Luke 20 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00Luke 20:1 [music]
2. 0:02on one of the days while he was teaching
3. 0:05the people in the temple and preaching
4. 0:07[music] the gospel, the chief priests
5. 0:10and the scribes with the elders
6. 0:11confronted him.
7. 0:14And they spoke saying to him, tell us by
8. 0:18what authority
9. 0:20you are doing these things or who is the
10. 0:24one who gave you this authority?
11. 0:29Through this statement, [music] we see
12. 0:32that whatever spirit and authority Jesus
13. 0:35is operating in,
14. 0:38the Pharisees and rulers [music] don't
15. 0:39recognize it. If it's God, they don't
16. 0:43know God. [music] They don't know God's
17. 0:45presence. They don't know the markers of
18. 0:47his of his work, of his grace. So,
19. 0:50they're clueless. By what authority do
20. 0:52you do these things? And who gave you
21. 0:54this authority? Cuz obviously, we're in
22. 0:56charge of the temple and we've talked
23. 0:57among ourselves and we didn't [music]
24. 0:58give you this authority. So, where'd you
25. 1:01get it?
26. 1:03And Jesus answered and said to them, "I
27. 1:05will ask you a question and you tell me,
28. 1:08was the [music] baptism of John from
29. 1:11heaven or from man?"
30. 1:13Now, this sounds random, but it is not
31. 1:15random at all.
32. 1:18Because these guys had gone out and
33. 1:21asked John if he would baptize them when
34. 1:24all the crowds were being baptized.
35. 1:27And John was baptizing all of Judea. The
36. 1:31only people he didn't baptize were
37. 1:33[music] these guys who were asking this
38. 1:34question of Jesus. When he saw them
39. 1:37coming, he said, "Oh, you den of snakes.
40. 1:40Who warned you to flee the wrath to
41. 1:42come?" And he said, "Go
42. 1:45change your lives. Go bear fruits in
43. 1:49keeping with repentance because the axe
44. 1:52is laid at the root of your tree and if
45. 1:54you don't bear fruit, it's going to be
46. 1:55cut down." I'm paraphrasing. Okay.
47. 1:58Now, if John's baptism had been from
48. 2:02God, they should have gone and borne
49. 2:05fruits in keeping with repentance.
50. 2:08So now Jesus should be walking into the
51. 2:11temple and encountering a bunch of
52. 2:13repented Pharisees, a bunch of repented
53. 2:16rulers.
54. 2:18And what would have been the mark of
55. 2:19repentance?
56. 2:22Their ability to recognize the authority
57. 2:25of God. Which tells us what about
58. 2:27repentance?
59. 2:29That repentance amounts to taking
60. 2:32self-will off the throne and out of the
61. 2:35place of authority in our lives so that
62. 2:38we can recognize the presence and voice
63. 2:42and authority of God in its place.
64. 2:46As soon as they don't recognize his
65. 2:48authority, Jesus says, "Yeah, you you
66. 2:49you haven't come to repentance because
67. 2:52people who've come to repentance know
68. 2:54exactly what I'm doing. They know my
69. 2:56voice and I know them and they follow
70. 2:58me." So, it's not he's not playing a
71. 3:01trick with them.
72. 3:03He's saying, "Oh, you haven't come to
73. 3:05repentance. So, why did you go out and
74. 3:07ask for baptism? Let's go back to that
75. 3:09last disobedience that you neglected.
76. 3:13Why didn't you obey it?
77. 3:15Was it of man or was it of God?
78. 3:21They respond among themselves saying if
79. 3:24we say from heaven, he will say why did
80. 3:27you not believe him? So clearly they
81. 3:30haven't borne the fruit. He wants to
82. 3:32talk about why they haven't walked in
83. 3:34repentance. Why they're still reigning
84. 3:37in the temple instead of letting God
85. 3:39reign in their place.
86. 3:41They're like, if we say it's for man,
87. 3:42they're going to say, why didn't you
88. 3:44obey him? Why don't you believe in him?
89. 3:47But if we say from men all the people
90. 3:49will stone us to death. For they are
91. 3:51convinced that John was a prophet.
