Now Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem and has a final confrontation in teaching with Israel's leaders.
He tells stories that show He the King has come but the stewards are rejecting Him.
They fight back with words, since they can't openly arrest Him - He's too popular.
Jesus doesn't give an inch when they try to make Him unpopular over taxes. The rulers hypocritically liked Roman rule since it gave them a stable position, but they wanted to share in popular hostility against Roman occupation. Jesus' response exposes this. AND He gives a clear principial truth about the boundaries and relationship between state and religion.
They try to mock the resurrection, but He flatly rejects their shame with Scripture.
A more sympathetic scribe asks Him a softball question, and we get the Shema and two greatest commandments (Deut. 6:4-5; Lev. 19:18).
He shows from Psalm 110:1 that the Christ will be greater than David.
He warns us away from proud teachers, and points to the humble as examples instead.
Application
His teaching is very poignant when we remember they will arrest and crucify Jesus within 4-5 days. He knows this.
In almost every section of this chapter, Jesus quotes Scripture. When you come to testing points in your life, get closer to the Word.
No comments:
Post a Comment