Verse 13, and they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians to trap him in his talk.
Now, there are many causes and circumstances that unite people who otherwise would totally avoid one another.
But it seems like as we read through the Gospels, really even as we get into the epistles of the New Testament as well,
it seems that no one brings diverse people together quite like Jesus does, right?
That's why in studying Jesus and his 12 disciples, that's why we can understand how Matthew, Levi, a Roman tax collector,
could then become friends and united with Simon, who we are told in the Gospels was Simon the Zealot.
What he was known for was being a part of this zealot organization that was completely anti-Rome.
Out of their love for Christ, they were able to set aside their social and political positions and convictions.
Not that they changed those things about themselves, at least not immediately,
but they're able to set those things aside, come together in unity out of love for Jesus.
Willing to set aside firmly held political beliefs to unite together with Christ.
And we see no greater picture of this than what we see in the composition of the church.
Because for a Christian, the Gospel of Jesus takes priority over every other personal value, right?
We can even see this even in our own church today, right?
The diversity that God brings together, not only in an ethnic diversity,
not only in a generational diversity, in some cases in our church, even a political diversity,
God brings people from all kinds of different places, all kinds of different mindsets,
all kinds of different backgrounds, and he unites them,
not for any other reason than the Gospel of Jesus and our love for him.
In our church, we have vaxxers and anti-vaxxers.
Yet they can come together on a Sunday morning, and they can worship the Lord,
and they can love one another, and they can be united in the Gospel and in the truth of God's Word.
In our church, we have people with heritages from all over the world.
We have many of us who our heritage is found right here in the United States.
We have Mr. and Mrs. Kuo, whose heritage is found in Taiwan.
We have Mark and Allah, whose heritage is found in Russia.
We have Bob, whose heritage is found in the motherland in England.
We have all kinds of different heritage, right?
Yet, for the Gospel's sake, the Lord has united us together.
We probably even have some people in our church who pull for the Tar Heels,
and other people in our church who pull for the Blue Devils.
It's amazing, the diversity that gets.
And then there's the state people we just mentioned.
We'll throw in there to be kind to you, right, Andy?
And the North Carolina state.
Jesus has a way of uniting people that's different than any other thing.
Now, there's all kinds of causes and circumstances that we can get united around.
But what's the foundation of our unity, typically?
The foundation of our unity with another person is based on priority of values.
Some people can look at what's happening with Russia and Ukraine,
and you can say, okay, that has a particular priority in my value system.
And so for other people who may differ than me on these other things that are lesser priority,
I can unite with them in the fight against the evils that are taking place there, right?
That's how unity works.
In the church, we set aside everything because the number one priority
is the gospel of Christ, our love for Jesus.
Everything else takes second place.
And churches begin to disintegrate, and they begin to split,
and they begin to become a huge problem in tarnishing the name of Christ
when they get that priority out of whack,
when their unity is no longer based on Christ and the gospel,
but their unity is based on their political preference,
or their heritage, or their generation,
or their way that they like their music,
or whatever it is that they would do, right?
That's when churches begin to really disintegrate.
But it's not just the people who love Jesus who are united by him.
What we actually find unfolding in this text is Jesus being the polarizing figure that he is
and that he was unites not only those who love him,
but he unites those who loathe him, who hate him.
That's precisely what's happening as this short set of verses unfolds.
The delegation from the Sanhedrin had failed to catch Jesus in his words
as they had endeavored to do in the previous text.
Israel's religious and political leaders regrouped,
and they began to send wave after wave of representatives,
each with a different strategy to try to trap the Lord.
And that's where this chapter is going.
It's first, we see it here in the Pharisees and the Herodians,
and the very next one is the Sadducees,
because that doesn't work, so they regroup and they send the Sadducees the next time.
And then that doesn't work, so they regroup and there's a scribe that comes.
Wave after wave, they're sending to Jesus,
really with the same objective each time.
Trap him in his words so that they might destroy him,
discredit him publicly, and ultimately execute him.
