What Jesus Did

Then the Pharisees left the place where Jesus was teaching. They made plans to catch Jesus saying something wrong. The Pharisees sent some men to Jesus {to trick him}. They sent some of their own followers and some men from the group called Herodians. These men said, "Teacher, we know that you are an honest man. We know that you teach the truth about God's way. You are not afraid of what other people think about you. All men are the same to you."

—Matthew 22:15-16

Key Thought
The...

 

"Then the king came in to see all the people. The king saw a man there that was not dressed in the right clothes for a wedding. The king said, 'Friend, how were you allowed to come in here? You are not wearing the right clothes for a wedding.' But the man said nothing. So the king told some servants, 'Tie this man's hands and feet. Throw the man out into the darkness. In that place, people will cry and grind their teeth {with pain}.' Yes, many people are invited. But only a few are chosen."...

 

"The king was very angry. The king sent his army to kill those people that killed his servants. And the army burned their city. After that, the king said to his servants, 'The wedding feast is ready. I invited those people, but they were not good enough to come to my feast. So go to the street corners and invite all the people you see. Tell them to come to my feast.' So the servants went into the streets. They gathered all the people they could find. The servants brought good people and bad...

 

"{The servants went and told the people to come.} But the people refused to listen to the servants. Those people went to do other things. One person went to work in his field, and another person went to his business. Some of the other people grabbed the servants, beat them, and killed them."

—Matthew 22:5-6

Key Thought
The power of this parable, this story, is found in a few key identifications. Clearly, the King in this story is God. The Son, or prince, he wants honored is Jesus. As...

 

Jesus used stories to say some other things to the people. Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is like a king that prepared a wedding dinner for his son. The king invited some people to the feast. When the feast was ready, the king sent his servants to tell those people to come. But the people refused to come to the king's feast. Then the king sent some more servants. The king said to the servants, 'I have already invited those people. So tell them that my feast is ready. I have killed my...

 

The leading priests and the Pharisees heard these stories that Jesus told. They knew that Jesus was talking about them. They wanted to find a way to arrest Jesus. But they were afraid of the people, because the people believed that Jesus was a prophet.

—Matthew 21:45-46

Key Thought
Jesus is the one attacked and hated. Jesus is the one who appears powerless. Jesus is the one who is crucified. Jesus is the one without friends in high places. But ...
Notice that Jesus is the one who is...

 

Jesus said to them, "Surely you have read this in the Scriptures: 'The stone that the builders did not want became the cornerstone. The Lord did this, and it is wonderful to us.' So I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you. God's kingdom will be given to people that do the things God wants in his kingdom. The person that falls on this stone will be broken. And if the stone falls on a person, then it will crush that person."

—Matthew 21:42-44

Key Thought
"If it...

 

"So what will the owner of the vineyard do to these farmers when he comes?" The Jewish priests and leaders said, "He will surely kill those evil men. Then he will lease the land to some other farmers. He will lease it to farmers that will give him his share of the crop at harvest time."

—Matthew 21:40-41

Key Thought
We sometimes naively suppose that we can accept or reject truth, especially truth about Jesus, with impunity. God emptied heaven of its greatest treasure to redeem us...

 

"So the man decided to send his son to the farmers. The man said, 'The farmers will respect my son.' "But when the farmers saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the owner's son. This vineyard will be his. If we kill him, then it will be ours!' So the farmers took the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him."

—Matthew 21:37-39

Key Thought
God had repeatedly sent his servants, the prophets, but they were abused and ignored. So God carried out his ultimate plan at...

 

"Listen to this story: There was a man that owned a vineyard. He put a wall around the field and dug a hole for a wine press. Then the man built a tower. He leased the land to some farmers. Then he left for a trip. Later, it was time for the grapes to be picked. So the man sent his servants to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. "But the farmers grabbed the servants and beat one. They killed another one and then killed a third servant with rocks. So the man sent some other servants...