Jewish Hyprocrites and Believers Waiting for the Kingdom

“Believe” in Matthew, Mark & Luke - Part 23:

Part 2 of the Unjust Steward:

Our last study was about the lesson Jesus taught His disciples with the parable of the unjust steward in Luke 16:1 - 131 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.

2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.

3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.

4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.

5 So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?

6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.

7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.

8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?

13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

. We came here because we've been examining every occasion the Greek word pisteuo; usually translated “believe” is found in Matthew, Mark and Luke and it is used in Luke 16:1111 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

. However, it is not translated “believe” but instead “commit to trust” in the King James and “trust” in both the NIV and NIrV versions. We saw where Jesus taught His disciples several things with this parable: 1) that worldly unbelievers were much more diligent in their dealings in earthly things than God's people were in dealing with things concerning the Kingdom, Luke 16:88 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

; 2) that the Jewish believers (disciples of Jesus Christ) were to use their money and possessions with the goal to fit themselves for the promised Kingdom on earth, Luke 16:9 - 129 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?

; 3) and 3) the conclusion: “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Luke 16:1313 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

)

Jesus' words hit a raw nerve with some Pharisees who were listening in; they were offended and took exception. Today we will examine Jesus' response to them: (Verse 14) “And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. (15) And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. (16) The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. (17) And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail. (18) Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.” Luke 16:14 - 1814 And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

16 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.

17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.

18 Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.

The Pharisees derided or sneered at Jesus because they coveted money/ possessions, verse 14. So Jesus addressed them in verses 15 - 18, pointing out that they conducted their lives so as to appear just and righteous: “ye are they which justify yourselves before men.” Verse 15a. But God knew their hearts; that is, the real thoughts and motives behind their actions, verse 15b; He knew their hypocracy: “For that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” Verse 15c. The Greek word translated “abomination” has to do with idolatry so Jesus was telling them they were idolatrous in their conduct.

Jesus then pointed out in verse 16 that the Law and the Prophets led up to John the Baptist, who was the greatest Prophet of them all, Matthew 11:1111 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

, 13; 17:10 - 13; Luke 7:2828 For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

. (Old Testament prophets pointed to the time when John the Baptist would be sent to prepare the way for Israel's Messiah, Matthew 3:33 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

; 11:10, etc.) John the Baptist preached the Kingdom of God; the King James reads “every man pressed into it,” Luke 16:1616 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.

. There is no word in the original Greek transcript for “man” here. The Greek word translated with the two English words “every man” in the King James is “pas,” which can be translated “all, any, every, anyone, as many as,” etc. Other translations render “pas” here as “everyone is forcing their way into it” and “everyone is trying very hard to enter it,” etc. The point is that everyone in Israel was trying to get into the Kingdom. But from the context we learn that the Pharisees were not going about it the right way. Jesus said “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail,” Luke 16:1717 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.

, making clear that any Jew wishing to enter the Kingdom had to obey the law.

Then Jesus quotes a specific point from the Law of Moses: “Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.” Luke 16:1818 Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.

. Jesus used this part of the law as an example of the Pharisee's hypocrisy. He would have known their thoughts, intentions and what they had been up to. Some there had either divorced their wives for no good reason or by the legal actions they had taken, had approved undeserving divorces for others. (Similar to the indulgences subsequently granted by the Catholic Church.) It was an example of how they twisted the Law of Moses as they, as the rulers, made legal decisions. Their reasoning in granting such divorces probably passed muster with men, they “justified themselves before men,” but God knew their hearts and the Son of God revealed that they or others in their group had divorced their wives for no good reason other than to take another woman more to their liking. In doing so they were actually committing adultery, which was contrary to the Law of Moses. The bottom line: these Pharisees made a big show of their observance of the Law of Moses, but they were hypocrites.

Some in Israel repented and were baptized because they believed John the Baptist's message. They realized they were sinners; that they had broken Moses' law in some way and recognized their need to repent. The Law of Moses had taught them their need for a Savior; it brought them to Christ. The law was really meant to demonstrate that it was impossible for any of Adam's race to obey it completely and consistently, day in, day out. It proved this by the fact that continually, year in and year out, they had to present blood sacrifices for violating it. It taught them they were sinners, Hebrew 7:27.

A humble Jew who trusted God by trying to follow the precepts of the law saw their need for a Savior and so they repented and were baptized according to the Gospel proclaimed by John the Baptist. But the Pharisees were not humble. They were proud, self-righteous and fooled themselves into believing they could keep the law by their own strength and ability. They didn't believe they had anything to repent of, so they did not accept John's message and stubbornly continued steadfast on this track right up to the point where they manipulated the Roman system of justice to have Jesus crucified. They rejected what John preached and Jesus presented. God knew their hearts, Luke 16:1515 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

and Jesus went on to tell those Pharisees the story of the rich man and Lazarus in verses 19 -31; the rich man obviously representing the fate the Pharisees faced after death.

After Israel rejected the offer of the Kingdom by the Apostles, as recorded in the first part of the book of Acts, God revealed to the Apostle Paul that believers, 1 Corinthians 15:1 - 41 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

, are saved by the Grace of God, Ephesians 2:8 & 98 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

, and are no longer under the law. Paul makes this clear in his letter to the Galatians because after they became believers, there were some who came in and tried to persuade them that they needed to follow the law. Paul wrote to correct this false teaching: “But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” Galatians 3:23 - 2523 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

. The law was a teacher instructing those under it that they needed a Savior. As pointed out earlier, during the time of Jesus' ministry there were some Jews who got it, they repented and were baptized, and there were some who didn't get it, i.e., the Pharisees.

Paul teaches in Galatians that Jesus Christ is the “faith” that came so that we are no longer under a schoolmaster. He lived a perfect life of faith and actually fulfilled the law in every respect, but He never the less gave up His life for the sins of mankind, Romans 8:1 - 41 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

. He was the Author and Finisher of Faith; He started and finished it, Hebrews 12:22 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

. Jesus was born without sin so had nothing to repent of, and yet He was baptized by John the Baptist in order to fulfill all that was required at that time, Mark 1:9 - 119 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.

10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:

11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

. And because he was without sin, it was only He who could fulfill the Law to the letter, Matthew 5:17 & 1817 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

; Luke 24:4444 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

. And He did it for us even though we have done nothing to deserve it; that is real Love.

Here's wishing you all a blessed Easter this Sunday, April 8, 2012 as we remember God's Grace (unmerited favor) that has saved us by His gift of faith we received because of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, Ephesians 2:8 & 9.