While the Pharisees were still gathered, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
They answered him, “David’s.”
    He said to them, “Then how can David, guided by the Spirit, call him Lord? David says,

    ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
    “Take the honored position—the one next to me [God the Father] on the heavenly throne
        until I put your enemies under your control.”’

If David calls him Lord, how can he be his son?”

No one could answer him, and from that time on no one dared to ask him another question.

 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 
        One of them, an expert in Moses’ Teachings, tested Jesus by asking, “Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in Moses’ Teachings?”
        Jesus answered him, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and most important commandment.  The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’  All of Moses’ Teachings and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Thanksgiving 2015

On that day some Sadducees, who say that people will never come back to life, came to Jesus. They asked him, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies childless, his brother should marry his widow and have children for his brother.’ There were seven brothers among us. The first married and died. Since he had no children, he left his widow to his brother. The second brother also died, as well as the third, and the rest of the seven brothers. At last the woman died. Now, when the dead come back to life, [ in the resurrection] whose wife will she be? All seven brothers had been married to her.”
            Jesus answered, “You’re mistaken because you don’t know the Scriptures or God’s power.  When people come back to life, [ are resurrected]  they don’t marry. Rather, they are like the angels in heaven. Haven’t you read what God told you about the dead coming back to life [the resurrection]? He said, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ He’s not the God of the dead but of the living.” He amazed the crowds who heard his teaching.

Then the Pharisees went away and planned to trap Jesus into saying the wrong thing.  They sent their disciples to him along with Herod’s followers. They said to him, “Teacher, we know that you tell the truth and that you teach the truth about the way of God. You don’t favor individuals because of who they are.  So tell us what you think. Is it right to pay taxes to  the emperor or not?”
       Jesus recognized their evil plan, so he asked, “Why do you test me, you hypocrites?  Show me a coin used to pay taxes.”
     They brought him a coin. 
       He said to them, “Whose face and name is this?”
       They replied, “The emperor’s.”
     Then he said to them, “Very well, give the emperor what belongs to the emperor, and give God what belongs to God.”
        They were surprised to hear this. Then they left him alone and went away.

Again Jesus used stories as illustrations when he spoke to them.
     He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who planned a wedding for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the wedding, but they refused to come.  He sent other servants to tell the people who had been invited, ‘I’ve prepared dinner. My bulls and fattened calves have been butchered. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding!’
      “But they paid no attention and went away. Some went to work in their own fields, and others went to their businesses. The rest grabbed the king’s servants, mistreated them, and then killed them.
      “The king became angry. He sent his soldiers, killed those murderers, and burned their city.
      “Then the king said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited don’t deserve the honor.  Go where the roads leave the city. Invite everyone you find to the wedding.’ 
      The servants went into the streets and brought in all the good people and all the evil people they found. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.
        “When the king came to see the guests, he saw a person who was not dressed in the wedding clothes provided for the guests. He said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without proper wedding clothes?’
      “The man had nothing to say. Then the king told his servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him outside into the darkness. People will cry and be in extreme pain there.’
         “Therefore, many are invited, but few of those are chosen to stay.”

 “Listen to another illustration. A landowner planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, made a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to vineyard workers and went on a trip.
      “When the grapes were getting ripe, he sent his servants to the workers to collect his share of the produce. The workers took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned a third to death. So the landowner sent more servants. But the workers treated them the same way.
        “Finally, he sent his son to them. He thought, ‘They will respect my son.’
        “When the workers saw his son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him and get his inheritance.’ So they grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
        “Now, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those workers?”
          They answered, “He will destroy those evil people. Then he will lease the vineyard to other workers who will give him his share of the produce when it is ready.”
          Jesus asked them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
The Lord is responsible for this, and it is amazing for us to see’?

         That is why I can guarantee that God’s kingdom will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce what God wants. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken. If the stone falls on anyone, it will crush that person.”

         When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his illustrations, they knew that he was talking about them. They wanted to arrest him but were afraid of the crowds, who thought he was a prophet.

