Book of Luke - Ch. 11, Vs. 37-54 (07/12/2020)

Okay, I'd like to begin with a word of prayer.

Most gracious heavenly Father, thank you for this day, and thank you for all the many blessings that you have given us.

Thank you for the technology that you've given us that allows us to reach out and touch one another even at a distance.

Thank you for all of the blessings that you've given us.

Thank you for the scripture that you've written for us and the Holy Spirit that you gave us and have given us

so that we can understand what you have in store for us.

And most of all, thank you for giving us the Lord Jesus Christ who came to redeem us and to save us.

Thank you for all that you've done, continue to protect us, continue to keep your hedge around us.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Okay, we're going to deal with the last part of chapter 11

of Luke.

We'll pick it up on verse 37 and go through verses 54.

In verses 37 through 54, Jesus critiques Pharisees

and scribes and lawyers, three groups of Jewish leaders that should have

had an understanding of the requirement of the law.

That's three groups unless you count scribes and Pharisees like some people do as

just one group, then you'd only have two.

But we're going to count three groups, groups whose grasp of the law was superficial

at best.

First, Jesus will deal with the Pharisees.

Verse 37, and as he spake, a certain Pharisee

besought him to dine with him.

And he went in and sat down to meet.

Now, Jesus has already begun to experience increasing hostility

and resentment from some Jewish leaders.

It was hostility verging on hatred.

It was a hatred born from a threat that they understood, a threat

that he posed to the established religion, and thereby the

power that their positions in the establishment gave them.

It was also a hatred that many establishment figures today have

when their position of power is threatened.

But it is not a hatred that Jesus responded to in kind.

So when this Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him, Jesus accepted.

And now we get to verse 38.

And when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed before dinner.

Well, saw it, saw what?

Saw that Jesus had not washed before dinner.

Right away, the Pharisee probably begins to regret his invitation.

Now, I can't read his mind, and I may be wrong, but I suspect that he does begin to regret his

invitation.

The issue here is not hygiene.

The issue is not washing become clean.

What they would do is they would take about 1 1⁄2 eggshells of water.

That's about 1⁄2 or 1⁄3 of a cup.

Pour it on their fingers and let the water run down toward the wrist.

Then they'd take the fist of the other hand, rub it into the palm of the hand,

and then they would pour water over the hand again, this time

from the wrist down to the fingers.

And that hand was clean, and now they would do the same thing for the other, and now their hands were ceremonially

clean.

So it was not an issue of washing become clean.

Rather, it is washing to fulfill a ceremonial ritual.

John MacArthur added this, nothing in the

law commends such washings, but the Pharisees practiced it,

believing that the ritual cleansed them in the accidental ceremonial

defilements.

I added this, it's washing to create the

illusion of cleanliness, but it's only an illusion.

Clean on the outside, but not on the inside where it matters.

And Jesus, or the Lord said unto him, now do you Pharisee make clean

the outside of the cup and the platter full of ravening and wickedness?

So that's exactly what Jesus said to him, clean on the outside, dirty on the inside.

John MacArthur adds this, they were preoccupied with external ceremonies, but

overlooked the more important issue of internal morality.

So Jesus goes on in Luke to say, ye folks, did

not he that made that which is without make also that which is

within?

These Pharisees were careful to maintain the appearance of righteousness,

but not the reality of it.

They were foolish because they thought they could fool God.

They thought if they were clean on the outside, God wouldn't know that they were dirty on the inside.

And now we come to verse 41.

But rather give alms of such things as ye have, and behold, all things are clean

unto you.

I read that and read that and never understood what I was trying to say until I went to a reference and found out this.

The phrase of such things ye have in the Greek is only one word.

And the word is, inami, almost like enemy, inami.

And that means what is within, talking about the soul and the spirit.

So the extended phrase, give alms of such things ye have would literally be

translated, give that which is within as

your alms.

Give that which is within as your alms.

John MacArthur says this, this contrasts inner virtues

with external ceremonies.

Alms are to be given not for show, but as an expression of a

faithful heart.

Now we're gonna finish MacArthur's thought shortly.

But first, since MacArthur gave this reference, I want to read it.

It's Matthew 6, verse one.

I'll give you a second to turn to that.

Matthew 6, starting with verse one.

Matthew 6, one.

Take heed that you do not your alms before men, to be seen of them.

