Hello friends, welcome to the 3ABN Sabbath School panel. This is a time when we can study God's Word together. We are going through the book of Mark and this is lesson number 9, Jerusalem Controversies. And we want to encourage you to study with us.
We also invite you to, if you're interested, to receive the lessons notes that we each prepare individually. And if you would like to deepen your study. We encourage you to get those notes.
How can you get those notes? Please email us at ssp at 3abn.org, ssp at 3abn.org. That's for Sabbath School Panel at 3abn.org, ssp at 3abn.org.
And tell us you would like to receive the notes. Once you do, you will get them every week delivered to your email address. So the lesson that we are studying is the book of Mark. The author is Thomas R. Shepard.
Actually, he's participated on 3ABN programming before in the program Books of the Book. And also, during the participation, he did share some comments about the Book of Mark. So we encourage you to look into that. This time, we have a wonderful 3ABN family with us that are going to join us in this study.
And I'd like to present them to you. To my left is Pastor John Lomercang. Yes, and I'm doing the cursed tree and the cleansed temple, another sandwich aspect of the book of Mark.
Amen, amen. And we have Brother Jason Bradley with us. Welcome.
Thank you. It's great to be here. I am doing Who Said You Could Do That?
That's Tuesday's lesson. I'm looking forward to it. Another interesting title, and we have Professor Daniel Perrin. Yes, I have Wednesday's lesson, Earthly Duties and Heavenly Outcomes, two controversies back to back. Oh, excellent.
And we are also happy to have Sister Shelly Quinn. And I'm happy to be here. I have Thursday's lesson, The Greatest Commandment. Amen.
Amen. Before we dive into our study, we need to go to the Lord in prayer. And I would like to ask Sister Shelly Quinn if you would help us with that prayer.
I'd love to. Our gracious and loving Heavenly Father, how we thank you for your plan of salvation. How we thank you for Jesus, your Word, and your Spirit.
We ask now you will send your Holy Spirit to be our teacher. Give us all ears to hear what's being said and a heart that will put it into practice. In Christ we pray.
Amen. Amen. Well, I'd like to tell you that a lot of prayer goes into this preparation of these lessons.
And if you would like to receive the notes, again, we encourage you to write. My name is John Denzey and I have... the Sabbath afternoon and Sunday portion. The Sunday portion is entitled the Triumphal Entry and during this week of study you will notice that we are going into Jerusalem controversies.
Now previously on another lesson we covered controversies as well recorded in Mark chapter 2 and chapter 3 but this week we're going to look at six controversies with religious leaders. And the lesson brings out that part of this week's lesson will include analyzing just what it is that brings people into opposition to God and consideration of what Christians can do to break through prejudice and speak to the hearts of those resisting the Spirit's call. In Mark chapter 11, the lesson says Jesus'ministry will be in Jerusalem for Passover from March to April, which that's when Passover normally is.
But Mark 11 through 16 covers more about little less than a week, while the other chapters covered approximately three and a half years. Let's go into Sunday's portion, the triumphal entry. We go to Mark chapter 11, beginning in verse 1. Now, when they drew near Jerusalem to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples. And he said to them, Go into the village opposite you, and as soon as you have entered it, you will find a coat tied, on which no one has sat.
Loose it and bring it. Now, this is a very interesting set of instructions, because they were told to go and do this, and there would be a coat specifically tied, and they did. Notice what happens. And Jesus says, and if anyone says to you, why are you doing this? Say, the Lord has need of it.
And immediately he will send it here. Now this is something interesting. As we look at this verse, they were going to a place they didn't know.
They were going to see people they didn't know. And they were supposed to untie a coat. And they were supposed to leave with the coat unless someone asked. Why? Because the Lord has need of it.
And that's something good for us to understand. That really all that we have, we are grateful to the Lord for it. And we should be willing to part with it when the Lord needs it.
Let's continue into verse 4. So they went their way and found the coat tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it. But some of those who stood there said to them, what are you doing loosening the coat? And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded, so they let them go.
Wonderful. Praise the Lord. You know, it's interesting.
that as we look at this, Jesus was about to use a quote that technically, as far as the world is concerned, did not belong to him, but Jesus is the creator, so it really did belong to him. But in the book, Desire of Ages, page 569, it says, At his birth, the Savior was dependent upon the hospitality of strangers. The manger in which he lay was a borrowed resting place.
