Day 85

Memorize: Christ repeatedly outwits Pharisees Luke 20

Key Verses: 2, 14, 18, 25, 34, 38, 44, 47

Jesus knew that there are those who are in rebellion against the authority of God. We see it in the news and in our own lives. The religious leaders were rebelling against God’s authority and Jesus caught them in their rebellion. They hadn’t listened to John’s message and they would not listen to Jesus’ either. The parable of the tenants is directed at these leaders. They are the tenants in the story. They are not giving to God what is due Him. Down through history these leaders rebelled against the servants God had sent to redirect them back to true worship. Now the Son was here and they would kill him.

The only way to survive is to yield to Jesus, fall on the stone. We must be broken. We must submit to God’s authority in our lives, no holes barred. Every area must be open to His inspection and dominance. We can’t be half sold out followers. Half sold out is not sold out. Not sold out is not a follower.

They set a series of traps for Jesus in order to have a ruse to arrest Him, but Jesus doesn’t fall for any of them. Their money had Caesar’s likeness on it, so it belongs to Him. We have God’s likeness on us, so we belong to God. Jesus says it is not either or, but both and. We pay taxes and we yield to God. Something is due to both, so give to God what is due Him.

They try with a standard trick theological question. Jesus gives them insight into Heaven: no marriage. The life in heaven is a different quality of life, so a different set of relationships exist there. All are alive even after death. Moses speaks in the present about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Just because death has stopped our physical life does not mean that we go out of existence. We continue.

Once Jesus has silenced their questions, He has a question of His own to challenge their narrow theology. David says that the Messiah would be called to sit at God’s right hand, the position of authority in Heaven. The God of the universe calls Messiah an equal. The Messiah must be more than a human being. He must be God Himself. We sing this in our Christmas hymns and Easter songs. “God with us” and “God in flesh appearing,” but we rarely pause to listen to what we are singing.

Maybe it is time we yield to the authority of God in our lives. Or we will be like the religious leaders, making a show and acting important. When we put on pretenses, we show that we are not putting God in His proper place in our lives. Be careful of our attitude, and be careful of religious leaders who put on an air of importance about themselves.