Hey everybody. Welcome back to another edition of the Daily Bible Podcast. Hello, pastor Rod is back. I am Pastor Rod. How did the weekend shape up for you? Thank you guys all for praying. The weekend was, I was back at church. Yeah, the week was week challenging. Yeah. For different reasons. My brother did end up dying on Wednesday. And I stood, stayed around Thursday to be with the family. Friday I flew back home, so it was a lot in a short period of time. I was glad to be there. I was able to be with him as he died. That was special and. It's been a strange week. I mean, what day? Today's Tuesday as we're recording it. So you'll get this on Wednesday? Yeah. It's been a strange week. We're gonna have his memorial this coming Saturday. So I'm planning on flying out Saturday morning and we plan on being back Sunday evening. That is Kristen and I, and I guess I'm looking forward to it. That's a strange way to put it, but I'm looking forward to. Honoring my brother's life and spending some time with the family to think about him and to remember him fondly and, you know, hopefully share some memories and whatever else happens. Yeah. And your brother, we've mentioned this, but your brother made a profession of faith a while ago. This is something that you had a degree of confidence that he was right with the Lord. Yeah, that's probably one of the best things about this. It would be much more challenging for a lot of obvious reasons if he didn't, but he was in a great church. He did make a profession of faith and he was the one way back when that, I think I might have talked about this at some point. He was part of this cult for a while. It was really concerning, but he got out of it. Praise God for that. And he joined this. Reformed Baptist Church, Emmaus, Emmaus Baptist Church, I think is what it's called, and they're in fact, who is going to be facilitating his memorial and his pastor. I don't know the guy, but already have a high degree of respect for him. He had visited my brother multiple times in the hospital, and it's not around the corner for them. It was at least an hour plus of driving just for them to show up. So he and his wife showed up. They have been so great with, my brother and his. Now widow, and they've been supportive. They've taken care of them in a lot of tangible ways, so I'm deeply encouraged by that and I'm looking forward to meeting this guy and the church. They've been so wonderful. I'm really excited about that. Excited to meet them. And I'm also looking forward to hearing some of the things that are gonna be said. You know, it's hard to agree with it, but Ecclesiastes. Seven says that it's better to go to the house of mourning than the house of feasting. Mm. Because this is the end of all mankind and the living will lay it to heart. There's something very good about pondering the brevity of life and then being sobered by that. So I'm looking forward to experiencing a little more of that. Obviously the family's still grieving and there's waves of sadness and waves of sorrow that retreat and recede back into the ocean and you're kinda left feeling different and there's, strange occurrences of heaviness, and then they kind of evaporate or at least lessen and it feels more normal. So I'm just looking forward to being with people who are okay with just crying a little bit, being sad as strange as that sounds, but all that to say, um, thankful for all the ways that you guys, a lot of you guys who listen who texted me. Sent different things, uh, food and cards. We're thankful for your support and your care. We're very grateful for those things. They do make a difference. I know it's hard to know. Is this even appropriate? Does this do anything? Is this having any effect? It does. We take it. As you offer it. And we appreciate those words of kindness. We appreciate your care and your concern. You can pray for us as we go about this, this Saturday and memorialize him. And there will be a viewing which I vouched for. I asked for that. I think that's good. And then after the viewing, we're gonna do the official memorial and then a reception afterwards. So please pray for that. Lots of good conversations could be had and we want that very thing. That's good, man. Yeah. Our people I'm sure, want to be praying for you, and so I was gonna ask how they can be praying for, so that's helpful. Yeah. And I appreciate your prayers. All, all the things we will take everything you'll give us prayer wise. Yes. That's what I mean. And otherwise too, I mean, hey. Let's get into our DBR for today. We are in Matthew 23, and then we've got two chapters in Luke as well. Matthew 23 is well known as one of the most confrontational passages that we find in the gospels between Jesus and the Pharisees. There are seven statements of woe or condemnation and cursing, that Jesus is going to issue against these religious leaders. It's interesting. Jesus begins though by essentially saying, you know, what? Do as they say, but not as they do, with the Pharisees, and so he does not necessarily condemn. All of the things that they teach. In fact, in verse two he says, the scribes and the Pharisees, they sit on Moses' seat. So do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works that they do. And that's really the gist of the rest of the chapter, is so much of what he condemns them for is their hypocrisy. That they think that they are serving the Lord. And yet what they're actually doing by their actions is undermining so much of what they stood for, so much of what they taught, so much of what they laid upon other people. In fact, in 2315, he says that in their zeal, the Pharisees were creating disciples