Untitled Sermon
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 5 viewsNotes
Transcript
The NET Bible Chapter 9
As for the city and the sanctuary,
the people of the coming prince will destroy70 them.
FIVE DIVINE SHIFTS TO A NEW SPIRITUAL TOPOGRAPHY
Daniel 9:25-27
to·pog·ra·phy| təˈpäɡrəfē | noun the arrangement of the natural and artificial physical features of an area: the topography of the island. a detailed description or representation on a map of the natural and artificial features of an area.
John 11:47-53 speaks volumes regarding this spiritual topographic shift. The very pillars of Judaism would be shaken to the ground and out of its rubble a brand new spiritual topography would emerge. Christ, Covenant, Cult, Complex, and Chosen would be totally reborn at the end of the 70 x 7 fulfillment of Daniel 9.
Here and the second half of the next verse a description of the Jewish War leading up to and ending in the 70 AD destruction of Jerusalem is envisioned prophetically. Christ, as in one “King of the Jews” becoming King of kings. Covenant, as in one covenant being made obsolete and another becoming eternal. Cult as in one sacrificial system being replaced by a once for all sacrifice. Complex, as in one city and sanctuary falling and another city and sanctuary rising. Chosen, as in one chosen nation genetically being subsumed into one gospel call for all nations, spiritually. Let’s unpack these five shifts.
1) CHRIST - FROM BEING THE KING OF THE JEWS TO BECOMING THE KING OF KINGS. Norman Geisler adds that the concept of MESSIAH (Christ) "is the key to the interpretation of the Bible, not only in that He is the fulfillment of OT types and prophecies, but in that Christ (Messiah) is the tie between the Testaments, the content of the whole canon and the unifying theme in the Bible!" In short the entire Bible is "Messiah-centric" or "Christo-centric!" Beloved brethren, God's Anointed is appointed, and we shall not be disappointed! "All hail the power of Jesus' Name!, Let angels prostrate fall; Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown Him Lord of all."
1) CHRIST - FROM BEING THE KING OF THE JEWS TO BECOMING THE KING OF KINGS. Norman Geisler adds that the concept of MESSIAH (Christ) "is the key to the interpretation of the Bible, not only in that He is the fulfillment of OT types and prophecies, but in that Christ (Messiah) is the tie between the Testaments, the content of the whole canon and the unifying theme in the Bible!" In short the entire Bible is "Messiah-centric" or "Christo-centric!" Beloved brethren, God's Anointed is appointed, and we shall not be disappointed! "All hail the power of Jesus' Name!, Let angels prostrate fall; Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown Him Lord of all."
Christ in the New Testament comes from the Hebrew word here in Daniel 9:25, 26 called in Hebrew MASIAH from where we get our English word Messiah. It literally means the anointed one. When it is coupled with the Hebrew word NAGIB, translated ruler, prince, leader, it takes on the fuller meaning of the anointed prince or the anointed king. The Jews like to call him the Melik Masiah - King Messiah.
