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The Parable of the Two Sons – Matthew 21:28-32

matthew-the-kingdom-of-heaven

The Parable of the Two Sons

Matthew 21:28-32

Context

Our passage today from Matthew 21 is the first of three parables that Jesus spoke to the chief priests and elders in Jerusalem. We have already seen in Matthew 21 how Jesus’ actions and words have provoked the religious leaders in Jerusalem. First, Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt while the people declared Him to be the Messiah and King (Matt. 21:8-11). He had purposefully arranged the details carefully to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, thus, proclaiming Himself to be the King of the Jews (Matt. 21:1-7). Next, Jesus entered into the temple and overturned the tables of those buying and selling there, saying “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ” (Mat. 21:13). In so doing, Jesus stood against their hypocrisy and false worship.

Jesus then showed what true faith in God looks like when He healed the blind and lame in the temple and received the praise of children over the objections of the chief priests and scribes (Matt. 21:14-16). Then, He cursed the fig tree as a sign of God’s judgment coming on the Israelites for their lack of fruit and lack of faith.

In Matthew 21:23, the chief priests and elders in the temple pushed back, confronting Jesus in the temple and asking Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?” It was an insincere question designed to trap Jesus and accuse Him. But Jesus, knowing their unbelieving hearts, didn’t fall for it. Instead, He turned the tables on them and asked about John’s baptism, was it from heaven or from men? (Matt. 21:25). Jesus said if they answer His question, He would answer theirs (Matt. 21:24). In fact, if they truly answered Jesus’ question, it would answer their own question because John had testified that Jesus was the Christ and the Son of God. But they did not want to recognize Jesus’ authority, so they answered, “We do not know” (Matt. 21:27). Therefore, Jesus would not tell these unbelieving leaders the answer to their question either.

Yet Jesus doesn’t simply drop the matter. Instead, He tells a series of parables and continues to question them in order to highlight the real issue, namely their stubborn refusal to repent and believe. Blomberg says of these three parables, “in sequence they depict God’s indictment, sentence, and execution of the present Jewish leadership.”[1]  Let’s look at this first parable together today.

1. Simple Parable: Two Sons (Matt. 21:28-30)

Jesus begins by asking them, “But what do you think?” (Matt. 21:28). Jesus is compelling these unbelieving religious leaders to think about their own attitudes. In telling this story and asking them to give the judgment, Jesus will force them to indict themselves—much like the prophet Nathan did with King David (2 Sam 12).

The story is really quite simple. Jesus said, “A man had two sons” (Matt. 21:28). He tells each of them to go and work in the vineyard. One says no, but then changes his mind and goes anyways. The other says yes, but then doesn’t go. Working in the vineyard is a picture of doing the Father’s will. The question that Jesus asks the religious leaders about the parable is, “Which of the two did the will of his father?” (Matt. 21:31).

The first son is a picture of …

A. Repentant Obedience

We recognize the attitude of this son immediately. At first, he rebelled and disobeyed his father. “He answered and said, ‘I will not,’” (Matt. 21:29a). He didn’t want to submit to his father’s authority. But then something changed in him. Jesus says, “but afterward he regretted it and went” (Matt. 21:29b).

The key word here is the word translated “regretted”. It is the Greek verb metamélomai, which can have one of two senses: 1) It can mean “to have regrets about [something], to be sorry, or to express remorse”; 2) It can mean “to change one’s mind about [something], or have second thoughts” (BAGD3 #4851, BibleWorks).

This word doesn’t always mean repentance in the New Testament unless it leads to a genuine turning of heart and action (metanoia). Judas regretted (metamelomai) betraying Jesus, but he was by no means repentant (Matt. 27:3). Paul demonstrates the difference between regret and repentance in 2 Corinthians 7, writing,

10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. 11 For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” (2 Cor. 7:10-11).”

True repentance is not just being sorry that I got caught, or regretting the consequences of my decisions. It is a change in my mind and heart that results in a change in my attitude and behavior. In the case of this reluctant first son, his regret led to a change in his behavior. So, I believe that the first son indicates the attitude of repentance and conversion. We will see this more fully below in Jesus’ explanation.

If the first son is a picture of repentant obedience, the second son is a picture of…

B. Hypocritical Profession

Jesus said that the father then, “came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go.” (Matt. 21:30). One preacher said this second son is the Eddy Haskel of the group.[2] If you remember him from Leave It to Beaver, he was always polite and respectful to adults but always scheming and devious behind their backs. This son’s words and his actions do not line up. Unlike the first son who disrespectfully said, “I will not”, this second son’ words were outwardly respectful and compliant. He addresses his father as “sir”, a word that is often translated, “Lord,” a title of honor and reverence. This son says all the right things. The only problem is that it is all words without actions. And so, the second son is an example of empty profession and hypocrisy.

Jesus then asks the religious leaders: “Which of the two did the will of his father?” (Matt. 21:31). Remember, Jesus asked them at the beginning of the parable, “What do you think?” (Matt. 21:28). Now He asks for their judgment on the two sons. Remember how the religious leaders tried to trap Jesus in His words earlier? Now Jesus is about to trap them in their own words.

The answer is obvious, and the religious leaders are forced to answer, “The first,” that is, the one who changed his mind and actually did what his father told him to do.

Jesus then turns their own judgment into an indictment against themselves. Notice His …

2. Strong Rebuke (Matt. 21:31-32)

Jesus tells them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you” (Matt. 21:31). The words Jesus uses here are even stronger and can carry the sense of, “The tax collectors and prostitutes go instead of you into the kingdom of God.” In other words, they are entering God’s kingdom, and you are not.[3]

It’s hard for us to comprehend just how insulting and offensive this was to the chief priests and elders in the temple. “Tax-collectors”? “Harlots”? To these proud chief priests and elders, those kinds of people were the worst of sinners, the scum of the earth! As far as they were concerned, they were the least likely to enter God’s kingdom. Was Jesus actually saying that such people as that would come enter the kingdom before they would? Yes! These notorious sinners enter the kingdom because these …

A. Sinners Repent and Believe

In Matthew 21:32 Jesus says, “For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.” Jesus says that John the Baptist came “in the way of righteousness,” that is, he came preaching the righteousness of God and that sinners must repent. Many of the tax collectors and harlots were among those who repented and believed John’s message. They believed what John preached, that the kingdom of God was near, that the Messiah was coming, and that they must repent.

These sinners did not enter the kingdom of heaven because they were more worthy, holy, or deserving. They entered because they did what the first son in the parable did. Jesus even used the same word to describe what the tax-collectors and harlots did that He used to describe what the first son did: they “relented”; that is, they changed their thinking, turned from their sins, and believed what John said concerning Jesus Christ. Luke 7 tells us,

29 And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John. 30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him. (Luke 7:29-30).

The chief priests and elders who were trying to discredit Jesus and would eventually condemn and execute Him that week, had also rejected John’s baptism. So we see the …

B. Leaders’ Refuse to Repent and Believe

Jesus says that the reason they would be excluded from the kingdom is because they had not obeyed God’s message through John. They did not “relent and believe him” (Matt. 21:32). They had multiple opportunities to repent and believe, but they refused. They had heard the preaching of John the Baptist. They had seen the miraculous works of Jesus. They had heard His teaching. And they had seen the lives of tax collectors and harlots radically changed by repentance and faith in Christ. But they still did not repent and believe!

They were like the second son in the parable. They professed to love God and obey the law of God, but instead, they hated the Son of God and would not believe in Him. Jesus implies that they should have repented and believed. Even as He speaks this parable, He is calling them to repent and believe once again.

What can we learn from this parable? First, entrance into the kingdom of heaven, the way of salvation is only by repenting and believing in Jesus. Religion won’t save you. Empty profession won’t save you. An outward show of righteousness won’t save you. You must repent and believe in Jesus. John the Baptist’s message was, “Repent and believe!” (Mark 1:15). The message of Jesus is the same. Have you repented? Have you had that change of mind and heart that results in a change in direction? Have you believed in Jesus Christ? He is the Son of God who came into the world to save sinners by giving His life on the cross to pay the debt we owed to God for our sin. He was raised from the dead, is alive forevermore, and saves everyone who repents and believes in Him.

You may be like the first son and the tax collectors and harlots. You have lived a life of rebellion and sin. You have disrespected God, broken His law, and spurned His love. Is there hope for you? YES! Jesus said that He came to seek and to save that which was lost (Matt. 18:11). Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15). You can never be too sinful that Jesus cannot save you. Ask God to grant to you repentance and faith in Christ Jesus today. He will save you and transform you into a child of God.

Or you may be like the second son and the religious leaders. You think you are right with God because of your outward goodness. But God looks at the heart. He knows your inward rebellion and sin. The remedy for you is the same: repent and believe. Turn from your self-righteousness and trust in the death and resurrection of Christ to save you.

The second lesson is this: Your actions should line up with your words. Jesus isn’t interested in hearing people say that they will follow God. He is interested in those who actually follow God. In Matthew 7, Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” (Matt. 7:21). Outward profession without inward repentance and faith is worthless.

—————————————————-

[1] Craig Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 320.

[2] Rory Mosley, The Authority of Jesus (Matthew 21:23-32), https://fbcspur.org/authority-jesus-matthew-2123-32/.  

[3] D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 8 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984), 450.

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How to Study Your Bible, Part 2

How to Study Your Bible

How to Study Your Bible, Part 2

If you haven’t read Part1, you missed the Introduction and Bible Study Step #1: Prayerfully Read the Text in Context. 

Bible Study Step #2 – Observe the Text in Detail.

The way we read and study the Bible flows from what the Bible is. The Bible declares about itself that all scripture is inspired by God (2 Tim. 3:16), that it is our spiritual food (Matt. 4:4), that it gives life (John 6:63), that it makes us wise for salvation through faith in Christ (2 Tim. 3:15), and that it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:17). If we believe that, then we will want to get the most out of it. Every portion of Scripture is important—even the smallest letter and stroke of a letter (Matt. 5:18). The details matter. If we’re going to develop Bible observation skills, we must believe that “all Scripture is God-breathed,” that we are called to live by “every word” of God, and that even the smallest letter and least stroke of the pen will never pass away.

Reading the text over and over will help us to observe what it says. When we know what it says, then we can better determine what it means and how to apply it. As you get familiar with the text, you will begin to notice things about it that will help you understand what it says.

How to Study Bible PDF
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A. Look for what is obvious.

Start simply at the beginning. Read through the passage you are studying, looking for what is obvious. On your first time through, don’t be distracted by things that are unclear. You will take time to investigate them later. For now, focus on the obvious. Most scripture is clear and understandable. Resist the temptation to immediately look at the notes in your study Bible or at a commentary. You don’t want to spoil the priceless joy of discovering Biblical truth for yourself.

What is obvious to you from your reading of Psalm 119;1-8?

 

There are several levels or layers we might observe in a text. The first is the context, which has several layers itself (Historical or cultural context; whole Bible; OT or NT; Book; Chapter; Paragraph). The verses of the passage itself are made of paragraphs or stanzas, sentences, phrases, words, and grammar.

One way to begin observation is to …

B. Look for Key Words or Phrases.

Key words or phrases are essential to the flow and meaning of the passage. They cannot be removed from the text without making the passage meaningless. If we tried to remove these key words, the passage would make no sense. Key words or phrases will often answer one or more of the 5 Ws or H questions. Who is speaking, acting, or central to the passage? What is the passage about? When does it take place? Where is it happening? How does it communicate its truth?

 Read Psalm 119:1-8 again. This time, look for key words or phrases that point to the subject or theme of the section. What is this text about?

Questions to draw out key words and phrases:

Is there a purpose statement given?

Is there something unexpected?

Is there something emphasized?

Is there a command?

Is there a warning?

Are words or phrases repeated?

Are roles or actions of God mentioned?

Does the passage quote other scriptures?

God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are obviously always key in the scriptures wherever they appear. The whole Bible is about God.

Where do we find God in Psalm 119:1-8?

In Psalm 119:1, He is called LORD (YHVH, the covenant name of God) in relation to His law. In Psalm 119:2,3 we see God in “His testimonies” and “His ways”, as well as being “Him” we seek.

In Psalm 119:4-8, the psalmist addresses God directly (as in a prayer) with the second person masculine singular pronoun (You). The psalmist sees God as the one who commanded (4,6), whose precepts and statutes are to be kept (5,8), who should be praised (7), and who has righteous judgments (8).

We can sometimes identify key words or phrases by the fact that they are often repeated. A good way to remember the key words is to mark them by underlining or highlighting them. If you don’t like to mark your Bible you can print a copy of the passage and mark that, or you can simply take notes elsewhere. Someone said, “It’s good to mark your Bible, but it is better to let your Bible mark you.” Remember our goal is not just to understand, but to obey God’s word and to be sanctified by it.

What words are repeated in Psalm 119?

Blessed (twice, Ps. 119:1, 2); walk (twice, Ps. 119:1,3); keep (three times, Ps. 119:4,5,8); statutes (twice, Ps. 119:5,8); heart (twice, Ps. 119:2,7)

Be alert to the fact that, especially in poetry, the author may use synonymous words or phrases to add variety and depth to the passage. A synonym is a word that has a similar meaning to another word. Synonyms can be subtle and more difficult to identify, especially in the initial reading of a passage. The more carefully you read the passage, the more obvious the subtle synonyms will become.

What words are used repeatedly as synonyms in the text?

The psalmist uses several words to describe the Word of God:

Law (v.1) –Torah – “law, direction, instruction.” It depicts God’s special revelation as a gracious gift.

Testimonies (v.2) – `edah –  “testimony, witness.” The law of God is His testimony, because it is His own affirmation concerning His nature, attributes, and consequent demands.

Ways (v.3) – Derek – way, road, distance, journey, manner, direction, course. Refers to God’s covenant requirements.

Precepts (v.4) – Piqquwd – a fixed or appointed law; oral or written declarations as to what God expects of man.

Statutes (v.5, 8) – Choq – something prescribed or engraved, that which is ordained, decreed, or enacted.

Commandments (v.6) – Mitsvah – from a root meaning to command or charge; it emphasizes the right to give orders.

Judgments (v.7) – Mishpat – comes from a word meaning to to judge, govern, vindicate, punish.

All these words are synonyms of the “law of the Lord”, expressing the idea of God’s word in the scriptures. Seeing this, makes it clear that a key concept in Psalm 119:1-8 centers around God’s word. All these terms express the idea of the authority of God and His word. The sum effect of these terms (and other synonyms in Psalm 119) is that the Scriptures reflect the righteous character of God and speak with God’s authority. 

Ask the 5 Ws and H about these key words.

When you have spotted the key words and phrases, take time to ask questions about these key words (the 5 Ws and H).

Who is saying it?
Who does it relate to?
What does the word mean?
Why is it used here?
Where else is this word used?
When does it apply?
How does it impact the flow of thought?

Knowing the context, prayerfully reading the text, and discovering the key words and phrases will often lead you to spot the main subject or theme of the passage. This is what we will look for next.

C. Seek the Subject or Theme of the passage.

The theme of a passage is the unifying idea that is developed in the passage. The theme is related to the author’s purpose for writing this portion of scripture. Try to get a sense of what the author is communicating. Ask: “What is the biblical writer talking about?” This is the subject of the passage. If you think you know, write it down. Then ask, “What is the biblical writer saying about the subject?” This is the theme. If you’re not sure yet of the theme of the passage, do more observation.

Some questions that might help at this point are:

What does the passage say about God?

What does it say about the human condition?

What does it say about God’s people?

Is there a command, example, warning, or promise in this passage?

Is the passage descriptive or prescriptive?
(prescriptive—tells you what to do, a command;
descriptive—tells what someone else did, narrative/story)

Is there a change from before and after the event?

Is there a logical order or progression in the passage?

Does the passage compare or contrast things, people, or ideas?

Does the passage illustrate or explain something?

Is there a cause and effect?

Is there dialogue? If so, who is speaking? To whom?

Are there questions asked? Answers given?

What is the result or conclusion of the passage?

Having read through Psalm 119:1-8 a number of times now, I think we can easily determine the subject and theme of these verses.

What is the subject of Psalm 119:1-8?

We can conclude that the subject of Psalm 119:1-8 centers around the law of the Lord, His authoritative word.

If you had to put the theme into one sentence what would you say?

