Pastor Mike Impact Ministries

I think it is interesting that thischapter begins with a question by the priests, the scribes, and the elders.They asked Jesus by what authority did He cleanse the Temple and was teachingthe people. Then the chapter ends in these last verses with Jesus asking them aquestion.  Whilethe priests, scribes, and elders were still gathered together, Jesus asked thema final question: "What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son isHe?" (Matt. 22:41-42, NKJV) This is the key question for everygeneration and each individual, for our salvation and eternal destiny aredependent on what we think about Christ and how we answer this question. (1John 2:21-25; 4:1-6; 5:1). Ofcourse, these religious leaders knew the expected reply: The Christ, theMessiah is "The Son of David." They based this on such verses as 2Samuel 7:13-14; Isaiah 11:1; and Jeremiah 23:5. God had ordained that theMessiah should come from the family of David and be born in David's city,Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).  Jesusthen referred them to Psalm 110, which is quoted in the New Testament more thanany other psalm. The Jewish religious leaders in that day identified Psalm 110as a prophetic psalm and said that David was speaking of the Messiah. But ifthe Messiah is David's Lord, how can He be David's son? The only explanation isthat Messiah must be both God and man. As eternal God, Messiah is David's Lord,but as man, He is David's son (Romans 1:3; 9:4-5; Acts 2:32-36; 13:22-23). OnPalm Sunday, the multitudes had acclaimed Jesus as the Son of David, and He hadnot rebuked them (Matt. 21:9; Mark 11:10). By applying Psalm 110:1 to Himself,Jesus claimed to be Israel's promised Messiah, the Son of God. Then why did thePharisees not believe in Him? Because their minds were made up, their heartswere hardened, and their eyes were blind (John 12:37-50). They did not have thecourage to confess the truth, and they persecuted those who did affirm faith inJesus Christ. And it was out of envy and jealousy that they delivered Jesus upto Pilate to be crucified (Matthew 27:18; Mark 15:10). Christ's questionsilenced His enemies (Matthew 22:46) and ended their public challenges, butthey would not admit defeat. Inthe last verses, 45-47, Jesus warned the people about the hypocrisy anddishonesty of the scribes and Pharisees (see Matthew 23). Men see the outside,but God sees the heart (1 Samuel 16:7; Hebrews 4:12). These religious leadersdid not desire personal holiness; they wanted public recognition. Therefore,they wore special garments, expected special titles and greetings, and lookedfor special seats at public gatherings. Thereis a double tragedy here. First of all, their deliberate hypocrisy was only acover-up that enabled them to fool people and exploit them. Of all rackets,religious rackets are the worst. The religious leaders had turned the temple ofGod into a den of thieves and religious devotion into playacting. The generalpublic actually thought that their leaders were godly men, when in reality theywere defiling and destroying souls (Matt. 23:13-36). Thesecond tragedy is that they rejected their own Messiah and voted to crucifyHim. They led the nation into ruin because they would not admit their sins andconfess Jesus Christ. Keep in mind that these men were "experts" inthe Bible, yet they did not apply its truths to their own lives. Their religionwas a matter of external observance, not internal transformation. How sad it isthat we see so much the same in many of our churches and religious institutionstoday. Atthis point, according to Matthew (Matthew 23:37-39), Jesus once again uttered alamentation over the blind unbelief of the nation and their unwillingness totrust in Him. He had given them many opportunities, but they had wasted them.Now it was too late.  Andone day it will be too late for us if we don’t repent!

