I'd like you to turn in your Bibles now to Luke chapter 20 on page 1045 in our Pew Bibles, where that same psalm is quoted along with Psalm 118 that we sang earlier, as Jesus explains both of those psalms with reference to himself. In fact, later on in Luke 24, Jesus will show how all of the psalms speak of his sufferings and glory. And so as we sing this altar, I'm ultimately singing the gospel, the same gospel that Christ is here preaching in the temple. In Luke 20, beginning at verse one, we'll read all the way through 21, verse four, before we start our reading, just to remind you of the context. At the end of Luke chapter 19, Jesus has just cleansed the temple and then gone on teaching daily in it. And it says at the end of Luke 19 that the people hung on his every word while the chief priests, the scribes, and the principal men of the people sought to destroy him. Now we see this same mixed reaction in this series of temple teachings and temple conflicts starting in Luke 20 verse one. It says, one day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, Tell us, by what authority you do these things, or who is it that gave you this authority? He answered them, I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? And they discussed it with one another, saying, if we say from heaven, he will say, why did you not believe him? But if we say from man, all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet. So they answered that they did not know where it came from. Jesus said to them, neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. He began to tell the people this parable. A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent another servant, but they also beat and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. And the owner of the vineyard said, what shall I do? I will send my beloved son, perhaps they will respect him. But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, this is the heir, let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours. and they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others. When they heard this, they said, surely not. But he looked directly at them and said, what then is this that is written? The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him. The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them. But they feared the people. So they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be sincere that they might catch him in something he said so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of The governor. So they asked him, teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar or not? He perceived their craftiness and said to them, show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have? He said, Caesar's. He said to them, then, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they were not able, in the presence of the people, to catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer, they became silent. There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, and they asked him a question, saying, Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. And there were seven brothers. The first took a wife and died without children, and the second and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. Afterward, the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as a wife. Jesus said to them, the sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age into the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they're equal to angels, and they're sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And he is not the God of the dead, but the living, for all live to him. Then some of the scribes answered, Teacher, you have spoken well. for they no longer dared to ask him any question. But he said to them, how can they say that the Christ is David's son? For David himself says in the book of Psalms, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son? And the hearing of all the people He said to his disciples, beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts. Who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers, they will receive the greater condemnation. Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box and he saw a poor widow put into small copper coins. And he said, truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them, for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she had to live on. That's far the reading of God's word. Well, boys and girls, if I were to ask you what three offices Christ holds as the Messiah, you would say prophet, priest, and king, Lords Day 12. As our prophet, Jesus fully reveals to us the will of God for our salvation. As our priest, he obtains that salvation through the sacrifice of his body, and as our king, he rules over and defends us. Each of those three offices we see in this chapter, Jesus as our king, ruling over and defending us, we see that in Christ's use of Psalm 110. Jesus as our priest, we see that in him as the beloved son who'll be sacrificed and killed for our salvation. And Jesus as our prophet, we see that, I wanna suggest, in virtually every section of this passage. I think the main theme of Luke chapter 20 is the rejection of God's prophet by the religious authorities in Jerusalem. And we saw that initially last week as they rebuked those who welcomed Jesus as the king of Psalm 118. And then as he went on teaching the temple, and they sought to destroy him. Jesus