Luke 20:1-47
This chapter has a lot to do with authority. The Jews want to know why Jesus speaks with such authority and Christ wants to know why they Jews have repeatedly refused to accept God's authority. It is a battle of the wits for which the religious leaders and totally unprepared and under qualified. This confrontation would be funny if it were not so sad.
THE JEW QUESTION THE SOURCE OF CHRIST'S AUTHORITY: Their question implies that they do not recognize that Christ has authority in and of himself. They believe that they have authority because of their position and wealth, but they do not recognize Christ's authority so they want to know how He will respond to them. Christ does not want to play this game so He puts them between a rock and a hard place by asking about what they thought of John the Baptist. By doing this, He reveals that the religious leaders were really controlled by the people and had no true authority.
CHRIST CONDEMNS THEIR REJECTION OF GOD'S AUTHORITY: Since they want to talk about authority, Christ shows them how they and their forefathers have repeatedly rejected God's authority. God gave them a sacred trust but they would not do as He required so He sent prophet after prophet to call them to come under His authority. They refused and were now on the cusp of rejecting God's Son. The result will be God stripping the trust away from them and giving it to the Gentiles. We are proof that this has happened, but we must be very careful to make sure that we are submitting to God or we too will face a similar fate.
THE JEWS QUESTION THE SUBMISSION OF CHRIST TO AUTHORITY: They want to try to trap Jesus in a political blind side so they can accuse Him of insurrection. Christ is masterful in His response and simply tells them that they must submit to both human and divine authority. They then move on to question about His teaching on the resurrection by posing a ridiculous hypothetical situation. They really have no interest in His answers, but are in hopes of using His own words to condemn Him. He didn't bite.
CHRIST CONDEMNS THEIR REFUSAL OF SCRIPTURES AUTHORITY: Christ criticizes them for their ignorance of Scripture and their refusal to place themselves under the authority of what the Scriptures teach. It is easy for us to get caught up in whatever authority we think we might have, the authority of other men and our own traditions. We must never allow these lesser authorities to overshadow the only true and ultimate authorities of God and His Word.
THE JEW QUESTION THE SOURCE OF CHRIST'S AUTHORITY: Their question implies that they do not recognize that Christ has authority in and of himself. They believe that they have authority because of their position and wealth, but they do not recognize Christ's authority so they want to know how He will respond to them. Christ does not want to play this game so He puts them between a rock and a hard place by asking about what they thought of John the Baptist. By doing this, He reveals that the religious leaders were really controlled by the people and had no true authority.
CHRIST CONDEMNS THEIR REJECTION OF GOD'S AUTHORITY: Since they want to talk about authority, Christ shows them how they and their forefathers have repeatedly rejected God's authority. God gave them a sacred trust but they would not do as He required so He sent prophet after prophet to call them to come under His authority. They refused and were now on the cusp of rejecting God's Son. The result will be God stripping the trust away from them and giving it to the Gentiles. We are proof that this has happened, but we must be very careful to make sure that we are submitting to God or we too will face a similar fate.
THE JEWS QUESTION THE SUBMISSION OF CHRIST TO AUTHORITY: They want to try to trap Jesus in a political blind side so they can accuse Him of insurrection. Christ is masterful in His response and simply tells them that they must submit to both human and divine authority. They then move on to question about His teaching on the resurrection by posing a ridiculous hypothetical situation. They really have no interest in His answers, but are in hopes of using His own words to condemn Him. He didn't bite.
CHRIST CONDEMNS THEIR REFUSAL OF SCRIPTURES AUTHORITY: Christ criticizes them for their ignorance of Scripture and their refusal to place themselves under the authority of what the Scriptures teach. It is easy for us to get caught up in whatever authority we think we might have, the authority of other men and our own traditions. We must never allow these lesser authorities to overshadow the only true and ultimate authorities of God and His Word.
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