Jesus Attacked By The Jerusalem Authorities
OUR LAST study closed with the ministry of Jesus in Jerusalem during the last week of His earthly life. We know that He entered the city on Sunday, the Lord's Day. Then He spent the night at Bethany. He cursed the fig tree on His way to the city on Monday morning and then cleansed the Temple that day. Again he lodged at Bethany with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus Monday night and returned to the city on Tuesday. Of these facts we may be certain.
In Luke 20:1 we have the statement: "And it came to pass, on one of the days, as he was teaching the people in the temple, and preaching the gospel, there came upon him the chief priests and the scribes with the elders.'' We know that He taught on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Did He return to the city on Wednesday and teach again? Then again on Thursday? We cannot be positive about this. There is nothing in the text of any of the Evangelists that gives this highly desirable information. We do know that He observed the Passover on Thursday evening and was crucified, as we shall learn later, on Friday. It is altogether possible that the expression, "on one of these days, as he was teaching the people in the temple,'' refers to some work which He did on Wednesday, or possibly on Thursday morning. It is quite likely, however, that the things which are recorded in Luke, chapter 20, occurred on Tuesday--as we shall presently see.
Jesus Authority Questioned by Chief Priests, Scribes, and Elders
Upon arriving in the city on Sunday morning, Jesus went to the Temple and engaged in a great teaching and healing campaign--as Matthew informs us. On Monday, when He returned to the city, He cleansed the Temple by driving out the money-changers and those who sold doves, and who were commercializing upon sacred things at the Temple. It was probably on Tuesday morning when He returned to the Temple, the authorities challenged His actions. In Luke 20:2, Matthew 21:23, and Mark 11:27-29 we are told that the Temple authorities came and challenged Jesus, asking: "By what authority doest thou these things? Or who is he that gave thee this authority?" (Luke 20:2). Probably by "those things" the Temple authorities were referring to His healing ministry and the cleansing of the Temple.
These leaders felt that they were the supreme authority at the Temple and in Jerusalem, as well as all over the country. They seemed to attempt dominating the conduct and the lives of all the Jewish nation. Especially were the Pharisees of this persuasion.
Jesus Reply and Refutation of the Challenge
"And he answered and said unto them, I also will ask you a question; and tell me: The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why did ye not believe him? But if we shall say, From men; all the people will stone us: for they are persuaded that John was a prophet. And they answered, that they knew not whence it was. And Jesus said unto them, neither tell I you by what authority I do these things (Luke 20:3-8). Our Lord Jesus was more than a match for these learned Temple authorities. He therefore asked them concerning the baptism of John, whether it was from heaven or from men. His query immediately put them on the defensive. Figuratively speaking, they went into a huddle to determine the answer which they would give Him. They reasoned as follows: If we say that John's baptism is from men, the people who have great confidence in John will stone us. On the other hand, if we say that it is from God, He will ask why we did not accept it. They were therefore faced with a dilemma.
Instead of facing the issue as it was, honestly and conscientiously, they pleaded ignorance by saying they did not know. When they took this attitude, Jesus refused to answer their question with reference to the authority by which He had done the things to which they referred. For Him to answer them was to cast pearls before swine and that which was holy before the dogs. Whenever men are not honest with themselves, with the truth, and with God, it is useless to argue or dispute or even attempt to reason with them. Jesus would have gladly told them by what authority He was performing and engaging in teaching, had they been honest and conscientious.
Though Jesus would not discuss the question as who gave Him authority to do the work which He performed, He proceeded to instruct them and to show the situation with which they were faced. Mark and Luke both tell us that He answered them by the parable of the vineyard. Matthew, who was writing especially for the Jews, gave the full reply which He made, and informed us that Jesus used three parables to set the situation before His opponents. Each of these parables presented one phase of the truth, whereas all combine to make His complete answer. I therefore shall look at the text of Matthew and incorporate the information which he gives us.
In order to lay bare the hypocrisy and the insincerity of His opponents, the Lord Jesus gave them the parable of the two sons (Matt. 21:28-32). It is as follows: There was a man who had two sons. To the first one he said, "Go work in the vineyard." This one said to the father, "I will not: but afterward he repented himself, and went" (Matt. 21:29). To the second he said the same thing. He replied, "I go," and went not. Then Jesus put a direct question to his opponents. "Which of the two did the will of his father? And they answered, "The first". Then Jesus drove the truth home to their hearts in the following words: "Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye saw it, did not even repent yourselves afterward, that ye might believe him. (Matthew 21:31-32)
The first son represents the religious type of people who were the leaders in the affairs of the nation. When John came preaching and calling upon the nation to repent and turn to God, the leaders were astounded and refused the baptism of John and his preaching (Luke 7:29). Though they made that decision, they should have repented and believed on Jesus, of whom John spoke. But no, they stood by their resolution to reject both John and Jesus.
