The Plot to Kill Jesus and His Last Supper

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospel accounts:

(Matthew 26:1) And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, He said to His disciples, 

In the last chapter, Jesus had been telling His disciples all about His second coming and the final judgment.  He continued speaking to them:

(2) "You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified."

Jesus told His disciples something they surely knew, that the Feast of the Passover was coming in two days.  He then matter-of-factly added something they surely did not know, that He was at that time to be betrayed to be crucified.  They may have remembered that Christ had told them that He would suffer many things by the priests, scribes, and elders, who would deliver Him up to the Gentiles to be crucified, but they surely had no idea of the timing and that it was coming so soon.

(3) Then assembled together the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people, to the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas. 

About that same time, exactly two days before the Passover, as confirmed in Mark 14:1, the chief priests, the scribes of the law, and the elders of the people who were the civil magistrates, assembled together, bringing together ecclesiastics and government.  Evidently, all these together made up the Sanhedrin, the great council that had the supreme authority, both in civil and ecclesiastical affairs.  They met at the palace of the high priest, Caiaphas.  One would suspect that they met at Caiaphas's palace rather than a more public regular meeting place of the Sanhedrin because they wanted to meet privately.

(4) And consulted that they might take Jesus subtlety and kill Him.

This Sanhedrin council, meeting privately, deliberated about how they might take Jesus by trick or deceit and have Him killed.

(5) But they said, "Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people."

The council agreed that they should not do this thing on the Passover because they feared an uproar among the people.  However, God's plan was to have the perfect Lamb sacrifice publicly offered up on the Passover.

(6) Now when Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, (7) There came to Him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on His head as He sat.

Jesus, being in Bethany, a place about two miles from Jerusalem, came to be in the house of Simon the leper.  This Simon was so called to distinguish him from other Simons, and had most likely been healed of the disease by Jesus, but still retained the name.  While there, a woman came to Jesus with an alabaster box of some very precious ointment and poured it on His head.  This would have been an act of love and respect for our Lord Jesus Christ, probably delightfully fragrant and refreshing to His head.  More than that, she surely must have had faith that He was God's anointed, and by her act she therefore anointed Him her Lord.

(8) But when His disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, "To what purpose is this waste?"

When Jesus's disciples witnessed this act, at least some of them were very indignant at the apparent waste.  We learn later from the account in John 12:4-6 that it was Judas Iscariot who was the chief complainer among them.

(9) "For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor."

The disciples continued with their point about "this waste" of precious ointment, that it could have been sold and the money given to the poor.  The account in John told us these were the words of Judas, although from verse 8 above, it seems that other disciples saw it as a waste, as well.

(10) When Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me."

When Jesus became aware of the disciples' indignation of the woman's act, He asked why they troubled her; she had done a beautiful thing for her Lord.  What a lesson there is in this!  We must not rashly judge the motives of another.  There was no crime in what the woman did, and only God knows the motives of the heart in a situation like this.  

(11) "For you have the poor always with you, but Me you have not always."

Once again, Jesus knew the woman's heart, and with the foreboding premonition of His death, she did a good thing for Him in preparing Him for burial.  There is another lesson in this.  We mustn't judge a person's motives, but also Jesus said the poor would be with them always, so there would always be opportunities to help them.  However, He would not always be with them.  This tells me that Jesus Himself is more important than all the good works we do in His name.  Yes, whenever we do something for the least of men, we do it for Jesus, but it must never be at the expense of Jesus.  I think of the way people think our government must provide for the poor, and in itself, that is not a bad thing.  However, the government doesn't want any part of God in it.  It seeks to separate God from the public square, ban Him, actually.  But He is the most important.  He comes first, and because of our love for Him, we give willingly to the poor.

(12) "For in that she has poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial."

Indeed, Jesus said that the woman had done this for His burial.  She was surely under the influence of the Holy Spirit to do this, and it served as confirmation to His disciples of His coming death.

(13) "Verily, I say to you, wherever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, also shall this, what this woman has done, be told as a memorial to her."

Jesus told His disciples that what this woman had done for Him would be forever part of Gospel history, and here we are reading about it this day.  What a beautiful testimony that such a seemingly small act would forever be remembered by Christians!

(14) Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests, (15) And said, "What will you give me, and I will deliver Him to you?" And they pledged to him thirty pieces of silver.

It is interesting to note that Judas went to the chief priests immediately after the incident with the woman which he considered waste.  It is obvious he was very concerned about money.  He now asked the chief priests what they would give him to deliver Jesus to them.  They agreed upon thirty pieces of silver.  It is also shocking to note that it was Judas who approached them.  They did not seek him out and make him an offer he couldn't refuse.  He himself went willingly to the chief priests to betray Jesus for money.  In doing this, we witness the heart of Judas in action.

(16) And from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.

From then on, Judas looked for an opportunity to betray Jesus for that thirty pieces of silver.

(17) Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?"

There were seven of these days that the Jews did not eat leavened bread, in commemoration of the time they fled Egypt so quickly that they had no time to leaven their dough.  On this first day the Passover lamb was to be killed in the afternoon and eaten that evening.  According to the account in Luke, these disciples came to Jesus asking where to prepare to eat the Passover after He had given the order to go and prepare it.  It appears also from Luke that it was Peter and John who may have asked the question where they should go, as Jesus sent those two to prepare.

(18) And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Master says, "My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."'"

The account in Mark says that Jesus better described the man to whom they were to go to, a man bearing a pitcher of water.  They were to follow him into the house to which he carried the pitcher.  Also according to other accounts, the certain man with whom they were to converse was the master of the house, not the servant they had followed.  They were to tell him that their Master said His time was at hand and that He and His disciples would keep the Passover at his house.  His "time" most likely meant the time of His suffering, not the Passover.  I read that the Greeks most often used the original word used here, "kairos," to mean a time of affliction or calamity.  This man was either well acquainted with Jesus and His disciples, or this was arranged under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

(19) And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them, and they made ready the Passover.

The disciples did just as Jesus had instructed them, and they prepared the Passover.  That would have meant procuring a lamb, having it killed, and then roasted.

(20) Now when the evening had come, He sat down with the twelve.

When the evening came, after the Passover had been prepared, and likely after the Passover lamb had been eaten or at least some of it, as it was usually eaten standing and in haste, as it would have been on that first great Passover, Jesus sat down with His twelve disciples.  Then again, Jesus being the true Passover Lamb in this case, perhaps the usual laws were suspended in this case.

(21) And as they ate, He said, "Verily I say to you, that one of you shall betray Me."

While they ate, Jesus told the disciples that one of the twelve sitting with them would betray Him, delivering Him into the hands of the chief priests.  That had to have been a bit of a shock to Judas, who had already betrayed Jesus with his agreement to deliver Him up.

(22) And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and every one of them began to say to Him, "Lord, is it I?"

Isn't it interesting that even the eleven innocent disciples began to question themselves?  They had no idea how the betrayal would come, and were so sorrowful that it would come at all; and to be at the hands of one of them was even more distressing.

(23) And He answered and said, "He who dips his hand with Me in the dish, the same shall betray Me."

The Jews used a bitter sauce with their Passover meal said to remind them of their bitter bondage in Egypt.  There were probably several dishes around the table, into which those sitting closest to a particular one, might dip at the same time.  Jesus said that the one who dipped with Him was the one who would betray Him.

(24) "The Son of man goes as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."

Jesus said He would be going through what had been planned, prophesied, and written about Him, but He pitied the man who of his own choice betrayed Jesus.  He said it would have been better for that man if he had never been born!  Judas was not pre-destined to do this; he indeed had a choice.  God, being omniscient, knew that it would be Judas who would ultimately betray Him, so He used him to fulfill His purpose, but He did not do it against Judas's will.  Of that, you can be sure!  God is all-good and just, and would never force anyone against his will.

(25) Then Judas who betrayed Him, answered and said, "Master, is it I?" He said to him, "You have said."

Judas, of course, knew he was the one who was betraying Christ, but he probably asked to be just like all the other disciples who asked, so he would not bring suspicion to himself by remaining silent.  Jesus indeed told him it was just as he said, it was him.  I'm sure it was with lament and sorrow that Jesus admitted it was Judas, His own disciple, who betrayed Him.  I would imagine if Judas had repented and asked for forgiveness at this point, it would have been granted him, and another way would have been provided to carry out what must take place.  However, it seems he must have quietly asked the Lord if it was him, because it appears the disciples did not suspect him in later events.  He was still being secretive, although he now knew that Jesus knew, as he should have guessed all along that He would know.

(26) As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."

They had been eating the Passover supper and lamb, so now Christ began a new supper, if you will, the Last Supper.  Before it was the Passover lamb that represented the departure from Egypt after the angel of death had passed over the houses of the Israelites who had done what God told them to do.  Now Jesus took the bread, asked a blessing over it, broke it, and gave some to each of His disciples, telling them to eat it for this bread represented His body.  He was now about to fulfill God's purpose as the ultimate Passover Lamb of God.

(27) And He took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "You all drink of it. (28) For this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."

Jesus then took the cup of wine and gave it to each of His disciples, instructing that they all drink of the cup, for it represented His blood and that of a new covenant.  The old testament or covenant called for the sprinkling of the blood of bulls, and was called the blood of the covenant (Exodus 24:8).  This new covenant, with Christ's precious blood that was soon to be sacrificed and shed for the remission of sins, was now being instituted, or fulfilled, which is the more precise term.  This wasn't a new covenant that did away with the old, for Jesus did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17).  But this new covenant provided the ultimate perfect blood sacrifice to end all others.