92. 3:56They went out because they wanted to be
93. 3:58part of a movement. They didn't go out
94. 4:00to find repentance.
95. 4:03So they answered that they did not know
96. 4:06where it came from.
97. 4:10There's no truth in them.
98. 4:12[clears throat]
99. 4:13They don't say what is the truth. Let's
100. 4:15just try to say that they it's all about
101. 4:18them. If we say this, he'll ask us
102. 4:20questions that are hard to answer. If we
103. 4:22say that, we'll get stoned. So, we're
104. 4:25going to lie and pretend we don't know.
105. 4:27Even though they clearly think John's
106. 4:30baptism was not of God. Why? Because he
107. 4:32asked something of them that they didn't
108. 4:33want to do.
109. 4:35To humble themselves, to dethrone their
110. 4:38authority. So, they answered and said
111. 4:40that they did not know. And Jesus said
112. 4:41to them, "Nor will I tell you by what
113. 4:44authority I do these things." So he
114. 4:46doesn't buy that they don't know. He's
115. 4:49saying, "You're just not telling me. You
116. 4:51do have an opinion. Your actions have
117. 4:53proven that you do have an opinion,
118. 4:57but you're not telling me, so I'm not
119. 4:59going to tell you."
120. 5:02And he began to tell the people this
121. 5:04parable. A man planted a vineyard and
122. 5:07rented it out to vine growers and went
123. 5:10on a journey for a long time.
124. 5:13At the harvest time, he sent a slave to
125. 5:15the vine growers so that they would give
126. 5:18him some of the produce of the vineyard.
127. 5:22Now, what is this parable about? This is
128. 5:26about God giving the rulers of his
129. 5:29temple,
130. 5:30his vineyard, some authority.
131. 5:33God put the priesthood in place through
132. 5:35Aaron, right? God allowed them to have
133. 5:38this temple, but it was never about
134. 5:41them. They were just supposed to
135. 5:44cultivate fruit that should be given
136. 5:46back to God. John told him to go bear
137. 5:49fruit. Now Jesus is here saying, "You
138. 5:52didn't receive John's baptism. You
139. 5:54didn't bear fruit. So let's talk about
140. 5:56vine growers and fruit."
141. 5:59And so then he describes how God sent
142. 6:02the prophets to these people throughout
143. 6:04the ages. Sent this servant and they
144. 6:07stoned him and sent that servant and
145. 6:09they beat him and mocked him. And at
146. 6:11last God is sending his son. But what
147. 6:14he's saying in this story of the vine
148. 6:16growers is that the vine growers have
149. 6:19staged an insurrection against God. And
150. 6:22so his implication is, you think this
151. 6:25temple is yours,
152. 6:27but it's my father's house and you've
153. 6:30made it a den of thieves. You think this
154. 6:33religion is yours, but you're a bunch of
155. 6:36charlatans and you've staged a coup
156. 6:38against God.
157. 6:42Does that make sense?
158. 6:45A man planted a vineyard and rented it
159. 6:47out to the vine growers and went on a
160. 6:49journey for a long time. At the harvest
161. 6:52time, he sent a slave to the vine
162. 6:54growers. Israel is called God's vineyard
163. 6:56by Isaiah.
164. 6:58At the harvest time, he sent a slave,
165. 7:00like one of the prophets, to the vine
166. 7:02growers so that they would give him some
167. 7:04of the produce of the vineyard. But the
168. 7:06vine growers beat him and sent him away
169. 7:09empty-handed.
170. 7:10And he proceeded to send another slave,
171. 7:12and they beat him also, and treated him
172. 7:14shamefully and sent him away
173. 7:16empty-handed.
174. 7:18And he proceeded to send a third. And
175. 7:20this one they wounded and cast outcasts.
176. 7:25This is what they did to Isaiah. This is
177. 7:27what they did to Jeremiah. I alone am
178. 7:29left, said Elijah. Now they seek my
179. 7:32life. They threw Jeremiah in a pit. They
180. 7:35cut Isaiah in two between the temple and
181. 7:37the altar. This is what they did to
182. 7:39Ezekiel, a stiff necked people who will
183. 7:41not hear.
