AUGUST 27 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#27 “Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?” (Matthew 22:12)

 AUGUST 27  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#27  “Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?”  (Matthew 22:12)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, O Precious Jesus, how sweet the Name!!! Jesus, as I awake to a new morning, I am immediately made aware of Your Presence, the Name rolls out of my heart and off my lips, unspoken, but yet it is loud enough that it carries all the way to the One that gave His Perfect Life for my wretched soul and I am made aware instantly that as soon as I spoke His Name that His Mercies were renewed fresh for me to start another day, not alone, not afraid, not weak, but ready to walk in His Footsteps on the Paths of Righteousness for His Name’s Sake — my heart says “Rejoice!” and I say again, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus”!        AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has introduced this third parable establishing that the Lesson is about “a certain king” who all Israel recognized as God Almighty and fits into the rhetoric John and Jesus has been preaching all along — “the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind in all of Israel that God Almighty is the “certain king” and that “heaven” is His Kingdom! From the Genesis account of the Fall of Man the Israelites were familiar with the introduction of the Messiah and the promise of “deliverance” from the Tempter (Satan) as God pronounced the curse on Satan and Eve as God said to Satan, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:15) All Israelite girls would wonder if their pregnancy would be a son and if a son, would that son be the Messiah?  The Psalms contains many Messianic Psalms which King David had written, many of which were written in the City of David in which Jesus is now Teaching this parable of the “certain king” that was going to “arrange a marriage for his son” so many in Jerusalem were aware of this passage: “Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed…He who sits in the heavens shall laugh…[and declares]…I have set My King on My holy hill in Zion…The LORD said, You are My Son, today I have begotten You…I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession..Be instructed, you judges of the earth…Kiss the Son lest you perish in the way of His wrath…Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.” (Psalm 2) Now Jesus has fulfilled all the prophecy of the coming Messiah and is about to fulfill Isaiah’s “Suffering Servant” prophecy found in the Tanakh (the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament) and yet just days before His death Jesus is Teaching this parable of “a certain king” [God in heaven] who is going to arrange a “marriage” for His Son — the contemporaries of Jesus were listening to “men” who said Jesus was not the Messiah even though Jesus had fulfilled enough Messianic prophecies that it was already astronomically impossible for anyone but Jesus to be the Messiah and yet the “rulers” would not yield to the obvious Truth of God that His Only Begotten Son had been born of flesh and has accomplished everything required of the Messiah and this “Son of God” was Jesus of Nazareth who was sitting in the temple Teaching this important parable — everyone was caught up in the “Son of God” issue like all who read these passages and fail to ask the question, “Who was going to be the bride?” This is a good question for everyone to consider:  “If God Almighty indeed arranged a marriage for His Son then there will be offspring of that union, for if God arranged the marriage, won’t He bless the Union with children?” And there still is the question of who is the “bride”?

AUGUST 26 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#27 “Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?” (Matthew 22:12)

