This is really something. I think I was just talking about this passage yesterday in my blog. And today, “boom” … here it is.
I’m speaking of the king who prepared a wedding feast and invited guests only to have them make excuses about why they couldn’t attend. Actually a large part of today’s reading is about this subject. God has invited guests to His banquet…let’s call it “heaven”. And somehow, by the providence and benevolence of God you and I have ended up with an invitation in our hand. Praise God! We are invited to be in heaven with Him forever!
Remember though, just because you are invited doesn’t mean someone is coming to your house to dress you and drive you to the event. You need to take some action and have some responsibility as well. You have to respond to the invitation. j When we invite Jesus into our lives, we respond “yes”. When we begin to allow the Holy Spirit to work in us, and change us…to make us righteous…we are putting on “wedding clothes”. And when the day of the wedding comes, we will be received with great joy. Those who plan to enter heaven without being righteous are in for a surprise…as this parable is warning.
Let Caesar have the money, but he can never have our hearts because they bear the image of Christ, and belong to Him. The things of this earth are really of no real eternal value. Jesus himself said that the earth would pass away, and the only thing that would endure will be our souls and His Word. Those are the only two things that truly matter in the long run.
Resurrection teaching:
In heaven we are different in several ways. One of those ways is that we won’t be married. That isn’t to say we won’t love others, but I think that erotic love will be gone, because pro-creation will be gone. I might be wrong, but I don’t think so. In heaven we will be so much more pure, and will love so much more deeply that we won’t have a need for erotic love. That might be a response to the people who think Jesus had a wife here on earth. I know that Jesus loved women deeply, because He loves us all deeply…but only a fallen human mind would associate that pure love with a need for sexual activity.
vs. 29 “you don’t know the Bible, and you don’t know the power of God” I can’t think of a better way to underline the reason for all false teaching, the reason for all moral shortcomings, addictions, inappropriate behavior, wars, relational problems and perhaps even health issues. We simply don’t understand. I suspect that “we don’t know what we don’t know”…meaning: there is so much more to know about God, and we aren’t even aware of the potential of it. We think we are living in God’s house when we are actually in one closet inside God’s shopping Mall. We have no idea.
The most important commandment is based on Love. Perfect love is motivation and solution for every issue.
Mark 12
The vineyard is the nation of Israel, and the man who planted it is God. God planted a system of worship complete with commandments and other instructions that would lead the people into a relationship with Him. God sent prophets to speak to the people that He had “planted” in His garden, but the tenants killed them. The religious leaders were the tenant farmers that killed the prophets…and just as Jesus said in His parable, they would soon kill the Son. God sent Jesus to plead with the nation to do what is right, receive and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and King. But the evil leaders wanted to retain the power and control of the kingdom for themselves, and they thought that by killing the Son they could do so.
In verse 9 Jesus says that God will come and remove them (kill them) and lease the vineyard to others. This is the same story as found in Matthew 22 about the wedding feast. The people that the kingdom was originally intended for rejected it, and now it is being given to others.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that God never intended for us “Gentiles” to be included, because that was always God’s plan. He makes that clear when He says to the disciples “I have other sheep that are not of this pasture”. It’s just that the disobedience and rebellion of the Jews has moved them out of receiving the Kingdom BEFORE all others. They can still receive it, but they lost the right to be the first to do so when they rejected Christ. And those who rejected Him will likely not be with us in heaven. I say that because the King who owns the vineyard and the man who planted the garden….and the Ruler who went away to be crowned King (previously) all kill off the people who defied them. When the King returns, He brings rewards and punishments with Him.
Whose Son is the Messiah? verse 35
Generally speaking, the older person would receive the title of greatest respect. David’s descendants would refer to him as “Lord” to show respect, not to worship. So when “The Lord” says something to “my Lord” David is in effect saying that someone comes after Him who is worthy of greater respect than He is. And this someone will sit at the right hand of God until all enemies are subdued. This “Messiah” is greater than David, but comes after David. The place of honor at the right hand of God would belong to a Son….but if the Messiah is David’s son, then why is He seated at the right hand of God? This whole passage is meant to help us draw one conclusion (that the Pharisees wouldn’t admit). Jesus was born of a human, but He was really God’s Son.
The widow gave far less, but she gave extravagantly. She gave sacrificially, and she gave humbly. If we do the same we can expect to see God bless a society through us.
Faithfully,
PR