whose zeal would surpass their own but for the wrong things. And that's a heavy burden as a teacher, as a preacher, is to make sure that what we're. Getting people passionate about as far as following the Lord is the right things and not the wrong things. And so Jesus is concerned about the influence that they're going to have there. But this time reading through Matthew 23, it's a familiar chapter. You've got the whitewashed tombs, you've got the clean the inside of the dish, not just the outside of the dish. What struck me was that Jesus starts out by saying, Hey, do what they say, but not what they do. Yeah, I was actually gonna ask you about that because you've been talking a lot about authority lately and submission and what that's supposed to look like. So can you comment then on what we see here? Jesus is telling them, submit to what they say, and these guys are clearly not, I mean, they're the religious elite, but they're not teaching rightly. Yeah. And yet Jesus says, okay, follow what they say, but don't do what they do. Comment on that. Yeah. And that goes back to the exception clause that we found in both of the passages that we've looked for on, on submission so far. And that is as to the Lord. And so I think that would follow here as well. And so Jesus is essentially saying, as long as they're not asking you to sin, do what they tell you to do. And so if they're laying laws and restrictions on you as far as the Sabbath is concerned and what you can and can't do on the Sabbath, even though that's oral tradition and not the written law of God, as long as they're not asking you to sin by doing those. Things then do what they're asking you to do. They've been put in that position of authority, submits their authority in that. So it sounds like then scripture generally has a positive view of authority. Yes. In that it, it is always binding as long as it's an, I guess, um, I don't know, maybe this is wrong. I'll just say it and you can correct it. As long as that authority is legitimate. You're obliged to submit to it? Yeah, I think so. And even this past Sunday, I didn't get into it as much as I could because perhaps the mentality then as Christians is do we just roll over and play dead? Are we the doormat for everybody to Yep. To just do whatever they want and we have to just submit, there are venues that we can pursue in a non sinful way to challenge authority when it's appropriate in inappropriate ways, but we also have to understand that. Number one, there's a risk that comes with that. For example, if you're in a work situation and you're gonna challenge your boss's authority, even though you may do it respectfully and in a way that isn't breaking any company policies or rules, your boss may not like that and you may suffer consequences for that. But like we talked about with the message on the government a couple weeks ago, Christians are free to go out and protest. Christians are free to apply their. Rights as a citizen in the United States and cast votes to try to get officials out of office. Christians are free to participate in politics, even to see policy change and things like that. But we're not free to say outright just objectively, no, I'm not gonna do that when we're not being asked to sin, because that would be to sin against what Peter is calling us to do. And it seems what Jesus was calling the people to do with the Pharisees here. It seems like passages like this really highlight the fact that our understanding of authority for many of us is informed more by the US Constitution than it is by scripture. Yeah. And I think that's a big difficulty for us to overcome that we have to learn to get. Around. And what I mean by that is that God clearly loves authority. Yeah. All authority is derived from God. He's the one who gives it. He's the one who grants it. He's the one who establishes kings and rulers. He's the overarching authority and therefore all authority is from him. I guess the challenge then is to your point. Is at what time in in what ways do we resist if we resist? And I think it is what you're saying is it's a matter of wisdom and discretion. Yeah. To know when and where and how to do that. As we have availability or opportunity to do that. So I guess my point here is to highlight what you're highlighting is and is that God values authority, and when he installs authority, he expects his people to submit to it as a rule of thumb. Yeah. Yeah. And again the refreshing thing from Peter is that when we do that with a mindset of saying, I'm gonna do this because it's from God, then ultimately recurring favor with him, that this is more about a relationship with him than it is about the earthly ruler or the spouse, the husband. For some of the wives out there that are in difficult marriages, there's. A freedom to submit even when it's difficult, knowing that there is reward, that is being stored up in the moment for you in an eternal perspective. Amen to that. And notice here in chapter 23 of Matthew, these guys are not getting away with it, right? They're not gonna be let off the hook just because they're the authorities and they're making rules. To the contrary. What you see is Jesus talking to his followers, saying, I want you to submit to them. However, they're not getting away with it. Right. He is going to hold them accountable and they'll be taken to task. Right. Right. I think as chapter 23 ends with this lament section over Jerusalem, one of the things again this time reading through it that struck out to me was just the deity here of Christ that we see on display when he says Jerusalem, Jerusalem the city that kills the prophets. In stones, those who are