Category: Devotions

“That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. Finally, the woman died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?” Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.” (Matthew 22 v 23-33)

Another attempt at trapping Jesus, this time from a different sect, the Sadducees. They obviously didn’t believe in the resurrection. They didn’t believe in much actually. Nothing of the spirit realm. They didn’t hold to any oral tradition of passing down the teachings. It had to be the written Law of Moses only.

So for them to come to and ask about resurrection is ridiculous. Ignore what they said, whether it be a created or actual story. Why did they come up with what they thought was an impossible puzzle to solve?

If Jesus was unable to answer he might have backed down on his belief of the resurrection and then he would be supporting them and against the Pharisees who they hated for believing in it.

If Jesus said he didn’t know whose wife she would be or if he named the husband then it would make him look foolish amongst the people.

They were not ready for the answer!

The answers of Jesus seem to go deeper than the question, to the heart and character of the one asking.

Jesus exposed these well-known Bible people as people who didn’t know their Bibles! “You do not know the Scriptures.”

Lesson: YOU DISPLAY YOU ARE BIBLE BELIEVERS BUT YOU ARE NOT BIBLE READERS.

Jesus exposed these people of God as people who didn’t know Him. They were not interested in whether there was marriage in heaven it was about the resurrection.

Jesus uses Exodus 3:6 when he states that God didn’t say to Moses I was the God of Abraham … but I am. Abraham is still alive. God is God of the living not the dead.

Lesson: YOU WORSHIP GOD BUT YOUR IMAGE OF GOD IS TOO SMALL.

The point is that Jesus is saying you are not who you proclaim to be.

You only hold to the Law of Moses (the first 5 books of the OT) but resurrection is clearly in there but you cannot see it. God is powerful, able and alive but you do not know Him.

GOD IS BIGGER. BIGGER THAN YOU. BIGGER THAN YOUR BELIEF.

“Give your taxes to Caesar” and the Jewish crowd of followers would have walked away from him.

“Don’t give to Caesar the taxes” and the Romans would have stepped in and he would have been in danger of sedition.

“But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.” (Matthew 22 v 18-22)

Jesus asks for a coin on which the image of Caesar was printed on each of them. They belonged to Caesar.

“Give Caesar’s coins to Caesar and give to God what is God’s”. That is his answer.

And suddenly the point is actually not about Caesar, but it is God.

Where is the image of God? Everyone knew they had been created in the image of God. Stamped on their hearts was God’s image. So Jesus calls them to surrender their hearts to the one whose image is all over them. He still calls us to do that today.

And they were amazed! As we are!

There is a whole lot of difference between honour and flattery.

However, they look the same.

You can be congratulated on your work, how you speak, your wisdom and how you are with people. You can be praised for your righteous lifestyle. You can have lots of ‘likes’ on social media.

But flattery strokes the ego; it manipulates; it tells you things what is not being said behind your back; the passive-aggressive use flattery as a weapon of war.

“Those who flatter their neighbours are spreading nets for their feet.” (Proverbs 29 v 5)

 “Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?” (Matthew 22 v 15-17)

The religious leaders wanted Jesus to fall into their trap of making him say something against Rome. His answer was perfect as it always is.

The duplicitous are always close by.

Some don’t even know they are doing it. They think they are simply being nice. Flattery is nice, right?

We learn flattery early on in life and then some can become experts in it.

Some have friends that are actually friends with gain. They are hoping to get. Their new friend will open doors for them etc.

Secret plans are being made today based on greed and selfish need. This is spiritual warfare and the Church, the Christian, you, can be at the centre of that plan.

These comments can honour you and yet be a manipulative ruse, a dishonest ambush and as much an attack as if someone had punched you.

Be careful what is taken from you. The narcissist is never far from us.

We have been reading 3 parables from Jesus where he reveals to the Jewish leaders how they have failed. This is the second part of the third story.

“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. ⁹ So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ ¹⁰ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. ¹¹ “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹² He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. ¹³ “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ ¹⁴ “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22 v 8-14)

Lesson: Leaders are not indispensable; they can be replaced.

God’s replacements are perhaps not who the religious will choose. And who gets to sit around the table of the Lord? The poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame, the misfits, the homeless, the hurting and the lonely.

We are reading 3 parables from Jesus where he reveals to the Jewish leaders how they have failed.

If there is one leadership seminar that every leader should attend then it is to be found in these 3 stories.

This is the third story:

“Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: ² “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. ³ He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. ⁴ “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ ⁵ “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. ⁶ The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. ⁷ The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. ⁸ “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. ⁹ So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ ¹⁰ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. ¹¹ “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹² He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. ¹³ “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ ¹⁴ “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22 v 1-14)

Lesson: Leaders are not above consequences for their actions, v3-7.

• If they busy themselves so much that they don’t have time for Him or worse if they use their power to abuse others in anyway then their position will warrant grave consequences.

We are reading 3 parables from Jesus where he reveals to the Jewish leaders how they have failed.

If there is one leadership seminar that every leader should attend then it is to be found in these 3 stories.

