
in prison. about Jesus and if Jesus really was
the Messiah. And so some of this might be plod
ground already, but I just want to revisit this
and touch base because one of the things that
the gospel writer, the gospel according to Matthew,
is doing here in chapter 11, as we begin, is
he's going to be situating Jesus firmly as a
prophet in the tradition of biblical prophets.
Chapter 11 is one of the chapters that we see
Jesus really indicating to his audiences his
role in prophets as they relate to Hebrew Scripture.
If you recall, one of the things that the gospel
writer is doing here in Matthew is he's situating
his gospel as a linchpin to the Hebrew Scripture,
to the Old Testament. He is trying to show the
Jewish people how the story of Jesus links Hebrew
Scripture to what eventually, he didn't realize
at the time of the writing of his gospel, eventually
to the final story that we find in Christian
Scripture, the New Testament. Chapter 11 is one
in which we see a lot of Old Testament or Hebrew
Scripture prophecy come to bear. And it has,
by way of explaining, Jesus to his crowds who
he is and the role of John the Baptist which
will come up here in a little bit as well so
I'm that's an introduction I'm just going to
go ahead and jump right in here again you may
have heard some of these themes before but I
just want to reiterate as we go through uh the
gospel here so Beginning with verse 1, after
Jesus had finished instructing his 12 disciples,
he went on from there to teach and preach in
the town of Galilee. And of course we have our
map up here on the screen that shows the rim
there, the north rim there of the Sea of Galilee.
That's where Jesus is going to be teaching at
this time. Okay, and John the Baptist is in prison.
Now Matthew skips ahead. He tells the story and
then he later talks about why John the Baptist
is in prison. He assumes you already know the
ending to the story. So we're going to touch
on why John the Baptist was in prison here in
a little bit. But John the Baptist who's in prison
had heard about the deeds of the Messiah and
he sent his disciples to ask him, that's Jesus,
are you the one who is to come or should we expect
someone else? Now That might seem like a legitimate
question for us, considering that John the Baptist
is in prison. That might be a legitimate question
for John the Baptist to ask, given that he is
sitting in prison. But real quickly, I just want
to refresh everybody's memory as to the relationship
between Jesus and John the Baptist. Now, we know
that they're related. We believe biblical tradition
illustrates to us that they were cousins. And
so we do know that they were related. And we
also know that there is a very important role
that John the Baptist plays in Jesus' public
ministry, and that is at his baptism, Jesus'
baptism by John the Baptist. Jesus' public ministry
begins. And this, we go back to this story from
Matthew chapter 3. It's a story we looked at
in our second session. In those days, John the
Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea
and saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven
has come near. This is he who was spoken of through
the prophet Isaiah. There's our Old Testament
prophet, a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
prepare the way for the Lord, make straight the
paths for him. That's the first three verses.
of the third chapter of Matthew. I forgot to
mention at the outset that I want you to go ahead
and stick in the chapter that we're in there
in Matthew. There'll only be one time that I'll
ask you to go back. in Hebrew scripture, Old
Testament with me. And that's when we look at
a story of 1 Samuel chapter 12. So if you want
to go ahead and look 1 Samuel chapter 12 up,
put your finger there and go back to Matthew,
then that's the only time I'll ask you to flip
-flop back and forth in an effort for us to kind
of move quickly here because we didn't quite
get to where we needed to be last time for us
for this to all work out the way I want it to
work out. So we're going to kind of do one and
a half here tonight. So that's why I'm speaking
at 1 .5 speed. OK, so back Matthew chapter three,
also 16 and 17 says it talks about Jesus being
baptized. It says as soon as Jesus was baptized,
he went up out of the water. At that moment,
heaven was opened up and he saw the spirit of
God descending like a dove and alighting on him.
And a voice from heaven said, This is my son
whom I love. With him I am well pleased. So John
the Baptist does not hear about Jesus' baptism
and didn't hear about heaven opening up and didn't
hear about the spirit descending and he didn't
hear about God's voice audibly being heard by
those present. He was standing wet in the Jordan
River next to Jesus when it happened. John the
Baptist has been aware of who Jesus is all of
his life. And after hearing about what Jesus
is doing in his public ministry, it's only then
that John the Baptist begins to doubt. Why is
it that he is doubting? Right? Because we have
to remember that John the Baptist is expecting
the hammer of God's justice to fall on the Roman
oppressors. John the Baptist is expecting an
earthly king, a military king, a freedom from
earthly, natural chains. And that's simply not
what Jesus is doing. He's going around and he's
messing around with poor people. He's hanging
out with lepers. I've even heard he's got a tax
collector that's running around with him these
days. That's not who the son of David is supposed
to be. Naturally, we grew up, we understood what
the Messiah was going to be. And even if we get
a little bit of it wrong, whatever Jesus is doing,
that ain't it. Guys, you need to go find out
what is going on. Because I'm still in jail,
and I'm supposed to be his right -hand man dude.
Right? Why hasn't he busted me out of jail? Why
are we still under Roman oppression? And that's
what his disciples come to ask Jesus. Are you
really who everybody thinks that you're supposed
to be? Or at least who John thinks you're supposed
to be. And Jesus says to them in verse 4, go
back and report to John what you hear and see.
That the blind receive sight, the lame walk,
and those who have leprosy are cleansed. The
deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good
news is proclaimed to the poor. And blessed is
anyone who does not stumble on account of me.
And what he's done is he's taken a bunch of Hebrew
scripture and he's thrown it into a blender and
he's went... And in like one sentence, he's laid
out a whole bunch of who the prophets in the
Old Testament say that the Messiah is supposed
to be. And he expects you to know your Bible.
He knows John the Baptist knows his Bible. And
so he knows that if he goes, if these disciples
go back and they tell John what I just said,
he's going to understand the code. Well, what
are those Old Testament verses that get thrown
in the blender? I'm just going to read through
here real quickly and you're going to recognize.
You're going to hear the words that Jesus just
said. In Isaiah, the 35th chapter of Isaiah's
prophecy, verses 4 to 6 says this. Say to those
with fearful hearts, be strong. Do not fear,
your God will come and he will come with a vengeance.
With divine retribution, he will come to you.