 AUGUST 26  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#27  “Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?”  (Matthew 22:12)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS I come today praising You for that “fresh anointing” that You bestowed on me yesterday for I had re-prayed a 2004 prayer asking that You would grant Your Holy Spirit in my life and Lord You proved Yourself Faithful in answering YET ANOTHER prayer.  Lord today  I pray that even though I am in the world that today I will not be “of the world” but that I will be a conduit of Your Holy Spirit that You have so abundantly granted me in my life and Your Spirit will flow out of me to that one that You will place in my way today that needs Your Holy Spirit — so let my spirit be yielded to Your Holy Spirit so that the desires of my flesh will give way to the surrender of my Faith and through Your Grace I will be a blessing to someone that needs what only the Christ can offer, Peace-Love-Joy and a Hope and a Future in our Lord Jesus Christ.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus paints a very clear picture of God and the kingdom of heaven with this third and most important parable that Jesus used in pronouncing the fate of the religious rulers of Israel and all those that reject God and fail to see His purpose for His creation! So let us look at this very, very important parable (Matthew 22:1-14) in enough detail to find the Truth of God that Jesus is Teaching. Jesus starts the parable with: “The kingdom of heaven is like…” (Matthew 22:1a) so there is no doubt that Jesus is talking about “heaven” and if we look at the simple phrase “kingdom of heaven” then we know that there will be “king” that is the Supreme Ruler over the Kingdom of Heaven and in this phrase we can easily assume that the “king” of “heaven” is that “Supreme Ruler”. When Jesus continues “…the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king…” then the religious rulers and everyone in Israel knew and accepted that God is the “certain king” for “God created the heavens and the earth…” (Genesis 1:1) and that God Himself is the Supreme Ruler over His Creation which includes the “heavens and the earth”! Jesus has introduced this third parable Lesson as being about the Supreme Power and Authority over the entire creation of God and that the Truth of God is Eternal! Jesus concludes His introduction of the parable with “…a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son…” so after the phrase about the “certain king” arranging a “marriage” for “his son”, the chief priests and Pharisees knew that the “certain king” is the Almighty God and that He is the Supreme Ruler over all creation, however, the concept of God having a Son and then God having “arranged a marriage” for Him is what the chief priests, religious rulers of Israel, the scribes, the Sanhedrin, the Sadducees, and the Pharisees were having a problem with  — because instead of embracing Jesus as the Son of God they were missing the main point of the Father God and His Begotten Son Jesus and God’s Plan of Salvation for the whole world and all future generations!  So this third parable is most important when we consider that Jesus IS the Son of God, that Jesus fulfilled ALL the prophecies of the Chosen One, the Messiah, and that Jesus is about to complete the Plan of Salvation as the Lamb of God!!!  The Holy Scriptures Teach that as Abraham was about to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac who asked his father, “…but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? and Abraham said, ‘my son, God will provide for Himself the lamb…’” (Genesis 22:7-8) This ties back to the “Baptism-of-John” Question which started this series of “power and authority” Lessons that Jesus is Teaching in His last week on earth before being crucified at the end of the Passover Week. It was John who baptized Jesus and John bore witness of Jesus. When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to him to be baptized in the Jordan River, the forerunner of the Messiah announced:  “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” and immediately after baptizing Jesus, John saw “the Spirit of God descending from heaven” and remained on Jesus — at which point John declared: “And I have seen and testified that [Jesus] is the Son of God.” (Genesis 1:26-34). Therefore this third parable joins together all the Holy Scriptures and all the prophecies except the crucifixion and the resurrection on the third day which are about to be fulfilled so that the Apostle John will write after the death, burial, and resurrection “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17).  Jesus Himself had said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill [the Law and the Prophets]” (Matthew 5:17) When we think of the significance of this third parable in the fulfilling of prophecy and God’s Master Plan we can take a deep breath of gratitude that with only a few days left on earth that Jesus is being so thorough in His Teachings of God’s Plan ——— The Divine Plan for mankind which the Apostle John summarized for us: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) — Jesus is always Teaching, the question is “Are we believing what Jesus is Teaching?” 

AUGUST 25 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#27 “Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?” (Matthew 22:12)