Otherwise you have no reward of your Father, which is in heaven.

Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as

the hypocrites do in the synagogue and in the streets, that they may have glory of men.

Verily I say unto you, they have the reward.

But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.

That alms may be in secret, and the Father which seeth in secret

himself shall reward thee openly.

So don't do what you do to get the glory of men, because if you do that, you've

got your reward.

Now back to MacArthur to finish his thought.

Alms are to be given, not for show, but as an expression of a faithful

heart.

And the true almsgiving is not the external act, but the one's

attitude before God.

I'm gonna do that again.

Alms are not to be given for show, but as an expression of a faithful heart.

And true almsgiving is not the external act, but one's attitude

before God.

I added this, it's not so much what you do, as why you do it.

So now we come to verse 42.

But woe unto you Pharisees, for ye tithe mint and rue, and all manners

of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God.

These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Their tithing was meticulous and noteworthy, but it was also hypocritical,

because it served to soothe the guilt of their neglect of the more important things,

the justice and the love of God.

It's possible and common to be distracted by relatively trivial

things, while the more important things are left undone.

Verse 43.

Woe unto you Pharisees, for you love the uppermost seats in the synagogue,

and the greetings in the markets.

To the Pharisee, it was all about appearance.

They wanted to be seen as important both in the synagogue and in the marketplace.

So in the synagogue, they wanted prominent seating.

And in the marketplace, they wanted an elaborate greeting.

Verse 44.

Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are as graves which appear

not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.

Now, according to Numbers chapter 19, verse 16, everyone who

touched a grave was ceremonially unclean for seven days.

And when they were unclean, they could not go to the temple, they should not go to the synagogue, they could not

take place in religious activities.

So they were ceremonially unclean for seven days.

Here's what it says in Numbers.

And whosoever touches one that is slain with a sword in the open field, or a dead body,

or the bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

Now, because of this, the Jews sought to mark the graves clearly, usually using

whitewash so that everyone would know where they were and would avoid them.

Now, Jesus is making an analogy, the religious leaders, to an unmarked grave.

The religious leaders loved giving the impression that they were ever so spiritual, full of

life, full of spirit, totally clean.

But they weren't.

They were defiled.

And they defiled everybody that came in contact with them.

Now, we need to know this, that walking over a grave ceremonially defiled a

Jewish person, even if he didn't know the grave was there.

So these religious leaders were giving the impression that they were

clean and coming in contact with them would not defile the person that came in

contact with them, but they were really graves,

unmarked graves, and they defiled everybody that came in contact with

them.

Then said one of the lawyers, or then answered one of the lawyers,

and said unto him, Master,

Sometimes it's better to sit quietly and not say anything.

Now, a lawyer is simply a scribe, but he was one who supposedly was an expert in the law

of God.

So clearly when Jesus said in verse 44, woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,

lawyers were included, and this lawyer knew it.

But since the lawyer inserted himself into the question, into the discussion, Jesus

spoke directly to him and to the other lawyers present.

And here's what he says.

Verse 46, Woe unto you also, you lawyers, for you laden men

with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourself touch not the burdens with

one of your fingers.

Oh, you claim to be experts on the law of Moses, but you have taken what God gave Moses

and added to it to improve it.

Woe unto you.

What you have actually done is add burdens too grievous to bear.

Not only that, burdens that you will not take on yourself.

He goes on to say, woe unto you, still speaking to the lawyers, woe unto you,

for you build a sepulchre of the prophets, and your fathers kill them.

For all outward appearances, you pretend to honor the very prophets that your fathers killed.

And you say that if you were in their place, you would have behaved differently.

But Jesus said this, verse 48, truly, ye

bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your father, for they indeed killed

them, and ye build their sepulchre.

John MacArthur adds this to the thought.

They thought they were honoring the prophets, but in reality,

they had more in common with those who killed them.

I would have said it, they thought, they tried to convince everyone that they were honoring the

prophets, but in reality, they had more in common with the fathers who

killed the prophets than they did with the prophets themselves.

Now for verse 49, therefore also said the

wisdom of God, therefore also said the wisdom of God, I

will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them, they will slay and persecute.

Now there is no Old Testament source for this as a quotation.

Christ is prophetically announcing the coming judgment of God.

He's not quoting from a previously written source, but giving them a direct

warning from God.

And here's the warning, that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation

of the world, may be required of this generation.