Then the eyes of the blind will be opened. The
years of the death will be unstopped. The lame
will leap like a deer and the mute tongue shout
for joy. The 61st chapter of his prophecy, Isaiah,
says the spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me
because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim
good news, not to the rich and powerful, but
to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives and release
from darkness the prisoner. And in the 26th chapter,
the 19th verse, Isaiah says, but your dead will
live. Their bodies will rise, but those who dwell
in the dust wake up and shout for joy. Now, why
is Jesus using this mismatch of prophecy of Isaiah
here to communicate with John the Baptist? Well,
I think that there is one reason. That stands
out to me more than any other. And I think it's
the same reason that as we dive a little bit
deeper into what scripture says, like this, we
read that and we've heard those words and they're
familiar to us. And on its surface, those words
just kind of sound good, right? They give us
hope, right? I mean, if there's good news for
the poor, well, I'm kind of like that. If blind
can be... can be given their sight or the lame
could walk, then that sounds like Jesus isn't
coming for the rich and powerful, which I'm not.
So all of that sounds like pretty good stuff
to me, right? So as we read that right on its
surface, we think, well, those are pretty good
words to hear. I'll subscribe to that guy's newsletter.
I'm all for that, right? But if we actually look
at what Jesus says and go back to Hebrew scripture
and realize why he said it, we actually see something
that's more important, I think. Because in the
end, what we're doing, when Jesus comes and shows
what he's doing by giving sight to the blind,
he's binding up the brokenhearted. He's lame
or walking, right? But he's doing that. And Isaiah,
400 years before him, said that the Messiah would
do that. What that proves to us is God's faithfulness.
400 years before Jesus came along and was able
to do these signs, a guy by the name of Yahshua
ben Amoz, that's Isaiah's real name, wrote it
down and said that the Messiah would do it. And
now Jesus has come and is telling John the Baptist
all that he's doing. And when we look at that,
we can have hope because it shows us that when
God makes promises to us, they are already. Verse
7 of chapter 11. John's disciples were leaving.
And Jesus begins to speak to the crowd about
John. And so the disciples are walking off. And
he has his crowd of disciples. And he's kind
of talking. And he's talking to these guys. But
he's talking to these guys. But he's talking
to these guys too as they're leaving. Kind of
like, I want to tell you guys one more thing
before you leave to John. But I want to tell
you guys too. And that's kind of what he's doing
here. Jesus begins to speak to the crowd about
John. What did you go? He's talking to the crowd.
What did you go out to the wilderness? When John
was out there eating the bugs and wearing the
hair shirt and eating the wild honey, what did
you go out there expecting to find? What did
you think he was going to be? A reed swayed by
the wind? Just somebody who was affected? by
the conditions of the world, a guy who probably
could renounce his ministry and get out of prison
right now because he's powerful enough, that
if Herod was to go to John the Baptist and say
he's sorry and renounce all of the condemnation
he had put on the king, there's a good chance
he could have gone. But John hasn't done that.
And Jesus is saying, that's right, he hasn't
done that because that's not who John is. Did
you expect that he was going to be someone in
fine clothes? No, those dudes hang out in the
king's palaces. Did you expect to go out and
see a prophet? Yeah, you did. And you know what?
John the Baptist is even more than a prophet.
He's the prophet the prophets wrote about. I
will send my messenger ahead of you who will
prepare your way before you. Footnote, anyone?
Malachi 3 verse 1, which says, I will send my
messenger who will prepare the way before me.
Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come
to his temple. The messenger of the covenant
whom you desire will come, says the Lord Almighty.
Now Jesus goes back to speaking here in verse
11. Truly I tell you, among those born of women
that is not risen, There has not risen anyone
greater than John the Baptist. Yet whoever is
least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than
he. From the days of John the Baptist until now.
The kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence.
And violent people have been raiding it. And
he's talking about this new kingdom of heaven.
Where the least shall be first. Where the weak
shall be strong. When he's talking about the
kingdom of heaven, he's talking about a new way
of doing things, not a different way of doing
the old things. And that's going to come up as
super, super important as we go throughout the
remainder of these chapters here tonight. When
Jesus is describing his upside -down kingdom,
right? First will be last. Last will be first.
Meat shall inherit the earth. All of that stuff.
When he is talking about the new kingdom of God,
he is not talking about a different way to do
the old thing. He's talking about a new way to
do a new thing. And if you try to just do the
same old thing in a different way, then you are
not going to make it. You have to be a new, different
something. And from here through the remainder
of our chapters tonight, we are going to see
Jesus time and again remind people that salvation
requires of us to be a new, different something.
Not a just kind of different way of doing the
old thing. If you think that following Jesus
means that you can just kind of clean yourself
up a little bit, that's not good enough. You
have to become a new person. And he's going to
illustrate that in his teachings here in a little
bit. Just because there's opposition to the kingdom
of heaven though, Jesus is saying, look, is there
opposition? We've already learned a couple of
times that there are people obviously that don't
believe he's the Messiah. There are some people
that believe that, or they're not quite sure
that, but maybe he's the Messiah. And then we
also know by this point that there are Pharisees
and Sadducees that have already began to talk
about killing him, right? John the Baptist is
in jail and is about to die. There is opposition.
There is violent opposition currently to the
kingdom of heaven as Jesus is speaking. For all
the prophets of the law prophesied unto John,
verse 13 says. And then he says this. And if
you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah
to come. Was to come. Now that's going to come
up a little bit later. But again, Jesus is going
back to our old friend, the prophet Malachi,
in his fourth chapter, talking about the coming
Messiah, who says, see that I will send the prophet
Elijah before you, that's the Messiah, to you
before the great and dreadful day of the Lord
comes. Right? And then Jesus says, whoever has
ears, let them hear. Do you have ears? Can you
hear? And then he says, to what can I compare
this great or this current generation, right?
They're like children sitting in the marketplace
and calling out to others. We play the pipe for
you and you don't dance, right? We sang a dirge
and you didn't mourn. And what he's saying here
is, look, he's talking about the marketplace
after the Sabbath. After everything had closed
up and then they opened back up again, there
would be kids that would be playing music in
the marketplace and you would throw a coin or
you'd dance, right? And he said, you're like
those kids that go, I'm playing the song like
I've always played. Or they would pay these children
sometimes to play music before a funeral procession,
right? We're playing this music, we're playing
this der's, funeral song. But you're not mourning.
