​TRICKERY, MOCKERY, OR THEOLOGY
Luke 20:41-47

Dr. Chuck DeVane, Pastor
Lake Hamilton Baptist Church
Hot Springs, Arkansas

March 24, 2019

41 But he said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is David's son? 42 For David himself says in the Book of Psalms, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, 43 until I make your enemies your footstool.”’ 44 David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son?” 45 And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, 46 “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 47 who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
— Luke 20:41-47, ESV

When Jesus came into Jerusalem for the last time, He turned over tables.  He turned the most important Jewish festival into the first Christian holy week.  He turned over the tables of those making money from the Passover.  And, He turned the tables over and against the religious leaders of the Jews, namely the Pharisees and Sadducees.  

The Pharisees and Sadducees considered themselves to be scholars and they thought of Jesus as a common carpenter’s son.  When they came to the Lord and asked Him difficult questions, He easily answered them.  But when Jesus asked them a solid theological question, it sailed over their heads.  The egg on their embarrassed faces would hatch a conspiracy to put Jesus in the frying pan of a Roman execution.

The key theme of Luke’s three question and answer sessions move from trickery to mockery to theology.  False Christians excel at trickery.  Anti-Christians live in mockery.  God, however, is the Author of good theology.  And the pursuit of good theology is the essential motive and means for being a true follower of Christ.  

An Answer to the Questions

Let’s begin with the end, for to appreciate the theological ramifications of Jesus’ question to the religious rulers you have to recognize the trickery and mockery that motivated them.  Though the sessions probably did not happen on the same day of that holy week, they fit together nicely to present us with a sobering referendum on religion.  

Most people get into religion for all the wrong reasons.  The Pharisees used their religious appearance and authority to “devour widows’ houses.”  In other words, they were tricksters or hucksters, in the vein of Elmer Gantry.  Though cultural Christianity is fading in the West, there remain remnants of religious charlatans who use church leadership as a means of monetary gain.  As Jesus alluded to at the end of this passage, their seat in Hell will be the hottest.  

The Sadducees were the mockers.  They liked the “long robes” of religion.  It was their way of getting recognition and power.  But they really did not believe anything substantial about God, His word, or the salvation He offers.  They made fun of Jesus and any God follower who believed in the total inspiration of Scripture, supernatural miracles, life after death, and eternal reward and punishment.  

Yet no people were more religious in Jesus’ day than the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  Their religion was brainless and heartless, devoid of doctrinal truth and decidedly insincere.  So, after batting away their belittling questions, Jesus asked them one that was theological, biblical, substantial, and eternal.  

A Question Full of Answers

I shall never forget a painful debate that resulted in my departure from a previous church.  Our denomination was in an upheaval over the doctrines of grace, or what some call Calvinism, and I was tarred, feathered, and pushed into a corner to defend a theology is proven to be biblical, historical, and evangelical.  After citing some Scripture in context with commentary, one of the church leaders angrily argued, “Don’t bring the Bible into this!”  

In actuality, I was following Christ’s example.  In this ongoing debate with the Pharisees and the Sadducees, Jesus brought the Bible into it.  He posed an important theological question about the Messiah, then quoted Psalm 110:1.  The simple question He posed was filled with significant answers.

It was clear in the Old Covenant Scriptures and set in the historical Jewish mind that the Messiah would be the son of David.  Also revealed but somewhat enigmatic is the prophecy that He would be divine, the Son of God, in a literal sense.  King David’s first generation of offspring turned out to be a pack of incestuous, murdering, playboys.  Ensuing generations of Israeli kings alternated between very good and very bad, but none of them were divine.  Could the personal God of Israel (Yahweh) and the coming Messiah/Redeemer (Adoni) somehow be the same?   Yes, according to about 450 Old Testament texts!

The mystery lingered until the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth.  He came into the world via a virgin birth.  Both His birth mother and step-father were from the tribe of Judah and the house of David.  When He began to preach, He spoke with inspiration and authority.  When He did His work, He controlled nature and performed miracles.  When He died, in part because He posed this good question to these bad men, He rose again the third day.  He is David’s son, He is God’s Son.  Could He be the promised Messiah, the anointed Christ, the Redeemer of Israel, the Savior of the world?

