WWUTT 1183 Jesus Warns Against Following False Teachers? (Luke 20)

Passion Week Recap and the Setting of Jesus’ Temple Teaching

Jesus warned, do not be like the scribes and the Pharisees who claimed to have knowledge, but they did not, who claimed to love God, but they did not love his son, nor did they love others, as we are told to do when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text, studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ. Thank you for subscribing, and if this has ministered to you, please let others know about our program.

Here once again is Pastor Gabe Hughes.

Thank you, Becky. This is Passion Week, and we've been studying the events in the ministry of Jesus between his triumphal entry into Jerusalem and his resurrection from the grave. Let's do a quick recap of what we've looked at thus far, and this is going to go into what we're going to study today.

So Sunday was, of course, Palm Sunday, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt to the shouts of the people saying, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. They believed their king had come.

The king prophesied in the Old Testament, but instead of going into the palace and assuming his place on the throne, overthrowing the Herods, freeing Israel from the tyranny of Rome, instead of doing that, Jesus went into the temple, his father's house.

And it says there in the Gospel of Mark that he looked around, and as it was already late, he left. In the Gospel of Luke, as he's leaving Jerusalem to go back over to Bethany, he weeps over the city.

And this is what we read in Luke chapter 19, starting in verse 41, when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes.

For the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you because you did not know the time of your visitation.

Now this thing that Jesus says about Jerusalem as he weeps over the city, this was on Sunday night. This was even before Jesus talked with his disciples in the Olivet Discourse, which is what we studied yesterday, answering their question about what will be the signs of the end.

When will Jerusalem be destroyed and the temple be torn down as he told them was going to happen? So this was Sunday evening when Jesus weeps over the city. He goes back to Bethany. And then on Monday morning, this is the day we refer to as Fig Monday, he's coming back into Jerusalem and on his way, he passes by a fig tree.

The fig tree is in leaf. It's not even the season for figs, but there's leaves on the tree, which indicates there should be figs also. When he sees the tree and gets near to it and sees that it does not have fruit, he curses the tree and says, may no one ever eat fruit from you again.

Then he goes into Jerusalem and he cleanses the temple, drives out the merchants and the money changers and says to them, it is written. My house shall be a house of prayer for all the nations. But you have made it into a den of robbers.

And so he teaches there in the temple. And what we're going to be looking at today is some of the teaching that Jesus did there in the temple on Monday and Tuesday. The Gospels basically recorded this as him teaching on Monday and Tuesday.

But we know that he taught on Wednesday as well. It's just that in the chronology of the events, it doesn't have the teaching that he gave on Wednesday on that particular day, at least as far as we have it laid out for us in the Gospels.

So what we're going to do today is we're going to come back to some of that teaching and look at what Jesus taught to the people while he was there in the temple on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. So Monday, he's driving out the merchants and the money changers, cleansing the temple, teaching the people.

And all of this is connected with his weeping over the city on Sunday, his cursing the fig tree on Monday morning, which he and his disciples see has withered and died. That tree is dead now on Tuesday morning because Jesus had cursed it.

And the fig tree was a picture of the Jews who did everything on the outside. They look like they were doing everything right. But on the inside, their hearts were far from God. One of the things I didn't mention yesterday, when we looked at Jesus, all of that discourse, it was that same day that Jesus issued what we refer to as the seven woes to the scribes and the Pharisees, where he says, woe you scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.

That's in Matthew chapter 23. He says things like you are you are sons of hell who are producing more sons of hell. And on the outside, you look like whitewashed sepulchers, whitewashed tombs. But on the inside, you are full of dead men's bones.

You wash the outside of the cup, but the inside is still dirty. And this is, again, how Israel looked like they were doing everything in obedience. But it was to their own self-righteousness. It was not to the glory of God.

They boasted in themselves rather than worshiping the Lord. Had they known God the father, had they truly been worshiping the God of their fathers, then they would have known who Jesus is. And they did not know who he was.

