Isaiah 1, verses 1 to 20. Isaiah 1, verses 1 through 20. So I'm gonna call Isaiah the fifth gospel. certainly the most known major prophet, Isaiah 1, verses 1 through 20. The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken. Here's what he said. I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know. My people do not consider. Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corruptors. They have forsaken the Lord. They have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel. They have turned away backward. Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick and the whole heart faints from the sole of the foot even to the head. There is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. They have not been closed or bound up or soothed with ointment. Your country is desolate. Your cities are burned with fire. Strangers devour your land in your presence and it is desolate as overthrown by strangers. So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a hut in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Unless the Lord of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom. We would have been made like Gomorrah. Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom. Give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me, says the Lord? I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs or goats. When you come to appear before me, who has required this from your hand, namely to trample my courts? Bring no more futile sacrifices. Incense is an abomination to me. The new moons, the Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot endure iniquity in the sacred meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts, my soul hates. They are a trouble to me. I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves. Make yourselves clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Rebuke the oppressor. Defend the fatherless. Plead for the widow. Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you're willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Our epistle reading is 2 Timothy 3, verses one through nine. 2 Timothy 3, verses one through nine. But know this, Paul said to Timothy, that in the last days perilous times will come for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power, and from such people turn away. For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women, loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning but never able to come to the knowledge that is the right use of the truth. Now, as Janus and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth, men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith. But they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also, that is Janus and Jambres, as theirs also was. Amen. And then Mark 12, Verse 13 through 44. Mark 12, verses 13 through 44. You might say, preacher, that's a long section. Mm-hmm. It is. But you'll see, I hope. Mark 12, verse 13 through 44. Then they sent to him, that's Jesus, some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch him in his words. When they had come, they said to him, Teacher, we know that you are true and care about no one. That is, you take no regard or preference to person, for you do not regard the person of man, but teach the way of God and truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Shall we pay or shall we not pay? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, why do you test me? Bring a denarius that I may see it. So they brought it, and he said to them, whose image and inscription is this? They said to him, Caesar's. Jesus answered and said to them, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marveled at him. And some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him, and they asked him, saying, Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies and leaves his wife behind and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now, there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and dying, he left no offspring. The second took her, and he died, nor did he leave any offspring. And the third likewise. So the seven had her, and left no offspring. Last of all, the woman died also. Therefore in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife. Jesus answered and said to them, are you not therefore mistaken? Because you do not know the scriptures nor the power of God. For when they rise, that is in the resurrection from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage. but are like angels in heaven. Not they are angels, they are like angels. But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him saying, I'm the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken. Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, Isaiah 1, perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? Jesus asked him, The first of all the commandments is, Hero Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Those of you who are in communicants class, we read this, remember? You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second like it is this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. So the scribe said to him, well said teacher, you have spoken the truth. There is one God, and there is no other but He, and to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, you are not far from the kingdom of God. But after that, no one dared question him. Then Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? For David himself said by the Holy Spirit, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. Therefore David calls him Lord. How is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly. And he said to them in his teaching, beware of the scribes. who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive a greater condemnation." Now, Jesus sat opposite the treasury, that's where they placed their money, and saw how the people put their money into the treasury, Many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrants. He