(29) "But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."

Jesus, indicating His time with them was very short, told His disciples He would not again drink wine with them until the time when He would drink wine of an entirely different kind in His Father's kingdom, and they would also be there to partake of it.

As this is a very long chapter, I will end this post here, at the end of the Last Supper with Christ's institution of Communion, which He said in Luke 22:19, to do in remembrance of Him.  It was in remembrance of His death, His body and blood, given in sacrifice to all who would partake of it, by those who would consecrate their souls to be in communion with Him and in service to Him.  Believers spiritually feed on Christ's body and blood by faith, which is the hand and mouth of the soul.  

Two Parables About the Kingdom of Heaven and Final Judgment

Continuing a Bible study of the gospel accounts:

(Matthew 25:1) "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom."

At the end of the last chapter Jesus had been telling His disciples to be ready for His second coming, but that no one would know the exact day or hour He would return.  He now began a parable about ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom who would be coming.  This parable He likened to the kingdom of heaven.  The ten virgins were bridesmaids who went to meet the groom to take him to his bride.  The bridegroom represents the coming Messiah, and the virgins or bridesmaids represent the Christian church.  The coming of Christ to receive His people to Himself is often represented as a marriage, the church being represented as His bride.

(2) "And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. (3) They who were foolish took their lamps but took no oil with them. (4) But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps."

Jesus called five of the virgins wise and five of them foolish.  The ones He called foolish took their lamps, but they took no extra oil with them.  The wise virgins took extra oil in containers along with their lamps.  The five foolish virgins probably expected that the bridegroom would come immediately; they therefore made no provision for any delay. The wise virgins knew that the time of His coming was uncertain, and they therefore prepared themselves with extra oil.  Of course, this represents how Christians should be vigilant and look for their coming Messiah, but knowing not when He will come, should also be ready at all times.

(5) "While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept."

The bridegroom took longer to arrive than they had expected, and while waiting, all the virgins slept.  Just as the bridegroom tarried, so does Christ.  Life goes on and all sleep, but some are ready for His coming at any unexpected time, and some are not.

(6) "And at midnight there was a cry made, 'Behold, the bridegroom comes; go out to meet him!'"

At midnight, when least expected, when all were asleep, the bridegroom came "as a thief in the night" (2 Peter 3:10).  All were called to go meet him.

(7) "Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps."

Then all the virgins got up and prepared their lamps to go out and meet the bridegroom.

(8) "And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are gone out.'"

The foolish virgins who had not been prepared with extra oil found their lamps had completely gone out, and asked for oil from the wise virgins who had prepared.

(9) "But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there not be enough for us and you, but go rather to those who sell and buy for yourselves.'"

The wise virgins refused, saying that there would not be enough oil for them all.  They suggest that they go quickly to buy their own oil.  These virgins represent Christians who would have been companions, and there would have been a time when they would have helped one another.  But now the time was past.  The bridegroom, Christ, was there, and He was the most important!  The wise virgins or Christians are spiritually ready to meet Christ, but the foolish are not.  Spiritual faith and readiness are not something that can be shared; one must have his own, so the wise virgins gave the only advice they could, to hurry and get their own, although in reality, it was too late.

(10) "And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they who were ready went in with him to the marriage and the door was shut."

While the foolish virgins went out to buy more oil, to try to fully ready themselves, the bridegroom came and all the ready virgins went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.  When all the truly faithful Christians are received into heaven, the door will be closed to all others.  It will be too late to prepare once Christ has come and taken His bride.

(11) Afterward the other virgins came, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!' (12) But he answered and said, 'Verily, I say to you, I do not know you.'"

The foolish virgins returned then ready, crying desperately to get into the wedding feast.  However, the bridegroom answered that he did not know them, as Christ will not acknowledge mere externally professing Christians who actually have no true faith in and love for their Lord.

(13) "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of man is coming."

The moral of Jesus's story was, of course, to always watch for and be ready for the day when He would return.  

(14) "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered to them his goods."

Jesus began another parable to describe what the kingdom of heaven was like.  He told of a man who was going to travel to a faraway land, and called his servants to him to put all his goods into their hands while he was away.  This represents God who has left His children in charge of His church while He is away.

(15) "And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his abilities; and immediately he took his journey."

Apparently, the man also left his money in the hands of his servants.  A talent was the largest unit of measurement of weight, equal to about 75 pounds.  A talent measured precious metals, usually gold or silver, so it was a large amount of money he left in the hands of his servants.  He left different amounts to each of his three servants, depending upon their abilities.  This represents God's people He brought into this world with different talents or spiritual gifts, some born in better places with better opportunities than others.  God left us here with His word and the gifts He gave us, as the man left his servants and took his journey to a faraway land.

(16) "Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made five other talents."

The servant who had received the five talents went and traded or invested it and made five more talents, doubling his master's money.  This represents the Christian who takes the many gifts he has been given by his Father in heaven and invests them in good works according to the will of God.

(17) "And likewise he who had received two also gained another two."

Likewise, the servant who had received two talents, representing another child of God who may not have had as many gifts or opportunities to do good, but still doubled his master's money.

(18) "But he who had received one went and dug in the earth, and hid his lord's money."

The servant who had received just one talent did nothing with the talent, but just buried it.  This represents the person who may have little abilities and little opportunity to do good works, and uses that as an excuse to do nothing.  However, any situation in which God has placed us is a place where we may do good according to His will.  I love this statement by Albert Barnes in his Notes on the Bible, "A humble Christian, by his life, example, and conversation, may often do much more good than 'is' done by those in more elevated stations and with far greater gifts."

(19) "After a long time, the lord of those servants came and settled with them."

This, of course, represents the return of our Lord or our returning to Him upon death when we give an account for what we have done with the gifts and opportunities He gave us.

(20) "And so he who had received five talents came and brought another five talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; behold, I have gained besides them, five talents more.'"

The servant who had been given five talents came before his lord with those and another five talents he had gained for him.  It appears this servant came cheerfully and confidently to his master to give his account, just as we may come before our Lord unashamed and with boldness when we are covered with the pure white cloak of Jesus covering our sins (1 John 4:17, 2 John 2:28).

(21) "His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things; enter into the joy of your lord.'"

The master of the household commended this servant on a job well done, and proclaimed that since he had been so faithful in a few things, he would make him a ruler over many more things, and invited him to share in the pleasures and enjoyments of his palace with him.  This represents the Christian servant who took the gifts and opportunities given to him by the Lord and used them to grow the kingdom of God on earth.  That good and faithful servant will be promoted to great honors in heaven, and be a partaker of the joy of his Lord in heaven.  However, this is not to be understood as a works based system, that the one with the most good works gets the best prize.  More is expected of the person who has received more gifts and opportunities and even understanding and knowledge of the Lord.  We are to build on and share our faith where we are planted in the world in whatever capacity we may have been given.

(22) "He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; behold, I have gained two other talents besides them.'"

The servant who had received two talents also came before his lord to tell him he had taken the two talents his lord had given him and gained two additional talents.

(23) "His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; 'You have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things; enter into the joy of your lord.'"

Note that the second servant who had been given less received the same commendation and rewards, for he had taken what he had been given, though less than what was given to the first servant, and multiplied it.

(24) "Then he who had received one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not strewn. (25) And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the earth; lo, you have what is yours.'"

The third servant in his account for himself blamed his lord for his lack of service.  He said he knew him to be a hard man, reaping benefits where he had not sown.  This is a perfect example of the person who sees God as angry and vengeful, expecting more from His people than He has given them.  He said he was afraid of his lord and went and hid his talent in the ground, and now brought it back to his lord.  This represents the sinner who never took the time to really know his Lord, and just gave up his life as it had been given him with nothing of spiritual faith and growth to show for it.

(26) "His lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not strewn, (27) You ought to have therefore put my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received my own with interest.'"

His lord called this last servant wicked and lazy.  So he thought his master to be one who reaped where he had not sown and gathered where he had not scattered?  Well then, that servant should have, at the very least, put his talent in the bank and at least gained a little interest if he "knew" that his lord expected to gain extra.  This is the person who took no pains to know Jesus and neglected the gifts that were in him; he buried his spiritual gifts deep within himself.  It is wickedness to throw away God's gifts, and when not filled with the Holy Spirit, evil spirits move in.  

(28) "Take therefore the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. (29) For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has shall be taken away."

The lord of the household told his servants to take the talent from the lazy servant and give it to the one who had ten talents.  This is just as God will do if one will not do according to His will; He will give the means to someone else to do it, and that person will have more than what he had; he will have abundance said Jesus.

(30) "And cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

The unprofitable servant was to be cast out and he would be full of anguish.  Just for being unprofitable?  He didn't actively do anything wicked.  However, he was an unproductive servant, and of no use to his master.  Christ's Christian servants on earth are to be productive.  As was said before, that doesn't mean that every Christian must be active in missions on the other side of the world, but we can have a ministry right where we are planted.  We can share Christ's love and do good whenever it is in our power to do so.  When we are filled with the Holy Spirit of God, we will act in love, for God is love.

(31) "When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He shall sit on the throne of His glory."

Jesus now began to describe the time He would come again to judge the world.  He would come in glory with His holy angels all about Him, and He would sit on His throne.

(32) "And before Him will be gathered all nations, and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats."

Imagine all people of all nations of the world gathered before Jesus on His throne!  We don't know exactly how this will be done, but you can be sure it will be accomplished!  Christ, the judge, will then separate the wheat from the tares, or the sheep from the goats.

(33) "And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left."

