Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20100512.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Luke: Jesus, The Son Of Man For All Mankind
Part LXXIV: Christ's Identity As God's Savior Seen In His Disarming Of Highly Educated Critics
(Luke 20:41-47)
  1. Introduction
    1. If Jesus were God's true Savior of the world and Incarnate Son, we would expect His wisdom and intellect not only to exceed that of His highly educated religious critics, but that He would also even disarm them.
    2. Well, after answering the questions of the various religious leaders in Luke 20:19-26, 27-40, Jesus leveled a question at them to expose the heart of their resistance against Him -- their rebellious rejection of His claim to be the Messiah and God Incarnate -- and His doing so effectively disarmed them, Luke 20:41-44.
    3. Upon exposing such rebellion, Jesus directed the listening crowds in a lesson that applies for us today:
  2. Christ's Identity As God's Savior Seen In His Disarming Of Highly Educated Critics, Lk. 20:41-47.
    1. The chief priests and scribes having been quieted over their failure to discredit Jesus with a question regarding Caesar's poll tax (Luke 20:19-26) and the Sadducees having been quieted over their failure to discredit Jesus with a question on the resurrection (Luke 20:27-40), Jesus went on the offense, offering His own question that would expose the wickedness of these leaders' rejection of Him, Luke 20:41-44:
      1. Jesus asked the leaders how it is claimed that Messiah is David's son, Luke 20:41.
      2. After all, He revealed that, in Psalm 110:1, David said, "The Lord [God] said unto my Lord [Messiah], Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool." (Luke 20:42-43, brackets ours)
      3. It was apparent that David referred to two of his masters in this verse, for one "Lord" spoke to the other one, implying one of the masters must have been the Messiah since David was the highest human ruler as the king of Israel at the time, and the only entity higher than he who was not God would be Messiah!
      4. Jesus' point was revealing to Israel's religious theologians of that era: if David called Messiah his Lord, how could Messiah be David's son who is culturally at the most equal to David, unless Messiah is also God-come-in-the-flesh some time after David's time, Luke 20:42!
      5. Jesus then directed this question at the leaders, asking them if David called the Messiah his Lord, how then could that Messiah then also be his son, Luke 20:44!
    2. There was of course no logical response available from Israel's leaders but to admit that Messiah is also God Incarnate, a huge leap in theology for them that would bring them into alignment with Jesus' claims!
    3. Nevertheless, they were evil men, not willing to admit such obvious truth due to their rebellious hearts, so Jesus exposed their evil to the people they led, warning them to beware of such men, Luke 20:46-47:
      1. Jesus warned the people to beware of the scribes who for a show in pride desired to walk in long robes, to love respectable greetings in the market place and the highest seats in the synagogues and the chief seats in their feasts all to feed their lust of pride, Luke 20:46.
      2. On the other hand, their lust for wealth also led these leaders to "devour widows' houses," to take unfair legal advantage of defenseless widows for financial gain at the cost of the widows, Lk . 20:47a.
      3. Also, for the sake of hypocritical pride, these leaders loved to make a public show of making long prayers, presenting themselves as spiritual leaders when they were truly wicked men, Luke 20:47b.
      4. Such men would receive greater condemnation from God than the people they misled because they were leading others astray by their godlessness, Luke 20:47c.
Lesson: Jesus disarmed His highly educated religious critics by showing the Scriptures verified His claim to be David's Son and Messiah and God Incarnate, exposing Israel's leaders as relentlessly evil in rejecting such obvious truth. Accordingly, He warned the people to beware of these men, noting they would receive God's greater condemnation because they so wickedly misled their followers.

Application: (1) May we believe that Jesus is Messiah and God Incarnate by His capacity to disarm even highly educated critics. (2) If we lead others, may we REPENT of false pride and lust for wealth that distort our beliefs and mislead our subordinates. (3) As subordinates, may we BEWARE of leaders who exhibit (a) pride, (b) a lust for wealth, (c) who take unfair legal advantage of others, (d) who are hypocrites or (e) who falsely present themselves as spiritual, for they are dangerously misleading men!