It is about the blessedness of having a heart devoted to learning and obeying the law of the LORD.
Or, God blesses those who live by His word.
Or, Living according to God’s word leads to a blessed and blameless life.
Or, obedience to God’s word is the pathway to blessing.

Write the theme in your own words.

So by simply reading, observing, and interrogating the text, we have arrived at the subject and theme of the passage.

D. Examine the Grammar.

All speaking and writing is based on words. The way those words are put together into sentences, paragraphs, chapters, and books is grammar. All languages use rules of grammar to communicate. Grammar is concerned with such things as the subject and verb of a sentence; the tense of the verbs; the characteristics of nouns and pronouns; the use of adjectives and adverbs; dependent and independent clauses; prepositions; and conjunctions or other connective words.

Questions you might ask about the grammar are:

Who is the subject of the sentence?

What is the main verb?

What is the tense, aspect, and mood of the verb?

Is there a direct object? Indirect object?

What do prepositions indicate?

Is the clause independent or dependent?

What do the adjectives and adverbs modify?

How could I diagram this sentence?

Are there pronouns and who do they refer to?

Are there figures of speech? Exaggerations or hyperboles?

Are there conjunctions? What do they do?

Are the articles definite (the) or indefinite (a)? What does this show?

Again, we want to observe the text and ask questions related to its grammar.

Read the Psalm 119:1-8 again. This time, notice the verbs (the action words). How are they related to the theme of the text (the law of the Lord)?

The verbs that relate to the law of the Lord (or its synonyms) are:

Walk in the law of the Lord (Ps. 119:1b) (Parallel of 1a undefiled in the way)

Keep His testimonies (Ps. 119:2a)
Seek Him with the whole heart (Ps. 119:2b) – Parallel to 2a

Walk in His ways (Ps. 119:3b) – Parallel to 3a Do no iniquity

You have commanded us (Ps. 119:4a)
To keep Your precepts diligently (Ps. 119:4b) (Parallel of completion)

To keep Your statutes (Ps. 119:5b) (Parallel of completion of 5a)

I look into all Your commandments (Ps. 119:6b) (Completion of 6a)

I will praise You (Ps. 119:7a)
When I Learn Your righteous judgments (Ps. 119:7b) (Completion of 7a)

I will keep Your Statutes (Ps. 119:8a)

So, what actions does the author desire to take regarding God’s word?

Walk in them, keep them, wholeheartedly seek them, look into them, and learn them. These verbs give us points of action in how the psalmist relates to God’s word.

While we were noticing the verbs, did you see how the parallel structure of the verses helped us to see how they were related? Some of the verbs restated the previous phrase and some completed the thought.

Read the Psalm 119:1-8 again. This time, notice the pronouns (They, those, His, Him, You, Your, us, I, my, me). What do these pronouns show you about the text?

The first three verses (Psalm 119:1-3), are written in the third person plural (they, those). The psalmist writes his observations about others and their relationship to God and His word. The rest of the verses (Psalm 119:4-8) are written in the first person (I, us, my, me) and address God directly in the second person (You, Your).

This suggests a natural division in the text between verses 3 and 4. The first three verses express the general principle of blessedness for those who are fully devoted to the Lord and His word. Verses 4 through 6 express the psalmist’s earnest prayer to be among those who are blessed by knowing and keeping God’s word. And verses 7 and 8 express his commitment to God and His word. Knowing that the text is divided into these sections will be helpful for us when we try to outline the passage.

To better understand the structure and how verses and phrases are related…

Read the text again. This time, look for hinge words (hinge words connect words and phrases).

A hinge word is a word that connects two parts of a sentence. Hinge words often mark a transition, comparison, distinction, escalation, causation, or conclusion. These connect sentences and paragraphs, creating the logical flow of thought. Hinge words can be used in a variety of ways:

Relationship

Conjunction or Connecting Word

CAUSE / REASON

Because, For this reason, Since, That, As a result, Consequently

COMPARISON

As, Also, Just as, Like, Likewise, More, More than, So as, So also, Too

CONDITIONAL

If, Since

CONTINUATION

And, Either, Neither, Nor, Or

CONTRAST

Although, But, Except, Even though, However, Much more, Nevertheless, Only, Otherwise, Whereas, Yet, Rather

EMPHASIS

Indeed, Only

EXPLANATION

For, Now, Because

LOCATION / POSITION

At, In, On, Over, Where, Wherever

PURPOSE / RESULT

For this purpose, In order that, So that, That, Then, Therefore, Thus

TIME OR SEQUENCE

After, As, Before, Now, Then, Until, When, While, First, Second, Next, Finally

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Additionally, also, furthermore, moreover, besides, in addition, as well.

Train your eyes to observe the text carefully for these strategic words. Consider marking them in some distinctive manner.

Some possible hinge words in Psalm 119 are: who (1, 2); also (2); Oh (5,8); to (4,5); when (6,7).

As you find these hinge words, ask, “What does this word do?”

What do each of these words do?

One thing you can notice from Psalm 119 is that in this kind of poetry, the hinge words often connect the first line of a verse to the second line.

“Who” in Psalm 119:1,2 shows the parallel between the lines and so that the second line expands on and explains an idea in the first line. “Who walk in the law of the LORD” explains who “the undefiled in the way” are and what they do. 

These hinge words can also connect one verse to another. The word “also” in Psalm 119:3 connects to verses 1 and 2 by expanding and explaining further what those who are blessed do.

The word “To” in Psalm 119:4,5 connects his obedience to what is commanded and directed.

The word “When” in Psalm 119:6,7 tells the occasion or circumstance when he would “not be ashamed” or “will praise You”.

The word “Oh” in Psalm 119:5,8 is an exclamation. It expresses intensity and emotion.

These words help us to follow the flow of the poem, giving us clues to the structure of the passage, and therefore helping us to understand its meaning. Let the connecting words become your good friends. They are hinges that open the meaning of the text.

Another thing to watch for in the passage is the use of figures of speech. These are colorful expressions used for literary effect. They may be words or phrases that depart from straightforward, literal language. Figures of speech are used for emphasis, freshness of expression or clarity. Examples might include simile, metaphor, hyperbole, irony, personification, metonym,

Read Psalm 119:1-8 again. Look for figures of speech. What purpose do they serve?

“Walk” in Psalm 119:1,3 is used figuratively. He is not literally walking with his feet but is step-by-step living in accordance with the law of the Lord and His ways.

The phrases “whole heart” and “uprightness of heart” are figurative. Here, the heart is not the organ that pumps blood but the whole inner person, his mind, will, and emotions. We might need to investigate this term more fully to get the deeper meaning.

How could we investigate these figures of speech more thoroughly to clarify what they mean?

We could compare other passages in Psalms and the rest of scripture that use these words and phrases. We will talk more about figures of speech in later lessons.

E. Scrutinize What is Unclear.

As we read through the text and make our observations, you may run across difficult words, phrases, and concepts that you don’t yet understand. There are many strange things in the Bible. We are thousands of years from the time of the Bible and thousands of miles from where it happened and was written. John MacArthur lists four gaps that need to be bridged to overcome our unfamiliarity with the text.[i]

Gaps We Need to Bridge

Language
The Bible was originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. These languages are foreign to most of us. There are readily available and easy to use tools in print and online to help with this. Again, I will give you some of those tools in a later lesson. At this point, just mark those words you don’t understand and ask what they might mean.

Culture
The culture gap can be tricky. We must first view Scripture in the context of the culture in which it was written. The ancient culture and customs may be foreign to us. Write down your questions about these things.

Geography
Biblical geography makes the Bible come alive. If you don’t understand the significance of a place or have questions about it, write it down.

History
The Bible contains the records of actual historical persons and events. An understanding of Bible history will help us place the people and events in it in their proper historical perspective. If you have questions about how events fit together in history, write it down.

Read Psalm 119:1-8 again. What is unclear? What do I have questions about?

Some question might be:

What does it mean by “blessed”? (Ps. 119:1)
What is “undefiled”? (Ps. 119:2)
Is the difference between the synonyms for law important? (Psalm 119)
What is iniquity? (Ps. 119:3)
Where did God command us to keep His precepts? (Ps. 119:4)
How does God direct us? (Ps. 119:5)
What would make the psalmist ashamed? (Ps. 119:6)
What is “uprightness of heart”? (Ps. 119:7)
How could he be forsaken? (Ps. 119:8)

It’s okay if you don’t understand everything immediately. What you want to do at this point is just ask the questions. Sometimes, just asking the question will open up the answer to you. Sometimes, you will have to work for the answers or ask for help. Don’t forget to pray at this point. Ask the Lord to give you understanding. Don’t get discouraged. In fact, it’s good to recognize these things that are unclear to us, it will lead us to the next step—investigation.

What we have done so far is to read, observe, and interrogate the text. From this process we have gleaned the subject or theme of the passage, the structure and logic of it, and the flow of thought. Do you see how much we can glean from just reading and observing things from the text? So, the first step in Bible study is to prayerfully read the text, make observations about it, and ask questions of it.

Yogi Berra once said, “You can see a lot just by looking.” Obviously, this takes a willingness to slow down and carefully observe what is there in the text. The great reformer Martin Luther described the way he studied the Bible this way,

I study my Bible as I gather apples. First, I shake the whole tree that the ripest might fall. Then I shake each limb, and when I have shaken each limb, I shake each branch and every twig. Then I look under every leaf. I search the Bible as a whole like shaking the whole tree. Then I shake every limb—study book after book. Then I shake every branch, giving attention to the chapters when they do not break the sense. Then I shake every twig, or a careful study of the paragraphs and sentences and words and their meanings.[ii]

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Click here to download PDF: How to Study the Bible Part 1 handout

[i] John MacArthur, How to Enjoy Bible Study, https://www.gty.org/library/articles/A178/how-to-enjoy-bible-study

[ii] Martin Luther, https://bible.org/illustration/gathering-apples

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How to Study Your Bible, Part 1

How to Study Your Bible

How to Study Your Bible, Part 1

Introduction:

Probably most of you have heard the adage, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” It’s more beneficial in the long run to provide knowledge and skills to help someone help themselves than to give them a direct solution or a handout. Applying this idea to Bible study, I suggest that although it is good for me to spoon-feed you the truth of God’s word, it is better for you if I can teach you how to feed yourself the word of God. Peter writes,

“Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” (1 Peter 2:1-3).

What does that scripture say should be the desire of all born again believers?

What benefit does feeding on the word of God have for us?

We are certainly privileged to live in a time and place where the Bible is so available to us. We not only have access to the word of God in our own language (which many in the past and even today have not), but we even have multiple good translations and study bibles available. We are privileged that most of us today are literate. Yet even with all this available, I fear that many Christians today are spiritually malnourished because they either lack the motivation or the skills to feed themselves.

What do you want to accomplish in this series of lessons?

My goal for this series of lessons is to teach you how to take a portion of scripture, read the text, make observations about what it says, ask questions to understand it, determine what it means, and apply its truth to yourself. By teaching you this method, and practicing it together, my desire is to give you the tools to feed yourself with the word of God and motivate you to desire the pure milk of the word.

What portion of scripture are we going to be studying?

And there is no better place to go for motivation and principles of Bible Study than the Bible itself. Did you know that there is an entire chapter of the Bible that is completely devoted to showing us the priority of the word of God? In fact, it is the longest chapter in the whole Bible at 176 verses—Psalm 119. Today, and for the next few lessons, I want us to focus on the first stanza of this great psalm—Psalm 119:1-8. I will not be teaching you what the passage says, what it means, or how to apply it. I hope to teach you how to do that for yourself.

This is going to take several weeks. So, don’t be concerned if we don’t get through the whole thing today. Next time, we’ll just pick up where we left off. By the time we are done studying this passage, you should have the skills necessary to study other passages in the Bible as well. And the bonus is that in Psalm 119:1-8 you will have discovered for yourself what that passage says about the blessing of seeking, learning, and living the word of God.

Let’s get started.

How to Study Bible PDF
Click Image to Download PDF Handout

Bible Study Step #1 – Prayerfully Read the text in context.

What is the primary resource for studying the Bible?

Your primary resource in studying the Bible is the Bible itself. The tendency for many Bible students at the beginning of a study is to rush to secondary resources like Christian books and Bible commentaries that have already done the work observing and interpreting for the reader. There’s a few problems with that method. One, how do you know they got it right? Two, we have a responsibility to understand and obey the word of God. Three, you are short-circuiting the privilege and joy of discovering the word of God personally.

As Henry Ford is reported to have said “Cut your own wood and warm yourself twice”. In other words, as you chop your own firewood, you enjoy not only the heat from the logs glowing in the fireplace, but you also enjoy the physical warmth produced by the exercise of chopping your own firewood. As you learn how to “chop the wood” of God’s Word for yourself, you will experience a supernatural “warmth” of your soul that is beyond description. And in so doing, you will keep the flame of devotion alive as you provide fuel for the Spirit to renew your mind and transform you more and more into the image of God’s Son.

Taking the ax in your hand begins with reading the Bible. But one of the problems with the way we read the Bible is that we often do it mechanically. We move our eyes over the words and come to the end of a column and don’t know what we’ve read. There was no discovery, no life, no breakthroughs to new insight. So first, I need to teach you how to read your Bible effectively. That begins when you …

A. Pray Before You Read and as You Read.

Prayerfully read the Bible.

Why Prayerfully?

I say prayerfully because we should always approach the scripture acknowledging it is God’s word by which He reveals His truth to us. Prayer expresses our need for God’s help in understanding and applying God’s word. Prayer expresses our dependence on God—that He is the LORD and that we need Him.

How does the psalmist express his dependence on the Lord in these verses? Psalm 119:18; 34; 73, 125, 144, 169.

18 Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law. … 34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart. … 73 Your hands have made me and fashioned me; Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments. 125 I am Your servant; Give me understanding, That I may know Your testimonies. … 144 The righteousness of Your testimonies is everlasting; Give me understanding, and I shall live. … 169 Let my cry come before You, O LORD; Give me understanding according to Your word. (Psalm 119:18, 34, 73, 125, 144, 169).

The psalmist asks God to open his eyes and give him understanding into His word. He cries out this prayer over and over again. He was acknowledging his inability to observe spiritual truth without the Spirit’s illumination (see 1 Cor. 2:14; Acts 26:18; John 14:26; Luke 24:45).

So, before we read our text, let’s pray. I’ll give you a moment to silently pray that God would open your eyes to His word and give you understanding, then I will ask someone to voice this prayer for all of us.

Now, we are almost ready to read the text. I say almost because before we read it, we want to take a few minutes to …

B. Pre-read the Text for the Context.

What is pre-reading the text?

What I mean by pre-reading is preparing to read the Bible by looking at what we can learn from how and where the passage appears. This exercise will help us to see the setting and context of the passage.

What is “Context”?

The context is the setting in which a passage occurs or where the text is found and what surrounds it. Thus, context includes, first, those verses immediately before and after the passage; then, the paragraph and book in which the passage appears; then, other books by this author; and finally, the overall message of the entire Bible.

Context is key in understanding the Bible. Theologian D. A. Carson has said, “A text without a context is a pretext for a proof text.” Anyone can quote a Bible verse, out of context, and make a case for a particular view or doctrine. This is known as “proof texting”. The great preacher D. Martin Lloyd-Jones wrote,

“…most of the heresies that have troubled the Church throughout her long history have arisen because men and women have forgotten this simple principle. They have taken a text out of its context, and have formulated a doctrine out of it. If they had but taken it in its context they would have been saved from the error they have embraced.”[1]

If we don’t know the context of biblical passages, we may easily succumb to the temptation to find verses that support our own preconceived opinions, feelings, or desires. We could become guilty of reading our own ideas into the text, rather than drawing out of the text what God has revealed.

How do we determine the context?

To determine the context, we are going to ask several questions about our passage and where it is found in the Bible. Keep your Bible open to Psalm 119:1-8. Look at the passage itself and what comes before and after it.

What do you notice about where and how Psalm 119 appears on the page?

Where is Psalm 119 found in the Bible? What do you observe about the book of Psalms as a whole?

Psalm 119 is in the book of Psalms, part of the Old Testament (written before the coming of Christ in the New Testament). Psalms is a collection of 150 ancient Hebrew poems, songs, and prayers that come from different eras in Israel’s history. Seventy-three of these psalms are connected to King David, who was also a poet and harp player (1 Sam. 16; 2 Sam. 23). There were also many other authors involved (Asaph, Sons of Korah, Solomon, etc.). Some of the psalms are anonymous.