is God's final prophet sent to his people. and those who should have recognized him instead reject him. This is a passage about Jesus and his enemies. Jesus as God's final prophet whose word is rejected by those he would have saved. And so we'll look at these several episodes. First, in verses one through eight, we see God's prophets preaching the gospel, but they question his authority. Then in verses nine to 19, he is revealed as the final prophet and beloved son who will be killed. We see him in verses 20 through 26 as the wise prophet at whose wisdom the people marvel. He is the bridegroom of heaven in verses 27 through 40, and the son of David and Lord of David in verses 41 and following. All throughout, Jesus as God's prophet is revealing himself as Israel's Messiah. but their leaders reject him. And in God's marvelous wisdom, it is that rejection of him that ultimately will lead to the accomplishment of the salvation he here proclaims. But for us, I think that the point of this passage is that we would not, like these religious leaders, reject God's prophets, but would receive his words of the gospel with open ears and open hearts. It would be first, at Jesus preaching the gospel in verses one through eight. Isn't that statement in verse one interesting? As he was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests with the scribes and elders came to him, and we see their response. But before we look at that response, I think it's worth noting that Luke tells us Christ is here preaching the gospel. that Christ is here on the very same week on which he's going to go to the cross and die, he is proclaiming the good news of his salvation. He's perhaps proclaiming a very similar message to what he preached in Luke chapter four. When that first synagogue sermon in Nazareth, he said that he had come to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, that he is the fulfillment of Isaiah 61, God's final prophet and bringer of salvation. Then it says there in Luke chapter four that the eyes of all were fixed on him. They marveled the gracious words that came from his mouth. That passage, if you can remember back all the way about a year ago when we looked at Luke four, I think teaches us two things about true preaching. First of all, that it is Christ-centered, that it leads the eyes of all to be fixed on Jesus. And second, it's gracious. They marveled at the gracious words that came from Jesus' mouth. Words not first and foremost of condemnation, but rather of invitation. It's been said that the posture most natural to Jesus is not that of a pointed finger, but rather of open arms. And that's what we see in Luke chapter four. A standard for all true preachers to measure themselves by. Am I preaching Christ so that the eyes of all are fixed on him? And can the words from my mouth legitimately be described as gracious? Is not only the content of what is preached characterized by the gospel, but is there also a gospel tone so that the kindness of our savior can be heard in the way that he is preached? Jesus in Luke chapter four and throughout his gospel becomes for us the preacher par excellence. And yet amazingly, They still reject him. If you remember that passage in Luke 4, they chase him out of the pulpit and try to cast him over a cliff. And that response there becomes something of a pattern throughout Luke's gospel so that we see the same kind of response now to the Christ-centered, gracious gospel preaching of Jesus in Luke 20, where the same response that met him in Galilee now meets him in Jerusalem. where as he is preaching the gospel of grace, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders, these three groups making up the Sanhedrin, the ruling council in Jerusalem, they come up to him and say, by what authority are you doing these things? And this may include the cleansing of the temple at the end of Luke 19. But as the emphasis in Luke 19.47 through 20 verse one is on Jesus' teaching, it seems that their opposition is fundamentally against the gospel that Christ proclaims. What a sad thing when even religious leaders can oppose the preaching of the gospel. But sure enough, they do. And now in verse three, Jesus must defend his prophetic ministry, which he does in true rabbinic fashion I'm answering their question with a question. As he says, what about the baptism of John? When he refers to the baptism of John, that's John the Baptist and it's sort of a catch-all for John's entire ministry. And Jesus says, by what authority did he preach? Was it from heaven or was it from man? And this way Christ is sort of turning their own question back on them for what was John's preaching about? was about Christ, how he is the one whose sandals John was not worthy to untie. In John chapter three, John says that his proclamation was fundamentally that Christ is the bridegroom. He's the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And so Jesus says to them, as he refers back to John's Christ-centered preaching, tell me, was John's ministry from heaven or was it from man? And if they say that it was from heaven, well, that will answer their question about Jesus' authority, but if they say from earth, then the people will stone them, for they were convinced that John was a prophet. And so they give a disingenuous answer, and they say, we don't know. So Jesus says, then neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. Psalm 18 says, with the