Jewish Leaders Challenge Jesus’ Authority

Transcript

GR 719
9/8/1985
The Jewish Leaders Challenge Jesus’ Authority
Matthew 21:23-46
Gil Rugh

Matthew 21 marks the beginning of the last week of the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. The pattern of the gospel writers was to focus a large amount of attention on the closing days and hours of Christ’s earthly life and ministry. That is true of Matthew’s gospel as well.
Matthew 21 opened up with the event known as the Triumphal Entry of Christ where many in the crowd acclaimed Him as the Messiah of Israel, the Son of David, as He came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey in fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah. Yet it was a nation that was bound in unbelief. The nation was professing to be ready for the Messiah and was professing a faith and submissiveness to God which did not really exist.
In John 11:47-53 John indicated that the Sanhedrin met and that Caiaphas, the high priest, spoke to the fact that it was necessary for one man to die in order that the whole nation not perish. The leadership of the nation joined together in a commitment to see Jesus Christ executed. It was in this framework that Jesus had a confrontation with the leaders of the nation at Jerusalem in the temple. If you keep that as the background, it helps to clarify things. These leaders came not seeking truth but looking for an opportunity to trap Jesus and discredit Him before the people. The multitudes of the nation Israel did not recognize and believe that Jesus was the Savior and the Messiah, but they did hold Him in high honor and great esteem as a prophet. In order for the leaders of the nation to execute Him, they wanted to be able to discredit Him before the nation so there would not be any violent reaction when they arrested Him and had Him killed.
In Matthew 21:23, the leaders of the nation challenged Him regarding His authority. Christ responded by revealing their real motives. He gave a series of parables that unfolded the reality of their decadent, depraved, fallen condition and the judgment that clearly awaited them as those who have rejected Him.
Matthew 21:23 says, “When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave You this authority?’” This was a challenge to His authority, questioning His right and the power that goes with that right to say and do these things. Luke 20:1 says, “On one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him.” Christ was teaching them the gospel, the good news, and this would have been the good news related to the kingdom, those events and matters that had been prophesied in the Old Testament.

They asked, “Who gave You the authority to do these things? ” These things would refer to the Triumphal Entry where He had accepted the acclaim from the nation as the Messiah, the healing of the blind and lame in the temple in Matthew 21:14, and the cleansing of the temple when He drove out those who were abusing it and misusing the temple for their own selfish ends and reasons. Regarding all these matters they asked, “Who gave you this authority and this right? ” They did not question the fact that He had done them. They did not question the reality and the power of the healings and the miracles that had occurred, but rather, they questioned the source of the right or the authority to do these things.
Jesus chose to answer their question with a question. Their response revealed that they were not sincerely looking for the truth. And if they would honestly answer His question, they would have the answer to their question. But they simply wanted to trap Him and discredit Him.
He says in Matthew 21:24, 25, “Jesus said to them, ‘I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?’” That question should not be viewed as too difficult a question for men who were religious leaders in the nation and who had the responsibility to be discerning in religious areas. The ministry of John the Baptist had made a tremendous impact on the whole nation. Everybody knew about John and his ministry. He had been executed by this time, but everyone in the nation had been familiar with his ministry. These religious leaders had been exposed to John’s ministry. They had come out to be baptized by John as recorded in Matthew 3 and had been exposed to the brunt of his teaching as directed to them. So it was a fair and logical question to ask about John, where did he get his authority, from heaven or from men?
The leaders had to discuss this. “And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, ‘If we say, “From heaven,” He will say to us, “Then why did you not believe him?” But if we say, “From men,” we fear the people; for they all consider John to be a prophet.’ And answering Jesus, they said, ‘We do not know’” (Matt. 21:25-27). Note what they were reasoning about. They did not say, “That’s a good question. Where did John get his authority? ” They realized they could not answer that question and responded, “We just don’t know where John got his authority. ” The real issue for those leaders was an unwillingness to face the truth. They were not really looking for where Jesus got His authority anymore than they were really looking for where John got his authority. All they knew was that they didn’t like John and they didn’t like what John preached. And that’s where they were with Jesus Christ. They were opposed to Him and to His ministry, regardless of what He taught and regardless of the power of His miracles. His life and His authority were unacceptable to them.