called his disciples to himself and said to them, assuredly I say to you that this poor widow has put more in or in more than all those who have given to the treasury. For they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihoods. Amen. Their folly will be manifest to all, is what Paul said to Timothy. They will be exposed. Children exposed or made manifest is like embarrassed. Have you ever been embarrassed? These people that Paul was warning Timothy about, who are they? Who are those people? I want you to consider some of the phrases. We won't look back at all of them and you don't have to turn back to 2 Timothy unless you're one of those Bible drill students. One of the phrases is resist the truth. One of the phrases is learning but never coming to knowledge. That is knowing lots of things but not having any idea what to do with it. Corrupt minds. Lovers of self, lovers of money. Yes, we all know that kind, don't you? You might be able to point at others up to this point, but watch out. Boasters are included. Proud. Traitors. Headstrong. That's not all, but certainly sufficient, isn't it? Possibly the worst of all is the one I want to use last. Having a form of godliness, but denying its power. That's who Paul told Timothy, not just to watch out for them, but to turn away from them, to walk away from them. These types would be around in these last days, just like they were in the days of Moses. But remember, what is coming for them? I said at the beginning, their folly will be made manifest. Their ways will be made known. And 2 Timothy 3 also says, they will be stopped. Now, I would wager that this is part of the mission of Jesus in coming to Jerusalem. He came to Jerusalem to reason with the people that they might be saved, like Isaiah 1 said. But how were most of them found? Bound up in folly, fitting the description of 2 Timothy 3 and the condemnation of Isaiah 1, with themselves ready to be embarrassed, made ready for that revealing. Mark presents to us what we might call a threefold ruining of the leadership of Israel. Did you notice that Jesus was confronted by three different people? Pharisees and Herodians, basically being one group, we'll get to that in a minute. Then the Sadducees and then the scribes. He is ruining the leadership, overthrowing it, the leadership of Israel. They all appear before the Lord Jesus with questions though, traps. Traps, it's a trap. But Jesus will avoid them. And in avoiding them, Jesus is not exposed, but they are. Children, this is a situation like when you think you finally got a question to stump your parents. You ask your parents questions, don't you? Sometimes you may even make a game out of it. You think you know something they don't, and you want to have a good laugh at their expense. Sometimes you really do know things that your parents don't. But it doesn't work like that with Jesus. The children of the covenant, these children at that time, leaders of the church, thought that they could stump Jesus. but their foolishness, their folly is gonna be made known to all. And the remainder of this chapter, which we've just read, Mark 12, verses 13 through 44, prepares us for Mark 13. Mark 13, where Jesus tells of the outward destruction that was coming upon those who rejected him. But Jesus doesn't leave that exposure, that embarrassment, That destruction totally for chapter 13, because as you saw in our reading, you might be tempted to call her an unlikely figure. But have you read the Bible? It's not unlike God at all to use an example like he does in this passage to shame the leadership. It's quite in accord with God's way of doing things. After all, Paul tells us, he makes foolish the wisdom of the world. Jesus is going to make foolish the Pharisees, the Herodians, the Sadducees, and the Scribes right here this morning. He did it in the past and he's going to do it again this morning. So the first group, the Pharisees and the Herodians. Why these two? Why these two? Well, the Pharisees, you know, were one of the groups of Jewish leadership. They were one of the more hypocritical groups, but they were those who believed in the Word of God. They just didn't understand it. The Herodians were those who supported Herod. Children, you know the man, one of the men that Jesus stands trial before, right? Herod. They were supporters of him. Why these two? They're the legal parties. One being the covenant people and the other being the sympathizers with Herod. The truth, that is Jesus, was such a threat to them that they decided to put their differences aside, to face Him. But what are they really up to? You might be disappointed that I'm not preaching a sermon on render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God. Well, I'm not doing it because Jesus didn't do it. He merely answered this short question with a very short answer. There's a place for doing that, but not in the way we're doing this exposition of Mark. What are they really up to? It's not about the authority of Caesar that they really care about. They probably, you could imagine, had some huddle before they go up to Jesus. discuss what might be the best thing to stump him with, and this is what they came up with. Children, you know, right, you have a plan, you're gonna stump mommy or daddy, or something like that. How does Jesus respond? Well, he calls it what it is, hypocrisy, because they don't care about Caesar, and they don't care about God. He knows what it is better than they do. His answer, though, remember, it's not a treatise. It's not everything that could be said, just a simple truth to silence them. This belongs to Caesar, that belongs to God, you owe both obedience. And how do they respond? They marvel. They marvel. And that would be a good response for you to do as well, rather than to get hung up on and speculate upon the implications of why. They marvel. They just did. That's what the text says. Jesus gives this very basic answer to a very basic question that they thought they