But their first attempt here in verses 13 to 17
bring together the unlikeliest of friends.
The Pharisees and the Herodians in Jesus' day
were religious and political enemies.
The Pharisees were religiously conservative.
They were mostly concerned with religious law,
not just the law of God, but as we've studied many times in Mark's gospel,
their own traditions and their own rabbinical law
that they enforced upon the people.
They were very morally conservative in that sense.
The Herodians were the exact opposite.
They were morally liberal, and they were most concerned
not with religious law, but most concerned with Roman law.
Pharisees despised the Roman occupation.
The Herodians, loyal to the Herodian family, hence their name,
capitulated to the Roman occupation.
These groups hated everything about one another.
But the one thing that they had in common
was that Jesus of Nazareth had become a threat
to their power, their authority, and their political agenda.
And so just as Jesus united Matthew and Simon,
and Matthew and Simon saw Jesus as priority number one,
therefore will set aside all the other things
in order to unite in our love for Christ in the gospel.
Just as it happened in that sense with Matthew and Simon,
so it happens with the Pharisees and the Herodians.
Jesus becomes priority number one,
except they're not setting aside all their other disagreements
to love and follow Jesus.
They're setting aside all of their disagreements
to go and destroy him,
to diminish his influence,
and ultimately to execute him in their hatred.
And their objective in approaching the Lord
was once again to trap him in his words
so that they could specifically
turn him over to the Roman governor.
We find that told plainly in Luke chapter 20,
and of course we will find out eventually
that Roman governor is a man named Pontius Pilate.
That's what they're moving toward at this point.
They feigned admiration for Jesus,
and then they presented him with a dilemma
that would put him on the outs with someone,
either the common people of Israel
or the Roman authorities.
And their challenge was concerned here
with what the people owed to Caesar.
Jesus responds and counters
by emphasizing what every person owes to God.
So not only were the Pharisees and Herodians unsuccessful,
but Jesus gives us this short, masterful lesson
on wholehearted devotion to the Lord.
And I don't want you to be confused.
This story, this lesson is not about money.
It's not about money.
This is about loyalty.
When the Pharisees and the Herodians
asked Jesus about paying taxes to Caesar,
they're not concerned about their money.
They're concerned about Jesus's public statement of loyalty,
either to or against Rome.
And when Jesus responds,
he's not concerned with their money.
He's not concerned with them giving in the temple tax.
That's not what this is about.
What he is responding with
is a challenge to their loyalty with God.
And so let's look at it.
It's a very simple passage.
First, let's look at the challenge in verse 14.
Luke wrote that Jesus was under the watchful eyes
of the scribes and the chief priests.
He is in the temple courtyards.
He's interacting with people.
He's teaching people.
We see this over and over in this final week of Jesus's life.
And as he is interacting with those people,
the scribes and the chief priests are around
and they're watching him closely.
They're listening to him intently,
not so that they can learn,
but so that they can confront him
in just the right way to accuse him.
And the public nature of these confrontations
was essential to their plot.
It wouldn't do to trap Jesus in a private conversation.
That wouldn't help them.
They needed to trap Jesus in a public conversation.
They needed to turn the people against Jesus.
But they had already tried approaching him
with a combative spirit.
That's what we saw at the end of chapter 11.
So they regroup and with wisdom on their part,
they decide, okay,
we're not gonna go in guns a blazing this time.
This time we're gonna be a little more thoughtful
about the way we approach him.
And their strategy here
was to disarm Jesus first with flattery
before catching him with a clever dilemma
that they have contrived to present.
So let's look first at their laughable flattery.
Verse 14,
Now, the problem here is not what they said.
All their statements about Jesus in this moment
are absolutely true.
And ironically,
all of the things that they say about Jesus here
represented the antithesis of their own behavior
and their own spirit.
They were the typical politicians.
They were opportunist at heart.
They led on the basis of consensus,
not conviction.
They used guile and deception to deceive the people.
And they taught their own traditions
as being equal to,
and in some cases,
even greater than God's law.
We saw that in chapter seven.