Christ's sheep, His true followers, He will place on His right, the place of honor; and the goats, the wicked, will be placed on His left, denoting dishonor and condemnation.

(34) "Then shall the King say to them on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'"

The Lord Jesus, the King of all the universe, will call His followers blessed by His Father and invite them to be received as children of God and receive their inheritance in the kingdom of God, as He had planned for His people since the beginning of the world.

(35) "For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in. (36) Naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me."

Jesus will commend His people for all the loving deeds they did in the world, feeding the hungry, taking people in, providing for the poor, and visiting the sick and incarcerated.  Every loving act done for another person Jesus considers done for Himself.

(37) "Then the righteous shall answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and fed You, or thirsty, and gave You drink?' (38) 'When did we see You a stranger and took You in, or naked and clothed You?' (39) 'Or when did we see You sick or in prison, and came to You?'"

Those righteous people (righteous through the blood of Jesus Christ) whom Christ brings into His kingdom, will wonder when they did those good deeds to Him, indicating humility and a feeling that their poor acts of kindness come so far short of what they should have been that they have no claim to praise or reward.  However, God is love, and He very much views acts of love as worthy of praise.

(40) "And the King shall answer and say to them, 'Verily, I say to you, inasmuch as you have done to one of the least of these My brethren, you have done to Me.'"

Christ will indeed explain to them that whenever they did any act of kindness to even the very least among them, He considered that act done to Him.

(41) "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'"

Jesus will also speak to those on His left hand, calling them cursed for having sinned against God and never showing repentance and making Jesus the Lord of their lives, therefore covering their sins.  He will tell them to depart from Him, and condemn them into the everlasting fire that had been long before prepared for Satan and his demons.  We can deduce from this that hell was never meant for human souls.  However, those who choose to serve Satan rather than God, will be counted as Satan's demons.

(42) "For I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink. (43) I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me."

The reason Jesus will give for telling those on His left to depart from Him into the everlasting fire is because they never did any loving acts for Him; in doing those loving acts for the least of folks, they would have been doing them for His poor brethren.  This is not to suggest that just by doing good works may a person get into heaven.  Back in Matthew 7:23, Jesus said He would tell some who claimed they had done good works in His name to depart from Him as He never knew them.  He did not intimately know them as their Lord and Savior.  Jesus knows the heart, and He knows who performs acts of true love and who doesn't.

(44) "Then they also shall answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You?'"

Just as the righteous did not recognize their good deeds, it seems the wicked won't recognize their deeds either.  Surely, even some of the wicked would have ministered to Jesus if they had known it was Him!

(45) "Then He shall answer them, saying, 'Verily, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do to one of the least of these, you did not do to Me.'"

Jesus will answer those on His left who ask when they failed to minister to Him, that because they never did a loving act for the least of His brethren on earth, they failed to do it for Him.

(46) "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Jesus stated that those souls on His left would go into everlasting punishment, represented by eternal hellfire.  Those righteous souls would have eternal life with Him.  We must remember that we are righteous only because Jesus has covered and removed our sins with the atonement that is only found in His precious blood.  It is then that we are able to do selfless acts of love for those less fortunate than we are, because He first loved us, and we do those things because of the love of God within us (1 John 4:19-21).  For those universalists and others who think that a loving God would never so severely punish His people, I personally don't see it as an action of punishing.  We have all sinned and none of us are righteous (Romans 3:10) and able to stand in the presence of God.  However, because of the love and mercy He had for us, God took on human form in the body of Jesus and came to earth to provide the ultimate blood sacrifice and atonement for our sins.  He lovingly offers this gift of salvation to anyone who will take it.  However, He does not force us to accept it.  If we refuse, then He simply turns away from us as we have suggested by our actions we want.  When God turns away from us and does not take us with Him into everlasting life in heaven, then there is no place else to go but into the pits of hell, and that is a self-inflicted severe punishment.

Signs of the End and Exhortation to Watchfulness

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:

In the last post, Jesus had been answering the disciples' question about the signs of the coming end of Jerusalem.  They had asked in the same question, as if they assumed it would happen at the same time, what would be the signs of His coming.  This is where it gets very difficult to interpret.  Even Biblical scholars are mixed on the meaning of verses 29 through 31.  I will take them all in context:

(Matthew 24:29) "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. (30) And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (31) And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

It starts "immediately."  "Immediately" would seem to have to mean regarding the destruction of Jerusalem.  Jesus said in verse 21 that there would be great tribulation "such as has not been since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."  The historian Josephus confirmed that never had a city suffered so much as when Jerusalem fell.  Therefore, verse 29 would seem to be saying that immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun would be darkened, etc.  So what would happen immediately after?  The sun would be darkened.  That is a very reasonable thing to happen after the fall of Jerusalem.  The sun would be darkened by the smoke and dust of destruction; likewise, the moon.  But what about stars falling from heaven and the powers of the heavens being shaken?  Those seem like the kind of things that would happen during or at the beginning of the tribulation.  That makes sense if you take the meaning of verse 27 in the last post to be as some suggest that the immediate coming of Jesus would be in the act of destroying Jerusalem in the form of the Roman army sweeping in from the east like lightning and sweeping across it westward.

To continue with the assumption that it is Jesus leading His destruction forces with all the fire and fury of the powers of the heavens, verse 29 said it would happen after the tribulation of those days.  So what would be the tribulation that happened prior to the final destruction of Jerusalem?  It would seem to be wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, persecution, and death.  Then would the sign of the Messiah appear.  Whether it would be an actual visual sign, or just the knowledge that it was Jesus in the fury of the heavens the people observed, there would be the sign of His coming to destroy Jerusalem.  Then all the tribes of the earth would mourn.  This would seem to mean the tribes of Israel, as other countries were not usually said to be divided into tribes.  All the tribes of Israel would certainly mourn as they saw the actual destruction sweep across Jerusalem with the power and fury of heaven. 

Then there is verse 31:  "And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."  For the first time in my life, I can actually see this in the context of the destruction of Jerusalem.  If the Son of man coming in the clouds with the force and fury of the heavens is symbolic of the Roman army sweeping in, then the same could be said of the angels and trumpets coming with great noise, also symbolic of the judgment coming swiftly upon Jerusalem.  However, the angels will gather His elect.  The trumpet might also represent the call to bring the Christians together to their Lord.

I have to admit, this is the first time in my life I have seen this scripture only in the context of the destruction of Jerusalem.  How many people take these verses literally and interpret them to mean that Jesus will come in the clouds and gather His people up into the sky in a rapture?  Even if this were a true interpretation, it sounds as if it comes after the tribulation.  Therefore, I can see no reasonable interpretation of a pre-tribulation rapture.

There are many early scholars who believe that part of this description of the end does indeed mean the end of the world and Jesus's second coming.  I think a case could be made for that, as well.  Personally, I believe that Jesus had to mean the destruction of Jerusalem through verse 26.  That might be the point where the time changed.  The disciples had also asked what the signs of His coming and the end of the world would be.  They mistakenly thought that all was one and the same with the destruction of Israel.  Jesus had been telling them of the events during the tribulation leading up to the siege that would destroy Jerusalem.  He told them in verse 26 that when false prophets arose claiming that He was to be found on earth at that time, not to believe them.  This might be where He began to discuss His second coming.  "Don't be deceived by a false prophet," I paraphrase Him, "because there will be no doubt when I, the Messiah, return."  In verse 27, He said, "For as the lightning comes out of the east and shines even to the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

Then there is verse 28:  "For wherever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together."  A carcass is a dead thing, as Jerusalem was, so this really seems to be a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem.  Perhaps Jesus's reference to coming as lightning was a parenthetical reason as to why the disciples should not believe that He could be found on earth during the destruction of Jerusalem; and then He returned to the subject at hand, the destruction.  I have read some Biblical scholars who believed this meant just as sure and swiftly as eagles (or vultures) descended on a carcass, just as quickly would the second coming be upon a dead world.  Indeed, in Revelation 19:17-18, written by John some 20 years or more after the destruction of Jerusalem, there is a call to the birds of prey to come feast on the flesh of kings, generals, and all people, in the destruction of the New Testament Babylon.

Following the interpretation that Jesus had switched the topic to His second coming and the end of the world, one has to grapple with verse 29 that begins, "Immediately after the tribulation..."  What tribulation?  The tribulation He had just been talking about was the tribulation in the times leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem.  However, Jesus did say, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days..."  The emphasis on "those" is mine.  Perhaps He was referring to the tribulation that would occur before He came as lightning in His second coming.  Then, of course, verses 30 and 31 do seem to relate to His second coming.

One other possibility about that word "immediately," as a thousand years is as a day with our Lord, "immediately" can take on a different meaning, for sure.  I don't really think Jesus would have used "immediately" knowing it would be thousands of years.  However, the same account in Luke adds in Luke 21:24, "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodded down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled."  In the Expositor's Bible Commentary, it is written:  "It is...sufficiently obvious that the tribulation of those days began with the destruction, or rather with the besieging, of Jerusalem. But when did it end? As soon as the city was destroyed? Nay. If we wish to get some idea of the duration of those days of tribulation, let us turn to the same place in the same prophecy as given by St. Luke...where it clearly appears that it embraces the whole period of the Jewish dispersion and of the standing of the Gentile Church. 'The tribulation of those days' is going on still, and therefore the events of these verses are still future."   