sent to it. How often I would've gathered your children together as hens gathers her brooded under her wings and you were not willing. I think this is Jesus making a claim to his identity as Yahweh A as the Godhead part of the Godhead, the Father, son Holy Spirit, because it seems this is an illusion back to the old t. And Jesus is the one saying how often I would've gathered your children together, and yet you are not willing. So I think this is a claim to the deity of Christ here. I don't think he's just talking about the moment, the present of his earthly ministry, the three years of his earthly ministry. I think this is him saying as God, there are many times I would've welcomed you back Israel, and yet you rejected me time and time again. Yeah, I'd say that sounds about right. Well, let's jump over to Luke chapter 20 then and chapter 21 as that's the rest of our reading for today, luke Chapter 20 is the situation again, where the religious leaders are gonna challenge Jesus' authority by asking him the question about the baptism of John, John the Baptist, and his ministry, and Jesus, like we've talked about, I think twice before at this point, says, well, I'm gonna ask you a question. What about this baptism? Is this baptism valid or not? And the religious leaders are fearful of the people. They don't wanna say it was valid because then they're admitting that John the Baptist was true and what he said was true, but they also don't wanna deny it for fear of the people. So then Jesus says, well, I'm not gonna tell you either. And again, he's saying that because it's not as our yet. And he knew that to step straight into the tell us on what grounds you are, you're doing these things, what authority would've led to the cross much quicker than what was God's plan at that point? You know, one interesting takeaway that I got from this, this time around is that Jesus. I think it's a good faith question, but he doesn't give an answer in the way that they want him to. Mm. Which leads me to wonder that perhaps there are times when authorities are asking questions and maybe the right answer isn't the direct answer because Jesus answers in a very shrewd, clearly wise way where he says, I'll ask you a question first, and then you answer, and then I'll answer yours, essentially as the bargain. I think that's interesting that he wisely avoids a direct answer. 'cause he could have just said, well. Yes to your question. And did I come from, yes. I'm from the Lord. I'm the Messiah. Yeah. He doesn't do that though. And I think that's fascinating given the fact that he is the foremost of truth tellers. He is God in the flesh. He is the capital T truth. And yet he doesn't respond in a way that you might expect if you think Jesus is simply a boy scout. Right. You know, from the earliest part of the first entry. He answers in a way that is wise, and I love that it highlighted to me there's a lot more nuance and beauty to the way that Jesus operates, even as the incarnate truth. Yeah. And 'cause he's later on, he will say yes. When he's on trial and they say, I adjure you, by God, are you the Christ? But not until then. Did you notice that? Right. Not until he gets to that point where they put him under oath. Yeah. Before that he's like, I'm not saying anything. Right. Isn't that crazy? Right. It is. It is. Yeah. The one that can call down legions to his defense, he is, he wasn't afraid. Is not like, I don't wanna say anything 'cause I'm afraid of what's gonna happen. He is shrewd and wise and that's what truth telling looks like. Yeah. Yeah. In the rest of chapter 20, we get a parable before he gets into this interaction with the religious leaders, challenging his authority, the parable of the tenets he sent. The father did many prophets to Israel and the prophets were killed. And then finally the son is being sent and the son is meant to be. And we understand the son to be Jesus here, and they're gonna kill Jesus as well. And so Jesus is forecasting what's going to happen as well as calling back the history of the Israelites and their rejection of the prophets. After this, there's two separate situations here where he is going to be challenged by the religious leaders of the Jews. The first has to do with the question about paying taxes, and it's again, the Pharisees and the Herodians. This is an unlikely pairing that wouldn't have gone together. And yet they're gonna ask him the question, should we pay taxes or not? And this is where he calls for the coin and he says, whose likeness is on the coin? And they say, it's Caesars. And Jesus says, we'll render to Caesar that which is Caesars into God. That which is God's. After that, the Sadducees step up and they've got a question about the resurrection. Again, this is the marriage question. One woman's seven husbands, who's she gonna be married to on the new Earth or at the resurrection? And Jesus answers and says, you don't understand. No one is given in marriage, nor do they marry. At the resurrection time, but rather they're gonna be like the angels. And so Jesus is answering the question again, in that way of saying, you don't understand this doctrine appropriately. And again, the Sadducees were those that denied the resurrection to begin with. And then Jesus goes on the offensive by asking them the question when he says, how can they say that the Christ is David's son? When David said, the Lord said to my Lord. And so the question Jesus poses. How can David be considered the ancestor of the Messiah and yet also subject to the Messiah? And just by culture and tradition, humanly speaking, that would never happen. David would be considered superior. And so