One day, possibly Wednesday of Passion Week, Jesus was teaching and preaching to the people in the temple. The chief priests, scribes, and elders came to Jesus and asked him, "By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you the authority to do them?" They questioned Jesus' actions. Their question was somewhat vague to the specifics as we are not certain if they were questioning the actions of cleansing the temple earlier in the week, his recent teaching, or miracles he was performing. They also questioned Jesus' authority. He was proclaiming the gospel and presenting himself almost as a self-appointed rabbi and they wanted to know who had given him the authority to do such things since he had not been trained by them.
Jesus responded by making them a deal, that if they could answer one of his questions he would answer theirs. Jesus asked, "Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?" The priests, scribes, and elders discussed the answer among themselves to come up with a response. They knew that if they said "from heaven" he would ask why didn't they believe him. But if they said "from man" the crowd could potentially attack them because John was seen as a prophet among the people, almost like a national hero of sorts. Faced with no other response, they were forced to answer Jesus that they did not know even though they were supposed to be the religious leaders of the people.
While Jesus could have given an answer, by responding the way he did he taught us a lesson we can use today. Honest questions about faith deserve an answer. However, questions not asked in humility and faith, but rather to trap or challenge a believer, need not be answered. I've heard a story of a man who went to jail for a period of time for selling drugs. He was asked one time by a group of school age children what was the most money he ever made selling drugs. While he could have answered that question, he knew that doing so meant he would have to be misleading or risk tempting those students into chasing the money so he chose not to answer. His response to that shows us a godly wisdom.
But Jesus wasn't done with the priests and scribes yet. He went on to tell them The Parable of the Two Sons. A man had two sons. He went to the first and told him, "Son, go work in the vineyard today." And the son replied that he would not. But later on he changed his mind and went to work. And the man did the same to the other son. This son responded that he would go, but did not actually go do any work. Jesus then asks, "Which of the two sons did the father's will?" They answered, "The first."
And boom, Jesus had them. The first son was like the tax collectors and prostitutes of their day, people who were despised by society, looked down upon by these elders, but they had believed John when he came and told them of the kingdom of God. No matter how sinful they had been in the past, once they were doing the Father's will they were deemed righteous! And then the second son. Initially, he appeared to be good to go, answering his father affirmatively right out of the box. But then his actions did not back up his talk, much like these religious leaders at the time, they appeared holy on the outside and in their rituals but did not have the faith in Jesus Christ that is necessary for salvation.
Which son are you? Are you the son who on Sunday morning or during revival services is saying "Yes Lord, I'll do this, I'll do that." and then by Monday morning that passion and desire to serve Jesus Christ is gone?
Or are you the son who may have made some wrong choices in your past, done things you regret, done things you're not proud of, but starting today you want to get to work for the Lord? I won't sit here and say your past doesn't matter, it does. But God can do so much with our future if we will just give him today.
Jesus responded by making them a deal, that if they could answer one of his questions he would answer theirs. Jesus asked, "Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?" The priests, scribes, and elders discussed the answer among themselves to come up with a response. They knew that if they said "from heaven" he would ask why didn't they believe him. But if they said "from man" the crowd could potentially attack them because John was seen as a prophet among the people, almost like a national hero of sorts. Faced with no other response, they were forced to answer Jesus that they did not know even though they were supposed to be the religious leaders of the people.
While Jesus could have given an answer, by responding the way he did he taught us a lesson we can use today. Honest questions about faith deserve an answer. However, questions not asked in humility and faith, but rather to trap or challenge a believer, need not be answered. I've heard a story of a man who went to jail for a period of time for selling drugs. He was asked one time by a group of school age children what was the most money he ever made selling drugs. While he could have answered that question, he knew that doing so meant he would have to be misleading or risk tempting those students into chasing the money so he chose not to answer. His response to that shows us a godly wisdom.
But Jesus wasn't done with the priests and scribes yet. He went on to tell them The Parable of the Two Sons. A man had two sons. He went to the first and told him, "Son, go work in the vineyard today." And the son replied that he would not. But later on he changed his mind and went to work. And the man did the same to the other son. This son responded that he would go, but did not actually go do any work. Jesus then asks, "Which of the two sons did the father's will?" They answered, "The first."
And boom, Jesus had them. The first son was like the tax collectors and prostitutes of their day, people who were despised by society, looked down upon by these elders, but they had believed John when he came and told them of the kingdom of God. No matter how sinful they had been in the past, once they were doing the Father's will they were deemed righteous! And then the second son. Initially, he appeared to be good to go, answering his father affirmatively right out of the box. But then his actions did not back up his talk, much like these religious leaders at the time, they appeared holy on the outside and in their rituals but did not have the faith in Jesus Christ that is necessary for salvation.
Which son are you? Are you the son who on Sunday morning or during revival services is saying "Yes Lord, I'll do this, I'll do that." and then by Monday morning that passion and desire to serve Jesus Christ is gone?
Or are you the son who may have made some wrong choices in your past, done things you regret, done things you're not proud of, but starting today you want to get to work for the Lord? I won't sit here and say your past doesn't matter, it does. But God can do so much with our future if we will just give him today.
Comments
Post a Comment