If you pay close attention to the headings of the psalms, you’ll notice that in five different places, Bible translators included the headings Book One through Book Five. The whole book of Psalms has been divided into five books or sections (Ps. 1-41; Ps. 42-72; Ps. 73-89; Ps. 90-106, and 107-150), each of them ending with a similar doxology (Psa. 41:13; 72:18-19; 89:52; 106:48; 150:6).

Psalm 119 falls right in the middle of Book Five. The six psalms that precede it are “Hallel” or praise psalms (Psalm 113-118). The fifteen psalms that follow it are Songs of Ascent, or songs and prayers for going up to Jerusalem to worship (Psalm 120-134). So, Psalm 119 is set in the middle of praise, prayer, and worship.

How does this information about Psalms help us in reading Psalm 119?

We can postulate that this psalm was also written with praise, prayer, and worship in mind. It is not just given to inform us, but to move us to devotion to God.

Scripture has a variety of literary styles or genres. In the Bible, we have historical narratives, wisdom sayings, law, prophecy, poetry, gospels, letters, and apocalyptic writings.

What kind of literature is it? (Narrative? Dialogue? Drama? Poetry? Law? Letter? Prophecy?)

Like the rest of the book of Psalms, Psalm 119 is poetry. Many of the Psalms were put to music and sung or chanted in both private and corporate prayer and worship. If you examine it closely, you will find that Hebrew poetry is characterized by parallelism, where successive lines or verses express a similar idea in different ways, or one line contrasts with or completes the other.

Notice these three kinds of parallelism found in Psalm 119:

Synonymous parallelism – The second line expresses the same idea as the first line in different words. Look at Psalm 119:2. There you see that “Who seek Him with the whole heart!” (2b) is another way of saying, “those who keep His testimonies” (2a). Another example is Psalm 119:15, “I will meditate on Your precepts, And contemplate Your ways.” “Contemplate Your ways” is just another way of saying “mediate on Your precepts”.

Antithetic parallelism – The second line contrasts with the first line. “Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.” (Psalm 119:67). “Before” contrasts with “But now” and “I went astray” contrasts with “I keep Your word”.

Synthetic parallelism – The second line completes or complements the first line. Look at the familiar verse, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.” (Psalm 119:11). The second line complete the first by telling the result or purpose of hiding God’s word in my heart.

Hebrew poetry also features vivid imagery and metaphor, repetition for emphasis, and a unique rhythm created by parallelism, not by meter and rhyming like in English poetry. These characteristics make it a rich and complex form of literature, full of deep rational, emotional, and spiritual substance.

How is Psalm 119 divided into sections? (See Psalm 119:1, 9, 17, 25, …)

Psalm 119 is an acrostic or alphabetic psalm with 22 stanzas, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each stanza has eight verses and the first word of each verse in a stanza begins with the same letter. The first eight verses all begin with Aleph (Psalm 119:1-8), the second stanza with Beth (Psalm 119:9-16), the third stanza with Gimel (Psalm 119:17-24), and so forth through the last letter, Tau (Psalm 119:169-176). So, 8 verses times 22 stanzas gives us the 176 verses. You might say that Psalm 119 gives us the A to Z of the Bible, because the theme of every stanza and each verse is the word of God.

Does Psalm 119 indicate anything about the author?

The author of Psalm 119 is not named. If we had time to read through the whole psalm today we would learn some things about the author. He often refers to afflictions (Psalm 119:67, 71, 143, 153); persecutions (Psalm 119:61, 86, 95, 110, 121, 134, 157, 161); and plots, slanders, or taunts against him (Psalm 119:23, 42, 51, 150). The reality of persecution and affliction faced by the man devoted to God and His word is a recurring theme in Psalm 119. Because of this, most Bible scholars think that it was written by David (at least 73 of the Psalms are attributed to David). Some have speculated that Ezra, Daniel, or Jeremiah wrote it. Each of these godly men suffered serious difficulties in his life that may fit the author of Psalm 119.

Can we tell when or where Psalm 119 was written?

Theologically, we know that God is the ultimate author of all scripture.

 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

The Holy Spirit of God moved men of God to write His word and so that every word is from the Lord.

20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation (or origin, NKJV footnote), 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. (2 Pet. 1:20-21).

Does Psalm 119 indicate anything about who it was written for?

Although Psalm 119 does not specify an audience, the collection of the psalms was published for the benefit of all Israelites. These songs formed the spiritual music collection of the nation. From the first and last verses of Psalm 119 itself we can see that it is addressed to “the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the Lord” (Psalm 119:1), but also for the “servant” of God who has “gone astray like a lost sheep” (Psalm 119:176). All of us certainly fall between those descriptions. As Paul says, all scripture is written for our benefit.

What we have been doing here is asking questions about the setting or context of our text, Psalm 119:1-8.

Why is it important to ask questions about the passage before and while you read it?

To properly observe Scripture, we must become spiritually inquisitive. Jesus’ disciples were constantly asking Him questions to better understand what He taught them. On your Bible journey, seek to have the mind of an explorer, not just a tourist on vacation. The difference between an explorer and a tourist is that the tourist travels quickly, stopping only to see the highly noticeable or publicized points of interest. The explorer, however, takes his time to diligently search out and observe all that he can find. What’s the old commercial say? “Inquiring minds want to know.” Be inquisitive. Be curious. As you observe the text, prayerfully ask questions about it.

To discover the context and meaning of a passage, train yourself to constantly ask the “Five Ws and an H.” Ask, Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?[2]

Five Ws and H

Who: Who is the author of the text? Who was this text originally written to?

What: What is the historical background? What type of writing is this—narrative, prophecy, letter, sermon, song, prayer, quotation, etc.? What is the immediate context of the passage? What exactly is being said? What is the theme or purpose of the writing? What does the writing mean?

When: When was this written or when will this promise be fulfilled? Are there any time references in the text such as before, after, until, then, when, at that time, immediately, etc.?

Where: Where in the Bible and book does the text lie? Where was this text written? Where is the narrative taking place?

Why: Why was this written? Are there any purpose clauses (these typically begin with so, because, to, for, so that, etc.) which help us discern the author’s purpose in writing a specific text?

How: How does this passage connect with other teachings in Scripture? How should this passage be applied? How should I pray from this passage?

Learning how to ask good questions doesn’t come naturally. It’s something, like any good muscle, must be exercised to see profit from. Another tip in asking good questions is to ask open-ended questions. A “fill-in-the-blank” question will usually give you a one-word answer. So ask questions that give room for response.

See how much you can learn about a text just by asking a few questions! These questions help us to determine the context, the genre, the author, the audience, and the situation of the Bible passage. And we have not even considered what the text says yet! We will also use these types of questions as we observe the text itself to determine what it says, what it means, and how to apply it to our lives.

Now, depending on the Holy Spirit of God who inspired it, let’s prayerfully …

 C. Read the text.

1 ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way,
Who walk in the law of the LORD!

2 Blessed are those who keep His testimonies,
Who seek Him with the whole heart!

3 They also do no iniquity;
They walk in His ways.

4 You have commanded us
To keep Your precepts diligently.

5 Oh, that my ways were directed
To keep Your statutes!

6 Then I would not be ashamed,
When I look into all Your commandments.

7 I will praise You with uprightness of heart,
When I learn Your righteous judgments.

8 I will keep Your statutes;
Oh, do not forsake me utterly!  (Psalm 119:1-8).

How should we read the text?

Make sure you have a good Bible translation that you can easily read. Because our next step will be to make observations about the text, you may want to write or print out the passage on a page where you can mark it or make notes. Take your time. Read prayerfully, slowly, deliberately, diligently, and repeatedly.

As we have already seen, reading the text in context is essential. So, you may need to read the whole book or chapter again before you concentrate on the particular passage you are studying. 

Why is it important to read the text more than once?

Often it helps to read the text several times at once or several times over a period of days. Since Scripture is living and active (Hebrews 4:12; 1 Peter 1:23), we will find that God continually meets us in the text, no matter how many times we’ve read it before.

Sometimes it helps to read from different translations. There are many good English translations available both in print and digitally. By reading and comparing various translations, you will often find subtle differences that may aid you in understanding the text. You can read any English translation to compare, but I suggest you study from a good modern literal translation like the NKJV, NASB, ESV, CSB, or LSB.

If you are proficient in the original languages, you may want to read the passage in the original Hebrew or Greek. Even if you are not very familiar with the biblical languages, there are good interlinear tools that will give you a more literal rendering of the text. In a later lesson I will talk about some of these tools. If you can’t wait ‘til then, ask me about it after class.

So, the first step in our Bible Study is to prayerfully read the text in the context. Here you are trying to get the big picture, the birds-eye view. Looking from above, you can see the whole forest of the Bible and how your particular branch passage from a specific tree fits in it. There is no substitute for prayerfully reading the scripture for yourself. Take your time. Read carefully. Contemplate what you read. Let it sink deep into your mind and heart.

The great preacher Charles Spurgeon gave this advice on how to enjoy Bible reading …

“True Bible-readers and Bible-searchers never find it wearisome. They like it least who know it least, and they love it most who read it most. They find it newest who have known it longest, and they find the pasture to be the richest whose souls have been the longest fed upon it. When one of our missionaries had to read a certain Book of the Old Testament through a hundred times while he was translating it, he said that he certainly enjoyed the hundredth time of reading it more than he did the first, for he understood it better, and it seemed to him to be fuller and fresher the more familiar he became with it.”[3]

What is the secret to enjoy reading your Bible? The secret to enjoy Bible reading, according to Spurgeon, is to read your Bible. Too simple? Perhaps. But it is truth, nonetheless. The more you read Scripture, the more you fall in love with Scripture. “Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart!” (Psalm 119:2).

Click here to download PDF: How to Study the Bible Part 1 handout

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[1] D. Martin Lloyd-Jones, Christian Unity – Studies in Ephesians, page 14, quoted on https://www.preceptaustin.org/observation. The whole text can be found at https://archive.org/details/christianunityex0000lloy/page/14/mode/2up?q=%22a+certain+value%22 

[2] Gregory Brown, The Bible Teacher’s Guide, Lesson 12: Observation, https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-12-observation

[3] C. H. Spurgeon, “God’s Thoughts and Ours,” (April 20, 1911) in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 57 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1911), 188.

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The Authority of Jesus – Matthew 21:23-27

matthew-the-kingdom-of-heaven

The Authority of Jesus

Matthew 21:23-27

The section of Matthew’s Gospel (chapters 21-23) describes the confrontations that Jesus had with the religious leaders of Israel only days before He was betrayed into the hands of evil men and nailed to the cross. We have already seen in Matthew 21 how Jesus’ actions and words have provoked the religious leaders in Jerusalem. First, Jesus came into the city of Jerusalem, riding on a donkey in the midst of a procession which was declaring Him to be King! He arranged the details carefully, so that He would ride into Jerusalem upon a donkey in accordance with the prophecy made in Zechariah 9:9. In so doing, Jesus was proclaiming Himself to be the King of the Jews. Next, Jesus entered into the temple and overturned the tables of the moneychangers, who were seeking to make a profit with their religion, saying “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a‘den of thieves.’ ” (Mat. 21:13). In so doing, Jesus stood against the false worship in the Jewish religious system. Then, by cursing the fruitless fig tree, Jesus taught His disciples about the false and fruitless profession of religion without faith in Him.

As you can imagine, Jesus’ actions and words in Jerusalem provoked a response from the religious leaders there. They had to respond to Jesus. Would they respond favorably by repenting of their evil deeds and believing in Him? Or would they continue to resist the word of God, refuse to believe in Jesus as the Messiah, and seek to destroy Him?

Because we’ve read the rest of the story, we know how it ends—with Jesus wrongly condemned and nailed to a cross. It ended this way not only because it was the Father’s will, but also because of the Jewish leaders’ hatred for Jesus and their unrepentant, unbelieving, evil hearts.

In our text this morning we encounter the Pharisees questioning Jesus, because they didn’t believe in Him. First, we see…

1. The Confrontation: Jesus’ Authority Is Questioned (Matt. 21:23)

Matthew tells us,

Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?” (Matthew 21:23).

They demanded to know first the nature, and then the source, of His authority. And in and of themselves, those were not necessarily inappropriate questions for the chief priests and elders to ask. These religious leaders were, after all, charged with the responsibility of caring for the spiritual condition of their people, and for what happened in the temple.

So, what are “these things” that Jesus has been doing? Oh, just riding into Jerusalem on the donkey as king, receiving the people’s acclamation of Him as Messiah, driving the buyers and sellers out of the temple, healing the blind and the lame in the temple, affirming the praises of the children in the temple, and now teaching in the temple courts. Jesus was doing all “these things” in the temple without their endorsement or permission!

They thought they were the ones in charge of the temple. As far as they are concerned, they are the authorities. So, they raise the question to Jesus, in effect asking, “Who’s in charge here?”

But the problem was that the questions were not sincere. The evidence is very plainly there in the text that they already knew the answer they wanted and believed before they asked the questions! Their questions were motivated not by a desire to know the truth, but by a refusal to believe.

And Jesus knew their deceitful hearts. He felt no necessary obligation to respect their demand for an answer. Rather, instead, He made His answer to them ‘conditional’. Before He would answer their hostile questions, they had to answer His questions concerning what they already knew. It wasn’t that Jesus was seeking to avoid answering their questions. Rather, it was to force them to answer the questions themselves, because if they answered His question, they would have the answers to their own.

So we see…

2. The Counter-Question: Jesus Asks about John’s Baptism (Matt. 21:24-26)

Jesus responds to their question with a question of his own. Matthew writes, “But Jesus answered and said to them, ‘I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John–where was it from? From heaven or from men?’ ” (Matt. 21:24-25a).

What a question! What a bind He put them in! They were hoping to embroil Him in controversy before all the people—forcing Him to claim authority to Himself, and then giving them the opportunity to trap Him in an accusation of blasphemy! But now, in front of all those same people, He put them in a knot that they couldn’t even begin to untie themselves from without exposing the hardness of their own unbelieving hearts!

Think with me about John the Baptist for a moment. Jesus said about him, “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist …” (Matt. 11:11).

John was the fulfillment of the promise that God made in the last book of the Old Testament; “Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me” (Malachi 3:1; see also Matthew 10:11). He was the one that the Lord promised in the Book of Isaiah: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD . . .‘” (Isaiah 40:3; see also Matthew 3:3).

The people of Jerusalem—along with all Judea and the surrounding regions—had come to John in the wilderness of the Jordan. They all heard his bold message; “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2); and many came to him repenting of their sins to be baptized with water (Matt. 3:6, 11).

Everyone knew about John, and as a prophet, people trembled at what he had to say. In fact, his message and his manner were so bold and earthshaking that the talk went around that he might even be the Messiah (John 1:19-20). But he made it clear that he himself was not the Messiah—that his ministry was to identify Someone else as the Messiah. He announced,

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. (Matthew 3:11-12).

And just consider how this man John testified of Jesus! Matthew tells us;

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:13-17).

The Gospel of John tells us that the Baptist’s very public testimony of Jesus was this:

 “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.” And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:29-34).

John’s testimony of Jesus was outstandingly clear. It was very public; and it was immediately verifiable. How very disingenuous, then, for the chief priests and elders to confront Jesus and say, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?” It wasn’t a sincere question at all. They already knew the answer. But they would not believe what they knew; and instead, they hoped to trap Jesus by His giving an answer to their question.

I suspect that they were dumbstruck. They hadn’t seen this coming. The religious leaders find themselves caught in a dilemma. Matthew tells us,

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.” (Matt. 21:25b-26).

Their dilemma was simply this: “How do we answer?” Because this is a lose-lose proposition for them. If they say John’s authority came from God, Jesus will ask them, “Then why didn’t you believe him?” But if they say John’s authority was just from men, they risk upsetting the people who all hold that John was a prophet.

Notice they aren’t remotely interested in answering the question honestly. Instead, they are carefully weighing the options, testing the winds, running advance straw polls in their minds. They are acting more like politicians here than religious leaders who are supposed to be men of God!

