Participants: Glenn Russell & Ranko Stefanovic (Host)
Series Code: MTBOTB
Program Code: MTBOTB00017B
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00:01 Welcome back.
00:02 We're exploring Matthew Chapter 22. 00:05 We've just looked at the-- 00:06 the parable of the marriage feast. 00:08 Now those parables had pointed messages and the Pharisees, 00:13 Ranko, we're not very receptive to them. 00:15 Let me read for you verse 15, 00:17 what's the response, "Then the Pharisees took, 00:20 counsel how to entangle him in his talk." 00:24 -So they set a trap for Jesus. -Yeah. 00:26 "And they sent their disciples to Jesus with the question, 00:30 'Oh, teacher, we know that you are true, 00:32 oh what flattery.' 00:33 Beware when people come with flattery, huh? 00:36 "And you teach the way of God truthfully 00:38 and care for no man. 00:39 For you do not think of the position men. 00:42 Tell us what do you think, 00:43 is that lawful to pay taxes to Caesar? 00:46 What a tough question. 00:47 You know, I have sometimes, 00:50 students come to my office 00:52 and you know, stray there at the door. 00:53 Professor Stefanovic, boy, you are the best teacher here. 00:58 -I said, "What do you need?" -Yes. 01:01 And it's kind of such-- 01:02 you know, when people try to flatter 01:03 and how really to tempt to Jesus, 01:08 to test Jesus. 01:09 It's with taxes, very dangerous things. 01:12 Now why would that have been an issue? 01:13 We all pay taxes today. 01:14 What was different back then? 01:16 If he said, "Yes and pay the taxes." 01:18 What does that sound like? 01:19 Actually, you know, we know that Palestine 01:22 at that time was under Roman occupation. 01:24 And the taxes were very important. 01:27 So not to pay taxes, 01:29 it meant rejection of the Roman authority, 01:32 which was very dangerous things. 01:34 Actually there was not one, two, three months 01:39 or one year in a prison, it means death penalty. 01:42 But those taxes were oppressive. 01:44 I mean we don't enjoy paying taxes today 01:46 but at least it's to our government. 01:48 Imagine taxes to another government-- 01:50 so there was nationalism 01:51 as well as this struggle that's going on here. 01:55 How does he respond to that? 01:57 One forth of the income went to the Romans. 02:00 -Yeah. -Then of course, Herod's-- 02:03 Took his cut. 02:04 He took his part and then we have tax collectors 02:07 were plundering people. 02:09 Then when you travel from one province to another, 02:11 you know, 02:13 Matthew was a tax collector in Jericho there. 02:17 It's the gateway to Galilee, to Jerusalem. 02:20 They're waiting for you and paying taxes. 02:23 Actually pay taxes so much 02:24 that we don't know how people survived at that time. 02:28 So it was very sensitive issue. 02:29 Should we pay taxes? 02:31 It means if Jesus said, "Yes, we have to pay taxes." 02:34 What will it mean? 02:35 Oh you see, you don't recognize 02:37 -God as our king. -Yes. 02:39 You approve what the Romans are doing. 02:41 That was not God's plan to be. 02:43 If Jesus said, "No, you should not pay taxes." 02:46 You know, what the consequences would be? 02:49 So what does he say? 02:51 "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's 02:54 and to God the things that are God's." 02:56 "It's an inspired and practical solution, isn't it? 03:01 That's always the best answer. 03:04 Actually, our greatest of all teachers, 03:08 this is what He made. 03:09 Should I do something for people or for God? 03:12 Jesus says, "What you need to do for people, 03:15 do for people, but what you need, 03:17 what's due to God do to God." Boy, what an answer. 03:21 Don't sacrifice one for the other. 03:23 And there is another thing that I learned here 03:25 is that Christians are always balanced people. 03:30 When we go so many times among the religious people, 03:33 the people everything is about God. 03:35 When you see the way how they treat people, 03:37 how they relate to the people, 03:38 there is nothing of that godliness. 03:42 You know,that they practice in their lives. 03:45 There are some people really everything is of humanity. 03:49 Love for people, love for people 03:52 but when they see the way how they relate to God, 03:55 there is nothing that in God. 03:57 Christian life is a balance. 03:59 That's what actually the Bible is all about. 04:01 We will see in our next study 04:04 is it's a vertical relationship, 04:06 slow vertical relationship with God. 04:08 At the same time it's that the righter relationship, 04:12 horizontal relationship with our fellow human beings. 