pure, God will show himself pure, but with the crooked, He shows himself shrewd. And so Jesus gives a shrewd answer to these disingenuous listeners who are merely looking to oppose him. They were trying to trap Jesus. So that if he said he preached what he did by divine authority, they might accuse him of blasphemy. But if he would not claim divine authority, then they would say, well, what right do you have then to be preaching what you're preaching? But Jesus doesn't play their game. and thereby teaches us that sometimes it's better not to answer a fool according to his folly. But when questions are asked with this kind of disingenuous posture, trying to trap you, often it's better not to answer at all. Then in verse nine, Jesus now uses their opposition to his gospel message. in their attempt to get him accused of blasphemy so that he might be put to death. He uses that now as an occasion to tell a parable where Jesus says there was a man who planted a vineyard, and that's a symbol in the Old Testament for Israel. He sang of it earlier in Psalm 80, or you see it in a place like Isaiah 5. And it says that this man who planted the vineyard, he then let it out to tenants. I'm representing the religious leaders of Israel who are entrusted with the leadership of God's vineyard. They're to look after it. But they don't listen to any of the messengers that the owner of the vineyard sends. Rather, in verse 10, when he first sends one of his servants to retrieve some of the fruit of his vineyard, it says, they beat him and they send him away empty-handed. In verse 11, they do so to another, treating him shamefully. That's the same phrase from Luke 18.32 for what they'll do to Jesus. These servants represent the Old Testament prophets that God, the owner of the vineyard, sent to his people over and over that they consistently rejected. You can remember throughout Luke's gospel, Jesus has been speaking of this on a number of occasions. In Luke 11, verse 47, at the end of that series of woes against the scribes and Pharisees, he said that Israel has killed God's prophets and the scribes and Pharisees have consented to their deeds. or Luke 13, 34, that halfway point in Jesus' journey towards Jerusalem. He calls Jerusalem the city that kills the prophets and stones those who were sent to her, and he says it cannot be that a prophet should die outside Jerusalem. Let's do that same theme in Luke 20. Prophet after prophet after prophet, they persecute. until the owner of the vineyard eventually says, this is what I will do, I will send my beloved son. And perhaps they'll respect him. This, I think, relates somewhat to the previous section about John's baptism, for it was there at Jesus' baptism by John that Christ was first revealed as the beloved son of God. This is my beloved son. Those words, again, echoed at the transfiguration. Jesus is the beloved son of God. I think there might also be here a little hint, a little reference back to Isaac as the beloved son of sacrifice, which gives us a little hint of where this is going. God sends his beloved son, which by the way, since the scribes in verse 19 understand that this refers to Jesus, he is actually giving them the answer to their initial question. But when the beloved son comes to God's people. When God sends his beloved son, the people in verse 14 say to themselves, let us kill him. This is the heir, let us kill him. And Jesus is now using his omniscient authority to reveal the hearts of these religious leaders who are plotting his death. He knows their intentions. He knows why they asked that question about authority. He knows that in Luke 19, verse 47, they were seeking to destroy him, which in verse 15 of the parable, they do. They throw him out of the vineyard and kill him. They throw him outside of the city, as the author of Hebrews says, and crucify him. And Jesus says, now what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those tenants and he will give the vineyard to others. I believe this is a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem that Christ spoke of at the end of Luke 19 and will speak of again in Luke 21 as God's covenant judgment for their rejection of his Messiah. The gospel now go to the Gentiles since these tenants of the vineyard have rejected God's son. From Jesus as he's telling this parable, he is still preaching the gospel. Jesus is preaching himself as the beloved son of God who in just a few days is going to die, but then verse 17 will be raised. As he quotes Psalm 118 about the stone that the builders rejected becoming the cornerstone. Psalm 118 is a psalm of resurrection where the rejected one will become the cornerstone. And then he will become the crushing stone, verse 18, who smashes his enemies. I'm echoing what he said in Luke 19, 44. And this is the other side of the gospel, that those who reject it will experience God's judgment. Do you remember what Simeon said at the beginning of the gospel in this same temple? As he held the child Jesus, he said that this child was appointed for the fall and rising of many and for a sign that is opposed so that the hearts of many will be revealed. That Jesus is now revealing the hearts of those who oppose him and saying, if you will not fall on the rejected stone in faith and repentance, you will be crushed. And that same message he again preaches to us today. What do you make of the Christ? of Luke 20. Would you reject him or respond to him