It’s interesting that they acknowledge in Matthew 21:25 that they did not believe John. “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’” John began his ministry preaching in Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2). Then the religious leaders came to be baptized, “But when he (John the Baptist) saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, “We have Abraham for our father”; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham’” (Matt. 3: 7-9). Then he warned them of coming judgment. Did the religious leaders of the day heed John’s message? In Matthew 21:25 they acknowledged they did not believe it; they would not accept the fact that they were sinners, that they needed to repent, that they needed to believe in the salvation that God would provide. They had rejected John’s message concerning their sin and concerning their need for repentance. They rejected what John said about Jesus the Messiah.
If they had believed John and acknowledged his authority, then there would be no question about Jesus and His authority. The Apostle John wrote about John the Baptist in John 1:29, “The next day he (John the Baptist) saw Jesus coming to him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” John presented to the nation Jesus the Messiah, God’s Lamb, who would take away the sin of the world. He continued in John 1:34, “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.” The religious leaders did not believe what John said about Jesus as the Christ, as the Savior; therefore, they could not admit that John’s authority was from heaven, even though John 1:6 says, “There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.” John had the authority of God behind him, but they would not accept it or acknowledge it.
They were in a dilemma. “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’” They would be convicted as those who did not believe the messenger of God. “But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the people; for they all consider John to be a prophet.”
They were afraid of the people because the people acknowledged John as a prophet, even though they did not believe the message of John. The people had not repented and had not submitted to Jesus Christ, but they held John in great honor and high esteem as a prophet. The leaders were afraid if they spoke against John, they would lose their support and following among the people. So they answered, “We do not know,” which was a lie. It was an answer geared to keep them from getting into trouble one way or the other. But they were not looking for the truth. They were trying to avoid a problem while they discredited Christ. As they rebelled against the ministry of John, so they rebelled against the ministry of Christ.
Jesus responded very simply, “He also said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things’” (Matt. 21:27). What good would it do for Jesus to tell where He got His authority when they had already rejected John and the authority of John? They were not looking for truth; they were looking for an excuse and an occasion to trap Him.
You ought to note something from this about false teachers. Some things do not change. Sin and the manifestation of its character stay the same. False teachers and false religious leaders today function in basically the same way. They reject what the Word of God says about their own personal sinfulness, and they reject what the Word of God says about Jesus Christ as the Savior. False religious leaders are still just as concerned to maintain their following as were the Pharisees and the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. The multitudes of people, talking about our western world--Protestants and Catholics--generally hold Jesus Christ in high esteem, a great teacher, a great moral leader, one whose life can be emulated and followed even though they do not perceive that they are sinners who need to believe in Him and His death on their behalf.
Religious leaders who are opposed to the Word of God and the Person and work of Jesus Christ are very careful to say things in such a way as not to offend their followers while they are opposing the Person and work of Jesus Christ. That is important to remember. What do they really believe about Jesus Christ? Who do they really think Jesus Christ was? Why do they think He died on the cross? Have they personally come to believe in Him as the One who paid the penalty for their sin personally? If not, they are religious leaders in opposition to the Word of God and in opposition to the Person of Christ, even though they may say nice things about Christ.
I have shared with you on a number of occasions about my conversation with a pastor in this town who is no longer here. He was saying some blasphemous things about Jesus Christ and the Word of God. I finally asked him, “Do you really tell your people that?” He said, “No, if I said it like that they’d throw me out. ” His people admired Jesus Christ, even though they did not understand who Christ is and why He came and do not believe in Him. So he was careful as he opposed Jesus Christ to say things in such a way that he did not drive away his followers as he led them away from a true understanding of who Christ is and why He came.
In Matthew 21, Jesus refused to give more light to these religious leaders. In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:6, Jesus said, “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” There was no purpose for Jesus to give more light concerning His person and His authority to those who were trampling under foot the light they already had. But He did give truth concerning their sinful character and the judgment that awaited them for their sinfulness. Jesus continued with a series of parables regarding the character and conduct and condemnation of these false religious leaders.