Now, although the cattle... Now, although the cattle on a thousand hills are his, he is dependent on a stranger's kindness for an animal on which to enter Jerusalem as its king. Also, I add, you know, when he died on the cross, he was buried in a grave or a tomb that was borrowed. It did not belong to him. But again, Jesus owns the cattle on a thousand hills.
Let's go to Mark chapter 11, verse 7. Then they brought the coat to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and he sat on it. Now this is something interesting that happens here because this is called a triumphal entry. The kings and conquerors would ride on horses full of armor.
Jesus is riding on a lonely donkey. A donkey can be a symbol of humility, and some things that I've read said even peace. You know, when these kings and conquerors, they would come on horses full of armor. horses because horses are meant for battle.
They're meant to show force. But a donkey seems to be like a lowly animal. And this is what Jesus wrote on into Jerusalem. In Mark 11, 8, we read, and many spread their clothes on the road and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. What is going on here?
Then those who went before and those who followed cried out saying, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Now what does it mean, Hosanna? In the Greek, some definitions are, save now, help now.
But eventually, it changes in meaning. I read to you from the lesson. It says, Jesus entered from the east, descending the Mount of Olives, and likely entering through the golden gate onto the Temple Mount, a gate now bricked. The entire city was stirred by his entry, everyone recognizing the significance of his symbolic action. The crowd that accompanied Jesus shouted, Hosanna, a term originally meaning save now, but eventually coming to mean praise to God.
Oh, this was a powerful scene. I'm reading now from the book Desire of Ages 5, 570. Christ was following the Jewish custom. for a royal entry. The animal on which he rode was that ridden by the kings of Israel, and prophecy had foretold that thus the Messiah should come to his kingdom.
No sooner was he seated upon the colt than a loud shout of triumph rent the air. The multitudes hailed him as Messiah, their king. Jesus now accepted the homage which he had never before permitted.
And the disciples received this as proof that their glad hopes were to be realized by seeing Him established on the throne. The multitudes were convinced that the hour of their emancipation was at hand. In imagination, they saw the Roman armies driven from Jerusalem and Israel once more an independent nation. This is why all this joy, all this cheer, all of this glory to God, our time of deliverance has come.
The Messiah is here. But remember, Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this world. Mark 11, 10 continues.
Blessed is the kingdom of our father, David, that comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. The people are crying.
But notice verse 11, And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when he had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. Didn't go to the throne. His mission was to die on the cross for you and for me.
It's interesting because these people, this multitude of people that were shouting, Hosanna, glory to the highest, were in a moment, in a few days, were going to be shouting, some of them at least, crucify Him, crucify Him. Jesus was fulfilling prophecy. In the book of Zechariah chapter 9, verse 9 and 10, the Bible says, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion.
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold. Your king is coming to you. He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. Verse 11, I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem.
The battle bow shall be cut off. He shall speak peace to the nations. His dominion shall be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. So they tied these verses together thinking this is what Jesus was going to do. But notice that it says, your king.
Is Jesus Christ your king? Do you receive him as your king? Do you shout Hosanna to Jesus because he is your savior? What does your life reveal? You know, we all have the opportunity to praise the Lord.
On this occasion, there were people that had been healed from blindness. There were people that were crippled and Jesus had healed. There were many there that even, it is said that even Lazarus was there praising the Lord because they rightly were praising Jesus who had done such great things for him.
And it was an opportunity for sure. He healed me. I was blind and now I see.
I was crippled and now I walk because of Jesus. Is he not the King of Israel? Is he not the one that should take the throne? This was a joyous occasion. And we all know that Jesus did not take the throne.
His mission was to seek and to save that which was lost. And for this reason, he had to be the sacrifice for you and me. There's a moment coming, and there's a moment coming when Jesus will come, and not as that time, he will come in a triumphant glory in the heavens.
And I hope you will be able to say what is written in Isaiah 25, verse 9. And it should be said in that day, lo, this is our God. We have waited for him and he will save us. This is the Lord.
We have waited for him. We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. Amen.
Thank you, Pastor Denzi. And mine is Monday, a cursed tree and a cleansed temple. This is one of those sandwich stories that covers from verses 12 to 26. Now, verse 12. to 14 covers the fig tree withered.