 AUGUST 25  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#27  “Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?”  (Matthew 22:12)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, You are worthy, You are the Holy One, You Lord and only You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. What is man that God the One True Creator with Infinite Wisdom and Knowledge would create a universe of this magnitude and then create man to have dominion over the creation?! Why did God create only man in His image and  endow man with the greatest of all gifts — Freewill!! God then in His Infinite Wisdom allowed for our shortcomings by providing for our Salvation through the sacrifice of Himself ——— the Creator giving Himself for the created!!! O Jesus, what a great Sacrifice  You made for a world that has so horribly abused our gifts that You so freely and abundantly bestowed upon us — and with our abusing and defiling Your Gift of Freewill we have brought shame upon ourselves as a consequence of our disobedience! Praise You O Lord, my God, my Savior. I pray for anointing daily from Your Holy Spirit that my sin against Thee will be no more!   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus was confronted as to His “authority” by the chief priests, religious leaders and the elders and Jesus responded by Teaching them in three consecutive parables that only God has “authority”! The first parable was about a man asking his two sons to go work in a vineyard, the second parable was about a landowner that built a vineyard and leased it to vinedressers who refused to give the landowner his rightful “fruits” and the vinedressers not only refused to surrender to the landowner his rightful dues but they killed, beat, and stoned the landowner’s servants who came on the landowner’s “authority” when they tried to collect from the landowner’s vinedressers. When the landowner sent his son to the vinedressers they killed the son as well. The second parable was prophetic of the purpose of Jesus being in Jerusalem on this Passover and it was also God’s judgement on the chief priests and religious rulers that refused to accept Jesus as Messiah at which point Jesus pronounced, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you [Israel] and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.” (Matthew 21:43) The chief priests and the Pharisees which Jesus had been in confrontation with throughout His earthly ministry “perceived that He was speaking of them” and instead of repenting they “sought to lay hands on Him”.  (Matthew 21:45-46) Jesus continued teaching them by parables as He gave them the 3rd parable “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son…” (Matthew 22:1-2) Jesus has now used parables that include (1) a man who sent his sons into his vineyard to work and asked the Question “Which of the two sons did the will of the father?”, (2) a landowner that built a vineyard and leased it to vinedressers who did not meet the obligations of the “lease” and actually killed the landowners son, and now Jesus presents (3) the third parable that ties all three together and adds additional impact to the Question: Where does authority originate from, heaven or men? In the third parable Jesus starts out with “the kingdom of heaven” which is clearly where True Authority comes from and then Jesus says that heaven is like a “certain king” and announces that the king “arranged a marriage for his son” which brings in the traditions of Abraham and Isaac and the start of the nation of Israel through the twelve sons of Jacob. Surely all the chief priests and religious leaders that spent all their time studying the Holy Scriptures had to see that Jesus is painting a picture of God the Father arranging the Marriage of His Only Begotten Son, the Messiah!!! The parable continued as the “certain king” [God] sent out his servants [God’s prophets] to call those that were invited to the wedding [Israel], and they were not willing to come.” (Matthew 22:3)  It seems hard to believe that the religious rulers could not see that the work Jesus was doing could only be done through and by the True Power and Authority of God just as Nicodemus had said upon observing the miracles that Jesus was doing among the people, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with Him.” (John 3:2) Even with seeing the works of Jesus and knowing that He was sent from God they were nonetheless blinded to The Truth of God that Jesus is God’s Only Begotten Son and the “Chosen One”, the Messiah. Our generation has all the God-Breathed Holy Scriptures and a “cloud of witnesses” that Jesus is the Son of God but we are blinded by our “selfish desires” and we too are “not willing to come [to the wedding feast” — when will we ever learn?

AUGUST 24 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#26 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those called to labor for him?” (Matthew 21:40)

 AUGUST 24  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#26  “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those called to labor for him?”  (Matthew 21:40)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer   

