Covid Update - NH Mask Mandate

 Good evening CrossRoads Family,

As of tomorrow the state of New Hampshire will have a statewide mask mandate. This means that we must all wear masks in public places along with social distancing. It's no coincidence that we have been talking about submission to earthly authorities over the last few Sundays. For the duration of the mask mandate, in submission to the authorities put in place by the Father, the Elders of CrossRoads church will require the wearing of masks for everyone five years old and older visiting the church property. This is what we need to do in order to continue to meet in person as a church family. These are indeed trying times but God is still on the throne and this will pass.

We love you all and pray for your good health,

Heath

Submitting to One Honors the Other - Mark 12:13-17 - November 15, 2020

These are the Sermon Notes for November 15, 2020. We are meeting at the church with limited seating and specific procedures and protocols that need to be followed. Read our Returning to Worship plan here. You can still watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

 Mark 12:13-17 Submitting to One Honors the Other

Good morning! We are returning to our study in the Gospel of mark with chapter 12, verses 13-17, page 848 in the pew Bibles, and what a timely passage it is!

You’ll remember from last week Jesus was teaching in the Temple when He was confronted by the Sanhedrin, the rulers of the Jewish people. They questioned where he got His authority from but they got no answer, He told the parable of the tenants against them as they were proving that they were falling in line with all those Jewish rulers who had murdered the prophets, and were looking to do it again. And now we see that they were at it again, this time sending a smaller delegation to question Jesus.

So let’s look at our text together.

13 And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. 14 And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” 15 But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 16 And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” 17 Jesus 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.

Let’s pray.

So as we often do, let’s start our study by examining the players on the stage.

First, there’s Jesus. Perhaps you’ve heard of Him.

Second, there is a group of Pharisees and Herodians sent to trap Him in His talk. The fact that this delegation was made up of people from these two groups is very significant. These two groups were not normally allies, they hated each other!

The Pharisees were, in large part, the religious leaders of the Jewish people. They were, at least on the surface, loyal to God’s Law, and the traditions passed down from their forefathers. These guys were notoriously opposed to the Roman yoke, opposed to Rome ruling over Israel.

The Herodians, on the other hand, were Jews who were loyal to Herod, hence the name. This was a political party, whose allegiance was to Roman rule that only pretended to be righteous in the sight of the people.

So this group that was sent to Jesus to trap Him in His words was a kind of unholy alliance. The Pharisees and Herodians hated each other, but they joined forces here because they hated Jesus more. If this doesn’t sound like politics at work, I don’t know what does…

So here we have our slimy little group, now let’s examine their slimy little approach to Jesus.

How else do you approach someone you are trying to trap so you can kill them? Just like you would trap a mouse, you offer them something you think they will want. In this case, instead of cheese, it’s flattery. After all, who doesn’t like to be told they are awesome?

Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God.

Were they right? Of course they were. Jesus, the ultimate Teacher, is true, He taught the truth, He was not swayed by anyone’s opinion of Him, He didn’t change His teaching based on the whims of men, like any good politician will do, He wasn’t swayed by appearances, but truly taught the way of God.

All this was true… Don’t fall for the bait! Their motivation was what made their speech evil. Feeding cheese to mice is nice if you care about the well-being of the mice, it’s not so nice if you’re using it to lure them into a trap.

So here is the trap: “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?”

This is a simple yes or no question, right? Should we pay the Roman tax or not?

The tax that they were asking about was based on the Roman census, the annual poll tax, which every man counted in the census as a citizen in Israel had to pay since Israel became a Roman province in 6 AD. 

The Jews resented this tax, not like everybody doesn’t resent paying taxes, but this one they hated in particular because it really represented Israel’s subjugation to Rome. It was an annual reminder that they were not their own nation and they hated that.

So this question was a little pointier than just a question of paying any old tax. But what would Jesus’ answer mean?

If Jesus simply said, “yes, pay the tax.” The Pharisees would turn the people against Him for being loyal to Rome, they would make Him out to be a traitor to Israel.

If Jesus simply said, “no, don’t pay the tax.” The Herodians would turn Him in to the governor as a traitor to Rome, they would charge Him with sedition, rebellion against the Roman Empire.