This Masiah Nagib was fully anticipated in the First Century period among First Century Jews and rabbis. He is much expected as Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:25-26, 36-38) both prophecy. Simeon, it is said, was looking for the consolation of Israel because he would not see death until he saw the Lord’s Messiah! Anna came up to him and began to speak about Him to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. John the Baptist in Matthew 11:3 and Luke 7:19-20 has his disciples, while he is in prison, to go ask Jesus if he is the Expected One (NASB) that everyone is looking for. Other versions say the one who is to come or the Coming One (John 4:25, 6:14; 11:27; Romans 5:14; Hebrews 10:37). Sadly, first century Jews were looking for Messiah to be a conquering King, not a suffering Servant and as a result most failed to recognize Him as God's "Wonderful" One (Isaiah 9:6) because they missed Isaiah's later prediction that He would be "despised, forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief… stricken, smitten of God, afflicted… and pierced through for our transgressions… crushed for our iniquities… by His stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:3-5) In His first coming Messiah came as a King riding a donkey to conquer sin (Zech 9:9, Matthew 21:2-5), but in His second coming He will return as King of kings riding on a white horse to conquer sinful men (Rev 19:11-16)! "Born Thy people to deliver, born a Child and yet a King; born to reign in us forever, now Thy gracious Kingdom bring." (Charles Wesley)
Only Jesus fulfilled every detail of the more than 300 OT Messianic prophecies. Applying the laws of probability, Stoner says that the chance of fulfilling just 8 of the 300+ Messianic prophecies is "1 in 10 to the 17th power." To help visualize these odds Stoner says imagine one had 10 to the 17th power silver dollars and scattered them over the surface of the state of Texas producing a pile two feet deep. Mark one of the silver dollars distinctively and stir them together. Now blindfold a man with instructions to travel anywhere in the state and select one coin. The chance of finding the marked coin would be the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing just eight prophecies fulfilled in one man! And Jesus fulfilled every detail of every prophecy perfectly declaring to His disciples that "ALL THINGS which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." (Lk 24:44) As Josh McDowell said the "New Testament writers spotlighted the Old Testament "ADDRESS" of Jesus for one main reason--to convince their Jewish readers that Jesus was the Messiah—the Deliverer they had been praying for God to send." "Come, thou long-expected Jesus, born to set Thy people free; from our fears and sins release us: Let us find our rest in Thee." (C Wesley)
2) COVENANT - From The Old Covenant To The New Covenant - FROM ONE COVENANT BEING CONSUMMATED TO ANOTHER ONE BEING MADE ETERNAL.
2) COVENANT - From The Old Covenant To The New Covenant - FROM ONE COVENANT BEING CONSUMMATED TO ANOTHER ONE BEING MADE ETERNAL.
This covenant would come through the anointed one who would be cut off and have nothing (KJV - but not for himself). He would secure this covenant by an act of sacrificial giving that would in every way do what Daniel 9:27 envisions: he will confirm a covenant with many for one week. But in the middle of that week he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt. An interesting statement by Jesus, found in Mark 8:27-29, 30-33 brings out the reality of this Danielic passage in an amazing coming fulfillment of it in the person and work of Jesus on the Cross. It was the cutting off of his life that would end up confirming a covenant with many! IN FACT, his cut off life would consummate the demands of the Mosaic Covenant and bring its stipulations and regulations to an end. He would take its horrible curse upon his shoulders and bleed the judgment of that broken and dying covenant out with every drop of his righteous blood. But it would also be that same blood, at the same time, that would confirm a covenant with many in the New Covenant!
3) CULT - FROM ONE SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM TO A ONCE-FOR-ALL SACRIFICE: Although a New Covenant came with the incarnation, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Christ the Old Covenant system would take years to dissolve away. By the way, the Crucifixion among all the other markers of the Incarnate God is the most critical covenant-making event in the history of Jesus. This is why the language of confirm a covenant with many for one week and bringing sacrifices and offerings to a halt in the MIDDLE OF THAT WEEK merges with what is said in the previous verse 26 were the anointed one will be cut off and have nothing: The Crucifixion is the Making a Covenant in the Middle of the Messiah’s final week. As we said in our notes in verse 27 next to confirm a covenant and but in the middle of...
3) CULT - FROM ONE SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM TO A ONCE-FOR-ALL SACRIFICE: Although a New Covenant came with the incarnation, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Christ the Old Covenant system would take years to dissolve away. By the way, the Crucifixion among all the other markers of the Incarnate God is the most critical covenant-making event in the history of Jesus. This is why the language of confirm a covenant with many for one week and bringing sacrifices and offerings to a halt in the MIDDLE OF THAT WEEK merges with what is said in the previous verse 26 were the anointed one will be cut off and have nothing: The Crucifixion is the Making a Covenant in the Middle of the Messiah’s final week. As we said in our notes in verse 27 next to confirm a covenant and but in the middle of...
4) COMPLEX - FROM A PHYSICAL CITY/SANCTUARY TO A SPIRITUAL CITY/SANCTUARY. This clearly says that the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed at the same time a most holy place will be anointed (verse 24). So there is a holy place destroyed and a holy place anointed within the same 70 x 7 of years period. This can only speak clearly of the Second Temple that was built and beautified later by Herod and met its demise under Titus. The Second Temple Period came within the scope of this 490 year period! Now, of course, Jesus could himself be both the Holy Place (his body) and the Holy Person in Daniel 9:24!