We're doing what we've always done. And you're
not doing what you've always done. Right? And
that's what you're like. Because you're trying
to depend upon the old way of doing things. So
he concludes this by saying something about John
and really kind of about himself too. And he's
basically saying we can't. get it right one way
or the other with you guys. For John came neither
eating or drinking, right? Because he's out in
the wilderness as an ascetic. And you guys said
he was a demon. And I come and I, like a man,
I eat and I drink, right? But I'm called a glutton
and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and
sinners, right? And then he says, but wisdom
is proved out by our deeds. When this all plays
out, you'll see who's right. And then we see
kind of not playing nice with people, Jesus.
I don't know how else to say that. This is called
the woe on unrepentant towns. And we're going
to look up here again to our screen. Then Jesus
began to denounce the towns in which most of
his miracles had been performed because they
did not repent. Woe to you, Chorazin. See it
up there? Woe to you, Bethsaida. See it there?
For if the miracles that were performed in you
had been performed in Tyre and Sidon. Now that's
in Lebanon. And if the map extended, I want it
to be as big as possible so you can read these
town names. But if Tyre and Sidon were on this
map, you see these kind of tall with dark in
the middle here? Be kind of somewhere up here
in this first one on the end here. Tyre and Sidon's
in Lebanon. So it's a ways away, but it's not
even in Israel. Now, the folks at Tyre and Sidon,
are they good guys or bad guys? What do you guys
think? It's a little tricky. A little tricky.
Tyre and Sidon would have been big time seaports.
The spices and the silk that come from the Orient
and they come across Eurasia, or Asia rather,
right? The Roman Empire, they'd get them to Tyre
and Sidon. They're in Lebanon. They put it on
boats and that's how they'd get to Rome. Very,
very... Very anti -Jewish towns. The opposite.
This would be Gentile to the max, right? Gentile
city, Tyre and Sidon. And he's saying, for miracles
have been performed in Tyre and Sidon, and they
would have repented. And they would have worn
sackcloth and ashes. And repenting with wearing
sackcloth and ashes, it's going to come up again
here in just a little bit. But I tell you, it'll
be better for them. On the day of judgment, then
for you and you, Capernaum, will you be lifted
to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades,
the place of the grave. You will be dead. Life
will not be available to you. For if the miracles
that were performed in you have been performed
in Sodom, it would remain to this day. But I
tell you, it would be more bearable for Sodom
on the day of judgment than it would be for you.
We read that and we go, I have no idea what he's
talking about. What's wrong with Bethsaida and
Chorazin and Capernaum? Right? I mean, what about
these other towns where Jesus did stuff and they
didn't like him? He didn't call those guys out.
So what I'm going to do very quickly is I want
to put you in the sandals of somebody in the
first century that would have heard Jesus saying
these words. And perhaps you would have seen
what. Why he's saying that. Remember, Jesus is
situating himself in the line of the Old Testament
prophets. And when we go back to the Old Testament
prophets and we look at Isaiah and we look at
Jeremiah and we begin to look at the minor prophets,
Hosea and Malachi, right? Guys like that. Each
time they cry out for the people and they say
the way that you are living right now. is not
pleasing to God, and in the end, it will cost
you your life. I know how this story ends. You
have to choose. A new way of living. Because
the old way of living won't do it anymore. The
reason why Isaiah and Jeremiah and the minor
prophets lament for the people of Israel is because
God has shown them that if you're trying to do
it the old way, it's not going to work. And what
happens? Well, first of all... Not on our screen
there, but up here to the north, we have the
Assyrian Empire come in and sweep and take a
whole bunch of Israelites back to Assyria and
put them in captivity. About 150 years later,
finally, a little bit lower here, south down
here by the baptismal font, would be where Jerusalem
is. Finally, the Babylonian Empire, about another
150 years go by, and the city of Jerusalem falls,
and the remains of the Israelite people get swept.
away to what we now call Iraq. And they, for
about 130 years, live in the Babylonian captivity.
And even when they begin to return, right, we
know from Ezra, the book of Ezra and the book
of Nehemiah, we know that even when they return
and begin to rebuild the city of Israel, they're
still under the thumb of the Babylonian Empire,
aren't they? And even in Jesus' day here today,
whenever he's speaking here in the Gospel of
Matthew, they're not under their own control.
The Jews have a king, but Herod's a puppet. They're
under the control of the Roman Empire. When Israel,
I'm sorry, when Isaiah began his prophecy and
told people you're going to have to live a new
way or you will end up in Hades. You will end
up in the grave. Sure enough, from that point
forward, the people of Israel are going to be
subjected to some other dominating force. And
every prophet from the Old Testament to Christian
scripture understands that if you don't accept
the new way of living, it is a one -way road
to the grave. Yes? Right. Yes, sir. And just
going through the motions of your sacrifices.
Right. And not and not caring about what's in
your heart. Right. Because as long as I go and
I and I say I'm sorry at the temple, I can continue
to cheat my neighbor. Right. Absolutely. The
old way when I'm saying the old way, that's exactly
right. Trying to live up to the old Mosaic law,
the temple system. And so the reason why. Well,
let's stop and think about the guys, what life
would have been like. So you're under Roman rule.
Well, let's think about the guys in Nehemiah's
day, under the Babylonian rule. Those guys ended
up kind of working their way up into the royal
courts. Nehemiah, who ends up coming back to
rebuild wall in Jerusalem, right? He was the
cupbearer to the king, Artaxerxes, right? He
kind of, he figured out a way. to make his way
under foreign control, right? And he did a pretty
good job of it. In Jesus' day, maybe instead
of being the cupbearer to the king, maybe you
figure out a way to not care so much about your
countrymen, and maybe you figure out a way to
start collecting taxes for the Roman Empire.
Make sure you get your own, right? And we have
a guy like that, Matthew. And he's also talking
to another group of people. And what you can't
see here, but just to the north of Capernaum
and Chorazon there, you can see where the green,
which is alluvial plain, right? That means the
ground is going down to the bottom. That's why
the rivers go down. And we know by looking at
maps, whenever they start to get yellow, that
means that the elevation is rising, right? What
you can't see here, but if you wrap just around
the edge of the screen, That turns into a mountain
that ends up being called Mount Arabel. That
is called the Chorazin Plateau. And you couldn't
have gone to the, now it's a big skate park or
a mountain climbing thing, sorry. It's a big
mountain climbing area. But in Jesus' day, you
wouldn't have been able to go to the top of Mount
Arabel or on the Chorazin Plateau because at
the time, that was where the holdout for all
of the rebels who were Jewish. Folks that were
trying to fight the Roman authorities. They had
their hideouts here on the Chorazin Plateau.