I have to admit that now I tend to believe that this prophecy referred to Jerusalem, but maybe He is talking about both.  So often scripture has a double meaning.  It was written by inspiration of God for our learning (2 Timothy 3:16), so we should learn from the signs the Jews were shown before and after they rejected their Messiah.  Are we not at a point in our time where the world seems to have rejected Him once again, and the true Christians should be watching the signs for His second coming and the end?  Albert Barnes wrote in his Notes on the Bible:  "In his answer he has reference to both events, and his language may be regarded as descriptive of both. At the destruction of Jerusalem, the sign or evidence of his coming was found in the fulfillment of these predictions. At the end of the world, the sign of his coming will be his personal approach with the glory of his Father and the holy angels."

One thing I can see clearly now is that we can't point with assurance to one particular event and say with certainty that it definitely means the end.  However, we have been given warning to watch the times, and there are certainly signs in this stage of our time that the end could be getting close unless enough people turn to God and He intervenes for a time.  Back to Matthew 24, verse 32:

(32) "Now learn a parable of the fig tree; when its branch is yet tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near."

Indeed, our Lord told the disciples that they knew how to discern times; they knew that summer was coming by watching the signs on a fig tree.

(33) "So likewise, you, when you see all these things, know that it is near, at the doors."

In the same manner that they could discern the coming of summer, when they saw the signs that Jesus warned about the coming destruction of Jerusalem, they would know that the end was near.

(34) "Verily, I say to you this generation will not pass till all these things are fulfilled."

Jesus told them that the present generation would not completely pass away until they saw those things fulfilled.  This certainly does sound like all Jesus's prophecies referred to the destruction of Jerusalem only.  However, I have heard it suggested that "this generation" meant the particular generation that witnessed the tribulation suggesting it could be the last generation at the end of the world.  It seems to me that one has to stretch the imagination more to make these prophecies about the end of the world than just accepting them as about the destruction of Jerusalem.  However, like suggested before, there is probably a parallel to end times, as well.

(35) "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away."

All things of mass and substance would eventually pass away, but Jesus's words were sure and certain.

(36) "But of that day and hour no man knows, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only."

Although they were given many signs of the coming end, no one knew exactly when these prophecies would be fulfilled except Father God in heaven.

(37) "But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

I believe the implication is that the world would be found as self-centered and wicked as it was in the days of Noah, and also as surprising and unexpected as the flood was, so would His coming be.  However, those who watched the signs and followed the guidance of their Lord, as Noah did, would be ready.

(38) "For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, (39) And knew not until the flood came and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

There is nothing wrong with eating and drinking and weddings in and of themselves, but I believe the idea is that the people were going along their merry ways, eating, drinking, and having lavish feasts with no notice of the signs of their impending doom.  In Noah's day, there was a huge sign for a very long time; imagine how long it must have taken to build an ark so large as to take on two of every animal on earth, as well as supplies and provisions necessary for keeping them.  People probably bored of seeing Noah working on it every day and apparently took no notice of him finishing it and filling it with animals.  It seems incredulous, but they didn't know a thing until the flood swept them away.  I'm just imagining it raining and people going on with their feasts, thinking nothing of it until it was too late.  So will the coming of Christ be.  Again I am imagining, this time of partying at same-sex weddings, "taking care of" unwanted pregnancies, participating in sex trafficking, pride parades, etc., etc., etc., with no regard to God and His moral law, ignoring the signs and ridiculing those who see them.

I am struck by something else in thinking about Noah's time.  Deducing from the age of Noah and his sons at different points in scripture, it is believed it may have taken as many as 75 years to complete the ark.  Therefore that sign lasted an entire generation according to our time.  That means just because we see the signs, it doesn't mean the end is going to be immediate.  I think in our instant gratification type world, even if we see signs, many people will tire of waiting and want to go on with their worldly plans.  In the third chapter of 2 Peter, the apostle discussed how people would scoff in the end days ridiculing the promise of the Messiah's coming as it had been predicted since the time of their forefathers, and yet everything was as it had been from the beginning.  So how is a Christian to live when a sign can take 75 years or more to come to fulfillment?  I don't believe that we can't feast or marry, but we are to be always ready for the end.  We live holy lives following Christ's example and go on with our Godly missions in life, looking forward to the day when we shall see God.  As the apostle Paul said in Ephesians 6:13, having done all to arm ourselves with the armor of God, "having done all, to stand."  One thing we can actively do is to warn others and share the gospel of Christ.  Referring again to Paul in the sixth chapter of Ephesians, it has been noted that when armed with the armor of God with a belt of truth, a breastplate of righteousness, boots with preparation of the gospel of peace, a shield of faith, a helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God, that the only active weapon is the sword of truth, the word of God.  As I write this, I have to also note that what I called boots, "your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace," may also be seen as active, walking and sharing the gospel and doing God's work.

(40) "Then shall two be in the field; one shall be taken and the other left."

In context with the previous verses, one can plainly see that this is not proof of a pre-tribulation rapture, as many have suggested.  The meaning is rather that so suddenly and unexpectedly would the coming of the Son of man be, that although two people could be working side by side in the field, one could be whisked away without any warning.  This appears to be in reference to the second coming of Christ at the end, but it applies in different ways.  When destruction came upon Jerusalem, Christians were saved from the calamity by the grace of God.  As was discussed in verse 13 in the last post, he who endured to the end would be saved, and Adam Clarke, in his commentary, wrote that Christians did not perish in the destruction of Jerusalem.  When applied to the second coming of Christ, verse 31 above said that the angels would gather together Christ's elect, so it appears the ones taken were the ones saved.  Whether taken away and saved from the judgment, or taken away by death, one thing is certain; there will be a separating of Christians following Christ from those who rejected Him.

(41) "Two women shall be grinding at the mill; one shall be taken and the other left."

This is just another example of the same thing as discussed in verse 40.

(42) "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord does come."

Jesus exhorted His disciples and others to be watchful of the signs.  Whether taken away by destruction or taken away to safety into the arms of a merciful God, we are warned to be always ready, for we do not know when our end will come, nor how.

(43) "But know this, if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched and would not have allowed his house to be broken up. (44) Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of man comes at an hour you do not expect."

Obviously, if one knew exactly in what three hour period (watch) a thief would break into his house, he would have been prepared to prevent it.  However, seeing that we will not know the exact time Christ will come, we should always be prepared as if it were our last hours.  Christ could be coming at the end of the world as we know it, or He could be coming for our souls as we die.  We have no idea which will happen first or when, so we are warned to always be ready for Jesus.

(45) "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord has made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?"

Jesus posed the question to His disciples about who was a wise and faithful servant whom his lord had made ruler over his household to supply provisions when appropriate.  This was, of course, symbolic of the servants Jesus would make rulers over His Christian house who would spiritually feed His flock.

(46) "Blessed is that servant whom his lord, when he comes, shall find him so doing."

Jesus declared such a servant blessed when his lord returned and found him faithfully doing what his lord had asked him to do.  Blessed is the man whom the Lord finds faithfully ruling the household of God well.

(47) "Verily, I say to you, that he will make him ruler over all his goods."

I believe the point Jesus is making is that the faithful servant will be rewarded with a higher office, not merely over his household, but over all his property.  A good and faithful servant of God will be rewarded.  As Jesus would tell in a parable in the next chapter, because a good and faithful servant had been faithful over a few things, his lord would make him ruler over many things (Matthew 25:21).

(48) "But if that evil servant says in his heart, 'My lord delays his coming,' (49) And begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken, (50) The lord of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour he is not aware of, (51) And shall cut him in two, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

However, Jesus said, if that servant turned out to be evil instead, and because his lord was gone such a long time, he began to mistreat his fellow servants and began to fellowship with drunkards and such, the lord of his house would return at a time he least expected it.  The evil servant would be cut down and severely punished and counted among the worst of sinners.  Likewise, the servant of God who began to mistreat his fellow Christians and to live a life of sin, would experience much pain and anguish.

Perhaps it is in keeping with Jesus's declaration that no man would know the day or hour of His coming, that we cannot precisely know which event Jesus spoke of in His foretelling of signs, the coming destruction of Jerusalem or His second coming at the end.  We are to always be ready.  However, if we are to always be ready, then why be watchful and observe the signs of the end?  The original word translated as "watch" as in verse 42, is "gregoreuo" and means "to keep awake, be vigilant," even "give strict attention to, be cautious, active."  Watching doesn't mean merely spectating at a distance.  It implies action, ever vigilant, on guard, a fully awake Christian, intently focused on the things of God.  In Revelation, in messages to the churches, God said He hated the lukewarm church of the Laodiceans; actually His exact words were that He wanted to spew them out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16).  He actually said that He would prefer them to be cold or hot.  Imagine that!  God actually preferring one to be cold regarding the things of God rather than lukewarm!  He then told them to be zealous and repent.  God desires zealous watchmen on the wall sounding warnings to an unsaved world, conveying truth despite opposition from the world.

Jesus Foretells Destruction of Jerusalem and Gives Signs for the End

Continuing a Bible study of the gospels:

(Matthew 24:1) And Jesus went out and departed from the temple; and His disciples came to Him to show Him the buildings of the temple.

At the end of the last chapter and post, Jesus had been lamenting over Jerusalem because He had come to save her, but she had rejected Him, and now she must suffer the consequences.  As He departed from the temple where He had been speaking, His disciples came to show Him all the buildings of the temple, which meant the temple walls themselves and the courts and porches, etc.  The historian Josephus described the walls of the temple and made them sound as if they were quite a site to see.  Some of the stones were 70 feet long and eight feet high!  The enormous stones were said to be white, either of marble, or beautifully painted with variegated colors.

(2) And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Verily, I say to you, there shall not be one stone left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."

