Sermon for September 27, 2020 17 Minutes

This morning I'll be reading Matthew chapter 21 verses 23 through 32.

I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

Matthew 21:23–32

These scriptures that we read this morning are after Jesus' triumphant entrance into Jerusalem that we usually celebrate on Psalm Sunday,,, His clearing of the temple,,, and other things that He does,,, and the religious authorities are questioning Him about His authority,,, and who He receives it from.

Matthew 21:23–32

23 When He entered the temple complex, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to Him as He was teaching and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? Who gave You this authority?” 24 Jesus answered them, “I will also ask you one question, and if you answer it for Me, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 Where did John’s baptism come from? From heaven or from men?” They began to argue among themselves, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we’re afraid of the crowd, because everyone thought John was a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

28 “But what do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘My son, go, work in the vineyard today.’ 29 “He answered, ‘I don’t want to!’ Yet later he changed his mind and went. 30 Then the man went to the other and said the same thing. ‘I will, sir,’ he answered. But he didn’t go. 31 “Which of the two did his father’s will?” “The first,” they said. Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you! 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn’t believe him. Tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him, but you, when you saw it, didn’t even change your minds then and believe him.

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

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Who has authority of your life?

Most people answer to someone whether they will admit it or not.

We all have someone that we answer to here on earth.

We have family members that we answer to,,, friends that we answer to,,,

if you work,,, you answer to your bosses,,, your bosses answer to their bosses,,,

Even if you are self employed,,, you are your own boss and answer to no one else but yourself,,, you still have those that you answer to in one way or another.

I say that because,,, you still need to answer to the ones that hire you for whatever business you are running.

And,,, of course,,, if you are married,,, husbands answer to their wives,,, and,,, wives answer to their husbands,,,

Even the president of the United States,,, who runs this country,,, answers to the people who elect him every four years.

So,,, who has authority of your life?

As I said in my introduction,,, Jesus is being questioned by the religious leaders about where He gets His authority,,, and who it comes from.

Hopefully we can look at these verses and they will help us in our walk with God this week.

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Verse 23 says: 23 When He entered the temple complex, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to Him as He was teaching and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? Who gave You this authority?”

By “these things” they probably meant His Triumphal Entry into the city,,, His reception of praise from the people,,, His clearing of the temple,,, His healing of the blind and the lame,,, and His teaching.

All of these things happen in verses 1 through verse 17 of this same chapter.

The leaders understood that Jesus was claiming authority as the Messiah,,, and,,, they wanted to know where,,, He got that authority.

And they knew that He,,, definitely,,, had not received it from them!

My Wesleyan Commentary says this chapter is the first place in the Synoptic Gospels where we find the Sadducees in opposition to Jesus.

Before,,, it had only been the scribes and Pharisees.

It says that the reason for the change is that,,, because of His cleansing of the temple,,, Jesus had threatened both the authority and the income of the chief priests.

And of course,,, they were very mad about this.

So,,, from this time forward,,, they were the ones who led the attack on Jesus,,, and finally accomplished His death on the cross.

It is for this reason that E. F. Scott calls the Cleansing of the Temple the crisis of Jesus’ life which precipitated His death.

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Verse 24 says: 24 Jesus answered them, “I will also ask you one question, and if you answer it for Me, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

My Faithlife Study Bible says that as a way of instruction,,, rabbis often answered a question by asking another one.

And that's what Jesus does in the next verse.

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Verses 25 and 26 say: 25 Where did John’s baptism come from? From heaven or from men?” They began to argue among themselves, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we’re afraid of the crowd, because everyone thought John was a prophet.”

Jesus asked them a trick question,,, and they knew that after He asked them this question,,, because if they answered honestly,,, as they should have,,, they would have to say that he got it from heaven.

But,,, as they said above,,, they knew that Jesus would ask them,,, why "they" didn't believe him.

But they were afraid that if they said that it came from men,,, the people would turn on them.

So that made them come up with the answer that they gave in the next verse.