The first parable is the parable about two sons. “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father? They said, ‘The first’” (Matt. 21:28-31). A very simple parable about a father who has a vineyard, and he addresses his two sons. He tells one to go, and the son is openly rebellious and says, “I will not! ” Later on he changes his mind and he goes. The other son says, “I’m on my way. I will. ” But he did not. Which one really did the will of the father? The one who said he wouldn’t obey but changed his mind and did obey or the one who professed to have obeyed but didn’t? Even these false religious leaders were able to perceive that the one who obeyed did the will of the father.
Jesus applied the parable to their situation. “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him’” (Matt. 21:31, 32). The ministry of John the Baptist had a great impact on the nation. The tax collectors were thieving and deceiving and lying individuals who robbed the people as representatives of a foreign power, yet they believed in the message of John the Baptist. Prostitutes who had sold themselves to immorality repented at the message of John the Baptist. They believed and were saved. But the religious leaders, they did not believe and they did not even change their mind after they saw the impact!
The religious leaders were those who professed to obey God. They said, “Yes, we want to serve God. Yes, we want to be obedient to Him. Yes, we follow His Word! ” But no, they did not do what He said. They acknowledged in Matthew 21:25 that they did not believe the message of John the Baptist even though they professed to be those who believed God and obeyed Him.
John was a man sent from God, but they did not believe him. The tax collectors and prostitutes were those who said no to God and rebelled against Him in sin. But when they heard the message of John the Baptist, they repented of their sin and believed and were saved. Which ones really did the will of God? Obviously, those who followed through on what God had said! This revealed the empty profession of the religious leaders who were claiming and professing to know God and to love God and to honor God, but did not obey Him or do His will. Yet sinners under condemnation repented and were transformed by the message.
The same thing happens today. People who are involved in all kinds of immorality and in drugs and in thievery and all kinds of sin hear the message of the Gospel and they believe it and their lives are transformed. Yet it is not often that a man who is a pastor or a preacher or a priest, a religious leader, repents under the preaching of the Gospel and acknowledges that he is a guilty sinner before God, worthy of condemnation, and casts himself upon the mercy of God and believes that Jesus Christ died for him. It happens, praise God! But it’s very rare. Isn’t it amazing!
I have had contact with some of these individuals, and I share with them that somebody from their congregation was involved in these things, and that person trusted Christ and has a transformed life! But they still don’t believe. Just like the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They see sinful, fallen human beings being transformed by the power of the Gospel, and they still stand in opposition to the Word of God and the Person of Christ. Their character hasn’t changed as servants of Satan down to the present day.
This matter of obedience is crucial with God. God is not pleased with those who profess to know God and say, “Yes, I love God; yes, I will serve God. ” He is pleased with those who do.
Remember in 1 Samuel 15:22 Samuel had to confront King Saul and say, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.” It is better to submit and obey God than it is to go through all kinds of religious services and activities. You cannot compensate for a refusal to believe by religious activity.
In Matthew 7:24-27 Jesus told an account of two men who built houses: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.” One man built his house upon a rock. When the rains and the floods come, the house stands firm. The other man built his house on the sand, and the storm comes and he’s washed away.
This illustrates the importance of obedience to the Word of God! “But prove yourselves doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (James 1:22). It is easy to deceive yourself by saying, “Oh yes, we hear the Bible! Yes, we know about Christ! ” and thinking that makes you okay before God. It is those who do the Word of God that please God. “This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 3:23). God has commanded that we believe in His Son, Jesus Christ; and anyone who does not believe is in rebellion against Him.
In Matthew 21, this parable of the two sons revealed that the religious leaders who did not believe the ministry of John the Baptist, by their own admission, were those who professed to obey God, but in reality did not. Jesus then told another parable, a parable that is a little more extensive. It is a parable that has to do with a vineyard again, and it is a vineyard that is not properly cared for; and it brings up the judgment and destruction that will come upon those who have been unfaithful. The parable of the vineyard has a parallel in the Old Testament. Keep in mind that these religious leaders would be well versed in the Old Testament Scriptures. This account in Isaiah 5 would be one they were well familiar with. “Let me sing now for my well-beloved a song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill. He dug it all around, removed its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it and also hewed out a wine vat in it; then He expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only worthless ones. ‘And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between Me and My vineyard. What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones? So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground. I will lay it waste; it will not be pruned or hoed, but briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.’ For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah His delightful plant. Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress”(Isaiah 5:1-7). The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel. It was expected to produce the beauty of the character of God, but instead it produced worthless fruit, and the result is judgment.