4) COMPLEX - FROM A PHYSICAL CITY/SANCTUARY TO A SPIRITUAL CITY/SANCTUARY. This clearly says that the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed at the same time a most holy place will be anointed (verse 24). So there is a holy place destroyed and a holy place anointed within the same 70 x 7 of years period. This can only speak clearly of the Second Temple that was built and beautified later by Herod and met its demise under Titus. The Second Temple Period came within the scope of this 490 year period! Now, of course, Jesus could himself be both the Holy Place (his body) and the Holy Person in Daniel 9:24!
Before we get to that idea let’s look at a few Old Testament prophetic anticipation that are centered in the Second Temple and involve Christ as the anointed one.
First, let look at Haggai 2:1-3, 6-9. This prophecy is critical to show that before the Second Temple is to be destroyed the Desired of Nations (KJV) will come and fill this house with glory. This is pointing to the Second Temple. Haggai goes on to say because of the riches of the nations coming into the Second Temple (these riches pointing more to spiritual riches than physical riches - Answering Jewish Objections, by Michael Brown, Volume 1, 2.1-2.2; 3, 4.30 in Kindle). But also the phrase fill this house with glory points to the manifest presence of God showing up in the person of the Son of God! Haggai then says that because of this the final glory of this house will be greater than the first, meaning the first temple or Solomon’s Temple. This clearly shows that Jesus is the true Holy One and Holy Place! He is the Glory of The House! The Rabbi’s even admitted that the Second Temple lacked the symbols of glory of the first temple: the ark of the covenant, the holy fire, the Holy Spirit, the Shekinah, the Urim and Thummim. So, again, the glory and riches of the Second Temple is the presence of the Son of God in the Second Temple. This prophecy could ONLY BE FULFILLED IN ONE PERONS: JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH! One other piece of Haggai’s prophecy is that of God will provide peace in this place. When Jesus put an end to sacrifices and offerings by his death on the Cross he accomplished redemptive and final peace right then and there making the Temple no longer relevant! Now let’s look at how the Spiritual Temple replaces the Physical Temple through Jesus.
Second, let look at Malachi 3:1-5. Here the Ha’adon, The Lord, preceded by his messenger, will visit the Second Temple and NOT in a good way. He would visit it in judgment and be like a refiner of precious metals. This is none other than Jesus, the Anointed One, the embodiment of God himself, the Lord, Ha’adon! who will visit HIS TEMPLE. Its only real chance at fulfillment is in the coming of Jesus after John the Baptist to the Second Temple. This incarnate Ha’adon will be the refiner and purifier of his people. And this brings forward the importance of these realities: Final atonement had to be accomplished before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD. If this isn’t true than the Bible is false, the Messiah is a shame, and we all need to find a more credible religion to follow.
John 2:16-22 shows us how Jesus conceptualized this transition where the Body of Christ and the spiritual Body, his Church, takes on a shift from physical topography to spiritual topography. This is what Jesus meant when he predicted to the woman at the well who was an outsider to the Jewish people in John 4:21-23 where a new spiritual geography of Spirit and truth makes us the arena of God’s new Temple of neither here in Samaria, at her temple, or in Jerusalem, the Jewish Temple, but in the Temple of Ephesians 2:18-22 whom we have access in one Spirit to the Father and are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Therefore, both the Temple and its sacrificial system have become irrelevant standing ready to pass into the darkness of by gone days.
There is in fact, no temple that is scheduled to be rebuilt in the Bible except for the Temple of the Church. Revelation 21:22 says it this way, I did not see a temple in the city, BECAUSE THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY AND THE LAMB ARE ITS TEMPLE.