But Jesus was the opposite of that.
He indeed was honest.
He was honestly transparent
with everybody he dealt with.
His yes was yes,
and his no was no.
He wasn't trying to trick people.
He wasn't trying to deceive people.
He was plain and honest.
That was true of Jesus.
He was totally impartial.
When they come to him and they say in verse 14,
we know that you don't care about anyone's opinion.
They're not saying that Jesus is a dismissive person,
that he's got his mindset
and he just doesn't even listen
to what anybody else has to say.
That's not what they're saying about him.
They're saying he's impartial.
That he doesn't have a group of people
and see the rich people over here
and decide that he's gonna capitulate
to the things that they want
while ignoring the poor people over there.
That's what the Pharisees and Herodians did.
Jesus didn't do that.
That was true of him.
He's totally impartial.
He spoke only the truth of God.
That's true.
He could speak nothing but the truth of God.
How do we know that?
Because he himself is God.
Everything he said was true.
He taught the way of God.
That was absolutely true.
Nothing wrong with what they said.
The problem is they didn't actually believe
what they were saying about Jesus.
They didn't believe those things.
This is nothing more than hypocritical flattering.
And it's laughable when you consider
what we've already been told
about these men in Mark's gospel.
They'd been working together against Jesus
to destroy him since the first time
they encountered him in Galilee.
Remember back in Mark chapter three,
Jesus goes into the synagogue,
probably near Capernaum.
There's a man there probably planted by these men
who had a withered hand
and Jesus heals him on the Sabbath.
And how do they leave that synagogue worship service?
Verse six in chapter three,
the Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel
with the Herodians against him,
how to destroy them.
They'd been doing this for years at this point.
They weren't being honest.
Despite their words, they hated Jesus,
which was no secret to anyone.
That's why it's laughable.
But there's a helpful warning in this for us, isn't there?
The enemies of Jesus and his church
will not always come across as adversaries.
You understand that, right?
Not everyone who will try to influence you
under the banner of Christianity
is your friend.
Not every person
who would claim to be an enemy
and an adversary of the gospel
is gonna present themselves to you
as if that's true.
And as the Pharisees and the Herodians approach Jesus,
that's the route they take.
And they take this as a nod
from the one who they were most likely mimicking
in this moment,
which was Satan himself.
Was that not part of Satan's deception
of Adam and Eve in the garden?
As Eve approaches the tree that God says,
don't eat of this tree,
the serpent doesn't present himself
as an enemy of Eve's.
He presents himself as a friend of Eve.
He says, now that's just not true.
You will be better off.
You will become a God.
This deception, he pretends to be a friend.
There's flattery.
There's smooth talk that's involved
with what's happening.
And that happens to us.
Jesus in his perfection did not fall for that.
We often do fall for that.
And it's for this reason that the Bible warns so often
against flattering lips
and deceitful guile.
Beware the people that think much more of you
than they should ever think.
I think it was,
was it Spurgeon that said,
not to be concerned with those
who speak evil of you,
for you are far worse than they think you are?
Well, then there's another part to that, right?
There are those who will make you think
that you are far better
than you should ever think that you are.
And you should beware.
Proverbs 26, 28,
a lying tongue hates its victims.
A flattering mouth works ruin.
That's its goal, to ruin you.
Romans 16, I appeal to you brothers,
watch out for those who cause divisions in the church.
Watch out for those who create obstacles
that are contrary to the doctrine
that you've been taught.
Avoid them, Paul says.
For such persons don't serve the Lord,
they serve their own appetites.
And by smooth talk and flattery,
they deceive the hearts of the naive.
What's Paul saying to believers?
Wise up.
Not everybody who says they're a Christian is a Christian.
Not everyone who claims to speak on behalf of the Lord
and of the gospel
is truly speaking on behalf of the Lord and the gospel.
There will be people in your life
that approach with smooth talk and flattery.
And if you're not careful,
you'll fall into the trap.
Don't fall into the trap.
So we see laughable flattery.
Then we see the clever trap that they actually said here.
