Introduction: Welcome to Expound our weekly worship and verse by verse study of the Bible. Our goal is to expand your knowledge of the truth of God as we explore the Word of God in a way that is interactive, enjoyable, and congregational.

Skip Heitzig: And you can turn in your Bibles, please, or turn on your phones or your iPads or Kindles, I have to say that nowadays, unless you've memorize the Bible, then just turn in your brain to the book of Mark, chapter 12, and let's pray together.

Father, we thank you that as we study the gospel of Mark together that we have the opportunity to have a place like this, the sound of water, the sound of the voices of praise of brothers and sisters, the comfort that comes with this kind of fellowship in this kind of setting. Thank you, Lord, that we belong to a family, a church, an expression, a local expression of the body of Christ.

I want to thank you for all those who have come, and all those who have worked so hard to set up chairs and PA equipment and all the counselors and ushers and security and Sunday school workers that make an evening like this possible. We thank you for them. We pray you'd bless their lives. And we pray, Lord, that you'd bless this time together, you'd meet us over the pages of your Word, in Jesus' name, amen.

Well, one of the verses we're going to read tonight in our journey through the gospel of Mark, hopefully, if we get to it. And I always have to say that, because I plan to do a chapter, sometimes two, and I'll only make it through part of it. But what's good about that is next time we're together, we just pick up and move on through that chapter, and we'll eventually cover it, Lord willing, unless the Lord comes back, which that's okay with us, right? Before that time.

So one of the verses that we read about, it says, concerning Jesus, is that the common people heard him gladly. People loved to hear Jesus teach. He was never boring. He held people's attention. One of the most excruciatingly painful things for me is to listen to bad preaching. Because I am a preacher, I do always aspire to learn and gain and grow and expand and communicate God's truth.

And I remember a story about a man, a preacher who was asked to speak at a luncheon. They asked him to speak twenty minutes, but he kept speaking and droning on and on and on. And the moderator noticed he was over time, so he pointed at his watch. The speaker didn't even see it; kept talking. The moderator went, "Ahem, ahem, ahem," really loud in the back of the room to get his attention. The preacher kept droning on and on. People started falling asleep, like some of you---no, I'm just kidding.

So the moderator decided, you know, he had to do something. And so he took the gavel and he started pounding on one of the tables to get his attention. The preacher kept preaching. He wouldn't stop. So, finally, the moderator in frustration took the gavel and threw it at the preacher. It missed the preacher and hit an old man in the front row who was sleeping. The old man woke up and said, "Hit me again, he's still talking." [laughter]

Never happened with Jesus; the common people, he held their attention and here's why: Jesus employed a very dynamic form of teaching called storytelling. He spoke in parables. The cultures in those days were an oral and aural culture. You'd speak and you'd listen more than reading. Even though most people did read back then, it was an oral and aural culture. A lot of people would listen, and so the rabbis became adept at telling a good story. Jesus often spoke in parables.

And if you remember---I'm going to jog your memory. Do you remember what the word "parable" means? It comes from two words: para, which means "with or alongside of"; and bolé, which means "to cast." And so parabolé, or parable, means "to cast alongside of." So Jesus would cast alongside a story, an earthly story with a heavenly meaning to make the heavenly meaning easier to understand, easier to apply for the people.

In this story we begin in chapter 12 of Mark with a parable. And here's what's going on: If you recall, last time we recall together in Mark, chapter 11, Jesus walked into the temple and he---what did he do to the tables of the money changers? He turned them over, and he took a whip of cords and drove them out of the temple. So the leaders came to Jesus and they said, "By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you that authority?"

And Jesus said, "Well, before I answer the question, I'm going to ask you guys one question: The baptism of John---did it come from heaven or was it from men?" And they thought about it and they said, "Well, if we say, 'It's from men,' the people hold him in esteem, and we'll be in trouble. So, if we say, 'It's from God,' then Jesus is going to say, 'Well, then why didn't you listen to him or believe him?' " So they just simply said, "We don't know. We can't answer you." And Jesus said, "Then I won't tell you by what authority I do these things either."

So now he tells a story to reinforce the point that he's making. And the point that he's making is they, the religious leaders, are not even living under the authority of God. Their lives, even though they're asking Jesus for what authority he has, their own lives are not under God's authority. So, verse 1, chapter 12.

Then he began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and he built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and he went into a far country. Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers. And they took him and beat him and they sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some. Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, 'They will respect my son.' But those vinedressers said among themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' And they took and they killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.

Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.

Now, that's a typical parable. It's a typical rabbinical form of teaching: give the story, ask a question, and allow the audience to draw their own conclusion. That's exactly the format that Jesus uses here. It's a parable of a vineyard for two reasons: reason number one, everywhere they looked around Judea there were vineyards. There were seven fruits of the Holy Land; one of them is grapes. The backbone of their economy, in part, was the harvesting of grapes and the winepress from which they made wine. It was very, very important to them.

