Mark 12, Matthew 22 (4th Nov) - Vivien

Matthew 22:1 – 14
The Parable of the Wedding
God is very merciful. Like the king in the parable, He is always inviting. But people ignore His invitation, and some even mistreated and killed His servants who were sent to invite them. And when the final hour come, all will hear of the Gospel and regardless good or bad, as long as they accept the invitation they are allowed into the banquet. And security is tight at the banquet; it is strictly by invitation only. If you’ve missed the invitation, even if you managed to sneak in, you will be found and chased out. Let us be prayerful that our unsaved family and friends will accept the invitation and not refuse, for the consequence is heavy.

Mark 12:1 – 12
The Parable of the Tenants
2 Don’ts in a form of Chinese idioms to serve as a warning: 1) 得寸进尺 2) 忘恩负义
When a task has been entrusted to you, be a good steward. The task ultimately doesn’t belong to you. Act in a responsible manner, because the owner will come after you in the end.

“Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” 1 Cor 1:26 - 29

Mark 12:13 – 17& Matt 22: 15 -22
Paying Taxes to Caesar
I think this is a very cool passage! It amazed me how wise Jesus is! This passage is a MUST-READ! Short and too simple, that’s why it amazed me!

The key verse is “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

Mark 12: 18 – 27& Matt 22: 23 – 33
Marriage at the Resurrection
This Sadducees was rather imaginative. But he came with a mindset that there is no resurrection. So if resurrection does occur, it would give rise to complications. Never did he realize that there were flaws in his assumptions, and Jesus corrected him. And now we know, there is no marriage in heaven, and like the angels, we belong only to God. So don’t worry too much what happen if I have a complicate family background, it really doesn’t matter when we get to heaven.

Mark 12: 28 – 34 & & Matt 22: 34 – 40
The Greatest Commandment
And the Great Commandment goes to…(drum roll)….

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. And love your neighbour as yourself.

“When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God’ And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.” v34

This reminded me of what Ps Melvyn has said, that God delights in man with wisdom.

Mark 12: 35 – 40 & Matt 22: 41 – 46
Jesus was quite popular, with a large fan club! Many people were delighted listening him. He actually warned about teachers of the law who only wanted to pride themselves with status and luxury. And such people will be punished severely.

Mark 12: 41 – 44
The Widow’s Offering
The weak has a special place in Jesus’ heart. As Jesus commented about the widow’s offering, I believe for a moment the disciples were wondering why would Jesus say that she has put more in the treasury than others when it was only 2 very small copper.

“…They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on." v44

Sometime we can be shallow and look at things on the surface or look at the absolute amount. Let us ask for God’s wisdom to look at thing on the deeper level.