Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm19990203.htm

LUKE: GOSPEL OF CERTIFYING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
Part LXIX: Certifying The Christian Faith By Its Messiah's Commanding Knowledge And Use
(Luke 20:27-47)
  1. Introduction
    1. We who are centuries removed from Jesus and are left with fewer and distant evidences than were original eyewitnesses of Christ, and thus seem relatively less advantaged toward coming to faith in Christ.
    2. However, Luke's Gospel, penned for a non-eyewitness in Theophilus (Luke 1:3-4) supplies information that a non-eyewitness can use to make a sensible decision to trust in Christ as the Son of God.
    3. One way Luke provides such insight is to take clearly pre-Christian Old Testament writings and show Christ's commanding knowledge and use of them to prove He is the true Messiah.
  2. Certifying The Christian Faith By Its Messiah's Commanding Knowledge And Use Of Scripture.
    1. Luke's Gospel was written to give Theophilus insight on the credibility of the Christian faith, Lk. 1:3-4.
    2. As Theophilus was not an eyewitness to Jesus as was the case in Luke's own experience (cf. Luke 1:2), Luke provided information on how Jesus handled Scriptures that were obviously pre-Christian by many centuries, and from them overpowe red His hostile critics in indicating His certification as Messiah:
      1. Luke showed how Jesus used Exodus 3:6 written before the Exodus, 1,400 years before His time, to quiet the opposing Sadduccees so that they dared not ask Him any more entraping questions, 20:27-40:
        1. The Sadduccees sought to corner Jesus on His pro-Pharisee belief in the resurrection through appealing to the Mosaic Law, and thus discredit Him before the crowds, Luke 20:20 with 20:27.
        2. To understand the event, know that the Sadduccees did not believe in a resurrection because they felt the soul ceased to exist at physical death. That being so, they felt there was nothing left to resurrect, undermining belief in the resurrection, cf. Z.P.E.B., v. 5, p. 214 in citing Josephus' Antiq. XVIII. 1.4.
        3. Well, with this presupposition on the annhilation of the soul at death, the Sadduccees sought to corner Jesus in having to deny that there could be a resurrection: (a) They set up an hypothetical situation in which a woman was successi vely married to seven brothers, Luke 20:28-31. (b) Finally, the woman herself died, Luke 20:32. (c) Accordingly, they wondered how she could be raised and how she would be able to relate to the seven former husbands when doing so to more than one would ma ke her an adulteress, Luke 20:33. (d) They were trying to show the terrible bind God would be in if there were a resurrection of people as male and female as they presumed!
        4. Jesus skirted the problem, deftly pointing out that resurrected saints are asexual, making their previous marital states inconsequential as to their resurrection marital status, Luke 20:34-36.
        5. Further, Jesus used Exodus 3:6, written 1,400 years before to show that though they were 400 years dead, God referred to the deceased Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as existing, v. 38. Thus their basis to deny the resurrection was ruined, so the Sadduccees stopped asking Him any more ques tions, 20:40.
      2. However, the Pharisees rejoiced over Jesus' having quieted their foes, the Sadduccees, and commented He had answered them well, 20:39. Jesus then went to work to convict the Pharisees with Scripture:
        1. When Jesus responded to the scribes' comment on answering the Sadduccees in v. 41-42, He referred to Ps. 110:1 which part of Scripture the Sadducce es did not believe was authoritative as they did Moses' writings, Ibid., Z.P.E.B. Thus, Jesus' words in verses 41-44 were directed toward Pharisees!
        2. Jesus used a 1,000 B.C. Davidic writing in Psalm 110:1 to show Messiah was both David's son and Lord. That indicated Messiah was the pre-Davidic God and post-Davidic man, or God Incarnate!
        3. This lesson critiqued the Pharisees who had refused to believe in Christ's incarnation, cf. Jn. 8:57-59.
      3. Once Jesus had quieted the Pharisees as the true Messiah, He publicly, authoritatively warned His disciples and the listening crowds about the Pharisees' spiritual hypocrisy and error, Luke 20:45-47.
Lesson: Christianity is true because its Founder, Jesus of Nazareth, (1) overwhelmingly, (2) accurately (3) hushed (4) the theological authorities of Israel in His day (5) in their trying their best to discredit Him, and (6) that by promoting basic CHRISTIAN beliefs of the resurrection and His incarnation (7) through use of their OWN respected Jewish Scriptures that even (8) WE can validate archaeologically TODAY were written over a MILLENIUM before His earthly life.