So wherever they looked, you could see these terraced hillsides. Here we are in the amphitheater; it's a perfect illustration. You're sitting on a terrace. You have different levels that ascend. And in Israel they would clear away the stones, they would build a stone fence around the property to keep animals out, to keep raiders out. And then they would in terraces, they would plant the fields, they'd build a winepress and a wine vat to catch the juice, the wine. They would build a tower that, again, was a lookout post to protect the crop. So they were used to it. It was a common analogy.

Number two, it was an analogy from their own Old Testament Scriptures, Scriptures like Psalm 80; Isaiah, chapter 5; Jeremiah, chapter 2; that speak of the nation of Israel as a vineyard. Probably most of you knew that. And as you read this, it's pretty easy for us to figure out what is going on. It's not hard to interpret.

The vineyard is the nation of Israel. The landowner is God. The servants are the prophets. The one and only son, the beloved son that comes is Jesus Christ. It's pretty easy to figure this out. Now, it will be more helpful as I read to you Isaiah, chapter 5, which was the chapter that was a primary reference that Jesus uses in this parable. Let me read a portion to you. This is Isaiah, chapter 5; I'm beginning in verse 1.

"Now let me sing to my Well-beloved a song of my Beloved regarding his vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. He dug it up, cleared out its stones, planted it with the choicest vine. Built a tower in its midst, also made a winepress in it; and so he expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, please, between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?"

I won't read it all to you. If you were to keep reading Isaiah, chapter 5, the Lord announces, "For the vineyard . . . is the house of Israel." So back to Mark, chapter 12, the story, the parable that Rabbi Jesus uses; the vinedressers or the tenant farmers are the leaders, the spiritual leaders of the house of Israel to whom God has entrusted the future, the well-being, especially the spiritual well-being of that nation. The servants that were sent, as I mentioned, are the prophets. The son is the Son of God Jesus Christ.

You may recall that when Jesus entered Jerusalem, according to a couple of the gospels, Jesus looked over the city. He said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem," listen to what he said, "the one who kills the prophets and stones all those that are sent unto her! How often I would have gathered you as a hen gathers her own chicks, but you---but you were not willing!"

"You killed the prophets," he said, "you stoned those who are sent unto you." According to tradition, Isaiah the prophet was sawn in two with a wooden saw, a brutal death. Jeremiah the prophet, placed in a slimy, miry pit, later taken out and stoned to death. Prophets like Amos and Elijah, their lives were threatened. They had to flee because of the death threats. In the book of First Kings, the prophet Micah, slugged in the mouth, hit in the face because people didn't want to hear what he had to say. The prophet Zechariah murdered in the temple precincts, according to Second Chronicles, chapter 24.

So it's pretty easy to figure out this parable, especially since these leaders knew their Bibles. They certainly knew that Israel was the vineyard according to Isaiah, chapter 5; Jeremiah, chapter 2; Psalm 80, and others. Now, watch this, we'll go back to verse 9. "Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others. Have you not even read this Scripture: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? "

You'll notice that Jesus changes metaphors. He changes imagery. He begins with the imagery of a vineyard; now he changes it to the metaphor, the imagery of a building, a cornerstone. He's quoting a psalm, a messianic psalm, a known messianic psalm: Psalm 118. He quotes that and here's the idea: "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone." The rejected stone prophesied by the Psalms is the rejected son in the parable that he just gave. The rejected stone, the rejected son, are one in the same.

"You are doing," said Jesus, "what is predicted that you would do. You are the ones who are killing and rejecting the very cornerstone, the foundation of your country, your nation, your future, the Messiah." Now let me tell you about a cornerstone. A cornerstone goes in the . . . corner. Very good. The cornerstone was the most important part of a building. It was the large stone that formed the foundation.

The cornerstone has to be perfect, because all the other stones were aligned according to the cut of the cornerstone. And so builders would be very particular about how a cornerstone looked. And they rejected a number of stones till they got the perfect cornerstone, because the symmetry and the stability of any building depends on how good, how well made that cornerstone is. "I'm the cornerstone," said Jesus. "I'm the son. You're the ones that have rejected the cornerstone and the son sent by the father into the vineyard."

Just as Jesus quotes Psalm 118, Peter also will quote this same passage of Scripture. Do you remember the story in the book of Acts when there was that lame man at the Gate Beautiful? And he had been there, he was placed there every day and he begged for alms. And he saw Peter and John coming into the temple at the hour of prayer and he begged for money. And Peter looked at him and he said, "Well, silver and gold I don't have, but what I do have I will give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk."

