biblestudy: Matthew (Part 19)
Matthew 21 Episode of Money Changers / Lessons from Cursing of fig tree/ Parable of Two Sons
John W. Ritenbaugh
Given 28-Jul-82; Sermon #BS-MA19; 76 minutes
Description: (hide)
In this nineteenth installment expounding the book of Matthew, John Ritenbaugh reiterates that the inhabitants of Jerusalem shouting “Hosanna” thought they were choosing a liberating king instead of the sacrificial lamb to become their Savior. With this dramatic event in which Jesus throws down the gauntlet, threatening the authority of the existing religious order, He, in effect, accelerates His death. The activities of the money changers in the Temple courtyard represented shameless thievery, usury, exploitation, and an affront to God’s Laws. God’s church should avoid even the appearance of these corrupt practices. Often God’s truths, though simple to understand, seem to elude the learned and the sophisticated. In the episode of the cursing of the degenerate fig tree, Jesus seems to exemplify that failure to produce good fruit is grounds for destruction. God judges by what a person produces. Uselessness invites disaster. Profession without practice is condemned. Prayer is to be approached from the standpoint of receiving the power to do and to become problem solvers. Many of our specific petitions to God seem unanswered because He, as a concerned parent, wants us to develop character through overcoming some of the “unacceptable” situations in which we find ourselves. The continual use of prayer to seek God’s help will enable us to endure whatever we are called upon to suffer. In the parable of the two sons, God wants us to learn that our deeds and our words should be in sync.[NB: This series of Bible Studies from 1981-82 is incomplete.]
Topics: (show)
Bearing fruit Childrearing Doing will of God Exploitation Fig tree episode Hebrew idiom Humility Money changers Prayer Productivity Bertrand, Russell Specific purpose statement Sweeping accusations Temple tax Uselessness Withering of fig tree
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