The people shouting his praises on Sunday, they thought he was the king, the heir to David's throne. They absolutely believe that. But they did not know him as the son of God. They thought that he had come to reign over them politically, which he did, just not in the in the earthly politics that we think of.

So they thought he was going to establish an earthly kingdom and free them from an earthly tyrant, not knowing that he had come in salvation, as it says in Zechariah 9, 9, a fulfillment of that prophecy coming in salvation to free them from the bonds of sin, to free them from the wages of sin, which is death, to free them from the wrath of God, which is burning against all the unrighteousness and ungodliness of man.

They did not know that they didn't see Jesus in that way. It wasn't to give glory to God, but it was to glorify themselves. And so all of this stuff goes together. And I'm sure the disciples may have even been confused by all of this.

How is it that Jesus is weeping over a city that doesn't know who he is when they were just praising him as the one who has come in the name of the Lord? This was all stuff that they would understand later when they're looking back on that.

The Gospel of John talks about that. When Jesus did these things, the disciples didn't understand it, but later they remembered what he had said and what he had done. And then it made sense to them. At the end of the Gospel of Luke, it says that Jesus opened up their minds to understand the scriptures.

And this was before he ascended into heaven. So this was Monday when Jesus had cursed the fig tree, cleansed the temple, taught there in the temple. Tuesday, when he issued the seven woes, taught in the temple, gave the Olivet Discourse, which we looked at yesterday.

And again, all of this stuff goes together. Jesus issuing the woes to the Pharisees, it was just like what he had prayed over Jerusalem on Sunday evening. Your hearts are far from me and the judgment of God is going to come against you.

When he gives the woes to the Pharisees, he's saying to them, the judgment of God is going to come against you. That's Matthew 23. Matthew 24 is when the, if you'll remember how we started yesterday, the disciples are looking around at everything there in the temple.

They're amazed by this incredible feat of architecture. And Jesus, unimpressed with this, says to them, you see all of these, these stones and everything? I tell you, not one stone will be left on top of another.

And they've already heard him say once, based on the way that he prayed over Jerusalem on Sunday evening. They've already heard him say once that Jerusalem was going to be destroyed. So now he's saying to them again, these stones are all going to be thrown down.

Not one is going to be left. And that's the case today. That place where the temple once stood, it's just a bare, flat area where the temple used to be. There's not one stone left on top of another. So then when he goes up on the Mount of Olives, his disciples come to him and say, what will be the signs of the end?

And this is the judgment that comes on Jerusalem because they did not know him, even though he was there in their midst. And they should have known because they're the ones who receive the oracles of God.

The Pharisees in particular were the teachers of these things. And yet they didn't know Jesus. And hence why this judgment was coming upon them. So Jesus talks about what that judgment is going to look like, what to look for when that judgment comes.

And that was the Olivet discourse. We're going to back up a little bit today. And I'm going to go to Luke chapter 20. And here we're reading about some of the things that Jesus taught in the temple. All of this was probably spread out between Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Wednesday is referred to as Spy Wednesday. This is when Judas went to the scribes and Pharisees and conspired with them to arrest Jesus. But we're not going to look at that so much because it's really the only event that's written about in the New Testament is happening on Wednesday.

And I want to come back to more of Jesus teachings before we get to the Lord's Supper, the institution of the Lord's Supper, which is what we're going to look at on Thursday evening. So this is Luke chapter 20.

And I'm going to start with the authority of Jesus challenged. One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, tell us by what authority you do these things or who it is that gave you this authority.

Now, this would have been right after the cleansing of the temple. And that's specifically the thing that they're asking about. Who gave you the authority to come in here and drive out the merchants and the money changers the way that you did?

And Jesus answered them. I will also ask you a question. Now, tell me, was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? And they discussed it with one another, saying, if we say from heaven, he will say, why did you not believe him?

But if we say from man, all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet. So they answered that they did not know where it came from. And Jesus said to them, neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Now, this was this is a brilliant response from Jesus. And of course, it is because he is the son of God. That's just fantastic. They're challenging Jesus. They're even really out to make him look like a fool in front of the people whom he is teaching.

