Thru the Bible

Steve Schwetz: If you have ever tried to stand up for your faith in a hostile setting, you know about the subtle ways that people can twist your words or intentions. It takes wisdom to navigate those kinds of situations, doesn't it? Welcome to Through the Bible. In our study this time, we are going to see how Jesus stood up to three different kinds of intellectual attack. Our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, illustrates from Jesus' response just how savvy you must be to get to the heart of any debate.

I am Steve Schwetz, holding the doors of the Bible bus open as you find a seat. While you do that, Greg's here to tell us a little bit about a newer partnership opportunity that we've had, and it involves our Bible bus passes, doesn't it?

Greg: It does. Steve, in the last, I don't know, I'd say five or six years, in particular, we've seen our ability to partner to go beyond broadcast media.

Steve Schwetz: Yeah.

Greg: When I joined TTB on staff 15 years ago, lo, so long ago. It's been an amazing decade and a half. But in those early days, I was always connecting with other broadcasters. But now with digital tools and the Bible bus passes, which, you want to give a quick description of those for those who haven't heard?

Steve Schwetz: First of all, we give them to you for free. All you have to do is call us and ask for them and they come in a 10-pack. They're the size of a business card. You can throw a couple in your wallet and hand them out to people that you can strike a conversation up if don't just leave them someplace. Some people do that. That's called litter.

But if you can put it into somebody's hand and really share with them what what the program means to you, it's a great low-friction way to share the Bible and Through the Bible.

Greg: And so here's an exciting new partnership that we have entered into with a great ministry called Preborn. And it is a ministry that ministers to young women who are pregnant, and to their spouses or their significant others, whoever's involved in that situation. And they are bringing the gospel to those people. They're using ultrasounds and other things to show them that that's a real human being in the in the woman's womb.

And so they're wanting to partner with us and share Bible bus passes. A, if they've come to Christ and they'll say, hey, you can grow by listening to Through the Bible. Or B, even if they haven't responded to Christ, they could say, here's a program you might want to listen to.

Steve Schwetz: Yeah. And I I appreciate this actually, this this door of opportunity for us was open through a board member, our newest board member, Rob Rynders, who there's a whole story that we don't have time to cover about how he even became a part of the ministry. But he is, among many things, a good networker of Christian people and resources, and he's the one that put us together with with the Preborn folks.

And we are looking forward to the partnership and not only Preborn in their part in in preventing abortions, which we believe is always the right thing to do, but also to to share the gospel for people that are in difficult situations.

Greg: Yeah. And so we're just excited that we can now offer TTB's digital content through these Bible bus passes, just a QR code. You open the camera and it opens a website that takes you to not just the English app, but all over 100 languages.

So you can also use it if you're in an Uber with someone and they maybe speak a different language, or you meet someone on the street. So many ways now to partner and we're so excited about it.

Steve Schwetz: We are. Let me pray for us, Greg, as we begin our study. Heavenly Father, we pray that there would be opportunities for the many listeners that have those Bible bus passes, that they would remember they've got them and they would have an opportunity to hand them out and just lovingly share something that's meaningful to them, which is the ministry of Through the Bible, and the teaching that it contains about biblical truth. I pray that you would open those doors even today. Bless the study as it goes out in Jesus' name. Amen.

Now we're off to Matthew 22 on Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now we are coming in the Gospel of Matthew to the crucifixion of Christ. He's moving majestically as the King, beginning yonder in Caesarea Philippi. He took these majestic steps down through that land, through Galilee, then beyond Jordan from Jericho. He's now come to Jerusalem and he's ridden into the city, and for a brief moment he demanded that they at least consider him.

I think heretofore he had never come into Jerusalem this way. And we'll see that when we get to the Gospel of John. I think he came in the sheep gate in a very unobtrusive manner, the gate where the animals for sacrifice were brought. But not this time, he rides in as a King and they recognize him, those that are with him as a King. And it's an opportunity for them to accept him or reject him. He's, as it were, forcing himself upon the people.

Now, Matthew tells us that the three different groups in the nation, the Herodians and the Sadducees and the Pharisees, they make an onslaught and attack upon him. And that's what we have here in this 22nd chapter. We got down just a little ways in the chapter.

Now here at verse 15 is where we begin today. And first it's the Herodians who come to him with a question that actually related to their particular position. You see, they were a political party which favored the house of Herod. They looked to those of that house to deliver them from the Roman yoke. And they were strictly political. I do not think would be considered a religious party at all.

And the Pharisees apparently used them or prompted them. It's quite possible that many of the Pharisees were also Herodians since it was a political party. Now I am reading verse 15. "Then went the Pharisees and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk." Now, the Pharisees instigated this attack upon him. But notice what they did. Verse 16.

"They sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that you are true and teach the way of God in truth, neither care you for any man, for you regard not the person of man. Tell us, therefore, what think you? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar or not?"

Now, obviously they were not really interested in that. They had their own answer, let's say. It was a trick question. You see, if he said, "No, you're not to pay tribute to Caesar," then he's a traitor to Rome. And Rome was ruling over them. If he said, "Yes," then he is not their true Messiah because the Messiah would not say that. Believe me, they've got him on the horns of a dilemma, haven't they? Well, they think they have at least. Now, shall we pay tribute unto Caesar or not?