The Sadducees, a group ofJewish leaders who do not believe in angels, resurrection, or spirits pose a hypothetical question about a man who marries a woman and dies, andaccording to the law of Moses, his brother must marry her. Seven brothers endup marrying this woman, all die without children, and the Sadducees ask, inheaven, if there is a resurrection, which one of these men will she be marriedto? They think they have Jesus in a dilemma, but He answers them. InMatthew 22:29, Matthew records Jesus immediate response to their question. Jesussaid, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power ofGod." Jesus points out their ignorance of the Scriptures and the power ofGod. They only recognize the first five books of Moses, while Jesusacknowledges all 39 books of the Old Testament in the Septuagint (the Greek translationof the Old Testament available in the time of Jesus). Yet even from the Law ofMoses, Jesus affirms there is a resurrection.  Asa young pastor, I sometimes preached at funerals, stood by the casket, andsaid, "This is just a body." I wish I could go back and tell thosedear people I was wrong. God created us individually, uniquely, with a body wewill live in for eternity. Your spirit, soul, and body are eternal in a sense.According to Scripture, such as Job 14:14; 19:25-27; Psalms 16:9-10; 17:15; Isaiah26:19; Ezekiel 37; and Daniel 12:2, the bodies of both the lost and the savedwill be resurrected one day. These bodies will either go to heaven or to aneternal lake of fire, where they will be tormented day and night forever. Jesusand the Bible teach this truth. My friend, Jesus believed that God has thepower to raise us from the dead. Inheaven, we will have glorified bodies, with no need for procreation. Regardingthe Sadducees' question about the seven brothers, I’ve always thought after thethird or fourth brother, I’d say, "I’m not marrying her; I’m not takingthe chance of dying like the rest!" When we question Scripture and try tofigure it out logically, we miss the point and like the Sadducees we will misinterpretand wrongly apply the Scripture to our lives. ButJesus went beyond logic and referred them to the Word of God, particularly whathappened to Moses as recorded in Exodus 3. There God identified Himself withAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and thus affirmed that these three patriarchs werevery much alive. But if they were alive, then they were "out of thebody," for they had died (James 2:26). There must be a real world ofspirit beings or Moses would not have written these words. (By the way, Mosesalso affirmed the existence of angels: Genesis 19:1, 15; 28:12; 32:1.) ButJesus is also basically saying that Exodus 3:6, 15-16 teaches not only thetruth of life after death but also the reality of the resurrection. In whatway? Not by direct statement but by inference. God is the God of the wholeperson—spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23), because He created thewhole person. He does not simply "save our souls" and ignore the restof our being. Inherent in the very nature of God's creative act is His concernfor the total person. Hence, He will not keep us disembodied spirits foreverbut will give us glorious bodies to match our heavenly perfection.  ForGod’s covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to be fulfilled, they willneed resurrected bodies to rule and reign with Him in the millennial reign ofJesus Christ. We have something to look forward to. God knows our future. Ilove what Job says in Job chapter 19, verses 25-26: "For I know that myRedeemer lives, and He shall stand on the earth. And after my skin isdestroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God."  Godis not the God of the dead, but of the living and He made us whole—soul,spirit, and body—and He knows how to take care of all of them. Godbless!

InLuke 20, the Jewish priests, elders, scribes, and the Herodians confront Jesuswith different questions or situations seeking to find a reason to have Himkilled (v.19). They have questioned Him about His authority and Jesus respondswith a question for them about the authority of John the Baptist and also aparable (vv. 1-19). The spies, sent by the Pharisees and the Herodians (Mark12:13), question Him about paying taxes to Caesar and Jesus shuts them downwith His answer (vv. 20-26).   Inverses 27-40, we find next in line were the Sadducees with a hypotheticalquestion based on the Jewish law of "levirate marriage". You willfind where they get this teaching from in Genesis 38 and Deuteronomy 25:5-10.The word levirate comes from the Latin levir, which means "a husband'sbrother." The Sadducees accepted as Scripture only the Five Books of Moses.Also in Acts 23:8 we are told they did not believe in angels, spirits, or theresurrection of the dead. They claimed that Moses did not write about any ofthese doctrines.  Itis interesting to also note that the priestly party in Israel during the timeof Jesus was mostly composed of Sadducees, which explains why the priestsopposed the Apostles' preaching of the Resurrection (Acts 4:1-2) and why theywanted to kill Lazarus, who was raised from the dead (John 12:10-11). Jesuspointed out that His opponents were wrong and that their question revealedassumptions that limited God's power and denied God's Word. Resurrection is notreconstruction; it is the miraculous granting of a new body that has continuitywith the old body. Paul compared our present body to a planted seed and thefuture resurrection body to the glorious flower and fruit (1 Cor. 15:35-50).Our Lord's resurrection body was the same as before His death and yetdifferent! Remember after Jesus’ resurrection His disciples recognized Him andeven felt Him; He could eat food and yet He could also walk through closeddoors, change His appearance, and vanish suddenly.  Thefuture life with God is not a mere continuation of the present life only on"a higher scale." We will maintain our identities and know each other(1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), but there will be no more death-hence, no need formarriage and procreation. Christians do not become angels.  Inheaven we will share the image of Jesus Christ and be much higher than theangels (1 John 3:2). Angels appear in Scripture as men, but they are spiritbeings without sexuality. It is in this regard that we will be like them; therewill be no need for marriage or childbearing in heaven. Isnot God powerful enough to raise the dead and give them new bodies suited totheir new environment? If today He can give different bodies to the variousthings in creation, why can He not give people new bodies at the resurrection? (1Corinthians 15:35-44). In their attempt to be "rational," theSadducees denied the very power of God! Paulunveils the mystery of when and what takes place concerning the believer’sresurrection body in both 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:47-58. Ibelieve that Jesus is coming back soon and “in a moment, in the twinkling of aneye” the living believers will experience a great change! Our perishable bodywill put on the imperishable, and our mortal body will put on immortality.  Hallelujah!!!What a day that will be! Are you prepared for that great day! It could betoday!