The Destruction of the City and the Sanctuary is Foretold Clearly and Irrevocably. Matthew’s Gospel begins to weave a set of prophesies, both parabolic and pointed in the lead up to his Passion narrative that confirm Daniel’s prophesy:
a) First, Matthew 21:37-42 is a parabolic prediction in which the former tenets of God’s vineyard will be thrown out and replaced by new tenets because the former tenets killed the Owner’s Son! But connected to this parable of the vineyard Jesus adds the fact that Jesus is the rejected Stone by the builders of the Second Temple and yet becomes the cornerstone in God’s new temple. He ends this parabolic prophesy with these words of cataclysmic judgment: Matthew 21:43 says, Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people producing its fruit. Do you see the topographical shift taking place here? Here is the kingdom of God that was housed in both a city and a sanctuary no longer worthy to enjoy its fruitful reign and glory being replaced by another people group or more literally nation!
a) First, Matthew 21:37-42 is a parabolic prediction in which the former tenets of God’s vineyard will be thrown out and replaced by new tenets because the former tenets killed the Owner’s Son! But connected to this parable of the vineyard Jesus adds the fact that Jesus is the rejected Stone by the builders of the Second Temple and yet becomes the cornerstone in God’s new temple. He ends this parabolic prophesy with these words of cataclysmic judgment: Matthew 21:43 says, Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people producing its fruit. Do you see the topographical shift taking place here? Here is the kingdom of God that was housed in both a city and a sanctuary no longer worthy to enjoy its fruitful reign and glory being replaced by another people group or more literally nation!
b) Second, Matthew 22:2-7 shares a parable about the Wedding Feast in which the king invites his kingdom subjects to his Son’s wedding, only to be flat out rejected by either indifference from some and violence by others! Then the King in justifiable vengeance sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city!
b) Second, Matthew 22:2-7 shares a parable about the Wedding Feast in which the king invites his kingdom subjects to his Son’s wedding, only to be flat out rejected by either indifference from some and violence by others! Then the King in justifiable vengeance sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city!
c) Third, Matthew 23:31-35, 36-38 Jesus shares a direct and forceful judgment on the people of Judea and Jerusalem in which all the long history of the righteous blood shed on the earth of all the holy prophets down through the ages will be charged to them! They have filled up to the brim the measure of their ancestors sins and they stand ready to face the judgment for such atrocities. All of this judgment from God will come on THIS GENERATION, the very generation that was alive in the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophesy! And Jerusalem will face it head on as well because she had rejected the Messianic Mother Hen, embodied in Jesus, who longed to gather all her children under her wings, but the epitaph read: you were not willing! Therefore the only thing left for Jesus to do is to ring the death knell of verse 38, See, your house (both City and Temple) is left to you DESOLATE.
c) Third, Matthew 23:31-35, 36-38 Jesus shares a direct and forceful judgment on the people of Judea and Jerusalem in which all the long history of the righteous blood shed on the earth of all the holy prophets down through the ages will be charged to them! They have filled up to the brim the measure of their ancestors sins and they stand ready to face the judgment for such atrocities. All of this judgment from God will come on THIS GENERATION, the very generation that was alive in the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophesy! And Jerusalem will face it head on as well because she had rejected the Messianic Mother Hen, embodied in Jesus, who longed to gather all her children under her wings, but the epitaph read: you were not willing! Therefore the only thing left for Jesus to do is to ring the death knell of verse 38, See, your house (both City and Temple) is left to you DESOLATE.
Luke 19:41-44 issues the same pointed prophesy of Jesus fulfilling Daniel’s Seventieth Week. It says, And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it, saying, “Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Luke 21:20-24 as well says, But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judaea flee to the mountains and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it; for these are days of vengeance, to fulfil all that is written … For great distress shall be upon the earth and wrath upon this people; they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led captive among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
The Specific Abomination of Desolation (AOD) is Mentioned.
a) First, this phrase is gathered from here in Daniel 9 but it does not say this specifically, but says on the wing of abominations will come one who destroys. More specifically the phrase comes from Daniel 11:31 & Daniel 12:11 which means more literally the abomination that causes desolation. Basically the idea is that of a blatant act of sacrilege that corrupts the holiness of the temple’s many religious observations ruining its sacred space. It finds its historical origins in the Antiochus desecration of the Temple in 167 BC.
a) First, this phrase is gathered from here in Daniel 9 but it does not say this specifically, but says on the wing of abominations will come one who destroys. More specifically the phrase comes from Daniel 11:31 & Daniel 12:11 which means more literally the abomination that causes desolation. Basically the idea is that of a blatant act of sacrilege that corrupts the holiness of the temple’s many religious observations ruining its sacred space. It finds its historical origins in the Antiochus desecration of the Temple in 167 BC.