He's about to teach them and the Pharisees and the scribes are the teachers. So it's like, hang on a second. He's showing us up by teaching the people. He's been showing us up by driving us out of the temple.

So we're going to challenge him. We're going to make him look foolish in front of the people. We're going to say, by what authority do you do these things? And then he's not going to be able to answer that question.

He's not going to be able to proclaim any kind of authority. So then we reestablish ourselves as the authority in the temple. That's their mindset here. But how does Jesus respond? He makes them look like fools.

He says, I'm going to ask you a question. Was the baptism of John from heaven or was it from man? And Jesus knew they weren't going to answer the question. He knew that. And they discussed it with one another saying, well, if we say from heaven, he's going to say, well, then why did you not believe him?

But if we say from man, all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet. Now, when it comes down to it here, the scribes and the Pharisees are really overthinking this.

So they think that they've come up with the best answer. It's just no answer at all. And so they look at Jesus and they say, we don't know. Almost as if, and I'm sure this was the case, they did not even consider by saying to Jesus, we don't know.

They were making themselves look stupid in front of the people because they were demonstrating their ignorance. They now removed from themselves any credibility to be able to teach the people or say to the people that they knew more than Jesus did.

They lost it all by saying that they thought that they had come up with the best answer in response to Jesus question and instead made themselves look foolish to the people. So they would not have any basis upon which to criticize Jesus for his ministry.

If they don't even know where John, the Baptist ministry came from. I was great. What a great response from Jesus. So Jesus said to them, neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. And he already had.

It wasn't like he had never told anyone where his authority was from. His authority was the father, but he wasn't going to play their game. That's, that's really the way Jesus response went here. But, but in incredibly shrewd response to these scribes and Pharisees, Jesus did not have to answer their question because they had just shown themselves to the people to be ignorant of the things that they talked about.

As Paul says in Romans one, claiming to be wise, they became fools. And in first Timothy one, they do not understand the things about which they make their confident assertions. So we come back to verse nine and he began to tell the people this parable.

The Vineyard, the Son, and the Rejected Stone

Now this is again, another indictment against the scribes and the Pharisees and anyone who would follow after their teaching. He said, a man planted a vineyard and lent it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while.

When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty handed. And he sent another servant.

They also beat and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty handed. And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, what shall I do? I will send my beloved son.

Perhaps they will respect him. But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, this is the heir. Let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours. And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others. When the scribes and Pharisees heard this, they said, surely not. But he looked directly at them and said, what then is this that is written?

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces. And when it falls on anyone, it will crush him. This is a reference to Psalm 118, verse 22.

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we pray.

Oh, Lord. Oh, Lord, we pray. Give us success. This is fulfilled in the scribes and the Pharisees in that they rejected the Lord. Of course, the parable being about them. And in so doing, the judgment of God falls on them.

That rock has become the cornerstone. The entire church is built by the placement of that stone. All of the prophets and the apostles are set in accordance with the cornerstone. And this new building that is being built is not a temple made by human hands, but it is a spiritual house built into the Lord.

Peter talks about this in 1 Peter 2. So the church becomes the fulfillment there of everything that's talked about in Psalm 118. And we likewise, if we follow Jesus, we become a stone that is placed in that spiritual house being built up to give glory and praise unto God.

But if we reject Christ, then we, just like the scribes and the Pharisees, would fall upon that stone, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble, Peter says, 1 Peter 2, 8. They stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do.

This is what happens to all of those who reject Christ and his word. They stumble upon the cornerstone to their judgment. So, yes, this was fulfilled in Christ. We see this curse that comes upon the scribes and the Pharisees as well.

But this continues for anyone who either accepts or rejects Jesus. Those who follow Jesus become part of that spiritual house that he is building upon himself, who is the cornerstone and the foundation of the apostles and the testimony of the gospel that they give.