Verse 14, here's what they ask.
Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?
Should we pay them or should we not?
Now, it wouldn't have been hard for most people
to see through their flattery,
but this was very, very clever.
Question was whether or not it's right,
according to the law of God,
should we be loyal to Rome?
Is essentially what they're asking.
It's not about money again.
This is about loyalty.
Rome levied many taxes on the people,
income taxes,
taxes on their buying and selling,
taxes on their travel,
all the taxes that we pay ourselves here.
The specific tax in question here in Mark 12
was the annual poll tax.
It was equal to one denarius for each person.
And it was essentially a tax for existing.
If you had life and you existed,
you had to give Rome one denarius every year.
And the implication of this from Rome's perspective
is that you belong to Rome.
You belong to Caesar.
Therefore, it is your responsibility every year
to give something to Caesar
just to thank him for allowing you to stay alive
and to be in his kingdom.
Sinclair Ferguson said the tax served
as a constant reminder to the Jews
that they were a broken and subjugated people,
which was why the zealots' refusal to pay them
was regarded as an essential element
in nationalistic loyalty.
So this poll tax is hugely controversial for the Jews.
It was in response to this very tax in 86
when Jesus is just a boy in Galilee.
It was in response to this tax
that Judas the Galilean raises up a revolt against Rome.
And in response, of course, they had no chance.
It was their hatred for this particular thing.
And they go up against Rome,
and Rome absolutely decimates the people
that were a part of the revolt.
3,000 people were crucified in Galilee.
They lined their crosses down the main thoroughfare in Galilee,
cross after cross after cross.
Anyone who had actually joined Judas the Galilean
to go against Rome,
they hated insurrection.
They hated it.
And the Jews hated this tax and their subjugation to Rome
as much as the Romans hated insurrection against their rule.
It would be this very issue
that in AD 66,
the zealot movement would finally grow to a point
where they launch an assault against Rome.
And you know how that one ends.
For four years, they tried to revolt against Rome.
What does Rome do?
They besieged the city of Jerusalem.
They decimate, utterly decimate Jewish life in Israel.
And eventually, they make their way to the temple.
And just as Jesus predicted would happen,
they removed it stone by stone
till it was nothing left,
and they burned it to the ground.
And what was the revolt all over?
Remember, this tax.
Do you see the cleverness
in what these men are doing as they approach Jesus?
It's a combination of these two elements
between Rome and Israel that makes this so clever.
If Jesus said that they should pay the tax,
he would be public enemy number one.
But if he publicly opposed the tax,
the Pharisees and the Herodians
would immediately turn him over to the Roman governor.
They would claim that he's an insurrectionist.
And that's precisely what they did
about two or three days after this.
Listen to this from Luke chapter 23.
Then the whole company of them arose
and brought Jesus before Pilate,
who was the Roman governor.
And they began to accuse him.
And here's what they said.
We found this man misleading our nation
and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar
and saying that he himself is king and Christ.
That was an utter lie.
Jesus actually tells them to pay their taxes
in this passage.
And yet they lie blatantly.
Why?
Because it's the only way they could destroy him.
They had to lie.
It goes to show you the hatred
of Israel's leaders for Jesus at this point.
Well, that's the challenge that Jesus is faced with.
What's he gonna say?
How's he gonna get out of this one?
This is very smart on his enemy's sake.
Well, that brings us to our last point.
You'll be thankful for that.
The counter.
Let's look at the counter.
Verse 15.
Knowing their hypocrisy,
he said to them,
why put me to the test?
Why put me to the test?
Of course, Jesus sees right through the flattery
and the deception.
They were hypocrites
pretending to admire Jesus
when they actually wanted to destroy him.
And he knew that.
But acknowledging that
wasn't enough to get out of the situation.
He couldn't just say,
you're a bunch of hypocrites.
Why are you doing this?
And walk away.
Because there's a lot of people around.
And now,
those hypocrites have caught
the attention of the crowd.
And they're awaiting for Jesus
to give an answer to this.