Here’s a lesson for us when we tell people about Jesus. When people confront us with controversial questions about Jesus or the scripture, take the time to discern the heart-attitude of the one doing the asking. Is it an attitude of sincere exploration concerning the truth about Jesus? Or are the questions simply an effort to find yet another excuse for unbelief? We ought to do our best to answer patiently the true seeker. But Jesus’ example teaches us that we ought to expose false motives of those who don’t want the truth.

This brings us to …

3. The Conclusion: Jesus Refused to Answer their Unbelief (Matt. 21:27).

The religious leaders have confronted Jesus; Jesus has countered the religious leaders; it’s time for closing arguments. How do the religious leaders answer Jesus’ question? “So they answered Jesus and said, ‘We do not know.’” (Matt. 21:27). They know that no matter how they answer Jesus, it’s not going to look good for them. They don’t want to affirm John’s ministry, and they don’t want to offend the people, so they take the easy way out: “We don’t know!” What cowards! John the Baptist was the most important religious figure to appear in Israel for centuries. And the religious leaders don’t even have an opinion on him? Here they are ready to judge Jesus when they cannot even pass judgment on John!

What does Jesus say in response to their obfuscation? “And He said to them,’Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.’” (Matt. 21:27).

Remember, Jesus had offered them a trade: “I will answer your questions, if you answer mine!” The religious leaders refuse to answer Jesus’ question, and so Jesus refuses to answer theirs. Jesus is more than ready to answer all our questions as long as we are ready to receive his answers. But they didn’t ask in good faith. They didn’t ask in faith at all. They asked out of an unbelieving heart and a challenging spirit. Both their manner and their questions displayed a stubborn refusal to believe either Jesus or John.

It wouldn’t do any good for Jesus to explain His authority because they wouldn’t recognize it anyway. They made it clear that they would not recognize God’s authority when they saw and heard it. They would not submit to God’s authority. So what good would it do for Jesus to say, “God gave me this authority”?

They had already misunderstood the revelation of Scripture, rejected the ministry of John, and accused Jesus of doing things by the power of Satan! They were not open to a clear answer from Jesus–and they were not fit for positions of authority themselves. By questioning Jesus’ authority, they demonstrated their own rebellion against God’s authority.

William Hendriksen applies this, writing,

An important practical lesson is taught here. Christ’s opponents failed to see the truth because they hardened themselves against it. The reason why many people know so little about Jesus and about the joy of living the Christian life is that they refuse to submit themselves to his will. The prayer of everyone should be: “Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God” (Ps. 143:10).

It is a dangerous thing to harden yourself against the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we repeatedly reject the authority of Christ and His word, we will eventually lose the opportunity to repent, believe, and be saved.

So today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts. Repent and believe in Jesus. He died on the cross so that your sins could be forgiven. He was raised from the dead and gives eternal life to all who believe in Him. Don’t wait another minute. Don’t refuse His love and reject His authority.

 

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Why the Bible Is Essential (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Bible

Why the Bible Is Essential (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward. (Psalm 19:7-11).

What would you think if you heard God was publishing a book? What would you expect from such a book? You might think:[1]

  • It would be completely accurate and without error.
  • It would uniquely disclose the knowledge of God.
  • It would have a universal message that impacts the whole world.
  • It would carry the authority of God in its words.
  • It would be the most purchased and translated book ever.
  • It would be the best historically preserved book of all time.

All these things are true about the Bible. There is no other book like it, including other religious texts. The Bible has a lot to say about itself. Many passages give us the Bible’s view of scripture’s origin, authorship, message, authority, and sufficiency. One of the most definitive statements about the scripture comes in Paul’s second letter to the younger pastor and church leader, Timothy.

In 2 Timothy 3, Paul had been writing to his young colleague in ministry—Pastor Timothy. He was exhorting Timothy to be faithful to his call to the ministry of pastor and preacher. He warned him that there would come a time in the last days—very much like the times we’re living in today—when people would no longer listen to a word from God (2 Tim. 3:1-9). Timothy was to be on guard against such people and keep himself from them. He is addressing the question, “How can a Christian survive and prosper in such an evil age?” His answer to Timothy was to continue in what he had learned in scripture (2 Tim. 3:14-15). Paul reminds Timothy of the reliability and profitability of the Scriptures. Timothy already knew that. So do you. But like Timothy, we need to be reminded of it and have it burned into our hearts so that we will apply it.

In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Paul explained what it was about scriptures, the word of God, that made it so essential.[2]

1. The Bible Is Essential because of Its Source

Paul wrote, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God …” When Paul speaks of “all Scripture”, we can know what he meant by what he said before and by what he said after. In 2 Timothy 3:12-15, he told Timothy that “from childhood, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 1:5 about the genuine faith of Timothy’s mother and grandmother. Timothy had learned the scriptures of the Old Testament from them since his childhood. He had also closely followed Paul’s doctrine from the scriptures (2 Tim. 3:10).

In 2 Timothy 4, Paul urged Timothy to “Preach the word”, which he specified to be the word of “truth”. The writings of the Old Testament Scriptures—the books of Moses, the books of the history of the people of Israel, the Psalms and wisdom writings, and the prophets—all constituted the scriptures. And this would also include the message of the gospel taught by the apostles and the prophets of our Lord, who wrote according to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

The word translated “Scripture” in 2 Timothy 3:16 literally means “a writing” or “what is written”. It is used 51 times in the New Testament and always refers to some part of the written Bible. Sometimes it refers to the entire Old Testament (Luke 24:45; John 10:35), sometimes to a particular Old Testament passage (Luke 4:21), sometimes to a particular New Testament passage (1 Timothy 5:18) and sometimes to a larger portion of the New Testament, as when Peter refers to Paul’s letters as Scripture (2 Pet. 3:16).

And notice what Paul tells Timothy concerning the Scriptures. He said that they are “given by inspiration of God”. The word that Paul used, in the original language, is that the Scriptures are “God-breathed”. They are given, as it were, by the ‘breath of God’. And this points us to the divine source of the Bible.

What parts of the scripture are inspired? “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God …”

Wayne Grudem provides insight:

All the words in the Bible are God’s words. Therefore, to disbelieve or disobey them is to disbelieve or disobey God himself. Oftentimes, passages in the Old Testament are introduced with the phrase, “Thus says the LORD” (see Ex. 4:22; Josh. 24:2; 1 Sam. 10:18; Isa. 10:24; also Deut. 18:18 – 20; Jer. 1:9). This phrase, understood to be like the command of a king, indicated that what followed was to be obeyed without challenge or question. Even the words in the Old Testament not attributed as direct quotes from God are considered to be God’s words… The New Testament also affirms that its words are the very words of God. In 2 Peter 3:16, Peter refers to all of Paul’s letters as one part of the “Scriptures.” This means that Peter, and the early church, considered Paul’s writings to be in the same category as the Old Testament writings. Therefore, they considered Paul’s writings to be the very words of God. In addition, Paul, in 1 Timothy 5:18, writes that “the Scripture says” two things: “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain” and “The laborer deserves his wages.” The first quote regarding an ox comes from the Old Testament; it is found in Deuteronomy 25:4. The second comes from the New Testament; it is found in Luke 10:7. Paul, without any hesitation, quotes from both the Old and New Testaments, calling them both “Scripture.” Therefore, again, the words of the New Testament are considered to be the very words of God. That is why Paul could write, “the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord” (1 Cor. 14:37).[3]

Every book of the Bible has two authors: the first is God and the second is the human author. How is it possible that Scripture has two authors—both God and humans? 2 Peter 1:20-21 gives us insight into this:

knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-22).

What does it mean to be “moved by the Holy Spirit”? The word “moved” is used in Acts (27:15, 17) to describe the effect of strong winds upon Paul’s ship. Luke says that the ship was “driven along” by the wind, meaning that it was no longer under the control of the sailors, but of the wind. In the same way the sailors gave way to the power of the storm and were “carried along” or “driven” by it, so the authors of the Bible were “carried” by the Holy Spirit in the writing of Scripture. The Holy Spirit moved them along both in the writing of the content and in keeping them from error. The writers were present, they were thinking and writing, but they were being moved by the Holy Spirit of God.

While God dictated a few portions of Scripture (e.g., the Ten Commandments), for the most part He allowed each author to use his own personality and style. They themselves truly wrote the books they gave us—just as human beings would write any book. But it was God Himself who was guiding them in what they wrote—so that what they desired to write was what God Himself wanted to be said. Thus the Scriptures find their origin in God. They are not the result of human religious genius. They are not great ideas which God somehow approved.

This is how the New Testament and the Old Testament were written: the Holy Spirit moved upon specific individuals to write the actual words of God, so God could reveal Himself to people.

What does this imply about the reliability of scripture? The scriptures are as true, reliable, and faithful as God is. If God is the God of truth and if He “breathed out” the Scriptures, then it is inconceivable that they would contain contradictions or errors. This does not mean that every sentence in the Bible is true: The Bible truthfully records the lies and falsehood of its subjects at times. So you cannot lift a statement out of context and claim that it is true (e.g., parts of Job, Ecclesiastes, etc.). But taken in its proper contextual setting, the Bible is an accurate and true record of the very words that God wished to record through the various human authors. It is totally reliable.

Since the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth (John 16:13), He did not superintend errors.[iv] The Bible is the Word of God. At this point a critic might accuse me of begging the question. I’m saying that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God because the Bible says so. But there are rational and evidentiary reasons to believe the Bible is what it claims to be.

One of the strongest cases for the Bible’s authority and reliability is the fact that the Lord Jesus believed and taught that the Bible is trustworthy and true. Everything that Jesus Christ said with reference to the Scriptures shows that He had implicit trust in the totality of Scripture as the authoritative and reliable Word of God.

The Bible is essential and reliable because of its source.

2. The Bible Essential because of its value

As Paul wrote, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable …” It gives us certain things that we desperately need. Paul mentions four of them.

First, he says that it is profitable “for doctrine”; or as some translations have it, “for teaching”. It gives us the content of sound doctrinal truth. It gives us the content of what is to be believed by us. What a precious thing this is to have in a world such as ours today!—when so many people have so many contrary ideas, and so many contradictory systems of belief; or when so many people say that there is no truth.

Just think of what the Lord Jesus once said in His prayer to the Father in John 17:17. He prayed for God to sanctify His people by His truth; and then said to His Father, “Your word is truth.” What a precious thing it is to have true doctrine!—true teaching!—truth! It sanctifies us and cleanses us. We receive this from the God-breathed book.

The fact that the Bible is profitable for teaching implies, of course, that it is necessary to study it. God chose to communicate His truth in written form. Obviously the Bible is not a one-page instruction sheet. You don’t learn it by reading a few favorite texts now and then. We need to hear it taught by faithful expositors. We need to read it over and over, comparing Scripture with Scripture so that we have the whole counsel of God. We need to study it in more depth, memorize key verses, and meditate on God’s Word.

Second, Paul goes on to say that the Scriptures are profitable “for reproof”. “Reproof” means to convince or expose. The idea behind it is a rebuke of that which is error. This means that the Bible has the power to expose sin in our lives and to convince us that we are in the wrong. The Bible exposes what is wrong in us. It shows us that we are sinners in need of a Savior. In Hebrews 4:12, we’re told,

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).

But it doesn’t leave us in a rebuked and reproved state. Paul goes on to say that the Scriptures are also profitable “for correction”. The word that Paul uses here speaks of setting things right. It’s the word that is used when we speak of “orthopedic shoes”, which set feet right; or the “orthodontist”, who sets teeth right, or “orthodoxy”, which is beliefs set right. The word of God delivers us from our error and sets us on the right path. It tells us how to get right with God, with others, and with ourselves.

And the Bible even keeps us on that right path. It helps us to go forward to live in an increasingly acceptable manner before God; because, as Paul says, it’s also profitable for “for instruction in righteousness”. “Instruction” literally means “child-training”. Just as parents work with their children over the years to train them in various social graces, morals, relational skills, and useful habits, so God, through His Word, trains us in all areas of life so that we can know what pleases Him.

I love how Warren Wiersbe put all this. He said that the Scriptures, because they are God-breathed—are profitable for teaching us (1) what is right, (2) what is not right, (3) how to get right, and (4) how to stay right.

So; in these two verses, Paul shows us that the Bible is essential because of its source and its value. And finally, Paul shows that …

3. The Bible is essential because of its purpose

He wrote that all of this is given to us through the Scriptures “that the man of God [or, we may legitimately translate this ‘the person of God’; so that it applies equally to a woman of God or a man of God] may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work”.

To be “complete” means whole or complete, sound of body and mind, full-grown, especially something fitted for its intended purpose—made well prepared for it. It’s much like when a mountain climber must be physically fit to be able to make the climb. Likewise, regular exposure to the word of God makes us ‘fit’ for every good work that God has for us to do.[4] It builds us up. It matures us.

But maturity is not an end in itself. It also makes us “thoroughly equipped for every good work.” “Equipped” means to be furnished or supplied. It gives us what we need for those good works. It’s not enough that a mountain climber be physically fit before he makes the ascent. He also has to have all the right gear. And the word of God also gives us the necessary equipping for a life with Jesus that ministers to others.

When you have proven through experience in the crucible of life the truth of God’s commandments and principles in His Word, you can confidently impart that truth to others. Knowing and living our Bible gives you that confidence because you aren’t imparting your own ideas about life, but rather the very words of God, which you have applied to your life and proved reliable.

This is why we need to study it diligently.

And so, over the next few weeks we will be learning how to study your Bible. It is my prayer and aim that each person in this church would become a mature man or woman of God through knowing experientially the Word of God. I want each of you to know the great doctrines of the faith as a means of knowing the living God and of knowing your own heart. Each of us needs to let the Word confront our own selfishness, pride, anger, lust, greed, and abusive speech. We need to let the Word correct us and keep us on the path of righteous living in this wicked world. Then we can use the Word as God has used it in our lives to minister Christ to others.

You own a Bible. But do you use it to teach you about God and godly living? It is the only reliable book that tells you how to invest your life. It is useful and sufficient for all of life and godliness. I strongly urge you to begin today consistently to read, study, memorize, and meditate on the Bible. Remember the exhortation of the apostle Peter:

Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious (1 Peter 2:1-3).

 

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[1] Gregory Brown, Why to Abide in God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:14-17), https://bible.org/seriespage/10-why-abide-god-s-word-2-timothy-314-17#_ftn5 accessed 06/01/2025.

[2] Greg Allen, THE ESSENTIAL BOOK, https://bethanybible.org/new/sermon/2020/2020-08-02/the-essential-book accessed 06/01/2025.

[3] Wayne A. Grudem; Elliot Grudem. Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know. (Grand Rapids: MI: Zondervan, 2009), Kindle Edition.

[iv] Charles Ryrie, What You Should Know About Inerrancy [Moody Press], p. 46

[4] Steven Cole, Why You Need the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16-17), https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-17-why-you-need-bible-2-timothy-316-17 accessed 06/01/2025.

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Lessons from the Fig Tree

matthew-the-kingdom-of-heaven

Lessons from the Fig Tree

Matthew 21:18-22

In Matthew 21, we are following the events of the final week of Jesus’ earthly ministry before He went to the cross. It began in Matthew 21:1-11 with Jesus’ triumphal entrance into Jerusalem riding on the colt of a donkey in fulfillment of scripture. Then we saw Jesus go into the temple and cleanse it of the money changers and those who were buying and selling, saying, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ” (Matt. 21:13). The temple off God was full of hypocrisy, extortion, greed, and deceit. What should have been a house of prayer had become a den of robbers.

Jesus then healed the blind and the lame and received the praise of the children. thus fulfilling prophecies about His true Messiahship. He then left the temple and spent the night in Bethany near the Mount of Olives.

In Matthew 21:18, Jesus is returning to the city of Jerusalem. He will go back into the temple (Matt. 21:23) where the religious leaders will question His authority (Matt. 21:23-27). Then Jesus will teach two parables: the parable of the two sons (Matt. 21:28-32), and the parable of the tenants (Matt. 21:33-46). The first is a man who says he will work and then doesn’t. The second is a group of men who say they will produce fruit from the vineyard and then don’t. The last parable is the climax of the section, illustrating that Christ has been rejected by His own fruitless people, and so the kingdom will be taken from them and given to a people who will bear its fruit.

