The Opponents of the King Luke 19:45-48_2

Psalm 98 and the Call to Worship

For announcements, prayer meeting tonight at 6. Our missionary of the month is Jack and Bev McMahan from New Zealand, and you can read more about them on the back there and also in your bulletin. Next Bible study is Wednesday the 3rd, this week the 3rd at 5 .30 p .m.

There will be no men's breakfast in July. We're kind of taking the summer off. Summer Greek class is on the 6th at 9 .30. Summer church gathering, just mark your calendar in August. It's the first Sunday afternoon after service at the Huffums, and lunch is provided and all those good things, and you can read up more about it.

And I think that's it for announcements. Before we go to the Lord in prayer, I just wanted to share a psalm. We've been going through the psalms in the morning, Sunday mornings. Pastors been doing an amazing job of that.

And a couple weeks ago, Psalm 98, and it's a kind of a three part psalm. The initial part is the deliverance of his people. The middle part is the worship of God, and then it concludes with the restoration, which is yet to come or in glory.

And I wanted to read just the middle part, which is worship. That's our time when we know the Lord. This is what we are to do until we get to glory. Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Break forth in song, rejoice and sing praises.

Sing to the Lord with the harp and the sound of a psalm, with trumpets and the sound of a horn. Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King. And it's just putting our hearts in that mode of rejoicing, with thanksgiving, from a place of humility.

That's what our God deserves. That's what he would expect of us because of his holiness. And so let's go to the Lord in prayer. Lord God, we thank you, Father, that you have brought us here together to worship together as believers.

Lord, when we can lift our voices, when we can sing songs of praise and thanksgiving, we can hear your word preached and taught. Father, we thank you that we are your children, Father. And we thank you for Faith Bible Church, that you have placed it on the hearts of people here to follow the word, to follow you, Father, in truth.

And God, that we won't add anything external, anything worldly to our worship, to our process of growing and being sanctified that would be living according to your word. So God, this morning, we pray for Kim, Lord, that you would heal her body, Father.

Give the doctors wisdom as they determine what's going on in her body, Father. And we just pray that she would find rest in you, Father, and as well as for Kevin. God, we pray for continued recovery for Wayne and his surgery, Father.

Thank you and give you praise for that miraculous, incredible outcome, Lord, that he went through, is going through. And we pray for Ramiah and Modestus Chioma. What a blessing she is as a new, Father, addition to your kingdom, Lord.

And we thank you that you brought her into this world, Father. We pray for the parents that they would bring her up in the admonition of you, Father. So God, today we rejoice in all things. We thank you that we might show the love of Christ to one another and that you would be glorified in all that we do, Father.

So Lord, go before us as we prepare.

Our hearts now in song, and we give you praise in Jesus' name. Amen. The scripture reading this.

Morning is from Jeremiah chapter 7, verses 5 through 11. That's Jeremiah chapter 7, verses 5 through 11. For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings, if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, if ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt, then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.

Behold, ye trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense into bale, and walk after other gods whom ye know not, and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, we are delivered to do all these abominations.

Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the Lord. May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of his word.

With me to Luke chapter 19. Luke chapter 19 verses 45 through 48. Luke chapter 19 verses 45 through 48. Then he went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, it is written, my house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.

And he was teaching daily in the temple, but the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy him, and were unable to do anything, for all the people were very attentive to hear him.

This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. Father, we're grateful for your watchful eye upon this church. Thank you for taking care of all of us, both spiritually and physically, and we pray for continued recovery and growth for Wayne and Kimberly and the baby Chioma.

We pray that you would watch over them and give them all that they need. And we're grateful that you have given us Jesus Christ, who died for our sin and suffered the judgment that we deserve and rose from the dead so that we may be forgiven and adopted into your family.

Help us to love you and seek you more and trust you daily in Jesus name. This is a rather short passage, but it's an important passage and it is more detailed in Matthew's description of the temple cleansing.

In Matthew's description of the temple cleansing, he gets even more violent. Luke keeps it concise. But this is to say, these are the type of people who oppose Jesus, but not only that, these are the type of people whom Jesus opposes.

If you want to know what makes Jesus angry, look to this passage. This is important, first of all, because anger is not inherently a sinful emotion. Oftentimes, we're just taught to be nice in this culture.

No disagreement. You just say yes and be tolerant. Anger is actually an emotion that God shows. Anger is an emotion that Jesus shows. And anger is an appropriate response for many of us in certain circumstances.