On the other hand, the publicans, the taxgatherers, and the harlots, and out-and-out sinners scoffed at the messages at first, but finally the truth went home to their hearts and many of them accepted the Messiah and salvation. Thus this parable was the wholesale condemnation of the leaders who persisted in their unbelief and rejection of the truth and of the Messiah.
The second parable, spoken on this occasion and illustrative of the point at hand, is that of the vineyard. In order to appreciate it, one should read Psalm 80:8-19 and Isaiah, chapter 5. These Old Testament passages provide the material out of which the parable, used by our Lord on this occasion, was made. The reader should study carefully Matthew 21:33-46, as well as Luke 20:9-13.
The gist of the parable is this: A certain householder had planted a vineyard and did everything that could be done to make it fruitful. After he had done all that was necessary, he turned it over to husbandmen who were to take care of it for him and, when he had returned from his trip to another country, they were to turn over the fruit to him. At the season of fruit, however, when the owner sent his servants to receive the crop, or the proceeds from the sale of the same, these wicked husbandmen beat one of the servants who had been sent, killed another, and stoned still another. Then the owner sent another group of servants (Matt. 21:36) to receive the fruits of the vineyard. The husbandmen treated them in the same way as they had done the first party. Finally, he sent his son, thinking that the husbandmen would respect him and would recognize that he was the rightful heir to the vineyard. But when they saw the son they said, "This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and take his inheritance" (Matt. 21:38). They then cast him forth out of the vineyard and killed him.
Then Jesus put the direct question to His opponents: "When therefore the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do unto those husbandmen?" (Matt. 21:40). Their reply was, "He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will let out the vineyard unto other husbandmen, who shall render him the fruits in their seasons." In other words, the lord of the vineyard would destroy the wicked men and turn the vineyard over to faithful men who would render the fruits in their seasons. Their answer was correct.
Thereupon, Jesus asked them if they had never read the passage found in Psalm 118, which speaks about the rejection of the stone by the builders, and which is a prophecy of the rejection of the Messiah by the leaders of Israel--as is shown by the facts of the context of Psalm 118.
At this point Jesus warned the Temple authorities that the kingdom of God would be taken from them and would be given to another nation which would bring forth the fruit thereof. He concluded with the prediction that the ones who would fall upon that stone (Himself, the Messiah) in violence, by having Him crucified, the stone (Messiah) would break such a one to pieces; but upon whomsoever it (Messiah) shall fall (at the second coming of the Messiah), it will scatter him as dust. The Pharisees caught the point and recognized that He spoke this parable against them. But they were afraid to do anything about it because of the multitude that considered Jesus as a prophet.
The vineyard was Israel, the house-holder was God the Father, the servants sent to receive the fruit were the prophets and men of God of old who were rejected by the leaders in Israel, and the son was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, against whom the leaders had already laid their plots to accomplish His murder by crucifixion. They were infuriated to the extent that they would have seized Him and slain Him on the spot if it had not been for fear of the multitudes that considered Him as a prophet or the Messiah.
The kingdom of God was taken away from the Jewish people and was given to another nation, the people from both Jews and Gentiles who want truth, and who accept Jesus as their Messiah and Saviour. These people constitute the nation to whom the interests of God have been turned over during the present dispensation.
This third and final parable of the series of three, answering the Temple authorities who challenged Jesus, is the parable of the marriage feast and the slighted invitation, which is found in Matthew 22:1-14, and which reads as follows:
"And Jesus answered and spake again in parables unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the marriage feast: and they would not come. Again he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them that are bidden, Behold, I have made ready my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come to the marriage feast. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise; and the rest laid hold on his servants, and treated them shamefully, and killed them. But the king was wroth; and he sent his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they that were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore unto the partings of the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage feast. And those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was filled with guests. But when the king came in to behold the guests, he saw there a man who had not on a wedding-garment: and he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding-garment? And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him out into the outer darkness; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few chosen." (Matthew 22:1-14)
The heart of this parable may be stated as follows: The kingdom of heaven, this reign of God upon earth, is like a certain king who made marriage festivities for his son. When he had made everything ready for the marriage, he sent forth his servants to those who had already been bidden to attend the ceremony. But none of them would come. Then he sent another group of his servants saying, "Tell them that are bidden, Behold, I have made ready my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come to the marriage feast." But they made light of the invitation and went their way to attend to their own private interests, one to his farm, another to his merchandise. But the rest of them laid hold of the king's servants and mistreated them. At this the king became very wrathful. He sent for his armies and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he told his servants to go out into the highways and byways and hedges and invite everyone whom they might meet to come to the marriage festivities of his son, that the wedding and banquet hall might be filled with guests. The king came in to see the guests and his eyes fell upon a man near him who had come in without the marriage garment. Immediately he asked the man how it was that he had come in without the wedding garment, but the man was speechless. The king, turning to his servants, said: "Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth."