InLuke 20:20-26 the Jewish priests, elders, scribes, and the Herodians continueto confront Jesus seeking to find a reason to have Him killed (v.19). On thisparticular occasion, Jesus knew that the men who questioned Him were spies sentby the Pharisees and the Herodians according to Mark 12:13, but He patientlylistened and replied.  Thesetwo groups were usually fighting each other, but now they had a common enemy,and this brought them together. They wanted to discuss taxes and Romanauthority, hoping to provoke Jesus into offending either the Jews or the Romans.If Jesus said, “pay the Roman tax,” they knew that He would offend and angerthe Jews who hated the Romans ruling over them. If Jesus said, “don’t pay the Romantax,” He would be considered an insurrectionist by the Roman rulers and couldbe put to death. But Jesus lifted the discussion to a much higher level andforced the spies to think about the relationship between the kingdom of God andthe kingdoms of men. TheBible teaches that governmental authority is instituted by God and must berespected (Prov. 8:15; Dan. 2:21, 37-38; Rom. 13; 1 Peter 2:11-17). Yes, ourcitizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20), and we are strangers and pilgrims onearth, but that does not mean we should ignore our earthly responsibilities.Human government is essential to a safe and orderly society, for man is asinner and must be kept under control.  Whenyou read the book of Judges you find what it is like when there is no authorityover the people. Because there was no king in Israel, “every man did what wasright in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). The land was filled with anarchy,violence, murder, stealing, confusion, and chaos! God knows we need human governmentfor peace and order. Inverses 20-26, Jesus was not suggesting that we divide our loyalties between Godand government. Since "the powers that be are ordained of God" (Rom.13:1), we live as good citizens when we obey the authorities for the Lord'ssake. When obedience to God conflicts with obedience to man, then we must putGod first (Acts 4:19-20; 5:29), but we must do it in a manner that is honorableand loving. Even if we cannot respect the people in office, we must respect theoffice.  Thecounsel that Jeremiah gave to the Jewish exiles in Babylon is a good one forGod's "strangers and pilgrims" to follow today. “And seek thepeace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and prayto the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace.” (Jeremiah 29:7) Todaywe are instructed in 1 Timothy 2:1-4, “Therefore I exhort first of all thatsupplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for allmen, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet andpeaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptablein the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come tothe knowledge of the truth.” Caesar'simage and name were on the coins, so it was basically his currency. To pay thepoll tax meant simply to give Caesar back that which belonged to him. God'simage is stamped on us; therefore, He has the right to command our lives ascitizens in His kingdom. We should seek to be such good citizens that God willbe glorified and the unsaved will be attracted to the Gospel and want to becomeChristians (1 Peter 2:9-12; 3:8-17).  Itis unfortunate that some Christians have the mistaken idea that the moreobnoxious they are as citizens, the more they please God and witness forChrist. We must never violate our conscience, but we should seek to bepeacemakers and not troublemakers. Daniel is an example to follow (Dan. 1). God bless!