in indifference? Or confess him as Lord, the beloved son who died for your sins and was raised again? I want you to hear the gracious words of Jesus, even as he proclaims this judgment. Adele Ralph Davis says, Jesus threatens these leaders with nothing less than final ruin. Yet in that same threat, He appeals to them. He says, I know what you're planning to do, but do you realize what it will cost you? There is an appeal to these enemies he exposes where mercy is hidden in his severity. As it is every time the judgment of Christ is proclaimed. Even that very first time that his judgment is proclaimed in the Psalms, where even as Psalm 2 speaks of the son, the anointed king, who will dash his enemies to pieces like a potter's vessel. It then says to be wise and be warned, kiss the son, lest he be angry and he perish in the way. He calls for us to come to him and find refuge, even as he here calls his enemies. But again, they resist his gracious pleas. Verse 19 says they sought to lay hands on him, perceiving that he told this parable against them. So his parable about them killing him only makes them want to kill him more. Their hearts are hardened to the preaching of the gospel and they begin to hate the one who preaches it. But because they fear the people, they do not lay hands on him to destroy him. And so what do they do? Verse 20 says they send spies. who pretend to be sincere and flatter him, as many enemies of the gospel do, using flattery to manipulate and gain power. But Jesus, again, is wiser than his enemies and knows that, verse 20, they're seeking to trap him and catch him so that they might deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor, namely Pontius Pilate. Now, this is the very thing that Jesus predicted in Luke 18. They want to hand him over to the Gentiles to be killed. And so they ask him a question to either get him in trouble with the people or get him in trouble with Rome and say, teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly and that you show no partiality but teach truly the way of God. And this here is their flattery where it's interesting, even though they're being insincere, they're actually making the point of the chapter that Jesus is God's true prophet who teaches rightly. Then they get to the question, is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar? Should we pay taxes? If Jesus says yes, then the people will oppose him. If he says no, then they'll hand him over to Pilate as rebelling against the civil magistrate. That's the perfect trap. It's interesting, I hadn't noticed this this week, but even as I was reading it, notice verse 23 says, but he perceived their craftiness, that might remind us of the crafty serpent all the way back in Genesis 3. But Jesus, again, is wiser than his enemies, even in their craftiness. He says, give me a coin. So they take the coin out of their pocket, and then Jesus asks, who's on it? It's a picture of Caesar. And so Jesus says in verse 25, then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. Meaning the payment of taxes is something that he does have the right to ask for, and it is the Christian's duty to submit. In fact, even by having that coin in your pocket with Caesar's face on it, you are conceding as much. So give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's. Which certainly includes his worship, and the worship of his son. And so Jesus' answer implies a civil obligation to submit to governing authorities in things lawful that do not conflict with the word of God, and a religious obligation to give to God the worship that is his due. And never to submit to governing authorities in things that would conflict with that primary obligation. But more importantly, In the midst of this ongoing temple conflict, Jesus is not only teaching us something here about our civil and religious obligations, but Jesus is once again showing himself to be the supremely wise prophet of God who silences his foes with the wisdom of his words. Notice how does this little section end, but verse 26, they were not able in the presence of the people to catch him in what he said, but they marveled at his answer and became silent. J.C. Ryle said, he who is truly called the wisdom of God found an answer that silenced his enemies. Jesus is again the wise sage in whom all the wisdom of God is found. He is the wise prophet who here is victorious over these serpent-like enemies. This little preview of the way that he will crush the serpents. Jesus is the prophet par excellence whose wisdom causes the people to marvel and his enemies to be silent. This is all part of Luke's presentation of Jesus as the true prophet of God who fully reveals to us everything we need to know for our salvation. Behold the wisdom of Jesus, including in verses 27 through 40, where they again try to test him. This time it's the Sadducees, that's the liberal party of the Sanhedrin who don't believe in the angels or in the resurrection. And so they ask Jesus, they sort of pick their hobby doctrine, they ask Jesus, if a man dies and his brother marries his wife and then he dies and his other brother marries her and so on, and so on seven times, whose wife is she in the resurrection? And they're poking fun at Jesus' teaching on the resurrection, but they're also trying to trap him with this hard question. But Jesus answers in two ways. If you notice in verses 37 through 40, the second part of his answer is an appeal