And so the man was healed. He started walking. A crowd gathered around Peter in that place, and they asked him the same thing. "By what name and by what authority do you do these things?" First of all, when was the last time they healed anybody? That dude was sick, that dude couldn't walk, and now he's healed, and you're griping about it? And you want to know all the little details by what authority and what name? And so Peter points that out. He points out the ridiculousness of their complaint.

He said, "If we are being judged this day for kindness done to this helpless man, then be it known unto you and to the whole house of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, and whom God raised from the dead, this man stands before you whole." And then he said this, "This is the 'stone that was rejected by you builders, it has become the chief cornerstone.' Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name given under heaven among men by which we must be saved.' "

You see, Peter was there the day that Jesus Christ gave this parable and quoted Psalm 118. And he goes, "That's what it means!" And later on he pulled that out in his own sermon in Acts, chapter 4; back to our text in verse 12.

"And they sought to lay hands on him," him being Jesus, "but they feared the multitude for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them. And so they left him and went away." Boy, these guys have a keen eye for the obvious. "I think he said something against us." Yup, he did. "You guys are the tenant farmers. You guys are the ones that rejected the father, the ones that rejected the son that was sent. You're the ones that rejected the stone. You are the ones I am speaking about."

What this whole setup reminds me of is of a story that happened in the Old Testament, a true story with King David. King David committed adultery with Bathsheba, killed her husband Uriah the Hittite. And one day the prophet Nathan came into David's throne. David never told anyone; thought he could sort of get away with a lie. And Nathan said, "David, there was a rich man who had many flocks and many herds; and there was a poor man who had one little lamb.

"Well, one day the rich man was having company coming in from out of town and he needed to kill a lamb to make a meal. But instead of taking one animal from the many that he owned, he found the one single lamb that belonged to the poor man. By this time it had become a family pet. I mean, they brought it to bed with them, they cuddled it, they pet it. You know, they named it Fido, I don't know. But that rich man had the audacity to take the poor man's little lamb and kill it and feed it to his friend for supper."

When David heard that, he said, "That man must surely die!" And then Nathan pointed his finger at him and said, "You're the man! You're the one I'm speaking about. You were the guy. You had many wives, and God has blessed you with many riches. And God has said he would have given you more. And you took the wife of Uriah the Hittite, your soldier, your general, and you committed adultery with her. You took her to be your wife, and then you killed him. You're the man I'm speaking about," in parable form.

He was busted with a parable. Jesus essentially says to them, "You are the men!" Again, busted with a parable. They, the leaders, the rulers, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the nation itself, because of these rulers, by and large, rejected Jesus Christ. But listen carefully---they did not reject Jesus because of the lack of evidence, they rejected Jesus simply because they didn't want to receive him. You know, I've discovered that's how people are.

There's an abundance of evidence---logical evidence, philosophical evidence, scientific evidence, evidence that point to God, evidence that points to creation, evidence that points to Jesus Christ---that is, to me, overwhelming. And I remember examining the evidence when I was in my early years of doubt doing medical training at a UCLA program in California. And I was about ready to give up the Christian faith until I found this evidence that blew me away.

But I have found that you can give people all of the evidence possible, but if they're predisposed to reject Christ, they don't want to receive him, they're not open---and usually there's reasons that they don't want to receive him. And that's because they don't want to change their immoral lifestyle, and are looking for some---"Well, I can't believe in that fairy-tale stuff." It's all smoke and mirrors. There was plenty of evidence, but they were looking for a way to trap Jesus.

Verse 13, "Then they sent to him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch him in his words." There's an old saying: "Hostility make the strangest bed fellows." We read here in the same sentence of Pharisees and Herodians. We know who the Pharisees are: they were the ritualists, they were the legalists. But who were the Herodians? The Herodians were the enemies of the Pharisees. The Pharisees hated the Herodians because the Herodians were a politically inclined group that swore allegiance to the Roman dynasty of King Herod Antipas.

They believe we should submit to Rome, submit to Herod for expediency's sake. We don't want to go against the grain. We don't want to get in trouble. So just go along and submit. Pharisees hated them, but here they conspire together. Why? Because they have something in common: they both hate Jesus and they want him dead. And they have such a hatred for him that they're willing to put their differences aside for the mutual cause of getting rid of Christ.

So they come to him "to catch him at his words," conspiring together. Verse 14, "And when they had come, they said to him, 'Teacher,' " now listen to them butter him up. " 'Teacher, we know that you are true' "---lie---" 'and care about no one,' "---that is, you don't care about people's prestige and power and position. " 'For you do not regard the person of men, but you teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?' "

Now, as I mentioned, these guys were just liars. They approached Jesus with what I call the "sandwich approach"; they butter the bread on both sides. They butter him up, "Oh, we know you're too wonderful and true. You don't care about anybody's position or prestige or power or education or fashion," which is true. Jesus was not a respecter of persons. But they ask this question: "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" In those days taxation was a big issue. Well, hey, in these days taxation is a big issue.