Theseverses 17-19, continue the confrontation that Jesus has on Tuesday of PassionWeek with the scribes, the priests, and the elders, just days before He iscrucified. Jesus has just finished telling a parable to the people that thesereligious leaders were also carefully listening to. It was the story of the ownerof a vineyard who finally sent his beloved son to receive the fruit, but he isrejected and killed by the vinedressers. They realize Jesus is claiming to bethe son in the story who is being rejected and killed.  NowJesus turns back from the crowd to these leaders of the Jews and speaks directlyto them and quoted Psalm 118:22. The rulers knew that this was a messianicpsalm, and they had heard some verse from this same psalm shouted by the crowdwhen Jesus rode into the city (compare Luke 19:38 with Ps. 118:26). By applyingthis verse to Himself, Jesus was clearly claiming to be the Messiah. The"builders who rejected the stone”, were of course, were the Jewishreligious leaders (Acts 4:11). Inthe Old Testament, the "stone" is a familiar symbol of God and of thepromised Messiah (see Gen. 49:24; Ex. 17:6; 33:22; Deut. 32:4, 15, 30-31; Isa.8:14; 28:16; 1 Cor. 10:4). Because the Jews did not believe, they stumbled overHim and were judged. Those who trust Jesus Christ find Him to be the foundationstone and the chief cornerstone of the church (1 Cor. 3:11; Eph. 2:20). ButJesus is also referring to Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45. This is where Daniel is interpretingthe dream of King Nebuchadnezzar where the Messiah is pictured as a"smiting stone" that crushes all that gets in its way. He was warningthe Sanhedrin that they would only destroy themselves if they condemned Him. Weneed to realized that this same principle applies today, and unbelievers shouldcarefully heed His warning. Youmight think about it this way. When the rulers rejected John the Baptist, theysinned against the Father who sent Him. When they crucified Jesus, they sinnedagainst the Son. Jesus had told them that they could sin against Him and stillbe forgiven, but when they sinned against the Holy Spirit, there could be noforgiveness (Matt. 12:24-37). Why? Because that was the end of God's witness tothe nation.  Thisis the so-called "unpardonable sin," and it was committed by theJewish leaders when they finally rejected the witness of the Spirit of Godthrough the Apostles. The evidence of their rejection was the stoning ofStephen (Acts 7:51-60). Then the Gospel went from the Jews to the Samaritans(Acts 8) and then to the Gentiles (Acts 10). Even today the Jewish people havea double veil over their eyes that keeps them from acknowledging that Jesus istheir promised Messiah (2 Corinthians 3:7-18).  Inthis parable of the vineyard and vinedressers who rejected the servants of theowner and kill his son, Jesus illustrated the insidious nature of sin: the morewe sin, the worse it becomes. The tenants started off beating some of theservants and wounding others, but they ended up becoming murderers! The Jewishleaders permitted John the Baptist to be killed, they asked for Jesus to becrucified, and then they themselves stoned Stephen. They sinned against theFather and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and that was the end of God's witnessto them. Itis a serious thing to reject the message of God and the messengers of God (seeJohn 12:35-43) Remember the warning we read in Hebrews 2:1-4; “For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and everytransgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape ifwe neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by theLord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,  Today,if the Holy Spirit is dealing with you heart about salvation or some sin inyour life, respond in humility and repentance, trusting and receiving theforgiveness that only Jesus can give you!

The priests, scribes,and elders have been listening to this. And when you read John 11:47–54, it isobvious that Jesus knew what these religious leaders were thinking. When hetells this parable, they know he’s speaking of the vineyard, which is Israel. God,in the Old Testament, had sent prophets to call the nation to repentance. Read Jeremiah7:25–26, where Jeremiah said the Father, who has this vineyard sent prophets toask you to repent, to turn back, but because you have not repented, judgment iscoming.  Also, in Nehemiah 9:26,Nehemiah, after the captivity in Babylon, in one of the longest recordedprayers in the Bible, prays a public prayer before the remnant that returned toJerusalem. In this prayer he mentions how that God sent prophets, teachers, andpeople calling the people to repentance, but they rejected and killed them.  In John chapter 11:47-53,we read: “Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council andsaid, "What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. If we let Himalone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come andtake away both our place and nation." And one of them, Caiaphas, beinghigh priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all, nor do youconsider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people,and not that the whole nation should perish." Now this he did not say onhis own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesuswould die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He wouldgather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad. Then,from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death.” Jesus knows what thesereligious leaders are thinking when He shares this parable. They know He issaying that He is the Son that the owner of the vineyard sent to claim His vineyardand they are rejecting him. Jesus is proclaiming that judgment will surely fallupon them, and that’s why they said, “Certainly not.” Jesus, the Messiah, isthere, presenting himself openly, and religious leaders know that if the peoplereceive Christ and accept Him as the Messiah, it is all over for their religioushypocrisy, and that’s what they fear. Already, when John the Baptist baptizedJesus, and the Spirit came upon Jesus, and people saw this. They also heard thevoice from heaven say, “This is my beloved Son.” Now, when here Jesus inthis parable said, “He sent his beloved son,” they knew He was speakingof Himself. And these scribes, lawyers, priests, and elders knew that He wasspeaking of them rejecting him as the Messiah. And that God’s judgment wouldcome upon them and the “vineyard” would be given to others. What a powerfulparable. My friend, it is a costly mistake to reject Jesus as your only hopefor salvation. He is your only Way to avoid the judgment to come. Don’t be likethese religious Pharisees, hypocrites. Trust Jesus, focus on him, and live forhim every day.

