Download - FBC Holly Pond

Intro
-
Our study in Mark has
o Been so enriching & the past several weeks the intensity has picked up
o Come to a place where
 Jesus only has a few days left to live/is in last week of His life
 His popularity has skyrocketed as news has spread that He has made a ministry of
 Casting out demons
 Curing disease
 Conquering death
 Calming destructive storms
 Caring for the debilitated
 Correcting the damnable doctrines of the religious elite
 Challenged the dishonest deeds of the religious elite [cleansed the temple & put an end
to their lucrative $ making schemes robed under the false pretense of worship]
 BEING LIKE NO ONE THEY HAVE EVER SEEN
 It is an understatement to say
 He is hated
 The religious elite want Him dead
 The opponents of Jesus are trying to
 Turn the people against Him [and the method they are using is a method that consists
of…
 Questions for Jesus
- You will remember as we closed out Chapter 11…
o The Sanhedrin court/highest court of Judaism sent a committee to see that
o Jesus was questioned concerning His authority [hoping of course to
 Hear Him claim to be God
 Accuse Him of blasphemy
 Have reason to execute Him [and we know that ended with…
o Jesus
 Turned the tables on the religious elite
 Exposed their hatred for repentance/love for tradition
 Told a parable that prophesied
 Their doom… falls from leaders to losers [and…
 His dominance… chief cornerstone of the Kingdom of God
 Sent them away in an even deeper rage of hatred
Transition
- Well, now they
o Are back
o Have regrouped/prepared more questions [and…
o Come with confidence thinking that they have the questions that will give Jesus into their hands
READ TEXT & PRAY
Intro
- THE ESCAPE ARTIST
- One of the greatest escape artists to ever life was a man by the name of Harry Houdini [He…
o Was known for his escape acts
o Would escape from handcuffs/ropes/straitjackets under water/even buried alive
o Could escape from anything
Transition
- But not even Houdini could have escaped from the questions the religious elite were throwing at Jesus
- However, Jesus once again displays his brilliance/wisdom/craftiness/proves to be the poster child for escape
artists
- In this text Jesus escapes 3 different labels the religious elite are trying place on Him [first of all…]
1. JESUS ESCAPES THE LABEL OF INSURRECTIONIST
Transition
- In this text we see the opponents of Jesus try an label Him as a rebel/revolutionary/an insurgent looking to over
throw the Roman government [inspire the gov’t to kill him]
- Watch how this unfolds beginning in…
Vs. 13 – Then [This is after Jesus has shared that scathing parable that revealed the coming doom of the religious elite]
they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians [That is an odd combination/they didn’t like each other/see
eye to eye on anything except wanting Jesus dead… so they team up to…], catch Him in His words [Not a new
strategy… They want to trap him by asking a difficult question… so let’s watch them approach Jesus…]
Vs. 14 - When they had come, they said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do
not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth
Explanation
- So they come to Jesus
o And say, Jesus you
 Are a truth speaking teacher
 Don’t care what anyone thinks so long as you are speaking truth
 Are not intimidated/not a yes man or a puppet
 Just teach the way of God [all of that is true, but understand these compliments are filled…
o With false flattery
o With pretend praise [trying to butter him up/brown nosing]
o Portraying the truths of
Proverbs 29:5 which says… - A man who flatters his neighbor Spreads a net for his feet.
Explanation
- Flattery disarms a person/causes defenses to be let down and creates an easy target [pride before the fall…
feed His ego]
- And that is exactly what the Pharisees & Herodians are attempting to do
- They have
o Spread a net
o Set a trap
o Brought the Herodians [representatives of the Roman gov’t that has power to kill Jesus]
o Framed a question that is sure to label him as an insurrectionist
Transition
- So here is the question
End of vs. 14 - … Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?
Explanation
- The Pharisees
o Know that every Jew
 Despises Rome/paying taxes to Rome
 Considers Rome to be a pagan, idolatrous kingdom
 Hates supporting the Roman gov’t
 Hates tax collectors [Matthew was a sellout who abandoned his own people to work for
Rome/gain riches at the cost of his own people]
o Are expecting/hoping that Jesus says
 It is not lawful for us to pay Caesar
 Caesar is a sinner/pagan/idolater & no one should support such causes
 I don’t pay taxes & I don’t think anyone else should either
 Something to put himself in hot water with Rome [and Rome will kill Him & problem solved]
Transition
- But Jesus does not fall into the insurrectionist trap [2 reasons He doesn’t… first of all…]
a. Jesus Understands Guilty Souls
Vs. 15 – Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy [Jesus knew their hypocrisy/is God and can
see into the heart/understood they were fakes/pretenders/their compliments that rolled from their lips were
attached to hearts that hated Him, and He let’s them know He knows this is a trap… look at the rest of the
verse],[He…] said to them, “Why do you test Me [try me/attempt to trick me]
Application
- He says the same thing to many in our churches today [perhaps here tonight]
- Jesus says
o Why are you trying to trick Me?
o I know your heart… I’m God for crying out loud
Illustration
- People who
o Say kind things about Jesus
o Sing songs about Jesus
o Write facebook status’ about Jesus
o Send out tweets about Jesus
o Sit through services about Jesus [but…
o Have hearts that are
 Nothing like God’s heart/concerns/desires/priorities
 Far from Jesus
 Just trying to trick Jesus & others into thinking that they are followers/disciples/really devoted
to Jesus [As we grow closer to Christ, you pretenders need to know you are starting to stick
out like sore thumbs]
Application
- Can I tell you something?
