Tag: Sadducees

Jesus on Divorce and Marriage

Matt EricksonLeave a comment

This past weekend at Eastbrook, we continued our preaching series entitled “Jesus Said What?!” by turning to another tough topic: divorce and marriage. But is that really the only point of these passages? We look at two important passages on these topics in Matthew 19:1-12 and Matthew 22:23-33.

This message is from the eighth part of our longer journey through the Gospel of Matthew, which includes “Family Tree,” “Power in Preparation,” “Becoming Real,” “The Messiah’s Mission,” “Stories of the Kingdom,” “Who Do You Say I Am?“, and “‘Tis the Reason.”

You can find the message video and outline below. You can also view the entire series here. Join us for weekend worship in-person or remotely via Eastbrook at Home.

“Haven’t you read,” Jesus replied, that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?” (Matthew 19:4-5)

The First Test (Matthew 19:1-12)

The hostile question from the Pharisees (19:3)

Background on divorce in Jesus’ day

Starting in the right place:

  • First principles: Genesis 1:27; 2:24 (19:4-6)
  • Second principles: Deuteronomy 24:1-4 (19:7-9)

The disciples’ shock and the invitation to celibacy for the kingdom (19:10-12)

Key points:

  • The issue of divorce
  • The approach to questions
  • The deeper issue of hard hearts

The Second Test (Matthew 22:23-33)

The hostile question and parable from the Sadducees (22:23-28)

Background on levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5-10)

Jesus’ first response (22:29-30)

Jesus’ second response (22:31-32)

Key points:

  • The issue of remarriage and resurrection
  • The approach to questions/debates
  • The deeper issue of disregard for Scripture and God’s power

Responding to Jesus

God and Our Relationships

Questions and MotivationsHearts and Minds

Dig Deeper:

This week dig deeper in one or more of the following ways:

  • Memorize Matthew 19:6 or 22:32
  • Take time alone with God this week to let God search your heart and mind. Like the Pharisees, have you become hard-hearted? Like the Sadducees, are you disregarding God’s Word or power?
  • Pray about relationships this week. If married, pray for God’s grace and power in your marriage. If single, pray you might live for God’s glory in your singleness. If desiring marriage, pray the Lord would provide a spouse who honors Him but also for true contentment. If divorced, pray for healing from the wounds and scars of divorce. Regardless, ask God to minister to our church so that in all our relationships we would seek Him first.

Mixed-Up Priorities

Matt EricksonLeave a comment

This past weekend at Eastbrook, as we continued our preaching series, “Who Do You Say I Am?”, Fred Pierce preached on an interesting passage from Matthew 16:1-12. This begins with the religious leaders’ request for a sign from Jesus and then veers into a discussion with the disciples about their missing the point of what Jesus is doing.

Here’s a line from the message that really stuck with me: “Whatever we treasure our prioritize will captivate our hearts.”

This message is part of the sixth part of our longer series on Matthew, which includes “Family Tree,” “Power in Preparation,” “Becoming Real,” “The Messiah’s Mission,” and “Stories of the Kingdom.”

You can find the message video and outline below. You can also view the entire series here. Join us for weekend worship in-person or remotely via Eastbrook at Home.

“‘Why is it you don’t understand that when I told you, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, it wasn’t about bread?’ Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the leaven in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (Matthew 16:11-12)

Jesus tested by Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 16:1)
They were Jewish religious groups who did not have much in common
They disagreed about significant theological matters
The only thing that they agreed on was not liking Jesus

Jesus responds to their questions (Matthew 16:2-4)
Jesus uses a simple parable about the sky
Jesus calls them out as evil and adulterous
They missed the Kingdom of God through Jesus Jesus speaks of the greatest sign that would be given
Reflect on Matthew 12:39-40
Jesus left

Jesus warns the disciples about the Pharisees/Sadducees (Matthew 16:5-12)
The disciples were worried about their bread
Jesus warns the disciples of the leaven
The disciples were seeing the natural/not the spiritual
The disciples were missing what was right before them
The disciples were falling into a similar trap (vss8-10)
Watch out for self-righteous religion that pulls away from relationship with Jesus

Dig Deeper:

This week dig deeper in one or more of the following ways:

  • Meditate on the message of Jesus in Matthew 16:11-12
  • Journal or reflect about times when you have allowed the systems and norms of this world to distract you from what the Word of God says.
  • How can you grow deeper in relationship with Jesus this week?
  • Read more about this weeks message in the following passages:
    • Matthew 12:39-40
    • Matthew 28:11-15
    • Acts 23:7-8
    • Romans 10:8
    • Hebrews 12:18
    • 1 Corinthians 10:9
    • Proverbs 26:5
    • Isaiah 1:3
    • Jeremiah 8:7

The Only Way to the Kingdom

Matt EricksonLeave a comment

When Jesus proclaims that “the kingdom of God has come near” (Mark 1:15), He draws upon a powerful idea that pervades the Hebrew Scriptures and history. There was an expectation in the Hebrew Scriptures that God’s kingdom would catastrophically break into the world. The Scriptures described a figure—the Messiah or Son of Man—who would inaugurate God’s kingdom and bring renewal and change to earth. But even as He proclaimed the kingdom’s arrival, Jesus also offered a radically different understanding of what the kingdom was all about.