What generation?

The generation that he revealed himself to, that Jesus revealed himself to, and that

they rejected.

The ones he sent his prophets to, and his apostles to, and they

killed them and persecuted them.

That group of people.

That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world,

may be required of this generation.

That's a remarkable condemnation from Jesus, saying that those who rejected him,

and his apostles and prophets, would face a greater and a unique accountability.

Verse 51 says this, from the blood of Abel, until the blood of Zacharias, which

perished between the altar and the temple, verily I say unto you, it shall be

required of this generation.

Jesus was speaking of all the righteous martyrs of the Old Testament.

Clearly, Abel was the first.

And the way the Hebrew Bible was arranged, Zachariah was the last.

And by the way, that's Zachariah the priest, not Zachariah the penman of the book of

Zachariah.

Second Chronicles is the last book of the Hebrew Bible.

And Zachariah's story is found in 2 Corinthians chapter 24,

the last chapter.

So it's the last chapter of the last book.

So it's got all of the Old Testament in the Bible, as it's written

in the Hebrew version.

Now he goes on to say, verse 52, woe unto you lawyers,

for you have taken away the key of knowledge.

You have not entered in yourself, and them that were entering, you hindered.

Look at the phrase, for you have taken away the key of knowledge.

Their legalistic approach had taken away understanding and knowledge.

By giving the people a list of rules by which they could supposedly save themselves, they didn't help them

at all.

In fact, they hindered them.

Now look at the phrase, you did not enter yourself, and those who were entering, you hindered.

It's bad enough not to enter into heaven itself, but it's worse to hinder another person

from entering in.

Verse 53.

And he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees, and I might say the scribes,

the lawyers, and the Pharisees, and as he said these things

unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees, begin to urge him vehemently and provoke him

to speak of many things.

Well, if you look the word urge up, you'll get several different

definitions.

The New King James Version uses the word assail.

It may have been, you may have used assault, verbally assault.

You could say condemn.

That's what they were doing, they were condemning him.

And they were condemning him vehemently with great vigor.

And to provoke him, to interrogate him, to speak of many things.

They did not want to receive Jesus's correction.

They preferred to stay in their own sinful thinking and habits, rather than repent

and learn from Jesus's rebukes.

Their reaction was strong and violent.

Violent in words, if not in action.

Verse 54 says this.

Laying weight for him, trying to set a trap.

Laying weight for him and seeking to catch him, trap him.

Something out of his mouth that they might accuse him.

The religious leaders responded the way many do when they're faced with correction and truth of

God.

Instead of humbly receiving the correction, they responded with outraged

accusations.

Now have we gone through, as we have gone through Luke up until now, I have

relied on several commentators that I trust.

Some current day commentators like John MacArthur and

Chuck Missler that I have great faith in.

Some earlier, like Matthew Henry

and Spurgeon, and even some ancient

early fathers to get an insight or a commentary on

Luke or on any Bible

passage that we're studying.

Now all, not all of those, all of those are done by men and are subject to errors.

And one of the things that I always try to do is cite Acts 17 and 11 that you receive,

but study the scriptures daily to see if the things are so.

But now I'm going to go to a totally reliable commentary.

A commentary of Luke found in the only place that we can find a totally

100 reliable commentary.

But it will still take us a little thought, a little study to understand what is being said.

We're gonna go to Matthew's account of the same event.

Now your first thing you'll notice is Matthew's account takes place right at the very end of the

book of Matthew.

Luke's is near the beginning, but you have to understand, Luke's was not done

chronologically.

Luke's book was written topically.

So he deals with the topic and then he goes on.

Matthew is going through in chronological order.

So we're gonna go to Matthew 23 verse one and continue.

And the majority of those things that we will come to, we've

already dealt with in Luke.

But there'll be a few new things and a few things that will help explain some of the things that Luke

answered in a little different fashion.

So we're gonna go to Matthew 23, beginning at verse one.

Matthew 23 verse one.

Well, that's only a couple of chapters away, so you're probably there by now.

And it began.

Then spake Jesus to the multitude and to his disciples, saying, the

scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses's seat.

Well, that wasn't clear to me and it wasn't mentioned in the other

account, in Luke's account.

So I went to one of my current authorities, John MacArthur, and he said this,

Moses's seat is an expression equivalent to a university's chair of philosophy.

