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“JESUS, THE DESPISED TEACHER”
JESUS, THE DESPISED TEACHER
Douglas Hoff
In the final week leading up to the crucifixion, Jesus’ teaching infuriated those whose hearts were not right. The Scriptures affirm the Lord never sinned (Heb. 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22). Thus, we can be sure He always acted properly and with love even for those who were enemies of the truth (Luke 6:27,35; Eph. 4:15). Sadly, the same cannot be said regarding the Pharisees, the chief priests, the scribes and the elders (Luke 20:1). During Jesus’ kingly approach to the city of Jerusalem, the disciples began to say, “Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest”(Luke 19:38). This upset the Pharisees, so they told the Lord “Master, rebuke thy disciples.”
Jesus showed His love for lost souls when He wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44). He knew that within 40 years the Roman army would utterly destroy the city and the temple. The Lord’s teaching included these statements: “For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation”(Luke 19:43-44). A little while later He also said, “when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled”(Luke 21:20-22). The love of the Lord prompted Him to teach these unpleasant truths in hope that some would take heed to the warning and save their souls.
His love also moved Jesus to do some things that were upsetting to many. When He went into the temple and saw those who were buying and selling, He began to drive them out (Luke 19:45). Even though righteous indignation caused Jesus to act, the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him (Luke 19:47). The only reason they were not able to carry out their evil scheme was the popularity Jesus had among the multitude (Luke 19:48; 20:6;19).
The enemies of truth are not easily dissuaded though. They came to Jesus and demanded to know, “by what authority doest thou these things”(Luke 20:2)? The Lord then asked them about the authority behind the baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men. Their refusal to answer showed their moral cowardice (Luke 20:4-7). They hated the Lord without a cause (Psa. 109:3-5).
An attempt was made to catch Jesus in His words in hopes He could be delivered to the governor for judgment. Thus, the chief priests and scribes sent spies asking Jesus, “Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly: Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no”(Luke 20:21-22)? To this, the great Teacher said, “Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesar’s. And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s”(Luke 20:24-25). The Scripture says “And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace”(Luke 20:26).
However, those sons of the devil (John 8:44; Acts 13:10) kept working to destroy Jesus. Within a few days they were able to stir up the crowds to cry out, “crucify him!”(Mark 15:13-14)! Pilate knew “that the chief priests had delivered him for envy”(Mark 15:10).
Even though Jesus always loved people, many did not love Him in return. To the contrary, they despised the one who gave them the opportunity to be saved. Truly, His is amazing love!
Any modern-day person, family, or nation that thinks they can reject God’s mercy and message of truth, all the while despising and mocking His faithful messengers, is foolish to the nth degree. No human has a clue about how much longer our nation and this world will continue to exist. Rather than wasting our time trying to calculate the time when the end of either shall come, we would be a lot better off making each day the best day possible in serving God.
May God help us to have a humble spirit before Him, one that will cause us to turn to His word for guidance, and if we see that we in some way have strayed from the straight and narrow way, have the courage to recognize our fault and turn to the great I AM for His remedy.