InLuke 20 we are looking at what happen in Passion Week, the Jewish Passover.  At this point in this chapter, we're onTuesday. where Jesus is confronted by the chief priests, elders, and scribes.They ask Him the question: "By what authority are you doing thesethings?"  Whatauthority did He have to cleanse the temple, and what authority did He have tobe teaching? Who made Him a rabbi? Where did He get his credentials? Whatseminary did He go to? Of course, Jesus didn’t go to any seminary, and basicallythey are rejecting Him. They’re threatened by Him. He’s disrupting their religiousand political power. And their profits, as they have been in charge of the merchantsselling things in the temple area called the Gentiles’ Court. They should haveknown who Jesus was! So,when Jesus is asked, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gaveyou this authority?” He has already told them on many occasions that Hisauthority came from the Father. But He answered and said to them, “I will alsoask you one thing, and answer me: The baptism of John, was it from heaven orfrom men?” In other words, who gave John the Baptist the authority to bebaptizing people and calling them to repent of their sins? They got in a littlehuddle and reasoned among themselves, put their heads together, and said, “Now,how are we going to answer him?” They said amongst themselves, “If we say fromheaven, he will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say from men,all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”So, they answered that they did not know where it was from. Jesus said to them,“Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” Amazingly,Jesus turns the tables on them. By answering them with a question, by giving aparable (vv. 9-16), and then offering a prophecy (vv. 17-18), He reveals thesins of the nation of Israel. Their main sin right now is that they arerejecting their own Messiah. Jesus takes them back to John the Baptist for tworeasons. First, John had pointed to Jesus and introduced Him to the nation, sotheir rejection of John was actually a rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Theyshould have recognized who Jesus was based on the message and presentation ofJohn that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Second,it is a spiritual principle that if we disobey truth we already know, Godcannot reveal new truth to us (see John 7:14-17). Why answer their questionwhen they had refused to submit to John's message? Remembersomething else and this is so important. We go back to the Old Testament toExodus 12, where the Passover lamb had to be set aside for ten days to ensureit was without spot and without blemish. It had to be thoroughly checked beforeit was slaughtered for the sacrifice, for the blood to be applied to thedoorpost and lintel. Picture Jesus as that Lamb of God who has come to takeaway the sin of the world. Jesus is now being examined by these people duringthese three days of Passover week. He’s being questioned: “Who are you? Wheredo you get your authority?” This fits so well because Jesus is now going to berejected, slaughtered, and crucified because he is going to take away the sinof the world. Nowit was the religious leaders who were in the dilemma! No matter what answerthey gave, they were in trouble, so they decided to "play dumb" andnot answer at all. They were deceitful in asking the question and dishonest inthe way they avoided answering it. Even if Jesus had given them an answer,their hearts were not prepared to receive it. If they had disobeyed God'smessage given by John the Baptist (Luke 7:24-30), they would disobey themessage given by God's Son.  Theyshould have already known who Jesus was and received His message! And so shouldwe!

