Commuter Bible NT

In the midst of the people of Jerusalem, just days before the Passover feast was to be celebrated, Jesus speaks to large crowds of devoted Jews about the dangers of hypocritical teachers. Here, Jesus doesn’t beat around the bush, but instead openly names and rebukes the scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites. He criticizes them for self-righteous behaviors and traditions that only serve to exalt man. The posture that the truly righteous should take, however, is a posture of humility and service. In his rebuke, Jesus says that they will be charged with the blood of the righteous, from Adam’s son Abel to the prophet Zechariah, who was murdered in the temple. This kind of rebuke against a city while standing in the city itself would have caused an uproar, perhaps even turning the crowds’ fanfare into fury.

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Christian Standard Bible translation.
All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.
Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible
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Today’s episode begins the parable of the wedding feast, which Jesus tells to the people of Jerusalem. If you’re familiar with the book of Revelation, you’ll recall that as the vision comes to a close, we are shown a wedding feast where Christ is the groom and his bride is the church. God invites all men to this banquet, but many reject this invitation and go about their business. Some even kill the messengers who were sent to invite them. Later, the Pharisees and the Sadducees try their best to trap Jesus in his words. Finally, Jesus turns the tables and asks them a challenging question about the words of King David which they are unable to answer.

:::
Christian Standard Bible translation.
All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.
Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible
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On today’s episode, Jesus enters Jerusalem and is welcomed with great fanfare by the crowds. Those who had concluded that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah had also concluded that the Son of David would reign as king in the same way the David ruled as a king. In other words, they thought he was a wise man who would take the throne, perhaps even by force, and that restoration to geopolitical nation of Israel would be restored. Though Jesus is the Son of David and the promised Messiah, he hasn’t come to claim victory over his foes in the ways that the Jews had surmised. In fact, we’ll see from today’s passage that Jesus rebukes God’s people for their hardness of heart.

:::
Christian Standard Bible translation.
All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.
Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible
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Our understanding of fairness is often based on what experience by comparison; in other words, we see what other people have in similar positions as ours and we make judgments about whether one thing or another is “fair” or “unfair.” When it comes to the kingdom of heaven, Jesus alters our vantage point to see things from a heavenly perspective. In short, we should not be jealous of God’s generosity towards others. Later, James and John ask Jesus if they can sit on his right and left in the coming kingdom. Jesus tells them that while the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, it should not be so in the kingdom. In fact, anyone who wants to be great in the kingdom must be a servant.

:::
Christian Standard Bible translation.
All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.
Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible
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twitter.com/CommuterPod
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admin@commuterbible.org

Today, Jesus teaches on a difficult topic, and that is the topic of divorce. The Pharisees were often associated with the Hillel school of thought, which advocated for very liberal divorce proceedings which were so petty that even something like burning your husband’s dinner could be valid grounds for separation. Jesus confronts this teaching by pointing back to the garden of Eden as the design of marriage, then by saying that Moses permitted divorce because of the hardness of their sinful hearts, not because it was God’s design for them. We’ll also see how Jesus addresses a young man with great wealth who wants to be counted as righteous. This leads into a discussion about the relationship between one’s riches and one’s status in the kingdom of heaven.

:::
Christian Standard Bible translation.
All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.
Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible
facebook.com/commuterbible
instagram.com/commuter_bible
twitter.com/CommuterPod
patreon.com/commuterbible
admin@commuterbible.org