Now will you notice what he did. "And Jesus perceived their wickedness and said, Why tempt you me, you hypocrites?" You notice what he called them. He called them what they were, hypocrites. Now, verse 19, "Show me the tribute money." And they brought unto him a penny. I think this is very notable. He used their coin. I've often wondered why he didn't use his own. I think it's because he didn't have one.

He asked them, "Show me a coin. Let me have a coin." And he said unto them, "Whose is this image and superscription?" They say unto him, "Caesar's." And now they were using the legal tender, the Roman government. And here it was a Roman coin.

"Then said he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's." This is an amazing answer because there's more here than just answering them, and he certainly did that, that they owed something to Caesar. They did owe him something. They were using his coin, for instance. They walked down Roman roads. And Rome did give them a measure of peace. So they did owe something to Rome. And therefore, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. But there's another department, unto God the things that are God's.

Now, when they had heard these words, they marveled and left him and went their way. Now, this very frankly reveals that he did not fall into their trap and they did owe Caesar something. But that did not remove their responsibility to God at all. Now, they left him. They went their way. It's time now for the Sadducees to come to bat, and they make an attempt to trap him.

Verse 23 now and I am reading. "The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection and ask him saying, Master, Moses said if a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, raise up seed unto his brother. Now, there were with us seven brethren. The first when he married a wife, deceased and having no issue, left his wife unto his brother. Likewise the second also, the third, and all the way down, by the way, to the seventh. And last of all, the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the seven, for they've all had her?"

Now you see the Sadducees, they didn't believe in a resurrection. It's a ridiculous illustration. Imagine this woman had seven brothers for her husbands. She must have been in Hollywood to have done this. But the question is, whose wife shall she be? Now, there are two things our Lord said in which the Sadducees erred. Listen to him. Verse 29.

"Jesus answered and said unto them, You do err, not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God." Now the Sadducees were ignorant in two spheres. They first of all did not know the scriptures and they had no knowledge of the power of God. In other words, ignorance of the scriptures and ignorance of the power of God caused them to bring up such a ridiculous illustration as that.

Now, the explanation is simple and the problem is solved. And it's just this simple. Verse 30. "For in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven." Now, they are not angels. We'll not be angels in heaven. But we'll be like them in the sense that they do not marry or are given in marriage.

In other words, there'll not be any necessity to continue the race by birth. No multiplication of the race by that method in heaven. That does not mean that a husband and wife who were very close down here can't be together in heaven. If they want to be, of course, they could be. But my friend, think of the ones that wouldn't want to be together and they certainly won't have to be together.

But after all, they both will have new body, be new individuals, and probably they'll get along lots better up there than they did down here. But the important thing is that no such thing as the marriage relationship for the purpose of propagating the race. That is the point that he's answering.

Now, he says this to them. Verse 31. "But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God's not the God of the dead, but of the living." And that is devastating, that statement. Abraham, what about Abraham today? Well, Abraham is as much Abraham today as he ever was. How about Isaac and Jacob? They've just been transferred to another place. They're living.

And that's true of your loved one that's in Christ, waiting over there for you. This is a great statement. When the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine. The Sadducees now have been silenced. The Herodians have been silenced. The Pharisees, they represented actually the very best in Israel. They were a religio-political party, and they hoped to restore the kingdom. In that, they could join with the Herodians. They'd like to have seen the kingdom of David brought back into power and get rid of Rome. But as a religious party, they opposed the Sadducees. I would suppose they would correspond to the conservative wing today of the church and that the Sadducees would correspond to the liberal wing of the church.

Now, let me read verse 34. "But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together." In other words, they have a huddle now, and they've got to plan a strategy in order to come to him. "Then one of them, which was a lawyer," and that would mean a scribe. He knew the Mosaic law and that is the sense in which this is used here. "Ask him a question, tempting him and saying," Now, they put this man forth as being their clever lawyer in order that he might propound a question. Verse 36, "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?"

Now, listen to the Lord. "Jesus said unto him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment." And he did not pick any one of the Ten Commandments. Now will you notice, and he gives them a second one. "The second is like unto it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Now, when you put this down on your life, you recognize that you are coming short of the glory of God. And our Lord now is very straightforward with the man. Here are the two great commandments. You want to know what is the greatest? Well, this is the greatest and this is the next one. "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

Now, the Pharisees are a little puzzled, and so they huddle again. Verse 41. "While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them." Now, you see, his answer was so definite and straightforward, and it's so obviously accurate. And they had to be honest. If they were honest, they'd have to say, "Well, we've fallen short. We can't be saved that way. We do need a savior." And he was right there almost in the shadow of the cross.

Now will you notice, "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." "While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them." Now, they had a little huddle. They were going to come at him again, but he beats them now to the punch, and now he asks them something. And this is what he asked. "What think you of Christ? Whose son is he?" They had questioned his birth, you see. "Whose son is he?" They say unto him, "The son of David."