JESUS, Giver of Life, You alone are Worthy — Lord, it would be more than enough for You to provide Salvation for us but when we consider “How” and “Why” You provided that most precious Gift of ETERNAL LIFE, it is truly more than we can begin to understand. Lord Jesus, for You to come down from Your Glory in Heaven to this sin-filled earth is one thing, but to descend from Your Deity to take on flesh is beyond comprehension — add to that mix that You chose to be born of a woman and then to live a perfect example, not as a king or ruler but as a “servant” and then to take that Perfection and use it as the DIVINE Perfect Sacrifice for the sins of the world — O Lord, we shall never in this mortal body and limited intellect know, but when You give us our glorified bodies and we take on the TRUE MIND OF CHRIST, then we will finally understand and then THROUGHOUT ALL ETERNITY we will give to You all praise and Glory due to the ONE THAT DIED TO REDEEM OUR LOST SOULS!!!!!   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus is living and Teaching His last week on earth in Jerusalem where He has made His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem as the Son of David and His first order of business was to clean out the temple of God which had become a “den of thieves” and Jesus re-established the temple as a “house of prayer”. Jesus immediately was confronted by the religious rulers who did not question His “works” ——— however, they were indignant that Jesus had not come to get permission from them so they questioned His “authority” — obviously these “rulers” were blinded by their self-assumed authority and missed the Truth of God that only God had the power to do miracles and healing and that these miraculous works of God was being accomplished through Jesus, the Chosen One under the leadership of the Holy Spirit in the temple at Jerusalem right before their eyes, with their permission or not!!! Jesus went right to the point of correcting their mistakes and He started with returning their question of “authority” by pointing out that ALL AUTHORITY AND POWER COMES FROM GOD — If there were no God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob there would be no Israel, no City of David and no Temple of God and all the “rulers” would have NO authority whatsoever outside the existence of God! When the “rulers” continued their confrontation, Jesus then began to Teach with parables as only the Master Teacher could do. Just as Jesus had taught by the “the-baptism-of-John”  Question the Truth of God that ALL SIN is against the True Authority of God and that God will “Judge” all that do not “Repent”!!! (Matthew 21:28-32) Jesus is now using the parable of the two sons to continue the Lesson — as a continuation of His Lessons to the “rulers” Jesus goes immediately into the next parable as He said to them, “Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.” (Matthew 21:33) Keep in mind to whom Jesus is “Teaching” and what “Lesson” He will convey with these 3 parables Taught in succession — for these three parables all address the issue of how we should respond to the True Authority of God!  Oswald Chambers in his commentary on SEPTEMBER 22 (from the journal “My Utmost for His Highest”) really nails what the whole problem really is with not only “rulers” but with everyone who denies the reality of God and His Perfect Plan of Salvation as Oswald writes: “To have a master and teacher is not the same thing as being mastered and taught. Having a master and teacher means that there is someone who knows me better that I know myself, who is closer than a friend, and who understands the remotest depths of my heart and is able to satisfy them fully. It means having someone who has made me secure in the knowledge that he has met and solved all the doubts, uncertainties, and problems in my mind. To have a master and teacher is this and nothing less—for One is your Teacher, the Christ…” (Matthew 23:8) Jesus is “Teaching” in Matthew 21-22 through parables about “True Authority and Lordship” and then in Matthew 23 He sums up the “why and how” for all who will listen and allow themselves to be “Taught” by the “Master”. The question each of us must ask ourselves is “Are we willing to be taught by the Master who is the One True Lord of Life?” ——— Jesus immediately started the second parable but where the first parable established the penalty for not obeying the father, the second parable is prophetic as He summed up the history of Israel and the hope of the Messiah as Jesus said that the landowner planted a vineyard and equipped it with everything they needed to have a good crop and a good living and then he “leased” the vineyard and  “went into a far country”. Jesus has been telling His disciples that He was going to be betrayed into the hands of men and He would be crucified and buried but on the third day He would be “resurrected” and Jesus repeats that prophecy of His death as He teaches in this prophetic parable that when the “vintage time drew near” that the landowner sent servants (prophets) and vinedressers (religious rulers) “beat one, killed one, and stoned the other…” (Matthew 21:35) then the landowner finally sent his son saying “they will respect my son…” (Matthew 21:37) Jesus then predicts His death as He continued, “the vinedressers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’” (Matthew 21:38) Jesus then asked JQ#25 “Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?” (Matthew 21:40). Once again the religious rulers gave the obvious answer that the landowner would “destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.” (Matthew 21:41) Jesus then let the scriptures pronounce the religious rulers fate as He quoted from the Psalms: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes…” (Psalm 118:22-23) (Matthew 21:42). Then Jesus let the ax fall on the Sanhedrin and all the “religious rulers” of Israel that had rejected Him as the Son of God as Jesus gives His final judgement: “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.” (Matthew 21:43) This parable about the landowner really hit home because “Now when the chief priest and Pharisees heard His parable, they perceived that He was speaking of them.” (Matthew 21:45) But even though they could answer the obvious Question they could not see the prophetic picture of God coming back to His Creation and will require an accounting of all that He has called into His labors — The question we must ask ourselves is: “Have we been doing everything we should have been doing to render to God the ‘fruits in their season’?”

