What Jesus Hates?
Part 2 in the series, The Journey To Jerusalem
March 17, 2002
Last week we discussed “Who Matters To Jesus”. Despite how the world gives value to the attractive, outspoken & impressive people, Jesus seemed to have a different value system. As we watched Him move throughout Luke 18 & 19 we saw the Son of God pay special attention to the “nobodies” of the world. Jesus healed a blind man, blessed children, cured 10 lepers & had dinner with a tax collector. Each of these individuals had nothing to offer in the world’s eyes, but in Christ’s eyes, these people had infinite value. What’s more, the Jewish religious leaders of Jesus’ day, the Pharisees, would have nothing to do with these nobodies, these insignificant peasants.
This is precisely why Jesus loathed the existing religious system. So today the title of the message is, “What Jesus Hates.” Our Savior could not tolerate a religious system that, in the name of God, condemned, punished or ignored the needy in the name of Jehovah, God. This was entirely unacceptable to the Messiah. At every turn this Nazarene carpenter chastised and condemned the pharisaical tradition for its coldheartedness and hypocrisy. Listen to what the Lord had to say about it.
As the passover approached, Jesus confronts the Jewish religious leaders face to face. Listen to this:
Matthew 23:29-30: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, [30] and say, ’If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
Here they were claiming how righteous they were. Claiming that had they lived in the days of their forefathers, they would never have shed the blood of the prophets and yet, and yet, they are just days away from crucifying the Son of God. Can you see why Jesus bristled at these men? The entire Jewish religious structure was corrupt and wicked. The pharisees, the saducess and the scribes were all guilty of the same sin their fathers were guilty of… murder.
In Luke 11:42-54 Jesus finally has His fill of it all and has a showdown with these religious leaders. Watch what happens:
"But how terrible it will be for you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest part of your income, but you completely forget about justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave undone the more important things.
[43] "How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! For how you love the seats of honor in the synagogues and the respectful greetings from everyone as you walk through the markets! [44] Yes, how terrible it will be for you. For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on."
[45] "Teacher," said an expert in religious law, "you have insulted us, too, in what you just said."
[46] "Yes," said Jesus, "how terrible it will be for you experts in religious law! For you crush people beneath impossible religious demands, and you never lift a finger to help ease the burden. [47] How terrible it will be for you! For you build tombs for the very prophets your ancestors killed long ago. [48] Murderers! You agree with your ancestors that what they did was right. You would have done the same yourselves. [49] This is what God in his wisdom said about you: ’I will send prophets and apostles to them, and they will kill some and persecute the others…[53] As Jesus finished speaking, the Pharisees and teachers of religious law were furious. From that time on hey grilled him with many hostile questions, [54] trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him.
It wasn’t a pretty sight. The Messiah, the One these supposed leaders were waiting for was standing in their midst and yet their hardened hearts could not see Him. Because Christ was playing hardball and making His feelings plain about their hardness, the Pharisees, Saducess and Scribes were all taking offense. Their pride was in their religiosity, their security was wrapped in their system of rules and regulations which they believed made them impressive to God and others.
Luke 11:53 sums it up pretty well, [53] As Jesus finished speaking, the Pharisees and teachers of religious law were furious. So here’s the scenario, Jesus has made it clear that He despised the whole religious scene and those leaders who were living lives of utter hypocrisy. This has put the Messiah at odds with the very men who should have recognized His coming.
As Jesus approched Jerusalem things were about to reach boiling point. The Messiah, Israel’s Redeemer, makes His entrance into Jerusalem. All of His followers are filled with such joy they begin to celebrate in the streets. Listen to the description, Luke 19:36-38: As He was going, they were spreading their coats on the road. [37] As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, [38] shouting:
"Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
Then, as Jesus reaches the top of the hill which overlooks the city, He begins to weep. He weeps for the city and her people because, as Israel, God’s chosen people, they failded to recognize the time of their visitation, that is the appearing of their long awaited Messiah. The Hebrew nation and its religious leaders failed to recongized Jesus Christ for Who He was, the promised One.
But it’s what happens next that sets the stage for the ultimate confrontation to come. Luke 19:45-46:
Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the merchants from their stalls. [46] He told them, "The Scriptures declare, ’My Temple will be a place of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves."