Every election it becomes a huge issue. Should we pay taxes? What kind of taxes should we pay? How much should we pay? Should we do a flat tax? A graduated tax? Should we tax the rich more than the poor? Etcetera. All of these things are debated. Now, on one hand, taxes are absolutely necessary for the smooth running of any society; on the other hand, too much tax can crush the common person. So it was always controversial. You need to take taxes from people.

In those days there were Roman roads---somebody had to pay for them. There were Roman aqueducts that brought water to cities---somebody had to pay for that. There was the Pax Romana, the Roman peace, by stationing soldiers all over the world enabling safe passage from one city, one country, one village to another. Roman soldiers ensured the safe travel, ensured the peace---somebody had to pay for it. Who pays for it? You pay for it. Government takes taxes from you.

The rub was that as a Jewish citizen when I'm paying my taxes, I'm paying for the very soldiers that are taking away my freedom and oppressing me. So I am, by my money, funding the oppression that I'm so opposed to. That's why some people believe you shouldn't pay any taxes at all. And I still find people, even Christians, who say, "The Lord told me I don't need to pay any taxes." And we have a name for those people, we call them prisoners. Eventually they get arrested and put in jail.

But what this question was designed to do is to divide the crowd. If Jesus were to say, "Yes. You ought to pay taxes." That would alienate the common people. That might alienate the Pharisees. Well, they were already alienated; it would further alienate them. Now, if Jesus were to say, "No. Taxes are oppressive. Don't pay any taxes." That's going to make the Herodians upset. It was designed to cause a division. They're thinking, "Oh, we're so smart. We're going to ask him a question that's going to get him in trouble."

Verse 15, " 'Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?' But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, 'Why do you test me?' " See, he knows what they're doing. He's exposing their motives. " 'Bring me a denarius that I might see it.' " Now, a denarius is a small single coin. A denarius was equal to a day's wage for a Roman soldier or a day laborer; that was a denarius. It was a small silver coin. It was minted by the emperor. Only the emperor had the authority to mint gold or silver coins.

On one side of a denarius was the image of Caesar, in this case, Caesar Tiberias; on the other side was an image of Caesar sitting on the throne with the robes of a priest. And the inscription on it said, "Tiberias, Caesar Augustus, Son of the Divine Augustus." So it had an image on it. What does the second commandment of the Jews say? "You shall make no image in heaven or on earth."

Not only of God, but anything, any likeness, even of a person. The Jews took this so seriously that for them to have to use money that had an inscription on it---they hated paying taxes, number one; number two, they have to pay taxes with defiled, image-laden currency. It was a double rub, a double offense to them.

So Jesus says, " 'Bring me a denarius.' So they brought it. And he said to them, 'Whose image and inscription is this?' "---that is, whose face and of whom is this written about?"And they said to him, 'Caesar's.' Jesus answered and said to them, 'Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.' And they marveled at him."

There's two parts to that answer, folks. Mankind has a human obligation, number one; mankind has a spiritual obligation, number two. "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's." In other words, Jesus is saying, "Yes, it is right to give taxes to the one who's collecting them," in this case, Caesar Tiberias. It's his image on it. It's his inscription on it. This stuff, this money belongs to his domain. "Absolutely, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's."

Let me tell you what this means to you and I. We're citizens not only of heaven, which we are, but we're also citizens of the earth, of this state, of this city, and that means God wants us to pay taxes. Now I'm waiting for the gavels to be flying, but that's Scripture folks. You render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's.

Paul the apostle put it very clear in Romans 13. He said, "Let every soul be subject to governing authorities. For there is no authority except that which is appointed by God, and the authorities that exist have been ordained by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities is resisting the ordinances of God himself." He says give honor, and "for this reason," verse 6 of Romans 13, "for this reason," he said, "we also pay taxes."

He says you give honor to kings, you give honor to prime ministers. That means we give honor to mayors, we give honor to governors, and we give honor to the president, and those who rule this country. You render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's.

But the second part: "Give to God the things that are God's." Caesar has right to collect your money; God has the right to collect your worship. He has the right to collect your allegiance. He has the right to collect your submission. Give to God the things that belong to God.

As Creator, as Redeemer, as the Giver of life, he's the one that we give all to. We worship him with heart, mind, soul, and strength. Yup, give your money to Caesar; give your life to God. So those are the Pharisees and the Herodians. And they're just kind of going wow! It says, "They marveled at him." "Wow! It was, like, a great answer. We can't argue with that one."