But those who reject Christ will be destroyed, will come into judgment. Jesus goes on here, and I'm going to skip to the end of chapter 20 and look at the last couple of sections. This is verse 41. Jesus said to them, how can they say that the Christ is David's son?

For David himself says in the book of the Psalms, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. David thus calls him Lord. So how is he his son? And this is a declaration of his own divinity that Jesus is talking about and how the Old Testament pointed to Jesus as being more than an heir in the line of David, but that he was the very son of God.

He is God incarnate God in human flesh who has come to dwell among them. So this is talking about how the people just didn't understand when when Jesus came into the city and they shouted praises unto him.

They thought they were shouting praises to a king who was like David, who was going to do what David did. It was going to make Israel the empire that it was under Solomon. That was what they were expecting.

But Jesus is pointing out to them here. You don't have the right understanding of this coming Messiah. You don't understand who this king is when he comes. You think that he's a son of David, but he is actually much more than this.

He is David's God. He is the one whom David referred to as Lord. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. David thus calls him Lord. So how is he his son?

And once again, this being an indictment against the hearts of those who did not know Jesus is the son of God. And Jesus is not just some great prophet or some great teacher. He was definitely those things, but not merely those things.

He is God in human flesh. And we read in 1 John 4, by this, you know, the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. In other words, everyone who says that Jesus, the Messiah, that's what Christ means.

Jesus, the one who has come from heaven. Everyone who says that he is the son of God in flesh. We know that they are in the spirit of God. Verse three, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.

This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard was coming. And now is in the world already. We talked about that a little bit yesterday with the Olivet discourse that we looked at. Here's the last portion of Luke chapter 20, starting in verse 45.

And in the hearing of all the people, Jesus said to his disciples, Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts who devour widows' houses.

And for a pretense, make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation. Now, Luke chapter 21, Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box. And he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.

He said, Truly, I tell you, this poor widow is put in more than all of them, for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on. Now, this is not Jesus praising this woman for giving a greater offering than all they did.

This is actually an indictment against the scribes and the Pharisees, because they were forcing this woman to pay what she could not afford to pay. She was a widow. All of what she had formerly possessed, because it belonged to her husband, that had all been seized after he died.

And it went to the temple. And the scribes and the Pharisees even, you know, made money off of that themselves because of what they had seized from this widow. Instead of taking care of her, they seized it for themselves.

This comes right after Jesus' warning about beware the scribes and the Pharisees. So that goes back to back. Don't don't think of the chapter break there. Luke chapter 21 is Jesus talking about a completely different thing.

It all flows together. Beware the scribes and the Pharisees. You know what it is that they do? Look at this woman. This is what they do. They devour widows houses. That was verse 47. And then they have a real life example right there with this widow coming in and giving an offering in the temple that the scribes and Pharisees are making her give, but they cannot afford.

And my friends, what we must be careful of is that we don't become so into our theology and our doctrine that we forget the demonstration of what it is that we believe is how we love one another. If we say that we believe this, but we don't do, then we don't love.

This is the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 saying, if I have all wisdom and knowledge, but I have not loved, then I'm nothing but a resounding gong or a clanging symbol. So we have this knowledge that has been given to us in the Holy Spirit of God, the knowledge of the gospel of Christ who died on the cross for our sins and rose again from the dead.

Whoever believes in him will not perish. We have the love of God poured into our hearts by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So if that love is in you, you must demonstrate that love to others, showing kindness and generosity and compassion to others, especially in these days.

Yes, we're being told that we need to shelter in place, that we need to isolate, that we need to quarantine, whatever word is applied to this, but there's still ways that we must look out for one another and show love and kindness for our neighbor and doing this not to receive fanfare from other people.

See, that's going on a lot right now to people doing things for others and doing it to receive glory and honor from people. Jesus said that's what the Pharisees do. So we do this to the glory of God and because we love one another for God demonstrated his love for us in giving us his son, Jesus Christ.

So may we look for ways that we can do this more and more, not doing this for the praise of men, but doing it out of worship and service to Christ our King. Amen.

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