Now get this picture in your head. This not the first, but the second time Jesus has stormed into the Temple and sent the merchants scurrying for safety. In His righteous anger, the Lord clears the Temple because merchants were abusing the people by charging exorbitant rates for the doves, goats and sparrows the worshippers required in order to make their sacrifices to Yaweh. As a logical outcome of Jesus’ cleansing of the temple, the leaders again rejected Him, and conflict arose. Jesus had upset the normal “religious” atmosphere of the temple.
Now how do you think the religious leaders reacted to this? Any thoughts? Luke 19:47: After that, he taught daily in the Temple, but the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders of the people began planning how to kill him. So enraged had the pharisees, saducees and scribes become that they finally decided Jesus must be eliminated – permanently! But how? How could they arrange for Jesus death? It was a difficult question. There was only one way to do it… they had to catch Jesus in a trap. They had to find ways to question and discredit Christ’s authority. And so the match begins. The religious establishment versus the very God they worshipped.
As was Jesus’ custom, He began to teach in the Temple. One day, as He is teaching the chief priests, scribes and elders confront the Lord and ask Him directly by Whose authority He taught. Jesus, knowing of course what their motivation was, answered with a question. Listen closely: Luke 20:3-8: Jesus answered and said to them, "I will also ask you a question, and you tell Me: [4] "Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?" [5] They reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, ’From heaven,’ He will say, ’Why did you not believe him?’ [6] "But if we say, ’From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet." [7] So they answered that they did not know where it came from. [8] And Jesus said to them, "Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things."
Now isn’t it interesting how Jesus responded with a question? He asked them about the authority behind John’s baptism. The religious leaders had disapproved the baptizing work of John, because John had humiliated them and had taken away some allegiance from their religious system. Because the crowds thought very highly of John the Baptist, the religious leaders were afraid to deny his authority and therefore refused to answer Jesus’ question. So Jesus therefore refused to tell by what authority He had cleansed the temple. The implication was that He was doing His work by the same authority John the Baptist baptized and that Authority was God in heaven.
Jesus 1, Pharisees 0.
I absolutely love how the Lord deals with these hypocrites! Almost, as if to put a fine point on it, Jesus begins to tell the people a parable. In this story a man plants a vineyard and then rents it out to tennant vinegrowers. The man then proceeds to take a very long journey. At harvest time, the landlord sends one of his servants to collect his share of the crops. However, rather than paying the owner his share, the tennants beat the servant and send him away.
The owner decided to try again and sends another servant to collect his share of the grapes. Again, the tennants abuse the servant and send him away empty-handed. So the owner sits down and ponders. At last the owner comes up with a great idea… he will send his own son to collect his share of the produce.
Sadly, when the owner’s son arrives they not only treat the son poorly, they beat him to death. Now those who are listening to the story are struck by its tragedy. But, the religious leaders are struck by its intended message which was that they represent the evil tennant farmers who have abused God’s prophets. Listen to their reaction in Luke 20:19: When the teachers of religious law and the leading priests heard this story, they wanted to arrest Jesus immediately because they realized he was pointing at them—that they were the farmers in the story. But they were afraid there would be a riot if they arrested him.
Jesus 2, Pharisees 0
Realizing that they were getting nowhere using religious questioning, the Pharisees switch strategies and decide to set a political trap. Watch this: Luke 20:20-26: Watching for their opportunity, the leaders sent secret agents pretending to be honest men. They tried to get Jesus to say something that could be reported to the Roman governor so he would arrest Jesus. [21] They said, "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right and are not influenced by what others think. You sincerely teach the ways of God. [22] Now tell us—is it right to pay taxes to the Roman government or not?"
[23] He saw through their trickery and said, [24] "Show me a Roman coin. Whose picture and title are stamped on it?"
"Caesar’s," they replied.
[25] "Well then," he said, "give to Caesar what belongs to him. But everything that belongs to God must be given to God." [26] So they failed to trap him in the presence of the people. Instead, they were amazed by his answer, and they were silenced.
Let’s examine this trap. The question posed was not merely about money. It pertained to politics and religion. If Jesus gave either a yes or a no answer He would lose support, in short it was a no-win situation. If He said it was proper to pay taxes to Caesar, a foreign ruler, in this case Tiberius Caesar, the Jewish zealots (who opposed Roman rule and favored Jewish independence) would be offended. If Christ answered that it was NOT proper to pay taxes, which the religious leaders suspected He would do, then the Romans would be displeased and the religious leaders would be able to turn Him over to the authorities.