“What do you think about this? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go to work in the vineyard today.’
              “His son replied, ‘I don’t want to!’ But later he changed his mind and went.
            “The father went to the other son and told him the same thing. He replied, ‘I will, sir,’ but he didn’t go.
          “Which of the two sons did what the father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered.
      Jesus said to them, “I can guarantee this truth: Tax collectors and prostitutes are going into God’s kingdom ahead of you.  John came to you and showed you the way that God wants you to live, but you didn’t believe him. The tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. But even after you had seen that, you didn’t change your minds and believe him.

Then Jesus went into the temple courtyard and began to teach. The chief priests and the leaders of the people came to him. They asked, “What gives you the right to do these things? Who told you that you could do this?”
          Jesus answered them, “I, too, have a question for you. If you answer it for me, I’ll tell you why I have the right to do these things.  Did John’s right to baptize come from heaven or from humans?”
       They discussed this among themselves. They said, “If we say, ‘from heaven,’ he will ask us, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘from humans,’ we’re afraid of what the crowd might do. All those people think of John as a prophet.” 
        So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus told them, “Then I won’t tell you why I have the right to do these things.

In the morning, as Jesus returned to the city, he became hungry. When he saw a fig tree by the road, he went up to the tree and found nothing on it but leaves. He said to the tree, “May fruit never grow on you again!” At once the fig tree dried up.
     The disciples were surprised to see this. They asked, “How did the fig tree dry up so quickly?”
     Jesus answered them, “I can guarantee this truth: If you have faith and do not doubt, you will be able to do what I did to the fig tree. You could also say to this mountain, ‘Be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. Have faith that you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

 Jesus went into the temple courtyard and threw out everyone who was buying and selling there. He overturned the moneychangers’ tables and the chairs of those who sold pigeons. He told them, “Scripture says, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you’re turning it into a gathering place for thieves!”
      Blind and lame people came to him in the temple courtyard, and he healed them.
      When the chief priests and the experts in Moses’ Teachings saw the amazing miracles he performed and the children shouting in the temple courtyard, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were irritated. They said to him, “Do you hear what these children are saying?”
      Jesus replied, “Yes, I do. Have you never read, ‘From the mouths of little children and infants, you have created praise’?”
        He left them and went out of the city to Bethany and spent the night there.

The disciples did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put their coats on them for Jesus to sit on.  Most of the people spread their coats on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  The crowd that went ahead of him and that followed him was shouting,

“Hosanna to the Son of David!
    Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

When Jesus came into Jerusalem, the whole city was in an uproar. People were asking, “Who is this?”

The crowd answered, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

When they came near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples ahead of him. He said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you. You will find a donkey tied there and a colt with it. Untie them, and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them. That person will send them at once.”
This happened so that what the prophet had said came true:

“Tell the people of Zion,
    ‘Your king is coming to you.
        He’s gentle,
            riding on a donkey,
                on a colt, a young pack animal.’”

As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Jesus. Two blind men were sitting by the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
The crowd told them to be quiet. But they shouted even louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
They told him, “Lord, we want you to give us our eyesight back.”
Jesus felt sorry for them, so he touched their eyes. Their sight was restored at once, and they followed him.

Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her two sons. She bowed down in front of him to ask him for a favor.
 “What do you want?” he asked her. She said to him, “Promise that one of my sons will sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”
Jesus replied, “You don’t realize what you’re asking. Can you drink the cup that I’m going to drink?”
“We can,” they told him.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink my cup. But I don’t have the authority to grant you a seat at my right or left. My Father has already prepared these positions for certain people.”
When the other ten apostles heard about this, they were irritated with the two brothers.  Jesus called the apostles and said, “You know that the rulers of nations have absolute power over people and their officials have absolute authority over people. But that’s not the way it’s going to be among you. Whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant. Whoever wants to be most important among you will be your slave. It’s the same way with the Son of Man. He didn’t come so that others could serve him. He came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”

When Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he took the twelve apostles aside and said to them privately,  “We’re going to Jerusalem. There the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the experts in Moses’ Teachings. They will condemn him to death and hand him over to foreigners. They will make fun of him, whip him, and crucify him. But on the third day he will be brought back to life.”

“The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at daybreak to hire workers for his vineyard. After agreeing to pay the workers the usual day’s wages, he sent them to work in his vineyard. About 9 a.m. he saw others standing in the marketplace without work. He said to them, ‘Work in my vineyard, and I’ll give you whatever is right.’ So they went.