And whenever he's talking to Bethsaida and Chorazin
and Capernaum, he's talking to the guys here
too who are trying to live life the old way by
picking up a sword. But Jesus knows that if you
live by the sword, you die by the sword too,
don't you? And they were called the Zealots.
Now you guys remember, there's one of those dudes
in his crowd too, Simon the Zealot, right? The
reason why he's pronouncing woe upon these towns
is because they stand in opposition to the new
kingdom of God where the weak have to be the
strong. This is one of the last holdouts of Jewish
rebellion. And he's telling them, I know how
this ends for you guys. You are going to end
up in the grave if you continue to try to do
life this way. And so that's kind of, I think,
unless you understand what was going on there
at the Corazine Plateau, that part might seem
a little bit harsh to those towns. And that's
why. Violence is not going to get it done. Right?
Plowshares, not swords. It's the new kingdom.
So, moving on to chapter 12. Actually, this isn't
probably one of those stories where I'm going
to show you new kingdom, old kingdom. It's just
the kind of story I want to tell because it's
fun. And then we'll get into the parable of the
weeds. So chapter 12, if you've got your finger
on 1 Samuel 12, don't, don't, don't. Did I tell
you guys 12? Sorry, it's 21. So I'm going to
take a drink and you're going to flip the first
second. No, keep your finger in Matthew 12, but
it's not 1 Samuel 12, it's 1 Samuel 21. And it's
okay because I'm going to begin reading in 12
because I have to keep talking or this will never
get done. So in chapter 12, Jesus, we're talking
again about the father, about God being revealed
through the son in Jesus. Okay. And a new way
of doing things in the old temple doesn't work.
And Jesus isn't just a prophet, but Jesus is
the son of God. And this is what's ultimately
as we head, we're in the country now, but as
we begin to head our way back to Jerusalem, this
is what ultimately is going to find Jesus on
a cross because he keeps talking like this. Beginning
with verse 1, at the time Jesus went through
the grain fields on the Sabbath, his disciples
were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain
and eat them. I'm sure you guys have all kind
of done that with a head of wheat, right? And
the grains come out. When the Pharisees, saw
this they said to him look your disciple look
your disciples are doing what is unlawful on
the Sabbath you're not the harvest right obviously
that's work on the Sabbath and Jesus says haven't
you read what David did when he and his companions
were hungry he entered the house of God and he
is in his companions ate the consecrated bread
which was not lawful for them to do but only
for the priests. Now, stick your finger there
in Matthew, go to 1 Samuel 21, and let's read
this story. I just like this story, and I hope
that maybe you'll go, ah, I remember. So, I believe
I'm beginning, and I don't have my verse numbers
here, but I believe, does Samuel 21, 1 Samuel
21 start, then David went to Nob? Okay, so beginning
at first verse of 1 Samuel 21, then David, this
is what Jesus was talking about. Then David went
to Himalek, the priest, and Himalek came trembling
in fear to meet David and said to him, why are
you alone? And no one is with you. If you are
this important person, you are the second most
important person to the king, King Saul. That's
what's going on here. You're not riding around
with no army beside you. What is going on? Now,
we know that David, Saul has decided to kill
David. David's actually on the run. From Saul
here. That's why he's alone. But he does kind
of have his little bandit friends waiting with
him. David says to Ahimelech, the priest, the
king has commissioned me with a matter and has
told me, let no one know anything about the matter
for which I am sending you, which I have commissioned
you. I have directed the young men to a certain
place. Now, to the priest, Ahimelech, now what
food do you have on hand? Give me five loaves
of bread or whatever can be found. Ahimelech
says to David, there's no ordinary bread here
or unconsecrated bread, but there is consecrated
bread and you can have it. If only the young
men had, I mean, are they consecrated, right?
Have they kept themselves from women? And David
said, be assured, yes, the women have been kept.
So how much more will their vessels be holy today?
So the priest gave that bread to him, the consecrated
bread, for there was no bread there except for
the bread of the presence, which was removed
from before the Lord in order to put hot bread
in its place when it was taken away. Now, one
of Saul's servants was there that day. detained
before the Lord, and his name was Dog, the Edomite,
the chief of Saul's shepherds. David said to
Ahimelech, Do you not have a sword or spear here
on hand? For I brought neither my sword nor my
other weapons with me, because the king's business
was urgent. Then the priest said, The sword of
Goliath, the Philistine, whom you killed in the
valley of Elah, is here, wrapped in a cloth behind
the ephod. If you would take it for yourself,
do so, for there is no other here except for
it. And David said, there is none like that.
Give it to me. I just want to remember, you guys
remember that story when we had that, told that
story? This is where, that's how it's tied into
the New Testament. When Jesus says, what about
David in the time that the priest gave him that
bread? Why wasn't that breaking the Sabbath,
right? That's where that story that we all kind
of went, oh, I didn't even know that story was
in the Bible. That's where it comes from. Back
to Matthew 12. Jesus says, or haven't you read
in the law, this is verse 5, or haven't you read
in the law that the priests on the Sabbath duty
in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are
innocent? I tell you something greater than the
temple is here. If you had known what these words
mean, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would
not have condemned the innocent. You guys remember
that from last time, right? Whenever, when Jesus
is saying, look, it's not. about doing the things
over and over again. It's about a new heart.
Going on from that place, he went to the synagogue
and a man with a shriveled hand was there looking
for a reason to bring charges against Jesus.
They, the Pharisees, asked him, is it lawful
to heal on the Sabbath? He said to him, if any
of you had sheep and it falls into a pit on the
Sabbath, would you not take hold of it and lift
it out? How much more valuable is a person than
a sheep? Therefore, it's lawful to do good on
the Sabbath. And then he said to the man, stretch
out your hand. So he stretched it out and was
completely restored, just as sound as the other.
