Who Is Jesus part 10: Holy Tuesday, Teaching in the Temple

Luke 19:47-21:38

"Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words." Luke 19:47-48

The leaders of Israel had a problem. Their anger at the message of Jesus was so extreme that they wanted to kill Him. But His popularity with the people was at a high point. If they tried to arrest Jesus in public, there would be a huge ruckus, and they would be in danger of upsetting their tenuous relationship with the Romans. They had to be sneaky about this. They needed to trip up Jesus with His words so they had an excuse to arrest Him. 

The leadership question Jesus' authority, but were in danger of losing their own authority 20:1-19

The leaders first try a direct confrontation. Who gave Him the authority to do what He has been doing? He wasn't a chief priest. He wasn't an official teacher of the law or even an elder. What gave Him the right to teach the people and proclaim to them a message of good news? 

The answer should have been obvious to them. There was authority in His message, and the good news He was preaching was confirmed by the healings and changed lives. But Jesus turns the question back on them: Was John's baptism--His message of a transformed heart and forgiveness--of God, or did it originate from human origins? This is a question they were afraid to answer. They were afraid of the reaction of the people. The people recognized John the Baptist as a prophet. But they couldn't acknowledge that because it would show their hypocrisy for not believing him. They don't care about the truth; they only care about holding on to power. How like politicians today.

Since Jesus knew the leaders didn't really care about the truth behind Jesus' authority, He refuses to give them a direct answer. He does go on to give them a parable which is a warning to them. The vineyard owner sends three servants, each in turn, to the tenants of the vineyard, but they are beaten and sent away empty-handed. Perhaps the servants represent Moses, the Prophets, and John the Baptist. The message of God came through each of them, and was refused. Israel also had a history of mistreating the prophets sent to them. The son is obviously Jesus. The leaders are shocked that Jesus knows they are plotting to kill Him, and cry out against the punishment of being removed as tenants and being replaced by others. 

They have been warned, but they still think they can get away with killing Jesus. Instead of changing their hearts and their ways, and following Jesus, they insist on the way of empire and power.

Spies try to trap Him so they could have Him arrested by the Roman authorities 20:20-26

The spies try to butter up Jesus by flattering Him to try to make Him think they were sincere. They are thinking if they can get Him to answer honestly about taxes, they could accuse Him of defying Rome. They misunderstood what Jesus was trying to do. They thought Jesus was going to try to take on the Romans by force, so they were amazed at His answer. The coin used for taxes had Caesar's inscription, so it was technically his. He let you use it, so it's only right that you give him back what he requires. As Paul reminds us in Romans 13, it is proper to pay taxes to Rome because the government provided protection and services for those being taxed. 

While we legitimately owe taxes and obedience to the government, we also should be giving to God that which has His image. We are made in the image of God, and it is only right that we give back to Him ourselves. What does He want? He wants us to take up our cross and follow Him (Luke 9:23).  He wants us to follow the way of mercy and love, even for those who hate us and mistreat us. 

C S Lewis famously wrote, "If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don't recommend Christianity." Christ does not save us to make us comfortable. Carrying a cross is not comfortable. But being rid of our guilt and condemnation, and being loved and forgiven, is worth it. Beware a Christianity that takes comfort in its lifestyle while condemning and guilt tripping those that it doesn't think measure up. That's what the Pharisees did.

A trick question by the Sadducees turns into a lesson on the resurrection 20:27-21:4

The concept of resurrection is not a major theme of the Old Testament by any stretch. It is a concept which developed over time, and came to be widely held by the Jewish community during the intertestamental period. The sect of the Sadducees, among some others, did not believe in the resurrection. I can just hear the discussion among that sect over how easy it would be to get Jesus on this one. This passage has been highly debated over the years, and much of that discussion, including some personal thoughts of my own, would best be saved for elsewhere. What I do want to focus on is verse 38 (NIV): "He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to Him all are alive."

There is more to us than just this life. Without the hope of the resurrection, death would indeed have a sting (1 Corinthians 15:55). Loved ones who have passed away would be lost to us forever. How this is all going to work, and what the resurrected life will be like, we have few details given to us. But the indications of scripture are that we will have real, physical bodies that will be able to interact with each other. Somehow what we did in this life transfers over to our resurrected life. Jesus indicates that there will be some who are counted worthy to live the resurrected life in the age to come (verse35). So what we do here counts.

Somehow those who did not live worthy, like the leaders who like to show off and receive accolades from people, and take advantage of widows, will be punished (49-47). What exactly this punishment is, Jesus does not say. But there will be many who where first in this life who will be last in the age to come (Luke 13:30). And the giving heart of a poor widow will be rewarded more for her generosity than the rich who kept plenty back for themselves (21:1-4).

The coming destruction of Jerusalem: You will be put to death, but you will live 21:5-38

This is one of the easiest passages to interpret, yet one of the most controversial. It is easy because it very much fits what happened to Jerusalem in 70 AD. The beautiful architecture, which the rich and the widows gave their treasure to maintain, will be destroyed. Most of the passage fits that historical event, but especially the scene of the Son of Man coming in a cloud (verse 27) is seen by many interpreters of scripture of a future event probably associated with the resurrection that begins the age to come. Some see this as a more metaphorical scene that refers to things that already occurred in the first century. Whatever the meaning, The hope within it seems to come from the intriguing verses in the middle of the passage (12-19 NIV):

But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. And so you will bear testimony to me. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. Everyone will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. Stand firm, and you will win life.

These verses are telling what will happen to the disciples before Jerusalem is destroyed. The disciples were persecuted, and even some became martyrs, but ultimately it will be like nothing had ever happened to their bodies. They would be resurrected. Life will win.