This is a question with no right answer! Well that’s not entirely true, Jesus gives them an answer and it was the right one.

Just as a point of interest, does anybody remember the former occupation of the disciple Matthew? His name was also Levi, he used to be a tax collector. What about the disciple named Simon, not Simon Peter, but Simon the Zealot. Do you know what a Zealot was? The Zealots were a group of Jews in Israel that refused to submit to Roman rule, they refused to pay taxes to Caesar. And only in the kingdom of Christ can you have a tax collector and a zealot united in fellowship.

So how does Jesus answer their question? He doesn’t fall for the bait.

15 But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 16 And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.”

A Roman Denarius was the roughly the equivalent of a day’s wages, it was a silver coin about the size of a quarter. The image that was stamped on these coins at this time was the image of Tiberius Caesar, and the inscription read, “Tiberius Caesar Augustus, son of the Divine Augustus.” Under the image of Tiberius Caesar were the words, “Chief Priest.”

So think about this with me. The Romans held Caesar up as a god, and demanded him to be worshipped. This idea was repulsive to the Jews. And it wasn’t many years after this that Christians would be martyred for refusing to proclaim that Caesar was lord, because Jesus is Lord. The idea is repulsive, but Jesus wasn’t telling them to worship Caesar, just making it clear whose likeness and inscription was on the coin.

Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 16 And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” 17 Jesus 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.

The word, “render,” means to pay what is owed. What was owed to Caesar was the annual tax.

Paul taught on this same topic in Romans 13:1-7.

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Peter also commented on this in 1 Peter 2:17.

17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

John Calvin wrote, “When we perform our duty towards men, we thereby render obedience to God.”

Christianity, in no way, fosters disloyalty to the government. The annual tax was a debt owed to Caesar that could be paid with the coins that bore his image. But just as Jesus commanded them to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, the coins, He also commanded them to render unto God the things that are God’s.

Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Caesar’s image was stamped on the coins, but whose image is stamped on mankind? God’s!

This statement of Jesus is a command that carries with it a reminder. It’s a command to submit to the human authorities put in place to govern and protect us but it also carries a reminder that human authority is limited in its duration and scope. We must not submit when Caesar stats to demand the things that belong to God.

Jesus responded to their trap with the truth, and the Pharisees and Herodians responded to the truth with wonder. They marveled at Him. What they didn’t do was change their position, they didn’t accept the truth, they simply wondered at it.

What I wonder, is what will we do with that truth?

Jesus told them, pay what you owe. What you owe Caesar is taxes, what you owe God is worship. 

By submitting to one, we honor the other.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

Amen.

The Vineyard - Mark 12:1-12 - November 8, 2020

These are the Sermon Notes for November 8, 2020. We are meeting at the church with limited seating and specific procedures and protocols that need to be followed. Read our Returning to Worship plan here. You can still watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

 Mark 12:1-12 The Vineyard

Hear the word of the Lord from Psalm 118…

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! 2 Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” 3 Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” 4 Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” 5 Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free. 6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? 7 The Lord is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. 8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. 9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. 10 All nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! 11 They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! 12 They surrounded me like bees; they went out like a fire among thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! 13 I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me. 14 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. 15 Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly, 16 the right hand of the Lord exalts, the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!” 17 I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. 18 The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death. 19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. 21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 [Hosanna] Save us, we pray, O Lord! [Hosanna] O Lord, we pray, give us success! 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord. 27 The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar! 28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. 29 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

Let’s pray.

We are returning to the Gospel of Mark with chapter 12, verses 1-12, page 848 in the pew Bibles. 

We are picking up the second half of a conversation between Jesus and the Jewish leaders in the Temple courts on Tuesday of Holy Week. I read Psalm 118 because we are seeing the events described there play out right before us in the life of Jesus during our study of Mark’s record of Holy Week.

You’ll remember from last week that Jesus had been questioned by the Sanhedrin about where He got the authority to do and say the things He did, and He responded to their question with a question about the authority of John the Baptist, where he got his authority from. They refused to answer Jesus because they didn’t like the answer so Jesus also refused to answer them although everybody knew everybody else’s answers.