The issue is fruit that comes from genuine faith in God. Jesus is sick and tired of the fruitless hypocrisy of Israel’s religion. He heard their hypocrisy as He rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. He saw it in the greedy trampling of the temple courts. He will teach parables about their hypocrisy in the temple. And right between these events, Jesus cursed the fig tree. It’s an unusual incident, and, like the cleansing of the temple, one that seems uncharacteristic of Jesus at first. We don’t normally think of Jesus driving people out of temples or cursing fig trees. But Jesus never does anything without a purpose, and His purpose here is to teach His disciples. The cursing of the fig tree is a parable in action, illustrating the fruitless hypocrisy of Israel’s religion.

Our short passage breaks down into two parts: the withering of the fruitless tree and the word about faith in prayer.

1. The Withering of the Fruitless Tree (Matt. 21:18-19)

Matthew tells us that it was in the morning that Jesus and His disciples were making their way back from Bethany to Jerusalem. And “as He returned to the city, He was hungry” (Matt. 5:18). Since they spent the night at Bethany, it would be safe to assume that Jesus and His disciples stayed at the home of His dear friends Martha, Mary and Lazarus. And from what we know of Martha, she likely would have made sure everyone was well-fed before they left. But for whatever reason, Jesus was hungry. Perhaps, as He had done so often, He rose early to pray and didn’t eat with the others. Perhaps Jesus’ hunger was intentional, so that He could teach this object lesson to His disciples.

As they journeyed along toward the city, Jesus saw a fig tree by the side of the road (Matt. 21:18). This would not be unusual. Remember, we saw in Matthew 21:1 that near Bethany and the Mount of Olives was the village of Bethpage, meaning house of figs. The original language tells us that it was a “single” fig tree—all alone, which is perhaps what made it so easy to see. And what’s more, Jesus could see from a distance that it bore leaves. And if you were hungry, that was a very good sign. Fig trees in that part of the world produced a sort of early fig in the springtime, a small one that came before the leaves began to grow. They weren’t as big and juicy as the later figs would be, but they were still very tasty.

But Matthew tells us that, when Jesus came to the tree, “He found nothing on it but leaves” (Matt. 21:19). Now leaves on a fig tree without any fruit is very unusual. Usually, the leaves and the fruit develop together. So, there is definitely something wrong with this tree. It had all the promise of fruitfulness—all the appearance of bearing something He desired. But on closer examination, it had only the outward appearance of ‘fruitfulness’. It bore none of the fruit.

But then Jesus does something even more unusual. He curses the fig tree. He said, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again“; and we’re told that “immediately the fig tree withered away” (Matt. 21:19). Now from what we have seen about the authority and power of Jesus, He could just as easily have told the fig tree, “May you bear fruit right now!”, and the tree would have been filled with figs. But Jesus cursed the fig tree instead, and immediately the tree withered. Mark tells us that it was “dried up from the roots” (Mark 11:20). This was a big, thriving, healthy tree until Jesus cursed it. And when He did, it never bore fruit again.

“Why did Jesus curse the tree like this?” Was it simply because He was hangry? Was He in a bad mood that morning? Of course not! Jesus is never just impulsive or out of control. Everything He does, He does on purpose. So, what we need to ask is, “What’s His purpose in cursing the fig tree?”

First, let’s find out some things about fig trees in the Bible. In the Old Testament, fig trees were pleasurable things. The fruit of the fig tree was good and sweet. Fig trees were symbolic of prosperity (Deut. 8:8; Hab. 3:17; Hag. 2:19), pleasure (Judges 9:11), and security (1 Kings 4:25; 2 Kings 18:31; Isaiah 36:16; Joel 2:22; Nah. 3:12) in the land of Israel. When the people of Israel would see the fig-trees putting forth the early “green figs”, they looked at it warm-heartedly as a sign that springtime had come (Song 2:13).

It’s not surprising, then, that the Bible uses the fruit of the fig-tree as a symbol of Israel. In Hosea, the LORD says, “I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstfruits on the fig tree in its season” (Hosea 9:8). God gave the prophet Jeremiah a vision of the remnant people of Judah as a basket of either good ripe figs, or figs so rotten they couldn’t be eaten (Jer. 24:1-10).

And so, when God warns through His prophets that He is going to strike the fruit of the fig tree, it is a sign of judgment on His people Israel. In Jeremiah 8:13, He says, “‘I will surely consume them’ says the LORD. ‘No grapes shall be on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things I have given them shall pass away from them’” (Jer. 8:13; cf. Joel 1:11-12).

I believe that Jesus, when He cursed the fig tree, was illustrating a prophetic word of judgment.  Through the prophet Micah, The LORD indicated what He expected from His people:

With what shall I come before the LORD,
And bow myself before the High God?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
With calves a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
Ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:6-8).

But when the LORD examined His people closely, the prophet writes,

Woe is me!
For I am like those who gather summer fruits,
Like those who glean vintage grapes;
There is no cluster to eat
Of the first-ripe fruit which my soul desires (Micah 7:1).

Think about what Jesus had just done. He came to His temple, expecting to find genuine fruits of faith from His people. Instead, He was greeted with unbelief, opposition, and the abuse of His Father’s house. There were religious practices all over the place—offerings being made, Scriptures being recited, and lots of animals being purchased for sacrifice. It was very, very religious. But all their religion was nothing more than the mere outward “promise” of fruitfulness and nothing more. There was no real spiritual “fruit”. It was all “fig leaves”; but no “figs”.

In his Gospel, Luke doesn’t record this incident. But in Luke 13, after Jesus says to the Jewish people, “unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:5). Jesus tells a parable about a fig tree:

6 He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 “Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ 8 “But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9 ‘And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’ “ (Luke 13:6-9).

Think about it. Jesus came to the temple and instead of finding the fruit of faith, He was greeted by the religious leaders with opposition and unbelief. Jesus had been among them for more than three years ministering to them. For three years, Jesus had been patient. For three years, Jesus had sought fruit from the Jewish people. His patience was long. Yet finally, there reached a point when His patience would run out. I believe that the cursing of this fig tree was a living parable to indicate that the time for judgment had come.

This is the theme of the rest of the chapter: Israel lacks fruit. Here, the Messiah is entering Jerusalem. The Jewish people ought to receive Him. But, rather than doing so, they reject Him. In verse 23, they question Jesus’ authority. Beginning in Matthew 21:28, Jesus will tell a story of two sons. The first promised his father that he would work in the vineyard. Yet, when it came time to do so, he didn’t go. The second said that he wouldn’t work. But later, he repented and did go to work. The son of empty promises is like the nation of Israel. There is outward talk of righteousness, but no fruit of righteousness. They had leaves, but there were no figs. Beginning in Matthew 21:33, Jesus will talk about the vine-growers who hated the owner of the vineyard. Their hatred reached such a point that they would kill the son of the owner. Jesus made it very clear that the religious leaders were like the vine-growers. They hate the Son and have rejected the chief cornerstone. Israel missed their Messiah! They didn’t believe in Him. Their religion was all show. Their religion was all cultural and external—all leaves and no fruit. In Matthew 21:43, Jesus tells them, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.”

So, on one level it’s a story about Israel, but it is also a story about us. It is an acted parable with an intended meaning. Just as Jesus went to the fig tree looking for fruit, God comes looking for fruit in our lives. The prophet Isaiah in sang a parable in song about fruit. We read in Isaiah 5:

1 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard On a very fruitful hill. 2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, And also made a winepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, But it brought forth wild grapes. … 7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help. (Isa 5:1-2, 7).

God looks for fruit in our lives, and not just fruit – He is looking for good fruit, not bad fruit. He is looking for real spiritual fruit of righteousness, not merely the leaves of external religion. Mere religiosity without genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ may look good before men, but it greatly displeases the Lord. When God comes looking for fruit in your life, what will he find? Will he find the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23)? Will he find the fruit of righteousness and holiness (Heb. 12:11)? Will He find the fruit of good works that please Him (Col. 1:10)? Will he find the fruit of witnessing as you share with others about Jesus and the gospel (1 Cor. 3:5-6)? Will he find the fruit of praise upon your lips (Heb. 13:15)?

And that leads us to the reaction of the disciples to what they saw; and to the next lesson we’re to learn …

2. The Word about Faith in Prayer (Matt. 21:20-22).

The disciples had a hard time learning the lessons of dependency upon the Lord. They had seen Him perform many miracles. But when they saw Him curse a fig tree, and then saw the fig tree wither and die afterwards, they marveled; saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?” (Matt. 5:20).

It’s interesting that He didn’t answer their question directly. Instead, it seems to me that the Lord told them something that they weren’t expecting.

21 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. 22 “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” (Matt. 21:21-22).

Jesus told the disciples something similar back in Matthew 17:20 when He answered their question about why they could not help the man with the demon possessed son. There He said: “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”  

Remember that these two verses are not just a random insertion by Matthew about faith and prayer. They come in the context of the cursing of the fig tree, directly in answer to Jesus’ disciple’s question about it, and the in the larger context of conflict with the Jewish religious leaders. They come in the context of the fruitlessness of the religious leaders and the Lord’s desire for good fruit.

So let me ask you, based upon what Jesus teaches here, how does one live a fruitful life before God? The answer: FAITH. The problem of no fruit is the problem of no faith. Jesus says “if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done” (Matt. 21:21). Jesus is using hyperbole here to show that there is nothing that faith in Him cannot do.  We can’t make fig trees wither or cause mountains to throw themselves into the sea. But nothing is impossible for God. Faith lays hold of God’s power to do things that are impossible for us to do.

And then Jesus goes on to tell us that God answers the prayer of faith. He says, “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” (Matt. 21:22) That is an amazing verse. It is a breath-taking promise that God will answer your prayers when you pray in faith believing.

Now I don’t believe that Jesus is giving us some kind of “blank check” to do whatever we want independently from His Lordship. Did you notice that He specifies, “if you have faith and do not doubt . . .”? Who is it we’re to have faith in? Obviously, we’re to have faith in Him! What is it we’re not to doubt? We’re not to doubt His will expressed clearly in His word. It’s all about Jesus—not about what we want. The promise He makes in this passage is NEVER something we’re to try to claim in any other way than with complete, heartfelt, sincere, dependent faith on Him and in obedient trust in His word.

Jesus shows that a lack of fruit is a result of a lack of faith in Him. And a lack of faith in Him is revealed by a lack of prayer to Him. A person who doesn’t pray is a person who wreaks of self-sufficiency. They are a person who is all leaves and no fruit. They are a person who is doing things on their own and in their own strength. And when you do things on your own and in your own strength, do you know what happens? NOTHING. In John 15, Jesus said,

4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.“ (John 15:4-8).

The kind of faith our Lord wants from us is characterized by “abiding” in Him. It’s the kind of faith in the Lord Jesus that recognizes that we draw our very life from Him, and cannot do anything apart from Him. And it involves an understanding of His revealed will through the holy Scriptures; and a commitment be completely yielded to that will without doubt or without wavering.

So, here’s two lessons our Lord wants us to learn from the fig tree—and both lessons have to do with a vital faith in Jesus Christ. First, the tree that is covered with leaves but is barren of fruit teaches us the barrenness of mere religion on the outside when there’s unbelief in Jesus on the inside. Is your religion just an outward show, or is it bearing the fruit of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17)?

Second, the promise of the Savior to the disciples teaches us that real fruitfulness is a product of genuine, living, personal, dependency upon Jesus Christ in faith. Such faith in Jesus brings glory to the Father. When your life is full of fruit, your prayers will be filled with faith, and God will accomplish His purposes through your life and in our church. Is your faith demonstrated by believing prayer?

 

 

 

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Cleansing the Temple – Matthew 21:12-17

matthew-the-kingdom-of-heaven

Cleansing the Temple

Matthew 21:12-17

In our study of Matthew’s Gospel, we’ve come to the great events of that last, holy week of Jesus’ earthly ministry. It began with our Lord’s ‘triumphal entry’ into the city of Jerusalem in Matthew 21:1-11 and will end in Matthew 27 with Jesus’ crucifixion. If you’ve ever wondered, how do you get from Palm Sunday when everyone was cheering Jesus to Good Friday when Jesus hung on the cross, the answer is what happened between Sunday and Friday during this final week of Jesus’ life. Of course, we have seen opposition to Jesus from the religious authorities mounting throughout the Gospel of Matthew. But in the plan of God, the hostility toward Jesus comes to a head during this week and will culminate in His execution on the cross.

Luke records that the Pharisees were upset by Jesus’ triumphal entry, and told Jesus to rebuke His disciples who were praising Him as the King (Luke 19:39). Matthew told us that the whole city was shaken by that event (Matt. 21:10). But if that day offended the religious leaders, just wait until you see what happens next. Nothing infuriated the Pharisees and the chief priests more than disrupting their religion. And that is exactly what Jesus does next. Jesus performs two prophetic acts of judgment: the cleansing of the temple and the cursing of the fig tree. The first deals with false worship, and the second with false profession. Israel’s worship was corrupted. They performed religious rituals to God in their worship, but without a true relationship with God. They professed a desire for God’s Messiah, but rejected Him when He came. And for that, they would be judged.

Matthew 21:12-17 tells us the story of the Son of God’s entry into the temple—into His Father’s house. The Old Testament prophesied that when the Messiah came, He would come to the temple and clean house. We read in Malachi 3:

1 “Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the LORD of hosts. 2 “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire And like launderers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the LORD An offering in righteousness.” (Malachi 3:1-3).

Jesus came to the temple in fulfillment of prophecy, and He came to clean house. The worship in the temple was corrupted. And in an act of judgment, Jesus cleansed it. Matthew’s brief account tells us what Jesus immediately drove out of the temple, what He welcomed into it, and what He received and enjoyed in the midst of it. And in doing so, he teaches us three important truths about worship and God’s house. God’s house is to be a place of prayer, healing, and praise.

1. Jesus Drove the Market Out (Matt. 21:12-13)

Matthew 21:12 tells us, “Then Jesus went into the temple of God.” Let me give you a picture of what He saw. First, He saw a huge crowd of people. It was Passover week. Jews from all over came to Jerusalem, and the temple was the focal point of everything that week. All of these people had come up to Jerusalem to offer up sacrifices, according to the law of God (Exodus 12). These sacrifices were performed at the temple. Now certainly, what Jesus wanted to find in the temple were sincere worshipers of God.

In addition to the crowds in the temple, Jesus saw the market. The temple complex consisted not only of the temple building itself, which housed the inner holy place and the holy of holies, but also the several courtyards and colonnades that surrounded the temple building. So when Jesus entered the temple, it was not the temple building itself, but the outer court of the temple called the court of the Gentiles. There, He saw the market.

MacArthur gives some background on the business in the Temple. The business enterprises in the Court of the Gentiles came to be known as the “Bazaar of Annas,” whose chief priests and other associates oversaw the Temple franchises. Merchants would buy rights to a concession for selling sacrificial animals, wine, oil, or salt, or for exchanging money into the proper currency and denominations used in Temple offerings. They provided a necessary service for those traveling from far away. When you arrived in Jerusalem, you could purchase what you needed rather than having to bring it all with you.

So, if these were necessary services, what is the problem here? Well, there are a couple of problems here. One is the location. They’re doing all this in the temple! That’s not what the temple is for. They could have done all this business outside the temple gates. And the other problem is they are taking advantage of the people. There is extortion and price gouging going on. In addition to the franchise fees the operators would often be required to pay a certain percentage of their profits to Annas. According to Levitical law, any animal approved by the priests could be offered in the Temple. But the chief priests often made certain that animals not bought in one of their franchises would be judged unacceptable. A person would often have to pay as much as ten times what an animal normally cost. As if that extortion were not enough, those who needed to have foreign currency exchanged or who had to have their money converted into the exact amount for an offering were charged a processing fee.[1]

You can imagine what this did to the temple. It turned it into a marketplace. There would be buyers and sellers dashing back and forth. There would be lines of impatient people, and crowds pressing at tables. There would be haggling for the best price, and very likely would have been the kind of language filling the air that characterizes the trading of goods and money even today. And of course, there would be profits being made. In short, the temple was being used in selfish pursuit of business, rather than to offer sincere worship to a holy God.

That’s what Jesus found when He came into His Father’s house. And He drove it out. Matthew 21:12 tells us that Jesus “… drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.” Jesus put an end to the selfish abuse of God’s house.

And notice how Jesus justified His actions. He quoted Scripture. Jesus didn’t just act out of His own passions. He always did what He did in accordance with the written word of God. Matthew 21:13 says, “And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ “” Jesus is quoting here from two prophets in the Old Testament: Isaiah and Jeremiah (Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11).