b) Second, Matthew 24:15-21 & Mark 13:14 have Jesus framing this destruction around the fulfillment of the abomination of desolation that Daniel the prophet spoke about. When this happens in the days following the life of Jesus, the church (noted when it says, let him that readeth understand) is to take warning and flee into the mountains for a time of great tribulation will be coming on the world of the first century Jews such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be. This does not so much point to the end of the age of man but to the end of the Jewish Covenantal Hegemony. It is not pointing so much to the end of The World of Man in earth’s last century, but to the end of The World of the Jews in the first century. This end will be a world characterized by a flood of blood, slaughter, and desolation.
b) Second, Matthew 24:15-21 & Mark 13:14 have Jesus framing this destruction around the fulfillment of the abomination of desolation that Daniel the prophet spoke about. When this happens in the days following the life of Jesus, the church (noted when it says, let him that readeth understand) is to take warning and flee into the mountains for a time of great tribulation will be coming on the world of the first century Jews such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be. This does not so much point to the end of the age of man but to the end of the Jewish Covenantal Hegemony. It is not pointing so much to the end of The World of Man in earth’s last century, but to the end of The World of the Jews in the first century. This end will be a world characterized by a flood of blood, slaughter, and desolation.
c) Third, Daniel gives us more of a clue to who or what this AOD is pointing toward. He says in verse 27b that On a wing of abominations will come one who destroys. This wing thing is quit interesting in light of its historical fulfillment. The NIV says by addition to the text, on a wing of the temple. But that is read into the text and does not come from the text itself. But when you bring the fact that this all took place sometime in the later half of the fist century (after 33 AD) when the Roman Eagle was the supreme symbol or ensign on the standards that flew among the camps of the Roman armies it makes perfect sense! In fact the word kanaph, literally means ‘wing’. We must ask ourselves what picture it brings to mind. Surely it suggests some great bird of prey coming from afar and swooping down on its victim and tearing it to pieces. In this regard the devastating judgment of the Deuteronomic prophesy is telling here: Deuteronomy 28:49-53, 54-57, 58-61, 62-66 . But also Jesus predicts the same bird of prey (some translate the word eagle while some vulture) in Luke 17:37; Matthew 24:28.
c) Third, Daniel gives us more of a clue to who or what this AOD is pointing toward. He says in verse 27b that On a wing of abominations will come one who destroys. This wing thing is quit interesting in light of its historical fulfillment. The NIV says by addition to the text, on a wing of the temple. But that is read into the text and does not come from the text itself. But when you bring the fact that this all took place sometime in the later half of the fist century (after 33 AD) when the Roman Eagle was the supreme symbol or ensign on the standards that flew among the camps of the Roman armies it makes perfect sense! In fact the word kanaph, literally means ‘wing’. We must ask ourselves what picture it brings to mind. Surely it suggests some great bird of prey coming from afar and swooping down on its victim and tearing it to pieces. In this regard the devastating judgment of the Deuteronomic prophesy is telling here: Deuteronomy 28:49-53, 54-57, 58-61, 62-66 . But also Jesus predicts the same bird of prey (some translate the word eagle while some vulture) in Luke 17:37; Matthew 24:28.
And yet, its more accurate or principled meaning is probably closure to pinnacle, or extremity or summit since it is in the singular. In this way it is used to describe the uttermost part, end, or corner of the earth. So the idea here is the extreme nature or expression of abomination, In this way the abomination could point to either the Zealots or the Roman Army. Josephus indicates both of these groups occupied and desecrated the Temple area with Roman Ensigns, pagan offerings on the pagan side and horrific acts of murder on the other side.
d) Fourth, we must realize that even though this event does not take place within the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophesy it does eventually follow Israel’s full scale rejection of the benefits of Daniel’s Seventy Weeks prophecy. It did not have to happen within the timeline but as a result of the timeline.
d) Fourth, we must realize that even though this event does not take place within the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophesy it does eventually follow Israel’s full scale rejection of the benefits of Daniel’s Seventy Weeks prophecy. It did not have to happen within the timeline but as a result of the timeline.