04:16 This is how, what a Christian life is all about. 04:18 The Pharisees didn't succeed with their trap. 04:21 The next day the Sadducees come. 04:22 Now the next one. 04:24 All right, verse 23 of Matthew 22, 04:27 "That the same day Sadducees came to him, 04:31 who say that there is no resurrection, 04:33 and they ask him a question saying, 04:35 'Teacher, Moses said if a man dies having no children, 04:39 his brother must marry the widow 04:41 and hence raise up children for his brother. 04:44 Now there were seven brothers among us. 04:47 The first married and died, and having no children, 04:50 left his wife to his brother. 04:51 So to the second and third down to the seventh. 04:56 After them all, the woman died. 04:58 In the resurrection therefore to which of the seven 05:02 will she be a wife for they all had her?" 05:06 Ranko, this is such a preposterous story, 05:09 this is outrageous, but they're trying to trap Him. 05:11 You know, 05:13 I cannot, you know, 05:15 but think about something from the Old Testament. 05:19 I remember when I was a little boy 05:21 and people are always talking you know, 05:24 when we resurrect to the second coming of Christ, 05:28 when we find ourselves there before the throne of God. 05:31 You know that question, who is the first person 05:33 you would like to see there in kingdom of God? 05:35 You know, I would like to see my angel. 05:36 I would like to see Jesus. 05:37 As a young boy I always had strange idea. 05:40 I said, "I would run all around 05:44 because I would like to witness one scenery. 05:46 I would like to see David, Beersheba, 05:51 Uriah Hittite, and Solomon." 05:54 You know what I mean? 05:55 That was always, always something-- 05:58 actually I couldn't escape you know, 06:00 thinking about these as you read this text. 06:03 This is our human way of thinking is-- 06:07 Of course they did it for malicious purposes. 06:09 They try to trap Jesus, to test Him here. 06:12 Let's remember that just like some people today, 06:15 they're asking question about something 06:17 they don't even believe. 06:18 Didn't believe, yeah, 06:19 actually, we already talk about that, 06:23 that there are four parties of Jewish sects 06:27 in Palestine at the time of the Jesus. 06:29 Two of which were the most prominent, 06:31 the Pharisees and the Sadducees. 06:34 Pharisees, they really believed in everything 06:39 what the Torah, what the law said. 06:41 They believed in angels, 06:42 And they believed in life after death. 06:46 They believed in resurrection. 06:47 They believed in the Judgment Day. 06:49 Sadducees, contrary to that, 06:52 they deny any future life. 06:56 They don't believe in resurrection. 06:58 But can you imagine, 06:59 now they're coming and tempting Jesus. 07:01 They don't believe in the resurrection, 07:03 they said, "You said that there will be a resurrection." 07:05 But now let us ask you about this case. 07:10 They of course invented the story was said. 07:13 She was wife of seven husbands. 07:17 Now Jesus' response is very clear. 07:20 So what was the Jesus' response? 07:21 Verse 29, "But Jesus answered them, 07:23 'You are wrong 07:25 because you neither know the scriptures 07:27 nor the power of God. 07:28 -Can you stop here for a while? -Wow, what a statement. 07:30 You know as Christians, 07:33 so many times, we are struggling 07:35 with many, many questions. 07:37 And when I travel all around, 07:39 I find so many neat and nice Christians, 07:43 but they are coming to me. 07:45 How is this possible? 07:47 And so many times we find something 07:49 that we do not understand and we're bothered with that. 07:52 We're going asking people around and of course, 07:55 people can explain to us, telling us about something 07:59 but add little something from this text. 08:01 There're two things, 08:02 number one, I have to study the scripture. 08:05 Yes. Second one-- 08:07 the Bible so many times it's silent 08:11 with reference to some of my questions 08:14 to give me the answer, 08:15 I have to know the power of God. 08:20 You know, the power of God, 08:21 it means that so many times I think 08:23 something is impossible, something cannot happen. 08:26 I have to trust God because God will do 08:29 what is always the best for us. 08:32 And it was also here in this case 08:34 with the reference to the question 08:35 of the Sadducees. 