The Sadducees and Pharisees had no answer.  We must come up with one.  Silence is not an option when confronted with the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The eternal fate of our souls, and the souls of others, depend upon correct theological answers.

Questions We All Must Answer

What is theology?  Theology is the study of God.  It is the pursuit of understanding who God is, what God does, what God requires, of how to know and be right with God.  Theology is something that should be of interest to all people and theology should be especially sacred to the people of God.  Sound theology should undergird the church and light the path walked upon by Christians.

Where does theology begin?  Theology begins with God’s initiative and God’s revelation of Himself to mankind.  God has revealed Himself to us in various ways and means from creation  to the call of Abraham to the establishment of Israel to the birth of the church.  He continues to reveal Himself to us through His Spirit and His word, the Bible.  In a way, theology is God’s greatest gift to us because through it He comes to us and lives within us.

What, or Who, is the greatest revelation of God?  The most perfect revelation of God is God Himself, who comes to us in the person and work of His Son and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.  True theology depends upon correct Christology.  And the correct study of Christ boils down to four great questions offered in a book by the late, great Dr. James Montgomery Boice: Who is Jesus?  What did He do?  Why did He do it?  What does it require of me?

While you think about those four questions, consider these three options:

Well, it's one for the money,
Two for the show,
Three to get ready,
Now go, cat, go …
— Carl Perkins

One, if you are a Pharisee, you’re in it for the money.  Two, if you’re a Sadducee, you’re in it for the show.  Three (a nice, triune number), if you want to know God and be ready to meet God face to face, you’d better answer theological questions aright and be a fully devoted follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.  

Jesus is God and man, the God-man, the promised Messiah, the Savior, He is Lord!  Jesus lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death, and was raised on the third day to sit upon the throne forever.  Jesus manifests the Father and sends forth the Spirit and it the embodiment of our living, eternal, triune God.  Jesus did His gospel work because He loves us and has chosen a people for Himself to share His eternal life and glory with forever and ever.  Those who are saved to savor this life are those who repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ.  

So, what kind of cat are you?  Have you tricked yourself and others into thinking you are a Christian when you are not?  Are you making a mockery of Christianity with a disobedient life?  Or, are you a theologian?  Every true Christian is a theologian, pursuing God, pouring over the Bible, loving others, following Christ.  This is the only way to be, the only way to behave, the only way to live, and live forever.

 
Copyright © 2019 Lake Hamilton Baptist Church, All rights reserved. 
Check out the weekly happenings at Lake Hamilton Baptist Church in Hot Springs, Arkansas. 

​MAKING A MOCKERY OF CHRISTIANITY
Luke 20:27-40

Dr. Chuck DeVane, Pastor
Lake Hamilton Baptist Church
Hot Springs, Arkansas

March 17, 2019

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.” 34 And Jesus said to them, “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. 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.” 39 Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” 40 For they no longer dared to ask him any question.
— Luke 20:27-40, ESV

Luke records three of the four crucial Holy Week question and answer sessions between Jesus and the religious rulers of Israel.  The first round, led by the Pharisees, was a matter of trickery in which Jesus flipped the coin on them.  In the second session, led by the Sadducees, the attacks against the Messiah moved from trickery to mockery.

There are two ways to make a mockery of Christianity.  One is from the outside in, whereby those outside the faith, atheists and agnostics and adherents of other religions, poke fun at some of the fundamentals of the Christian faith.  The other is from the inside out, when so-called Christians deny cardinal doctrines with their lips or betray Christian virtues with their lives.  Which one do you think makes more of a mockery of Christianity?

It is always the inside job that does the most damage.  This is the true tragedy, humanly speaking, of Holy Week.  The Romans would have never touched Jesus if He had not been mocked and betrayed by those who claimed to have the same faith in the same God.

By no means were the Pharisees and Sadducees Christians.  But at the time of Christ’s ministry, as the Old Covenant was closing and a New one opened (ref. Hebrews 8:13), all of them like Jesus would have claimed to be God-fearing Jews, children of the one true and living God, and keepers of the holy flame of Holy Scripture.  Jesus sincerely embodied true faith in the true and living God.  The religious rulers, however, made a mockery of it.  