184. 7:43The owner of the vineyard said, "What
185. 7:45shall I do?" The owner is God in heaven.
186. 7:48I will send my beloved son.
187. 7:51Perhaps they will respect him.
188. 7:55But when the vine growers saw him, they
189. 7:58reasoned with one another. It's all in
190. 8:01their heads. They reason out how they're
191. 8:03going to keep their authority that they
192. 8:05have stolen from God.
193. 8:08But when the vine growers saw him, the
194. 8:10son, they reasoned with one another,
195. 8:13saying, "This is the heir.
196. 8:17let us kill him [clears throat] so that
197. 8:19the inheritance will be ours.
198. 8:23Envy. They're envious of the way the
199. 8:26people recognize God in Christ. They're
200. 8:30envy of the love that Jesus gets from
201. 8:33the people, of the respect of the
202. 8:35following. They don't have that. The
203. 8:37people are murmuring on the Sabbath,
204. 8:39"This guy doesn't preach like the
205. 8:41Pharisees. He's got authority." They
206. 8:44want that authority for themselves. This
207. 8:46is all about them stealing God's place.
208. 8:50So that's the inheritance. This is the
209. 8:52heir. Let us kill him so that the
210. 8:54inheritance will be ours. They're going
211. 8:57to claim that they're going to kill
212. 8:58Jesus for blasphemy, but they're really
213. 9:00going to kill him for envy.
214. 9:03So they threw him out of the vineyard
215. 9:05and killed him
216. 9:08out of Jerusalem. Out of the vineyard.
217. 9:11What then will the owner of the vineyard
218. 9:13do to them?
219. 9:16He will come and destroy these vine
220. 9:18growers and will give the vineyard to
221. 9:21others.
222. 9:23Jerusalem is going to be destroyed and
223. 9:26the promise that was given to you is
224. 9:28going to be given to o other people even
225. 9:30Gentiles who will allow God to have his
226. 9:34rightful place of authority in the house
227. 9:36that he has built.
228. 9:39When they the Pharisees and temple
229. 9:41rulers heard it, they said, "May it
230. 9:44never be."
231. 9:48[snorts]
232. 9:49But Jesus looked at them and said, "What
233. 9:52then is this that is written, the stone
234. 9:56which the builders rejected? This became
235. 10:00the chief cornerstone.
236. 10:02Everyone who falls on this stone will be
237. 10:05broken to pieces. But on whom it falls,
238. 10:09it will scatter him like dust.
239. 10:14They know that Jesus is saying, "Your
240. 10:18place as keepers of the vineyard is
241. 10:21going to be ripped away from you and
242. 10:24it's going to be given to people who let
243. 10:26God have his authority in the house."
244. 10:29And when they hear this, they shout,
245. 10:32"May it never be." exclamation mark.
246. 10:36May it never be. They're angry. So Jesus
247. 10:40says, then what is it written where it
248. 10:44says that the stone that the builders
249. 10:47rejected
250. 10:49will become the chief cornerstone?
251. 10:52When they were building a great
252. 10:53building,
253. 10:55the most important stones were the
254. 10:57foundation stones. They were at the
255. 11:00corners of the building. But the most
256. 11:02important stone of all was the chief
257. 11:04cornerstone.
258. 11:06And that chief cornerstone had to be
259. 11:08square. It had to be plum. It had to be
260. 11:11perfect because once they laid that
261. 11:14cornerstone,
262. 11:16all the other measurements of the
263. 11:18building would be measured against that
264. 11:20cornerstone. That was the standard. That
265. 11:24was the establishment. That was the
266. 11:27measure of the whole building. He's
267. 11:28quoting Psalms here where
268. 11:32the Lord says that the stone that the
269. 11:36builders rejected. So the architects,
270. 11:39the rulers of the temple, the keepers of
271. 11:42the religion, they're going through and
272. 11:44looking at the stones and they're like,
273. 11:45"Yeah, we don't even want that one in
274. 11:47the pile. Get rid of it. Toss it out of
275. 11:50the quarry. That one's trash. The stone
276. 11:53that they rejected is the one God's
277. 11:56going to pick up and put at the corner
278. 11:58and say everything is going to be
279. 12:00measured against this stone. And this
280. 12:03stone is Jesus. They drug him outside
281. 12:06the camp and crucified him on Gaga. But
282. 12:09he's going to become the cornerstone.