"Then some of the Sadducees"---so, we have another group: Pharisees, Herodians, and now Sadducees---"who say there is no resurrection, came to him; and they asked him, saying"---let me just remind you about the Sadducees. The word Sadducee is from the Hebrew word tsadduquim, literally means "the righteous ones." It is believed that the Sadducees first began with Zadok the high priest at the time of David. They were in rule up until the time of the Maccabean revolt. And after 70 AD, after the temple was destroyed in Jerusalem, there were no more Sadducees. They just sort of fell off the face of the earth. But they were very much in charge.

The Pharisees were the ritualists; the Sadducees were the rationalists. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. The Sadducees did not believe in angels. They didn't believe in spirits. They didn't believe in miracles. And they did not believe in the Old Testament Scriptures, except for the first five books of Moses. That's all they believed in. They believed only the first five books of the Old Testament, the ones that Moses wrote were inspired; they didn't believe in the others.

And because they did not believe in the future resurrection, they put all of their stock in the here and now. They don't believe in a future, so it's all about now. That's why most of them were wealthy. It was all about making money. It was all about being wealthy in the temporary earthly realm, because they had no hope for the future. So most of them were the aristocratic group; the Sadducees ran the temple enterprises. That's why when Jesus over turned the temple, it cut into their profits, they were the ones that were the most angry.

So, verse 19, " 'Teacher,' " they say, the Sadducees, " 'Teacher, Moses wrote' "---now, they're quoting Moses, because he's the only guy they believe in. " 'Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, that his brother should take his wife and rise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring. And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring. And the third likewise.' "

You get the picture? There's seven brothers, the first guy dies, no kids. The second guy marries her, dies, no kids. The third one marries her, dies, no kids. " 'So the seven had her,' " all seven guys married this chick, had no children, and they all died. So by this time you're thinking, "Uh, what is she putting in the green chile when she serves it to her husband?" Because she's, like, killing off every one of them.

"'Last of all,' " their little story goes, " 'Last of all the woman dies also. Therefore' "---listen to this. " 'Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife.' " Now you're thinking, I hope, "Resurrection? Why would they mention a resurrection? They don't believe in a resurrection." That's exactly why they say what they said. They don't believe in a resurrection.

They're trying to show how ridiculous the idea of a resurrection is. Because, look, if the dead rise up in the resurrection, since seven men married this one chick, in the resurrection when they all live again in the future, whose wife is she going to be? Ah, they think they're so smart; they have him trapped. "Jesus answered and said to them, 'Are you not therefore mistaken?' "One of the other gospels Jesus said, "You're ignorant, not knowing the Scripture nor the power of God."

Now I will tell you this: they're referring to a law in the book of Moses, in Deuteronomy, chapter 25, called the law of levirate marriage, levirate marriage. And that's stated in Deuteronomy 25. It was to protect the widow. It was to protect the land and the name of that family, so that if a husband dies and leaves no offspring, and that wife is left, she has no claim on the land in future generations. And so a brother or a kinsman, a relative, could marry that lady, and then the family name is preserved, and the inheritance is passed on from generation to generation for that woman. It's to protect her, her offspring, and the family name.

We see this practiced in the book of Ruth. Ruth's husband Mahlon dies. He was Jewish; Ruth was a Moabitess. She comes back to Bethlehem, but she's a single woman. Her husband Mahlon is dead, so Boaz marries her. He's the goel. He's the kinsman redeemer. There was a closer blood relative, but he was unable to perform the redemption ritual, and so Boaz moves in, marries her, all based on Deuteronomy, chapter 25.

So, "Jesus answered and said to them, 'Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?' "They thought they were so smart. Jesus says, "You're ignorant; you're mistaken." "'For when they rise from the dead' "---not if, when. Jesus believes in the resurrection. " 'For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven,' " meaning, angels never die. They're deathless. Angels are immortal. There's no need for them to propagate because they go on and on.

" 'But,' " Jesus said, " 'concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage,' " that's Exodus, chapter 3, " 'how God spoke to him, saying, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob"? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You therefore are greatly mistaken.' "

I once knew a gal who was so upset at these words of Jesus. Can you imagine being upset at something Jesus said? Well, actually, there's a lot of things that might upset us that Jesus said. But she just hated this passage of Scripture. And I remember talking to her about this, and she was just so irate. She was single. She wanted to be married. And she believed the Lord would come very, very soon, and she thought she wanted to get married before the Lord came. She wanted to have the earthly enjoyment of marriage. And she thought, "What if as soon as I get married the Lord comes, and then in heaven there's neither marriage or given in marriage. That makes me angry."

Well, I know other people this is a great comfort to. [laughter] So I won't even get into that, but you can see it would sort of depend on your marital situation what you think. But she was just irate over this Scripture. There's a few things I want you to note about this: Jesus said in the resurrection we become "like angels"; he doesn't say we become angels.