They Mocked Christian Doctrine

“Sadducees, those who deny there is a resurrection”

While the Pharisees would have been the legalistic fundamentalists of their day, their counterparts the Sadducees would have been the theological liberals.  Sadducees, typically wealthy and well educated, believed in God and accepted some Scriptures as authoritative on moral and ethical matters.

However, the Sadducees prized worldly wisdom above the sole authority of Scripture.  Like Thomas Jefferson after them who tore any references to miracles and the deity of Christ out of his Bible, the Sadducees had no room for miracles, angels, and other such supernatural particulars, including life after death.  They did not believe in the resurrection, so they were sad, you see?

This whole question and answer session with Jesus was designed by them to make fun of the belief in the resurrection and eternal life, a subject which Jesus had taught repeatedly.  In other contexts they also attacked the doctrines of justification by faith and the inspiration of Scripture.  The Sadducees delighted in mocking doctrines which were cherished by Christ and now are sacred to Christ followers everywhere.

And remember, it was an inside job.  Just like the plethora of pathetic church leaders today who do the same.  They usually start by undermining the authority of the Bible and make fun of those of us who believe in its infallibility.  Then they move on to make fun of cardinal doctrines in the Bible, like the deity of Christ, the doctrine of the Trinity, the miracles that occurred from Moses to the Messiah, substitutionary atonement, and the literal, bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ and eventually all of mankind to either Heaven or Hell.  

So, if people should make fun of you because you believe the Bible is true and that all persons will one day be raised and retired to eternal life or death, then know you are in good company, Christ’s company, which is company you definitely want to keep.  

They Mocked Christ

“Teacher”

It is one thing to make fun of something a person believes, but it is quite another thing to make fun of the person.  The Sadducees did both to Jesus.  After stating their position against the resurrection forthrightly, they addressed Jesus, like their new friends the Pharisees, by calling him “Teacher.”

The Sadducees had been exposed to the teachings of Jesus for three years.  Each time they heard Him, they became more opposed to Him.  They ridiculed Jesus, and later Jesus’ followers, by labeling them as uneducated and uncouth, like a rabble of Southerners clinging to their God and guns.  

So it was with sarcastic spite that they called Jesus the “Teacher.”  They could not dare call Him “Lord,” and did not use the more honorific title of “Rabbi,” which Jesus’ followers often used, but lobbed the table of “Teacher” at Him while asking a question they were sure He could not answer, thereby making Him look stupid and small before a public audience.

How did that work out for them?  Again, we stand amazed at the utter failure and spectacular success they achieved within the same week.  On this day, the crowed cheered Jesus.  In a day or two more, they would be calling for His head, led of course by the Pharisees and Sadducees.

There is no neutral ground in the naming of Jesus.  If you cannot sincerely and spiritually call Him “Lord,” then you are mocking Him.  If you cannot loyally follow Him as your chief “Rabbi” or “Teacher,” then you are mocking His teachings.  Ignoring someone is often the greatest mockery of all.

They Mocked Sacred Scripture

“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.”

In order to properly make fun of Christ and Christian doctrine, the Sadducees had to have a certain tool in their hands.  Their tool was a text of Scripture.  Typical of skeptics and critics up to our present day, the Sadducees picked a rather obscure (and in the New Covenant, obsolete) passage from the Bible to make their attack, like marauders looking for the weakest post along a protective wall.  They also presented a ridiculous, hypothetical application of the text (I’m sure in real life the woman would have been arrested after the third husband died?!).

The place where the Sadducees chose to attack was Deuteronomy 25:5ff, a commandment concerning “levirate (brother-in-law) marriage” issued during Moses’ second giving of the law before Israel’s entrance into the promised land.  The Sadducees recited the text sarcastically by conjuring up a one bride for seven brothers scenario.  

All Scripture is inspired by God, but some Scripture expires.  Levirate marriage was important for Israel during their exodus from Egypt into the promised land, when tribal identity was crucial and necessary for the good of all the people.  Levirate marriage played a vital role in the redemption of Ruth, which preserved the bloodline of the Messiah.  But like most if not all of the ceremonial and civil laws of the Old Covenant, levirate marriage is by no means binding upon New Covenant Christians.  However, God’s moral laws are inspired and irrevocable.

