God Speaks
Jesus Answers Questions About Paying Taxes, Marriage at the Resurrection and the Greatest Commandment
Verse of the Day: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:36-40 NIV 2011)
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We Respond
Reflection: Consider the following questions regarding Matthew 22:
1. What do these verses tell me about God?
2. What do these verses tell me about the human beings He created?
Here is one possible answer to each of these questions. Ask the Holy Spirit if there are any others for you personally to ponder.
1. God has prepared a wedding banquet for those who will properly respond to His invitation,
2. People are created in the image of God and are called to give themselves into His care for His service.
Prayer: Thank You Father, for inviting people to the wedding banquet of Your Son, Jesus. In the past and even today many have been invited. Over the centuries, people have presented many excuses for not attending and have treated your messengers shamefully. I am glad that I have received Your invitation and am eagerly awaiting Your Son’s return so that I can join Him at the banquet. Thank You for the wedding clothes that You have provided. Thank You that You have chosen me, even though I have done (nor can do) nothing to deserve it. Again, the Pharisees and Sadducees tag-teamed to ask Jesus tricky questions, and He answered them truthfully and concisely. They did not like His answers: 1) Give Caesar what bears his imprint and give God what bears His. 2) The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is not the God of the dead but of the living. 3) The two greatest commandments are Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and Love your neighbor as yourself. 4) Jesus, the Son of Man, is greater than King David. All these answers were wise and true, and they hated Him for it. Thank You, Jesus. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
4. What action does the LORD want me to take in response to Matthew 22?
- I will invite _______ (a specific person) to Jesus’s wedding banquet.
- I will pray that the Holy Spirit will remove all the barriers or excuses that are keeping ______________ (5 specific people) from responding to God’s invitation.
- I will talk to _______ (a specific person) about his/her fear of death.
- I will ask a trusted friend or two to give me feedback on how they think I’m doing on the two greatest commandments.
Mark 12
Reflection: The parable of the tenants was really a summary of how the Jewish leaders had treated God’s prophets over the centuries and how they were about to treat God’s Son the Messiah. The question of paying taxes to Caesar highlighted the disagreement between those who supported Herod and his administration and those who thought that he was an “illegitimate” ruler over the Jews. The Sadducees didn’t believe there was such a thing as resurrection, so their question was meant to make Jesus look bad or foolish. In stating the great commandment, Jesus told them what their priorities should be, as did His comments about the Messiah being both the predecessor and the descendant of King David, the scribes’ love of prominence, and the rich people’s versus the poor widow’s offering. In essence He was saying that they operating in the opposite of the great commandment.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, may I give You what You deserve for all that You have put in my care, not try to keep it for myself. May I also give to the government and/or society all and only what it has a right to receive. I declare that You are the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob–the God of the living and the Living God. Help me, Holy Spirit, to love God with all my heart (emotions), mind (understanding and will), and strength (physical actions), and to love my neighbor (any other person) as much as I love myself. May I see You, Jesus, for who You really are. Don’t let me just seek my own honor, but put Yours and others’ honor first. Like the poor widow, Lord, I give You all that I am and have. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will honor the LORD by giving back to Him at least a tenth of everything I have because it all came from Him in the first place.
- I will pay my taxes and participate in government by praying for, voting for and supporting candidates who live by and promote biblical principles or values.
- I will talk with someone who doesn’t yet follow Christ about His suffering, death and resurrection and what that can mean in their life.
- I will take a few seconds before starting an activity or project to see if it aligns with the first and second great commandments. (the J.O.Y. principle = thinking of Jesus, Others and You in that order)
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.