And so here is the continuation of Jesus’ response to the Sanhedrin’s refusal to answer His question:

And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this Scripture: 

“‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 11 this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” 

12 And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.

Here we have another of a million examples of why it is so important to consider the original author and the original audience of any given text in Scripture. It can never mean what it never meant and if we don’t understand what it meant then, we will struggle to understand what it means now.

Who was Jesus speaking to? To whom did he address this parable, to the crowds or to the chief priests and the scribes and the elders?

That’s very important because we can’t make sense of the parable unless we understand who it was about and to whom it was addressed.

This group of Jewish leaders knew exactly what Jesus was talking about and who was who in His parable. Not because they were so astute but because they knew their Bible, they knew the Old Testament. It is easy to think that Jesus just made up this parable out of nowhere and applied it to them but that would rob it of its force to these men.

Jesus didn’t just make this story up, He is building upon the words of the prophet Isaiah, in chapter five, verses 1-7.

Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2 He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. 3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? 5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6 I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 

7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!

Now with that understanding Jesus’ parable becomes a little more clear.

This group of Jewish leaders, men responsible for the spiritual well-being of the nation of Israel, had proved that they were not at all concerned about the spiritual welfare of the people of God, God’s vineyard, they were only concerned with their own self-interest by refusing to tell the truth when Jesus asked them if John’s baptism was from God or from man. So there’s Jesus’ motivation for telling this parable against them.

So let’s break apart the pieces of the parable.

What is the vineyard? God’s people

Who is the owner, the builder of the vineyard? God

Who were the tenants? The Jewish leaders, the Sanhedrin

Who were the servants? The prophets

Who was the son? Jesus

Who are the others that the owner will give the vineyard to? Everyone who has faith in Jesus, Jews and Gentiles, the Church

The Jewish leaders did exactly what the tenants did over the course of the history of Israel, they persecuted and killed the prophets, those servants sent to the people to warn them, to call them to repentance, to call them back to faithfulness to God, to seek the fruit of the vineyard.

And now, these leaders were seeking to do the same to Jesus, God’s beloved Son, as those tenants did to the owner’s son, to kill Him.

The tenants of that vineyard knew that the beloved son was the heir just as the Sanhedrin knew that Jesus was Messiah. The tenants killed the son so that they could keep the vineyard for themselves and things could go back to the way they were, they way they liked it. The Sanhedrin did the same. They wanted to silence Jesus, to get rid of Him. They wanted Jesus dead so that things could go back to the way they were, they way they liked it. They were in control of the people, they were the ones that the people looked to and listened to, they were the ones in charge.

Three days after this little talk, they would succeed… Or so they thought.

After Jesus told them this parable He asked them another question. 

Quoting again psalm 118, “Have you not read this Scripture: “’The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

These Jewish leaders were supposed to be the builders, building a living temple made of people, but they rejected Jesus, the stone that became the cornerstone of the Church.

Peter would pick up on this idea again in his first letter, in 1 Peter 2:4-12.

4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 

7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 

11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

So what’s our take away?

First, Jesus told this parable against the Jewish leaders that day, exposing their self-interest and lack of faith and faithfulness to their calling. 

Our take away from that? Don’t be like them. 

Jesus exposed their sin and they rejected Him for it. They wanted to arrest and kill Him just like the leaders of the past did to the rest of the prophets. When our sin gets exposed we need to do what they should have done and repent. Jesus knew their sin then and He knows ours now. It’s all exposed before Him so repent of it, turn away from it, reject it, receive His forgiveness and follow the way of Christ.

Our second take away is not from the original, unfaithful and wicked tenants, but from the new tenants that the Father will give His vineyard to. 

The vineyard has always represented His people and it still does now.

We are God’s vineyard, and we each have been given stewardship within that vineyard, stewardship of ourselves, of our gifts and abilities, and maybe even stewardship of others, our families or groups within the church family. 

We must be faithful to the Owner and Builder of the vineyard built on the Cornerstone of Jesus Christ and faithfully submit to Him all the fruit that we bear.

9 …you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 

11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

Amen.