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Verse 27 says: 27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

You see,,, they couldn't answer Jesus' question because the answer to His question would reveal the answer to theirs.

That is,,, if the Jewish officials answered correctly about John’s authority (that his baptism was from heaven), then they would have their answer about Jesus’ authority (also from heaven).

What was true of John was true of Jesus,,, since John served as His prophetic forerunner.

So that was why they didn't answer Jesus,,, and that's why Jesus didn't answer their question,,, because,,, He knew,,, that they already knew His answer.

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As you will see,,, if you haven't already figured it out,,, these next few verses,,, this next parable,,, is about the religious leaders.

Since they wouldn't answer Jesus' question,,, He tells them a parable.

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Verses 28 through the first part of verse 31 say: 28 “But what do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘My son, go, work in the vineyard today.’ 29 “He answered, ‘I don’t want to!’ Yet later he changed his mind and went. 30 Then the man went to the other and said the same thing. ‘I will, sir,’ he answered. But he didn’t go. 31 “Which of the two did his father’s will?” “The first,” they said.

The obvious answer was,,, that the first son obeyed.

Even though the first son said that he didn't want to,,, he changed his mind and went to work in the vineyard.

The second son,,, gave the answer that his father wanted to hear,,, but he didn't go work in the vineyard.

Jesus immediately applied this to the religious leaders.

The religious leaders were like the second son because they wanted to act like they were doing right,,, but it was all just for show.

Like the second son,,, they had no intention of doing God's work,,, they just wanted the attention.

Then Jesus tells them something that must have really got their attention.

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The last part of verse 31 and verse 32 says: Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you! 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn’t believe him. Tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him, but you, when you saw it, didn’t even change your minds then and believe him.

While many of the people accepted the ministry of John the Baptist,,, including many tax collectors and prostitutes,,, the religious leaders proved that they were like the second son.

They had heard the message that John the Baptist had talked about,,, but the religious leaders had no intentions of answering that call,,, even though they looked like they were doing the work that God wanted them to do.

Since the tax collectors and prostitutes had received the message of John,,, and did the will of the Father,,, they would be allowed entrance into the kingdom of God.

But the religious leaders who did not repent and believe,,, they would be denied entrance.

These religious leaders stood there,,, condemned.

They must have been stunned by Jesus’ words that despised,,, immoral people,,, such as tax collectors and prostitutes,,, were entering the kingdom,,, and they,,, the religious leaders,,, were not!

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That's why I asked at the beginning,,, who has authority of your life?

Because,,, if it's the things of this world that you answer to,,, you will be like the religious leaders that won't enter the Kingdom of God!

You will be left out,,, while those that you might think are below you,,, are entering heaven,,, and of course,,, you won't be left outside,,, you will be in hell,,, where you never want to be!

This is a question that we all must answer,,, each one of us individually.

Parents can't answer for their children and their children can't answer for them.

I can't answer this question for Chace and Chayne,,, and they can't answer for me.

I answered this question a little over 22 years ago when I rededicated my life to God because I had been answering to the wrong authority in my life.

Like the religious leaders,,, I was living a life that looked good on the outside,,, but I was listening to the words from the world around me instead of listening to God!

I had to turn my life around,,, or that's where I was headed,,, so I answered that call myself,,, no one could do it for me!

And I said,,, ok God,,, I'll live my life the way that you want me to live,,, and that's when God really went to work on me!

It still took time,,, because I needed to grow a lot,,, but God got me here,,, where I should have been all along!

But,,, it began when I answered,,, not anyone else.

And it's the same for all of us,,, we know where we are at,,, we know who we answer to,,, and we must look inside ourselves and ask that question.

And if you can't answer beyond a shadow of a doubt that it's God that you answer to,,, then you need to be sure that you get right with God today because we aren't promised tomorrow.

Be sure that you have Jesus Christ as your Savior,,, because He is the only way to heaven,,, and you and God are the only ones that will ever know today,,, if He has authority,,, of your life or not!

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