To sit in Moses's seat was to have the highest authority to instruct

people in the law.

Now, he also adds this expression here may be translated, they have seated themselves

in Moses's seat.

And that stresses the fact that this was an imaginary authority that they claim

for themselves.

Now, there was a legitimate sense in which the priests and the Levites had authority to

decide matters of the law.

But the scribes and the Pharisees had gone far beyond any legitimate authority and were

adding human tradition to the word of God.

Now, MacArthur puts a notation here to refer to Matthew

15, verse three.

So keep your place here, but scroll down to Matthew 15, verse three,

and we will pick it up.

But he answered and said unto them, why do you also transgress the commandments of God by

your tradition?

For God commanded saying, honor thy father and thy mother, and he that curseth

father or mother, let him die the death.

But ye say, whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, this is a

gift, that whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, and honor not his father and his mother,

he shall be free.

Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect.

Well, that was reasonably clear, but Mark has a more clear explanation.

And this is unusual for Mark to be the clearest of the bunch, but in this case, he is.

So now go to Mark seven, verse nine, Mark

seven, verse nine.

And he said to them, full well, you reject the commandment of God,

that ye may keep your own tradition.

I'm gonna read that again.

Full well, you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition.

That's the problem.

For Moses said, honor thy father and thy mother, and whosoever curseth father

or mother, let him die the death.

You heard that in Matthew and in Luke.

But ye say, if a man shall say to his father or his mother, it is Corban,

that is to say a gift by whatsoever, thou mightest be profited by me,

he shall be free.

What he's saying is this.

They would, they were obligated, men were obligated to take care of their

father and their mother.

And if they didn't do that, they were not honoring the father and the mother.

So what they would do is they would say, their resources were donated

as a gift to the temple.

But the temple wouldn't collect it right then.

The temple would collect it when they finally gave the gift.

But in the meantime, they used everything that they had

for their own profit,

and only turned in the gift later, if at all.

Sometimes they would redeem it before the Galilee, before the Jubilee.

And ye suffer him no more to do aught for his father and his mother.

So that freed him from his obligation to take care of his mother and father.

Therefore, making the word of God of none effect through your traditions, which ye have

delivered, and many such like things ye do.

So what was happening is they were dedicating their work, their resources

to the temple that allowed them to not

take care of their mother and father.

The temple, the community, someone else had to take care of them, or they had to die.

But he was set free to continue to use the resources for his own profit.

And so in effect, they went around the commandment of the law,

and that's what we're dealing with here.

Now, ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you?

We're back in Matthew 15, but now we're

to verse seven.

Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you saying, this people draw nigh

unto me with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but their

heart is far from me.

But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

I'm gonna read that again.

I bold -faced it, I'm gonna read it twice.

Teaching for doctrine, teaching as the word of God, the commandments of men.

And that's what Jesus is condemning them for.

Now, back to Matthew 23, and we'll pick it up at

where we left off at verse three.

Matthew 23, verse three.

He's talking about the fair season and the lawyers, the scribes,

and he's saying to them, therefore whatsoever they bid you observe,

that observe and do, but do not after their works, for they say and

do not.

In so far as they were instructing you with regard to the law, obey them,

but do not copy their works.

They talk, but they do not obey.

In Texas, we would describe them as all hat and no cows.

They talked a good game.

They pretended to be cattlemen, but all they had was the hat.

Here, they pretended to be teaching the word of God, but all they really were

teaching were their own traditions, their

own works.

They talk, but they do not obey.

For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be born and lay them on men's shoulders,

but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers, but all

of their works they do for to be seen of men.

That part of a verse, verse five, but all of their works they do

for to be seen of men.

That's what the problem is.

That's something that was not made this clear in Luke, and that's why I wanted to, one of the reasons I wanted to

do Matthew.

What they're doing, they do to be seen of men, not to be seen of God, although

they are seen of God.

They make broad the phylacteries.

Those are the little boxes that they wore on the forehead with the scripture in it that they would recite,

and enlarge the borders of their garments.

They love the uppermost rooms at feast and the chief seats in the synagogues

and greeting in the markets and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

But be ye not called Rabbi, for one is your master, even Christ, and ye are

all brethren.

And call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your father, which is in heaven.

Neither be ye called masters, for one is your master, even Christ.

Now here, Jesus condemns pride and pretenses, not

titles per se.