They wanna hear what he has to say.
And of course,
he provides this lesson,
this profound truth
that they would not soon forget.
And I can just imagine,
I don't picture Jesus.
Maybe this is me.
There's only so much that we have
when we have the written word.
We try to picture exactly how this unfolds.
We can't see Jesus' expression
to see exactly what was on his face.
It doesn't read to me as if he was angry.
It's almost like,
really?
Really?
Are you gonna keep trying this?
You know?
Are you gonna keep trying this?
And of course,
he's a master teacher, isn't he?
Let's look at two things about this.
Number one,
he just gives a simple object lesson.
Simple object lesson.
Verse 15.
Bring me a denarius,
Jesus says,
and let me look at it.
And they brought one,
and he said to them,
whose likeness
and inscription is this?
And they said to him,
Caesar's.
A denarius was a small silver coin.
It's equal to a day's wage
for a common laborer
or sometimes even for a Roman soldier,
a common Roman soldier.
Caesar,
and it represented this required pull tax.
I actually have a picture of it.
I think,
Missy,
if you wanna,
it may be a couple slides over.
This is the exact coin,
not the exact one,
but this is the type of coin
that Jesus had asked for.
This is a Roman denarius
in the time of Tiberius Caesar.
And I want you to notice,
this is the front of it.
This is the image of Tiberius Caesar
in this moment.
There's an abbreviated inscription
around the outside.
It says,
Tiberius Caesar,
son of the divine Augustus.
So Caesar Augustus
was considered to be a god.
They had deified him.
They continued to deify their Caesars.
So whenever he puts his face
on this sign,
he's saying,
I'm a god,
this silver belongs to me.
That was the point of the image
in the inscription.
And on the back of it
is a image of what they think
was Tiberius' mother.
And this inscription says,
high priest
or chief priest
in this moment.
This is the coin
that Jesus asked for,
a Roman denarius,
a silver coin.
Romans, again,
considered these Caesars
to be gods.
But the Jews considered
these coins
to be miniature idols
because of that.
That most of them
refused to carry them.
They weren't allowed
to use these
for their temple tax.
They couldn't use
any kind of coin
that actually had
the image of another person
on it when they brought
their temple tax
to Jerusalem.
That was the purpose
of the money changers
in chapter 11.
Remember that?
Jesus is turning over
the money changer stations
and their tables.
That was the purpose
of those men.
They were trading out
denariuses
for something that was
actually able to be used
in the temple.
But the annual pull tax
could only be paid
with a denarius.
That's what they had to use.
So Jesus asked for someone
to bring him one.
And masterfully,
he doesn't ask the crowd.
I think he asked the Pharisees
and Herodians to answer
whose imprint and inscription
was on the face of the coin.
I know this is simple,
but hang with me.
The inscription on this coin
is what Jesus uses
to set the context
for his lesson.
Okay?
It's not just about
the coin itself.
It's about the image on it.
It's about the inscription on it.
That's the point
of the object lesson.
Look at this coin.
Whose face is on this?
Whose image is on this?
Whose inscription is this?
That's setting the context
for the application to come,
which we move to now.
The spiritual application
in verse 17.
Jesus said to them,
render to Caesar
the things that are Caesar's
and to God
the things that are God's.
So first,
Jesus affirmed
our responsibility
to submit
to civil authority.
It's the first part
of the answer.
As the crowd awaits
to listen
and hear
what Jesus has to say,
he says,
give Caesar
what belongs
to Caesar.
Pay your taxes,
he says.
Pay your taxes.
But he says it in a way
that has so much wisdom
that it communicates
a perspective,
a godly perspective
of civil obedience.
Kent Hughes
said this,
his answer
could not be denied.
Ancient coins
were actually understood
to be the property
of the person
whose picture
and inscription
were on them.
who could object
then to Jesus
saying,
give to Caesar
the things
that are Caesar's.
It's an amazing lesson,
isn't it?
Submit to authority
because God
has given
that authority.
Give to Caesar
what belongs
to him,
but then he immediately
moves on
to another portion.
He prioritizes
that submission,
that loyalty.
unless we're asked
to violate
God's commands,
it is our responsibility
to submit
to the authorities
that God
ordains in our lives.
I think that's clear
here in Jesus' teaching.
to submit
to the poll tax
neither violated
God's word
nor did it violate
a believer's conscience.
They just didn't like it.
They just didn't want
to do it.
God never gives us
the option
to disobey
because we just
don't like the rule,
which is typically
how I respond.
I just don't like that.
In fact,
despite the incredibly
oppressive culture
in which they lived,
the apostles
continually taught
the necessity
of civil obedience.
Romans 13,
Paul,
with the same
Roman government
that will eventually
incarcerate him
for four years
and cut off his head,
says,
let every person
be subject
to the governing authorities.
For there is no authority
except from God,
and those that exist
have been instituted
by God.
Therefore,
whoever resists
the authorities
resists what God
has appointed,
and those who resist
will incur judgment.
Pay to all
what is owed to them.
Taxes,
to whom taxes are owed.
Revenue,
to whom revenue is owed.
Respect,
to whom respect is owed.
Honor,
to whom honor is owed.
Peter says the same thing
in the midst of a letter
when he's writing
to a people
that are being abused
and persecuted
for their faith.
He says,
be subject
for the Lord's sake
to every human institution,
whether it be
to the emperors
as supreme
or to governors
as sent by him
to punish those
who do evil
and to praise
those who do good.
For this is the will
of God,
that by doing good
you should put
to silence
the ignorance
of foolish people.
The apostles
are just expounding
on Jesus'
own teaching
of civil obedience,
which all of us
probably at one place
or another
in the last two years
have willingly bucked.
Not because it violated
our conscience.
Not because we were asked
to do something
that the Bible says
we shouldn't do,
but we just didn't
like it
so we didn't do it.
I think there's
an affirmation here
that Jesus gives
but that's not
the main point.
In fact,
his point is
that that's not
the main point.
He continues on
to a more vital element
though he doesn't
deny our responsibility
to submit
to civil authority,
he put it
in its proper place
behind obedience
to God.
And so Jesus
is arguing here
from lesser
to greater.
Yes,
give to Caesar
what belongs to him
but don't forget
the more critical issue
of giving to God
what is rightfully
his.
Jesus isn't,
he's not referring
to tithing here.
This wasn't really
at the end of the day
about taxes
and tithing.
That's not what
Jesus is saying.
He's not saying
make sure that
while you pay
your taxes to Caesar
that you also
give tithes
and offerings
to the church.
That's not what
Jesus is teaching here.
He's talking about
giving wholehearted
worship.
And remember
the context
of the lesson.
his statement
uses an object lesson
that is focused
on the image
and imprint
of this silver
silver coin.
You see that?
The image of Caesar
is on the coin
give it to Caesar
and then Jesus
sees another coin
that has another image
on it
except it's not a coin
it's a life.
It's you
and it's me
and imprinted
on our lives
is the image
of the almighty
God
the image
of our creator
and he says
look
do the civil
obedience thing
but there's a much
bigger picture here.
Each of you
have the stamp
the image of God
on your life
give to God
what is his
namely
your wholehearted
worship
your wholehearted
surrender
all of your obedience
all of your affection
all of your love
with your mind
and your soul
and your strength
that's the point
that Jesus
is getting across.
These men had
had in almost
a syncretistic way
had had married
the religious things
with the political things
which we see happen
all the time now.
Everybody has to marry
their religious position
to their political position
across the board
no matter what it is.
These men were doing
the same thing.
Jesus says
look you've got things
out of order here.
You've got things
out of order.
Give to God
what is his
first
and then obey God
by obeying
the civil authorities
that he's put
in your life.
The kids are learning
this right now.
This image principle.
Kiddos
question number four
how and why
did God create us?
What's the answer?
God created us
now and
now
and
now
and
now
Genesis
1
27
so God
created man
in his own image
in the image
of God
created he him
male and female
he created
them
don't you
realize
God has
placed his
very image
on your life
and by
placing his
very image
on your life
as an individual
he has given
you a purpose
and that purpose
kids is what?
to glorify
him
to glorify
him
when we taught
this lesson
in the kids
class
we used these
big mirrors
over here
you can look
at them
right now
when you look
in that mirror
Tom
what do you
see?
you see Tom
right?
you see Tom
looking back
that's Tom's
image
in that mirror
and God
creates us
in such a way
so that when
he looks
at us
he wants
to see
a reflection
of himself
something
that brings
him glory
something
that fulfills
the purpose
for which
it was created
and Jesus
says in this
moment
give God
what belongs
to him
which is
yourself
kids
question six
how can
we glorify
God?
Deuteronomy
6 4
and 5
the Jews
recited this
daily
hear O Israel
the Lord
our God
is one
you shall
love the
Lord your
God
with all
your heart
and with
all your
soul
and with
all your
might
Jesus
is going
to give
the same
answer
later
in this
passage
when the
scribe
comes
and asks
about the
greatest
commandment
and Jesus
responds
here is the
greatest
commandment
love the
Lord your
God
with all
your heart
and your
soul
and your
mind
and your
strength
what's
Jesus getting
at when
he says
give God
what is
God's
he's not
talking about
your tithe
he's talking
about your
life
give him
your life
give him
your love
give him
your worship
give him
your affection
give him
your obedience
give to
God
what's
rightfully
his
and don't
give it
to anyone
or anything
else
don't
give to
your spouse
what belongs
to God
your spouse's
image is not
imprinted on
your life
God's
is
save your
supreme
affection
save your
supreme
obedience
save your
supreme
love
and worship
for him
love him
more than
you love
your kids
and teach
your kids
to love
him more
than they
love you
love him
more than
you love
your job
love him
more than
you love
your country
love him
more than
you love
your church
don't let
anything in
this life
have your
affection
and your
worship
only God
deserves
that
his
images
on your
life
give to
God
what's
rightfully
his
love
your wife
pay your
taxes
do the
speed limit
if you
have to
love
God
verse 17
in conclusion
and they
marveled
Jesus is
in a
corner
that
if you
didn't know
this passage
and you
waited
and just
thought about
it
before you
read his
answer
you'd think
I don't
know how
he's going
to get
out of
this
I don't
know how
I would
have gotten
out of
this
I certainly
wouldn't
have said
what Jesus
said
I don't
know what
I would
have done
but he's
perfect
isn't he
he's the
master
teacher
he answers
and all
they can
do
is marvel
at his
wisdom
walk away
and try
again
later
that's
all
they
can
do
and I
want you
to notice
something as we move into communion here in just a moment
no matter how hard they tried
they couldn't find a way to actually trap him no matter how hard they tried
this I think was the best attempt they had I mean it was clever it was good
and it still wouldn't work no matter how hard they try they can't accuse him
they can't arrest him they can't execute him no matter what they did and his eventual
crucifixion
it happens a few days later
was not the result of the cunning ability of these enemies it was the result of his own authority
to lay down his life
John chapter 10
Jesus says for this reason the father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again
no one takes it from me because no one can take it from him do you see they'll fail every time
no one takes it from me but I lay it down of my own accord I have authority to lay it down
excusia I have an excusia to lay it down
I have excusia to take it up again
this charge I've received from my father
you see
they can't defeat Jesus unless he lets them
which is no defeat at all
eventually when it's time on the Passover
huge imagery there
Jesus lays down his life
not because the Pharisees and the Herodians and the Sadducees and the chief priests and the scribes
finally came up with a good way to do it
because they didn't
because he willingly laid down his life
and according to Isaiah 53
he stood before Pilate and he stood before Caiaphas and he stood before the Sanhedrin
and like a sheep who before his shearers is dumb he opened not his mouth
why
because the only way they could take his life is if he gave it
that was the whole purpose
he gave it
why
love
for God so loved
that he
gave
that he