Matthew 21:33-41 says, “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers? They said to Him, ‘He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine- growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.’” Note that the religious leaders condemned themselves. They were the wretches that would be condemned to a wretched end. They did not perceive the point of this parable; they got caught up in the story.
In this parable, the vineyard is the house of Israel. The vine-growers are the leaders of the nation to whom has been entrusted the care of the vineyard, the responsibility for the nurturing of the vineyard, the cultivating of it that it might produce fruit unto God. The servants continually sent over time to collect the produce are the prophets and servants of God. Jesus asked previously in His ministry, “Which of the prophets did you not persecute? ” Isaiah’s account of the vineyard is alluded to by this parable, and tradition held that Isaiah was sawn in two by the people of Israel. That was the way they treated their prophets, the servants of God. They abused them and they killed them.
Finally, God in love and mercy sent His Son to the vineyard, to the nation Israel, and His Son is Jesus Christ. The nation responded to Him by killing Him. In the parable, the vine-growers took the son out of the vineyard and executed him. The result was condemnation and judgment.
Christ gave the interpretation and applied it to these leaders. “Jesus said to them, ‘Did you never read in the Scriptures, “The stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief corner stone; this came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes?”’” (Matt. 21:42). Jesus smacked them right in the face! These leaders who prided themselves in being saturated with the Old Testament, in knowing it and following it, He said to them, “Didn’t you ever read the Scriptures? ” They had read it, but they never understood it. Many people are like that today. They hear sermon after sermon from the Scripture, but it never penetrates. They may even read the Scripture, but they never understand it or grasp it because they are not truly believers.
Jesus was quoting from Psalm 118:22, 23, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” Peter applied this verse to Christ on two occasions, Acts 4:11 and 1 Peter 2:7. He was the stone which the builders rejected. This is a little different analogy but the same point. Those who were responsible for the construction in the nation rejected Christ; but God marvelously took that rejected stone and made it the cornerstone, or the keystone. It is the foundational stone or that stone at the top of the arch; the keystone fits in the arch to bear the weight of the arch and support it. It is the most important stone! That was the point in this parable. That stone that was discarded has been made the chief stone, the cornerstone, and that was a marvelous work of God to accomplish that. Jesus was saying, in effect, “I am the rejected One, but in God’s marvelous plan, that will result in My being the Cornerstone, or the Keystone. ”
Then He says to them, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruit of it” (Matt. 21:43). This is the explanation of the parable and shows the seriousness of the sin of the leaders of the nation. They have forfeited the kingdom of God. What a loss! There will be nothing awaiting them now but judgment.
This verse is a crucial verse. I want to spend a few moments on it because I think it’s important that you understand it properly. There has been some misunderstanding about the verse. I think there are serious theological problems with saying that this means that the kingdom of God has been taken away from Israel and given to the Church. There are some outstanding teachers who hold such a view. They just happen to be wrong in this one area! This can not be talking about the kingdom of God being taken away from the nation Israel and given to the Church. To do that, you must make the kingdom of God a spiritual entity. In a previous study, we looked rather thoroughly at the subject of the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven as it is referred to in the Gospel of Matthew and the whole New Testament. It consistently and always refers to the earthly kingdom promised and prophesied to the nation Israel in the Old Testament. That being the case, it must have the same meaning here. Those from the theological viewpoint which says that this refers to the kingdom being given to the Church say that He is talking about a kingdom in the hearts, and they also qualify it by saying that this kingdom will be given back to Israel at a future time. I think that just makes confusion out of the theology of the kingdom. The kingdom ought to be left the kingdom as the Scripture says it is: it is a kingdom that will be established on earth, but over which Jesus Christ will personally rule and reign.