Game over – Jesus 3, Pharisees 0
Exiting the court, heads hung low, the Pharisees hear the Saducess shout, “We got next!” So here come the cocky Saducess anxious to take on the Messiah, quite confident that they will be able to catch Jesus in a trap. This trap consisted of a question regarding Levirite Marriage. Now Levirite marrige was established in the Old Testament in order to insure a man who died childless would have his lineage carried on. This was accomplished by the dead man’s brother. The living brother would marry the dead brother’s widow and have children by her in the dead brother’s name, thus insuring the dead brother’s legacy.
So, the Saducees pose a hypothetical situation. “Jesus”, they say, “There were seven brothers. The first took a wife and died childless. According to levirite marriage the second brother took the widow as his wife, and then he died. So the third brother married the widow and proceeded to die. Now this happened to all seven brothers. Each married the widow and then died.” Now listen close ‘cause here’s where they set the trap. “Teacher”, they ask, “Whose wife will this widow be in the resurrection?”
Now let me explain what made this trap so interesting. The Sadducees denied all supernatural occurrences especially the idea that the dead would be resurrected to life. Their question on resurrection, therefore, was not to elicit information but to find a way to make Jesus look foolish by presenting an extreme hypothetical case. This would, in effect, set Jesus even further at odds with the Pharisees thus creating even more tension.
Listen to Jesus response in Luke 20:34-40: Jesus replied, "Marriage is for people here on earth. [35] But that is not the way it will be in the age to come. For those worthy of being raised from the dead won’t be married then. [36] And they will never die again. In these respects they are like angels. They are children of God raised up to new life. [37] But now, as to whether the dead will be raised—even Moses proved this when he wrote about the burning bush. Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, he referred to the Lord as ’the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ [38] So he is the God of the living, not the dead. They are all alive to him."
[39] "Well said, Teacher!" remarked some of the teachers of religious law who were standing there. [40] And that ended their questions; no one dared to ask any more.
Jesus 1, Saducess 0. Christ’s amazing wisdom and insight, once and for all, ended all questioning. The Saducess conceded the game right then and there and the Pharisees wisely chose to back off as well. But no sooner does the competition back down than Jesus Christ turns the tables on His inquisitors. Facing the religious leaders and those in the crowd the Teacher asks them all a question.
Luke 20:41-44: Then Jesus presented them with a question. "Why is it," he asked, "that the Messiah is said to be the son of David? [42] For David himself wrote in the book of Psalms:’The Lord said to my Lord, Sit in honor at my right hand [43] until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.’
[44] Since David called him Lord, how can he be his son at the same time?"
Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! Now there’s a trap if ever there was one! Jesus quotes a portion of Psalm 110. In this Psalm David hears a heavenly conversation between the LORD (Yahweh) and David’s Lord (Adonai), that is, between God the Father and the Messiah. In this oracle Yahweh states that David’s Lord, the Messiah, is seated at Yahweh’s right hand, the place of authority, until the consummation of the ages.
By quoting this Psalm Jesus clearly proved that there is life after death thus stupifying the Saducess who argued against the resurrection. At the same time the Lord was instructing His disciples and those in the crowd. But the most important message coming out of this lesson was that there was a significant dichotomy between what the teachers of the Law taught and what they practiced. Their lives were bound up in greed and pride—they desired:
(a) display (flowing robes)
(b) attention (greeted in the marketplaces)
(c) prominence (important seats in the synagogues and… at banquets)
(d) more money, taking from those who did not have much (e.g., widows).
Their pompous lengthy prayers were thus hypocritical. Jesus stated that these teachers would be punished most severely. Those who have greater knowledge are held more accountable.
The Lord Jesus Christ was just days from being crucified. He knew His time was near and He wanted to make a very clear point before His departure. God hates a religious spirit. When we become religious we become hardened to the Spirit of God and His love. Next our priorities become confused. When we become religious we use God for our own gain. Author John Boykin writes:
What was so bad about [the Pharisees’] hypocrisy? If we think of it as consisting merely in their teaching or pretending one thing while in fact practicing something contradictory, we will miss Jesus’ main point. What He nailed them for was that they were using God and the things of God as a means to some other end. That’s what was insidious about the Pharisees’ example. "They do all their deeds to be noticed by men" (Matthew 23:5). ... Theirs was a problem of priorities: their first priority was social status, to which end God was but a means. What greater affront to God could there be? Better to ignore Him altogether than to exploit Him as a means to something else you value more highly.
