Trouble in the Temple
- First Day – Jesus arrives and surveys the situation
- Second Day – Jesus drives out the money changer and animal sellers (surprisingly, no one challenges His authority). But that is about to change!
Matt 21:23 – on the third day He enters the temple again and conflict begins
The events of the previous day could have been an opportunity for sober reflection on the part of the chief priest, scribes and Pharisees. They had just witnessed the fulfillment of prophecy… the king enters the city gates of Jerusalem on a donkey (Zech 9:9). The crowds met him shouting out prophetic verses from Ps 118. Add to that 3 years of Jesus performing the works of the Messiah according to prophecy. They had a lot to think about.
Instead of sober reflection… changing their minds and attitudes… the leaders (the chief priests, scribes, Pharisees etc.) regroup and go on the offensive. Their purpose (the same purpose we see at work in the world today) is to question and discredit the authority of Jesus Christ… removing the necessity of obeying what He commands. They mount 4 successive attacks:
- Chief priests & scribes – demanding that He prove His authority
- Pharisees & Herodians – try to entangle Him in questions of the line between state and religion
- Saducees – confront Him with what they considered to be an unanswerable question (based on faulty understanding of scripture) to undermine the scriptural message of eternal life.
- Pharisses – an attempt to slice and dice the law and bog Him down in theoretical questions about the commandments
Sound familiar?
Who Gives You Authority? Matt 21:23-27
Over the course of His ministry and even before Jesus had answered the question… by displays of power (healing, casting out demons, demonstrating His authority over body and spirit), through use of scripture and fulfilled prophecy (demonstrating His biblical authority, from the father). I do the things the Messiah is prophesied to do… I come at a time when all are anticipating the Messiah… what exactly do you want? There was and is plenty of testimony on display… but many hate what He represents, what He teaches… and they refused to listen.
Jesus asks the Jewish leaders a counter question about John the Baptist that confounds them.
But Jesus purpose was not to confound them with clever questions they could not answer… as if Jesus were some sort of witty wordsmith who would be right at home sitting on the couch with Jimmy Fallon or posting clever memes on Facebook. Jesus question was not posed as a GOTCHA!
His was a question that if answered sincerely and with humility would have lead them to the answer for their own question. Where do you Jesus son of Joseph get your authority?
They wouldn’t or couldn’t reject John… They know better and the people knew better… but if they admitted John was of God then what about the clear testimony of John?
- John had baptized Jesus
- He had given solemn testimony to Jesus’ Messiahship
- He had emphatically testified to them John 1:19-27
- John himself was a further fulfillment of prophecy Mal 3:1/Isaiah 40:3-6
Jesus was not playing games with the Pharisees… right up to the very end He was reaching out to them so they might see and understand. It was a question that to an earnest inquirer would lead to a profound truth.
But that was not their goal.
Jesus plays offense
Jesus follows up this first question regarding His authority with a sequence of three parables. They are like a triple mirror that allows them to see their true character from multiple angles… and provides them with a warning of what lays ahead.
To say that Jesus takes to offensive here makes it sound as if he is out to “get them”, judge them, put them in their place. But Jesus purpose is always to heal and restore, to teach and improve. Even on the offensive Jesus words are for their own good. His purpose is to convict them of the personal danger they are in so they might change their minds. If they could bring themselves to do that they could take hold of salvation.
The application of each parable to the listeners is not necessarily apparent. Rather they are given the opportunity to “self-diagnose”. What do you think about that? They themselves then pronounce a form of judgment… you could say they pass judgment on themselves. Then they realize that the parable is about them.
Had He told them point blank “you are this”,“you do that”, there would be little opportunity to actually reach into their conscience.
This was not a catty war of words… it was an attempt to reach them.
The Three Parables
Matt 21:28-32 The word “did” is important to understanding. What is said is worth little in comparison to what is done. No one should kid themselves that everything is alright because they know the right words… the right answer… etc. Note: the object was always that they too would change their ways.
Matt 21:33-34 The vineyard was a familiar image from the OT. (Isaiah 5). So, it’s possible they had more of an inkling of where this parable was headed… but not necessarily of the part they had in it. As a people Israel had been given everything needed for success: prosperity, protection, revealed knowledge. Then He leaves them to see what fruit they produce.
Later, He returns to gather the fruitful increase from what He has provided them.
God is looking for a return on His investment… the same hold true today. He is looking for growth. Israel had been given great honor in the plan of God but with that came grave responsibility and accountability… the same holds true for us today.
Matt 21:35-37 – this is how Israel treated the prophets… the Jewish leaders were making the same bad choices. In verse 37 Jesus gives them a hint as to what the right choice would be.
Matt 21:38-42 – Note the self diagnosis. They essentially pass judgment upon themselves. But until the very end they have a choice… Jesus goes back to Psalm 118 (the same psalm quoted by the admiring crowds when He entered Jerusalem).
- Option 1 – The crowds took this Psalm with its prophetic announcement of the coming messiah and shouted Hosanna (give us deliverance and salvation verse 25-26)
- Option 2 – The powers that be took this prophetic psalm regarding the Messiah… and fulfilled it. They got angry and determined to seek an alternate way. Lets remove this guy from the scene. They reject the rock of their own salvation… ironically providing further prophetic testimony that answers their initial question… by who’s authority do you do these things?
Matt 21: 43-46 Jesus tells them their judgment upon themselves will come to pass. The privileged position Israel had in the plan of God will be given to a new community of people – the church… who will produce the fruit God desires.
Matt 22:1-14 To the chief priest, the scribes, the Pharisees Jesus says… you will be left out of the joy that awaits all those who enter into the Kingdom of God. The chosen people had been invited to come… but they refused. God patiently extended a second invitation advertising the delights of the feast… but the people had better things to do. Some responded with violence toward God’s messengers (all these same things are at play in our world today).
Verse 7 Jerusalem will be destroyed.
Note: the offer to enter the kingdom was extended by God with grace… yet there was still and expectation of righteousness (and its fruits). God makes his offer to us to join in the joys of the Kingdom of God… but He warns of 2 ways we can despise the offer.
- To reject it – like the leaders of Israel
- To reach out and try to lay hold of the joy of the Kingdom… but without the purity the wedding garment pictures.... that you be clean and unspotted by the world. Many enter the celebration to claim the gift of eternal life while ignoring… and even teaching against… the commandments of God, His Sabbath, His holy days and more. They too will be rejected.
Remaining Questions
The remaining verse of Matt 22 cover the 3 additional questions posed by the Pharisees, Saducces, Chief Priests, Scribes etc. the attempt to entangle Him in politics, the attempt to mock the teaching of eternal life, the slicing and dicing of the law.
We have gone over each of these questions in other sermons in the past months so I want to skip forward to Matt 22:41-46 to conclude.
Jesus has a question for them. It’s a revelation from the very scriptures they professed to love so much. He shows that the messiah is no mere mortal descendant of David… but is of the God family. Not a flesh and blood political liberator… but one who is so much better than what they hoped for… one who has the power to save from death and open up eternal life.
Once more this is not just some scriptural conundrum meant to beat them at their own game. It is a profound truth that if they would accept would open up their minds to amazing things contained in the words of God, the prophecies of God, and the promises of God.
If they were to truly take their answers from the very scriptures of which they boasted… then they could not fail to see the son of David the Lord of David Lord of the Temple the King of Israel.
Instead… they stopped asking Him questions. And by 70 AD the temple, the city, the priests, were all destroyed… and remain destroyed.
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