Power Makes you Arrogant
Matthew 22: 23-33
24"Teacher," they said, "Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for him.
25Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother.
26The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh.
27Finally, the woman died.
28Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?"
29Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures
30At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.
31But about the resurrection of the dead--have you not read what God said to you,
32'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob' ? He is not the God of the dead but of the living."
33When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.
In Jesus' time the rulers of Jewish Society consisted mainly of the Sanhedrin- the Sadducees and the Pharisees, the scribes and teachers of the Law,- the Jewish law. The real power was with the Sadducees.
In this message, I refer to the Arrogance of the Sadducees that made up the majority of the Sanhedrin.
The Sanhedrin controlled the Temple and everything about its operation, the money changing for sacrifices, the purchase of proper animals for sacrifices, Temple worship, and were in charge of keeping the Jews in and around Jerusalem in proper order as to not disrupt society. The Roman leaders had appointed the Sanhedrin, especially the Sadducees, to keep the peace at all costs! Their job was to insure strict obedience to all things Roman. In exchange for this opportunity, the Romans allowed the Jews to practice their religion.
The Sanhedrin and therein the Sadducees, had great power. They were so worried that this hardly known preacher, teacher, healer called Jesus was going to be a real trouble maker... and they were right! Jesus, a good trouble maker changing society but bad for the Sanhedrin's power. After the destruction of the Temple on 70 AD, there is no written record of the Sadducees of the Sanhedrin. They ceased to exist and it is easy to believe they were killed, perhaps even targeted for death during the Temple destruction. Maybe God's judgment came upon them during their life. And the Romans were the instrument of God for their death because the Sadducees killed His son Jesus. Many, perhaps most of the others, the Pharisees and teachers of the law managed to escape as they presented challenges to the early Christians. But, the Sanhedrin was no more.
In the verses up to these verses Jesus is preaching and teaching in His last week. This episode and probably all of Matthew 22 occurred most likely on Tuesday of Passover week and Jesus' time for patience is over.
Jesus is more open now in His behavior as the Savior, the Messiah. He had brought Lazarus from the dead which was totally against the belief of the Sadducees (no resurrection) and was a direct challenge to their authority. In addition, Jesus had been telling parables to masses of people that put the Sadducees in a very bad light, that again challenged the authorities. So, these leaders came up with a question from the smartest minds among them to try to trick up Jesus that would cause Jesus to look bad with His followers.
Perhaps the most important comment of the Genius Jesus in this scripture is, "you do not know the scriptures and or the Power of God." Again, a huge challenge to the Sadducees and their authority. The absolute Genius of Jesus shines in this comment.
Look at how many lines of text there are in the question of the Resurrection and it is a question just to trick Jesus. These leaders did not care about the answer Jesus had, they only hoped to make Jesus look bad. They talked so long, that they gave Jesus plenty of time to think. Think He did! In just one line, one line Jesus' smashes and embarrasses the Temple leaders showing how truly stupid and arrogant they were. Never again do we have have a record of the Sadducees formulating questions to trick Jesus.
The leaders of the Temple had become rich, had an easy soft job, had the power over the Jews, but were under the thumb of the Romans. Worst of all, they were arrogant. In that being arrogant, they turned away from God, became self-centered, and no longer cared about a coming Messiah, and only wanted to shut up this Jesus that was causing them grief. Most of all, in their life of ease, they just wanted to keep their job.
The lesson for us today:
Faith in earthly things will lead you to the same destruction. Faith, it is your choice, a choice not of a lifetime,
but a choice controlling your eternity.
Pray often, in humility every day, for
the Power of the Holy Spirit to
build faith never leading you to blindness,
create hope always raising you to the light,
instill love forever filling your life, and
provide guidance into the
Glorious life God has planned for you.
In Jesus' time the rulers of Jewish Society consisted mainly of the Sanhedrin- the Sadducees and the Pharisees, the scribes and teachers of the Law,- the Jewish law. The real power was with the Sadducees.
In this message, I refer to the Arrogance of the Sadducees that made up the majority of the Sanhedrin.