In context, the prophecy from Isaiah reads,

1 Thus says the LORD: “Keep justice, and do righteousness, For My salvation is about to come, And My righteousness to be revealed. 2 Blessed is the man who does this, And the son of man who lays hold on it; Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And keeps his hand from doing any evil.” 3 Do not let the son of the foreigner Who has joined himself to the LORD Speak, saying, “The LORD has utterly separated me from His people”; Nor let the eunuch say, “Here I am, a dry tree.” 4 For thus says the LORD: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, 5 Even to them I will give in My house And within My walls a place and a name Better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name That shall not be cut off. 6 Also the sons of the foreigner Who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, And to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants–Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And holds fast My covenant– 7 Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices Will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” (Isa 56:1-7 NKJV)

That was the intention of the Father for His house. It was to be a house of prayer—a holy place. It was even to be a house of prayer “for all nations”—so that the Gentiles who sought the God of Israel could freely come within its courts and pray to Him. Yet what Jesus found was that the very court of the Gentiles, where the nations were supposed to come and pray, had been turned into a bazaar.

Even worse, Jesus says, “you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” Jesus spoke the words of Jeremiah 7, where God sent His prophet to stand at the gate of the old temple and speak to the people entering it (Jer. 7:1-2), saying,

3 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. 4 Do not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are these.’ 5 For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, 6 if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, 7 then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. 8 Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. 9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, 10 and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’? 11 Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the LORD. (Jer. 7:3-11).

The people in Jeremiah’s day felt as long as they had the temple, it was proof that they were God’s people and would be safe from their enemies. They thought they could live as they pleased and still come to the temple to worship and pray. Jeremiah spoke of thieves, murderers, liars, and idolaters (Jer. 7:9).  These were wicked, sinful people who came into the temple, saying “we are delivered!”

People sometimes do the same today. They go to church on Sundays, and then do whatever they want the rest of the week. But that is not what church is all about. Just as the temple was God’s house in the Old Testament, the people of Christ’s church are God’s house in the New Testament. Here’s the bottom line. You cannot live in sin all week long, and then come to church on Sundays as though none of that matters.

When you put together these prophecies from Isaiah and Jeremiah as Jesus did, the thrust of His message was that the worship that was being offered in the temple of God was corrupt, sinful, and evil. God calls their worship an abomination.

The marketplace in the temple made me think of the multitudes of times I’ve turned the television to a religious channel, and saw an 800 number and a credit card symbol on the bottom of the screen. It made me think of all the churches that adjust their schedules and reshape their style to reach a particular “target audience” from a higher economic level. It made me think of all the things of the world that churches are bringing into the holy house of God in a desperate effort to appear “relevant” and “tolerable” to the world. It made me think of how many churches and pastors are becoming increasingly hesitant to preach God’s word out of a fear of turning people away, and are preaching instead a market-driven message that the people of this world will find more acceptable.[2]

God’s house is a house of prayer. That doesn’t mean the only thing we do is pray. Rather, it means everything we do is done in an attitude of prayer. We come with a heart dependent on the Lord and seeking His face. That’s the first thing we learn from our passage today. God’s house is a place of prayer, not profit – a place of holiness, not a place for sin, selfish gain, or abuse.[3] This is why Jesus drove the market out.

Next, we see that …

2. Jesus Welcomed the Needy In (Matt. 21:14)

Matthew 21:14 says, “Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.” It’s interesting to notice that when Jesus came into His temple, He not only drove out what the Jewish leaders had allowed to come in. He also brought in what they sought to keep out.

Under the Old Testament law, members of the priestly family who had the sad misfortune to suffer a defect were not permitted to serve in the temple. “‘For“, as the law says, “any man who has a defect shall not approach“; and specifically, “a man blind or lame” (Leviticus 21:18). The law even prohibited making an offering of any animal that was “blind or broken or maimed” (Leviticus 22:22). The Jews had misapplied these scriptures, leading to the unmerciful belief that the blind and the lame would defile the temple, and that they should be forbidden from coming into the temple area.

Who should be allowed to come into God’s temple more than those who need His mercy most? And what characterized the merciful ministry of the promised Messiah more than the prophecies of the Old Testament, that “the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped“, or that “the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing” (Isaiah35:5-6)? Jesus excluded no one from His holy presence, or held anyone off from approaching Him, who truly sought His mercy. Those who most know their need for Him always find themselves loved and welcomed by Him. And so, here, we see that He doesn’t simply walk outside the temple area in order to heal the blind and the lame. He clearly expresses His heart for needy people by permitting them to come into His Father’s very house; and by healing them in the very court of the temple.

What a lesson for us as a church! All are welcome in God’s house. The church is a place where people of all races, backgrounds, and social status can join together to worship and serve the one, true and living God. The church is not a social club. It is the family of God, and all who come truly seeking God are welcome. It is a place where healing happens. Whatever your background, whatever your past, whatever sins you are currently struggling with, you are welcomed by Jesus.

One of the wonderful things about church is you don’t have to fix up your life before you come. Church is not a place for holy people who have it all together. It is a place for sinners to be healed. We come to church as broken, hurting, sinful people. We put our trust in Jesus who died on the cross for our sins. He heals our sin-sick souls and transforms us into children of God who walk according to His word.

So we see the Jesus welcomed the needy. Finally, we see that …

3. Jesus Received the Praise of Children (Matt. 21:15-17)

By this point, you would have thought that the high priests and scribes would have readily recognized Jesus for who He is. He had ridden into the city on a humble foal of a donkey as the prophet Zechariah had promised. He had entered into the temple and boldly cleansed it as had been predicted by the prophet Malachi. He had ministered before their very eyes as the Book of Isaiah promised the Messiah would do; healing the blind and the lame.

And now, they’re given one more sign. Matthew writes,

15 But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant 16 and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?” (Matt. 21:14-16).

These were small children, and they were probably shouting, inside the temple, the same sort of words that they heard the crowds shout about Jesus as He approached the city (Matt. 21:9). The chief priests and teachers of the law were not happy about all this. The temple was their area, and Jesus was invading their territory. And so, when they see Jesus healing the sick and all the children shouting Jesus’ praises—in their temple! Instead of joining in with the praises, they begin to protest instead.

They asked Jesus if He heard what these noisy little children were saying—no doubt expecting that Jesus should share their indignation, and command the children to be quiet. And I love Jesus’ answer to their question. “Yes.” It’s a simple, straight-forward, bold answer, as if He was saying “Yes! I of course I hear the children. And I have no intention of stopping them. I gladly receive their praise.”

Instead of hushing the children, Jesus silenced His critics by asking them, “Have you never read …” Again, Jesus appealed to the authority of God’s written word. Surely they had read Psalm 8! There, in front of them, they were seeing prophecy fulfilled—if they had only had the eyes to see it. Out of the mouths of these little ones, Jesus was receiving the praise in the temple that the high priests and the scribes were refusing to give.

Jesus quotes Psalm 8 in this manner: “Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise” (Matt. 21:16b; Psalm 8:2). The word that is here translated “perfected” is a term that refers to the repairing and knitting of a thing together so that it is united and complete. The NASB translates it “prepared”. The NIV translates it “ordained”.

The point is that it was through the praises of the little children that praise to our Lord was “perfected” and made “complete”. It was ordained by God that way. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 19? “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 19:14). Pure, unadulterated praise, like that of little children, is what God desires.

I believe that Jesus wants God’s house to be a place where the meekest, the smallest, and the seemingly most insignificant are welcomed, respected, and well-received in their praises to Him. He does not consider His praise to be complete unless it comes from little mouths.[4]

And notice that Jesus is the rightful recipient of our praise. He is the Son of God, the divine second person of the triune God. He receives worship rightly because He is worthy. We read in Philippians 2: “… that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phi. 2:10-11).

The worship of Jesus is where the continental divide of all religions takes place. All religions either worship Jesus as the only true God or they don’t worship Jesus as the only true God. And those that refuse to worship Jesus are false religions. When the chief priests and scribes refused to worship Him and sought to hinder those who were, they demonstrated themselves to be false. They hated Jesus. They wanted to destroy Jesus. Perhaps this is why we read in Matthew 21:17, “Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.” He didn’t find what He had a right to expect in the temple in Jerusalem; and so He went out from them and left them. They had refused to worship Jesus. They had attempted to stop the worship of Jesus. As we will see next time in the cursing of the fig tree, Jesus leaving them was an act of judgment on their false worship because they did not believe in Him.

What we learn about Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem we can apply to ourselves as the people of God. Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 3:15, “… I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” What does the Son of God want to find in His Father’s house? This passage shows us three things: 1) that His church is a holy place for all who seek Him; 2) that those who most need His mercy are welcomed; and 3) that His praises from the smallest among us are encouraged and respected.

—————————————————————

 

[1] John MacArthur, Macarthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew 16-23, Moody Publishers, Chicago, p. 268.

[2] Greg Allen, What Jesus Wants to Find in the Church, https://bethanybible.org/archive/2008/030908.htm.

[3] Ray Fowler, God’s House, https://www.rayfowler.org/sermons/matthew/gods-house/.

[4] Allen, ibid.

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Who Is This? Matthew 21:1-11

matthew-the-kingdom-of-heaven

Who Is This?

Matthew 21:1-11

Matthew 21 begins the last week of Jesus’ ministry before He would be crucified. Matthew devotes seven chapters to the events of this week. It is the culmination of Jesus’ mission as the Son of God. From the beginning of his Gospel, Matthew has presented Jesus to us as the promised Messiah and King.

But most Jews in Jesus’ day missed Him as their Messiah and King because they were expecting a different kind of Savior. They thought that Messiah would be a mighty political deliverer, who would lead Israel to military victory over their Roman oppressors. They were not looking for a lowly Savior, riding on the foal of a donkey. They could not conceive of a suffering Savior, who offered Himself as the sacrifice for sinners. And so, tragically, they missed the coming of their King![1]

Yes, the multitudes rejoiced as Jesus rode that donkey’s colt into Jerusalem. But did they truly understand Who He was and why He came? Our text today calls us to worship Jesus as our King with rejoicing. Yet if our praise is to be more than just empty emotion, we must understand correctly who Jesus is and what He came to do. In Matthew 21:10, the people were shaken when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, and they voiced this decisive question, “Who is this?” Who is Jesus? Matthew answers that question for us in this passage (Matthew 21:1-11).

Notice first …

1. The Planned Presentation of the King (Matthew 21:1-5)

Our text begins, “Now when they drew near Jerusalem …” (Matt. 21:1). As we know from our previous studies of Matthew, Jesus had planned His arrival in Jerusalem. On several occasions, Jesus had told His disciples that they were headed to Jerusalem and why. In Matthew 16:21, Jesus “began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.” He repeated this prediction in Matthew 17, adding that He would be betrayed (Matt. 17:22-23). Then again, in Matthew 20, Jesus told them again in more detail, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again” (Matt. 20:18-19).

Jesus went to Jerusalem for a specific purpose: to suffer at the hands of sinful men, die upon the cross, and rise again. In Matthew 20:28, Jesus told us the purpose of His death, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” His death was a redeeming death, a sacrificial death, a vicarious death, and a saving death. When Jesus died, He paid the debt for our sins.

Everything that Jesus did as He entered Jerusalem and everything that occurred that day was on purpose. Jesus planned it and executed it on purpose. Remember, up to this point, Jesus had not broadcasted the fact that he was the Messiah. Throughout His ministry in Galilee, Jesus often warned those He healed to “tell no one” (Matt. 8:4; 9:30; 12;16). In Matthew 16, after Peter confessed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!” (Matt. 16:16), Matthew writes, “Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ” (Matt. 16:20). After Peter, James, and John saw Jesus transfigured before them in His divine, royal splendor, “He commanded them, saying, ‘Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead’” (Matt. 17:9).

But now, Jesus intentionally goes public. Jesus knew that the hour for His suffering and death was at hand. He will no longer conceal who He is. He is the Christ, the Messiah who has come giving sight to the blind and raising the dead. He is the Davidic King who has come to save His people. But He is not the kind of Messiah and King the people are expecting.

So, look what Jesus does:

1 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. 3 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” (Matt. 21:1-3).

Jesus is in control of everything that happens here. First, Jesus sent two disciples to bring His ride to Him. Notice that the disciples didn’t have to look for the animals. He said that, as soon as they came into the village, they would “immediately” find not just a donkey, but a donkey and her colt tied together. Two animals—requiring two disciples to bring them.

Second, we see that they were instantly allowed to take the animals. Jesus told them, “And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them” (Matt. 21:2-3). Luke’s Gospel tells us that’s exactly what happened. When the owners saw the two disciples untying the donkeys, they wanted to know what they were doing. And when the disciples said what the Lord told them to say, they just let them go.

Everything went exactly according to plan. Now, some will say that these things took place just as Jesus had spoken because Jesus had made prior arrangements with the owner of these donkeys. That’s pure speculation, because the scripture doesn’t say that. Since Jesus had clear foreknowledge of the specifics of His crucifixion and resurrection, it’s not a stretch to believe that Jesus simply knew where the donkeys were and how the owners would respond.

Whether Jesus prepared for it supernaturally or not, the point is Jesus was clearly in charge of the events surrounding His death, including the triumphal entry, the betrayal by Judas, and the death plots of the Jewish leaders. None of it took Him by surprise. He is the King of authority who controls all things according to His purpose, even the events of His death (Acts 2:23; 4:27-28).[2]

And all of this, Matthew tells us, was in keeping with the promise of the Scriptures, “All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet” (Matt. 21:4). Then Matthew quotes from Zechariah 9:9, “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’” (Matt. 21:5). The “daughter of Zion” refers to the people of Jerusalem. It’s a prophecy to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

It’s important for us to know that when Matthew quotes the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy, he doesn’t just pull a verse out of thin air. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Matthew is writing his Gospel to Hebrews who know their scripture and the context in which it was written. Zechariah prophesied four centuries before the coming of Christ to the Jewish remnant who returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. In the first part of Zechariah 9, God promised to judge the nations surrounding Judah through the coming of a conqueror from Greece. From history, we know him as Alexander the Great. He would strike terror into the hearts of those in his path. He often slaughtered all the men in a city and sold the women and children into slavery. He was a conqueror obsessed with his own power and dominion. The later part of Zechariah 9 then predicts the future prosperity of Judah and how God would then bring judgment on Greece.

However, right between these prophesies of judgment, Zechariah gives a prophecy to Judah about their coming King (Zech. 9:9) who would speak peace to the nations and whose dominion would be to the ends of the earth (Zech 9:10). Here is what the Lord said through Zechariah,

9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King is coming to you;
He is just and having salvation,
Lowly and riding on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.

10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
And the horse from Jerusalem;
The battle bow shall be cut off.
He shall speak peace to the nations;
His dominion shall be ‘from sea to sea,
And from the River to the ends of the earth.'” (Zech. 9:9-10).

Zechariah says that the Messiah King would be “just” or righteous. He will exercise justice perfectly. And Zechariah says this King will come “having salvation”. He will come to save His people. Zechariah says, “He shall speak peace to the nations” (Zech. 9:10).

However, the part of the prophecy that Matthew stresses is the humility of this promised King. In contrast to the proud Alexander on his war horse, Jesus came “Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey” (Matt. 21:5). The donkey was a lowly animal, used for peaceable purposes by those who were of no rank or position. By riding the foal of a donkey, Jesus was showing Himself to be the King, in fulfillment of our text, but not the exalted political king and military commander that the people expected. MacArthur shows the contrast, writing,

Alexander the Great inspires fear. Alexander the Great inspires dread. Alexander the Great makes war. But this king in verse 9 and following does not inspire fear and dread, but praise. He doesn’t make war; He makes peace. He’s not a foreign tyrant; He is Israel’s own king. He’s not cruel and oppressive; He’s kind and righteous. He doesn’t slay; He saves. He’s not rich; He’s poor. He’s not proud; He’s meek. He’s not riding a white horse; He’s riding a colt of a beast of burden. Very stark contrast.[3]

Jesus is the gentle King who said, “28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30). He is the humble King who said, “27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave– 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20:27-28). The angel told Joseph to name Him Jesus because, “He will save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). In His first coming, Jesus was the suffering Messiah who offered salvation and peace with God through His death for us on the cross.