Jesus' argument is the only way for the Son of David to be superior to David is if the son of David really is indeed God, which is what He is. Moving closer and closer towards that full revelation of eventually. The chapter ends then, and we'll pick up in chapter 21 with a warning about these scribes and the Pharisees who devour widows houses and then we pick up on the widows might. And so this is something I think we talked about last year, PR and I think it's. Dr. MacArthur that has the view that this is not him commending the widow's offering, but pointing out the tragedy that is at work here after saying the Pharisees devour the widow's houses, and here you have that being lived out as the widow brings the last two mights that she has to live on and gives those that this is not something to say we should all do likewise, but rather saying this is the effect of the religious leaders on the people. Yeah. I'm not sure if it originated with Dr. MacArthur, but I do know that he's one who is preaches very sermon. Most often when you see this passage preach, it's gonna be look at the widow, give like the widow. Right? Give to your last mites and give until you have nothing left. And I can see where that might be helpful. That might be a useful application. But I would agree this is not the intention of the passage. I have every reason to believe that Jesus is not happy that this is taking place because his poor widow needed support. She's not the one who should be supporting the ongoing efforts of the temple. And so I do think that this is a highlight of the. Unlawful, unjust, evil religious leaders at this point, chapter 21 continues with Jesus talking about the destruction of the temple and then also the signs of the times that are going to come. And this is him beginning to give us an understanding of what's gonna mark his return. And he's gonna talk about things that, are things that we've seen, some evidence of already. The initial. Prophecy about the destruction of the temple, I believe is referring to 70 AD when again, Titus PHA is gonna come in and destroy Jerusalem, destroy the temple at that point. But. He then goes on to talk about the rumors of wars and famines and earthquakes and, pestilence and disease. And he's saying this is the beginning, but this is not yet the end. And then he talks about the suffering that's gonna go through in verse 15. I'm gonna give you a mouth in wisdom and none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You're gonna be delivered up by parents and brothers. So this is a lot of what the early church saw and even today, what some people are seeing still. Being persecuted for the faith the suffering of the Christians in Nigeria right now. Yeah. What they're going through those that are hating them. Verse 17, for the sake of Christ and for his name. And so Jesus is talking about the signs at the end of the time and then talks about the destruction of Jerusalem again. And yet this is a different destruction. I think this is the future destruction. This is the end times destruction. This is the abomination of desolation. This is the antichrist. And the reason I would say that is because verse 25 says, then there will be signs, the sun of the moon, the stars on earth. The nations will be in perplexity and that's gonna be the time that the sentiment returns on cloud. So we haven't seen that yet. And so because of that, that's why I say this can't be 70 ad that he's talking about here, but it has to be that future destruction that's gonna take place during the tribulation period. After this, we get the lesson of the fig tree, which is, building on this concept saying you can interpret signs when you see things in nature that tell you that it's almost seasoned for figs. Likewise, you should be ready, for the return of Christ. And then he says that we should stay awake, that we might have strength. To endure and to escape all these things that are going to take place. So it's just that reminder, we need to be ready for the return of Christ. A message that he was preaching to his disciples, a message that we still need to preach today as well. Yeah, I think that's how he closes the chapter and really he wants us to always be aware that. His return is soon. And as dispensationalist, we believe that that's, especially heightened for us. We believe that he could return at any time, that there's nothing that would prevent him from taking up his bride. And we call that the rapture. We believe that the rapture does make us, ready at any moment in the day where he could come and take his bride home. Yeah. And then thus begins the tribulation. Yeah. Well, let's pray and then we'll be done with this episode. God, we look forward to the day when we will be with you and free from the suffering of this world, free from the tragedies, the trials, the sin that we struggle with as well as the sins that others sin against us. Lord, we want to be with Christ. We want to have that time that. Future, where death is no more, where sin is no more, and where we get to spend the rest of our lives in your presence and in the glory that is, accompanying them. And so we pray, for faithfulness until that day we pray that we would be, quick to interpret accurately what's going on in the world, that we would not be paralyzed with fear about these things, but that it would remind us to live ready for your return at any minute. And so I pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Keep in your bibles. Tune in again tomorrow for another edition of the Daily Bible Podcast. See y'all. Bye.

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Yeah. I would agree with everything that you said