In fact, after certain events, not to be angry would be actually sinful. And the reason being is that anger is a defensive response. It's a defensive emotion. It exists to protect something that's loved.

Now, when does it become a sinful anger? Well, if you're protecting something you love and it's yourself, that's sinful anger. It's about you. It's self-centeredness. How dare he say that to me? It's a sinful response.

But you can see here, Jesus is not selfishly getting angry. He is rather angry for God's honor. He's cleansing the temple because the money changers have defiled it. It's about God and the worshippers.

Jesus is showing a selfless anger. So, that's just one key thing to remember when we read a passage like this. Anger is not inherently sinful. It's how we respond to it and what motivates it. So, starting here and until the end of chapter 21, the central location of Luke's narrative will be the temple.

And the temple is quite important. We don't really have this concept of the temple anymore. And the main reason is it's not existing. On the Jerusalem Temple Mount, there's not a temple. It's a mosque.

And the second reason why we don't really think about the temple is under the new covenant, you can encounter God. You can approach God through the Holy Spirit. Wherever you are, whomever you're with, you can go to the Holy Spirit.

You can go to God through the Spirit in Jesus Christ because he made you righteous at any time, anywhere. In your bedroom, you can pray to him. Here, you can pray. While driving, you can pray and you can encounter God.

However, back then, the temple was the place in which you encounter God. That's why it's an important place in this narrative. I want us to have that in mind. So, today's text shows the glimpse of who the opponents of Christ is.

Those who will challenge Jesus' authority and rule. And this is the first passage after his entry into Jerusalem, the city of David. And remember, it has all been building up to this moment. Jesus has been journeying to Jerusalem to deliver his people from sin through his death and resurrection.

And he has been headed to Jerusalem since chapter 9, right? We're in chapter 19. And that's the central mission of the gospel. And one may wonder, with such a marvelous goal of salvation, who could possibly oppose him, right?

So, the main point of today's text is, who are the opponents of Jesus' reign? Who are the opponents of Jesus' reign? And this is crucial today because although these figures may not exist now, right? When's the last time you ran into a Sadducee or a chief priest, right?

Satan and the world often do recycle the same old concept, right? They just use it again and again and again, right? To oppose Christ and oppose his followers. The opponents of Jesus' reign have really just changed names over time, but not the function.

We must ask these questions when we discern, how we discern, if someone or some organization is opposing Christ. Is there anything or anyone who comes between you and God? Are there any intermediaries between you and God other than Christ?

Is there anyone that takes Jesus' place between you and God? Various cults have different individuals or groups who serve as intermediaries. There are some things or some people who come between the worshiper and God.

And, you know, some of you might be thinking, Popes, priests, and prophets, oh my, right? I too. But this is not just against Catholicism, right? Or Mormonism or anything like that in which those offices exist.

Islam, Mormonism actually place alleged angelic encounter and prophetic testimonies to override the person and work of Jesus Christ, right? Why is this problematic? The one who controls access to God enjoys a tremendous power.

The one who controls your access to God enjoys a tremendous power. The one, and these cults may deny this, but if you can tell a group of people how they can approach God or not, or what makes you righteous or good enough to approach God, that's an immense power and influence over them.

It's another way of deifying yourself and de-godding God. Because in the end, the only person who has control over access to God is God himself. And any group, any individuals that attempt to take that role is taking a attempted to take a throne that's already taken.

So the main point again, who are the opponents of Jesus reign, right? The king has finally arrived. Who are the ones opposing him? First, Jesus opposes anyone who prevents his people from approaching God.

Jesus opposes anyone who prevents his people from approaching God. So after Jesus enters Jerusalem, his ministry fittingly starts in the temple. It's the house of God. It's where the worshipers come to experience God's presence.

Verse 45, then he went into the temple and begin to drive out those who bought and sold in it. This would have happened at the court of the Gentiles. It's the outer court, not the inner temple, right?

That's only accessible to a specific group of people, like the priests and the Levites, right? This is the outer court. It's outside, but inside the gates. And in the Herod's temple, so Herod the Great actually refurbished the temple in his reign because it was kind of run down and it was beautiful.

It was a beautiful building. It was, many people visited it, even if they're not Jews, just because of how beautiful it was. The outer court would have been about 35 acres. That's a big chunk of land.

And even foreigners would come and pray, right? Just because of how beautiful it was and their curiosity. So this is also the place in which the sacrificial animals were sold. Luke's temple narrative gives the least amount of details.