God spoke it through His prophet four hundred years before Jesus came. And the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled it perfectly according to God’s word. God sovereignly determined how the Lord Jesus would present Himself as King in Jerusalem. It was a planned presentation.

Who is this? He is Jesus Christ, the King of authority, justice, salvation, peace, and humility.

How did the people respond to Him?

2. The People’s Praise of the King (Matthew 21:6-9)

Matthew tells us, “6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.” (Matt. 21:6-7). Having retrieved the donkey and colt as Jesus instructed them, the disciples then made a saddle using their own cloaks, and Christ sat on this colt as the procession began to wind its way to the city of Jerusalem.

Matthew 21:8 says, “And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road…” Multitudes of pilgrims and disciples joined Jesus on the way to Jerusalem for the Passover. And seeing Jesus riding the donkey’s colt, they did what would have been appropriate for the coming of the long-awaited King. First, they create a royal carpet of sorts by spreading their cloaks on the road before Him. This custom goes back to Old Testament times where the people would spread their cloaks on the ground before the approaching king. One example is with King Jehu, in 2 Kings 9:13: “Then each man hastened to take his garment and put it under him on the top of the steps; and they blew trumpets, saying, ‘Jehu is king!’” Spreading your cloaks on the ground was a sign of submission and respect. So, when the people spread their cloaks on the ground before Jesus, they are welcoming Him into Jerusalem and symbolically saying they submitted to Him as their King.

Matthew tells us that “others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road” (Matt. 21:8). Palm branches were a sign of joy, especially in the occasion of a military victory. And so we begin to understand what kind of king the people expected Jesus to be. If Palm Sunday for Jesus was all about the humility of a donkey, for the people it was all about the pageantry of the palms.[4] They weren’t looking for a gentle and peaceful king. They were looking for a military king who would deliver them from the power of Rome and inaugurate the Jewish kingdom.

The crowds got bigger as they approached Jerusalem, and now there were crowds of people ahead of Jesus as well as crowds of people following, and they are all shouting: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!” (Matt. 21:9). “Hosanna” is a cry of salvation from Psalm 118:25. It literally means, “Save us, now!” “Son of David” is a messianic title. The Old Testament prophesied that the Messiah would be a direct descendant of David. The Christ would be a King who would take the throne of His father David and reign forever. So, when the people cry out, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”, they are proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah.

They also said, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD,” quoting Psalm 118:26 about the coming of the Messiah. And they shouted, “Hosanna in the highest!”, affirming that Jesus’ coming into the city was a cause of praise to God. It echoes the worship of the heavenly host at Jesus’ birth in Luke 2:14, “Glory to God in the highest!”

As Christ entered Jerusalem, the people were singing a prayer that the Son of David might save them. And Jesus truly is the Savior. Only He didn’t bring salvation in the way that the Jews expected. When we read Matthew 21 in the context of everything else that takes place in the rest of the book, we clearly understand that Christ’s kingdom isn’t a political kingdom. He didn’t come to physically reign over Jerusalem that day. Jesus was establishing a spiritual kingdom. He came to save His people from their sins by giving His life a ransom for many.

Who is this? This is Jesus, the Messiah and King who has come to save. He is blessed for He comes in the name of the Lord in fulfillment of God’s word. He is worthy of the highest praise. And as He comes, the people rejoice and praise Him as the King in fulfillment of prophecy.

But did they really understand what kind of King and Savior He would be?

Finally we see …

3. The Perplexing Person of the King (Matthew 21:10-11)

We see the confusion of the crowd as Matthew reports, “10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”” (Matt. 21:10). Imagine this great multitude, as they marched into the city, shouting, celebrating, and singing ‘hosannas’ to the Lord! It caused quite an uproar! The whole city was shaken. Due to all the commotion, the people of Jerusalem were asking, “Who is this?”

So, who is this? We have already seen the people welcome Jesus as their King. We have seen them proclaim Him as Messiah. And now they also identify him as the Prophet. Matthew 21:11 says, “11 So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”” What did they mean by this? Perhaps some simply meant that Jesus of Nazareth was a prophet sent by God who, like the prophets of the Old Testament spoke the word from God. It was clear from His miraculous power that He was from God. But was He more?

Back in the Old Testament Moses told the people of Israel: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear.” (Deuteronomy 18:15). Now, the people in the city ask, “Who is this?” and the crowds answer, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.” Jesus was the prophet like Moses whom God raised up in fulfillment of prophecy.

We can view the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem in two ways, for it was two things at once.[5] It was a planned presentation of Jesus as King, a public declaration of His Messiahship. By entering Jerusalem this way Jesus threw down of the gauntlet to the religious leadership. He forced the people and their leaders to make a decision about Him. Was He the King and Messiah? Would they accept Him? Or would they carry out their plot to destroy Him (Matt. 12:14)? Jesus came into Jerusalem as a King and dared the religious authorities to do something about it. His hour had come. There was no turning back. Jesus knew that He came to Jerusalem to suffer and die. And when the people hailed Him as Messiah, Prophet and King, it put Him on a direct collision course with the chief priests and teachers of the law, who later that week will condemn Him to death and turn Him over to the Romans to be mocked, beaten, and crucified.

Because, while the triumphal entry presented Jesus as the Messiah and King, it also declared that He was not the Messiah that the people were expecting or what the leaders wanted. He had not come to overthrow the Roman oppressors but to give His life a ransom for their sins. He entered Jerusalem as a king, to be sure, but as a meek and lowly king, riding a donkey. Jesus boldly proceeded into Jerusalem, knowing everything that would happen to Him there. He accepted the praises of the crowd, knowing that everything they proclaimed about Him was true. Jesus stirred up the city, knowing that this would lead to His final confrontation with the religious leaders.

Who is this and how should we receive Him? Let’s receive Him as the Messiah whose coming was promised by God, and prepared far in advance for our salvation. Let’s recognize Him as the King who comes meek and gentle and lowly—not as our Judge now but as our Savior—and as One who takes our sins upon Himself at the cross, so that we need not experience the fear of judgment for our sins. Let’s celebrate Him as the promised King, who’s coming is the answer to the cry, “Save now, O Lord!” And above all, let’s be sure that we place our trust fully in Him who came into Jerusalem to give His life on the cross for our sins.

Because although Jesus comes to us as the humble, servant King today, He has also promised that He will come again. And at His second coming, Jesus will return as the mighty sovereign to judge and to reign forever. Instead of a donkey, He will ride a white horse. Instead of bringing peace, He will make war. Revelation 1911-16 describes it:

11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

What a contrast there is between that first entry into Jerusalem and the second! The first was on a meek and mild donkey—a symbol of gentleness and peace, but the second will be on the white stallion of a warrior. The first was to make atonement for our sins, but the second will be to judge, to make war, and to tread the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. Jesus wore no crowns at that first entry; but at His second, He will wear many crowns. At His first entry, the clothes of the happy crowds were thrown before Him, but at His second, He will wear a robe dipped in blood. Crowds of humble people went before Him and behind Him at His first entry, but at His second, He will be accompanied by the white-robed armies of heaven. He came to His own people that first time to be struck down, but He will come the second time to strike the nations and rule them with a rod of iron. When He came that first time into the city, they announced Him as Jesus, the prophet from the humble town of Nazareth of Galilee, but when He comes the second time, He will be called by the name “The Word of God“, and will bear the title “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS“.[6]

Listen, your eternal destiny at the time of Christ’s second entry into Jerusalem is going to depend upon whether or not you have properly responded to His first coming. If we receive Jesus as the Lord and Savior now, we will reign with Him when He comes again. The crucial question today is, “Who is this?”

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[1] Steven Cole, Lesson 12: Rejoice! Your King is Coming! (Zechariah 9:9-10 and Matthew 21:1-11), https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-12-rejoice-your-king-coming-zechariah-99-10-and-matthew-211-11

[2] Cole, ibid.

[3] John MacArthur, The Humble Coronation of King Jesus, https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/81-42/the-humble-coronation-of-king-jesus.

[4] Ray Fowler, Destination Jerusalem, https://www.rayfowler.org/sermons/matthew/destination-jerusalem/.

[5] Robert Rayburn, The Triumphal Entry, Matthew 21:1-11, https://www.faithtacoma.org/matthew/the-triumphal-entry.  

[6] Greg Allen, “Jesus’ ‘First’ Triumphal Entry”, https://www.bethanybible.org/archive/2008/030208.htm.

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Lord, Have Mercy on Us

matthew-the-kingdom-of-heaven

Lord, Have Mercy on Us

Matthew 20:29-34

In our study of the Gospel of Matthew, we come today to a short passage at the end of Matthew 20 where Jesus heals two blind men. It is also the end of Jesus’ journey toward Jerusalem that began in Matthew 19:1 when Jesus departed Galilee. Over the last few months of Jesus’ ministry, He has been very focused on teaching His disciples. And we have seen two major recurring themes in His teaching during this period. Jesus has been repeatedly telling His disciples about His looming betrayal, arrest, suffering, death, and resurrection that waits Him in Jerusalem. His crucifixion is close and certain. On the other hand, because His disciples keep bringing it up, Jesus has been teaching about true greatness in the kingdom of heaven.

The healing of the two blind men here in Matthew 20 has many correspondences with the passages we have already looked at in Matthew 18-20.[1] This section on Matthew began in Matthew 18:1 with the disciples showing their spiritual blindness by asking who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. In Matthew 18:9, speaking of the dangers of sin, Jesus said that it is better to enter life blinded in one eye than to have two eyes and to be cast into hell fire. In Matthew 18:10, Jesus spoke of the little ones and how their angels always see his Father’s face in heaven.

In Matthew 18:21, after Jesus taught about restoring a sinning brother, Peter, blind to the extent of forgiveness, asks how many times he must forgive. Jesus responded by telling the parable of the unmerciful servant, which stresses the importance of showing mercy because we have received mercy (Matt. 18:33). In today’s passage, the two blind men cry out for mercy and Jesus extends His compassion.

In Matthew 19:3, the Pharisees were blind to who Jesus is and tested Him with a question on marriage and divorce. In Matthew 19:13, the disciples were blind about the value of little children and their place in the kingdom. In Matthew 19:16 the rich young ruler was blind about how to obtain eternal life.

In Matthew 20, when Jesus told the parable of the workers in the vineyard, the owner of the vineyard pointed out the blindness of the complainers who were hired first, saying, “I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?” (Matt. 20:14-15). In Matthew 20:22 James and John were blind about what it means to have the highest seats in the kingdom of heaven. And finally in Matthew 20:20-28, we come full circle because once again the disciples are blind about what it means to be great in the kingdom of heaven.

And so, even though this is a healing story, and Jesus only speaks one question in it, the Lord is still teaching His disciples—and us. The context shows a deliberate contrast between two disciples who sought for greatness and two blind men who cried out for mercy—two who sought to be first and two of the last who sought the Savior. The setting compels us to ask, “Which set of two were truly blind?” And it forces us to ask ourselves, “How well do I see Jesus?”

Considering those questions, let’s look into this brief healing story. First we see the …

1. Cries of Blind Men for Mercy (Matt. 20:29-30)

Matthew sets the stage for this story writing, “Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.” (Matt. 20:29). Jericho was the last major city that Jesus passed through on His way to Jerusalem. In the very next passage (Matthew 21), Jesus will arrive there as the long-awaited King of the Jews, “lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Matt. 21:5) just as the scriptures promised He would (Zechariah 9:9). The excited multitudes who followed Jesus from Jericho and those in Jerusalem will greet Him with palm branches in hand; and will spread their cloaks before Him, shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!” (Matt. 21:9).

And just a few days after that, the crowd will cry out, “Let Him be crucified!” (Matt. 27:22), and He will hang on a cross beneath an inscription that read, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS” (Matt. 27:37). Jesus Himself will cry out with a loud voice and yield up His spirit as a sacrifice for sinners (Matt. 27:50). That day, the veil of the temple will be torn in two—opening up the way for sinners like you and me to enter into fellowship with a holy God (Matt. 27:51), and the precious body of Jesus will be laid in a tomb (Matt. 27:60). And in just a few days more, He will be gloriously raised from the dead—forever our mighty Victor over the grave!

We know that all of this was on the mind of Jesus as He passed through Jericho on His way to Jerusalem. He had been reminding His disciples over and over again that this is where He is going and why. And it’s this unique context that makes this healing story stand out so remarkably. It highlights not only that Jesus is Lord, King, and Messiah, but also how merciful and compassionate our Savior is.[2] Even though Jesus was on His way to His suffering and death, He willingly stopped to show compassion to two men who cried out for mercy. It remind us of what Jesus taught about Himself just before this event, “… the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20:28).

Matthew highlights the surprising interruption in Jesus’ quest with the words, “And behold!” What got everyone’s attention was “two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, ‘Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!’” (Matt. 20:30). It was not unusual for blind men to sit by the road at the entrance to the city. Mark’s Gospel tells us they were begging (Mark 10:46). In Jesus’ day, the blind were, for the most part, discarded by society. Often, their blindness was caused by some infection or disease—resulting in a grotesque redness or swollenness, and a constant running of the eyes. People were afraid to touch them. They were usually quite helpless, rejected, and despised, and they could only survive through the occasional mercy of others.

These men heard the commotion of the crowd and learned that it was because Jesus was passing by. The obviously had also heard about Jesus’ compassion and His power to heal. Remember in Matthew 9, Jesus had healed two other blind men who cried out to Him for mercy. Even though Jesus sternly warned those healed men, “See that no one knows it,” (Matt. 9:30), news about it spread all over (Matt. 9:31).

You can tell by what they said that they had come to some important conclusions about Jesus. They called Him “Lord“, and although this may be a way of showing respect and reverence, it also is a term that the New Testament uses to indicate that Jesus is the divine Son of God and Savior. The fact that they call Jesus “Lord” three times indicates its significance. They also called Him “the Son of David“, which is a Messianic title, meaning that Jesus is the long promised King whom the prophets foretold. It’s the same title that the people will use in praise to Jesus in the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday.

They believed that because Jesus was the Lord, Messiah, and King that He could even heal their blindness. In the Old Testament, it is only Yahweh, the LORD God who can heal blindness. Psalm 146:8 says, “The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD raises those who are bowed down.” Prophesying about the LORD God coming to save (Isa. 35:4), Isaiah says, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.” (Isa. 35:5). And prophesying of when “the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel” (Isa. 29:19), Isaiah says, “In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness” (Isa. 29:18).

These men knew their helpless condition and their need for healing. They also knew the only one who could help them was the Lord. That’s why they cried out for mercy.

In contrast to what they asked for, look at what happens next, the …

2. Callous Crowd Showed No Mercy (Matt. 20:31)

Matthew 20:31 says, “Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet…” As these poor men cried out for mercy, the crowd tried to silence them. Can you imagine what an embarrassment they were? They were making a nuisance of themselves. They were loud and simply would not stop crying out at the top of their lungs. Matthew says, “…but they cried out all the more, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!”” (Matt. 20:31).

The callous crowd did not see these men as worthy of Jesus’ attention. These were just some insignificant, dirty beggars. The crowd didn’t have time for them, so they thought Jesus shouldn’t either.

But praise the Lord! How wrong they were! So finally we see the …

3. Compassionate Lord Showed Mercy (Matt. 20:32-34)

Matthew 20:32 says, “So Jesus stood still …” Just think about that statement. The Lord Jesus—the Son of David, King and Messiah—was even then on His way to the cross to die for the sins of mankind. What could have been more important? And yet, at the cries and pleas of these two blind men, He came to a complete stop. The Matthew says that Jesus “called them.” With all the people around the blind men telling them to be quiet, and with all the crowds pressing in around Jesus wanting Him to speak to them, He calls out instead to these two blind men in response to their cries and asks, “What do you want Me to do for you?” (Matt. 20:32).

Jesus’ question stands in stark contrast to the question of the rich young ruler who asked Jesus, “… what good thing shall I do…?” (Matt. 19:16). The rich man was blind to the way of salvation, blind to the depth of his own sin, and blind to the Savior. When it comes to salvation, the right question is not, “What can you do for Jesus?” but “What can Jesus do for you?”