He said unto them, "How then does David in spirit," or "in the spirit," "call him Lord?" And David did that in Psalm 110 verse 1. "How did David do that? How could David call his son his Lord?" That just wasn't the way it was done. They would have to say that he would have to be supernaturally born for David to call him Lord.

And he quotes now, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit you on my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool." That's Psalm 110:1. "If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?" That's the question that our Lord put them. "And no man was able to answer him a word, neither dared any man from that day forth ask him any more questions."

Now you see, there are several things that are quite interesting here. David wrote Psalm 110. The liberals say he didn't. David wrote Psalm 110 by the Holy Spirit. The liberals say not. And David wrote Psalm 110 about the Messiah. The liberals say he didn't. But you see, our Lord made that very clear.

Now, this gives the explanation, and the only explanation is the virgin birth of Jesus. "If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?" He couldn't be his son by natural birth. It had to be by a supernatural birth. And they had to admit that. And you see, they were questioning his, by the way. They were saying, for instance, "We're sons of Abraham. We're not illegitimate at all."

Now, this ended the verbal clash with the religious rulers. And we're told that no man, no man was able to answer him a word, neither dared any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. They made no concerted attack upon him verbally after this. They have determined his death now, and that's the thing they're going to move to. They see they cannot answer him. This is to me one of the great proofs of his deity.

Now we come to chapter 23. And here the Lord Jesus warns the multitude against the scribes and Pharisees, and he pronounces woes upon the scribes and Pharisees and weeps over Jerusalem. Now, this chapter concludes the clash with the religious rulers by the Lord Jesus, warning the multitude about them, and then denouncing the religious rulers in no unmistakable terms. It is scathing, it is scalding, it's scorching what he says to them. It's filled with invective, denunciation, and merciless condemnation.

It's very difficult for me to see how the liberal articulates this chapter with his conception of a gentle Jesus who never judged in saying anything harsh while he was here. You read this chapter carefully and slowly, and it'll blanch your own soul. It's more difficult, I think, to outline this chapter than most of the others here. But you have the warning of Jesus against the scribes and Pharisees and then the woes of Jesus against the scribes and Pharisees, and then the weeping of Jesus over Jerusalem.

Now, listen to him as he begins here. "Then spoke Jesus to the multitude and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat." They usurping that which was really they had no right to. They occupied the same position the church leaders occupy today. People looked up to him for the interpretation of the truth.

Now, listen to him. "All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do, but do not you after their works, for they say and do not." Now, they interpret the scripture. And you can't break the scripture because they're breaking it. You do what the scripture says, but you don't follow their works because they're not following the word of God. Now, here's a sad commentary upon religious rulers. Listen to him.

"For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." "But all their works they do for to be seen of man. They make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the uppermost rooms at feasts and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greeting in the markets and to be called of man Rabbi, Rabbi." They like to have titles. They like to be recognized. They wear certain religious garments and habits that sets them apart from other people. Our Lord is condemning that.

Now he says here, "But be you not called Rabbi," that is a teacher. "For one is your master, even Christ, and all you are brethren." That is something we need to keep in mind. I think that there's certain respect, honor belongs to the pastor of a church. But my friend, he's no different than anyone else. He's just one of your brothers.

"And call no man your father," that is the life-giver. That's what a father is upon the earth. "For one is your father which is in heaven. Neither be you called master," that is, you don't have any authority. The only authority is the word of God. "Neither be you called master, for one is your master, even Christ." This is terrific, by the way.

"But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant." If you want to be the greatest, then become the servant of all. "And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted." Now he pronounced these woes here, and believe me, they're terrific. Listen to this. "But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" Listen to him.

"For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, for you neither go in yourselves neither suffer you them that are entering to go in." In other words, a hypocrite can block the way to heaven more than anything else. And that is the thing he's saying. He uses the term woe here eight times and hypocrites seven times.

Again, verse 14. "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Listen to this. You devour widow's houses and for a pretense make long prayer, therefore you shall receive the greater condemnation." In other words, their business dealings were crooked and heartless, but they made long prayers.

Verse 15. "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he's made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves." Oh, they were great going out witnessing. They could go down to the mission and speak, and they would go around everywhere and give a witness. But I tell you, they were not getting anyone to Christ. No one really was born again.

"Woe unto you, you blind guides! Which say, whosoever shall swear by the temple, it's nothing, but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he's a debtor." They're hairsplitters, you see. Verse 17. "You fools and blind! For whether is greater, the gold of the temple that sanctifies the gold? And whosoever shall swear by the altar, it's nothing, but whosoever swears by the gift that is upon it, he's guilty. You fools and blind! For whether's greater the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?"

"Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar swears by it and by all things thereon. And whosoever shall swear by the temple swears by it and by him that dwells therein. And he that shall swear by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him that sits thereon." You see, they were attempting to split hairs, and that is something that is dangerous in Christian work today. My, I tell you, you won't find anything more harsh than this. And I think we've had just about all we can take of this today. But I intend to finish it next time as we see the gentle Jesus using the harshest language that's in the entire word of God. Until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved.

Steve Schwetz: We are grateful for our committed listening family who faithfully pray and invest in Through the Bible as we together take the whole word to the whole world.