Verses 20 to verses 24 covers the lesson of the withered fig tree. Sometimes you might wonder, why didn't this story continue? Because the significance will be poured out or brought out in just a moment here. But let's start in verse 11 of the fig tree withered, and we'll define what that meant.
Now the next day when they had come out from Bethany, he was hungry. That is, Jesus was hungry. And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, he went to see if perhaps he would find something on it.
When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And this is very significant. It was not the season for figs. So why would he expect to find something if it was not the season for figs? We'll find that in just a moment.
In response, Jesus said to it, speaking to the fig tree, Let no one eat fruit from you ever again. And his disciples heard it. Now this was a quandary to the disciples because it was pointed out this was not the season for figs. So why would you look for something when it's not the season? You remember the words of the Apostle Paul?
Be instant in season, out of season. The Christian, there is no season for Christians. You're not called to be righteous and holy and good when you're on your way to church. We are to be seasoned. We are to be salt every day of the week, light every day of the week.
So the Lord, recognizing that the people he called the nation of Israel, they had seasons of good, seasons that they chose when they would allow the goodness of God to shine forth. But he came at a moment, and as the Bible says in Malachi, he will suddenly come to his temple, meaning the Lord will show up in your life in a moment you do not expect. He's expecting at a moment that the Bible says, in an hour that we think not the Son of Man will come, we serve a suddenly God. When the angels were there on the plane revealing the light of God's, the light of the birth of Jesus to the shepherds, he says, suddenly there was with the angel a host of heavenly angels. So the suddenly is what you have to be ready for.
The Lord doesn't show up when your suit is all set, your tires in place, your dress is ready. You got your church look on. He might come during the week when you're watching something you shouldn't watch.
Or when you're doing something you shouldn't do. Or when you're at a place you shouldn't be. That's the moment he looks for the fruit to be on our tree.
So now before we go to the temple being cleansed, let's go ahead and look at the lesson down to verse 20. The lesson of the withered fig tree. Now in the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter remembering said to him, Rabbi, look, the fig tree which you cursed has withered away. So Jesus answered and said to them, have faith in God, for assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes, that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
Therefore, I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them. So Peter's now looking at the response to the cursing of the tree. What did the tree represent?
Let's go ahead and look at that very quickly. The tree represents, let's go to Jeremiah chapter 8, verse 12 to 13. The fig tree represents Israel. But the barrenness of it represents Israel in its rebellion. Instead of being the branch of nourishment, they became the tree of ill repute.
Rather than being a nation that shares the gospel, they became a nation consumed in self-gratification and abominations. And Jeremiah, looking back, because many of the things that Jesus did were fulfilled, the words of the prophets were fulfilled in the life of Christ. Look at Jeremiah 8, verse 12. And he talks about the things he saw in them.
He says, were they ashamed when they had committed abominations? No, they were not at all ashamed, nor did they know how to blush. Therefore, they shall fall among those who fall.
In the time of their punishment, they shall be cast down, says the Lord. I will surely consume them, says the Lord. Notice this. No grapes shall be found on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree.
This was prophesied, looking at the trajectory of their lives. He says, nothing's going to change. They're this way now.
I can guarantee you 100 years, 300 years, 500, 700 years from now, they're not going to change. How did he know that? He's the God that declares the end from the beginning. He sees the sins of the father unto the children, unto the third and fourth generation of those who hate him. So he saw Israel's trajectory and he said, this is how it's going to be when I show up.
So when he cursed the tree, this was an affirmation that they were already living a curse to life. Look at what he says in verse 13. I will surely consume them. No grapes shall be on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree.
And the leaves shall fade, and the things I have given them shall pass away from them. In other words, they'll be of no use to me. I can't use them for anything beneficial. Let's look at the spiritual decline of the fig tree. Matthew 23 verse 37 and 38. Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, and here's why they withered.
The one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. See, your house is left to you desolate, a withered tree, a dried up fig tree, leaves that are no longer profitable. And then Acts chapter 13, even after the ascension of Jesus and the propulsion of the New Testament church, when Paul and Barnabas were preaching in Antioch, notice the resistance they receive from the dried up fig tree.
Verse 46 of Acts 13, then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, it was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first, but since you rejected and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. So now that's why the middle part. The cleansing of the temple.