5) CHOSEN - FROM ONE GENETICALLY CHOSEN NATION TO ONE GOSPEL-CALLED, SPIRITUALLY CHOSEN NATION -
5) CHOSEN - FROM ONE GENETICALLY CHOSEN NATION TO ONE GOSPEL-CALLED, SPIRITUALLY CHOSEN NATION -
Matthew 21:43 - Therefore I tell you, the KINGDOM OF GOD will be taken away from you and given to a people/nation producing its fruit.
First it is important to realize that the term a people is NOT a good translation even though many translators use this language. BUT it is not the standard word for people which is Laos in the Bible. The Greek world used here and often and usually translated nation or gentiles is the word Ethnos and stood in the Jewish mind of the first century as the designation for everyone else who is NOT Jewish by descent.
Second. The lead up to this story is found in the blistering set of parables and actions Jesus delivered in his Temple encounters with the Jewish Hegemonic powers of the priests and elders class.
a.) He first delivered a prophetic curse on a fig tree that was barren of fruit which instantly withered, amazing the disciples that witnessed the cursing and the subsequent withering of the tree. He then talks to them about speaking to this mountain (one that seemed to be visibly in their sights, like the Temple Mount!) and commanding it to be thrown into the sea. Some scholars believe Jesus was referring to the Temple because this story is the lead in to the set of Temple Complex encounters and parables Jesus delivers against it. It, like the fig tree, had become barren and unfruitful and stood to be cursed (see Matthew 21:18-20, 21-22).
a.) He first delivered a prophetic curse on a fig tree that was barren of fruit which instantly withered, amazing the disciples that witnessed the cursing and the subsequent withering of the tree. He then talks to them about speaking to this mountain (one that seemed to be visibly in their sights, like the Temple Mount!) and commanding it to be thrown into the sea. Some scholars believe Jesus was referring to the Temple because this story is the lead in to the set of Temple Complex encounters and parables Jesus delivers against it. It, like the fig tree, had become barren and unfruitful and stood to be cursed (see Matthew 21:18-20, 21-22).
b.) Then there was the set of “who’s in charge here” encounters regarding the Temple (Matthew 21:23-27). The first question on authority is probably about the disruption Jesus called the day before in the Temple with the whole money-changer incident (Matthew 21:12-13). Jesus used his amazing wisdom to circumvent their question with a non-answer.
b.) Then there was the set of “who’s in charge here” encounters regarding the Temple (Matthew 21:23-27). The first question on authority is probably about the disruption Jesus called the day before in the Temple with the whole money-changer incident (Matthew 21:12-13). Jesus used his amazing wisdom to circumvent their question with a non-answer.
c.) Since, the chief priest and the elders refused to answer his question he tells them his two blistering Vineyard parables. The Fig Tree and Vineyard are the two biggest symbols of the nation of Israel. The first one is the Parable of The Two Sons (Matthew 21:28-32) and it dealt with the intransigence of the ruling class of the Jews to repent of their sins. And the overall point of the parable is who actually repents of their sins and does the will of God in the end. The first son, rebelliously said he would not work in the vineyard but later changed his mind or repented and obeyed his father. The second son one feigned he would go work in the vineyard but in fact did not obey his father at all. When the High Priest and the elders complimented the first son Jesus issued his rebuke about their own failure to change your mind and believe the AUTHORITATIVE message of John the Baptist!
c.) Since, the chief priest and the elders refused to answer his question he tells them his two blistering Vineyard parables. The Fig Tree and Vineyard are the two biggest symbols of the nation of Israel. The first one is the Parable of The Two Sons (Matthew 21:28-32) and it dealt with the intransigence of the ruling class of the Jews to repent of their sins. And the overall point of the parable is who actually repents of their sins and does the will of God in the end. The first son, rebelliously said he would not work in the vineyard but later changed his mind or repented and obeyed his father. The second son one feigned he would go work in the vineyard but in fact did not obey his father at all. When the High Priest and the elders complimented the first son Jesus issued his rebuke about their own failure to change your mind and believe the AUTHORITATIVE message of John the Baptist!