That's why we have four verses, two of which only focus on the cleansing, right? But this is the famous scene of Jesus furiously overturning the money changers tables. This account is often called the cleansing of the temple.

And I think some believe that Jesus was angry at the presence of the animals at the temple. After all, these animals would have been stinky and not potty trained. However, that's wrong for three reasons.

Why the cleansing was that Jesus was angry at the animals. First, the Old Testament did not forbid animals in the courtyard. After all, where are you going sacrifice the animals? If not in the courtyard, right?

You had to bring the animals. Second, Jesus addresses the very people he is opposing, right? He's not addressing the animals here. He is angry at the, he's not angry at the presence of the animals. He's angry at those who are selling them.

That's he actually addresses them. Those who are selling them. Third, clean in the temple context is not a hygienic category. Remember about a moral category. The temple was not defiled by the animal feces, but the corrupt money changers who are benefiting at the expense of the worshipers, right?

In this category, the defilement is moral rather than physical, right? And of course we did go over the physical category of temple cleanliness. In this case, it's moral. The dead giveaway is you have made it a den of robbers, right?

That's moral. Stealing is a moral issue. So under the Old Covenant and Old Testament, we have to remember animal sacrifice was crucial for every Israelite or anyone who wants to approach God for that matter.

God ordained the physical animal sacrifice to teach them a spiritual reality, right? A lot of the animal rights activists here would not like that, but that was how God taught his people a crucial lesson.

If you sinned against God, you had to slit the throat of an innocent, unblemished animal on your behalf. An innocent life had to be given in order to make yourself right with God once again, and it is your fault.

Hence, you put your hand on the animal and you slit the throat yourself, and it's your animal. What does that mean? There's a cost to you. There's a cost to this sin. You can't just sin willy-nilly. When you sin against God, something precious has to die.

A precious animal who did not sin but for your sake was put to death because the holy God cannot allow sin to flourish in the land or else he would not dwell among his people, right? It's all about God's presence here.

That's the main function of the temple. God's presence among his people, and it also provided the means by which the holy God dwells among sinful, impure people. How to make them pure again, at least on the outside, right?

Animal sacrifice. Because if you sinned again, another animal would need to be sacrificed, and over and over again, animals were killed. This was necessary in order for Israel to continue their relationship with the Lord.

The sacrificial system was God's gift to his people in order for the sinful, rebellious people to continue to dwell with God on his land, right? That's why when you read the prophecies, it's about you dwelling on the land, right?

Israel dwelling on the land that God has given them. And when it gets too much and they don't really care about being right with God, the ultimate judgment is the exile, which happened, right? The Babylonian exile and the Assyrian exile.

Needless to say, animal sacrifices were crucial for one's relationship and access to God, right? It's not something we think of as, like, how burdensome. No, it was one of the most crucial components of one's relationship with God.

How am I going to be right with God again? Because the reality is, I'm going to keep sinning against him. Now, how are the money changers morally defiling the temple? Well, we hear from Jesus himself, verse 46, saying to them, My house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.

Jesus here mixes two different allusions, two different allusions from two different prophets of the Old Testament. The reference to the house of prayer only occurs in Isaiah 56, 7. Isaiah 56, 7, the house of prayer.

Here it says, These I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples, plural, all peoples, nations, not just the Jews.

House of prayer, house of prayer. It's the place in which anyone who wants to have access to God will go to commune with God, to talk to God, right? And Israel here is not the only subject here. Isaiah actually refers to anyone who follows the Lord, no matter the bloodline and no matter the socioeconomic background.

Isaiah 56 gives us an eschatological picture of proper worship of the Lord, the only true God. Yet, because Jerusalem missed recognizing the visitation of the messianic king, Jesus Christ, they have missed the proper response to God in the temple when Jesus has finally arrived.

People from all over the world were to worship the true God, unfettered, uncontrolled, with no burdens. The temple was supposed to be the house of prayer, all peoples having personal relationship with God.

Now, when the Messiah visits the temple, and instead of the worshipers personally communing with God, he witnesses financial frauds that burden his people from accessing God personally, right? The money changers were enriching their purses while the worshipers were crushed by the undue financial burdens, right?

Imagine that. If animals are required for animal sacrifices in order to be made right with God, but the animals sold in the temple are marked up a bit, there will be worshipers who cannot afford to participate in the animal sacrifice.

Now, what do they do? They can't sacrifice. They have to go home with impurity, sins, and that's it. And with this heavy burden of, I can't be made right with God, mainly because I'm not rich enough. While the money changers grew wealthier, the poor worshipers grew farther away from God because they could not afford to sacrifice.