                   “He went out again about noon and 3 p.m. and did the same thing. About 5 p.m. he went out and found some others standing around. He said to them, ‘Why are you standing here all day long without work?’
“‘No one has hired us,’ they answered him.
“He said to them, ‘Work in my vineyard.’

                                  “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told the supervisor, ‘Call the workers, and give them their wages. Start with the last, and end with the first.’
“Those who started working about 5 p.m. came, and each received a day’s wages. When those who had been hired first came, they expected to receive more. But each of them received a day’s wages. Although they took it, they began to protest to the owner. They said, ‘These last workers have worked only one hour. Yet, you’ve treated us all the same, even though we worked hard all day under a blazing sun.’
 “The owner said to one of them, ‘Friend, I’m not treating you unfairly. Didn’t you agree with me on a day’s wages? Take your money and go! I want to give this last worker as much as I gave you. Can’t I do what I want with my own money? Or do you resent my generosity towards others?’

“In this way the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

 Then a man came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, what good deed should I do to gain eternal life?”
Jesus said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you want to enter into life, obey the commandments.”
“Which commandments?” the man asked.
Jesus said, “Never murder. Never commit adultery. Never steal. Never give false testimony.  Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
The young man replied, “I have obeyed all these commandments. What else do I need to do?”
Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, sell what you own. Give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then follow me!”
When the young man heard this, he went away sad because he owned a lot of property.
Jesus said to his disciples, “I can guarantee this truth: It will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. I can guarantee again that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom.”
He amazed his disciples more than ever when they heard this. “Then who can be saved?” they asked.
Jesus looked at them and said, “It is impossible for people to save themselves, but everything is possible for God.”
Then Peter replied to him, “Look, we’ve given up everything to follow you. What will we get out of it?”
Jesus said to them, “I can guarantee this truth: When the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne in the world to come, you, my followers, will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.   And everyone who gave up homes, brothers or sisters, father, mother, children, or fields because of my name will receive a hundred times more and will inherit eternal life. However, many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

Then some people brought little children to Jesus to have him bless them and pray for them. But the disciples told the people not to do that.
 
         Jesus said, “Don’t stop children from coming to me! Children like these are part of God’s kingdom.”  After Jesus blessed them, he went away from there.

The Pharisees asked him, “Why, then, did Moses order a man to give his wife a written notice to divorce her?”

             Jesus answered them, “Moses allowed you to divorce your wives because you’re heartless. It was never this way in the beginning.  I can guarantee that whoever divorces his wife for any reason other than her unfaithfulness is committing adultery if he marries another woman.”

                      The disciples said to him, “If that is the only reason a man can use to divorce his wife, it’s better not to get married.”

                                    He answered them, “Not everyone can do what you suggest. Only those who have that gift can.  For example, some men are celibate because they were born that way. Others are celibate because they were castrated. Still others have decided to be celibate because of the kingdom of heaven. If anyone can do what you’ve suggested, then he should do it.”

When Jesus finished speaking, he left Galilee and traveled along the other side of the Jordan River to the territory of Judea. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
Some Pharisees came to test him. They asked, “Can a man divorce his wife for any reason?”

            Jesus answered, “Haven’t you read that the Creator made them male and female in the beginning and that he said, ‘That’s why a man will leave his father and mother and will remain united with his wife, and the two will be one’? So they are no longer two but one. Therefore, don’t let anyone separate what God has joined together.”

                     The Pharisees asked him, “Why, then, did Moses order a man to give his wife a written notice to divorce her?”

                               Jesus answered them, “Moses allowed you to divorce your wives because you’re heartless. It was never this way in the beginning. I can guarantee that whoever divorces his wife for any reason other than her unfaithfulness is committing adultery if he marries another woman.”

                                        The disciples said to him, “If that is the only reason a man can use to divorce his wife, it’s better not to get married.”

He answered them, “Not everyone can do what you suggest. Only those who have that gift can. For example, some men are celibate because they were born that way. Others are celibate because they were castrated. Still others have decided to be celibate because of the kingdom of heaven. If anyone can do what you’ve suggested, then he should do it.”