Then what was Jesus talking about in Matthew 21:43? “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruit of it.” The kingdom of God is the
kingdom promised to Israel. In Romans 10 and 1 Peter 2, believers in our day are called a nation. 1 Peter 2 says we are a holy nation. Believers in the Church of Jesus Christ will share in the kingdom that Christ will establish on the earth. In fact, it’s part of the first resurrection in Revelation 20. Believers will rule and reign with Christ in that kingdom. However, I can find no theological support for saying that the kingdom is removed from the nation Israel and given to the Church, because the kingdom never stops being an Israelite, Jewish kingdom that is established on earth, ruled by the Messiah. I think the flaw in this interpretation is that you have to make the kingdom something other than what the kingdom is and then it is no longer the kingdom.
So what is being said in this verse? I think it is relatively simple. Remember who Jesus was talking to; He was talking particularly to religious leaders and their followers: “The kingdom of
God will be taken away from you.” The kingdom is not going to be taken away from the nation Israel as a political and national entity and given to a different nation, politically and nationally; but it’s going to be taken away from this generation of people represented in these leaders and given to a nation, not a nation that is different politically, but the nation Israel which will be ready for it spiritually at a future time.
What is going to happen to the nation Israel immediately preceding the second coming of Christ to earth? There will be the cry from the nation, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" Romans 11 indicates that there will be a national turning among the Jews to Christ as the Messiah. That doesn’t mean every single Jew will be saved, but there will be a national turning. As the result of the events of the Great Seven-Year Tribulation, multitudes of Jews around the world will recognize that Jesus is the Messiah, and they will bow in faith to Him. Then Christ will come to establish His kingdom. It is to that_generation of Jews, to that nation Israel, that the kingdom of God will be given; that will be a nation that will produce the fruit of it. So what Christ is saying is that the kingdom has been removed from the religious leaders and the generation who followed them in their rejection of the Messiah. It had been offered to them; they had been told, “Repent! The kingdom of heaven is at hand!” But it was taken from them and will be given to a spiritually transformed nation Israel bearing the fruit fitting for the kingdom.
You cannot ever have the kingdom removed from Israel. Read Romans 11 carefully. “From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:28, 29) That is an explanation of why God cannot take the kingdom away from Israel and give it to anybody else, because He promised the kingdom to Israel, and the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. I can take comfort in that! You know why? Because He has promised me the glories of heaven, and I find tremendous encouragement in knowing that the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. I am going to heaven! I’m on my way there! Why? The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. That’s encouraging! It’s encouraging to the nation Israel. I know that some day the nation Israel will be the central nation on the earth! Jesus the Messiah will rule as King of Israel and King of the World! In spite of all that Israel has done and all that has happened, God is faithful and the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.
What about the sinful, rebellious people? Matthew 21:44 says, “And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” This refers back to the analogy of Matthew 21:42. Judgment is for those who have rejected the Messiah, who have discarded this stone. They will stumble over it, because they don’t perceive its value or its importance! They stumble over it, and they are destroyed by it.
A very important concept is stressed here. Jesus is saying that you cannot avoid Him! Either you recognize who He is and that you are a sinner needing to believe in Him and have Him as your Savior or you have Him as your Judge! Jesus is the most important person in the entire world, and He is someone every person in the world ought to be interested in because He is the one person that every single individual in the entire human race will have to personally deal with, either as their Savior or as their Judge! There is no avoiding Jesus Christ! There is no ignoring
Jesus Christ! You can ignore Him as your Savior, but you cannot avoid Him as your Judge! That is the point here. Those who have discarded Him or stumbled over Him will confront Him in judgment and be destroyed by Him.
This is another analogy that is drawn out of the Old Testament. Isaiah 8:14, 15, says, “Then He shall become a sanctuary; but to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, and a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Many will stumble over them, then they will fall and be broken.” The people stumbling over the stone shows that they fail to perceive and understand that salvation and righteousness are in Him alone.
Isaiah 28:16 says, “Therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.’” There is security in believing in Him, in the stone that God has established. Some will stumble over Him and be destroyed; some will place their faith in Him and be securely established. All are brought to deal with the stone: either to stumble over Him or to believe in Him.