283. 12:12He's going to become the measure of
284. 12:14every man, of every woman, of every
285. 12:16church, of every house, of every
286. 12:18religion. Jesus Christ.
287. 12:23And he says
288. 12:25this stone,
289. 12:27everyone is going to have to fall on
290. 12:29this stone. And if you're if you fall on
291. 12:32this stone, you're going to be broken,
292. 12:34but you're still going to have a place
293. 12:35in the house. That stone is so so
294. 12:38durable, so powerful, so large that you
295. 12:41take the smaller stones and you drop
296. 12:44that on granite and now you can use it.
297. 12:46you can say, "Okay, this stone didn't
298. 12:48fit, but now that we've dropped it and
299. 12:51it's broken to Christ, it's got a place
300. 12:54in the temple." So, he's saying, "You're
301. 12:56going to have to break what you think is
302. 12:59your identity. You're going to have to
303. 13:01break what you think is you're sure is
304. 13:03God's way. You're going to have to break
305. 13:05it, but God's still going to use you.
306. 13:08But if you don't break, this standard
307. 13:10that was meant to shape you is going to
308. 13:13become a standard that crushes you and
309. 13:15you're going to be ground to powder. And
310. 13:17that's the devastation
311. 13:19and desolation that he's described is
312. 13:22going to come on Jerusalem. Jerusalem
313. 13:25was ground to powder. And not one stone
314. 13:28was left upon another. But if those
315. 13:30stones had broken, had humbled
316. 13:33themselves, they would have kept a place
317. 13:36in the house of God.
318. 13:39The scribes and chief priests tried to
319. 13:41lay hands on him that very hour.
320. 13:44He so offended them. He so angered them
321. 13:47that they tried to kill him that hour.
322. 13:50And they feared the people for they
323. 13:52understood that he spoke this parable
324. 13:55against them.
325. 13:58So they've watched him and sent spies
326. 14:01who pretended to be righteous in order
327. 14:04that they may catch him in some
328. 14:06statement so that they could deliver him
329. 14:10to the rule and the authority of the
330. 14:12governor.
331. 14:14So they've put plants in his midst. He's
332. 14:18got people who are pretending to be
333. 14:21followers, but they are false witnesses
334. 14:24because they've got to kill this guy.
335. 14:26They've got to fulfill what he just told
336. 14:28them they're going to do. They're going
337. 14:29to reject the cornerstone.
338. 14:33The spies questioned him, saying,
339. 14:35"Teacher,
340. 14:37we know that you speak and teach
341. 14:39correctly.
342. 14:40Oh, what buttery flattery. We know that
343. 14:44you teach and you speak correctly, and
344. 14:46you are not partial to any, but teach
345. 14:50the way of God in truth."
346. 14:54Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to
347. 14:56Caesar or not?
348. 14:59He's at Jerusalem. This [clears throat]
349. 15:01is the moment that the crowd thinks he's
350. 15:04going to throw off the yoke of
351. 15:05oppression and establish David's kingdom
352. 15:08all over again. Let's see. Let's get him
353. 15:12to say that we shouldn't pay taxes to
354. 15:13Caesar and we can arrest him and hand
355. 15:15him over to the governor, the Roman
356. 15:17governor for treason. [clears throat]
357. 15:21But he detected their trickery and said
358. 15:24to them,
359. 15:26"Show me a dinarius.
360. 15:28Whose likeness and inscription does it
361. 15:32have?" They said, "Caesars."
362. 15:35And he said to them, "Then render to
363. 15:39Caesar the things that are Caesars's and
364. 15:42to God the things that are God's." His
365. 15:45implication is give the coins that have
366. 15:49been imprinted with Caesar's face to
367. 15:52Caesar, but give the people that have
368. 15:55been imprinted with the image of God to
369. 15:58God. This should be given to Caesar.