It was and will always be an immoral sin against God and man to commit murder, adultery, lie, or steal.  It was and always will be an immoral sin against God and man to commit infanticide, engage in fornication, or practice homosexuality.  To do so is to make a mockery of Holy Scripture, the Spirit who inspired it, the Christ who taught it, and the God who has attached His name to it.

It is sad to see many modern day Sadducees brazenly attack the tenets of biblical Christianity.  This inside job is splitting churches, destroying once great denominations, and putting a confusing spin on the word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Mocked Them Back

“But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush.”

The Sadducees mocked Christianity.  They mocked Christ.  They mocked Christian Scripture.  Now it was Christ’s turn to mock the mockers.  He did so by throwing the bush at them (ref. Exodus 3).

The burning bush was an affirmation of the resurrection.  Jesus spoke in the present tense of present souls living presently in the presence of God.  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were just a few of the faithful covenant keepers who died long before Moses.  Christ taught their souls went to be with the Lord at death, and Christian teaching reveals that someday our bodies will be reunited with our souls.  

The burning bush was an affirmation of the supernatural; therefore, an avowal of the miracles and deity of Jesus Christ.  If God can make a bush burn with fire yet not be burned, I suggest that God can do anything.  He can created the world out of nothing.  He can calm the storm, walk on water, and raise the dead.  He can become a man, a man who was, is, and always will be God.  

The burning bush was an affirmation of Scripture.  Jesus presented it unapologetically as literal, historical, meaningful, spiritual truth.  Moses was no mythological character and the burning bush is no fairy tale.  For His glory and for His people God can and will do anything.  He can part the Red Sea, make a donkey talk, rain fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah, be born of a virgin, atone for sin on the cross, rise again the third day, and return one day to earth.  

The burning bush silenced the Sadducees.  Christ mocked the mockers.  But Sadducees always bounce back, they come out of the bushes, they infiltrate our churches, and they continue to make a mockery of Christianity even in our day.

Enough about them.  What about you?  What about your beliefs?  What about your lifestyle?  Does it portray a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ?  Or, does it make a mockery of Christianity?
 
Copyright © 2019 Lake Hamilton Baptist Church, All rights reserved. 
Check out the weekly happenings at Lake Hamilton Baptist Church in Hot Springs, Arkansas. 

A TAXING QUESTION
​
Luke 20:19-26
Dr. Chuck DeVane, Pastor
Lake Hamilton Baptist Church
Hot Springs, Arkansas

March 10, 2019

19 The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. 20 So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. 21 So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God. 22 Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” 23 But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar's.” 25 He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” 26 And they were not able in the presence of the people to catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer they became silent.
— Luke 20:19-26, ESV

The twentieth chapter of Luke’s Gospel ends with a three-round bout between the religious rulers of Israel and the Messiah.  They hit Jesus with a political question that does not make a mark, then throw a biblical punch at Him that He easily ducks.  Then, Jesus counter punches with a theological question that knocks them down and closes their mouths.  Christ is the clear winner in a unanimous decision, but He lives to fight for only another day or two before they catch Him with a cross.  The passover plot to take His life is underway.

Character assassination often precedes an actual murder.  Trying a person in the court of public opinion is a good way to get them into a real courtroom where capital penalties can be pursued.  Our low class of current politicians, on both sides of the isle, are masters of the game, as were “the scribes and chief priests” who accosted Jesus.  For the unscrupulous, all is fair in love and war, and that goes as well for politics and religion.

The questions offered by the religious authorities were an attempt to embarrass and discredit Jesus in front of religious Jews.  They were also calculated to entrap Him before the Roman government.  This sordid combination of church and state would ultimately condemn Jesus to death, where He would take our punishment to a temporary grave.

Here in the last days of His earthly life, as always, Jesus gives smart answers to dumb questions.  They provide practical advice on matters of church and state, eternal advice on the nature of the resurrection and Heaven, and theological insight into the mystery of the Trinity.  

Let’s take the first question today and listen to Jesus answer a taxing question with a godly answer.  It will teach us how to be good citizens of our country.  More importantly, it will teach us how to be fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

A Taxing Question

“Is it lawful for us to give tribute [tax]to Caesar, or not?”

This is a dumb question that emerged from darkened hearts.  It is stupid on the surface, for in effect they were asking if it is legal to obey the law.  Taxes, whether decreed by an Emperor or voted in by a legislature, are law and citizens have a legal obligation to pay them.