At the end of the second parable (the Tenants) Jesus says this, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes’? “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.” (Matthew 21 v 42-46)

40 years after the parable was taught, the Romans entered the city, flattened it and then led the religious leaders bound in chains into foreign nations. They came under God’s judgment. The stone had fallen on them just as Jesus had said.

But right now, at this moment, they still have an opportunity to respond, it is not too late. They can choose Jesus. But they won’t and he knows it. At the end of the parable when the son is rejected Jesus basically says this: ‘I may be rejected now but I will be seen as the Messiah very shortly.’

It is far better to make Jesus the cornerstone of your life. There is a key place in all our lives. Some say the capstone, the place above the door. Some say the cornerstone, the first stone in a building. Whatever it is, it is of huge importance.

What Jesus says poses such a challenging question to our churches and the people within them! Is Jesus occupying the place of huge importance? Is he in the decision making part? If he is not Lord then you may stumble over him and worst still you may be crushed by Him. Churches have closed because they rejected the Living Stone.

Lesson 3: You are not the CEO.

We are reading 3 parables from Jesus where he reveals to the Jewish leaders how they have failed.

If there is one leadership seminar that every leader should attend then it is to be found in these next 3 stories.

Here is the second one:

“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.” (Matthew 21 v 33-41)

Lesson: If you keep rejecting accountability then judgment will come and when it does it will be more severe than the accountability you rejected.

We are about to read 3 parables from Jesus as he reveals to the Jewish leaders how they have failed.

If there is one leadership seminar that every leader should attend then it is to be found in these next 3 stories.

Here is the first one:

“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.” (Matthew 21 v 28-32)

The first son: The ‘sinners’ originally disobeyed but then through John the Baptist they repented and obeyed.

The second son: The leaders originally obeyed (externally) but rejected the message of John the Baptist and there was no repentance.

Lesson: It matters not how you start but how you finish.

Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?” Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?” They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. (Matthew 21 v 23-27)

The response of Jesus was masterful. If John the Baptist’s ministry was from God then that would indicate where the authority of Jesus came from. But they had rejected John. If John the Baptist’s ministry was not from God then all the people who had accepted him as a prophet would turn on these religious leaders. They were caught. People who are caught usually say “I don’t know.”

The questions came as Jesus was walking through the Temple. The building work had begun under Herod the Great approximately 45 years ago at the time of Jesus walking through the courts that day. It would be approximately another 30yrs before it was finished and it would stand for 7 years before being flattened by Titus in AD70.

The questions came from the Chief Priests and the elders. They are the ones who interpret what Moses taught, they are the intermediaries between man and what God desires and demands. They are at the top of their careers. There are many who want to be in their position. They are the authority.

The questions come for a reason. Jesus had entered the Temple the previous day and caused havoc. They had lost money that day. Jesus had prevented people carrying their offerings and goods in and out of the Temple, he had effectively shut down the worship.

I am painting the picture of the battle of authority. Can you see it?

Matthew is obviously writing post-resurrection and he is clear. He knows who wins the battle. He knows where the authority of Jesus lies. There is still a battle of authority today.

We are faced with this question today, the same question. The authority of Jesus. What is it? Where does it come from?

What do you say?

It seems to me that many want to hold his hand but not bow their knee. Many want the benefits of Jesus but not the surrender. What do we say?

If Jesus is who people like Matthew says He is then it matters not how we feel, nor our circumstances that we go through, nothing absolutely nothing justifies us not surrendering our lives to Him. The only position is the bended knee.

Churches that fall-out over whose authority is higher, who is right and wrong, are churches that have not recognised the highest authority in the universe.

Christians that hurt others are people who are not kneeling before the throne but sitting on it.

I want to see the authority of Jesus brought back into the Church. We need a move of God throughout the nation. We need the outpouring of His glory. Our position regarding His authority will create the stage for that move.

“Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked. Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21 v 18-22)

First the fruit then the leaves, that is the order for the fig tree. So the fig tree has leaves so there must be fruit. Yet this isn’t the season for fruit but that doesn’t stop Jesus looking for it because he is hungry. When he looks at the tree he finds no figs so he curses the tree.

This isn’t only a lesson in lost potential it is more than that. This isn’t only a lesson in the wrongs of arrogance, it is again more than that.

It is the arrogance of displaying you have what you don’t have at a time when no one is expecting you to have it in the first place!

Confused?

The fig tree is the generation of Israel expecting the Messiah.

It is the Temple of worship built to honour the glory of God, which Jesus has just entered and found it as a den of robbers and on that day would turn the Temple into disarray.

The fig tree had no fruit because it was not the season, all that was left on the tree were the leaves.

God has punished and exiled Israel because of its waywardness and rejection of Him throughout its history, in the time when it was not the season for the Messiah. If Jesus curses the fig tree out of season what does that indicate would happen to Israel if it is in season but is not fruitful? When the Messiah is here and it is the season and there is no fruit how much more will the curse be?

This is the season now. Jesus is here. He has been in the Temple which is heralding the One to come and He is here. Now is the time for salvation. So what now if there is no response? If there is no fruit?

Will Jesus bring a bigger curse to Israel?

We know what happens.

Jesus becomes the curse.