I tell you why that's important: I can't count how many times I have spoken to Christian people who, you know, say things like, "Well, when they died, I know that they got their wings and they became angels. And now they're angels in heaven." That does not come from the Scripture; that comes from a movie called It's a Wonderful Life. "Every time the bell rings, an angel gets its wings," that's what Jimmy Stewart, I think, said. It didn't come from the Bible.

We do not become angels when we die, we become like the angels. We become deathless. We become immortal. We live forever. In heaven there's no need to procreate. Marriage is a wonderful blessing that God gives for earthly, temporary companionship and all to propagate the human race---no need for that in heaven.

Number two, Jesus shows that there will be a resurrection. He quotes the burning bush passage. Listen to what he said: "How God spoke to him saying," now listen, " 'I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob' "---now stop right there. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were dead when he spoke these words to Moses. He didn't say, "I was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob"---"I am the God," present tense.

Meaning for him to use the present tense---and this is the whole point of Jesus: "Don't you guys even know your Bibles enough to know that God spoke in the present tense? He couldn't say, 'I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,' unless they were still alive awaiting resurrection." That was his whole point.

I tell you what, and you need the pick up on this point, Jesus had a very high view of Scripture. And here he's showing the difference between a verb tense. That's how important it is. It's not, "I was . . . ," it's, "I am . . . ," showing his view of Scripture: that we should pay attention to the very details of the text, read it slowly, go over it, look at the verbs, look at the verb tense, the direct object, the subject, etcetera.

"Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that he had answered them well, asked, 'Which is the first commandment of all?' " Now can you see this chapter is just sort of riddled with confrontation? A couple ask him a question, somebody else asks him a question, somebody else---it's all confrontation. " 'Which is the first commandment of all?'

"Jesus answered him, 'The first of all the commandments is this: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." This is the first commandment. And the second, is like it, and it's this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." There is no other commandment greater than these.' "

The question was: "What's the greatest commandment, the first commandment?" Jesus said, "Let me tell you what the first two commandments are, greatest commandment, first commandment: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.' " Now that was the expected answer. That was the Jewish answer. Twice a day in that time period and all the way till now, today, the pious orthodox Jew, twice a day, morning and evening prayers will pray what they call the Shema: "Shema Yisrael, Adonai eloheinu, Adonai echad."

"Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one," what Jesus quoted. It's actually a copulation of three Scriptures: Deuteronomy, chapter 6; Deuteronomy, chapter 11; Numbers, chapter 15. Just a few snippets of each one form a prayer recited twice a day called the Shema. It's their statement of faith. Now, the rabbis taught---how many commandments are there? Did we talk about how many commandments? Ten Commandments. The rabbis taught that there were 613 commandments. Not one, not two, not ten---613 commandments.

Those 613 commandments were divided into two: negative commandments, positive commandments. There were 248 positive commandments; there were 365 negative commandments. More don'ts than do's. The problem was, the issue was, the debate was: Which ones were the heavy commandments? Which ones were the lighter commandments? They divided them into two camps: the heavy and the light; the most crucial, the least crucial. And no two rabbis agreed on which were the most crucial or the least crucial. There was always a debate as to which were the greater or lesser commandments.

Jesus gives the expect answer: " 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You will love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, soul, strength'---that's the first commandment, that's the most important." But he doesn't stop, he goes, "Actually, there's a second commandment, and that is: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these.' "

So, Jesus sums up all of the commandments, all of the Old Testament into two simple commands; one word---love: love God; love people. Love God, that's vertical; love people, that's horizontal. By the way, did you know that's how the Ten Commandments are divided? The first four commandments of the Ten Commandments are about your relationship with God, loving God; the second six grouping of commandments from commandment number five all the way to ten are about loving your neighbor, loving each other. Love God; love people.

But there's something else. I just want to refresh your memory. When it comes to the commandments of God, God doesn't just look at the outward, but he looks at the inward, right? He looks at the heart. He looks at the desires of the heart. So a person may say, "I've never committed adultery in my life." Have you ever looked lustfully at a woman? "Well, I mean, um."

"I've never killed anybody." Have you ever said, "Oh, I hate that guy. I could kill him. I'm going to run him off the road"? According to Jesus Christ the inward attitude is just as important, because that's where the outward action grows from.

The Sermon on the Mount, he said, "You have heard that it was said by those of old, 'You shall not murder.' But I say unto you that if you hate your brother, you're a murderer. You have heard that it was said by those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say unto you if you look lustfully at a woman, you've committed adultery with her in your heart." So he started showing that it's not just what you do, it's who you are on the inside. But here Jesus sums up the commandments into the sum, the kernel, the irreducible minimum of love: love God; love each other.