AUGUST 23 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#25 “Which of the two did the will of the father?” (Matthew 21:31)

 AUGUST 23  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#25  “Which of the two did the will of the father?”  (Matthew 21:31)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer   

JESUS, my Redeemer, my Savior, the Only Begotten of the Most High God. There is no name like the Holy Matchless Name of Jesus. Lord, Savior, Friend, all praise is Yours. Your Kingdom will know no end, You will forever be the King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus, I surrender my life to Praise and Honor Your Holy Name. I know that if I could completely abandon my selfish desires and sinful ways that the Holy Spirit would fill this unworthy earthen vessel and Your Abundant Love and Eternal Grace would spill over to the world through an outpouring of Your Mercy — so grant it Lord that I can be strong enough to let go, wise enough to let You fill me with Your knowledge, and Lord, weak enough to yield completely to the indwelling of Your Holy Spirit.   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus began Teaching further about “authority” with three consecutive parables, the first of which is the parable of the two sons. Jesus had the chief priests and elders thinking about the “baptism of John” so Jesus confronts them with: “But what do you think?” (Matthew 21:28) and then Jesus told this parable: a man asked his two sons to go work in his vineyard, one son said he would go but never went and the second son said he would not go but “afterward he regretted [not obeying his father] and went [to work in the vineyard]…” (Matthew 21:29) — Jesus ended the parable with the Jesus Question JQ#25: “Which of the two did the will of his father?” (Matthew 21:31) The chief priests and elders that were confronting Jesus with His “authority” gave the obvious answer that the one that went and worked in the vineyard was the one that did the father’s will. Jesus immediately tied this parable to John the Baptist who came in the Name of the Father preaching “Repentance” ——— Jesus confirmed that all who believed John and repented will inherit the kingdom of God, but those that did not do the will of the Father simply would not enter the kingdom of God. Jesus has been saying in His ministry that He is doing the “works that His Father” had sent Him to do. When Jesus told this parable it should have been obvious that Jesus was talking about God’s chosen people Israel and that God had “brought them out of Egypt” and had led them to a “land of milk and honey” but as the children of Israel they had a responsibility to “work in [God’s] vineyard”. (Matthew 21:28) The point that Jesus is making to the religious rulers was that God had invited them to work in His vineyard and it really doesn’t matter what they “said”  they would do, the important thing was that they actually “did the works” of the father. Jesus could not have made it any clearer to the religious leaders that God had given them a job  in His Vineyard and those that did the will of the father would be rewarded. By tying this parable to the baptism of John, Jesus is stating that God sent John to prepare the way for Jesus who IS the Messiah  and if they refused to listen to the Father and do His Will that they will not “enter the kingdom of God”. Jesus then makes a direct connection to John the Baptist with the rulers as He said, “for John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him, and when you saw it you did not afterward relent and believe him.” (Matthew 21:32) So with this parable Jesus is describing to the chief priests and elders the will of the Father: “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He hath sent.” (John 6:29) God has called all to [repent and] enter into His labors and it is our responsibility to get busy doing “the will of the father.”

AUGUST 22 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#24 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”” (Matthew 21:25)

 AUGUST 22  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#24  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?””  (Matthew 21:25)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer   