Paul repeatedly speaks of teachers in the church, and he even

refers to himself as the Corinthians' father.

He does that in Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 4, 15.

Obviously, he's not talking about just the use of the title, and obviously, he also

does not forbid the showing of respect.

In 1 Timothy 5, 1, you don't need to go down the street, rebuke not an elder, but

entreat him as a father, and the younger men as brethren, the elder

women as mothers, and the younger as sisters with all purity.

What's happening here is Jesus is merely forbidding the use of such names

as spiritual titles or in an ostentatious sense that accords undue

spiritual authority to a human being as if he were the source of the truth rather

than God.

I'm gonna read that again and take a sip of coffee to kind of,

okay, here we go.

Undue spiritual authority to a human being as if he were the source of truth

rather than God.

That's the issue.

But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased.

And he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut up the

kingdom of heaven against men, for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye

them that are entering to go in.

John MacArthur says it this way.

The Pharisees, having shunned God's righteousness, were seeking to establish a

righteousness of their own and teaching others to do so as well.

Their legalism and self -righteous effectively obscured the narrow gate by which the kingdom

must be entered.

Verse 14, woe be unto you,

scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you devour widows' houses

and for a pretense make long prayers.

Therefore, you shall receive the greater damnation.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you compass sea and land to make one

proselyte.

And when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

A proselyte is a Jewish convert to, a Gentile convert to the Jewish faith.

So when you finally make one, you make him two times more the child of hell than you are.

Verse 16, woe unto you, blind guides, which say,

whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing, but whosoever shall swear by

the gold of the temple, he is a debtor.

You see, what they were doing is they were making oaths, counting in a way that they could back out and not be responsible for

the oath.

So if they said they swore by the temple, they weren't obligated to fulfill their oath.

But if they said they swear by the gold of the temple, then he is indeed in debt.

So they would make their oaths binding on the temple,

but not on the gold of the temple.

And therefore, they were free to renege on the oath.

I'll read that again.

Woe unto you, you blind guides, which say, whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing,

but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor.

Jesus says, you fools and blind, for whether it's greater, the gold

or the temple that sanctifies the gold.

There are other oaths that they took with caveats.

And whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing.

But whosoever shall swear by the gift that is on it, he is guilty.

So if you swore by the altar, you didn't honor it.

If you swore by the gift that was on the altar, you did.

Jesus goes on to say, you fools and blind, for whether it's greater, the gift or the

altar that sanctifies the gift.

Whosoever shall swear by the altar, swears by it and by all the things thereon.

And whosoever swear by the temple, swears by it and all him that dwelleth therein.

And he that sweareth by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God and by him that sitteth

thereon.

Woe be unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay tithe of mint and

anise and corn and have omitted the weightier matters of the law,

judgment, mercy, and faith.

They would count out 10 % of even the smallest items.

I'm not sure how many of you know, well, we all know mint.

Anise is like a licorice -flavored small flower and

cumin is a spice used by the Middle Easterners.

These small things, if they had 100 grains of mustard seed,

they'd count out 10 and tithe them.

If they had 100 anise flowers, tiny little flowers, they would count out

10 of them and tithe them.

And he says this, Jesus says this, these you ought to have done.

It's good to tithe the small things.

It's good to tithe everything, but not leave

the other, the weightier matters undone.

I'm gonna read that whole verse again with what I've said kind of sitting in your minds.

Woe be unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay tithe of mint and

anise and cumin and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith.

These ought to have done and not leave undone the other.

So you ought to tithe the small things, but you shouldn't ignore the heavy things.

Now, this was always a phrase that I couldn't quite understand.

You blind guides which strain at an ant and swallow

a camel.

You blind guides which strain at an ant and swallow a camel.

Well, what's he talking about?

The Pharisees would screen or strain any water that they drank

because it might have a gnat in it.

And a gnat was a small, unclean creature, and therefore he

would, I can't

think of the word now,

pollute is not the word I'm looking for, but it's,

I'm just at total loss for words now.

He would be, well,

defiled.

I finally got the word.

They would be defiled if they drank a gnat in the water because a gnat was an unclean

creature.

It was the smallest of the unclean creatures.

It was the smallest thing you could clean out of the water by screening it through a

mesh.

You blind guides which strain at an ant and swallow a camel.

Now, what about, what's the camel got to do with it?