So the Lord looks at this. He says, the condition needs to be fixed. So we go to verse 15 now of Mark chapter 11, in the time I have left. So they came to Jerusalem.
Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And he would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. Then he taught, saying to them, Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of thieves?
And the scribes and the chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy him, for they feared him, because all the people were astonished at his teachings. When evening had come, he went out of the city. So now let's revisit this, the cleansing of the temple.
Why didn't he destroy the temple? Why would he cleanse the temple instead? Israel withered, but he just decided to cleanse the temple. Here's the reason why.
The temple represents the place of ministry and sometimes all it needs is all it needs is to be cleansed. Look at the reasons. One, it was to be the house of prayer for all people. And that's the first application the temple represents the place of ministry. The second one, the place of salvation, Acts chapter 2 verse 47. The Bible says, praising God and having favor with all the people.
And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Those who were being saved went to the temple to worship. If he destroyed the temple, the only temple he destroyed was his own. And in three days he raised it up again.
That's his resurrection. But sometimes all the temple needs is cleansing. But it goes deeper than that, not only a physical place, but look at Acts chapter 5 verse 42. And daily in the temple and in every house they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
But what about the fit vessel, the body temple? You see, the body temple needs to be fit and cleansed for the Spirit of God to work through that cleansed body temple, 1 Corinthians 6 verse 19 and 20. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you? whom you have from God and you are not your own for you were bought at a price therefore glorify God in your spirit in your body and in your spirit which are God's and finally the life must be kept holy.
First Corinthians chapter 3 verse 16 and 17. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God God will destroy him for the temple of God is holy. Why will God destroy him?
Look at 2 Corinthians 6, verse 16. What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they shall be my people.
And so the lesson here today is sometimes the leadership has to be changed. But the place, the people of ministry need to be cleansed. And I pray today that your desire is to be cleansed. That your body temple, the place where the Spirit of God seeks to abide, will be the place that you seek to be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. Amen.
Amen. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Pastor Lomacang. Well, friends, we're going to take a short break and we'll be back in just a moment. Ever wish you could study more deeply along with the three ABN Sabbath School panel members?
Well, now you can. Just send an email request to ssp at 3abn.org and we'll email you the Sabbath School Panelist notes on a weekly basis to enhance your own study of God's Word. That address again is ssp at 3abn.org.
We'd love to send you their notes just as they've prepared them. Thank you for watching and thank you for being part of our 3ABN Sabbath School Panel family. Thank you very much and we continue our lesson study with... Jason Bradley. All right, thank you.
This has been a deep study so far. My name's Jason Bradley. I have Tuesday's lesson. It's titled, Who Said You Could Do That? Imagine being 100% God and 100% human and receiving a question from a mere mortal, who said you could do that?
This was the case for Jesus. He constantly had his authority questioned. And in Mark chapter 11, verse 27 through 33, we see a conversation between Jesus, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders.
His authority was in question, but his response was simply divine. Let's join the conversation, beginning in Mark chapter 11, verse 27. Then they came again to Jerusalem, and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him. And they said to him, by what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority to do these things?
But Jesus answered and said to them, I also will ask you one question, then answer me and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men? Answer me.
I don't know why I pictured Jesus having a smile on his face when he's asking this question. I don't know. Verse 31. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, if we say from heaven, he will say, why then did you not believe him? But if we say from men, they feared the people for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. So they answered and said to Jesus, we do not know.
Friends, I want to tell you, that is an answer that will not get you out of everything. And Jesus answered and said to them, neither will I tell you. by what authority I do these things. You know, one of the many things that I love about Jesus is that he can spot a trap a mile away.
And the day before this confrontation took place, as you pointed out, Pastor Loma King, Jesus cleansed the temple. And I want us to notice something in Mark chapter 11, verse 18. It says, And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy him. But why?
For they feared him. Now, this wasn't a reverence. This wasn't a respect.
This wasn't admiration. They feared him because all the people were astonished at his teaching. And when our spiritual arteries become clogged with pride, jealousy, and malice, we need to recognize the warning signs or the symptoms that a spiritual heart attack is imminent.
And people who desperately crave attention are some of the most dangerous people to be around because they will do anything to get it. And if you don't believe me, just watch some videos on TikTok when it's not Sabbath. The lesson posed the question, what challenge did the religious leaders bring to Jesus and how did he receive it?
