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Copyright © 2012 J. Neely. All rights reserved.
Chapter 28 - Two Sons
Matt. 21:24-27
24 And [de] Jesus [Iesous] answered [apokrinomai] and said [epo] unto them [autos] , I also [kago] will ask [erotao] you [humas] one [heis] thing [logos] , which [hos] if [ean] ye tell [epo] me [moi] , I in like wise [kago] will tell [ereo] you [humin] by [en] what [poios] authority [exousia] I do [poieo] these things [tauta] .
25 The baptism [baptisma] of John [Ioannes] , whence [pothen] was it [en] ? from [ek] heaven [ouranos] , or [e] of [ek] men [anthropos] ? And [de] they reasoned [dialogizomai] with [para] themselves [heautou] , saying [lego] , If [ean] we shall say [epo] , From [ek] heaven [ouranos] ; he will say [ereo] unto us [hemin] , Why [diati] did ye [pisteuo] not [ou] then [oun] believe [pisteuo] him [autos] ?
26 But [de] if [ean] we shall say [epo] , Of [ek] men [anthropos] ; we fear [phobeo] the people [ochlos] ; for [gar] all [pas] hold [echo] John [Ioannes] as [hos] a prophet [prophetes] .
27 And [kai] they answered [apokrinomai] Jesus [Iesous] , and said [epo] , We cannot [ou] tell [eido] . And [kai] he [autos] said [phemi] unto them [autos] , Neither [oude] tell [lego] I [ego] you [humin] by [en] what [poios] authority [exousia] I do [poieo] these things [tauta] . KJV-Interlinear
24 And Jesus answered and said to them, 'I will ask you one thing too, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 'The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?' And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, 'If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Then why did you not believe him?' 26 'But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude; for they all hold John to be a prophet.' 27 And answering Jesus, they said, 'We do not know.' He also said to them, 'Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. NASB
Sooner or later in our individual lives, God stops dealing with us, in the good sense, and begins dealing with us under discipline or worse, judgment. Jesus could have easily given them an answer, which was of course that He was the Son of God, the Messiah, the unique person of the universe. But, He has already given them this information.
What amount of information, evidence, proof, does it take to convince those who will refuse to be convinced? The answer to that question is, no amount of evidence, information or proof will ever convince those who are just simply negative.
So God gives us all, adequate warnings.
Luke 19:41-44,
'If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation'
We all have our enemies. The world and its rejection of God is an enemy. Our attitude and our rejection or refusal to comply with Gods doctrine, becomes an enemy. Who is the enemy? The jungle around us. We reject God by not making Bible doctrine first in our life, thus we open ourselves to the jungle and its rules. The jungle is no friend to anyone. The jungle will swallow you up, rip you apart, and spit you out, and think nothing of it. The jungle contains no friends, no savior, no rescue from within it.
Further, God gives us a lesson in what He will do when we continue to reject Him, 'My Spirit shall not strive with man forever' Gen. 6:3. 'Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone' Hos. 4:17. Of Judah, 'He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them' Isa. 63:10.
Sooner or later God will turn against us. Now when you have embraced the jungle, which will strangle you without batting an eye, then add to that, God turning against you (becoming your enemy), that makes for a very, very bad day!
These Pharisees have had the scriptures for centuries. They inquire as to Jesus' authority, knowing their own educational requirements, which means they have read the scriptures over and over, again, and again. They have seen the prophecies. They have seen the reality of Jesus' miracles. Who on earth, who for that matter in recorded history, has ever performed anything close to the miracles that Jesus performed and on a regular and daily basis?
These people have had overwhelming evidence to prove who Jesus was, and that this was the unique time in history for Gods victory in the angelic conflict. They continue to be defiant. They continue in their attempt to trap Jesus in frivolous legalese, just to protect their own selfish interests. They care nothing for truth. They care nothing for the well being of the people to whom they are obligated to teach and train in Gods Word. They care only for their own selfish interests. By the way all interests which do not include Gods principles of life, are selfish interests - lest you think that your interests are not selfish.
These verses teach us principles of our own life. We look into the Word of God as we would a mirror and we see the truth and ourselves. Whether we accept it or not is irrelevant. Truth is truth and you cannot change it. Like gravity. You just can't reject gravity, jump off of a tall building, and expect to end up a winner. Most would call that stupid. Then again you can't just accept portions of Gods word and expect to come out on top in life. Gods Word is not a cafeteria. It does not allow for any human standard, which is in conflict to Gods standards, to be included at your whim within your spiritual life.
Jesus has given these chief priests more than ample time and proof to answer their question. They rejected John and Baptist and what he taught, Jn. 1:29-34, that Jesus was the Lamb of God and the Son of God. Hummm! What do you suppose the 'Lamb' part meant? Sacrifice? And then a sacrifice for what? And who is to be that sacrifice? The Son of God?
They rejected John's testimony, but they feared John's popularity with the people. They were trapped by their own indifference and popular opinion.
So it is with negative people, or those who just do not care enough about Gods Word in their life. People who ride on the wrong side of the fence, the wrong side of history, and people who try to ride on the fence and have things their own way in life, all of these will sooner or later have to face Gods dealing them out of His will. Again, a very, very bad day awaits these folks.
Don't be counted among them.
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