To help us understand that, let me offer a quick overview of four other approaches to the hope of God’s kingdom that were prominent in Jesus’ day. I am drawing upon the helpful summary of these approaches in Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen’s book The True Story of the Whole World.[1]

  1. The Pharisees – The Pharisees were a religious group deeply concerned about compromising with culture. Because of this they advocated for strong religious separation from pagan corruption and radical obedience to God’s Word. They worked within the existing religious structures, the synagogues, to urge the people to influence culture by being different. The wanted to bring the kingdom by forceful separation.
  2. The Essenes – Like the Pharisees, a second group had a similar desire to be different from the culture but took a very different approach to that. The Essenes withdrew from society, forsaking even the existing religious structures to form entirely separate communities centered on God. It is likely that the area of Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, was an Essene community. The wanted to bring the kingdom through withdrawal.
  3. The Zealots – A third group, the Zealots, were furious with the Roman occupation of God’s land. Like the Pharisees, the Zealots called for radical obedience to God’s Word, but took it to another level. They promoted violent revolution against Rome. While the Zealots were not really one organized movement, these groups took their religious commitment frightfully seriously, sparking revolutionary movements against Rome that eventually led to reprisals from Rome, culminating in the  destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. They wanted to bring the kingdom by violence.
  4. The Sadducees – A fourth group was known as the Sadducees. The Sadducees were largely a priestly group responsible for the maintenance of the Temple. They held positions of power with great influence under the Roman occupation, but often made politically compromises with the occupying forces of Rome in order to stabilize the country and maintain their power. They sought to bring hope and God’s kingdom through compromise.

Each of these groups wanted to bring in the hope of God’s kingdom, but they took different approaches toward making that happen: forceful separation, withdrawal, violence, or compromise. Jesus’ approach is distinct from all of these. So let’s examine first what it is that Jesus declares and then what it is that Jesus does.

First, in Luke 4:16-21, Jesus declares that He is the One who fulfills God’s promises in the prophets – the One who is to come and usher in the kingdom. After reading in His hometown synagogue from Isaiah 61, which speaks of the arrival of God’s kingdom, Jesus boldly declares:

“Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21)

 And when Jesus begins His public ministry, as we have already read in Mark 1:15, He says:

“The time has come…The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)

This is a bold proclamation—a declaration that something new has come. The only response to such a thing is to repent; that is, turn around, pay attention, and respond to this new reality.

To those holding various other views, such as the Pharisees, the Essenes, the Zealots, and the Sadducees, Jesus essentially says, “Turn away from your current approach. God is doing something new in Me. Turn from your old ways of bringing in God’s kingdom and follow after Me and My way.” Yes, repentance is a turning from sin, but it is also a turning from alternate ways of living and alternate philosophies.

In a world that offers all sorts of philosophies of life, Jesus says there is one philosophy that truly brings in God’s kingdom and reflects God’s kingdom and it only comes from and in Him.

[1] Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen, The True Story of the Whole World: Finding your place in the biblical drama (Grand Rapids, MI: Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2009), 102-103.

Jesus and Four Competing Approaches to God’s Kingdom

Matt EricksonLeave a comment

When Jesus proclaimed that “the kingdom of God has come near” (Mark 1:15) He drew upon a powerful idea that pervades the Hebrew Scriptures. The prophets, particularly Isaiah and Daniel, spoke of God’s kingdom catastrophically breaking into the world. They described a figure – the Messiah or Son of Man – who would inaugurate God’s kingdom.  And they also spoke of God’s rule bringing renewal and change to earth. But even as He proclaimed the kingdom’s arrival, Jesus also offered a radically different understanding of what the kingdom was all about.

In their book, The True Story of the Whole World, Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen offer a quick overview of four other approaches to the hope of God’s kingdom that were prominent in Jesus’ day. [1] Let’s explore those other approaches as a contrast with Jesus.

  1. The Pharisees – The Pharisees were a religious group deeply concerned about compromising with culture. Because of this they advocated for strong religious separation from pagan corruption and radical obedience to God’s Word. They worked within the existing religious structures, the synagogues, to urge the people to influence culture by being different. The wanted to bring the kingdom by forceful separation.
  2. The Essenes – Like the Pharisees, a second group had a similar desire to be different from the culture but took a very different approach to that. The Essenes withdrew from society, forsaking even the existing religious structures to form entirely separate communities centered on God. It is likely that the area of Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, was an Essene community. The wanted to bring the kingdom through withdrawal.
  3. The Zealots – A third group, the Zealots, were furious with the Roman occupation of God’s land. Like the Pharisees, the Zealots called for radical obedience to God’s Word, but took it to another level. They promoted violent revolution against Rome. While the Zealots were not really one organized movement, these groups took their religious commitment frightfully seriously, sparking revolutionary movements against Rome that eventually led to reprisals from Rome, culminating in the  destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. They wanted to bring the kingdom by violence.
  4. The Sadducees – A fourth group was known as the Sadducees. The Sadducees were largely a priestly group responsible for the maintenance of the Temple. They held positions of power with great influence under the Roman occupation, but often made politically compromises with the occupying forces of Rome in order to stabilize the country and maintain their power. They sought to bring hope and God’s kingdom through compromise.

Each of these groups wanted to bring forth the hope of God’s kingdom, but they each had different ideas as to how that would happen: forceful separation, withdrawal, violence, or compromise. But Jesus’ approach to the kingdom is distinct. In Luke 4:16-21, Jesus declares that He is the One who fulfills God’s promises in the prophets—the One who is to come and usher in the kingdom.

[1] Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen, The True Story of the Whole World: Finding your place in the biblical drama (Grand Rapids, MI: Faith Alive Christian Resources, 209), 102-103.