How did he respond? Now, we covered this just a minute ago, but the religious leaders basically asked Jesus, who said you could do that? Jesus responded to them with the question and said, the baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men? And with that one simple question, Jesus put the religious leaders in checkmate. They realized they were trapped and attempted to lie their way out.
The answer the religious leaders gave was, we do not know. Now, their answer provided Jesus with the opportunity to refuse to answer their question. And in Mark chapter 12, verses 1 through 12, he takes his refusal to answer a step further and shares the parable of the wicked vinedressers with the religious leaders.
Now, this parable can also be found in Matthew chapter 21, verses 33 through 46, and Luke chapter 20, verses 9 through 19. However... In the book of Matthew, we see another powerful parable being shared prior to the parable of the wicked vinedressers. And that is the parable of the two sons.
Go with me to Matthew chapter 21, verses 28 through 32. But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not. But afterward he regretted it. and went.
Then he came to the second and said, likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir. But he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father? They said to him, the first.
Jesus said to them, assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him. But tax collectors and harlots believed him, and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.
Now, as we prepare to examine the parable of the wicked vinedressers, I want us to look at it from the framework of Christ's character. 2 Peter 3, verse 9. any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. All they had to do was repent. With that in mind, let's look at Mark chapter 12, verses 1 through 5. We're going to spend some time in Mark chapter 12, so make sure you hold your place here. Mark chapter 12, verses 1 through 5. Then he began to speak to them in parables.
A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat, and built a tower. And he leased it to vine dressers and went into a far country. Now at vintage time, he sent a servant to the vine dressers that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vine dressers. And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty handed. Again, he sent him another servant and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head and sent him away shamefully treated.
And again, he sent another and him they killed and many others beating. some and killing some. Now let's look at 2 Chronicles chapter 36 verses 15 and 16 where we see the fall of Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles chapter 36 verses 15 and 16 And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending them because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord rose, arose against his people till there was no remedy."God can only give so many warnings before consequences become inevitable. Journey with me back to Mark, chapter 12, verses 6 through 8. Therefore, still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, They will respect my son. But those vinedressers said among themselves, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours. Their reasoning was ridiculous. So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard. Now, keep your place, but let's go to Acts chapter 2, verses 23 through 24. Him being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands and have crucified and put to death, whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it. Death could not hold our God. And that is great news for us. Now let's go back to Mark chapter 12 verses 9 through 12 and wrap this up. Therefore, what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers and give the vineyard to others. Have you not even read this scripture? The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing. And it is marvelous in our eyes. And they sought to lay hands on him, but feared the multitude, for they knew he had spoken the parable against them. So they left him and went away. So what's the application for us today? Desire of Ages, page 600. By many illustrations and repeated warnings, Jesus showed what would be the result to the Jews of rejecting the Son of God. And these words... Get this, he was addressing all in every age who refused to receive him as their redeemer. Every warning is for them. The desecrated temple, the disobedient son, the false husbandmen, the contemptuous builders have their counterpart in the experience of every sinner. Unless he repent, the doom which they foreshadowed will be his. Here's what I know. There's victory in Jesus. If you want to be victorious in life, surrender your life to Christ. He wants to be Lord of your life and reign supreme on the throne of your heart. Let's not reject our Redeemer. Amen. Thank you, Jason. You said that Jesus could spot a trap a mile away. Well, the same thing is going to be true here in Wednesday's lesson entitled, Earthly Duties and Heavenly Outcomes. And I'm Daniel Perrin with this lesson. And we're in Mark chapter 12 still, verses 13 on through to verse 27, where Jesus is going to be questioned again twice to try to discredit him and trap him. So let's jump right into Mark 12, verse 13. Then they sent to him some Pharisees and the Herodians to catch him in his words. Now the Pharisees, these are the religious leaders. These are the... so-called pastors of the day, and they're joining with a group called the Herodians. These would be Greek Jews who supported a particular candidate for public office because it was expedient. They are essentially supporters of Rome. So you have both the religious leaders and political leaders uniting. And