Dailies ~ Advent
December 20, 2019
Today’s reading was quite the eye opener! Jesus was bold, He was outspoken
in a way that we just barely glimpsed when He flipped the tables on the money
changers. He gained more boldness each chapter it seems. As He grew more open
about who He really was there was much more opposition from the religious
leaders. Sometimes I think they were just doing what they knew, as did Saul who
became Paul. Later in the New Testament you will see that things became more
obvious that God was in control of Christ’s life even as a man. He knew Who He
was and what authority He had. It seems to me this that at this point He was
getting really annoyed with the leaders who were teaching the wrong things and
not doing the things they should. d need to pray for our leaders that they will
be bold to speak the truth and know who they are in Christ.
Heavenly Father, help each of us to know who we are in Christ, and
to do the will of the father with the lives HE has given us to live. In Jesus’
name amen.
One day as Jesus was teaching the people and preaching the Good
News in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the
elders came up to him. 2 They demanded, “By what authority are you doing
all these things? Who gave you the right?”
3 “Let me
ask you a question first,” he replied. 4 “Did John’s authority to
baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?”
5 They
talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why
we didn’t believe John. 6 But if we say it was merely human, the people
will stone us because they are convinced John was a prophet.” 7 So they finally replied
that they didn’t know.
8 And Jesus
responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.”
9 Now Jesus
turned to the people again and told them this story: “A man planted a
vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and moved to another country to live for
several years. 10 At the
time of the grape harvest, he sent one of his servants to collect his share of
the crop. But the farmers attacked the servant, beat him up, and sent him back
empty-handed. 11 So the
owner sent another servant, but they also insulted him, beat him up, and sent
him away empty-handed. 12 A third man was sent, and they wounded him and
chased him away.
13 “‘What
will I do?’ the owner asked himself. ‘I know! I’ll send my cherished son.
Surely they will respect him.’
14 “But when
the tenant farmers saw his son, they said to each other, ‘Here comes the heir
to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ 15 So they dragged him out of
the vineyard and murdered him.
“What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do to them?” Jesus
asked. 16 “I’ll
tell you—he will come and kill those farmers and lease the vineyard to others.”
“How terrible that such a thing should ever happen,” his listeners
protested.
17 Jesus
looked at them and said, “Then what does this Scripture mean?
‘The stone that
the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.’
has now become the cornerstone.’
18 Everyone who stumbles over
that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.”
19 The
teachers of religious law and the leading priests wanted to arrest Jesus
immediately because they realized he was telling the story against them—they
were the wicked farmers. But they were afraid of the people’s reaction.
20 Watching
for their opportunity, the leaders sent spies pretending to be honest men. They
tried to get Jesus to say something that could be reported to the Roman
governor so he would arrest Jesus. 21 “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you speak
and teach what is right and are not influenced by what others think. You teach
the way of God truthfully. 22 Now tell us—is it right for us to pay taxes to
Caesar or not?”
23 He saw
through their trickery and said, 24 “Show me a Roman coin. Whose
picture and title are stamped on it?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
25 “Well
then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to
God what belongs to God.”
26 So they
failed to trap him by what he said in front of the people. Instead, they were
amazed by his answer, and they became silent.
27 Then
Jesus was approached by some Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is no
resurrection from the dead. 28 They posed this question: “Teacher, Moses gave
us a law that if a man dies, leaving a wife but no children, his brother should
marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name. 29 Well, suppose there were
seven brothers. The oldest one married and then died without children. 30 So the second brother
married the widow, but he also died. 31 Then the third brother
married her. This continued with all seven of them, who died without children. 32 Finally, the woman also
died. 33 So tell
us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to
her!”
34 Jesus
replied, “Marriage is for people here on earth. 35 But in the age to come,
those worthy of being raised from the dead will neither marry nor be given in
marriage. 36 And they
will never die again. In this respect they will be like angels. They are
children of God and children of the resurrection.
37 “But now,
as to whether the dead will be raised—even Moses proved this when he wrote
about the burning bush. Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, he
referred to the Lord as
‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 38 So he is the God of the
living, not the dead, for they are all alive to him.”
39 “Well
said, Teacher!” remarked some of the teachers of religious law who were
standing there. 40 And then
no one dared to ask him any more questions.
41 Then
Jesus presented them with a question. “Why is it,” he asked, “that
the Messiah is said to be the son of David? 42 For David himself wrote in
the book of Psalms:
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
43 until I humble your enemies,
making them a footstool under your feet.’
Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
43 until I humble your enemies,
making them a footstool under your feet.’
44 Since David called the
Messiah ‘Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?”
45 Then,
with the crowds listening, he turned to his disciples and said, 46 “Beware of these teachers
of religious law! For they like to parade around in flowing robes and love to
receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces. And how they
love the seats of honor in the synagogues and the head table at banquets. 47 Yet they shamelessly cheat
widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long
prayers in public. Because of this, they will be severely punished.”