Study – Grow – Know

Being Sincere But Sincerely Wrong

October 30, 2017 at 2:25 PM 1 comment

In Luke 20, a number of situations from Jesus’ life and teaching are highlighted for us by Dr. Luke, the physician. Luke 19 highlights the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. Just a few days later, we would we see the wrongful conviction of Jesus, His flogging, and crucifixion. He was ultimately arrested on charges of “blasphemy” because He made Himself equal to God on several occasions. It is interesting that the religious leaders of the time never stopped to consider that this (God) Man standing before them might possibly be who He said He was – genuinely divine, the Son of God (or God, the Son; remember, like begets like).

Shortly after the Triumphal Entry, Jesus came under increasing scrutiny by the religious leaders mainly due to the Triumphal Entry itself and the way the average person reacted to Jesus during that event. Jesus was praised and esteemed as He rode on the back of a young colt that had never been ridden by any other person. The people placed palm branches (symbols of peace), before Him on the road and shouted “Hosanna!”, a direct reference to Him being the Messiah.

Naturally, the religious leaders – Sadducees, Pharisees, and Scribes – were indignant at this proclamation by the common person. After all, the leaders were the ones who “knew” the Scriptures, not the average, uneducated person of the day. Who was this Jesus and how was it He was able to so easily relate to the common person? He must be a “sinner” Himself, therefore worthy of rejection and censure, not acceptance and praise.

After this event, the religious leaders sought to ramp up their attacks on Jesus. They wanted Him out of the way especially with the Passover coming in just a few days. Jesus was proving to be too much of a threat to their existence and quality of life. Israel wasn’t big enough for Jesus and the religious leaders. He had to go.

The coming Passover was where heaven and hell would meet, where Jesus Himself became our Passover Lamb (Revelation 5). Stop to consider this. Jesus – God the Son – took on the form of humanity, becoming fully human while retaining His deity (Philippians 2). He was physically born as a baby, grew into a man, and lived a completely sinless life (which qualified Him to die in our place). He then willingly gave Himself over to a brutal death and literally experienced the wrath of the Father as it was poured out on Jesus while He hung on the cross.This wrath was meant for us and is still reserved for those who refuse and reject the only salvation that is offered to humanity, through Jesus our Lord. Those who trust in Jesus come under the shadow of His saving grace. Since He experienced God the Father’s wrath for us, we will never experience His wrath. Never.

This is the love of God for humanity and all those religious leaders during Jesus’ day who were bent on His destruction could not fathom it. Can you imagine one day standing before the GodMan whom you personally despised during your time on earth and who you personally did whatever you could to destroy Him? Can you imagine that?

The hatred and jealousy from the religious leaders kept them from seeing the truth about Jesus. This very same thing happens to people the world over today…every day…as roughly 150,000 people die into eternity, most without Jesus (Matthew 7:13). This was the primary reason for their constant attacks on Him. Motivated by Satan through and cooperation of their pride, they did whatever they could to stop Jesus. This ultimately resulted in God allowing them to wrongfully arrest, convict, and execute Him, God using the evil devices of demons and people to work out His plan of salvation. Not even Satan understood that he was actually assisting God though he worked against Him!

Much of what Jesus taught was not only on practical living based on the Mosaic Law, but the fact that hell ultimately awaited all who rejected Jesus as Savior and Messiah. These are the only two options for every person; heaven and hell and everyone will end up in one place or the other forever. Once this life is over, all chances to repent are gone.

It was during these discussions of the afterlife, that Jesus would at times, take a few moments to point out the ramifications of that afterlife. He did so in Luke 20, when the Sadducees came to Him with a question about marriage in the afterlife. What makes the incident so ironic is their obvious duplicity. The Sadducees did not believe in any afterlife (resurrection). It’s a bit like today’s atheist coming to a Christian and wanting to know about God. They are atheists who don’t believe in God. Many will state they “know” God does not exist. To engage them is normally fruitless and more often than not, an attempt on their part to poke holes in the Christian’s beliefs.

Luke 20:27-40 highlights the antagonism that the Sadducees felt toward Jesus, but also their attempt to get Him to disagree publicly with Moses and the Law. This would allow them to bring Him up on religious charges of blasphemy. What they did not anticipate was Jesus’ reliance on the Scriptures as His only source of truth.

27 There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, 28 and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.29 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. 30 And the second 31 and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. 32 Afterward the woman also died. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.” (Luke 20:27-33, ESV)

I’m sure that most of the people listening to this exchanged probably wondered why the Sadducees even cared about any resurrection since it was common knowledge that they did not believe in one. Why the question? It was obvious subterfuge to Jesus and Luke, which is why Luke includes the comment, “those who deny that there is a resurrection,” referencing the Sadducees.