whenever that happens, you know that there is spiritual danger on the horizon. Mark chapter 3, verse 6 actually predicted this or showed the beginnings of this. where the Herodians and the Pharisees begin to plot together how they can get rid of Jesus. Verse 14 then, When they had come, they said to him, Teacher, we know that you are true. We know that he is, but they do not believe what they say. And that you care for no one, for you do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Shall we pay? Or shall we not pay? Now they're hoping here to trap Jesus in his words. If he says pay, well then they could show the Jews he's just a supporter of Rome. He's not on your side. And if he says don't pay, then they can show the Romans, here's a man who's trying to create a rebellion. You need to eliminate him. So one way or another, they'll either get him killed or get him cast out of favor with the people. And that's what they're after here. So now continuing in verse 15, But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, Why do you test me? Bring me a denarius, that I may see it. So they brought it, and he said to them, Whose image and whose inscription is this? They said to him, Caesar's. So they bring him a coin, a specific coin that he asked for by name, and this is the Tiberius Caesar tribute coin that was in use at that time. The image on the coin is Tiberius Caesar wearing a laurel of victory. And the inscription says, Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus. All right, son of God. Now on the back, there's also a false god carved there and another inscription about Caesar having authority over worship. So this is a pagan idolatrous coin. Verse 17 now, and Jesus answered and said to them, Render to Caesar things that are Caesar's and to God things that are God's. And they marveled at him. Now, Jesus didn't just give here a clever, evasive answer. That would not have silenced his opponents, nor is he simply teaching us a lesson about civil responsibilities and paying taxes. But I want you to notice two things that he did asking for this particular coin. He says, give to Caesar and give to God. Regardless of what the coin may say, regardless of what it says about Caesar, Caesar is not God. They are separate. And you can also pay your taxes to a civil government, even if it's a corrupt government, without sacrificing your loyalty to God here. But even more so, he pointed out something else, their hypocrisy. Here these Pharisees and Herodians are willing to buy and sell with this. pagan idolatrous coin. They're willing to hoard this pagan idolatrous coin all while looking pious as if they are somehow obeying God in a religious manner because we are resisting paying taxes because we are holding on to this pagan idolatrous coin. As long as this pagan idolatrous coin makes them wealthy, they're happy to compromise. They wanted religious justification essentially for their greedy hearts. And Jesus forced them to acknowledge, forced them to say, yes, this is a pagan idolatrous coin, the nature of the coin. So that way he could indicate that it wasn't their love of God that was motivating them to want to hold on to money by resisting paying taxes. It was their love of money. And they knew that as soon as he said that. Now let's move now to the second controversy, which is in Mark 12, verses 18 to 27. I'm only going to read verses 24 to 25 in just a moment here. The Sadducees then come next, and they had their own version of a test, an unanswerable question that they loved to raise. It was of a woman who had been married seven different times, and each of her husbands had been brothers. And then the question was, all right, whose husband is she going to be in the resurrection? Now, you have to understand, and if you read Acts 23, verse 8, you'll see this very clearly stated there. Sadducees and Pharisees disagreed theologically. The Sadducees did not believe in a spiritual realm, angels, or in a resurrection, an afterlife. Well, the Pharisees did believe in an afterlife, in a resurrection. And so the Sadducees had this story, this kind of, aha, gotcha story, that they would share with the Pharisees, and none of the Pharisees could answer them. And then they would chuckle and laugh as they poked fun at their undefined belief in an afterlife. So they share this question here now with Jesus in front of the multitudes. And they're trying to discredit both the Bible's teaching on the resurrection and cast doubt on Jesus'teaching as well and his power over sin and death. And Jesus responds, verse 24, he answered and said to them, are you not therefore mistaken because you do not know the scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven. Now we sometimes get hung up on Jesus'words in this response here about the condition of our relationships in a restored, sinless universe. We have a hard time picturing anything that is not just like what we have here, only without the things I don't like in it. And our relationships are very sacred to us. We hold on to them as if they are ours. We accept God to be Lord of our life. but don't touch my relationships. They belong to me. And so our natural inclination with this text here is to begin to argue with it, argue with the word of God and say, here's what he meant or here's what he should. have said. Now we do need good scholarship and good study and understanding the Word of God rightly. And the scope of this lesson here is not going to deal with what our relationships will be like in the future. But I do want to offer several invitations that I think that we can discover in what Jesus says right here. And the first invitation is that read scripture more and more. Because we want our, what we believe, we want our understanding of