FEBRUARY 1 READING…Matthew 22
Who would refuse a wonderful invitation from God? Why would anyone reject God’s invitation? Personally, I don’t know why everyone would not accept the good news of the Gospel, and put their trust in the Lord who loves them so much, and promises them eternity. In our reading today Jesus tells another parable…this one is about a king who is throwing a wedding feast for his son. When he sends out invitations he gets surprising responses…I believe the Lord gets these same type of responses from people who refuse His invitation. One group was just not willing to come…another group did not see the importance of coming and went about their business…incredibly, the last group became enraged at the invitation and killed the messenger. Those who were initially invited refused to come…so the king invited those not initially invited. One guest shows up in his own clothes rather than the proper wedding clothes, and the king has him bound and thrown into the darkness. We need to see that many will refuse the Gospel, but God will not stop reaching people and offering them an invitation to come. If we come, we cannot come in our old garments of unrighteousness…we must be clothed in the righteous of Christ to come to the Lord.
In that day the Jews had three groups of religious leaders who ruled the people…all called hypocrites by Jesus. They were the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Scribes...all three came to Jesus trying to catch Him in error and turn the people against Him. The Pharisees thought they would trap Jesus with a question about taxes. Jesus took a Roman coin and asked them whose image was on the coin. Since it was Caesar’s and came from him…give it to Caesar, and give to God that which belongs to Him. The Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, came and tried to trap Jesus with a ridiculous question about a woman who had been married seven times, and who would she be married to in the resurrection. Jesus told them they were ignorant of truth, and the power of God. Again, He asked them a question about their forefathers, and whether God was a God of the living or the dead? Finally, the Scribes sent a lawyer to try and trap Jesus with the law…asking which is the greatest commandment. Jesus shut them down by responding that all of the commandments are based in two…loving God, and loving your neighbor. These religious leaders live today in churches…men and women who reject God, who think they are smarter than God…but they are lost hypocrites. Stay away from them!
Please share your thoughts from today’s reading.
TOMORROW'S READING…Matthew 23
Comments