So Jesus listened to their made-up story about a brother who dies and all the other brothers who end up taking their brother’s widow into their homes, but no one manages to impregnate her to carry on their brother’s name. Again, the Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection of the dead so their story and question is only meant for trickery.

I really appreciate how Jesus cut right through the cunning of the Sadducees. Imagine, God the Son, in human form having to put up with the proud religious leaders of His day who were convinced they knew more than this young upstart, Jesus. It was only His deep love for them that caused Him to give them any time at all. Though He loved them, they rejected Him from the beginning until the end of His life. Responding to them was also for the sake of average people listening and watching, as a teachable moment.

Jesus takes the time to answer their question. After He does this, He publicly shows them from Scripture that they are 100% wrong in their belief that there is no resurrection at all. What an embarrassment for the Sadducees!

34 The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36 for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. (Luke 20:34-36, ESV)

This above text responds to their question. Once believers die out of this life and move into eternity, our marrying days are over. No matter how much we were in love with our spouses here on earth, marriage to another human being will not be part of our experience in the afterlife. When Jesus says that we are “equal” to angels and are sons of God, He is saying we will have become perfected at that point due to the fact that our sin natures will be permanently and fully expunged from our person, just like the angels, two-thirds of which are not capable of sinning (1 Timothy 5:21). This was the way it was supposed to be when God first made man and placed him in the Garden of Eden. Sin of course, destroyed that temporarily, but God put plans into effect to restore what He had originally created and all true believers will finally experience what God intended for His Creation in the afterlife. Because of the full release from our inherent sin nature, we will live perfectly henceforth and in so doing, will become “sons of God” in the sense that we will be like Him in our ability not to sin any longer. From that moment on, everything we do, think, or say, will bring 100% glory to God. We will perfectly reflect God’s image, unlike now where it is often hit or miss; mostly miss.

37 “But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.” (Luke 20:37-38)

The above text is where Jesus pointedly tells the Sadducees how wrong they are regarding the resurrection and He did so publicly. The Scriptures are clear. There could be no dispute. However, the Sadducees, like many people today, did not arrive to their beliefs solely through Scripture. They used many sources, including how they felt about something or the traditions of other religious leaders who came before them. For good measure, they threw Moses into the mix as well. Jesus constantly went to the Scriptures as the only true authority (Matthew 4).

This is the problem with many Protestant denominations today (as well as the Roman Catholic Church). There are so many things taught and practiced that rely on tradition and the teachings of men, that these things tend to cloud over the truth of Scripture, making it difficult for average people to know what is true.

Our churches (Protestant and Catholic) are filled with people who think they are saved mainly because they’ve been in church for as long as they can remember and have jumped through all the hoops. They think this qualifies to gain or receive salvation. Truth is that membership in any church means nothing if the person is not a member of the Church, Christ’s Bride. The only way into that “club” is by receiving salvation and entry into that “club” is open to all people, regardless of race, gender, or station in life (Galatians 3:28), through faith alone in Christ’s work. There is nothing we can do to earn that salvation (Ephesians 2:8-10). It is God’s gift to us, yet so many are under the yoke of man-made tradition that has been added to God’s free gift of salvation.

Many are very sincere, yet sincerely wrong. The Sadducees were one such group, fully convinced they were right, but pointedly told by Jesus they were 100% wrong. Imagine how they felt. Indignant. Offended. Their pride would not allow them to see the truth in Jesus’ words, so they attacked Him instead.

Fellow Christians, there are many, many doctrines and theologies today. People tend to latch onto the things that they find comfort in and make sense of. However, we must ensure that what we believe is truth. The Five Fundamentals of the Faith upon which all Christians should agree:

1. The Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:1; John 20:28; Hebrews 1:8-9).
2. The Virgin Birth (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:27).
3. The Blood Atonement (Acts 20:28; Romans 3:25, 5:9; Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 9:12-14).
4. The Bodily Resurrection (Luke 24:36-46; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 15:14-15).
5. The inerrancy of the scriptures themselves (Psalms 12:6-7; Romans 15:4; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20).

There is most certainly wiggle room in some other areas of doctrine and theology, but not in the above and not ever. Make every effort to search the Scriptures to know what God teaches. Do not be like the Sadducees who believed in their own wisdom and the teachings of men. They were sincere, but sincerely wrong.

Entry filed under: Atheism and religion, christianity, Cultural Marxism, Demonic, devil worship, Emotional virtue, eternity, israel, Judaism, Political Correctness, Politically Correct, Politics, rapture, Religious - Christian - End Times, Religious - Christian - Prophecy, Religious - Christian - Theology, salvation, second coming. Tags: hosanna, jesus, luke 19, luke 20, right or wrong?, sadducees, triumphal entry.