We live in a world of dumb questions today, don’t we?  Does abortion take a human life?  Are you born a male or a female?  Should illegal immigration be illegal?  Obvious, knee-jerk answers exist, as did one for the taxing question Jesus was asked.  His answer, however, was more complex and compassionate.

Israel was an occupied territory in Jesus’ day, ruled by Rome.  Rome was a dictatorship, ruled by Tiberius Caesar, who like most American politicians never met a tax he didn’t like.  “It is the duty of a good shepherd to shear his sheep,” is a quote attributed to him.  The Romans taxed everything the Jews did, which is why there were tax collector booths at every turn.  One tax was their version of the poll tax, which required every Israelite to pay a denarius each year for the privilege of living on Roman occupied soil.

Jews did not like living under Roman occupation and paying Roman taxes.  Who could blame them?  From time to time, a tax revolt would lead to a military style rebellion, and Rome would reach down with its iron fist and crush the leader.  So, if the religious rulers could succeed in getting Jesus to go on the record against taxes, perhaps the Romans would kill Him for them.  It is amazing how they failed and succeeded at the same time.

We will explore the fulness of Jesus’ answer in a minute, but for now let us understand that Jesus avoided their trap by giving the good and legal answer “yes.”  Of course it is legal to pay legal taxes to the legal government.  The law is the law, and you can’t beat the law.

Christians should always obey the law, unless the law orders you to disobey Christ.  Paying temporal taxes to an earthly king did not and does not constitute persecution.  Fortunately, such measures which make for tough choices are actually few and far between, especially for modern day American Christians.  

So, pay your taxes people, and pay all of your bills while you’re at it.  Stand up for the laws of the land, and while you’re at it stand up for the national anthem.  Christians should be of all people patriotic, but patriotism must never trump Christianity.  For Christ is far greater than any Roman Caesar or American President.

A Godly Answer

“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God’s.”

This was far more than a simple tax question.  It was a life question.  What part of our life belongs to our government and what part of our life belongs to God?  One is a matter of law, the other is a matter of love.

Christians should obey the laws of the land out of duty and fear.  Soldiers, policemen, and other public servants need to be paid.  Roads need to be paved.  Schools need to be funded.  All lives matter.  And no one wants to pay a fine or go to prison.  So, we pay our taxes and otherwise obey the law.

But how does this compare to our relationship and responsibility with God?  Is God like government, does He have laws?  Does He require taxes or other types of payments?  Does He rule in the land we now live?  Should we fear His punishment?  Of course the answer is yes, and no. 

What if God and government were the same?  Should all American citizens obey all the laws of God?  The last time I checked, “Thou shalt not murder” was on the books in all fifty states, except for the unborn and certain newborn babies in New York and Virginia.  “Thou shalt not commit adultery” used to be, too, but somehow that got erased fifty years ago, even though stoning was never an American option.  John Lennon imagined a world with no religion, but could you imagine what our country would be like if all of the people all of the time were governed by all of the word of God?

It would be a country much like Israel was in Jesus’ day.  People would piously and superficially obey the law, with hearts so far from God that they would not recognize God if God showed up in person.  

What does God really want us to do?  What does God want us to give?  How does God want us to live?  Jesus has given us the answer.  God’s wants what is God’s.

God does not want your taxes, but do give them to your local, state, and national government.  God does not want your tithes and offerings, but do give them to your local church.  God does not want your obedience, as if obedience alone could somehow earn favor and salvation from Him.  

God wants you, and He wants most from you what He has mostly given to you, namely, love.  Love is a response to grace.  Love is channeled through faith, and faithfulness.  Love is the fulfillment of all laws, to God and to one another.  And love saves, the love that comes through the loving gospel of the lovely person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus did gospel work in this question and answer session.  He knew where it would lead.  He went because of love.  He invites you to love Him back, but like His love, it must be total, without reservation, without limit.

Good government is limited government.  Real Christianity is unlimited.  It gives everything to God, not out of legalism but out of love.  As Isaac Watts wrote, “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

Copyright © 2019 Lake Hamilton Baptist Church, All rights reserved. 
Check out the weekly happenings at Lake Hamilton Baptist Church in Hot Springs, Arkansas.