Hence, Jesus alludes to Jeremiah 7 11. This is the second verse that's alluded to, which was read by Kevin this morning. But you have made it a den of thieves. Jeremiah chapter 7 is a powerful rebuke against the worshipers of the temple before the Babylonian exile.

Whenever the Old Testament is quoted, I recommend you read the whole context, not just the verse that is quoted, because the author of scripture never quotes out of context. The context has to be acknowledged.

In chapter 7, the temple of the context is actually centuries before. This is not even Herod's temple. This is Solomon's temple. And it's fitting for this specific group of money changers of the first century.

Because in Jeremiah 7, Jeremiah, the prophet, he prophesies against the temple worshipers who externally worship at the temple but are wicked inside. They have the appearance of godliness when they stand before the temple, but their reality is stealing, murder, adultery, and idolatry among the few that were read.

Right? So they think that they will get away with their sins because they go to the temple. Right? Because they go to the temple, they're all good with God. That's this idea. It is not far from how many Christians treat the church.

Live like pagans Monday through Saturday, but don't worry, I worship on Sunday. Right? Or if the Catholic background is, get drunk on Saturday night but go to confessions on Sunday morning. Right? It's easy to make a lucky charm out of God's presence.

And that's what the Israelites, the Judahites did in Jeremiah 7. Right? The prophet claims, however, God is fully aware and warns them to stop treating the temple as their good luck charm. Right? Verse 4 sets the context.

Do not trust in these deceptive words. This is the temple of the the temple of the Lord. Right? Well, what is this say? Well, what they're saying is, we're not going to be exiled. We're not going to be destroyed.

This is the temple of the Lord. I'd like to see judgment come. It's the temple of the Lord. Right? And what Jeremiah is saying is the temple will not save them from God's coming judgment. Don't presume that you're secure from his judgment just because you're in the temple.

You think you're safe because you're in God's house, but you have made it into a den of robbers, a den of robbers. Think of a cave full of robbers and they think they're safe. They're secure as they're hiding in a cave.

These false worshipers are finding false security in God's temple rather than God. And that's why later in Jeremiah 7, God reminds them of what happened in Shiloh. What happened in Shiloh? Remember in 1 Samuel, they treated the Ark of the Covenant as the lucky charm and they lost it.

They lost the battle badly. Why? Because they thought they could use the Ark as a lucky charm. We're going to win the battle against the Philistines. That's the presence of God. They were doing it all over again, except with a bigger building, the temple.

And they made it into a den of robbers, a cave. They're finding false security in the temple. In the same way, when the Messiah visits the temple, he sees those who appear to be faithful on the outside because they're in the temple.

They're serving, but in reality, they are fraudulently benefiting at the expense of the common folks. The religious leaders in the first century falsely believed that they're secure as well because they're serving at the temple.

Oh, that's my ministry. I serve directly in the temple. Yet Jesus smelled the hypocrisy when he entered. He saw how the leaders were taking advantage of the poor believers and they were not helping. The leaders who were meant to shepherd the flock were fleecing the flock instead.

They were taking advantage of the desperate. They, too, treated the temple as a secure and sheltered cave and had no regard for God. Now, although we don't do animal sacrifices anymore because Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice who not only makes us clean on the outside, but inside, our sin is washed away inside because of his atoning sacrifice on the cross.

So, that once is enough. However, this den of robbers is a reoccurring theme in human history. The religious establishment still finds ways to prevent the people from approaching God by taking advantage of them, right?

One of them, one of the main ones we see in the protestant church is the prosperity gospel. How are the prosperity pastors driving Lamborghinis and flying on their private jets to conferences in the name of ministry?

Well, they promised their overly trusting flock that they would be on God's good side. That they would be on the side of blessing. That they would be the recipients of God's blessing if you first give.

If you give generously, God also will give generously. God would bless them if they gave to the church more. In one sense, generosity is an important virtue and trade in Christian living, but not through manipulation.

It has to be done through joyful heart, cheerful heart inside. So, they guilt trip and shame those who cannot give generously, and these worshipers feel more distant from God. In their minds, God becomes unapproachable.

I've had someone who's not really like a knowledgeable believer, so a mature believer, and someone called me one morning, and she lives farther away, so she can't possibly attend Faith Bible Church. She noticed that her church is that prosperity gospel, so she stopped attending, which praise God.