Aswe come to this chapter, we need to remember several things. It's Passoverweek. Jesus has finished almost three and a half years of ministry, healing thesick, raising the dead, giving sight to the blind, feeding the hungry,preaching to the multitudes, teaching His disciples, confronting the Pharisees,scribes, and hypocrites. All this has taken place now for three and a halfyears.  Jesus has publiclyrevealed Himself as the Messiah. He's come into Jerusalem on Sunday of Passoverweek. He is the Lamb of God who has come to take away the sin of the world. Thecrowd, the multitudes, believed and trusted that He was the Messiah to deliverthem from the Romans. When the Pharisees asked Jesus to rebuke them, Jesussaid, "Even these stones would cry out if they didn't recognize who Iwas." He had publicly revealed Himself. Yet, there was a group whorejected Him, and they were the spiritual and political leaders of the Jewish nation. On Sunday, Jesus ridesinto Jerusalem. On Monday, Jesus cleanses the temple. Now on Tuesday, Jesus isconfronted by the scribes, the high priest, the lawyers, (that’s who thescribes are), and the elders. Three groups of people, representing thereligious and political leaders of the day for the Jews, confront Jesus. Verse 1, “Now ithappened on one of those days”. We believe the day was Tuesday specificallyin this passage, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel.Jesus has come back on Tuesday of Passover week. He is teaching and preaching.He's loving the people, teaching them the gospel. “The kingdom of heaven is athand; the King is here”. He is telling them wonderful things about who God is,who the Savior is, and how salvation and peace can come through trust andbelieving in Him.  He is preaching thegospel about Himself. Isn't that amazing? Because the Gospel is all aboutJesus.So, Jesus is preachingand teaching the Gospel, and that's when the chief priests, the scribes, andthe elders confronted Him. These people are incensed. The fact that Jesus ispreaching and teaching and the crowd has received Him, brings them to the pointthat they have to do something about Him. It says “they confronted Him”,means they came upon Him suddenly. They hope to catch Jesus with a questionthat will humiliate Him, and expose Hm to be against the leadership of theRomans politically. Then He could be crucified, stoned, or killed.  They'd already tried tostone Him on several occasions. Now they're going to use the tactic of getting Himto break one of the laws of the land so that the Romans will put Him to death.Of course, that fulfills the Old Testament scripture about how Jesus would die,not by stoning but by crucifixion. Read Psalms 22, and Isaiah 53. Theyconfronted Him and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authorityare you doing these things, or who is he who gave you this authority?" The priests had theirauthority from the law of Moses; they got their authority because the Leviticaltribe had been set apart to be the priests of the people, and the high priestcame from that tribe also. The scribes, these were the lawyers who had beentaught by the rabbis. They understood the law, they interpreted the law. So,the lawyers had their authority from the rabbis. The elders, these were theleaders of the different clans, the different tribes. They'd been chosen fortheir wisdom, leadership, and ability to lead. Probably on Monday night, thesethree groups of leaders have gotten together determined how they would confrontJesus on Tuesday. But Jesus is ready forthem. When they ask, "Where did you get your authority?" they'resaying, "We have authority, but who are you? Where does your authoritycome from?"  We can't wait to talkabout the answer the gave them and how He turned the table on them over thenext few days.  

Weneed to remember that this what we call Passion Week. Jesus rides intoJerusalem on Sunday morning, and the people cheer Him, celebrate Him, andbelieve that possibly He is the Messiah who has come to rescue them from theRomans. Jesus sees the city and weeps because He knows they will truly rejectHim. Then He goes into the temple according Mark 11:11, “And Jesus went intoJerusalem and into the temple. So when He had looked around at all things, asthe hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.” Didyou notice that it says that after Jesus rode into Jerusalem, He went into thetemple, and when He had looked upon all these things, as the hour was alreadylate, He went out to Bethany with the twelve. Also in Mark 11:12, we are told, “Thenext day, they went out from Bethany, and He was hungry.” So, on Sunday,He’s in Jerusalem, they’re cheering Him, He weeps, makes His proclamation aboutthings to come, and then goes to Bethany, where He spends the night. The nextmorning, He goes back to Jerusalem, and that’s when He goes to the temple, asyou see here. So we conclude that the event that takes place where Jesus iscleansing the temple for the second time is on Monday of Passion Week. WhenJesus comes to the temple on Monday morning, He must have gone first into theCourt of the Gentiles, the only place where pagan Gentiles are welcome to comeinto the temple area, which is outside the main temple area. This is the placewhere the Jews are supposed to be doing evangelism, witnessing to theseGentiles, and telling them that God is the one and true God and can only be knownby faith. But instead, the chief priests, priests, and many of the Levites haveturned it into a den of thieves. They’ve turned it into a place where they’reselling goods and sacrifices to people who have come from other lands.  Thesepilgrims didn’t bring their animals, like pigeons, goats, and sheep for theirsacrifices with them. So, they would have to buy these sacrifices. The chiefpriests and the religious leaders allowed the merchants to set up their littlestores in this area of the court of the Gentiles. This area was being used fora "religious marketplace" where Jews from other lands could exchangemoney and purchase approved sacrifices. The priests managed this business andmade a good profit from it. Jesusgoes into this area and proclaims, “My house shall be called a house ofprayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” quoting from Isaiah 56:7. InIsaiah 1:11-20, we read the prophesy that people were bringing sacrifices, buttheir hearts are far from God. Jesus said, “This shall be called the house ofprayer,” but you’ve made it a den of thieves. A den of thieves is the placethieves run to hide from the authorities. They’ve made the house of prayer,where God wants His people to pray, into a place where they’re hiding undertheir religious cloaks to do their business of taking advantage of people.  Insteadof praying for and with the people, they’re preying on them. Doesn’t that sayso much about religion even today? We run to the place of religion, and therewe hide in our sins, try to act religious, yet at the same time, we’re doingthose things with a heart full of sin, not repenting. Our churches, where weshould be praying and seeking the face of God, has become a place where we tryto hide our sins under the cloak of religion. Said to say, our churches havebecome a “den of thieves”.  MayGod help us today to do what Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 1:16-18: "Washyourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from beforeMy eyes. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke theoppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow. "Come now, and letus reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are likescarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, Theyshall be as wool.”  