370. 16:02This should be given to God.
371. 16:06The one whose image it bears decides who
372. 16:09it belongs to.
373. 16:14And they were unable to catch him in a
374. 16:17saying in the presence of the people.
375. 16:19And being amazed at his answer, they
376. 16:22became silent.
377. 16:25Now there came to him some of the
378. 16:27Sadducees who say there is no
379. 16:29resurrection.
380. 16:31And they questioned him,
381. 16:32saying,"Teacher, Moses wrote for us that
382. 16:35if a man's brother dies having a wife,
383. 16:37and he is childless, his brother should
384. 16:41marry the wife and raise up children to
385. 16:43his brother." Now there were seven
386. 16:46brothers. And the first took a wife and
387. 16:49died childless, and the second, and the
388. 16:52third married her, and in the same way
389. 16:55all seven died, leaving no children.
390. 16:58Finally, the woman died also
391. 17:01in the resurrection.
392. 17:04Therefore, which one's wife will she be?
393. 17:07For all seven married her.
394. 17:10Aren't they just so clever?
395. 17:14Jesus said to them, "The sons of this
396. 17:17age marry and are given in marriage.
397. 17:22But those who are considered worthy to
398. 17:24attain to that age and the resurrection
399. 17:27from the dead, neither marry nor are
400. 17:30given in marriage.
401. 17:33For they cannot even die anymore because
402. 17:35they are like angels and are sons of God
403. 17:39being sons of the resurrection.
404. 17:42but that the dead are raised. Even Moses
405. 17:45showed in the passage about the burning
406. 17:48bush
407. 17:50where he calls the Lord the God of
408. 17:53Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God
409. 17:57of Jacob. Now he is not the God of the
410. 18:00dead, but of the living, for all live
411. 18:04[music] to him." Some of the scribes
412. 18:06answered and said, "Teacher, you have
413. 18:08spoken well."
414. 18:10Jesus is quoting when the Lord
415. 18:12introduced himself to Moses, he said
416. 18:14[music] I am the God of Abraham, Isaac
417. 18:17and Jacob. He does not say I [music]
418. 18:19was. If they were dead, he would say I
419. 18:23was or he would acknowledge that he is
420. 18:25God of people who are dead. But if he
421. 18:27[music] says I am, he acknowledges they
422. 18:29are alive. Do you understand? Some of
423. 18:33the scribes answered and said, "Teacher,
424. 18:34[music]
425. 18:35you have spoken well." for they did not
426. 18:38have courage to question him any longer
427. 18:40about anything. [music]
428. 18:42Well, when you've lost your nerve to
429. 18:44question him, say he spoken well.
430. 18:46[snorts] Then he said to them, "How is
431. 18:49it that they say the Christ is David's
432. 18:52son?
433. 18:54For David himself [music] says in the
434. 18:56book of Psalms, the Lord said to my
435. 19:00Lord, sit at my right hand until I make
436. 19:03your enemies a foottool for your feet."
437. 19:05Therefore, David calls him Lord. And how
438. 19:09is he his son?
439. 19:11So, he's saying the the Messiah is going
440. 19:14to be both David's son and yet David's
441. 19:17Lord. How is that so? The answer should
442. 19:20have been, well, the Messiah is going
443. 19:22[music] to be both human and divine. In
444. 19:25his humanity, he's going to be the son
445. 19:27of David. In his divinity, he's going to
446. 19:30be David's [music] Lord. But they didn't
447. 19:32know the answer. Then he says, 'Beware
448. 19:34of the scribes
449. 19:36who like to walk around in long robes.
450. 19:40They must not have laid [music] theirs
451. 19:41down in front of the donkey.
452. 19:44Beware of the scribes who like to walk
453. 19:46around in long robes and love respectful
454. 19:48[music] greetings in the marketplaces
455. 19:51and chief seats in the synagogues and
456. 19:53places of honor at banquetss.
457. 19:56who devour widows houses
458. 20:00and for [music] appearanc's sake offer
459. 20:02long prayers. These will receive greater
460. 20:05[music] condemnation.