The Sanhedrin controlled the Temple and everything about its operation, the money changing for sacrifices, the purchase of proper animals for sacrifices, Temple worship, and were in charge of keeping the Jews in and around Jerusalem in proper order as to not disrupt society. The Roman leaders had appointed the Sanhedrin, especially the Sadducees, to keep the peace at all costs! Their job was to insure strict obedience to all things Roman. In exchange for this opportunity, the Romans allowed the Jews to practice their religion.
The Sanhedrin and therein the Sadducees, had great power. They were so worried that this hardly known preacher, teacher, healer called Jesus was going to be a real trouble maker... and they were right! Jesus, a good trouble maker changing society but bad for the Sanhedrin's power. After the destruction of the Temple on 70 AD, there is no written record of the Sadducees of the Sanhedrin. They ceased to exist and it is easy to believe they were killed, perhaps even targeted for death during the Temple destruction. Maybe God's judgment came upon them during their life. And the Romans were the instrument of God for their death because the Sadducees killed His son Jesus. Many, perhaps most of the others, the Pharisees and teachers of the law managed to escape as they presented challenges to the early Christians. But, the Sanhedrin was no more.
In the verses up to these verses Jesus is preaching and teaching in His last week. This episode and probably all of Matthew 22 occurred most likely on Tuesday of Passover week and Jesus' time for patience is over.
Jesus is more open now in His behavior as the Savior, the Messiah. He had brought Lazarus from the dead which was totally against the belief of the Sadducees (no resurrection) and was a direct challenge to their authority. In addition, Jesus had been telling parables to masses of people that put the Sadducees in a very bad light, that again challenged the authorities. So, these leaders came up with a question from the smartest minds among them to try to trick up Jesus that would cause Jesus to look bad with His followers.
Perhaps the most important comment of the Genius Jesus in this scripture is, "you do not know the scriptures and or the Power of God." Again, a huge challenge to the Sadducees and their authority. The absolute Genius of Jesus shines in this comment.
Look at how many lines of text there are in the question of the Resurrection and it is a question just to trick Jesus. These leaders did not care about the answer Jesus had, they only hoped to make Jesus look bad. They talked so long, that they gave Jesus plenty of time to think. Think He did! In just one line, one line Jesus' smashes and embarrasses the Temple leaders showing how truly stupid and arrogant they were. Never again do we have have a record of the Sadducees formulating questions to trick Jesus.
The leaders of the Temple had become rich, had an easy soft job, had the power over the Jews, but were under the thumb of the Romans. Worst of all, they were arrogant. In that being arrogant, they turned away from God, became self-centered, and no longer cared about a coming Messiah, and only wanted to shut up this Jesus that was causing them grief. Most of all, in their life of ease, they just wanted to keep their job.
When you want, what you want, more than the saving grace of our Messiah, our Lord and Savior,
Jesus the Christ, then are arrogant, and in that you will likely reject the
Holy Spirit. Jesus made it very clear, Rejecting the Holy Spirit is the
only unforgivable sin. Unforgivable because you are then blind to the
Truth!
The lesson for us today:
Do not let your money,
your
house, your job,
your
little bit of earthly power bind you,
make you arrogant,
corrupt you, and
blind you
blind you
to the message of Jesus as it did the Temple leaders,
the Sadducees,
who were destroyed in 70 AD
during the Temple destruction.
Faith in earthly things will lead you to the same destruction. Faith, it is your choice, a choice not of a lifetime,
but a choice controlling your eternity.
Pray often, in humility every day, for
the Power of the Holy Spirit to
build faith never leading you to blindness,
create hope always raising you to the light,
instill love forever filling your life, and
provide guidance into the
Glorious life God has planned for you.
Thanks be to God for his Forgiveness of our weaknesses.
Thanks be to God for Giving us His only Son.
Thanks Be to God
© Lonnie Coggins
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this message speaks to all of us.it is very relevant to the leadership both lay and clergy in kenya.thank u.
ReplyDeleteIt is true for clergy and especially those in government! In governments, power corrupts. Often our politicams are elected and they are good People, their accumulate power and they become corrupt.
ReplyDeleteCorrupt politicians in the U. S. Government is our number one problem.