What Jesus Did

"They make strict rules that are hard for people to obey. They try to force other people to obey all those rules. But they themselves will not try to follow any of those rules. The only reason they do good things is for other people to see them. They wear special boxes full of Scriptures. They make these boxes bigger and bigger. And they make their special prayer clothes very long {so that people will see them}. Those Pharisees and teachers of the law love to get the most important seats at...

 

Then Jesus spoke to the people and to his followers. Jesus said, "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have the authority (power) to tell you what the law of Moses says. So you should obey the things they say. You should do all the things they tell you to do. But their lives are not good examples for you to follow. They tell you to do things, but they don't do those things themselves."

—Matthew 23:1-3

Key Thought
When leaders do what God has gifted them to do and when they teach...

 

So while the Pharisees were together, Jesus asked them a question. Jesus said, "What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" The Pharisees answered, "The Christ is the Son of David." Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, "Then why did David call him 'Lord'? David was speaking by the power of the {Holy} Spirit. David said, 'The Lord (God) said to my Lord (Christ): Sit by me at my right side, and I will put your enemies under your control.' David calls the Christ 'Lord.' So how can he be...

 

"And the second command is like the first: 'You must love other people the same as you love yourself.' All of the law and the writings of the prophets take their meaning from these two commands."

—Matthew 22:39-40

Key Thought
Jesus emphasized and displayed love. God uses it to describe his essential nature. The Holy Spirit pours it into our hearts. Jesus stressed it would be our identifying quality as his disciples.
When it comes to discipleship, Christian virtue, spiritual...

 

The Pharisee said, "Teacher, which command in the law is the most important?" Jesus answered, "'You must love the Lord your God. You must love him with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and most important command."

—Matthew 22:36-38

Key Thought
Total love. That's what God wants. No more, no less. Total love.
Total love is different than total obedience. While obedience is important, even sometimes necessary even when we don't understand why, it is...

 

The Pharisees learned that Jesus told the Sadducees things they could not argue with. So the Pharisees met together. One Pharisee was an expert in the law {of Moses}. That Pharisee asked Jesus a question to test him.

—Matthew 22:34-35

Key Thought
We have a real sense of rivalry and pride playing into this situation. The Pharisees could gloat a moment at the Sadducees inability to trip up Jesus. "But we're better than they are. We study harder and follow God's Law more closely than...

 

"Surely you have read what God said to you about the rising from death? God said, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' {If God said he is their God, then} these men are not really dead. He is the God only of living people." All the people heard this. They were amazed at Jesus' teaching.

—Matthew 22:31-33

Key Thought
Yahweh, the LORD God Almighty, is the only true and living God. All others are pretenders, demons and false powers, who cannot hold a candle...

 

"At the time when people rise from death, there will be no marriage. People will not be married to each other. All people will be like the angels in heaven."

—Matthew 22:30

Key Thought
Jesus is emphatic that the Sadducees are wrong about the resurrection because they don't know Scripture and they don't know the power of God. They assumed that life in the New Age would be a continuation of life in the present world. Relationships in this new world, it would follow, would simply be an...

 

That same day some Sadducees came to Jesus. (Sadducees believe that no person will rise from death.) The Sadducees asked Jesus a question. They said, "Teacher, Moses told us that if a married man dies and he had no children, then his brother must marry the woman. Then they will have children for the dead brother. There were seven brothers among us. The first one married but died. He had no children. So his brother married the woman. Then the second brother also died. The same thing happened...

 

"So tell us what you think. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar? Yes or no?" But Jesus knew that these men were trying to trick him. So he said, "You hypocrites! Why are you trying to catch me saying something wrong? Show me a coin used for paying the tax." The men showed Jesus a silver coin. Then Jesus asked, "Whose picture is on the coin? And whose name is written on the coin?" The men answered, "It is Caesar's picture and Caesar's name." Then Jesus said to them, "Give to Caesar the things...