JESUS, O the joy of starting each day knowing that You are always there, my Lord and my Redeemer, my Shepherd that leads me beside still waters! Thank You Jesus for  the Mercy that is renewed daily and Your Grace that You bestow so faithfully on all that call upon the Name of the Only Begotten of the Father and believe that God came in the flesh, was tempted in all ways that we are tempted, yet You were without sin — what a glorious thought that You suffered the trials of this world yet You remained perfect so that You could introduce Redemption through Your Perfect sinless Life — Godly Redemption bought by the Precious Blood of the Lamb of God exchanged for the lives of sinners unable to save ourselves — I cannot fathom “why an ALL POWERFUL GOD” would die for a sinner such as I, but I believe and therefore I rest in the Assurance that Your Grace is Sufficient for ALL my daily needs and for my Eternal Security and Future. Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow, Praise to the Son who gave Himself for the atonement of sin, and Praise to the Holy Spirit that lives within believers and guides us in paths of Righteousness and teaches us the “Way”.           AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus proved Himself to be the Messiah sent from God each time He confronted the problem of mankind moving away from the “command of God” —— Jesus always exposed the lie spawned by the “doctrines of men” in their selfish desires “to be like God” for the “lie” is always exposed by the True Light that always illuminates the Truth of God. Jesus was in the temple doing the work of the Messiah in the sight of all Israel and yet the rulers, the chief priests and the elders dared to question His “authority” —they did not deny the “works” that Jesus was doing. Their blindness to the Truth of God however made them revert to the “traditions of men”, for until Jesus took over control of the temple the chief priests and elders had been in “control” of the multitudes because the people had been led to believe that the chief priests and elders were the only “authority” in Israel. Spiritual blindness prevented the chief priests and elders from seeing the Truth of God that the kingdom of heaven was at hand and they failed to repent but continued in their sin against God by questioning the authority by which Jesus was doing God’s Holy Work! Jesus asked the “Baptism-of-John” Question  because the ONLY ANSWER that could be given was “all authority comes from God”. Matthew records the chief priests and elders response to the Question Jesus posed to them: “And they [the chief priests and elders] reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘If we say, from heaven, He will say to us, Why then did you not believe [John]? But if we say, From men, we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.’” (Matthew 21:25-26) It was at this point that the chief priests and elders made the universal mistake of all generations that face the Universal Question of “God” when they reasoned the “TRUTH of GOD” but mistakenly thought that they would get out of the problem by not giving an answer (sound familiar?) — “So [the chief priests and elders] answered Jesus and said, ‘We do not know.’” (Matthew 21:27) It was at that point that all authority was clearly and undeniably with Jesus as He then used the “power and authority of God” to Teach this Truth of God as Jesus Taught the parable of the two sons ——— He started the Lesson in the classic way, ——— Jesus now has the undivided attention of the chief priests and the elders and so Jesus begins the Lesson by making us put on our thinking caps: “But what do you think? A man had two sons…” (Matthew 21:28) describing that the man went to his two sons and asked them to go work in his vineyard, one son said “yes” but then did not go work in the vineyard and the other son replied “no” but then later “repented” and decided to go work in the vineyard as the father had requested. Jesus ended the Lesson with another Question, “Which of the two sons did the will of his father?” (Matthew 21:28-31) Of course, when put in such simple terms, the chief priests and elders gave Jesus the right answer: “They said to [Jesus], [the son that did as the father had asked]” and Jesus then pronounced judgement on them for not answering His previous “Baptism-of-John” Question which had just as obvious an answer — “Jesus said to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it you did not afterward relent and believe him.” (Matthew 21:32)  The Lesson everyone should take away from this “refusal to answer God” mistake is most important: (1) Baptism is real because sin against God is real. (2) Denying the reality of “baptism” or “God” has no bearing on the Truth of God that God EXISTS! (3) God will present us the opportunity to “believe” but we must use our God-given Freewill to choose to “Trust God” instead of “trusting the doctrines of men”. (4) ALL POWER AND AUTHORITY IS FROM GOD (5) Ignorance or refusal to answer in not an acceptable response before God, the Supreme Authority, because refusal to answer God is the same as “denying God”!  God will Judge each individual according to Truth of God that God has already firmly established and will be fairly administered to all — we will get our “Just Rewards” as already determined by God Himself for whatever actions we choose to take in our lives. Jesus asks this Question of all generations and we must give Him an honest answer, remember that God knows your thoughts and nothing is hidden from God — so how will you answer this Question God has placed before you — “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?” (JQ#24 — Matthew 21:25)

AUGUST 21 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#24 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”” (Matthew 21:25)