everything that we believe not to be based upon our feelings of what we think God would be like. Well, God can't be like that. He wouldn't do that. Go to the scripture and find out what God really is like. And so we want the scriptures to be rightly understood. And that's why programs like this really are important because not every one of us has studied everything in depth or in detail. And so as we share here, it gives you opportunity then to think about texts that you might not have thought about in that way before. Now, number two, I think the other invitation that we have in this statement that Jesus makes is will we trust God with our whole life, with our whole family? Will we give all of what we have to God, including our children, including our marriages, regardless of what the outcome might be? That it truly does belong to him or do we cling to our family as if it is mine and if you touch that, if you touch that thing right there and change what I want it to be, then I don't know that I can really follow you. I don't know that I can really trust in you. So the third invitation I believe is that we do have an invitation really to trust God and to trust that his plan for us and his plan for the future is based upon infinite. perfect knowledge that even though we don't have perhaps access to it now, not because God has not given us access through his word, but because our minds are so darkened by just this skewed sense of the world of sin that we live in, that we sometimes don't understand God's word. So do you really trust Jesus, even if it means letting go of something that you hold dear? Like every divine gift, marriage indeed has also been tainted by sin. And I want God's perfect plan for marriage, regardless of what I think marriage should look like, regardless of what I think relationships should be like. His plan is guaranteed to be better than mine. I look at everything in my life and I recognize, Lord, this is how I want it to be, but I know that you have a plan for me and I want to be going according to your plan. So the fourth invitation is, will I love Jesus more than anything? Will I love him more than my family? Will I love him more than my wife? Will I love him more than my children? Will I love him more than my career? And will I love him more than my life? And leave all of those things in his hands and trust his goodness and his plan for me. Amen. Thank you, Daniel. Well, thanks to each one of you, but that was the perfect setup for Thursday's lesson. I'm Shelley Quinn, and Thursday we are studying the great, the greatest commandment. We are in Mark 12. We'll begin with verse 24. One of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, hearing Jesus and the scribes reason together, perceiving that he, Jesus, had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? Don't you kind of like to know what's the most important? You know, it's interesting. The scribes were professional interpreters of the Old Testament. And the Pharisees we've just seen, they're trying to entrap Jesus with questions. But this scribe seems rather fair-minded. He has recognized that Jesus has been answering well. And so he drills down to the heart of religion, asking what should be our top priority, right? The Pentateuch, that's the first five books of the Bible, the books of Moses, had 613 commandments. 248 of them were positive in the affirmative and 365 were negative. So guess what? The scribes were constantly arguing among themselves on what was the most important of these 613 commandments. These scribes, the rabbis, nobody could agree on this. And even though most religious leaders were antagonistic to Jesus, this scribe seems to show an appreciation for his words. So here he comes to Jesus and he says, what's the first commandment? What's the most important? And Jesus quotes from the Shema, from Deuteronomy. 6 verses 4 and 5. Shema, the word in the Hebrew means here, here. So here's what Jesus answers in Mark 12, 29. Jesus answered him. The first of all the commandments is, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Now in Deuteronomy 6, 4, where he's quoting, in the Hebrew, the word one is ech. And it can mean a compound unity. You know, Christianity is a monotheistic religion. We believe in one God. But we believe that the Bible clearly shows the essence of God, the essence of the Godhead is expressed in three distinct persons. There is God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now you might be watching and say, Ha! That's three! Father plus Son plus Holy Spirit. One plus one plus one equals three. You're using the wrong mathematical formula. It's not addition. Multiply that. One times one times one equals what? One. One to the third power. And I think that that... It's so interesting to me because one is the only number that can be multiplied by itself and divided by itself. And it still equals the same number. So in Mark 12, 30, he goes on. Jesus says, and he's still quoting from Deuteronomy 6. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. Jesus is saying, here is the top priority. The original language of the Shema, when they use this word love, it was really about faithfulness and loyalty. It didn't rule out the idea of deep affection, but the emphasis of that word is faithfulness and loyalty. But now Jesus says it this way, love with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Let's look at that. He's saying love God with the totality of your being. The heart in the Bible, this is the seed of affection. This is the center of physical and moral being, your intellectual and spiritual being. This is your heart. The soul, that was simple. the whole person. That meant it was a distinct individual existence. Body plus spirit equals a soul. The mind was your faculty of thought and understanding, and your strength is the power of your ability to put it all into action. Are you loving God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength? This is the most important commandment. If I say, it took every ounce of my strength to push that car out of the intersection, what does that imply? There's some striving. I'm going to tell you, this is my favorite scripture, Mark 1230, because he does add the word strength there. Your heart, soul, mind, and strength. But I used to go, Lord, I can't do that. Not in my own power. I can't love you the way you want me to love you. Guess what? He doesn't expect you to love him that way by your own power. Here's what happens. When we look at 2 Peter 1, 3 and verse 2 Peter chapter 1, verses 3 and verse 4. When you accept Christ as your Savior, the Holy Spirit dwells in you. And it tells us in Ephesians 3, 16 through 20, Christ is dwelling in your hearts by faith. And here's what it says. His divine power, 2 Peter 1, 3 and 4, His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Through the knowledge of Him who called us by His glory and virtue, by which, by His glory and virtue, have been given to us the exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these, through these promises and all of the promises, by their yes and amen answer in Christ Jesus, you may become partakers of the divine nature. So see, your spiritual DNA changes. When you accept Christ as your Savior, I always say it this way, when Adam and Eve sinned, their DNA was changed. It was DNA, the devil's nature acquired. Now, when we come to Jesus, it's new spiritual DNA, divine nature acquired. So, you know, how can we love the Lord this way? Romans 5, 5 says, He pours His love into our hearts. hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. Just pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit. First John 4 and 19 says we love him because he first loves us. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit in us that we are rooted and grounded in this love. First John chapter 4 verse 7 says, Beloved, let us love one another. Lovers of God, everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love, and this is talking about that. agape love, that self-sacrificing kind of love like God. He goes on and he says, this love of God was manifested toward us. And this is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. So this is interesting. All that I just read was from 1 John. But Jesus gives him the first commandment, and then guess what he does? He gives him a bonus. He said, this is the most important commandment, and that is your horizontal love relationship with the Lord, that you are walking in obedience, motivated by love, that you have this intimate relationship with the Lord. But then he goes on in verse 1231. He says, Here's the second commandment. Love your neighbor as yourself. There's no other commandment greater than these. Matthew 22, verse 40 says that all of the law and the prophets hang on these two commands. Vertical love relationship with God. That covers the first four commandments, right? And then the horizontal. relationship of loving your neighbor covers the last commandments. So love for God is naturally results in love for others. And Jesus really blows this guy away. And he says, well said. And here's what Jesus says to him. You are not far from the kingdom of God. But after that, no one dared ask a question. Jesus answered the scribe with a compliment and a challenge. He says, you answered wisely. You're not far from the kingdom. He was standing at the threshold. What he needed to do is what we need to do. We need to accept that challenge and follow Jesus. Amen. Praise the Lord. Thank you. Thank you very much. Well... We encourage you to consider emailing us to receive the notes. Sometimes we don't cover everything that we have in our notes, and it may help you in your studies. If you want to receive those, please write to ssp at 3abn.org, ssp at 3abn.org. We now give time to each one of you to say a final comment. What is the cost of discipleship in your life? The Scripture says in 2 Corinthians 13, verse 5, here's how you compare your life to God's Word, and how do you do that? examine yourself as to whether or not you're in the faith test yourself do you not know that you are in Christ or unless you are disqualified compare your life to what God's word says and you'll know whether or not you are truly a disciple of Christ amen you know I just want to encourage you to allow Christ to reign supreme on the throne of your heart he wants to hold a position there and so allow him to do that Your life will never be the same. It will change for the better. God guarantees that. God loves your family and he cares about the relationships that are there and wants them to be peaceful, joyful and pleasant and happy to bring joy to you and glory to God. Amen. God created you for a reciprocal love relationship with him. He loves you and he wants you to learn to walk in love. with him. Amen. Amen. Well, we thank Pastor John Lomacang, Jason Bradley, Professor Daniel Perrin, and Sister Shelly Quinn. And we thank you for joining us. And we want to encourage you to consider that what you have heard has been something that could help you as you face controversy. We are all going to face controversies in one way or another. It could be among your own family. It could be among your friends. It could even be among your workers. How will you handle that? You will handle that well if Jesus is in your heart. And that's what we encourage you to do. We do have next week's lesson. It will be lesson number 10. And we are going to cover the last day. So we hope to see you here next time on 3ABN Sabbath School panel.