How do people stumble over Jesus Christ? The same pattern that was followed in Jesus’ day is followed today. Romans 9:30-33 says, “What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.’” That word disappointed means put to shame. Paul was contrasting the Gentiles with the Jews. Just like in the parable of the two sons, the prostitutes and the tax collectors experienced God’s salvation but the religious did not. Here the Gentiles were experiencing God’s righteousness but the Jews were not. Israel persisted in trying to become righteous before God by what they did, and they would have to be perfect to be righteous before God by what they did! So they never arrived at righteousness. They got confused in ignorance and blindness. They persisted in driving forward, trying to be the best they could, as righteous as they could, as religious as they could, and they stumbled over Jesus Christ. What is God saying in Christ? “You can’t be righteous by what you do. It’s only by faith in what I have done in My Son. Only by faith in His death and resurrection can you have righteousness, MY RIGHTEOUSNESS!"
Have things changed today? Look at religious leaders and religious people, trying so hard! There are people in religions around the world who are giving their lives for their religious convictions, and yet they are not attaining righteousness. They have stumbled over Jesus Christ. They have failed to see and understand who He is! Instead of placing their faith in Him as the One in whom they can be secure, they have stumbled over Him. He is the One in whom they are destroyed. What a picture, what a contrast, and it hasn’t changed.
There is a picture at the end of Matthew 21:44, “On whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” In our day people stumble over Christ by failing to understand that salvation is by faith in Him alone. At the second coming of Christ, that stone will fall on them in judgment. In Daniel 2:45 is a stone cut without hands, and it grows into a large mountain. It falls on the nations of the earth, the second coming of Christ, and grinds them into powder and they are carried away by the winds, and the kingdom of God is established on the earth.
Matthew 21:45 says, “When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.” They perceived that they were the ones in view in the disobedient son. They were the ones who had been unfaithful in keeping the vineyard of God. They were the ones being judged by the Stone and destroyed. They realized that they had the opportunity to understand when they were confronted with the message of John the Baptist, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” But they did not believe John.
Their response is in Matthew 21:46, “When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet.” Christ brought the light to shine on their character and revealed them to be sinful, rebellious sinners under condemnation and destined for destruction. This did not soften them. What an opportunity! They were standing face to face with the Son of God, the One who could cleanse and forgive them for all eternity and give them God’s righteousness! They were closer to Him than I am to you! But they were set on destroying Him, and all they could think of was to seize Him and get rid of Him. But they were afraid of the people that held Him to be a prophet.
What a picture of unbelievers! There were two kinds of unbelievers pictured: the religious leaders seething in their hatred and opposition to Christ, and the people who did not believe in Him but they held Him in honor and esteem. Although they held Him in honor, they too were stumbling over Him because they failed to believe in Him, like many people today. We have religious leaders today who are vehement in their opposition to Christ yet want to couch that carefully so they don’t offend people. They are liberal from the standpoint that they can encompass everybody! “Whatever you believe is okay! You ’re getting to heaven by your good works, bless you! You ’re getting to heaven by your baptism, bless you! Your church membership, bless you too; and all your good social work, bless you too. ” But if you tell them, “I believe you only get to heaven by recognizing your sinfulness and believing in Jesus Christ,” then they oppose you vehemently. And the majority of people today believe Jesus was a great man, worthy of honor, one of history’s great figures, but that all misses the point. They are stumbling over it because the issue of Jesus Christ is the issue of sin and righteousness. If you don’t understand that, you’re stumbling over Him.
Have you understood that your only hope, as good or bad as you may be, is to trust Jesus Christ as the One who died for you that you might be forgiven? It’s tragic that these Jews stumbled over Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago. But, if anything, it’s more tragic that we should be gathered together and hear the Word of God, and have God’s completed picture in His Word concerning Jesus Christ, and continue to stumble over Him because we are still sure we can do it ourselves on our own and be righteous in our own doing.
What is your relationship to this Stone of Stumbling and Rock of Offense? If you believe in Him, you will not be disappointed and you will not be put to shame, because every one who believes in Him is cleansed and forgiven and declared righteous before God. But if you do not believe in Him, then He must judge you. One thing is certain for every person who hears this message, we will all confront Jesus Christ. We will submit to Jesus Christ! Every knee shall bow before Him! Some as their Savior and some as their Judge! And it all hinges on whether you have believed in Him as the One who loved you and died for you.