 AUGUST 21  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#24  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?””  (Matthew 21:25)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, You Lord are the Only Begotten of the Great I AM, yet You came to earth in the form of a baby to live a life as we must live, in the flesh and dependent on God’s Spirit! Lord, we cannot comprehend God, the Truly Divine, the Creator and Sustainer of all life and all that exists in the universe and it is truly impossible for us to imagine a God that does not need anything or anyone to sustain Himself, why would so Powerful and Supreme a Divine Being conceive and execute a Plan of Salvation for a world of sinners and send His Only Begotten Son into a sinful world with the single purpose to “SAVE” the world from ourselves!?!?!? O Lord, I beg Your Forgiveness for all the times that I fail to see Your Plan for the world and Your Plan for me — You do not need us for anything but yet You present us the opportunity to “enter into Your labors” with You and by our belief in Your efforts that our sins will be forgiven and we become heirs to eternal life!!!! Lord Jesus, forgive me, for I am a sinner whose only HOPE IS GRACE!!      AMEN

AUGUST 21  THE JESUS QUESTIONS

JQ#24  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?””  (Matthew 21:25)     Jesus really makes it easy for us when He asks this “power and authority” Question in terms of “baptism” being from “heaven” or “men” — there is no way to answer His Question without addressing our core Christian beliefs on their most basic level. We must first logically admit that somewhere the doctrine of “baptism” began and we can read historians writing about this era in Jewish history as a man named John who lived off locusts and wild honey in the wilderness outside of Jerusalem with a single purpose in life — not to gain possessions of any kind, nor to rise to any position of “power and authority”, but this single purpose by this man with a different lifestyle was recorded in the Holy Scriptures as: “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.” (John 1:6-7) The mission of John is recorded in the Scriptures as “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’” (Matthew 3:1-2) The Scriptures which were well known by the Jews of John’s generation and these Jews were well aware that the prophet Isaiah had written 800 years earlier about the Messiah as well as a “forerunner of the Messiah”, saying of this forerunner, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord…” (Isaiah 11:1)  John was recognized as being from God and doing the work of God for the “Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask [John], ‘Who are you?’” (John 1:19) John, knowing that they were referring to the Messiah because of the success John had achieved with the multitudes preaching “Repentance” and that the “kingdom of heaven was at hand”, John told them “I am not the Christ” so the priests and Levites asked “why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ?” John then told the authorities that he baptized with water but that “After me comes a Man who is preferred before me … I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.” (John 1:15-34) So when Jesus asks the Question built around “the baptism of John”, all Israel was aware that John was a prophet of God fulfilling a prophecy of Isaiah about the Coming Messiah — all Israel also knew that John the Baptist was sent by God to preach “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”, and all Israel, especially the religious rulers knew that the multitudes had gone to John the Baptist in the wilderness “around the Jordan…and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Matthew 3:4-6) This Question Jesus is now asking them about the “baptism of John” could only be answered for the Truth of God that it was, John was not the Christ but he was “baptizing” in the wilderness of Jordan all who confessed their sins against God and preaching “Repent”. John the Baptist clearly stated this was all about God and the “kingdom of heaven” so now when the religious leaders attack Jesus and demand to know “by what authority” Jesus is doing His miraculous works, Jesus makes them face the Truth of God that “baptism” and the “confession of sins” has only One True Authority — the One True God!  So when Jesus ties the “Baptism of John” together with “power and authority” and gives the rulers the choice “from heaven or from men”, the only answer that can be given is to admit that MEN HAVE NO AUTHORITY OR POWER EXCEPT THAT WHICH GOD PERMITS — TRUE POWER AND AUTHORITY COMES ONLY FROM GOD IN HEAVEN!!!!! The rulers knew that they had to give Jesus an answer or lose all authority but they also realized, that if they admitted the Truth of God that they were going to lose all authority! Jesus, being the Master Teacher has presented the “Question” and now He is going to use a parable to give us the “Answer” and sum up the “Baptism of John” and the TRUTH of GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION! Do you need additional Lessons or are you ready to give Jesus an honest answer to His Question: “The baptism of John — is it from heaven or from men?”  Jesus is saying to us:“God the Father and His Heaven is real, I am His Only Begotten Son sent from Heaven with the PLAN OF SALVATION FOR ALL MANKIND and the Truth of God  is : REPENT, FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND!!!”