But the Pharisees went out and they plotted how
they might kill Jesus. And now the word kill
is in there. And as we go on, this is going to
become more and more serious. Now let's jump
to chapter 13. And I want to look at one of the
parables called the parable of the weeds. Another
interesting something I learned in study about
this that I think will help you make more sense
of this parable as well. And so he's telling
a group of parables. Here Jesus tells them the
parable of the weeds. Beginning with verse 24.
The kingdom of heaven. Okay, I'm going to slow
down here so we can listen. The kingdom of heaven
is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.
But while everyone was sleeping. His enemy came
and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.
When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, the
weeds also appeared. The owner's servants came
to him and said, Sir, didn't you sow good seed
in your field? Where did these weeds come from?
And the man said, An enemy has done this. The
servants asked him, Do you want us to go then?
And pull those weeds up? No. Because while you're
pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with
them. Let both grow until the harvest. And at
that time, I will tell the harvesters, first
collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to
be burned. Then gather the wheat and bring it
into my barn. Now, that sounds pretty simple,
right? And the good thing is, is here in just
a second, he's going to explain all that, probably
to confirm the way you heard this. You probably
have a pretty good idea of who's what in that
story. But what I think is interesting is the
word that's translated as wheat there in Greek
is a word called Zizania, Z -I -Z -N -I -A, Zizania.
And the plural of that is Zizanion. And that
word is thought to mean Darnell. which is a type
of ryegrass. It is lollium timulatum. And it's
a ryegrass which looks almost exactly like wheat
in its early stages. So much so that Roman law
actually prohibited sowing Darnell among the
wheat of an enemy. Right? suggesting that this
scenario was something that would have been common.
There was a ryegrass that looked so much like
wheat when it was growing that you couldn't even
tell it for a long time, right? And so if you
had a farmer friend that wasn't your friend and
you really wanted to get him good, you'd sow
this ryegrass in with his wheat to destroy his
field, right? I think it's kind of an interesting
story. It looks so much. Like each other. The
weeds. Well, let's read real quickly, continuing
the chapter. Verse 37. Let's go ahead and just
look at the answer key here. He answered Jesus.
The one who sowed the good seed is the son of
man. Jesus is. The field is the world. The good
wheat seed. Right. Those are the people of God's
kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil
one. The enemy, the devil, is the guy who threw
the ryegrass in with the wheat. The harvest is
at the end of the age and the harvesters are
God's angels. Right. We had a pretty good handle
on all that. Now, one of the things that's kind
of interesting in the gospel account is not infrequently
you will see a story. And then a story. And then
the first story is continued or ended. And there's
like a sandwich story in between. And you have
to look at all three of them to kind of get what
the bigger message is. And this is one of those
times. So the weed in the wheat, top piece of
bread. The explanation of the weeds in the wheat,
the bottom piece of bread. And then there's this
story stuck right there in the middle. And it's
the parable of the mustard seed. So he told them
another parable. The kingdom of heaven is like
a mustard seed which a man took and planted in
his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds.
Have we all seen a mustard seed before? It's
just a fleck, just a tiny, I don't even know
how to, it's a dot, right? It's very, very, very,
very, very small. And yet when it grows, it is
the largest of garden plants. It's a plant. Right?
Is mustard a plant? That's right. But whenever
it starts off, it's going to look like a bush,
right? But what does it grow into? A tree. Right?
It was kind of something, but then it turned
into something completely different. It kind
of looked like a bush, but when it matures, it
is something new. It's a tree. And that's what
Jesus is trying to tell us here about what it
means to be the wheat or the ryegrass. Right?
Because man, if you don't work within the kingdom
of God and the way the new kingdom works, there's
not much difference in the way you guys look.
And it might not even be until the harvest that
we're able to tell whether you are wheat or weeds.
And right in the middle, He says, if you didn't
catch that the first time around, mustard seed
goes from a plant to a tree. The kingdom of God
means you have to be something new and different,
just not a different version of the old thing.
And so sometimes we're going to see in these
stories where there'll be this story, and then
there'll be this story that kind of continues,
and in the middle there's another story. There's
a reason why. Okay, so let us now go to verse
21. Leaving that place. Is everybody leaving
that place? I believe a 13, right? Leaving that
place. Everybody there? Is that how it starts,
verse 13? 13, 13. Sorry, 13, 21. I keep saying
13, 21. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. So we're
in, I'm trying to go fast. So we're in Galilee,
right? And he's going to leave Galilee, leaving
that place. Yes? Yes? Am I right, guys? Uh -huh.
Okay, 14. Skip over to 14. I knew I had my pages
mixed up here. Yep. 15, sorry. Leaving that place.
We got it. Sorry, 15. Hey, that's good. We're
in good shape, man. We're on the downhill slide
now. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I got this totally.
I got 20 minutes. I can slow down. This is good
stuff. All right. No, no. This is good, too,
because this is where it kind of gets more important.
So, okay. So we're in Galilee, right? We're up
here. He's kind of worked his way counterclockwise,
Magdala, kind of in that region there. And now
they're actually going to get out. They're going
to get out of the Galilean region, and they're
going to go up to where he was just talking about,
to Tyre and Sidon, which is up in modern -day
Lebanon today. Now we'll look at his story. I
think it's an important story here. A lot of
stuff going on. So leaving that place, Jesus
withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon up there
on the Mediterranean coast. Now again, the people
of Tyre and Sidon, it's kind of a complicated
relationship with the Jewish people. More times
than not, there has been conflict. There have
also been times whenever the kingdoms worked
together. Does anybody recall one time? King
of Tyre did anything for King Solomon? All of
the wood that is used to build Solomon's temple,
right, comes from the cedars of Lebanon, from
the king of Tyre. So there have been times when
the people of Tyre and Sidon and the people of
Israel worked together, but there's more conflict
than there has been friendship. So ultimately,
again, I want to point out, I'm pointing that
out to say, Jesus has now retired to a place
that is not, Jewish, right? Now, I love this.
So Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon,
and then verse 22 says, a Canaanite woman from
the vicinity came to him crying out, Lord, son
of David. Now, Canaanite people, are they allies,
enemies? Huge, the archest of enemies. OK, Canaan
is the place that the promised land under the
leadership of Joshua crossed the Jordan River
and took over. Right. Canaan, those people. OK,
and this is kind of crazy. So there is a woman
here that is would have been of the people group
that would have been the arch enemy of the Jews.
