SEPTEMBER 10 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#28 “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?” (Matthew 22:18)

 

SEPTEMBER 10  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#28 

“Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?”  (Matthew 22:18)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, it is still a mystery to this sinner why such Divine Perfection

 would be Sacrificed for my wretched soul — why would the Almighty

 Creator God that is completely Self-Existent even bother to 

expend so much effort to insure that creatures that He does 

not need can be Redeemed from our self-made iniquities against

 such a Gracious God??? Lord Jesus, that You would Suffer and Die

 to Purchase my Pardon is indeed unfathomable but Lord I Praise You 

for Your Mercy and Your Grace, for I know I have done nothing and 

can do nothing to earn such Divine Favor except to accept the 

Gift of God which is Salvation through Belief in His Only Begotten Son,

 Jesus Christ. Lord, I do not need to know why any more, for 

Your Grace is Sufficient and I pray that my Faith grows each day 

as I learn to die-to-self daily and let Your Holy Spirit dwell in this 

new vessel of Divine Regeneration — for now I am learning to pray

 “The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want…” 

Thank You Jesus for life, guide me throughout my day 

that I can worship You and the Father in Spirit and in Truth!   

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus fulfilled prophecy when He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey,

 then upon entering the city Jesus demonstrated that He was the 

Messiah as He went immediately to the temple and put His Father’s

 House in order which is what any Obedient Son and Heir would do 

for His Father’s Kingdom. It is interesting to note that the actions of 

Jesus were never questioned but that once 

Jesus demonstrated His “Authority-from-God” 

that all those that had previously been in “self-appointed authority”

 who now were being exposed for their sins were trying to defend 

themselves and their man-made doctrines which they had been

 imposing on God’s chosen nation, Israel. Jesus cleansed the 

temple which they had defiled (see Jeremiah 7:11-15) and then He

 entered the temple and began giving sight to the blind 

and the lame could walk again 

for everyone was “healed” that “came to Him 

in the temple” (Matthew 21:14). 

Again, if Jesus was an actual criminal and was guilty of any 

punishable crimes against the temple then surely the temple guards

 that were there on the premises would have arrested Him yet Jesus

 “drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple” 

and then 

immediately Jesus sat down and began performing miracles 

of healing that could only be accomplished through the 

Power and Authority of ALMIGHTY GOD Himself, 

hence there were no arrests. Even 

“the chief priests and scribes [in the temple] saw 

the wonderful things that [Jesus] did” 

after cleansing the temple (den of thieves who were robbing God) 

and returning its function back to God’s Intended Purpose 

which was to be “A House of Prayer”. 

None of the works that Jesus was doing could be questioned so 

all the religious rulers probably got together and “plotted” how they

 might make Jesus look bad in front of the multitude and regain 

their positions of “self-appointed authority” where they had high 

offices and lofty titles which Jesus was stripping away with every

 Lesson He Taught this final week before culminating His earthly

 ministry at the Passover with 

His Sacrificial Death on the Cross as the Lamb of God! 

We should also note that the common thing among all the “authorities”

 was that they all used the same argument to try and trap Jesus 

as they each asked in their own ways “Is it lawful?” which in reality is

 the reason why Jesus was on earth in the first place, because man 

had ignored the “commands of God [The Law]” because of their 

“manmade traditions” [doctrines of men] and here they were facing

 God in the flesh who was performing works that could only 

be performed by God! These “self appointed leaders” who were not 

being able to cast aspersions on the    Works of God through 

His Only Begotten Son Jesus tried to attack the Creator of the Law

 with those things that are “lawful”??? We should look closely at 

our own “arguments” against God, especially when our arguments 

are based on things that are clearly 

“things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21b) !  

Jesus made it clear early on in His Ministry why He was here 

on earth when He gave the Sermon on the Mount and then declared,

 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.

 I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say 

to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or tittle 

will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” 

(Matthew 5:18) 

Jesus then expressed clearly why the “self-proclaimed authorities” 

were in trouble as He continued on His fulfilling of the 

LAW of GOD 

as He said, 

“Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments,

 and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven;

 but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great 

in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your 

righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes 

and Pharisees, you will by no means 

enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-20) 

And yet, here in the temple of God where Jesus has just cleaned out

 all who bought and sold in the temple, what makes these scribes and 

Pharisees think that Jesus will not also clean up the “spiritual garbage”

 as well??? — maybe we should remove the plank in our eye 

so that we can see the 

Truth of God

 that Jesus came to Teach to all people and for every generation???

 Review your life and see how it lines up with 

God’s Truth 

and not your “traditions” because 

there are both “Blessings” and “Curses” being taught 

in God’s Truth, and He Teaches everyone, 

it is our responsibility to “Listen and Learn”!!!