d.) The second Vineyard parable that blistered the High Priest and the elders, who by the way stood as the representatives of all of Israel, was the famous Parable of the Vineyard Owner (Matthew 21: 33-37, 38-41). This parable didn’t deal so much with the issue of disobedience but of the issue of fruitfulness and outright rebellion, which in some sense is a look back to the fig tree incident above. When the landowner sent his servants to collect his fruit from these tenet farmers they ended up rejecting all who were sent to them, finally even taking the life of the landowner’s own son! They thought by these actions they could take his inheritance from Him! When Jesus then asked them the riveting question of verse 40, Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?, he caught them in a real AUTHORITY TRAP! And unbeknownst to themselves they sealed their own fate, like that of found in John 11:47-49, 50-53. They answered Jesus in self-judgment by saying, He will completely destroy those terrible men and lease his vineyard to other farmers who will give him his fruit at the harvest.
d.) The second Vineyard parable that blistered the High Priest and the elders, who by the way stood as the representatives of all of Israel, was the famous Parable of the Vineyard Owner (Matthew 21: 33-37, 38-41). This parable didn’t deal so much with the issue of disobedience but of the issue of fruitfulness and outright rebellion, which in some sense is a look back to the fig tree incident above. When the landowner sent his servants to collect his fruit from these tenet farmers they ended up rejecting all who were sent to them, finally even taking the life of the landowner’s own son! They thought by these actions they could take his inheritance from Him! When Jesus then asked them the riveting question of verse 40, Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?, he caught them in a real AUTHORITY TRAP! And unbeknownst to themselves they sealed their own fate, like that of found in John 11:47-49, 50-53. They answered Jesus in self-judgment by saying, He will completely destroy those terrible men and lease his vineyard to other farmers who will give him his fruit at the harvest.
e.) He then begins to to get right in their faces when he quotes the Scripture from Psalm 118:22-23 which talks about the builders rejecting the cornerstone of God’s new Temple that Jesus would erect through his resurrected body! And then he says the most startling thing of all to them: the kingdom of God will be TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU and given to a nation producing its fruit (Matthew 21:43). He is calling the kingdom of God the vineyard. But this was not enough! He then says this in verse 43, Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will shatter them! He is clearly alluding to two things in this statement: 1) He is alluding to the cornerstone of God’s New Temple in Jesus for John tells us as much (John 2:16-22). Jesus, in his very Body is the cornerstone of a new Spiritual Temple. 2) He is alluding to Daniel’s famous story of the stone that broke off without a hand touching it and it became a great mountain and filled the whole earth (Daniel 2:31-45). It became this way by shattering the humanly constructed edifice of a human image that represented all human national power states. In the days of that last of the four metallic kingdoms, the kingdom of Rome, that the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. Jesus is saying to the powerbrokers of the First Century Temple Mount that this humanly constructed Temple will be brought down within the generation of the first century listeners and that a New Temple, A Spiritual Temple will take its place! He is saying that the One Genetically Chosen Nation would give way to One Gospel-Called, Spiritually Chosen Nation.
e.) He then begins to to get right in their faces when he quotes the Scripture from Psalm 118:22-23 which talks about the builders rejecting the cornerstone of God’s new Temple that Jesus would erect through his resurrected body! And then he says the most startling thing of all to them: the kingdom of God will be TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU and given to a nation producing its fruit (Matthew 21:43). He is calling the kingdom of God the vineyard. But this was not enough! He then says this in verse 43, Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will shatter them! He is clearly alluding to two things in this statement: 1) He is alluding to the cornerstone of God’s New Temple in Jesus for John tells us as much (John 2:16-22). Jesus, in his very Body is the cornerstone of a new Spiritual Temple. 2) He is alluding to Daniel’s famous story of the stone that broke off without a hand touching it and it became a great mountain and filled the whole earth (Daniel 2:31-45). It became this way by shattering the humanly constructed edifice of a human image that represented all human national power states. In the days of that last of the four metallic kingdoms, the kingdom of Rome, that the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. Jesus is saying to the powerbrokers of the First Century Temple Mount that this humanly constructed Temple will be brought down within the generation of the first century listeners and that a New Temple, A Spiritual Temple will take its place! He is saying that the One Genetically Chosen Nation would give way to One Gospel-Called, Spiritually Chosen Nation.