Jesus asked His disciples if they could not consider what was going to happen to the temple.  At the time He spoke these things, no event could seem more improbable than the falling of the temple.  It was vast, rich, splendid, and oh so strong!  However, Jesus told them there was to come a time within their generation, He had said in the last chapter, that their temple would fall and there would not be even one stone left on top of another that had not been thrown down.

(3) As He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the world?"

Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives across from the temple where He could sit and have a full view of it.  His disciples came to Him privately, whether that means all the disciples came privately apart from the multitude, or only a few disciples broke away from the other disciples to talk to Him, scripture doesn't really say.  The account in Mark says that there were at least four disciples who came to Him, Peter, Andrew, James, and John.  They seem a bit confused as they asked when the destruction of the temple would be, and what the sign of Jesus's coming and the end of the world would be, as if they would all occur at the same time.

(4) And Jesus answered and said to them, "Take heed that no man deceives you. (5) For many shall come in My name, saying, 'I am Christ,' and shall deceive many."

Although this has always seemed an end-time prophecy, with the likes of the anti-Christ deceiving many, this is probably an answer relative only to the destruction of Jerusalem.  Jesus warned the disciples not to be deceived, that there would be many who would come claiming to be the Christ.  Indeed, there were historically recorded at least three so-called anti-Christs during the disciples' time.  Josephus wrote that the land was overrun with them, but there are three of whom we can be certain--Dositheus the Samaritan, Simon Magus, and Theudas.

(6) "And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."

Once again, this sounds like a sign of the end times of the world, but taken in context of the question put to Him, I believe this regards the destruction and end of Jerusalem.  Also to repeat, the disciples probably did think that the end of Jerusalem was the end of the world and would bring the second coming of Christ.  Dr. John Gill, in his Exposition of the Bible, wrote about many wars and rumors of war at that time:  "Under Cureanus the Roman governor, a sedition was raised on the day of the passover, in which twenty thousand perished; after that, in another tumult, ten thousand were destroyed by cut-throats: in Ascalon two thousand more, in Ptolemais two thousand, at Alexandria fifty thousand, at Damascus ten thousand, and elsewhere in great numbers. The Jews were also put into great consternation, upon hearing the design of the Roman emperor, to put up his image in their temple."  Jesus told His disciples not to be troubled, so as to leave the land or stop preaching, for all the things Jesus described would have to come to pass, but it would not yet be the end.  Jesus probably meant that the destruction of Jerusalem would not yet be at its end; however, He might have been telling them that the end of the world would not be at that time.

(7) "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diverse places."

Once again, Dr. Gill wrote:  "And so it was, the Jewish nation rose up against others, the Samaritans, Syrians, and Romans: there were great commotions in the Roman empire, between Otho and Vitellius, and Vitellius and Vespasian; and at length the Romans rose up against the Jews, under the latter, and entirely destroyed them."  Regarding famines preceding the destruction of Jerusalem, Albert Barnes wrote in His Notes on the Bible, "There was a famine foretold by Agabus, which is mentioned by Tacitus, Suetonius, and Eusebius, and which was so severe in Jerusalem, Josephus says, that many people perished for want of food. Four times in the reign of Claudius (41-54 a.d.) famine prevailed in Rome, Palestine, and Greece."  The early Bible commentators I study agree there were also pestilences, "Raging epidemic diseases; the plague, sweeping off multitudes of people at once," wrote Barnes.  "It is commonly the attendant of famine, and often produced by it."  A pestilence is recorded as raging in Babylonia, A.D. 40 by the Jewish historian Josephus.  There is also one recorded in Italy, A.D. 66 by the Roman historian Tacitus.  Both of these took place before the destruction of Jerusalem.  Tacitus and others also wrote of earthquakes that took place in various places at that time.

(8) "All these are the beginnings of sorrows."

Jesus told His disciples these things He foretold were only the beginning of sorrows, suggesting far greater calamities were yet to come before the end.

(9) "Then they will deliver you up to be afflicted, and will kill you; and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake."

Jesus warned His very own disciples that they would be persecuted and killed, and hated by all nations for His name's sake.  Indeed, the disciples were beaten and imprisoned and even killed.  They would be hated by all nations just because they were followers of Christ!  Jesus had warned them of this back in the tenth chapter of Matthew when He sent them out in their Christian ministry.  However, He had also said in His beatitudes in chapter 5 that they rejoice and be exceedingly glad when they were persecuted for their reward in heaven would be great.

(10) "And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another."

There would be many people including apostates who would fall away when things got difficult, and they would betray one another to save themselves.  They would hate one another; not that true Christians would hate their brethren, but apostates and those who never came to follow Christianity would hate each other and the true followers of Christ.

(11) "And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many."

There would be many men pretending to be prophets or foretellers of future events.  The apostle Paul spoke of some of them in his letters, namely Hymenaeus and Philetus (2 Timothy 2:17).  Josephus wrote, "The tyrannical zealots who ruled the city suborned 'many false prophets' to declare that aid would be given to the people from heaven. This was done to prevent them from attempting to desert, and to inspire confidence in God."

(12) "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold."

Because such false teaching and persecuting iniquity would abound, good people, even Christians, would become shy and suspicious of one another, and alienations would be created.  Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, stated it perfectly, "The devil is the accuser of the brethren, not only to their enemies, which makes persecuting iniquity abound, but one to another, which makes the love of many to wax cold."

(13) "But he who shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved."

Those who endured in the profession of faith in Christ through the tribulation and violent persecution by wicked men, and followed His pure and incorrupt doctrines to the end, would be saved.  Biblical commentators have differing opinions on what this form of saving would take.  Some have suggested they would be saved from the destruction of Jerusalem, while others say this means they will be ultimately saved in the end with their souls in eternal glory.  I always assumed it meant the latter, as in most all cases when this is written in the Bible.  However, Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, wrote, "It is very remarkable that not a single Christian perished in the destruction of Jerusalem, though there were many there when Cestius Gallus invested the city; and, had he persevered in the siege, he would soon have rendered himself master of it; but, when he unexpectedly and unaccountably raised the siege, the Christians took that opportunity to escape."  That is a fact I never knew!  It reminds me of the six day war in 1967 when Israel was completely outnumbered and the odds totally against her, but she miraculously prevailed with very little loss as compared to her attackers.  There is no denying that throughout history little Israel has remained God's special people and He continues to protect and fight for her.

(14) "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations, and then the end will come."

It is really remarkable to me that this has always been seen as an end-time prophecy for us living now.  Perhaps it is, as God's word always seems to have multiple meanings; after all, the entire Bible is written for our learning.  I can hear even now Bible commentators declaring that now with the internet the gospel has indeed been preached throughout the world.  However, again taken in context, it appears that Jesus was just talking about the end of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.  Indeed, we can see from Paul's writings that the gospel had indeed been preached to all the world as it existed at their time (Romans 1:8, Colossians 1:6, Colossians 1:23).

(15) "When you therefore see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet stand in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand), (16) Then let those who are in Judaea flee to the mountains."

Once again, I am struck by the fact that many have interpreted this abomination of desolation to still be coming, even though there is a parenthetical exhortation to really understand what is written.  The term "abomination of desolation" doesn't refer to just one thing; it means an "abominable desolation" of the holy city.  Jesus referenced Daniel's prophecy mentioned in several Old Testament verses, but perhaps most understandable is Daniel 9:27, "...he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."  Daniel's prophecy appears to be foretelling a desolate temple that no longer serviced the Lord and an overspreading of many abominations that made the holy city desolate.  Jesus tells His disciples that when they see this happening, those who are in Judaea should flee to the mountains.  Indeed, according to what was written by Adam Clarke in his commentary on verse 13 above, the Christians indeed escaped.

(17) "Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything from his house; (18) Neither let him who is in the field go back to take his clothes."

Jewish houses had flat roofs that were favorable places for resting.  Jesus warned that not only should the people flee, but they should do it without delay, not taking any time to go back for their things.

(19) "And woe to those who are with child and to those who are nursing in those days."

Jesus proclaimed woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers because they would not be able to make their escape as quickly as others.

(20) "But pray that your flight be not in the winter nor on the sabbath day."

The destruction was definitely coming.  Jesus did not urge prayer against that.  But He advised that they pray that their flight from Jerusalem not be in the winter when travel would be more difficult, or on the Sabbath when travel was prohibited and they might be seen by non-Christian Jews who would seek to punish them.

(21) "For then shall be great tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."

Jesus warned that there would be great tribulation the likes of which had never been seen since the beginning of the world.  Imagine, the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah and even more, their terrible bondage in Egypt, nothing compared to what was about to happen.  Jesus said there would never be tribulation as terrible as this again.  That is hard to imagine when one considers the Holocaust during Hitler's reign.  The historian Josephus indeed wrote that never had a city suffered so much during the destruction of Jerusalem.  Jesus had wept over the city knowing what was soon to happen to it.

(22) "And except those days be shortened, there would be no flesh saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened."

Jesus said that the days of the end siege would be shortened or else not one man could survive.  For His elect's sake, the Christians, the days would be shortened to leave a remnant, as God always does.  He never allows His people to be completely destroyed.  Josephus wrote that those who perished in the siege numbered 1,100,000, and that did not include those who were slain in other places.

(23) "Then if any man says to you, 'Lo, here is Christ!' or 'There,' do not believe it."

As the Jews expected the Messiah to deliver them from Roman oppression, they would be anxiously looking for Him during these calamities.  Some would proclaim to be Christ and would lure followers, but Jesus said not to believe them. 

(24) "For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders so much so, that if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect."