Though this parable is not explained, its meaning is quite obvious. The kingdom of God, the reign of God upon earth, is compared to this story which Jesus related. The king is none other than God the Father. The son is Christ, the Son of God. The guests who had been invited to the wedding feast were the Jewish people. The servants who had extended the invitation to them first were the prophets, whom the people mistreated. Finally, the time came for the festivities to begin. The king sent his servants to make the announcement. These servants were none other than John the Baptist, and the Apostles when they were on the restricted commission, going to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The invited guests, the Jewish people, had determined that they would not accept the message. Finally, the King (God the Father) sent other servants saying, "Tell them that are bidden, Behold I have made ready; come to the marriage feast." The word in the original Greek, translated in our version as "dinner," literally means "breakfast," and it should be thus rendered. The servants making this announcement were none other than the Apostles, who at Pentecost proclaimed the fact that the spiritual banquet for Israel had been prepared. They were therefore to come, accept, and partake of the good things prepared for them; but they, instead of doing this, made fun of the invitation and went about their own personal affairs. At the same time, they beat and killed some of the servants of God the King, namely, the Christians who were pleading with the nation of Israel to accept Jesus as their Messiah.
This indifferent attitude on the part of the invited guests and their treatment of His servants enraged the King so that He got His armies, the Roman armies, and brought them against the city of the invited guests, namely, Jerusalem, and destroyed it in A.D. 70. The leaders who had been instrumental in the rejection of Christ were destroyed at the downfall of the nation. Those of the people who survived were scattered abroad throughout the Greco-Roman world.
After that fateful event the invitation was extended to all peoples everywhere to come in and get ready for the marriage supper, or dinner, of the Lamb. The gospel was preached to all nations, and all were given an invitation to come and partake of the dinner, or rather, the marriage supper, of the Lamb at His second coming.
In our parable we see that, when the supper, or dinner, was ready to be served, the king came in to look at the guests. Immediately, he saw there was one present without a wedding garment, and this one was cast into the outer darkness because--according to custom--a garment had been prepared for him, but he refused to put it on. He therefore was cast into outer darkness where there are weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Our Lord's use of the expression "breakfast" is most significant. After the breakfast is rejected, the invitation is then extended to all to come and eat the supper, which is observed after darkness--because the one without the wedding garment is cast into the darkness without, or "outer darkness." It is clear from these facts that the Lord thinks of His dealing's with the Jewish people in terms, of a literal day. Breakfast is eaten in early morning, while the principle meal which ends the festivities, is eaten at the end of the day, after nightfall. This supper to which all are invited is the marriage supper of the Lamb, which will be observed at the end of the Christian Dispensation. You may be certain, therefore, that the Lord was thinking of the entire Christian Dispensation. At the beginning of it He offered breakfast to the Jewish people, the invited guests. When they did not accept the invitation as a nation, the call of the gospel went out to the peoples of all nations to come and partake, not of the breakfast, but of the final meal at the end of the day, the marriage supper of the Lamb. Thus the entire Christian Dispensation is passed over between the breakfast and the supper.
What was offered to Israel at the breakfast invitation? If he had accepted this invitation and had become a Christian nation, special privileges and advantages would have been given to him. Israel would have been the first Christian nation. Israel would have enjoyed a rest in the land of his fathers, which was promised in Psalm 95, and which was offered to the people in the Epistle to the Hebrews, chapters 3 and 4.
But since Israel would not accept the breakfast invitation, but persecuted the servants of God, the Christians, the Lord "sent his armies"--the Roman hordes--and overthrew the Hebrew nation, scattering the people to the four corners of the globe.
After that event the gospel went out to all nations and has been sounded forth throughout the centuries. By doing so God is visiting "the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name" (Acts 15:14).
But there are many who come into the kingdom of God, and who are not saved. The kingdom of God at the time of the marriage supper of the Lamb will be found to have "both bad and good"--people who are professors, not possessors, claiming to be Christians, but never having been really born again, professing Christians but not wearing the wedding garments of Christ's righteousness. All of these will, at the last, be cast into outer darkness. All the bad the unsaved, will be cast into outer darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Thus our Lord answered the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes when they made their attack upon Him. They were not able to reply!