- Just as He knew the guilty souls of these opponents, He knows your guilty hypocritical soul as well
- You may trick your
o Pastor/girlfriend/parents/spouse [but Jesus sees your guilty soul/true motives and knows the lack of
commitment in your heart]
- Why don’t you quit
o Trying to trick Jesus
o Trying to look like your committed to the ways of God & actually get committed to the ways of God
Transition
- Jesus is not tricked byt
o The people of this text [or…]
o The people of this congregation b/c He understands guilty souls
- But Jesus plays along with and says in…
Vs. 15 - Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.” [And of course b/c they think they have him trapped vs. 16 says…] So
they brought it. And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And Jesus
answered and said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
Explanation
- I’m sure their hearts sank a little b/c
o That is not the answer they were wanting
o They were wanting Jesus to
 prove himself to be an insurrectionist
 be arrested & killed by the Romans [and they could then have the populace back]
Transition
- But Jesus escaped their trap b/c
o He understood their guilty souls [and…
b. Jesus Understands God’s Systems
Explanation
- When Jesus says, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, He is saying
o Pay your taxes
o You owe a debt to the gov’t
o Give Rome what they deserve
Transition
- Now why would Jesus say that? Because He understands that
o God/the Father
 Sets up the systems of the world
 Sets up even the government
o Caesar has only the reach & resources that God has allowed him to have
Illustration
- Proverbs 21:1 - The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He
wishes. [God’s not shocked by the gov’t decisions… He can use a wicked gov’t to work all things for His glory]
- Paul expressed his understanding of this in…
o Romans 13:1 - Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except
from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God [News for every politician that sits in an
office… God put you there]
Transition
- At the risk of getting off theme a little bit, let me just mention 3 reasons God has established gov’t
1. Government Protects
Explanation
- Government protects from & punishes evil
Illustration
- Romans 13:3 - For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority?
Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.
2. Government Provides
Explanation
- God has set gov’t up as a common grace of provision
- Just as God has set up
o Seasons/rain/sunshine/crops [so too God set up gov’t]
Illustration
- Rome had
o actually been good for the people in lots of ways
o built roads/bridges
o provided water & peace with a strong military presence
- Our gov’t is why we have an organized system that provides
o Roads/clean water/garbage collection/sewage disposal [actually make it easier to study, show &
spread the gospel]
Transition
- But what about evil gov’t/gov’t that prohibits what God commands or commands what God prohibits
- Well that is when a 3rd reason for gov’t comes in…
3. Government Persecutes
Explanation
- We are always called to obey God rather than man
- In many places that leads to persecution [but…
- Persecution leads to the spread & strengthening of the Gospel
Illustration
- Let a persecuted believer stand strong in the Lord and the lost world says, “Wow! There must be something
more to their faith than we realize.” [Gospel Strengthened/Validated]
- The persecution of believers in Jerusalem caused Christians to
o flee to other parts of the world & the gospel went with them [Gospel Spread]
o give their lives for the gospel & that strengthened its credibility
Transition
- So when you understand
o God’s systems
o That God has given us gov’t for various reasons [it is no surprise that Jesus said pay your taxes]
- But it did surprise many who heard him that day
Notice the last words of vs. 17 – And they marveled at Him.
Explanation
- Now this is not the 1st place we see the word marvel in Mark
o The people marveled/were amazed at
 what He did to the demoniac
 calmed the storm
- But this word for marveled
o Is not we are happily/curiously amazed at what He did
o Carries with it a picture of
 A grudgingly amazement/admiration [can you believe he would do that?]
- In other words… His response
o To pay taxes
o Didn’t sit well with the people [His following/palm branch wavers & coat droppers]
o Revealed the
 Hatred of their heart for Rome [and…
 Love they had for their money [you will find out who loves Jesus when the pocket books are
impacted… We may not be far from the day when gov’t no longer allows churches to be nonprofit… I wonder if giving would go down]
o Sets the
 Falling away in motion
 Stage for them to begin to yell crucify Him
Transition
- So even though, He
o escaped the title of Insurrectionist
o at the same time began to draw a line in the sand that will separate the fakes & the faithful
CLOSING
3 types of people in this text
o Those who are trying to trick Jesus
o Those who are starting to abandon Jesus [Judas is in the crowd]
o Those who are true disciples
- Which are you tonight?