Jesus said there would indeed arise men claiming to be Christ and false prophets claiming to deliver the people from the Romans.  They would show great signs and wonders that resembled miracles wrought by prophets.  Josephus wrote that they were sorcerers and magicians who led people out into the deserts and promised to work miracles to save them.  The great signs and wonders they would perform would be so great that they might have even deceived the elect, "if it were possible."  That is how wondrous those signs would be, but Christ's elect had seen Him, heard Him, and known Him, and would not be fooled.

(25) "Behold, I have told you before. (26) Therefore if they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the desert,' do not go there; 'Behold, He is in the secret chambers,' do not believe it."

Whether Jesus meant that He had warned them before about false Christs, or whether He meant that He was telling them these things before they happened so that they would be aware and on guard, the desired result is the same.  They were not to believe any assertions that Christ was present during the destruction of Jerusalem.

(27) "For as the lightning comes out of the east and shines even to the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be."

To me it seems Jesus was saying that when He comes, just as lightning lights up the whole sky, so will His coming be; there will be no mistaking when He comes.  I think He was saying it so that they not be deceived by any other reports of Him, and also in answer to the second part of their question in verse 3 as to the sign of His coming and of the end of the world.  They thought it would all happen at the same time as the destruction of Jerusalem, but Jesus now answers how His coming would be.  It would not be in the various places people would claim Him to be, but there would be no doubt when He came.  However, many of the Biblical scholars I study suggest that what is meant is that He would be in the act of destroying Jerusalem, as the Roman army came in from the east and swept westward over the city.  I prefer my interpretation, but in whatever is meant, it can be said that Jesus would not be found in the city ready to deliver His people from the destruction; Jerusalem was going to be destroyed.

(28) "For wherever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together."

I believe Jesus was concluding His declaration that He would not be delivering Jerusalem from her fate.  She was already dead and the Roman eagles were coming for her.  It is written that the Roman armies indeed had eagles on their ensigns.

As this is a long chapter with much commentary, I will stop here in this post, and continue my study of the 24th chapter of Matthew in the next post.  In this first half of the chapter, Jesus has clearly answered the disciples' question about the signs of the coming end of Jerusalem.  

Jesus Proclaims Eight Woes to the Pharisees and Laments Over Jerusalem

Continuing a Bible study of the gospel accounts:

(Matthew 23:1) Then Jesus spoke to the multitude and to His disciples.

At the end of the last chapter and post, Jesus had finished talking to the Pharisees, triumphant over all their tricks aimed at tripping Him up in His words.  He now turned His attention to the multitude around Him and His disciples.

(2) Saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses's seat."

Scary thought, from what we have read about them, but indeed they were supposed to study and teach the law of Moses to the people.

(3) "Therefore whatever they bid you to observe, observe and do, but do not do according to their works, for they say, and do not do."

Jesus told them that whatever the scribes and Pharisees read and taught out of the law of Moses, they should observe and do.  However, they should not do what they observed the scribes and Pharisees doing, for they did not act according to the words they taught.  It is interesting to note that Jesus did tell the people to do what these corrupt leaders taught.  Although they were wicked and corrupt in heart, yet the word of God does not return to Him void, but accomplishes what He wishes (Isaiah 55:11).  God will use corrupt leaders to get His word out, just as He used a donkey (Numbers 22:28).

(4) "For they bind heavy burdens, grievous to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they will not move them with one of their fingers."

Jesus's meaning here is that the scribes and Pharisees crushed the people with heavy burdens of religious laws, adding to them rites and ceremonies for show that were burdensome and oppressive to the people, but had no reason or spiritual revelation in them.  They would not lift a finger to ease the burdens they placed on the people.

(5) "But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments."

The scribes and Pharisees did everything for show to be seen by the people.  Phylacteries were a way to take the command of Moses literally, "And you shall bind them (the words of the law) for a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes" (Deuteronomy 6:8).  The Jews used to wear little scrolls of parchment with texts of scripture bound on their wrists and foreheads.  The scribes and Pharisees made their phylacteries huge probably filled with many texts of scripture to make them look so much more righteous and mindful of the law than ordinary folk.  The border of a Jew's garment was to be a ribbon of blue that when they saw it would remind them of the commandments of the Lord and they would remember to do them always and be holy before the Lord (Numbers 15:38-40).  However, the scribes and Pharisees made their blue ribbons much larger and wider than the ribbons of ordinary people.  These small things were originally meant to be personal reminders for the people wearing them, but the scribes and Pharisees wore them only as a big show of how righteous they were.

(6) "And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues."

Jesus said the scribes and Pharisees loved the places of highest honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, again all for show to demonstrate how important they were.

(7) "And greetings in the markets, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'"

Jesus said they also loved to be greeted in the marketplaces and to be called Rabbi, which was a term that was given to eminent teachers of the Jewish law.  The scribes and Pharisees loved hearing it because it implied their superiority over the person using it.

(8) "But you, do not be called Rabbi, for one is your Master, Christ, and you are all brethren."

Jesus told the people, including His disciples, not to allow themselves to be called Rabbi.  They should never seek titles of power or superiority.  They all had but one eminent teacher, and He was Christ; all others were brethren and had no superiority one over another.

(9) "And call no one your father on the earth, for one is your Father who is in heaven."

The Jewish rabbis were also often called Father, but Jesus tells them they have only one Father in heaven, and no man on earth deserved that title.  It's interesting to note that the Catholic religion still calls their pastors Father.  Why not brothers, as do most denominations?  Jesus said they should not have this title.

(10) "Neither be called master, for one is your Master, Christ."

Jesus instructed them not to call anyone Master, as they had only one Master and that was Jesus Christ, their Messiah.

(11) "But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant."

The greatest among people would be the one who humbled himself, took a lowly position, and served others.  

(12) "And whoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he who shall humble himself shall be exalted."

Whoever exalted himself above others would be brought low by God Himself if not by man; and whoever humbled himself would be exalted and rewarded by God.

(13) "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in."

Jesus then pronounced woe to the scribes and Pharisees, for they were hypocrites and guilty and punishment would come to them.  They shut people out of the kingdom of heaven by teaching false doctrines and binding them to an observance of the traditions of man.  They themselves would not be able to enter the kingdom of heaven, but they also prevented those who were ready to accept Jesus as the Messiah and enter into the kingdom of heaven from doing so by their constant false accusations against Him.

(14) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense, make long prayers. Therefore you shall receive the greater damnation."

Jesus pronounced another woe to the scribes and Pharisees.  They devoured widows' properties through a pretense of great sanctity, inducing them to give everything for religious purposes.  They made long prayers for show and for greedy purposes.  Therefore, Jesus said, they would receive the greater condemnation because they, in their higher capacities, not only led the people astray, but plundered and distressed them along the way.

(15) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves."

Jesus continued to curse, if you will, the scribes and Pharisees.  They would travel land and sea, sparing no pains, to gain a convert, but once he was converted, they made him twice the child of hell, or twice as wicked as they were.

(16) "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor.'"

Jesus now called the scribes and Pharisees blind guides because they were blind to the truth but nevertheless, guided others.  He denounced their proclamation that if anyone swore an oath by the temple, it was neither binding nor a sin.  However, if anyone swore by the gold of the temple, that is, the money that was offered for the service of the temple, then that was binding and he must pay his debt.  This demonstrated no respect or reverence for the temple of God, but rather only for the money by which they enriched themselves.

(17) "You fools, and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?"

Indeed, Jesus pointed out their folly and hypocrisy, by asking what was more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold, making it holy, and not to be sworn by frivolously.  Of course, it was the temple!  An oath by the temple should be of much more importance than one by gold which had no holy value in it of itself.

(18) "And 'Whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swore by the gift that is on it, he is guilty.'"

Likewise, Jesus said the scribes and Pharisees declared that anyone swearing by the altar would not be bound to their oath, but if they swore by the gift that was on the altar, then they were bound to keep the oath or be guilty of a debt.  Once again, they showed no reverence for the altar of God, but only for the material gifts by which they could enrich themselves.

(19) "You fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?"

Once again, Jesus pointed out their absurd hypocrisy, asking what was more important, the gift or the altar that made the gift considered something holy and not to be sworn by lightly.

(20) "Whoever therefore shall swear by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it."

Jesus went on to add that anyone who swore by the altar of God obviously had to be swearing by it and anything on it; they could not be separated.

(21) "And whoever shall swear by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it."

Anyone who swore an oath by the temple also swore an oath by God who dwelled in the temple.  Likewise, all items in the temple were only of value and importance because of God, and should be respected for that fact alone, and not for any monetary gain for the scribes and Pharisees.

(22) "And he who shall swear by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it."

Jesus went on to say that whoever swore an oath by heaven was swearing by the throne of God, which meant by God Himself.  Actually, one should not swear at all, for all is God's, as Jesus said back in Matthew 5:34.  He said not to swear by heaven, for it was God's throne; He said not to swear by earth, for it was God's footstool; He said not to swear by Jerusalem for it was the city of their great King; He said not to swear by one's own head, for one had no control to change it.  God is the One with all the control over all His creation, so it was profane to swear by anything that was God's own property.

(23) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith; these you ought to have done and not to leave the other undone."

Jesus once again pronounced woe to the scribes and Pharisees and called them hypocrites.  They were apparently meticulous in tithing of the most trifling things on earth while they neglected the things that mattered most--justice, mercy, and fidelity, or faithfulness.  They should have made sure to do the more important things first, not that they shouldn't tithe; they could do that as meticulously as they desired, but they should have understood the most important moral obligations of the law and tended to them first, and let the smaller ritualistic and ceremonial matters come second.

