December 5, 2021
Morning Service

The Passion Week has begun as we experienced with the Jesus the outpouring of praise upon His arrival into Jerusalem.  This is what we had been hoping to happen; for Him to step out of the shadows and proclaim before all the people who He is.  Our hopes are high as we even watched Him cleanse the Temple driving out those who were taking advantage of His true worshipers.  We are very excited for what the week will hold for us because we seem to have dismissed Jesus’ own prophecy of how this trip to Jerusalem would go.

Mat 20:18-19 "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, (19) and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again."

            At this moment it would be extremely difficult to imagine this happening to our Lord.  Monday begins and we return to Jerusalem and encounter a fig tree.

 

Mat 21:18-22 Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry.  (19)  And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again." Immediately the fig tree withered away.  (20)  And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?"  (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."

            The meaning behind this act has much debate.  The most reasonable explanation is that this was not a thoughtless or angry act, but an acted-out parable.  Jesus could have been showing His anger with religion without substance.  The fig tree looked good from a distance but was fruitless.  The Jewish people looked very religious from the outside, but were living lives without producing the necessary works or fruits.  A life of following Jesus will be fruitful, because you can’t truly meet Him and not be changed, transformed into something new.  Jesus then explains that with true, strong faith anything is possible through our prayers.  This is not a ticket to do “magic” tricks or an invitation to have “anything” we want, but a person of this deep of faith will pray in accordance with God’s will and have great confidence that God will hear you and act upon it.  As our faith grows, our desires and prayer life will change from our will to His.  After the fig tree, we return to the Temple and meet up with the chief priests.

 

Mat 21:23-27 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?"  (24)  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: (25) The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?" And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  (26)  But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet."  (27)  So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know." And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

            The religious leaders begin their onslaught to destroy Jesus’ reputation.  If Jesus answered that His authority came from God, they would accuse Him of blasphemy.  If He answered His own authority, then the people would believe the priests’ authority would trump His.  In reversing the question, Jesus flips the unanswerable question to them and His wisdom wins out.  We now begin Jesus teaching us from three parables with basically the same meaning and I have recruited some help to read this for me.

 

Mat 21:28-32 "But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.'  (29)  He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went.  (30)  Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go.  (31)  Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said to Him, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.  (32)  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.

            The second son was the nation of Israel.  They agreed to be obedient, but in the end they seemed to always to fall short in the “doing” part.  We can’t follow Jesus by word only or even by outward actions only; it has to be from the heart.  Israel was only going through the motions of following the Lord and were not truly doing His will.  We can’t be Christians by name only we must have the works and motivation to prove our walk with Jesus is real.

 

Mat 21:33-46 "Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  (34)  Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit.  (35)  And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.  (36)  Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.  (37)  Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  (38)  But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'  (39)  So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  (40)  "Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?"  (41)  They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons."  (42)  Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE. THIS WAS THE LORD'S DOING, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’?  (43)  "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.  (44)  And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  (45)  Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.  (46)  But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.

            This parable is the story of the people of Israel and their rebellion against the God who chose them to be His own special people.  God through Moses defined the life He desired His people to live and they continually rebelled killing His prophets and rejecting His call out to them.  They even get to the point of killing His Own Son (prophecy at the point of this parable).  Jesus reveals to the Jews here that their most valued status as God’s only chosen people would soon be taken from them and given to another who would value it more.  The chief priests understood this was about them and it infuriated them (all part of God’s perfect plan).  Though they are God’s special people, they have missed His greatest gift He ever gave; Jesus the Chief Cornerstone of our faith and salvation.  We finish with a parable of a wedding feast.

 

Mat 22:1-14 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:  (2)  "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son,  (3)  and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.  (4)  Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding." '  (5)  But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.  (6)  And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.  (7)  But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.  (8)  Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.  (9)  Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.'  (10)  So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.  (11)  "But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  (12)  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless.  (13)  Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  (14)  "For many are called, but few are chosen."

            In this culture, two invitations were sent out.  The first asked guests to attend and the second announced that it was ready and when to come.  In this story the king sent three invitations and was rejected by each one.  They were too busy with all the things they had going to attend.  This again is the nation of Israel.  God continually invited them to have a special intimate relationship with Him and they rejected Him.  We are the guests the servants found by the highways having no direction or purpose.  He lovingly invites us to the wedding; DO NOT ignore the invitation RSVP immediately!  To attend though, you have to wear wedding garments; in refusing you would insult the host and be asked to leave.  Our attendance of the wedding feast depends solely on wearing the garments of righteousness given to us by Jesus.  How do we do that?  Paul explains in Galatians:

 

Gal 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

            The wedding garment we must wear into the feast is the righteousness of Christ.  Upon our confession of faith and believing in our heart we “put on” the wedding garment of Christ that allows us to enter into the feast.  There is no other way under heaven to enter into eternal life than through faith in Jesus.  That is the gospel message in short form.  We realize we are sinners and need a Savior.  Jesus offers Himself as a sacrifice for your sins.  You accept that free gift and begin a walk with Him through baptism that well transform you into the person God has designed you to be.

 

Heavenly Father, thank You for this wonderful gift of salvation that Jesus paid for upon the cross.  Help us to not get caught “going through the motions” of serving You, but to be “all in” serving with our heart.