Well, she stopped giving. Praise God, right? So, she, however, being brainwashed in that kind of teaching, asked, can I start giving to Faith Bible Church? And I said, well, what's the motivation? It's like, well, because I need to keep giving, right?

It's like, where? Where in the scripture do you see that you have to keep on giving to church? Well, that's what she's been taught. I said, if you want to give, give because you're a cheerful giver, right?

Because you want to, you know, you want to be generous toward a ministry that is furthering the gospel, but don't give because you have to, because God's not making you do that, right? I said, the best deal is find a local church that's faithful near you, and you start investing there, not just money, but also time, right?

But again, it's this manipulation that went on that you had to give in order for you to be good with God, in order for your access to God be solid and secure, you need to give. That's the lie. And it is way too common everywhere in this country.

And they are the money changers. They're the, they have made the church a den of thieves, their local churches, right? And we know God's attitude towards that. He will overthrow them. And if you've been abused like that spiritually, I call that spiritual abuse.

If you've been abused like that, that will not happen here. And not only that, the most importantly, you know God's view on those people. He's not on their side, and you can take a breather, right? If you've been spiritually abused by those kind of pastors, God's not on their side.

God understands and is vehemently furious at what they've done to you. That's the comfort and hope we have this morning. And we see that in the person of Jesus Christ. This is important because the true gospel says that all of God's blessing comes to the believers, not because they gave, but because Jesus gave his life for them.

Our spiritual blessing does not depend on how wealthy you make your pastor, but the tremendous riches that Jesus poured out when he suffered for your sin on the cross. Ephesians 1 .3 tells us that every spiritual blessing in heaven comes from God in Christ.

What does that mean? You're not only forgiven, but you're adopted into his family, all because Christ suffered for your sin on the cross and rose from the dead. Your access to God does not depend on you, but on the completed work of Christ.

By trusting in Jesus and his work, you have full access to God that the Old Testament saints could only dream of. And that is the biggest blessing to us this morning. You have a personal relationship to God, and you can go to him at any time, anywhere, and he will be there.

It's not about the private jets. It's not about your dream car. The blessing, all of spiritual blessing found in Christ is a personal, familial relationship with God, and no one can come between you and God.

The second example we see is the Catholic priesthood. Why did the Catholics have to confess their sin to their priests? It's nowhere in the Bible. In fact, the Bible tells us that all believers are royal priesthood, right?

Second Peter 2 .9. You're all royal priesthood. What does that mean? We all have access to God. Under the Old Covenant, that was not so. They had to rely on the Aaron's line of priests, one specific tribe, and among that tribe, one specific family, Aaron.

And you had to take your sacrificial animals there to their family. They had to rely on one family where the lay people needed to go to the temple and the priest would sacrifice on their behalf. And the reason is, is because the priests represent God to God's people and God's and, and God is represented to them by the priests.

It's both ways. The priests are the intermediaries of the Old Covenant. They represent God to God's people and they represent God's people to God. Both ways. However, under the New Covenant, through Christ, you have direct access to God.

Hence, you're called the royal priesthood. Pastors don't replace the priesthood of the Old Covenant. Believers replace the priesthood of the Old Covenant. That's important. You have direct access to God just as much as I do if you believe in Jesus Christ.

I don't have a backstage pass to God. We all have the same access to God if you believe in Jesus Christ. Now, what do they all have in common? They all seek to manipulate the worshipers by controlling their access to God while they keep on accruing power.

All false religions place humans in between the worshipers and God, and that is how they retain their control. And that is how they control the masses. If you can tell a person made in God's image that what they must do in order to be made with God, that's what you call a glimpse of tyranny.

You must avoid certain foods or God will not be pleased with you. Under the New Covenant, that is blasphemy because Jesus made all foods clean. Your access to God will not be hindered by what you eat or what you don't eat.

But there are cults to this day that try to control what you can eat or what you can't eat. You must give a certain amount of money and time or you cannot be right with God. The Jehovah's Witnesses, they have to stand out there in the sweltering sun, not because they want to, because they have to.

That's not grace. That's worse. You must submit to a few elite members of or a council in order to understand God's will for you. Catholics, the council of the cardinals, the pope, the Mormons, they have a council of prophets and they get to decide where you end up in the mission field.

Isn't that crazy? Thousands of young Mormon men and women, their next couple of years are decided by 12, I think 12 men, 12 or 13, just a handful of men. That's control. That's control of someone's life.

Now, what does the true religion look like? Christianity is unique in that God graciously comes down to his own people. Your access to God does not depend on yourself nor others, but God himself alone.