And she says she says to Jesus. She calls him
what? Lord. That means master. But then she uses
another title. Remember the son of David bit?
That's a national title for saying Messiah. And
this is significant because we have a Canaanite
woman calling this man, this Jewish man, the
son of David. Recognizing his kingship by calling
him master. Let me give you an example of what
that might be like. Let's say that you were having
dinner over at Eskimo Joe's. And sure enough,
Mike Gundy comes in and sits down right next
to you. The table right next to you, and you
can hear their conversation. But the story gets
better. Because you're sitting there eating your
cheese fries, right? And then who else is to
show up but Barry Switzer? And Barry Switzer
walks up to Mike Gundy's table and says, I just
want you to know that you are the best football
coach this state has ever had. That's what we're
talking about here. A Canaanite woman referring
to Jesus, this Messiah figure, as her Lord, it
would be like Barry Switzer calling Mike Gundy
a good football coach. That would blow people's
minds. Right. And she calls out to him as the
son of David have mercy on me. My daughter is
demon possessed and suffering terribly. Now,
Jesus response to her is nothing. He doesn't
even say anything at all. Even his disciples
come up to him and they're like, dude, you've
got to do something about her. She's crying out
after us. Now remember, we're at a place here
where Jesus, whenever there's heat on, whenever
the Jewish leaders are threatening to kill Jesus,
and we know because the Bible tells us that there's
talk about it. I'm sorry, the computer went to
sleep. That he leaves the vicinity and he'll
retire away, often to pray, but also just to
get out of the kitchen, truthfully. Right. Because
he's he's not on man's time, but he's on God's
time. Right. And so there are times when the
heat gets a little bit too much. Jesus moves
to another location and that's what's going on
here. And I'm not so sure that maybe there isn't
a little bit of trying not to attract attention
to us with this crazy woman. Right. But finally,
he has a conversation with her and he says, look,
lady. I was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel.
I'm only here for the people of Israel whom have
lost their way. I'm not here for everybody else
right now. And as a matter of fact, we didn't
really go into it much, but in our last section
of the Gospel according to Matthew was a section
where Jesus actually commissioned his 12 disciples
to go out and preach. And he actually told them
the same thing. He says, don't go to Gentile
lands. Don't go to Samaria. Focus on the Israelite
people first. And that actually has a theme back
to the Old Testament prophets that say that justice
comes to the house of Israel first. And that's
what Jesus is saying here. Not that he's not
here to save the whole world. In this moment,
Jesus is saying, first is to go to the people
of Israel, then to the people of the world. Okay?
And so she continues in saying, Lord, help me.
And then he says, it's not right to take the
children's bread and toss it to the dogs. Now,
in that sentence, who's the children? The Israelite
people, right? So what is he calling this Canaanite
woman? A dog, right? And this is a really great
moment because there's maybe the humanity of
Jesus going on here, but this is kind of, it
almost feels like the woman does some convincing
to Jesus. And I think the human side of Jesus
could be convinced to where his mind could change.
Or this is all a part of God's purpose, right?
And she says, that is true. But even the dog
eats the crumbs that fall from the master's table.
No, I'm not saying that you have to give the
children's bread to me, but hey, look, everybody
loves the family dog. Even the family dog gets
the scraps left over after the meal. And he recognizes
that was very profound. And that was a statement
that took a lot of faith to say. And the daughter
was healed in that moment. Chapter 16. We're
going to see something that's going to tie again
also into something a little bit later in the
chapter here. And we're starting to see Pharisees
and Sadducees coming forward. And Matthew chapter
16 here. And we're starting to see more of an
interaction. with the Pharisees and Sadducees
and Jesus, not from a curiosity standpoint, but
maybe from an accusatory standpoint. We're going
to see the tone change in the discussion that
Jesus has with the Pharisees and Sadducees going
forward. Things are becoming more nefarious and
things are escalating rapidly here in our story.
And so the Pharisees and the Sadducees, they
come to Jesus. He's made his way back down to
Galilee again. And they tested him. So it's not
like, hey, we're curious, but they're trying
to catch him in a trap here. And they ask him,
show us a sign from heaven. Now, do we think
that that's probably a sincere request? Probably
not. Again, they're testing him. They're trying
to trap Jesus in blasphemy so that they can arrest
him and put an end to this. This rabble rouser.
And Jesus says, when evening comes, you say it
will be fair weather for the sky is red. And
in the morning today, it will be stormy for the
sky is red and overcast. Now, you know how to
interpret the appearance of the sky, but you
can't even interpret the signs of the times.
How could you not? It's as plain as my face in
front of you. How can you not see what's going
on here? It says, a wicked and an adulterous
generation look for a sign. You're always looking
for something I can do or give you. Because that's
the way power has been conveyed over time. The
old way of being a human had everything to do
with relationships that depend upon what I can
give or show you. I have to have some sort of
transactional currency. for our relationship
to matter. He says we're looking for a different
way of being a human. So I'm not even going to
mess around with it because I don't even believe
that you sincerely want to see the work of God.
First of all, you would have even asked in a
different way. You didn't say anything about
let's bring glory to God. You just want me to
do something for you. So I'm not going to show
you a sign except for the sign of Jonah. Jesus
left them and went away. The sign of Jonah? What
does that mean? Turn back in your Bible. We thought
we were doing really good and we're actually
going to go three steps forward, two steps back
here. Turn back in your Bibles to chapter 12.
And let's explore this sign of Jonah bit. And
see what it has to say about our theme tonight.
Of old versus new. So beginning with chapter
12 verse 18. And here's our old friends again.
Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the
law said to Jesus. Teacher we want to see a sign
from you. And Jesus' comment the first time is
no different than what we just heard. He says
none will be given except the sign of the prophet
Jonah. For Jonah was three days and three nights
in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man
will be three days and three nights in the heart
of the earth. Right? And that's signifying the
death of Jonah because he goes into the fish
as one who is running away from God and is one
that comes out three days later as one obedient
to God. Jonah still has his problems, even after
the whole Nineveh thing, right? Jonah is still
kind of a jerk, right? Because even after God
has kind of changed his mind, Jonah's not happy
about it. Jonah thought that when he went to
Nineveh to tell them that they were going to
face the wrath of the judgment of God, he didn't
think it was going to end well for them, right?
