Thoughts From Luke - Day 88

                                              Luke 20:20-40

20 Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. 21 So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. 22 Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

23 He saw through their duplicity and said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

25 He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

26 They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.

27 Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question.28 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. 30 The second31 and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children.32 Finally, the woman died too. 33 Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”

34 Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, 36 and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection. 37 But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’38 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”

39 Some of the teachers of the law responded, “Well said, teacher!” 40 And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

             It's interesting that this very line of questioning and spying is still going on in our day. We, in America, recently had a new president elected, Donald Trump. As we saw in the previous passages, people in general don't want someone in authority over them. It is especially difficult when you voted for someone else, to submit to the authority of the election winner. Therefore, the opposition party, rather than submit to his authority for four years, tries to trap him in words he says, thus worst case scenario undermining his credibility, best case scenario getting him impeached. Trump calls most of these accusations "fake news" but the fact is that he said so many outrageous things during the campaign and still got elected, he is pretty much Teflon. Just last week I noticed that they went after the vice president, Pence. He, a born again Christian, stated that he would not have dinner alone with any member of the opposite sex other than his wife. The "spies" who heard this immediately likened it to the Muslim treatment and disregard for women. Obviously, they said, he treats women differently than he treats men. All Pence was saying was that it is not wise for a married man to go out to dinner with another woman. But it all comes from not wanting that person in authority over you; if it was their party they would cut people slack.

              Jesus experienced the same thing. Those who liked Him said, "Well said" and those who didn't yelled "blasphemy". But, even at the end, when before the trial, witnesses could not get their stories right against Jesus because He was so above reproach in everything He did and said.

                That's the people that don't want Jesus as an authority in their life. Then you have the ones who do bow to Jesus but want to argue about theological issues as illustrated by the Saducees. (not that they received Jesus but they liked to argue theological issues) I recently stumbled upon a website called The Pulpit and the Pen. I guess I am one of the last to find it because some of their posts have 300,000 hits. When you scroll through their headlines they are criticizing Beth Moore for having a divine revelation, Nabeel Quereshi for having a vision, Matt Chandler for celebrating Lent with his family, Kari Jobe for teaching a dangerous theology, Andy Stanley for criticizing expository preaching, Dr.Craig for agreeing with Andy Stanley, Planetshakers, Hillsong, Elevation worship for prosperity theology, Southern Baptist Church for not coming down harder on the Shack, and that's page 1. It's interesting that Jesus, even though being drawn into a theological debate by unbelievers wanting both to trap Him and argue, still answers their question in one of the few Biblical insights we are given into Heaven. Why does He stoop down to their level? Because it was a theological discussion of utmost importance - is there a resurrection of the dead? This is an essential Christian doctrine along with the trinity, the depravity of man, substitutionary atonement, Christ's complete humanity and deity, the sufficiency and exclusivity of Christ's work, the need for a personal relationship with Christ, and the authority of the scriptures.

           I recently read that the number of Christians in America is approximately the population of New York state. The author said to picture that, take a map and color NY green and the rest of the US red, and you have a picture of what a minority we are. Still, 22 million Christians uniting can be a powerful force. We need to quit dividing over things like Carrie Underwood singing at Passion conferences yet when interviewed said she approved of gay marriage, so AFA was after Louie Giglio for allowing her to sing. We should be glad to have someone of her influence on our side. Then there is Nabeel Quereshi, the premier voice in the world arguing for Christianity over Islaam, who has lost family, friends, career, and soon his life as he battles cancer, and we are taking pot shots at him for having a vision?? And what's wrong with lent as long as you know these traditions don't save you? We need to quit fighting over things that don't matter like the King James Version vs. NIV or premillennial vs. amellenial, or Republican vs. Democrat and join hands as we follow and submit to Christ. Just picture these Pharisees and Saducees arguing over theology missing Christ standing right there in their presence. We as believers cannot do that!