So the scribe said to him," I love this, " 'Well said, Teacher.' " It's just sort of ironic that he's speaking to God: "Uh, good work, God. Yeah, I agree with that." "Oh, good. Thank you." " 'Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but he. And to love him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all of the whole burnt offerings and the sacrifices.' "

They're in the temple compound as this conversation is going on. Man, this guy, this scribe, whoever he is understands that love is more important than ritual. That who you are is even more important that what you do, because what you do is determined by who you are. He gets that.

And that's why Jesus says this: "When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said, 'You are not far from the kingdom of God.' But after that no one dared to question him." Here's this scribe, according to Jesus, "Man, you're getting it. You're acknowledging that loving God, loving people is more important than all of the rituals and all of the sacrifice. However, you're still not in the kingdom of God, you're just close to it. You're not far from it. You're staring eyeball-to-eyeball with the King of the kingdom. He's looking at you. You have to love the One who's the King of the kingdom for you to enter the kingdom. You're not far from it. I'm here---the King of that kingdom."

"Then Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple," now this is Jesus speaking. " 'How is it' "---he has a question for them. They've been peppering him with questions, now he asks them a question. " 'How is it that the scribes say that the Christ [or the Messiah] is the son of David?' " Stop right there. See that term "the Son of David"? That term was the most common messianic term that the Jewish people used to refer to the coming Messiah.

You know why? Because God has promised David that his descendant would rule on the throne of David forever and ever. Well, that couldn't refer to Solomon, Solomon died. Solomon's kingdom was divided and it was never restored. So they believed that it has to refer to the Messiah---they got that part right---"the son of David."

So, " 'How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?' "Then Jesus answered, before they could even answer, he answers his own question."He said, while he taught in the temple, 'How is it that the scribes'---oh, I already---that's verse 35, I said that. " 'How is it that the scribes say the Christ is the Son of David? For David himself said by the Holy Spirit: "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool.' "Therefore David himself calls him "Lord"; how is he then his Son?' And the common people heard him gladly."

Okay, now follow me closely here. I know it's dark, so not all of you have iPads or iPhones. You're just thinking, "I can't even read this in my own Bible." You have to go check this out. Jesus is quoting Psalm 110, where it says, "The Lord said unto my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies a footstool.' " David wrote that. You're calling the Messiah the "Son of David"; David calls the Messiah his "Lord": "The Lord said to my Lord." In Hebrew it's "Yahweh said to Adonai"; both are terms for God. God said to God.

"The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies a footstool.' " David, according to Jesus, would never have called a mere physical descendant of himself his Lord. But David calls him his Lord. How is that possible? "Why do you call the Christ the Son of David? David calls him 'Lord.' " He is showing that the Messiah is more than a physical descendant of David, that he is God himself. So they're like---it's like a mind bender for them. I tell you, Jesus is just so skilled and so adept at the nuances of the text of Scripture. It's a great example for us.

"Then he said to them in his teaching, 'Beware of the scribes.' " Now he's just like getting down on them. You know, pull out the stops, get down on these dudes. " 'Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, they love the greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, the best places at the feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.'

"Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much." Let me draw a picture for you. Let me paint a picture. Jesus is in the temple courts. The outer court, the court of the Gentiles, had a covered colonnaded porch called Solomon's porch. They didn't serve espresso. They didn't serve hamburgers on Wednesday night. Solomon's porch, we took the name from the Bible, was a gathering place for people of all nations. That's why we call our coffee shop that.

Closer toward the temple itself was a covered porch in the court of the women where people would linger after the sacrifices were made just to worship or to spend time in God's presence. And there were a couple of chambers. One of the chambers was called the chamber of the silent. Around the chamber of the silent were thirteen---well, I would call them agape boxes. They were trumpet-shaped receptacles called shofarot in Hebrew, which means trumpets or shofars (it's the plural of shofar), trumpet-shaped boxes where people would put money in.

The chamber of the silent is where the person could give anonymously without fanfare, and where if you were poor you could go get help, get financial help without being embarrassed. But there were people who loved to give with fanfare. And they loved to put their money in one of those thirteen boxes, and get lots of coin so you'd hear the coins drop one after another after another after another. And so people would go, "Wow! That guy's really generous." They did it for that effect. Jesus is watching different people give.

Verse 42, "Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans." Now, we read this and we go, "Uh, it doesn't help me." Mark was writing to a Roman audience. Two mites are Hebrew currency. It's the smallest denomination in Jewish currency. A mite is about an eighth of a cent. This woman put in about a quarter of a cent, two mites.

So that the Roman audience could understand, he converts it into a Roman currency, calls it a quadrans. A quadrans was one-sixty-fourth of a denarius. Remember a denarius is a day's wage for a Roman soldier, or for a working class citizen, a day laborer. So the Roman citizen would go, "Two mites? What's that? Oh, oh I see, it makes a quadrans. I get it." So, it was very little.