to the Old Testament, where God in Exodus chapter three is called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with that point in the grave, which means Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, if God is currently the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ultimately are not dead, for God is not the God of the dead, but the living. So Jesus here shows from their Old Testament scriptures that the resurrection is indeed biblical. But if you look at verses 34 through 46, we see the other part of Jesus' argument regarding a question of marriage in the age to come, where he says, the sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but not so in the age to come, where they neither marry nor are given in marriage. And the reason, of course, is because of what marriage points to. Remember, Paul tells us in Ephesians 5, it is a mystery symbolizing union with Christ. In fact, even in the Old Testament, it is a picture of the love of God for his people. Think of Psalm 45 that we sang just a little while ago, where the Messiah and King is spoken of as the bridegroom who joins himself to his people in love. And so why won't there be marriage in the age to come? Because marriage will be fulfilled in the wedding supper of the Lamb and the eternal union of Christ and his people. As that one commentator on Luke put it, He says, the covenant companionship of marriage finds its fulfillment in the eternal, blissful, and unbreakable covenant of love between the lamb and his bride. Marriage in this age reflects the mystical union of Christ and his bride, the church, who now waits for his return and the consummation, at which point marriage will be no more, for it will give way to the eternal marriage, of Christ and his bride. That, by the way, is why God cares so deeply about our marriages because of what they picture. He cares about the way that a husband treats his wife. He cares about sexual purity in the context of marriage. He cares even about churches helping those who are going to marry to prepare for marriage because of what this pictures. Same gospel mystery of union with Christ that we just heard of at the Office Bearers Conference This weekend, marriage pictures the gospel mystery of Christ uniting himself to his bride in love forever. That's why marriage matters, that's why God cares, that's why we should care about the ways that marriage is misrepresented and mocked in our society. But in all of this, as Jesus gives this answer about marriage and about the resurrection, What we see then in verses 39 and 40, that even again some of the scribes are left to acknowledge that once again Jesus has spoken well. And they no longer dare ask him any questions. Sort of a bit like in Luke chapter four towards the beginning of Jesus' ministry when he went out into the wilderness and Satan comes and tempts him. tempts him over and over, and eventually he just ceases because Jesus has been the victor over and over and over. So here, once again, these crafty, serpent-like enemies of the gospel eventually cease, and they no longer dare ask him any questions. Jesus is, again, the victor. Jesus, just like verse 26, is here again revealed as the true prophet of God whose wisdom is unparalleled. Parallel. We see the unparalleled wisdom of Jesus in this passage, and we see his masterful handling of the Old Testament scriptures, particularly in verses 37 through 40 in that treatment of Exodus chapter three in the burning bush, where he is revealed to be a scribe well-trained in the Old Testament scriptures. Yet he is not only a scribe well-trained, he is also the one to whom the Old Testament scriptures point. as the bridegroom of Psalm 45, as the one to whom Adam's marriage to Eve in Genesis 2 ultimately pointed like a parable, for he is the bridegroom who joins himself to his people in love by laying down his life for them. In fact, back in verses 14 and 15 of that other parable Jesus told where the beloved son is cast out of the vineyard, that's what it will cost for him to make the bride his own. From heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride. With his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died. Jesus is still preaching the gospel as in 20 verse one. the gospel mystery of marriage, and of himself as the Messiah, the one of whom the sons of Korah sang in Psalm 45, or Solomon in the Song of Songs. He is the prophet of God, the beloved son of God, the wise sage, wiser even than Solomon, and the beloved bridegroom of whom Solomon spoke. Jesus, all throughout this chapter, is preaching the gospel of himself. So that once again, as in Luke chapter four, as he exposits the scriptures for us, all eyes are fixed on Jesus. And then finally now, towards the end of the passage, he proclaims himself also as David's son and David's Lord. We see this in verses 41 and following, where now Jesus takes his turn to ask them a question and says of Psalm 110, which by the way, it's interesting, he speaks of David as the one speaking, in verse 42, and the only reason we know that David is the one speaking is because of the superscription in Psalm 110, and so I think this is actually a nice little proof text for us to understand that these superscriptions themselves in the Psalms are inspired. That's part of the word of God when it says of Solomon, or of David, or of the sons of Korah. That's part of God's word. But he asked this question then in verse 42 