He thought it was going to be Sodom and Gomorrah
all over again. And then whenever God sees the
Ninevites repent, He saves them. And Jonah's
like, that's not what, I didn't buy into this.
But the signification of Jonah going to the bottom
of the sea, being swallowed by the big fish,
and then coming out a different person is the
same thing we're seeing here with Jesus. And
he talks a little bit about that. He says, that's
the sign you're going to get from me. The men
of Nineveh, will stand up at the judgment with
this generation, you guys, when it's all said
and done, and the Ninevites are going to condemn
you. Why? Well, they repented. They heard the
preaching of Jonah, and they changed their mind.
And now, there's something even better than that
here. And you guys are wanting to kill me. The
queen of the south, does anybody know who that
is? Sheba, Queen Sheba, right? From Ethiopia,
Queen Sheba. She will rise at the judgment with
this generation and condemn it. For she came
from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's
wisdom. And now something greater than Solomon
is here. Two groups of people that are somehow
better than the current generation. The Ninevites
and the Queen of Sheba. What makes them different?
The thing is, the Ninevites believed that the
way that they were living their life was the
right way to do it. And Jonah comes along and
says, new way of doing. New way of being. And
they changed who they were. They thought they
had it figured out. And then they realized they
were wrong and became something new. The queen
of Sheba, what this part of the story is talking
about, is she had heard about how wise Solomon
was. And the queen of Sheba thought that she
was the wisest in the land. And so she actually
comes to... to Jerusalem and encounters Solomon.
And Solomon proves to be as wise as everybody
thinks. And she changes her mind. She thought
she had it figured out, realized she didn't,
and became a new person. Right? And so these
are people that even though they've got really
bad pasts, and even the Ninevites, the story
is great there for them whenever they repent,
but their ultimate story doesn't end up super
great. Right. And so things don't end up well
for them. But even if we're in that moment, they're
not willing to recognize that you've got to be
a new something. Right. But the Ninevites got
it even for a little bit. The Queen of Sheba
got it even for a little bit. And they're going
to be able to condemn you at judgment. While
Jesus was still talking to the crowd, verse 46.
His mothers and brothers stood outside wanting
to speak to him. Someone told him, your mothers
and brothers are standing outside wanting to
speak to you. He replied to them, who is my mother
and who are my brothers? Pointing to his disciples,
he said, here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of my father in heaven
is my brother and sister. Now, it's interesting
real quickly as we stop there with chapter 12
and then we'll go back to verse 17. I'm sorry,
verse 16 is that there's no evidence. that any
of Jesus' family actually followed him during
his public ministry. And there's actually more
evidence that his family thought he was crazy
at that time. But even in this instance, natural
old family, new family. Same deal here. So looking
at, let's see, we went back to 16, right? Okay,
so we're getting ready to go into chapter 17.
We're getting real close to that point where
we're just three chapters away where they're
going to be headed to Jerusalem. And that's going
to be Jesus' triumphant return to the city. So
verse 21, chapter 16. From that time, Jesus began
to explain to his disciples that he must go to
Jerusalem. suffer many things at the hands of
the elders, the chief priests, the teachers of
the law, and that he must be killed on the third
day and be raised to life. And Peter begins to
rebuke him. Why? Because Peter still and the
other disciples still do not get it. They still
think that when Jesus is saying he's the Messiah,
we're going to raise an army and we're going
to defeat the Roman Empire. And Jesus is going
to be king and it's going to be dilly dilly for
me, right? Because I'm going to be in the king's
court with him, right? That's what I signed on
here, Jesus, right? Now I do all this stuff you
tell me. I go and I give money to the poor and
we go around those lepers. And I don't even really
like Matthew because he's a tax collector, right?
But I'm doing this because I believe in the end,
this is still going to be a battle that we're
going to win. And Jesus is saying, hey, by the
way, that's not the way it's going to go down.
I'm going to go to Jerusalem and they're going
to kill me and we're all going to be in trouble.
And Peter's like, no, we're not. Right. And this
is where we see Jesus rebuking Peter. Right.
Saying, get behind me, Satan. Don't stand as
a stumbling block to me. Right. I love you, Peter.
Understand that this has nothing. What we're
doing and how we're doing it is not under your
control or my control. This is under God's control.
He says, but I know this is hard for you guys
to understand. And I know that it's going to
be scary for you. Verse 28. He says, as a matter
of fact, there's going to be some of you guys.
Where you're going to get to see something that's
going to help you along the way. Because he says
there are going to be some that will not taste
death before they see the Son of Man coming into
his kingdom. Now, there are a lot of people that
have really misinterpreted that scripture and
thought, does that mean that the disciples don't
die until the end of the age and then they see,
then we have the rapture and that kind of stuff?
Has anybody heard that interpretation before?
Yeah? Has anybody heard anything kind of like
that about this being some sort of interpretation
about their lives and the time before it's called
eschatology, the end of the world? Okay, well,
it's out there. That's what you would assume,
right? But what's interesting is Matthew doesn't
hide that from us. It's in plain sight. It tells
us when all of that happens. Chapter 17 begins,
verse 1. How long? After six days. Jesus took
him, remember Peter, James, and John, and they
went up on a high mountain for themselves. And
there Jesus was transfigured before them. His
face shone like the sun, and his clothes became
as white as the light. Just then they appeared
before them, Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
Peter said to the Lord, it is good for us to
be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters,
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.
While he was speaking, a bright cloud covered
them. And a voice from the cloud said, This is
my son whom I love. With him I am well pleased.
Listen to him. When the disciples heard this,
they fell face down on the ground terrified.
But Jesus came and touched them. Get up, don't
be afraid. And when they looked up, they saw
no one but Jesus. That's seeing the Son of Man
coming into the kingdom. That's what Jesus was
talking about. So six days later, right? Okay,
so we're moving on. I didn't realize how late
this had become. Chapter 18. We've only been
going an hour and three minutes, by the way.
Just saying. I can tell because I started my
recording. I know how long I've been talking.