In fact, Jesus is our only intermediary and he is God, right? Yes, you do have an intermediary. Don't get me wrong. I'm just saying no one else is your intermediary. Only God comes between you and God.

We have a triune God. In fact, in order for you to be made right with God and have access to God, you have to go to God incarnate, right? Jesus Christ alone. God made flesh. He became man. Ultimately, God did not send an angel nor a prophet to rescue his people from their sin, but he himself came down to deliver his own.

Not only that, there is nothing you need to do to be saved by God. It's not about good works. It's about trust because it's all done for you by Jesus on the cross. It's freely given. Jesus alone took on your sin and died the death that you deserve so that you may live when you trust in him alone.

You may live with God. Your access to God has nothing to do with a pope sitting in Rome. Your access to God has nothing to do with even your record of goodness. Your access to God only depends on Christ alone and on the judgment they these imposters will be condemned.

The Religious Establishment Seeks to Destroy Jesus

Second, the religious establishment seek to destroy Jesus despite his popularity. The religious establishment seek to destroy Jesus despite his popularity. The second section picks up at the temple again and he was teaching daily in the temple, but the chief priest describes and the leaders of the people sought to destroy him.

Now, verse 47 tells us that Jesus opposition to the money changers did not go unnoticed. It shook the foundation of the religious establishment. The chief priests were highly regarded. They belong to a group called the Sadducees.

They don't exist anymore because they were heavily tied to the temple worship and we haven't had the temple since AD 70. They took only the first five books of the Old Testament as scripture, the Torah, and in this case, the chief priests, they're plural.

The reason is usually there's only one chief priest at a time, but under the Roman rule, what happened was a prefect, a governor named Valerius, removed one of the chief priests, Annas, and after that, he installed his son-in-law Caiaphas.

And his son-in-law remained in place until AD 36 after Jesus' death and resurrection. For that reason, formally Caiaphas was the high priest during this time. However, the actual influence was shared by the two, Annas and Caiaphas, because the Jews resented the fact that a Roman, a foreigner, a foreign governor decided to remove a high priest of their own.

So that's why you see two high priests in the gospel accounts. One was formally the high priest and the other one was removed, but the Jews highly regarded him. It's kind of like when we have U .S. presidents and they serve their term, we still call them President Trump, President Bush, so on.

Now, the second group of people are the scribes, and they actually belong to the group called the Pharisees. They believed all the Old Testament books were scripture, but they heavily relied on the traditions of the elders, right?

And they were actually more opposed to the Roman rule than the Sadducees. So normally, they weren't the best of friends. I mean, they weren't sworn enemies, but they didn't really work together until you get to opposition against Jesus.

They grouped together. Now, not much is known about the leaders of the people. Presumably, they were the lay people who had a lot of influences. Think about maybe the elders of the groups or villages.

By no means were they all super close. After all, the Sadducees and Pharisees had different agenda and even different view of scripture. However, when Jesus came to the temple and rebuked the moneychangers, the whole religious establishment felt threatened, and they saw their power grip coming loose when Jesus entered the temple.

And here, their goal is quite barbaric and desperate at the same time. Let's destroy the threat. And in our case, they wanted to assassinate Jesus. Let's kill him. He's a threat. Let's just kill him. The irony here is tremendous.

In order to protect their ministry and ministrial influence, they want to sin against God by murdering an innocent man. Not only that, there's a double irony. In order to serve God in their own wicked, perverted way, they want to murder God incarnate.

Verse 48, however, tells us why they could not succeed and were unable to do anything for all the people were very attentive to hear him. For now, the people who see and hear Jesus at the temple clung to his teaching.

They were captivated by the superior quality of teaching from God's word and from the author himself. And consequently, the religious establishment, which garners its power from the popular support of the people, could not touch Jesus yet.

But they will soon change the minds of the crowd to have them desire to kill Jesus, in which they will cry out, crucify him, crucify him. Now, those who have influence over the people ultimately are threatened by Jesus Christ.

And that is universal. All competing religions restrict the worshiper from reading scripture on his own. This spans from communism, socialism, statism. They worship the government. Have the government provide for your food.

Oh, what about the government? Why do they all burn the Bible and persecute the churches? Jesus Christ is a competing opponent. One for Israel, a Christian ministry that reached out to the Jews also have shared that the modern synagogues skip over Isaiah 53 because it is one of the clearest prophecies of the suffering of Jesus Christ so that his people could be restored.