and 43. He says, how is it that the Christ could be David's son if David himself says in the book of Psalms, the Lord said to my Lord, sit here at my right hand? If David calls the Christ Lord, well then how could he also be David's son? Again, like Psalm 118, this was understood by all to be a messianic psalm. David is speaking in Psalm 110 of the coming messianic priest and king who would rule in the midst of his enemies, who God would exalt, sort of like in Psalm 80, to his right hand. Then Jesus asks, if according to Psalm 72 or Psalm 89 or Psalm 132, according to those many places, or 2 Samuel 7, the Messiah is David's son, then how is it that David could also call him Lord? How could he be both the Lord of David and the Son of David? And so you see, what Jesus is doing here is he's suggesting that in the very fabric of the Messianic Psalms was this idea of the Messiah being both human, the Son of David, and divine. the Lord of David. M.C.S. Lewis says Christ is here pointing to a difficulty that only the mystery of the incarnation can solve. Jesus is both David's son and David's Lord. In the context of this whole conflict, over Jesus' authority. Jesus is identifying himself as David's son and David's Lord. He is answering their question, where do you get this authority? And he's saying, I am the Lord and son of David. Jesus is once again preaching the gospel, the gospel of himself as both human and divine, the priest and king of Psalm 110, who would die for the sins of his people, yet be raised at God's right hand to rule in the midst of his enemies. Enemies like the scribes and Pharisees were mentioned in verses 45 and following. He says, will it receive the greater condemnation? I believe that last little section is sort of a continuation of Christ preaching himself as the exalted son and Lord of David who will vanquish his enemies. If you remember, singing Psalm 110, it ends saying he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations filling them with corpses and he will shatter the chiefs over the earth. Sounds a little bit like the judgment of verse 18, he will crush his enemies to pieces. To believe Jesus in this last section of Luke 20 is still reflecting on Psalm 110 and now on the condemnation that will come against those who have rejected his divine authority, who have rejected him as God's priest and king and prophet, who have rejected him as the son of David and Lord of David. the Pharisees and scribes who have rejected his preaching of the gospel. Regation may our response to the preaching of Jesus not be like that, but rather like the crowds at the end of chapter 19 who marveled and hung on his every word. Author Paul Hewlett says, here is a picture of true worship in contrast to false worship. that the people there at the end of Luke 19 sat humbly and hungrily under the preaching of the gospel. But these religious leaders in Jerusalem have failed to so respond to God's prophets. By the grace of God, not all do. There are those in the temple who hang on his every word. And even those like this widow whose faith Jesus commends in Luke 21 verse three. Where I think that section goes with what has come just before it. Notice in verse 47, one of the things that Jesus rebukes about the scribes is that they devour widows' houses by their greed, by their demanding that they give more and more to the temple. And now here we have, the beginning of Luke 21, an example of a poor widow being devoured. But at the same time, it's also an example of the piety that Jesus commends over and against the scribes and the Pharisees. As one writer says, she is a model for the church of what it means to be a faithful hearer of the word. She submits humbly to the instructions of her religious leaders and offers all she has for the ministry and maintenance of that word. She teaches us the kind of faith that God is looking for in response to Jesus, the ultimate prophet, priest, and king. Not the kind that rejects the preaching of the gospel in favor of man-made, man-centered piety like we see in verses 45 to 47. The kind that humbly receives his word and looks to his son, his beloved son. the son of David and bridegroom of his people who will die as their priest, the stone the builders rejected who will be raised and is coming again to join himself to his people in that mystic sweet communion to which marriage points but to crush his enemies and make them his footstool. And he's calling each one of you this morning to examine your heart's response to this preaching of the gospel and receive him as God's prophet who is also our priest and king. He is David's Lord. and David's son and deserves our praise. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for this chapter where the opposition of Jesus' enemies to his preaching of the gospel becomes an occasion for us to be reminded of all that he is and all that he has done as our prophet, our priest, and our king who fully reveals to us your will for our salvation. Lord, would you help us to respond to him as those in chapter 19 who hung on his every word, that widow in chapter 21 who humbly heard and gave all she had. Would you help us to so respond to the Christ of the scriptures, our prophet, priest, and king in true faith and repentance, confessing the ways that we have resisted his word confessing the ways that we have resisted his prophets and not received him as our bridegroom and king. I pray in Jesus' name, amen.