"And so he called his disciples to himself and he said to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given into the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.' "

Hey, I just want to close by saying: Did you know that the Bible has a lot to say about the Christian and his or her money? Did you know that more than half of the parables of Jesus have to do with our finances. Let me put this into perspective. One out of every seven verses in the New Testament, it is reckoned, deals with the topic of money. The Scripture has five hundred verses on prayer; less than five hundred on the topic of faith; two thousand on the topic of finances or money. Why is that?

Well, Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." So, as we close tonight, remember the words of Jesus, "Render to Caesar to things that belong to Caesar, but give to God the things that belong to God." We don't own anything; we're stewards of everything. "Only one life, 'twill soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last." I encourage you to see all of the resources that you have as not your own, but you're a steward over them. And you all, we all ask the Lord, "How do you want me to further your kingdom, Lord?"

But here's how I really want to close, and we're going to close in a moment with a song. Really, you can't get out of rendering to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar. You can try, but they'll come and find you, and we'll be visiting you in prison. So you render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. You're going to have to do that.

But worship of God, giving your life to Christ, that's all voluntary. He'll never make you do that here. You will be forced to do it one day in eternity. At judgment day every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess, everyone will ultimately will one day confess that Jesus is Lord and offer praise and submission to him, but for so many it's going to be too late. Have you personally, voluntarily submitted, surrendered your life to God? Render to God the things that belong to God.

He made you, and he made you for salvation. He made you to have a relationship with himself. Have you allowed him the right that he deserves to control your life? Have you yet surrendered and asked Christ to take away your sin and give you everlasting life? If you haven't done that, I'm going to give you an opportunity to do that. And I can't see your hands, so I'm going to simply ask everyone to stand right now, and we're going is to sing a final song, a closing song.

And if you've never given your life to Christ, I'm calling you out. I'm calling you down to get up from where you're standing now. Get up out of your seat and just stand right up here. I'm going to lead you publicly to receive a prayer to receive Christ. This is going to be your night where you're giving God what's due to him and has been due him all along. You give him your life. So, as we sing this song, you get up and come if you've never done that.

Or if you've walked away from the Lord, you need to come back home and be forgiven. It doesn't matter what experiences you've had in the past or what church you belong to, if you're not walking and obeying Christ, I'm asking you to get up from where you're standing and stand right up here and recommit your life to Christ. Either way, you get up and come right now and stand right here, and we're going to pray publicly to receive Christ. Just come up and stand with me right here. I'll be waiting for you as you come. We sing; you come. You don't hesitate, you come right now. Come right up here. God bless you.

[worship music plays]

A couple of girls have walked forward. I just want you to know, guys, the girls led the procession tonight; the girls broke the ice tonight. Some of you men may think, "You know, I'm a little too cool for this. I'm a little too macho for this." One day you're going to face God in eternity, you really want that as your excuse forever? Are you sure you know him? Are you sure that if you were to die tonight you'd be in heaven? If not, man, you need to be sure. If you're sitting back there by the cafe, you're way in the back over here between the buildings, or anywhere in this amphitheater, way off to the side, if you don't know Christ, if you're not sure, you get up and come. Come to forgiveness. Come to life. Come to light.

[worship music plays]

Awesome. All right! Yeah, give them a big hand. Come on up. Come on up, you guys. Still might be some more. Some of you people have heard this for a long time. You've seen a lot of altar calls, and, frankly, you've just gotten really good at turning it off about now, and not letting the Holy Spirit come in and bring you out. You need to stop that. You need to throw out the white flag. You need to say no to those voices and say yes to Jesus. He loves you. Jesus loves you so much he died for you. We're going to sing this through one more time, you come if you're not sure.

[worship music plays]

All right. Hey, those of you who have come---yeah, give them a big hand. [applause] I want you to just hear it from me; we don't do this to embarrass anybody. I know you didn't expect doing this tonight, standing in front of everybody at the end of a service, but we believe that it's very important for you to make a decision publicly, to not keep it a secret, but to come out, step out of the shadows and come into the light figuratively, and, well, literally in this case.

But it does something in your heart when you're willing to say, "Look, Jesus, you died publicly for me, I'm going to live publicly for you." And Jesus often called people publicly. So, I'm going to say a prayer, and I'm going ask you to pray out loud this prayer with me. Just say what I say, but say it to the Lord. You're giving him your life.

Let's pray: Lord, I know that I'm a sinner. Please forgive me. I believe in Jesus, that he died on a cross, that he shed his blood for me, and that he rose from the dead. I turn from my sin; I leave it behind me. I turn to you as my Savior. I want to live for you as my Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.

Come on, give a big hand for what the Lord did.

[applause]