One Year Bible, Wednesday, February 2nd - Jesus Teaches on Paying Taxes!
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Throughout these verses we see the people Israel lashing out at Moses when they were thirsty or hungry. They came to a place called Marah, where the water was bitter. God gave Moses another miraculous sign to show the Israelites that He was with Moses. Moses threw a piece of wood into the water, and the water was good to drink.
As the whole community of Israelites go into the wilderness, they complain against Moses and Aaron again. Once again they say they wished they were in Egypt eating food as slaves, rather than dying out in the wilderness of thirst and hunger. Then God rained down "manna" from heaven. Manna was a wafer like bread that came from the dew on the group. It had a sweet honey flavor. He instructed the Israelites to take just enough for the day. They had to trust God that he would provide them with the manna the next day as well. On the sixth day, he commanded them to take twice as much to cover the Sabbath day as well. When the Israelites took more than enough for the day, the manna had maggots in it and it smelled. This was a consequence of the clear command from Moses.
For forty years they ate manna, and at the end of their days there, the Lord told them to put some manna in a jar to preserve it as a testimony to future generations. We see some of the miracles God worked through Moses, and some He did on the own . This is probably where the Lord got the term "daily bread" which he used in the Lord's prayer.
Once again, as the set out again they had no water to drink. The Israelites quarrelled again with Moses demanding a drink from him. So the Lord instructed Moses to take the staff he used to part the Red Sea and strike the rock at Horeb. Once again God provided through Moses before the elders of Israel.
God tested the Israelites by allowing them to get thirsty and hungry, but then miraculously provided for them. He also rescued Moses from the people's constant bickering, by allowing him to play a part in the miracle so they would know he was still their leader.
Parables of the Great Feast
In this parable a king throws a great wedding banquet for his son. He invites many guests, but they all refused to come. So he sent more of his servants, but this time the guests not only refused the invitation, but beat and killed the servants. So he told his servants to go out and find enough people to fill the banquet hall. So the servants went out and found "good' and "bad" alike, so that the hall was filled.
When the king came into meet his guests, one of the them came without wedding clothes on. He had the man tied and bound and threw him out into the darkness where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The first guests who were invited refer to God's chosen people the Jews, who rejected Jesus' invitation. The servants also represented the prophets who went to call Israel back to God. The Israelites often killed the prophets. I.e. Zechariah But finally the king told his servants to find anyone they could find and invite them to the banquet, so the hall was full. When it says both "good" and "bad" were invited and came, it probably refers to both Jews and Gentiles. But one person had the audacity to come without any wedding clothes on.
In the New Testament, we are told that we are clothed with righteousness through Christ. They are a gift from God. The man who came in without wedding clothes had refused this gift and thought he could come on his own merits.
Taxes for Caesar
The Pharisees tried to trap Jesus again by asking if he paid taxes to Caesar. If he said "no", they would accuse him of being a lawbreaker. If he said "yes", he would be accused of supporting the one who was oppressing the Jews. Jesus asked them to give him a coin. He asked them whose picture was on the coin? They replied, "Caesar". So Jesus told them to give to Caesar what was Caesar's and give to God what is God.
A lot of you might have met with your tax preparer already or will do so soon. I know we met with our CPA on Monday. Your tax return may how much you owe to the IRS. It will also show how much you have given to your church. Hopefully you will give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's.
Discussion about Resurrection
This time the Sadducees, who don't believe in the resurrection, came to ask Jesus a question. In the Law of Moses if a man died, and he was not able to provide a son, the man's brother had to marry his wife. So they posed him the question if this happened seven times, whose wife would she be at the resurrection. Clearly they are trying to prove to him why they don't believe in the resurrection. It doesn't meet their way of thinking about things.
But Jesus told them they didn't know either the scriptures or power of God. He corrected them by saying in heaven people wouldn't be given in marriage but would be like angels. The one thing about heaven is that no one knows what it looks like. Heaven will be like something, we have never seen or experienced before. All attempts to explain what heaven is like from a human standpoint with our innate limitations is fruitless.
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