(24) "You blind guides, who strain at a gnat and swallow a camel!"

Jesus analogized what He had just accused of the scribes and Pharisees.  They were meticulous to make sure they strained out a gnat, the smallest of creatures, from their drinks to be sure they didn't ingest an unclean insect.  However, they avoided the greatest matters like sins of hypocrisy, deceit, lust, and oppression, like a man who might swallow a camel, the largest of animals.

(25) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and the platter, but inside they are full of extortion and excess!"

Jesus accused the scribes and Pharisees of being meticulous to cleanse the outer things that showed, but inside where it wasn't visible to the people, they were full of wickedness, extortion, oppression, and lust.

(26) "You blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also."

Jesus told them to first cleanse what was within, invisible to the public, and then the outside would be truly clean.  As it relates to each of us personally, we must cleanse our hearts first so that our external actions will be clean, pure, and holy.

(27) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like white sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness."

Jesus compared the scribes and Pharisees to whitewashed tombs.  It is written that the Jews used to yearly whitewash their tombs to make them easily visible and thus easily avoidable, for their law considered anyone who touched anything belonging to the dead to be unclean.  What Jesus meant, therefore, was that while the scribes and Pharisees took great pains to appear clean and beautiful in their outward appearance, they were full of death and unclean on the inside.

(28) "Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."

Indeed, Jesus went on to detail their inward uncleanness; they worked to appear clean and righteous in view of men, but inside they were in fact full of hypocrisy and sin.

(29) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, (30) And say, 'If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'"

It seems the scribes and Pharisees built the tombs and repaired and beautified those already built out of respect for the memory of the righteous prophets; and this they did to outwardly show that they imagined themselves much better than their ancestors, and saying they would have never joined them in putting the prophets to death.

(31) "Whereby you are witnesses against yourselves that you are the children of those who killed the prophets."

I believe the sense of this rather difficult statement is that by saying they would have never joined in the slaying of the prophets, they acknowledged it was a great wickedness.  In acknowledging that fact, they were witnesses against themselves because they were just as their fathers before them were, and Christ knew they would also slay Him; in partaking of that same act, they condemned themselves as greatly wicked.

(32) "Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers."

In essence, Jesus was telling them to go ahead in their fathers' wickedness.  He left them with the designs of their own wicked hearts to bring to fullness what their fathers had started by killing the prophets.  They would be every bit as wicked as their fathers, and more so.

(33) "Serpents, generation of vipers! How can you escape the damnation of hell?"

By calling them serpents and vipers, Jesus expressed their cunning craftiness, though sleek and fair on the outside, they were full of venom and death on the inside.  They were just like their father, that old serpent, the devil, and just like their forefathers who killed the prophets.  So how was it possible that they thought they could escape damnation to hell?

(34) "Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes; and some of them you shall kill and crucify, and some of them you shall scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city."

Jesus told this generation of vipers that He was sending His prophets, wise men, and scribes, which would describe His disciples.  He foretold that they would kill some of them and persecute others.

(35) "That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the temple and the altar."

Jesus went on to foretell that upon them would come the punishment of all the innocent blood which had been shed in the land from Abel to the prophet Zechariah, and which would come for the shedding of His innocent blood and that of His disciples after Him.  Indeed, they would achieve the fullness of what their fathers had started.  It's not that they would be unfairly punished for what their fathers had done before them, but it was because they had witnessed all that came before, and continued to do even more wickedness, that all the righteous blood shed up to the point they were punished would be avenged.

(36) "Verily, I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation."

Jesus told them that the time of the avenging of all the innocent blood would occur in that present generation.  Actually, the original word "genea" can also mean "nation."  Indeed, the destruction of Jerusalem took place about 40 years after Jesus spoke these words.

These statements pronouncing woes to the scribes and Pharisees have become known as the "eight woes."  It is very interesting to note that the blessings of the beatitudes also numbered eight.  Some scholars have made a direct correlation between each beatitude and each woe.  They do, indeed, come pretty close to being in direct opposition to each other:

1) Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, but woe to the scribes and Pharisees who shut up the kingdom of heaven.

2) Blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted, but woe to those who devoured widows' houses and caused their sorrow.

3) Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth, but woe to the scribes and Pharisees who comb the earth to make just one proselyte and make him twice as bad as they were.

4) Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they will be filled, but woe to those who seek after only money and things of value.

5) Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy, but woe to those scribes and Pharisees who omitted the weightier matters like mercy.

6) Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God, but woe to those scribes and Pharisees who make themselves clean and pure on the outside, but whose hearts are wicked.

7) Blessed are the peacemakers who shall be called the children of God, but woe to the scribes and Pharisees who were filled with only death.

8) Blessed are those who are persecuted for Christ's sake, but woe to the scribes and Pharisees who persecuted them.

Back to Matthew 23:37:

(37) "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to you; how often would I have gathered your children together even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!"

Jesus then began to lament over Jerusalem.  It is evident He deeply grieved for her and earnestly wished for the salvation of her people.  The account in Luke says that He wept over the city.  Countless prophets were sent to save her, but she rejected and killed them.  Jesus sought to gather her people under His protection, but they would not hearken to Him.

(38) "Behold, your house is left to you desolate."

Whether Jesus meant the city or the temple, as either could be called the house where God had dwelt, once called His house, it was now their house for God had abandoned it.  For those who say that a loving God would never so wickedly punish His people, I don't see God as actively punishing, but He just turns away because they have rejected Him, and leaves them to defend for themselves.  Without His love, mercy, protection, and salvation, we will all perish!

(39) "For I say to you, you shall see me no more till you shall say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

Taken in context with verse 38, it seems as if Jesus was saying the Jews' temple or city or both were desolate because HE was leaving it.  Their fate was sealed; the Lord's glory departed from them.  They would not see Him again offering His salvation until they received Him with joy and open hearts, recognizing Him as their Messiah.  The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 11:25-26 that this would be after the fullness of the Gentiles is brought in and then all Israel will be saved.  This is why we should only look with love to our Jewish brothers and sisters.  Imagine if Jesus had come to His people and they accepted Him and He took them away with Him, leaving all us Gentiles to perish.  Of course, it has been God's plan all along to save us all, knowing the depravity of the human heart; He knew He would be rejected, but His people had to see it for themselves.  Paul also said in those verses that we Christians must not become conceited because it is not owing to our own righteousness that we have been saved, but because Israel had been spiritually blinded for a time, Gentiles were given the opportunity to be saved.  Blessed are those who bless Israel, and cursed are those who curse her (Genesis 12:3, Numbers 24:9).  We should pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and they who love her will prosper (Psalm 122:6).  I truly believe that the reason God has continued to bless America even after all her wickedness in aborting babies, taking Him out of schools and the public square, celebrating homosexual unions that He called abomination, is because of our support for Israel.  However, one can see the tide turning, and once we reject Israel, we will be totally doomed as a country.

The Triumphant Wisdom of Jesus Christ

Continuing a study of the gospels:

(Matthew 22:1) And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables, and said,

In the last chapter Jesus had told the parable of the vineyard to the chief priests and scribes, and He now spoke to them again in parables.  The account in Mark said that the priests and scribes had left Jesus and went their way.  However, Mark did not relate this particular parable Jesus was about to tell, so it is reasonable to assume that they did not leave until they heard this parable, as well.  If the chief priests and scribes did go away, then there were other Pharisees who remained to hear this parable:

(2) "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who made a marriage for His son, (3) And sent forth his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding, and they would not come."

Jesus began His parable by likening the kingdom of heaven to that of a king who had arranged a wedding for his son.  He sent his servants out to call all those who had been invited to the wedding, but they would not come.  This, of course, represents God calling His people, the Jews, to salvation.  Jesus is often called the bridegroom, and His people are His bride.  God called the Jewish people first, as His special people, but they would not come to Jesus.

(4) "Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, 'Tell them who are invited, "Behold, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and fatlings are killed, and all things are ready; come to the wedding."'"

Jesus went on to tell how the king sent more servants out, instructing them to tell all who were invited that he had prepared a feast and all things were ready for the wedding, and bidding them to come.  This represents the disciples and those messengers in real time who told the invited Jews that the time was now for the wedding.

(5) "But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise; (6) And the remnant took his servants and treated them spitefully and killed them.

Jesus told how the people invited to the wedding ridiculed it and most went on with their usual business.  However, a small number of them remained and reviled and abused the servants and killed them.  This represents most people who rejected God's invitation to come to Jesus and salvation, and those who persecuted and killed His messengers, His disciples.

(7) "But when the king heard of it, he was angry; and he sent forth his armies and destroyed those murderers and burned up their city."

The king in the parable was very angry when he heard about how his servants had been abused and killed, and he sent his armies to destroy the murderers and burn their city.  This was prophetic of what was to happen to Jerusalem because its people rejected and killed Christ and His messengers; God would send His armies of Roman soldiers to burn Jerusalem.

(8) "Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.'"

The king in Jesus's parable, representing God, declared that the wedding was ready, but those who had been invited were not worthy.  They represent the Jews who had basically snubbed their noses at God's gracious invitation, so how could they be considered worthy?

(9) "'Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you can find, invite to the wedding.'"

The king sent his servants into the highways to find as many people as they could, inviting them all to the wedding.  This is representative of God offering His gift of salvation to all the world after it had been rejected by His special people, the Jews.

(10) "So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all they found, both bad and good; and the wedding was furnished with guests."

The servants went out and gathered together all the people they found, without distinguishing whether they were moral people or open sinners.  The wedding was full of guests.