Now, it’s obvious that Jesus knows what they want. Jesus didn’t ask questions because He didn’t know things, but in order to teach and expose motives and draw out faith in people. Surely, most of the time that these blind beggars have asked people for mercy, it was to receive a handout—food or money to help them in their poverty. But these men didn’t ask Jesus for a mere handout. They were asked for a miraculous healing. “They said to Him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.”” (Matt. 20:33). You don’t ask for something like that unless you believe that Jesus really is the Lord, Messiah, and King.

Jesus immediately responds to their faith (Mark 10:52). Matthew 20:34 says, “So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.” Jesus, motivated by His deep love, touched their eyes. I imagine that the first thing these men saw was the face of Jesus. The blind hymn writer Fanny Crosby was once pitied by a preacher, who said that it was a shame that she had lost her eyesight as a young child. She replied that she was grateful, “because when I get to Heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior!” These men must have felt the same way.

Having received their sight, they did the only thing appropriate for them to do—they followed Jesus. They joined the rest of the disciples who were following Jesus to Jerusalem.

And knowing the context of this miracle, we can’t help but see the spiritual meaning of it. Like these two beggars, all of us, before we meet the Savior, are spiritually blind. We are helplessly lost in the darkness of our own sin. But then Jesus comes. By the grace of God we hear He is passing by. Knowing we have no other hope, we cry out for mercy to the Lord who alone can save us. By grace God opens our blind eyes to the truth of the gospel—that Jesus is the Messiah and Savior, who died on the cross to pay the ransom for us, that He is the Lord of glory who was raised from the dead, that He will have mercy on us, forgiving our sin and giving us the gift of eternal life. And by God’s grace, He has compassion on us, calls us to Himself, heals our spiritual blindness, and saves us completely. And in joyful gratitude, we follow Him.

One commentator put it this way:

The giving of sight to the blind is a dramatic miracle that points to the dawning of the era of messianic fulfillment. The Son of David is present among his people. And as he compassionately delivers them from their literal darkness, so he continues on his way to Jerusalem, where in his sacrificial death he will deliver all of humanity from an even greater darkness—that of the bondage to sin and death.[3]

Thus, the cry of the blind men, “Lord … have mercy on us!” Becomes the cry of all believers. It is how we approach the Lord’s Table today—trusting in Jesus as the only One who can save us from sin.  

When you come to Jesus believing, He will save you from your sins. He will give you new life and make you a child of God. He will open the eyes of your heart to His goodness and grace. He will make you able to enter the kingdom of heaven where one day you will see him face to face. What can be better than to see Jesus? Oh, what glory that will be!

Jesus asks you this morning, “What do you want me to do for you?” Would you respond, “Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, that I may see and follow you.”?

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[1] Ray Fowler, What Do You Want Jesus to Do?, https://www.rayfowler.org/sermons/matthew/what-do-you-want-jesus-to-do/.  

[2] Greg Allen, The ‘Importune’ Blind Men, https://www.bethanybible.org/archive/2008/020308.htm.

[3] Donald Hagner, Word Biblical Commentary Volume 33b: Matthew 14-28, Word Publishers, p. 588.

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The Greatness of Suffering and Service

matthew-the-kingdom-of-heaven

The Greatness of Suffering and Service

Matthew 20:20-28

As Jesus continues to approach Jerusalem (see Matt. 20:17), the disciples are anticipating Jesus coming into His kingdom. Indeed, arriving in Jerusalem in Matthew 21, Jesus will openly accept praise as the Messianic King by His triumphal entry into the city on a donkey (Matt. 21:9). Yet, despite His repeated teachings about the true nature of His kingdom, even those closest to Him failed to understand it. Jesus had just predicted to His disciples His suffering, death, and resurrection that was coming in Jerusalem. Then, shockingly in the very next event, we see James and John, two of Jesus’ closest disciples, coming with their mother to ask for places of power and honor with Jesus in His kingdom.

What the disciples didn’t yet fully understand was that the Savior’s pathway to greatness wouldn’t follow the course they expected. They didn’t know that greatness in His kingdom led first through the path of service, suffering, and sacrifice. They could not yet comprehend that the way to His glorious crown required a stop first at the gruesome cross. They didn’t understand then that this was how true “greatness” in His kingdom would be accomplished.

And even we, today, easily forget it. We live in an ambitious and competitive world. The way up to prominence in the world is often by trampling over lesser people as we scramble to the top. Greatness is measured by how many serve you and look up to you. We celebrate those who are the best, fastest, smartest, strongest, mightiest, loveliest, and richest. Even in our Christian circles we are often captivated by celebrity preachers, musicians, and leaders. Many bask in the limelight of those who appear to have extraordinary gifts and influence.  

Yet in our text today, Jesus will make it clear that the road to greatness in Jesus’ kingdom is not the way of the world but through following His own example of humble, sacrificial service.

Our story begins with …

1. The Disciples’ Ambitious Request (Matt. 20:20-21)

20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. 21 And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She said to Him, “Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.” (Matt. 20:19-21).

Zebedee’s sons are James and John (Matt. 4:21). They come to Jesus with their mother. Comparing the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection accounts in Matthew, Mark, and John, many scholars have concluded that the mother of Zebedee’s sons (Matt. 27:65) is the woman named Salome (Mark 15:40) and the Lord’s “mother’s sister” (John 19:25). If this is true, it would mean that she was Jesus’ aunt through Mary, and James and John were Jesus’ cousins. This might partly explain why Jesus entrusted the care of His mother Mary to John as He hung dying on the cross (John 19:27). Mary was John’s relative.

Salome had a great faith in Jesus and was clearly devoted to Him. She was among those women who followed Jesus and served Him in His earthly ministry and who watched after Jesus’ crucifixion to see where He was buried (Matt. 27:55-56). She was also among those women who came early on the Sunday of His resurrection to His tomb (Mark 16:1). She believed that He was the Messiah King and that His kingdom was about to be realized. And as a mother who is proud of her sons, she was eager for James and John to be appointed to places of honor in that kingdom.

Now we shouldn’t think that this was just their mother’s idea. I don’t picture James and John behind their mother, shaking their heads in embarrassment at her request. In Matthew 27:22, Jesus addresses His comments directly to James and John. He knew it was their request, not just their mother’s. Perhaps they thought they would more likely get a positive answer from Jesus if they put their request in the mouth of their sweet mother who was so devoted to Jesus.

We also must not think that only James and John had this ambition for first place in the kingdom. This was not the first time that the question of “greatness” came up among the disciples. Recall that in Matthew 18, the disciples had asked Jesus, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Matt. 18:1). Mark tells us that on the way they had been arguing among themselves about who would be the greatest (Mark 9:34). Do you remember what Jesus did then? Jesus placed a small child before them and said, “whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:4).

All the disciples seemed obsessed with the ambition for greatness. Matthew 20:24 tells us, “And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.” The ten were not offended at the two brothers’ lack of humility; they were indignant because they wanted those honored places. Luke tells us that even on the night of the Passover, after Jesus had instituted the Lord’s Supper and told them that His betrayer was there at the table with them, again they fought with each other about who was greatest.

Is it wrong to want to be great in the kingdom of heaven? Jesus has clearly taught us to “seek first the kingdom of God” (Matt. 6:33). He taught us to “… lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…” (Matt. 6:20). When Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell all his possessions, give them to the poor, and come follow Him, He promised him “treasure in heaven” (Matt. 19:21). In Matthew 19:28, Jesus had already promised His disciples prominent places of authority in the kingdom, saying, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

The real problem with the disciples was not that they desired to be great in the kingdom. Their first problem was that they misunderstood the nature of the kingdom of heaven. They were still thinking of earthly rewards, while Jesus spoke of heavenly rewards. They were seeking power and honor for themselves, and that’s not what the kingdom of heaven is all about. And this led to their second problem—they were seeking for greatness in the wrong way. If you seek an earthly reward you will pursue it in earthly ways. But if you seek a heavenly reward, you will pursue it in godly ways. If you seek a selfish reward, you will pursue it in selfish ways. But if you seek a godly reward, you will see it in godly ways.

So, Jesus has to correct James and John for their wrong thinking about the kingdom and how to pursue it. They wanted the crowns but didn’t understand the cross. They wanted the glory but had not counted the cost.

Jesus therefore teaches them …

2. The Lord’s Arduous Requirement (Matt. 20:22-23)

In Matthew 20:22, Jesus answered the two brothers and said, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?“

James and John did not know what it would mean for them to sit at His right and left hand in the kingdom. If they really knew what it would require, they might not have asked. Jesus asks them, “Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” Drinking the cup is a figure of speech that represents a taking a portion or experiencing something. The Old Testament often uses the cup to represent suffering or judgment. David writes in Psalm 11, “Upon the wicked He will rain coals; Fire and brimstone and a burning wind Shall be the portion of their cup.” (Psalm 11:6).  Psalm 75 says,

7 But God is the Judge: He puts down one, And exalts another. 8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, And the wine is red; It is fully mixed, and He pours it out; Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth Drain and drink down. (Psalm 75:7-8).

Isaiah prophesies, “Awake, awake! Stand up, O Jerusalem, You who have drunk at the hand of the LORD The cup of His fury; You have drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling, And drained it out.” (Isaiah 51:17).

For Jesus, the cup represented His suffering and death. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus would pray, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matt. 26:39). And as Peter tried to fight back at Jesus’ arrest, the Lord told him, “Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?” (John 18:11).

In our context here in Matthew 20, Jesus has just for the third time predicted His suffering and crucifixion that awaits Him in Jerusalem. He just told them He would die on a cross. And now He asks them, “Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” (Matt. 20:22). He is asking if they are willing and able to die as well.

Do you think they understood now? Nope. Listen to their hasty response, “They said to Him, ‘We are able.’” (Matt. 20:22). Because they were selfishly ambitious, they were overly confident in themselves. They were ready to agree to anything to get those honored seats next to Jesus.

Knowing that they still did not understand what they were agreeing to, Jesus answered them, “You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with” (Matt. 20:23). And drink that cup of suffering and death, they did. James was the first of the apostles to be martyred. Under the direction of Herod Agrippa, James was arrested and put to death. You can read the story in Acts 12. John suffered greatly for His Lord. He was persecuted and exiled to the island of Patmos, which was frequently used by the Romans to punish criminals. James and John drank from His cup.

But even still, Jesus makes it clear that He cannot promise them the places of honor. He says, “but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father” (Matt. 20:23). Honor and authority are not rewarded to us in this life. They are rewards in heaven, prepared by the Father for those who love Him.

These brothers thought that greatness meant being above others in position. They wanted to turn the twelve into “the two and their ten subordinates.”[i] So Jesus needed to teach them again the true nature of His kingdom, what greatness really means, and how to get there.

That is what we see next. Jesus teaches …

3. The Kingdom’s Absolute Reversal (Matt. 20:25-28)

Matthew writes, “But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you.” (Matt. 20:25-26a). Jesus says that they are not to be like the “rulers of the Gentiles”—in other words, they are not to seek greatness like unbelievers do.

Greatness in the kingdom of heaven does not at all look like greatness in the world. The world seizes positions of authority and then dominates those under them. In this world the poor serve the rich, and the weak serve the strong. It’s a “top-to-bottom” hierarchy of power, and the only way to climb up the ladder is by trampling those under you and ruthlessly crawling over those above you. People desire positions of authority because of the benefits that it will bring to themselves: recognition, social status, promotion, financial benefits, power, superiority, and influence. They are in it for themselves. Even the leaders of Israel in the time of Ezekiel were like this. Ezekiel 34 says,

  1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 3 You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them.” (Ezek. 34:1-4).

How do you know if your attitude is too much like the world? Ask yourself: Do I need to be the one in control? Do I need to be the center of attention? Do I need to have it my way? Do I need to win? How do I feel when others treat me like a slave? Am I offended when I get ignored or passed over?

Jesus says to those who enter the kingdom of heaven, “Yet it shall not be so among you” (Matt. 20:26). They must have a different path to greatness than the rest of the world. That different path is, “… but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave.” (Matt. 20:26-27). In other words, the path to greatness isn’t looking out for yourself; the path to greatness is looking out for others. It’s exactly what Jesus has been trying to teach the disciples: that the first will be last and the last will be first (Matt. 19:30; 20:16).

If you want to be great you must be what? A servant. If you want to be first you must be what? A slave. The lower you become, the higher you will be. In Jesus’ kingdom, greatness is not measure by how many people serve you, but by how you serve other people. Jesus Himself is our example. Remember what Jesus did for His disciples on the night He was betrayed? John 13 tells us,

1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 2 And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, (John 13:1-3).

Think about that. Jesus knew He had come from God and was going to God. He knew He had been with the Father from all eternity (John 1:1-3). He knew He was equal with God (Phil. 2:6). He knew He would sit at the right hand of the Father with all authority given to Him in heaven and earth (Matt. 28:18). Yet, He took the form of a slave and …

 4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. 5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. (John 13:4-5).

He took the lowly place of a slave and He served them. When He was through,  Jesus placed His garments on again, sat down, and said to His disciples,

“Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them” (John 13:12-17).

Jesus is our example of humble service. Our role models are not the rulers of the world but Jesus Himself–Jesus, who humbled Himself as a slave. Jesus, who said, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20:28). The word “serve” in that verse is the Greek word diakoneo. It is the verb form of the word “deacon”. In the church, a deacon is not a position of authority; it is a position of service. One preacher commented, “Every time a person becomes a deacon they ought to go home and say, ‘I got demoted today, they made me a deacon.’”[ii]

Jesus’ ultimate act of service for others was “to give His life a ransom for many.” Jesus knew He came to serve and to give His life up on the cross to pay the ransom for us. Because of our sin we owed a debt to God that we could not pay. We were slaves of sin (Rom. 6:6). We were condemned sinners (John 3:18) as children of wrath (Eph. 2:1). But while we were still sinners Jesus died for us (Rom. 5:8). He redeemed us with His own blood (Eph. 1:7; Matt. 26:28; Acts 20:28; 1 Tim. 2:6; Tit. 2:14; Heb. 9:12’ 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 2:2; 1 John 4:10; Rev. 5:9). This is why He willingly went to the cross and died. He gave His life to ransom yours. There is no greater love than what Jesus showed in dying for us (John 15:13). If Christ has so loved us, shouldn’t we also love one another the same way (1 John 4:11)?

Jesus, in His service, suffering, and death, He not only redeemed us, He set the example for us. It’s not those who act high and mighty who are great. It’s the servant. How do you know you have the heart of a servant? How do you react when someone treats you like one? How do you feel when you give and help and labor, but nobody seems to notice or say “thank you”? In Luke 17, Jesus taught His disciples saying,

7 “And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? 8 But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. 10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.'” (Luke 17:7-10).

A servant isn’t supposed to look out for his own needs. A servant is supposed to look after the needs of his master. Servants cook the food for their masters. Servants clean the house for their masters. Servants wash the clothes for their masters. Servants plow the fields for their masters. Servants pick the weeds for their masters. And servants don’t look for a “thank you”. They don’t do it for the applause. They don’t expect recognition.

Jesus we must servants to others. We should be looking out for the interests of others, as if they were our masters. As if they were our Lord. That’s the way it is to work in Christian families, Paul says, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord” (Eph. 5:22); “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,” (Eph. 5:25); “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” (Eph. 6:1). It’s to be that way in our work also. Paul writes to slaves, to serve their masters, “with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men,” (Eph. 6:7).  And to all he writes, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Col. 3:17). We serve one another because in doing so we are serving the Lord.

And we are being like our Lord. Paul puts it this way in Philippians 2,

3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, (Phil. 2:3-5).

The Christian’s ambition is not to gain authority over others but to serve others. It is not to be high and mighty but low and weak. It is not characterized by haughtiness but humbleness. It means suffering, service, and sacrifice.

As we close today, I want you to consider three things. One, have I trusted in Christ to pay the ransom for my sin? If not, repent and believe in Him today. Come, and He will give you life—eternal life. Two, consider how you can follow the example of Jesus in serving others. Let’s serve each other in the church, especially in ways that will not gain us recognition from others but only rewards from God. Three, consider how you will follow Jesus in suffering and sacrifice. If we are following His example, we will also drink that cup. Greatness is the kingdom is found in following Jesus in suffering and service.

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[i] Greg Allen, With Jesus on the Road to Greatness, https://www.bethanybible.org/archive/2008/011308.htm

[ii] Rory Mosley, The Christian Ambition (Matthew 20:17-28), https://fbcspur.org/christian-ambition-matthew-2017-28/  

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