So dinner might have run a little bit late, but
this has only been one hour, and I'm about to
wrap this up. So we're getting to this point
where Jesus and his disciples, okay. Maybe it's
about being in heaven. So, hey, who is the greatest
in heaven? Okay, so if this is about being in
heaven, Jesus, who's the greatest there? And
he called a little child to him. And he placed
Jesus. And he placed the child among them. And
he said, truly, unless you change, unless you
stop being the grown person you are, And start
being the new child in God that you can be. You
will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Unless
you change. How do we change? Verse 6. Those
who believe in me. Right? You want to be like
one of the little ones? Believe in me. Right?
And if you cause these new ones to stumble. it
would be better for them to have a large millstone
hung around their neck and to be drowned at the
depths of the sea. See, verse 10, see that you
do not despise one of these little ones. For
I tell you that their angels in heaven always
see the face of my Father in heaven. You have
to change. You have to be different. Now I want
to skip to chapter 18, verse 23, and I want to
focus on a story here as we move into chapter
19. And I would like to talk about the story
about the way that Jesus demonstrates to his
disciples the idea of justice. And he's talking
about forgiveness here. And he says, therefore,
the kingdom of heaven, verse 23, is like a king
who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
As he began the settlement, a man who owed him
10 ,000 bags of gold was brought to him. That's
a lot, by the way, right? 10 ,000 bags of gold.
Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered
that he and his wife and children and all that
he had had be sold to repay the debt. I can't
believe that the guy would be worth 10 ,000 bags
of gold. And I don't think that's the point,
but that's kind of strange. The servant falls
on his knees. He says, be patient with me. He
doesn't ask him to forgive it. Right? The servant
just says, look, give me time and I'll pay back
everything I owe you. And the servant's master
takes pity on him and he actually offers him
something different than he asked for, didn't
he? Because he didn't give him more time to pay
the debt. He actually canceled the debt and let
the man go. Right? Now, when that servant gets
free of the master, he goes to somebody who owes
him money and he grabs him by the throat. And
pay me now. And now pay me. And his fellow servant
does the same thing that this man had just done.
Same thing. Be patient with me. I'll pay it back.
Only this time the guy refuses. And he had him
thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
Now the master finds out. And says, shouldn't
you have mercy on your fellow servant just as
I had on you? This is verse 35. This is how my
Heavenly Father will treat each of you unless
you forgive your brother or sister from your
heart. If you've experienced the power of grace
in your life, you are compelled to share that
grace with others. Under no circumstance. There
is no, the guy owed me the money. Well, I understand
he owed you the money. Right. I'd be justified
if I asked this other servant for the money I'm
owed. Right. I wouldn't be wrong. And God say,
no, no, no, no, no, no. It's not about figuring
justice the way that you do justice on earth.
It's about the way that I I dispense unconditional
love and mercy. Right. And I give it freely.
And so should you. So, I think I might have messed
up again. Chapter 19, verse 16. Just then, a
man came up to Jesus and asked, yes? Yeah, yeah,
okay, good. Just then, now we know this story
too, because this is the guy who shows up, and
he wants to know, how do I get eternal life?
So if I'm going to be this new person, you need
to tell me what to do. And Jesus says, look,
focus on God first and foremost, because there's
only one who's good. And if you want to enter
life, keep the commandments. So he says, all
right, which one? So he labels them off. He says,
dude, I've done all that stuff. What do I still
lack? He says, if you want to be perfect, go
sell your possessions, give them to the poor,
and you will have a treasure in heaven. Then
come follow me. When the young man heard this,
he went away sad because he had great wealth.
We know that story, right? Well, what's this
got to do with our theme tonight? Is this a man
who valued his money as a part of his identity?
Absolutely. It even identifies him as a young
wealthy man, right? If you're not willing to
change how you identify yourself, then what you
do won't matter. And that's basically what that
story is about, right? Chapter 20, Jesus is still
talking about what the kingdom of heaven is like,
what mercy looks like to Jesus, and what fairness
looks like to Jesus. And Jesus explains, beginning
in chapter 20, verse 1, For the kingdom of heaven
is like a landowner who went out early in the
morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He
agreed to pay them a denarius. That's a coin,
a gold coin, that would basically equate to one
laborer's wage for one day. And Levitical law
actually compelled landowners or employers to
pay their workers every day at the end of the
day. Because you needed that money on your way
home to buy food, whatever you needed, collect
fuel for living, you know, those kind of things.
So everybody gets paid at the end of the day,
your daily wage, fair rate. One denarius. And
they go into the vineyard. 6 a .m., they get
started. Okay? Start of the day. At 9 in the
morning, he, the landowner, Went out and saw
others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.
Now, he said, you guys go in my vineyard and
I'll pay you whatever's right. And they went.
And he went out again at noon. And he went out
again at three. And then he went out about five
in the afternoon. And still found others and
says, why have you guys been doing nothing? And
they said, well, we haven't been hired. He says,
you guys go. Though some that started at noon,
some that started at three, and some with just
one hour to go started at five. When evening
came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman,
call the workers and pay them their wages. Beginning
with the last ones hired and going to the first.
The workers who were hired about five in the
afternoon came and each received the denarius.
So when those came who were hired first. They
expected to receive more, but they only got a
denarius. When they received it, they began to
grumble against the landowner. These who were
hired last worked only one hour. And you've made
them equal to us? Those that have borne the work
and the heat of the day? And the landowner says,
I haven't been unfair to you. We made a deal.
At 6 o 'clock this morning, I said I'd pay you
a denarius for work. Here we are at 6 in the
evening, and you worked, and here's your denarius.
What's your problem? Right? What I do with my
own money is my business. Why would you be envious
of me? Just because I'm a generous person. Right?
So the last will be first, and the first will
be last. Verse 17 closes. Now Jesus was going
up to Jerusalem. And that is where we'll stop
for tonight. Anybody have any questions on any
of that? Well, did you get all that? I'm not
kidding. That was a lot of ground to cover, but
it leaves us an opportunity as Jesus. returns
to Jerusalem eventually to be crucified on that
Roman cross and then resurrected. It will give
us an opportunity in the next two sessions to
kind of slow down and look at those events in
greater detail. I hope that you've enjoyed this
episode of the Semi -Seminary. And if you have,
if you would please take the time to rate and
review the podcast, we'd greatly appreciate it.
It helps get the word out that we're here. Well,
I want you to take care of yourself, and we will
see you next week right here at the Semi -Seminarian.