Today is Memorial Day. Have you ever noticed we don’t say“Happy Memorial Day”? During Christmas time we might say, “Merry Christmas” or “happyholidays” and so forth as we celebrate the season. But we don’t celebrate MemorialDay. Memorial Day is not a day to be happy; it’s a day to remember the greatsacrifice many made so that we might live in a free country.  Itrust today that you’ll take time to remember that freedom is not free. Overone million people in our country paid the price of giving their own lives.They made the ultimate sacrifice. “Greater love has no man than this, than aman lay down his life for his friends.” These people laid down their lives fortheir friends, their family, their country, and their God.  Americais a great place to live. With all the problems, difficulties, divisions, andstrife we might have, it’s still the greatest place on planet Earth that Godhas blessed us with to be citizens in and live in. The freedom we enjoy is notfree; a great price was paid for it. We need to remember that today. Today takethe time to go to a memorial service. I’ll be going to one this morning withsome local veterans and active military guys right here in my own neighborhood.There are other services in your community that you can choose to attend. Please,in some way today, remember and take time to honor those who died for ourfreedom. If you know someone or a family that gave a son or daughter to serviceand maybe sacrificed their life, give them a call. You can let them know you’rethinking about them today. You can pray for them, and take that time toremember. It’sinteresting to note how this ties in to what we are studying here we are inLuke chapter 19. Jesus has already told us that He has come to seek and to savethat which was lost. For Jesus to seek and to save that which was lost, He hadto die. He had to die on an old rugged cross. He had to pay the ultimatesacrifice. He had to lay down His life for His friends, and He did that for youand for me.  Oh,my friend, what a great sacrifice Jesus made. Did you ever think of thedifference between the sacrifice Jesus made, and the soldiers and those in ourmilitary made as they laid down their lives for our country. Yes they made theultimate sacrifice for our freedom. But what kind of freedom is that? Thefreedom to live in homes we want to live in, work jobs we want to work, gowhere we want to go, travel as we like to travel. We’re free to choose ourvocations. There are so many things we are free to do.  ButJesus didn’t die to set us free to do what we want to do. Jesus died to set usfree to be able to do what we ought to do!  And that is to live a life that honors,glorifies, and pleases Him and to enjoy the fullness of life—eternal life, Godliving within us. Oh, my friend, Jesus paid that sacrifice so we could be freefrom the guilt, the shame, the penalty, and the power of sin over us! We areset free by His sacrifice to do what is right and good. We are free to forgive othersbecause we have been forgiven! We’re looking at Luke 19, the very last verses of the chapter.Thisis interesting, and we’ll talk more about this tomorrow, but I believe this istaking place on Monday morning. Remember, on Sunday morning, Jesus rode intoJerusalem on a colt, a donkey, and as He rode in, the people celebrated, cheeredand yelled, “Hosanna in the Highest.” Jesus wept over the city. And then Jesusgoes back to Bethany where He spends the night. The next morning, Mondaymorning, Jesus goes into the temple to cleanse it. Just like we have ourproblems in America today, they had their problems in Jerusalem in those days.Jesus denounced the wickedness and the evil of the religious leaders who wereusing the temple to make money. Oh, my friend, not much has changed over theyears. We will talk more about this tomorrow.