King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 7 notes
1And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,
2The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
3And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
4Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.
Them which are bidden to the wedding feast sounds very much like the Jews.
Who, though to them belong the covenants and promises of God, were not ready for the kingdom when it came to be.
5But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
6And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.
7But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
8Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
9Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
10So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
11And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
12And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
13Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
14For many are called, but few are chosen.
15Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.
16And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men.
17Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?
18But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?
19Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.
20And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?
21They say unto him, Cæsar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.
The trick is not in the answer he gave but how he gave that answer.
He could have answered the question to mean the same thing as stated in verse 21, but using a different illustration, and that would have led to his destruction.
Indeed, he ended up saying it is right to pay tribute to Caesar, but the way he put it showed his wisdom and helped him escape the wrath of the people.
This should be wisdom to us.
22When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.
23The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,
24Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
25Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother:
26Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.
27And last of all the woman died also.
28Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.
29Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
30For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
31But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
32I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
33And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.
34But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.
35Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Oh this Jesus... He was the master of his craft.
He was the best of the best 🙏.
He was the nerd, but not nerdy in his behavior, and associated with the common folks.
See how an entire company came against him, yet he masterfully answers them all.
He indeed and truly is the Word of God.
38This is the first and great commandment.
39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
He gave them a second 🥈 as a bonus.
40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
41While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
42Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David.
That is an easy one, they thought, duh...
They did not know that that question 🙋 was the bait. And they took it in willingly and, I can imagine, almost lackadaisically.
Then he caught them with the real deal 🤝.
Now they were at a loss, because they did not know the answer; it was not that they had forgotten.
It had never occurred to them. One man, Jesus, against this many teachers and leaders, yet he surpassed them all.
How does one answer such a 🙋 question without creating doubts 🤷♂️ and controversies?
Jesus knew that to answer this question right would mean to acknowledge the Christ, the son of David, as being greater than David.
Which he was, for the Christ was more the Son of God than of David.
Indeed, David is man and Christ is God.
43He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
44The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?
45If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
46And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.
I can imagine how long these leaders deliberated over this, his question 🙋, without any answer, till shamefacedly they conceded.
From then, to avoid such public embarrassment, they were compelled not to ask him any more questions.
Jesus had smeared their face 😔 in the mud and done so publicly.
No wonder they hated him so much.