08:37 So they don't know the scriptures, 08:38 they don't know the power of God. 08:40 And so Jesus begins to talk with them 08:42 about what the resurrection will be like. 08:44 Verse 30, "For in the resurrection, 08:47 they neither marry nor given in marriage, 08:49 but are like angels in heaven." 08:51 Ranko, does that mean that they're gonna be, 08:53 you know, when we get to heaven, 08:54 we just kinda sit on a harp or have some boring existence, 08:59 you know, as a young person 09:02 that doesn't sound very attractive 09:03 and as an older person it doesn't either. 09:05 Yeah, we have to mention first one thing 09:09 is Christians are talking so much about heaven. 09:12 According to the Bible, our future is not in heaven. 09:16 Our future is here on the earth that God will transform 09:19 and to bring it into the original state 09:22 that was before the appearance of sin. 09:24 Yes, according to the Bible, 09:26 we will go there to heaven for a trip. 09:28 -Right. -For a certain period of time, 09:30 but our future isn't there. 09:33 You see, the Sadducees, they're talking about heaven 09:35 and Christians talking about heaven. 09:37 They cannot reconcile our human body 09:40 with heavenly realities. 09:42 But our future is here on the earth, 09:44 restored earth that God will do. 09:46 And this text has been taken so many times by Christians. 09:50 I hear so many people are asking about these. 09:53 You know, I love my wife, I love my children. 09:56 So one day when we get there to heaven, 10:00 I will see one person and I will ask, 10:03 "Do we know each other? 10:05 Oh yes, we lived 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago, 10:10 you were wife or you were my husband." 10:12 What kind of God is that? 10:14 Some kind of strange amnesia that we forget everything. 10:16 See, how people can take 10:18 one Biblical text out of the context. 10:20 Jesus made this statement to the reference 10:22 to the question of the Sadducees, 10:24 not to tell us that the second coming of Christ, 10:27 we'll be divorced from our families. 10:30 To tell us there is no marriage, 10:33 after the second coming, does it make difference? 10:35 There're no weddings there in the heavenly place. 10:38 Let's focus on the point, it would be like angels. 10:40 He's not just telling about their marital status. 10:43 He's talking what are angels? 10:45 They're beings in the presence of God 10:48 who are spending their lives praising Him 10:49 and celebrating living in this wonderful world. 10:53 -It's not about-- -What is the mission? 10:55 What is intension of angels? 10:56 Not to think about the marriage. 10:58 It's about to give glory of God 11:01 and to enjoy that beauty of the universal heaven 11:04 that God will give it to us. 11:05 You see, the Sadducees were focusing on the nonessentials. 11:10 But Jesus tried to direct their attention 11:13 on something that is eternal and that is essential. 11:16 Yes, we will be there with our families. 11:19 But there is no wedding 11:20 because those human relationships 11:22 based on marriage will not occupy our attention 11:26 in eternity after the second coming of Christ. 11:28 This is the main point that actually Jesus wanted-- 11:31 And we have to admit that we just don't know some things. 11:34 And that's hard for us to do. 11:35 Sometimes it's hard for us to say, 11:37 "I don't know, The Bible hasn't told us." 11:39 We need to be silent on something on scriptures. 11:42 But we do have the indication from the resurrected Jesus 11:46 that He knew His disciples and they knew Him. 11:48 He was different but He was the same person. 11:50 So we do know that 11:51 there will be relationships in heaven. 11:54 Glenn, is it interesting is when Christians are reading 12:00 these conclusion, that Jesus made 12:03 the conversation with the Sadducees. 12:08 So many times I'm perplexed. 12:10 Some even are upset. 12:12 Yes. 12:13 Thinking that Jesus stated 12:15 that families will be separated one day. 12:18 We will not be together. 12:19 But when you read in verse 33, 12:22 it says, "When the crowds heard this what Jesus said 12:25 they were astonished at his teaching." 12:27 They understood clearly 12:29 the message that Jesus made here. 12:32 Because His last point is so powerful. 12:34 He says, "He is not the God of the dead. 12:37 He is the God of the living." 12:39 Glenn, I would like to address our viewers is to tell them 12:43 heaven will be a beautiful place. 12:46 There's nothing in that heaven that will make us uncomfortable 12:50 it's the place that suppose to be to make us happy. |
Revised 2014-12-17