(11) "And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who did not have on a wedding garment."

When the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who was not appropriately covered.  People who were brought in from the highways could not be expected to be formally dressed, but it is said that the ancient custom was to provide wedding garments for accidental attendees.  For this man not to be properly dressed means he must have refused them.  This represents a person not heart-ready to receive Christ.  

(12) "And he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here not having a wedding garment?' And he was speechless."

The king asked the man how he had come to be there without having on a wedding garment.  The man was speechless to defend himself.  This represents the soul professing to be called a Christian, but without the repentance and faith and heart to be prepared to enter the kingdom.  At judgment, he will have nothing he can say for himself.

(13) "Then said the king to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot and take him away and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"

The king told his servants to bind the man and take him away to outer darkness where there would be weeping and the gnashing of teeth, expressing pain and anguish.  Of course, there can be no doubt this represents hell for the unrepentant hypocrite soul pretending Christianity.  This represented what would happen to the chief priests and scribes and Pharisees who had only a pretense of religion.

(14) "For many are called, but few are chosen."

Jesus declared that many people were called to accept the gift of salvation, but relative to the world full of people called, only a few accept it and become part of the chosen elect of God.

(15) Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk.

The Pharisees then left Jesus and plotted among themselves about how they could ensnare Him with His own words.  The irony is they were the ones who were always ensnared by their words!  When truth is on one's side, he can talk freely and not be worried about being ensnared by his own words.

(16) And they sent out to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, 'Master, we know that you are true and teach the way of God in truth, nor do you care about anyone's opinion for you do not regard the positions of men."

The Pharisees sent their disciples to Jesus with the Herodians, who were attached to Herod and therefore zealous for the interest of the Roman government.  Their purpose was to trap Him, but they laid on the flattery and false praise, calling Him "Master," and saying they knew He was true in His teaching of God and had no regard for the positions of people.

(17) "Tell us therefore; what do you think? Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not?"

They asked Jesus what He thought about whether or not it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar.  A little history is needed to understand how it was that they were trying to trick Jesus.  About a hundred years prior the Jews had come under Roman rule after being conquered by the Romans, and therefore tributes were demanded of them.  However, the Jewish nation, as Abraham's seed, should not be in bondage to any man.  The Pharisees felt that if Jesus answered that it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar, that the Jewish people would rise up against Him as a betrayer of the liberties of their nation.  However, by bringing the Herodians with them, those who were more zealous for Roman interests, they dared Him to say it was not lawful and set the Roman government against Him.

(18) But Jesus perceived their wickedness and said, "Why do you tempt Me, hypocrites?"

Jesus, knowing their thoughts, knew they were only trying to entrap Him, and were not asking out of any real interest and desire to know the truth.  He called them hypocrites because He knew they only pretended respect for Him and a scrupulous desire for truth.

(19) "Show Me the tribute money." So they brought Him a denarius.

Jesus told them to show the tribute money to Him; and they brought Him a denarius, which was a Roman coin that was used to pay Roman tribute.  Tribute for temple service was paid with the Jewish shekel.

(20) And He said to them, "Whose is this image and inscription?"

Jesus put the question back to the Pharisees, and asked whose image and inscription was on the coin.

(21) They said to Him, "Caesar's." Then He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

By having received Caesar's coin and acknowledging that it came from him, they were clearly under Caesar's government and therefore under obligation to give back that part demanded by the government.  However, God's image and inscription is upon the soul, and they should give to Him what was His, their hearts and lives in service to Him, as well as tribute money for the service of the temple with the traditional Jewish shekel.  Christians are called to obey authority, even if it means a wicked and corrupt government, until the point that one is called to do something in direct opposition to the word of God.

(22) When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

When the Pharisees heard Jesus's answer, they were amazed at His wisdom in answering them in such an unexpected way, and they left Him, having nothing else they could say in response, and not being able to get any advantage over Him as had been their plan.

(23) That same day came to Him the Saducees, who say that there is no resurrection, and asked Him,

That same day another sect, the Saducees, came to Jesus.  The Saducees did not believe in an afterlife.  They believed one should love and reverence God with no thought to a reward, and did not believe in resurrection, angels, or spirits.

(24) Saying, "Master, Moses said, 'If a man dies having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.'"

The Saducees asked Jesus about a Mosaic law referenced in Deuteronomy 25:5.  It was a law given by Moses in order to keep the tribes of Israel distinct and to perpetuate them.  If a man died having no children, his brother was to marry his wife and their children would be reckoned as children of the deceased brother.

(25) "Now there were with us seven brothers; and the first, when he had married a wife, died, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother."

The Saducees report what they said was an actual case of seven brothers who had been among them.  The first son married a wife, but died before having any children.  The wife is supposed to be left for the second brother to marry.

(26) "Likewise the second also, and the third to the seventh. (27) And last of all, the woman died also."

The Saducees continued with their story; the second son also died apparently leaving no children, as subsequently, also did the third through the seventh sons.  Finally the wife died also.  This certainly seems a wild coincidence that seven brothers all died before having children and all died before the wife, and if it wasn't true, seems to be much more extreme than needed to make their point.  Maybe it was true, but if not completely true, I'm sure it was partially true and presented a real difficulty in their eyes, as demonstrated by their question:

(28) "Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the seven? For they all had her."

The Saducees didn't believe in a resurrection, so their question was designed to show the difficulty in a belief in resurrection, assuming that husbands and wives would be reunited as they were on earth, and they didn't see how a woman could be the wife of seven men.

(29) Jesus answered and said to them, "You err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God." (30) For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven."

Jesus told the Saducees that they erred in their thinking, apparently not knowing the scriptures which plainly asserted a resurrection, and not knowing the power of God who is well able to do anything.  He went on to tell them that in the resurrection people would not marry, but would be as angels of God with no earthly need to marry or procreate or satisfy any human need that they had on earth.  

(31) "But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, (32) 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."

Jesus went on with further proof of a resurrection of the dead by asking if they had read the words of God in the scriptures.  At least twice in Exodus (Exodus 3:6, Exodus 3:15) God had proclaimed Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Those patriarchs had been dead two to three hundred years when God spoke those words to Moses.  Jesus told the Saducees that God was the God of the living, not of the dead in the past.  God had said, "I am" not "I was Abraham's God."  

(33) And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at His doctrine.

When the multitude of people around Jesus heard what He said to the Saducees, they were astonished at His doctrine, probably partly because of the pure, perfect angelic state of the righteous in the world to come, and because He had so quickly and strongly proved the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the dead.  In his account, Luke stated that the Saducees didn't dare to ask Jesus any other questions, evidently being so confounded by His answer, proof, and reasonings.

(34) But when the Pharisees had heard that He had put the Saducees to silence, they were gathered together.

The Pharisees didn't believe as the Saducees did, so they may have gathered together to joyfully discuss how their rivals the Saducees had been silenced by Jesus.  But then again, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," so more than likely they were dismayed that Jesus had also prevailed over the Saducees and they gathered together to plot another way to trap Him in His words.

(35) Then one of them who was a lawyer asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, (36) "Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law?"

Then one of the Pharisees who was a lawyer sought to trick Jesus and asked Him what the greatest commandment in the law was.  A lawyer at this time was not someone practicing law as we know it, but was someone very learned in the law of Moses.  The Pharisees had tried to trap Jesus in matters concerning government, religion, and now were testing Him in the law.  What one commandment could be called the greatest?  They were probably sure they had entrapped Him now, for whichever law He called the greatest, they could offer up another which would seem greater.

(37) Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (38) And the second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' (39) On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

One cannot trap the very author of the law.  Jesus knew exactly how they were designed.  The first four commandments were all about loving God.  Even the fifth commandment about honoring parents is a learning step toward honoring authority and loving God.  The last five are all about loving one's neighbor and treating him as he would want to be treated.  Therefore, all the commandments were based on these two broader commandments.

(41) While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, (42) Saying, "What do you think about Christ? Whose son is He?" They said to Him, "The Son of David."

While the plotting Pharisees were still all gathered together, Jesus asked them what they thought about Christ.  They were all expecting a coming Christ the Messiah.  He asked them whose son they thought Christ was.  They answered they thought Him to be the Son of David.

(43) He said to them, "How then does David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, (44) 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit on My right hand till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'?"

Jesus asked the Pharisees if Christ was the son of David, then why was it that David under inspiration of the Holy Spirit called Him Lord.  He then quoted David's words in Psalm 110:1, where the Lord God said to David's Lord Christ to sit at His right hand until He subdued all His enemies under Him.

(45) "If David then calls Him Lord, how is He his son?"

Jesus then summed up the paradox brought about by their mistaken belief that Christ would be some earthly prince on earth.  If David called Christ his Lord, then how could Christ be his son?

(46) And no man was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day forth did anyone ask Him any more questions.

Obviously, based on their beliefs, they couldn't answer His question.  The only way it could be answered was to admit that Christ was divine as well as human, and that He had an existence at the time of David as his Lord, but He descended from him as man.  From that day on, it seems the Pharisees ceased trying to trick Him with their questions.

I believe the biggest takeaway from this chapter is the infallible wisdom of Jesus Christ and the Word of God.  Just as the Pharisees and Saducees were unable to ensnare Him, so the mighty foes of God and His Word from time immemorial have been unable to triumph over Truth.  The only seeming triumphs against God and His Truth come from our lack of understanding.  When we immerse ourselves in God's Word, we can then defend against lies.  Of course, we can never be 100% as Christ, who was the Word Himself, but we should strive to be as Christlike as possible, and by constantly studying His Word, we are better prepared against ensnarements which will surely come our way.