A camel was an unclean beast.

It was the largest unclean beast in the Middle East.

So you blind guides, you strain at the gnat and you swallow the camel.

You are concerned about the little things and you pay no attention at all to the big things.

That's what this is trying to say.

You blind guides, you strain at the little things and you swallow the big things.

Sure, strain for the gnat if you wish, but strain for the camel as well.

Don't swallow the camel.

Woe be unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,

for you may clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but

within they are full of extortion and excess.

John MacArthur said this, the Pharisees' focus on external issues lay

at the heart of their error.

Who would want to drink from a cup that had been washed on the outside, but was still filthy inside?

Yet the Pharisees lived their lives as if their external appearance were more important

than internal reality.

And this was the very essence of their hypocrisy and Jesus rebuked them

for it repeatedly.

Verse 26, thou blind Pharisees, clean

first that which is within the cup and platter,

that the outside of them may be clean also.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like unto white

sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bombs

and of all uncleanliness.

Even so, you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you're full of

hypocrisy and iniquity.

And it's all for outward appearances, all for the praises

of men.

Verse 29 goes on to say, woe unto you, Pharisees and scribes,

hypocrites, because you build the tombs of the prophets and garnish the sepulchres

of righteousness and say, if we had been in the days of our father, we would not have been

partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

And I like John MacArthur's response to that phrase.

A ridiculous claim to self -righteousness when they were already plotting the

murder of the Messiah.

Then he inserts a reference to John chapter 11, verse 45.

I would like for you to go there.

And when you get to 45, you'll look just immediately before and you'll see that Jesus has just

caused Lazarus to rise from the dead after three days in the tomb.

John chapter 11, verse 45.

Then many of the Jews, which came to Mary and had seen the things which Jesus

did, believed on him, many of them.

But some of them went their way to the Pharisees and told them what things Jesus had done.

Verse 47, then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council and said,

what do we do?

For this man doeth many miracles.

If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him and the Romans shall come and

take away both our place and our nation.

Verse 49, and one of them named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same

year, said unto them, you know nothing at all.

No, consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people

and that the whole nation perish not.

This he spake not of himself, but being a high priest that year, he prophesied that

Jesus should die for that nation and not for that nation

only, but also he should gather together in one the children of God

that were scattered abroad.

Then from that day forth, they took council together for to put him to death.

So way back, just after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, they were

already plotting to kill Jesus.

So the fact that they were so self -righteous as to say, well, if we were in the place of our fathers, we wouldn't have

killed the prophets, they're plotting to do it just now.

Verse 31, back to Matthew, verse 31.

Matthew 23, 31, I believe.

Wherefore, you be witnesses unto yourselves that ye are the children of them which kill the prophets.

Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

You serpents, you generation of vipers, how shall you escape the damnation of hell?

Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes, and some of them you shall kill and

crucify, and some of them you shall scourge in your temples and persecute them from city to city.

Now, that's exactly what Luke had said earlier.

I will send you prophets and wise men and scribes.

Now, that's not a quotation, that's Jesus giving a direct warning to them.

Jesus acting upon his authority as a prophet.

Some of them you shall kill and crucify, some of them you shall scourge in your synagogues and persecute them from

city to city, that upon you might come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth

from the blood of the righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah, the son of

Barthias, whom you slew between the temple and the altar.

Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation, O

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them, which are

sent unto thee.

How often, how often would I have gathered thy children together,

even as a hen gathers her children, chicks under her wings, but ye would not.

And I want to take a second here and just make a comment that it does say, I wanted to

gather you together as a hen would gather chicks under her wings and you would not.

Do you have the authority to reject what Jesus offers?

The answer to that is no.

Those that he has selected will choose

to be gathered under his wings, but the others would not.

That doesn't mean that God can't show compassion to everyone and that he

does and he will, but it also doesn't mean that God is any the

less sovereign.

He is totally sovereign, he is in total control and what happens, happens at the will of God.

Verse 38, behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

For I say unto you, you shall not see me henceforth until you

say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Now that's not happened yet.

That's still to come, but there will come a time when the Jewish people will in mass say,

blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

They will receive him and from that point on, every one of them will be saved,

but that happens in the tribulation period.

There's a lot left to do between now and then.

Most gracious heavenly father, thank you for this day and thank you for all the many blessings.

Bless us and keep us, protect us.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen.