New Testament BIBLE STORY #23

New Testament  BIBLE  STORY

#23 

Especially  written  for  children

Chapter Thirty-one:

Parables of vineyard and wedding feast - Paying taxes - Marriage in the resurrection - Greatest commandment

PARABLES OF THE VINEYARD

     It was another day or two later, and Jesus was back teaching

in the Temple once more. And as usual the Pharisees were not too

far away. Knowing their deceitful hearts, He said to them, "What

do you think about this? A man had two sons, and he went to the

first and said, 'Son, go and work in my vineyard today.' And the

son answered, 'No, I will not!' But a little while later he

repented and went to work in the vineyard. The man went to his

second son and said the same thing, and that son answered, 'Yes,

sir, I will go,' but he did not. Now, which of the two did the

will of his father?"

     The Pharisees were quick to answer. They said, "Why the

first son of course." Jesus then said to them, "It is true what I

say unto you, the tax collectors and the harlots (prostitutes) go

into the Kingdom of God BEFORE you. For John came to you in 

the pathway of righteousness, and you did NOT believe him, but 

the tax collectors and the harlots DID believe him; and even when 

you saw what was happening, you still did not afterwards repent 

and believe him" (Mat.21: 28-32).

     Many of those Pharisees were not blinded, and they will miss

out on being in the Kingdom of God, for they were not willing to

repent of their wrong attitudes, thoughts, and practices. Some of

those Pharisees were blinded to the truth at that time, some

later, as we shall see in the book of Acts, did repent and accept

Christ as the Messiah and the Savior. They shall be in the first

resurrection, at Christ's glorious coming, along with many of the

tax collectors and harlots of Jesus' day, who also repented of

their sins, and walked in the way of righteousness. 

     But Jesus was here giving a strong message to those

Pharisees, scribes, and Sadducees, who gave lip service to God,

but whose hearts were far from humble repentance, who were far

from walking in the light of God's straight and narrow pathway.

He was telling those who were not blinded to the truths of God

that He was teaching and preaching (and John the Baptist who 

did likewise), that they would be outside of the Kingdom, 

looking in.

    They would be among those that He mentioned earlier in His

teachings, that would be crying and gnashing their teeth, and

saying, "Lord, did we not speak in your name, did we not do

miracles in your name, did we not regularly attend church

services in your name?" And Jesus will say to them, "I never 

knew you, go away from me, you who work lawlessness."

     Jesus went on to say to them, and to all that stood around

Him:

     "Hear another parable. There was a householder who planted 

a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a wine press in it,

and built a tower. He rented it out for others to work and

produce from, while he went into a far country for a long stay. 

Time went by and he sent a servant to the tenants, that they

should give to him some fruit from his vineyard. But the tenants

beat the servant and sent him away with nothing. And he sent 

another servant, but the tenants beat him up, wounding him

in the head and treating him shamefully. He sent another servant,

and that one they killed. So it was with many others that he

sent, some they beat and some they even killed. The owner of 

the vineyard said within himself, 'What shall I do?' He had a

precious son, and he said to himself, 'I will send him to them,

surely they will honor and respect him!' But when the tenants 

saw the son they said among each other, 'This is the very heir 

that he has sent to us. Let us kill him, that the inheritance may 

be ours.' And they cast him out of the vineyard and did indeed 

kill him. What then do you think the owner of the vineyard will

do to them? Yes, you know very well what he will do. He will 

come and destroy those tenants, and give the vineyard to others 

who will give him the fruit he deserves in its season."

     When those standing by heard this they knew what He was

getting at and what He was saying to them. They said, "God

forbid!"

     Jesus looking at them even more intensely said, "Have you

never read in the Scriptures: 'The very stone which the builders

rejected has become the head of the corner; this is the Lord's

doing, and it is marvellous in your eyes'? Everyone who fall on

that stone will be broken to pieces; but when that stone fall on

any one it will crush him to powder. Therefore I tell you, the

Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a 

people producing the fruits of it."

     The chief priest and the scribes and the Pharisees in the

crowd hearing all this perceived correctly that the man called

Jesus was speaking about them first, and the nation of Judah as 

a whole, secondly. It was they who He was saying were the evil

tenants beating and killing servants that God was sending, and

that God would destroy them, and give His work that was 

entrusted to them, to other people who would bring forth the 

fruits that God wanted to receive. 

     Once more, instead of repenting, because they knew the very

truth that Jesus was telling them, they just hardened their hearts 

even more. They tried within that hour to figure a way to lay hands 

on Jesus to arrest Him for speaking those words, but they feared 

the multitude of people that were all around, for the people 

estimated in their minds that Jesus was a prophet from God

(Mat.21: 33-46; Mark 12: 1-12; Luke 20: 9-19).

     

INVITED GUESTS TO A MARRIAGE FEAST

     And again Jesus spoke to them in a parable, saying: "The

Kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a 

marriage feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who 

had been invited to the marriage; but they would not come. 

Again he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, 

look, I have made all things ready for my dinner, oxen and fat 

calves have been killed, and everything is ready; so come to the

marriage feast.' But they made light of it and laughed and went

away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest

took hold of his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed

them. The king was angry, and he sent his army and destroyed

those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his

servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were first invited

are not worthy. Go to the highways and roads and lanes, and

invite to the marriage feast as many as you can find.' And those

servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they

could find, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled

with guests."

     Jesus was here plainly telling them that the Jewish nation,

and especially its religious leaders, who should have been able

to recognize God's truth, were the first ones to be invited to

the Kingdom of God, through the preaching and teaching of 

John the Baptist and now Jesus Himself. They not only refused 

the invitation, but did shame and even killed some of the servants 

of God sent to them over the centuries. 

     Jesus was telling them in pretty plain words that God, as

the king of the parable, would send an army that would come

against Judah and its religious leaders, to destroy them and burn

the city. This did take place in 70 A.D. when the Roman general

Titus came with his army against Judah and Jerusalem.

     The parable did not end there. Jesus went on to say, "But

when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man

who did not have on a wedding garment; and so he said to him,

'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' 

And the man was speechless, he had no answer to the question. 

Then the king said to the attendants, his servants, 'Bind this man

hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men

will weep and gnash their teeth.' So I say to you, many are

called, but few are chosen" (Mat.22: 1-14).

     Here Jesus is telling people that although many will be

called to the Kingdom of God, after Judah and its people had

been given first chance to enter, though many from other nations 

would be called (and we must remember that none can come to 

God unless God first calls them by His Spirit - John 6: 44, 45, 63, 65) 

to enter the Kingdom, there are conditions to meet in order to

inherit that Kingdom. One is repentance (Luke 13: 1-3) and the 

other is to put on the righteousness of God as a garment

(Rev.19: 7-8 with Ps.119:171 with Mat.19: 17). Keeping the

commandments and works of God does not earn you salvation, 

for you are saved by God's grace (Eph.2: 8), but doing the works 

of God is expected of you (Eph. 2: 10). You are to have an attitude

of mind that is the garment of the wedding feast, in order to be

at the wedding feast and not be cast out. Those who do not have

the condition of the mind-set of a repentant and obeying

attitude, who are willing to say with Christ, "Not my will be

done, but your will be done Father," just will not enter the

marriage supper of the Lamb that is pictured in the book of

Revelation chapter 19.  They will be, as we have seen many 

times already in the words of Christ's ministry, in earlier chapters, 

"on the outside looking in" to use a figure of speech.

     Many may be called to walk in the way that leads to the

wedding feast of the Kingdom, but you have to be among the

"chosen" in order to enter and live for all eternity in the Kingdom. 

God does the calling, but you personally have to choose to come 

under the conditions to be in, and remain in, the wedding feast. 

Many may be called, but only the chosen inherit the feast

of the Kingdom of God.

CONCERNING PAYING TAXES

     The Pharisees were ever wanting to trap Jesus in His words

of response to their questions. This time they thought they had

the very question that would finally trip Him up and get Him in

hot water with all the people of Judah. This time they had the

help of the Herodians who also came with some of the disciples 

of the Pharisees to question Him. Now, the Herodians were a party

among the Jews, formed probably under Herod the Great, and

basically held that it was right to pay homage to a sovereign who

might be able to bring the friendship of Rome and other

advantages. They had no title to reign in any way over the Jews

either by law or by religion.  They differed from the Pharisees

on the answer to the question both parties would now put to

Jesus, but here they joined forces with them in disguised but

open opposition to Jesus. They also saw Jesus as an enemy. The

Herodians then were something more than a political party and

something less than a religious sect.

     Both groups came to Jesus and with butter in their mouths,

or speaking in a way that would have turned stone to butter, they

said, "Oh teacher, we know that you are true, and care for no

man; for you do not regard the position of men, but truly teach

the way of God."

     What a bunch of lies were now pouring out of those people

who represented the sect of the Pharisees and the band of

Herodians. They did not believe one word of what they had just

said to Jesus.

     They continued with the question that they were sure would

be the final death blow to Jesus' popularity with the people, "Is

it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or

should we not?" Most in Judaea did not like being under the Roman

power. If Jesus said yes, give taxes to Rome, the Pharisees

thought He would then be on the "outs" with the people, and if He

said no, do not give taxes to Rome, then the Pharisees could

report Him to the Roman authorities, as someone trying to turn

the people against Rome. Either way they thought they had Him

this time.  

     They could not fool Jesus for one second. He knew exactly

what was going on and why they had come to Him with this

question. He knew they were a group filled with hypocrisy, on

both sides. He said to them, "Why do you try to put me to the

test? Bring me a coin, and let me look at it." And so they did,

they brought Him a coin, and that was their second mistake, the

first being the very question they asked Him. "Whose likeness

and inscription is this?" Jesus asked them. "Well.....well..."

they began to answer with some hesitation, "it is the likeness of

Caesar." They sensed by now that they, not Jesus, were in for the

public embarrassment.

     "Very well then," Jesus began to reply, "you should render

to Caesar the things that are Ceasar's, and you should render to

God the things that are God's."

     The faces of those who asked Him the question first went as

white as snow, then as red as a beet-root in embarrassment. They

were stunned and everyone of them was speechless, they could 

not utter one word. They were both amazed at His reply, and also

angry at Him for once more turning the tables upon them, and

making them look silly and ridiculous among all the people

standing by. With not one single word, they turned away from Him

and departed (Mat.22: 15-22; Mark 12: 13-17; Luke 20: 20-26).

     Jesus taught that we are to have a certain amount of respect

for secular Governments. Some Governments of men, we as

Christians, living in some parts of the world, need to move away

from, escape out of the land of that Government, for they are

very evil towards Christians (recently we had a large black

family come to the city I live in, and the church I attend. They

came to Canada to escape the harmful evil Government of the

Middle Eastern nation they were from, because they were under

possible physical violence from that Government because they 

were Christians). 

     This situation above did not exist in Judea during the time

of Christ. The Roman Government allowed the Jews to have all

freedom to teach and practice their religion. There was no fear

of physical violence from the Roman Government if the Jews lived

in a peaceful way within the Roman Empire. Hence, under such a

living situation Jesus taught people should pay taxes to the

secular Government, and be thankful that they did not have to

flee for their lives as they taught and practiced the word and

truths of God.

A QUESTION OF MARRIAGE IN THE RESURRECTION

     On the same day the Sadducees came to Jesus with a question

they thought was going to have Him treading on His shoe laces and

falling flat on His face (of course I use a metaphor as they wore

sandals not shoes with laces in those days). They were going

to show the Herodians and the Pharisees "how to do it." The

Sadducees did not believe in "the resurrection" of the dead to

eternal life. This was their question: "Teacher, Moses wrote for 

us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children 

from her, the man must take the wife and raise up children for 

his brother."

     This was a law in the books of Moses, but here they only

state the basic law, it was not written in stone, that the living

brother HAD to do this, in other words there was a clause in the

law that could be used so the brother did not have to take his

dead brother's wife in marriage (see Deut.25: 5-10).

     The question they had for Jesus was based on the basic

principle of this law of Moses. They continued, "Now there were

seven brothers; the first took a wife and died without having

children from her; and the second, and the third took her,

likewise all seven had her as wife and left no children, and they

all died. Afterwards the woman died also. Therefore in the

resurrection, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as

wife."

     You could see all these Sadducees with a large grin on their

faces, oh how they thought they had won the day, finally they

were thinking, we the great priests of the Temple, have backed

this Jesus fellow into a corner and He is finally defeated in His

theology.  Oh how they were thinking that they the Sadducees were

the victors over this man that many believed was the Messiah.

This question they thought would be proof that this Jesus was NOT

the promised Messiah, and the Son of God as He was claiming. 

     And Jesus said to them, "How wrong you are, for you know not

what the Scriptures teach nor the power of God."

     The Scriptures that the Sadducees could read clearly stated

there would be a resurrection (see Daniel 12: 2; Ezekiel 37;

Isaiah 26: 19), and the "power of God" that Jesus was talking

about, is not only the literal power that God has, but it is also

knowing the "spirit" and essence of what the Scriptures of God

taught on that subject. With those two things in hand, Jesus was

able to continue to say, "The sons of this age marry and are given 

in marriage; but those who are accounted worthy to attain to the 

age to come and to the resurrection from the dead, neither marry 

nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die any more, because 

they are equal to the angels and are the very sons of God, being 

sons of the resurrection. And as for the dead being raised, have 

you not read what is written in the book of Moses, in the passage 

about the burning bush, and how God said to him, 'I am the God 

of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? 

Now He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all shall 

live in Him. You are very wrong in your theology on this matter.”

     And when the crowd heard all this, they were astonished at

His teaching, and the Sadducees found they had tripped over their

own shoe laces, and it was they who had their faces in the dust

of the ground (Mat.22: 23-33; Mark 12: 18-27; Luke 20: 27-38).

     Yes the Bible teaches very clearly there will be a resurrection, 

in fact as we have seen, Jesus taught (John chapter 5) that ALL 

who had ever died would be resurrected. What Jesus teaches 

here is that those who will be in the resurrection to be very sons 

of God, will be like the angels in that they will neither marry nor 

will they be given in marriage. There will be no husband and wife 

marriages as we in this physical life know them. There will be no 

sexual relations for those in the resurrection to eternal life, 

no sexual relations as we know and practice it in our physical 

marriages.

     This explanation of Jesus' also tells us that angels do not marry, 

neither do they have, nor can they have, sexual relations among 

themselves or among and within human beings. Some teach

that in Genesis chapter six, angels, be it "fallen ones," came to

earth and married and had sexual relations with physical women,

and that union produced great giants. What Jesus said here in the

Gospels completely blows away such a wild idea that some hold

concerning Genesis chapter six. The Pharisees actually taught that 

idea about angels marrying physical women, and we know that

Jesus had already warned His disciples about the "leaven" of the

doctrines of the Pharisees and the Sadducees (Mat.16: 6-12). 

    Much of what they taught was error and false.

     We shall know each other when in the resurrection, be able

to do things together, even eat meals together, have all the

inter-actions with each other that we enjoy today in the flesh,

just as Jesus could with His disciples AFTER He was raised from

the dead. But in this passage we have the clear teaching from

Jesus that those in the resurrection to life in the Kingdom of

God, will not marry, nor have sexual relations as we do today

when we in this age, marry each other.

THE GREAT COMMANDMENT

     It was not long before the Pharisees heard that Jesus had

silenced the Sadducees. They came together again in a little

huddle to determine what their next question would be for Jesus

to try and answer, with the view that He would not be able to

answer or give an answer that would disgrace or make Him 

look inept before all the people.

     Looking from above, with a bird's eye view, down on the

Temple, all of this would have seemed quite funny, if it was not

all so serious. You had the chief priests, scribes and elders of

the people, in the first huddle to plan their attack on Jesus with 

a trick question, and Jesus scoring a touchdown against them. 

Then the Herodians and Pharisees huddled down to plan their

attack question on Him, and again He scores a touchdown again

them. After that the Sadducees call time out and huddle down to

come up with a question He could not answer, and Jesus scores a

touchdown with the ball they kick at Him. Now, the Pharisees

regroup, they call for another time out, and huddle down again 

to plan their attack against Jesus.

     All really quite funny, looking from above on all these

little "sect huddles" going on in the Temple grounds, if as I've

said, it was not so serious a matter. This was not a game these

sects were playing, they were dead earnest about trying to nail

Jesus' hide against the wall. This time one of the Pharisees who

was also one of the scribe lawyers, asked Him this question,

"Teacher, which commandment is the first, the greatest

commandment in the law?"

     Without any hesitation Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear,

O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love

the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your life,

and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second

is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no

other commandments greater than these."

     And the lawyer scribe said to Him, "You are right teacher;

you have truly said that He is one, and there is no other but He;

and to love Him with all your heart, and with all your

understanding, and with all your strength, and to love one's

neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings

and sacrifices."

     And when Jesus saw that the man answered wisely, He said to

him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God."

     After all this questioning from the different sects, and all

of Jesus' correct and wonderful answers to them, there was not

one person who dared to ask Him any other question (Mark 12:

28-34).

ABOUT THE MESSIAH'S ANCESTRY

     No one was brave enough to ask Jesus any more questions

after all this, but Jesus thought it was now His turn to ask the

Pharisees a question. While they were still as one group before

Him, He asked them, "Tell me, what do you think of the Christ?

Whose son is he?" The lawyer scribes were quick to answer, 

"Why, the Christ is the son of David."

     "Well then," replied Jesus, "if that is so, how is it that

David, inspired by the Spirit, calls Him LORD, saying, 'The LORD

said to my LORD, sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies

under your feet'? (Ps. 110:1). If David then calls Him LORD, how

is HE his son?"

     And no one was able to answer Him a word, they had no answer

for the question Jesus now asked them. And from that time forward

not a single person asked Him any more questions (Mat. 22:

41-46).

     Jesus was showing them that THE MESSIAH was not just from

the line of their great king David, but that the Messiah was David's 

LORD, the Lord that David worshipped.  The Messiah was DIVINE 

God, as well as coming in the physical form to earth via the blood 

line of David. This we saw way back in the very first few chapters 

of this New Testament Bible Story. Mary, who was to bear God's Son, 

was from the physical line or ancestry of Israel's ancient king David.

     The Messiah, Jesus was pointing out to them, was to be BOTH

humanly physical as well as DIVINE LORD or God.

     Jesus had put up with a lot from the Pharisees, they had

questioned Him time and time again, they had attacked His

character, slandered Him, called Him names, even said He did

things by the power of the Devil. Times was short now, Jesus knew

He would soon be put to death, and the Pharisees would have a

large part in bringing that event to fruition. Jesus was going to

tell the Pharisees and all people standing around, just where it

really was with the Pharisees. He would speak plainly about them

and their attitude as never before. His words would, as we say,

makes their ears burn.

              .................................

Written December 2002