could stump him with. The important thing to note is that they did not catch him in his words. They lost, children. The Pharisees and Herodians are defeated once again. They're mentioned actually together in one other place in Mark's Gospel in chapter 3. And here they are appearing again at the end, at the beginning of Jesus' ministry and the end of Jesus' ministry. They came to reason with the Lord, Isaiah 1, and they lost. That's the first level. What about the second level, the Sadducees? They say, There is no resurrection, so that's the difference between them and the Pharisees. The Pharisees did believe in the resurrection from the dead, and the Sadducees, as the old pun goes, the real Sadducee, they didn't believe in the resurrection from the dead. That's part of what distinguished them and made them unique among the hypocrites. And what do they do? Something similar to what the Pharisees do, but they try to use the word against the word. It's a bad move, right? Their question is, if there is a resurrection, who will this woman belong to? Again, this is not about marriage. This is not about concern for the woman. It's about the resurrection, sort of, but it's ultimately a trap because they think they're going to prove Jesus's doctrine wrong. This woman who dies unmarried and without a son or child to assist her or head her in this life and by implication, the life to come, at least how they understood the resurrection, What's Jesus' reply? Well, it's similar to Paul's point about the heavenly and eternal kingdom in Galatians. Remember in Galatians 3, that passage that egalitarians try to use to prove women's ordination? Galatians 3, 26 through 28, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Okay? There's no marriage in the eternal state because we're all sons. Good luck with that on earth. Right? But we're also all the bride, because we'll be united to the husband, the Lord Jesus. Again, good luck with applying that. Plenty of complexities we don't have time to work through, but that is like Jesus' answer. Marriage has an end in this life. It is a visible, temporal thing. Jesus' point, though, is not really to debate about marriage or even eternity. but to show that they don't know the scriptures. Verse 24, he says it himself, are you not therefore mistaken? Because you do not know the scriptures nor the power of God. That's his point. He's preparing these guys to take the L as well. The resurrection from the dead though, we must mention that in passing because of the way Jesus does it. Is it mentioned in that passage? He is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Is Jesus tricking them? No, no. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are very much alive, is what Jesus is saying, and they are greatly mistaken. Jesus is now two and O. Who's next? The scribes. Let's take a step back for a moment and consider who we've seen. You think of the lesson with the Pharisees as a civics or a civil lesson. Maybe the one with the Sadducees as a theology lesson. Now this one with the scribes, we could describe it as an ethics lesson, right? The commandments, that's what they're about, aren't they? And the funny thing is, just like I did this morning with the kids in the communicants class, they are going to attempt to catechize the Lord Jesus. Again, good luck with that. But it only makes you laugh because you know the ending. So examine yourself. It's hard to say what their intent was, really, because Jesus notices their answer and almost commends them, but not really. He doesn't do to them what he did to the Pharisees and the Sadducees. But it's incredible. What he says to them, they give the right answer, just as he has. They offer a commentary, as it were. Jesus knows something, though, and he says to them one of the most profound things that you could say to a person of presumption. You're not far from grasping what you think you've grasped. You are not far from the kingdom of God, Jesus tells them. Again, it's incredible. It is. Whatever this means, Jesus has defeated them, hasn't he? He didn't lose to the scribes. He defeated the scribes, he defeated the Sadducees, and he defeated the Pharisees. And what he goes on to do is to prove that these leaders of Israel did not know the manual of leadership. They did not know the scriptures or the one who had written them. At best, they were not far from the kingdom of God. Now imagine that being true of your elders. Maybe you think it is. Hopefully it's not. Jesus uses Psalm 110 to show that these leaders had no idea what they were writing. That's what scribes did. You might say, why are they called scribes? They're the ones who wrote the scriptures. not made it up, but they copied it. They're the ones who God used, some of the ones that God used to preserve the words. They had no idea what they were writing, and those who read those writings had no idea what they were saying in their work on the scriptures. They said, and Jesus is not saying they were wrong, just that they only got half the point. When he brings up Psalm 110 in verses 35 through 37, Jesus shows A partial truth for them, but that wasn't all. They said that the Christ is the son of David, verse 35. They knew that message from the scribes. It's true, isn't it? We're not denying that. Jesus is not denying that. Jesus is not implying otherwise. He seems to mean something like you get that much, but it's still almost like a you're not too far from the kingdom thing. But they missed the other part, and this is why Jesus asked the question of verse 37, where David also calls his son, Lord. How is that the case? Would I call my son Lord? Well, not in the way that David addressed Jesus, by implication. Why is this the case? Because the son of David is also the God of David. That's the point of Psalm 110. They didn't understand that. He's not only human, but he's divine. But you notice this new group of people rises up. The common people, verse 37, those despised by the Pharisees, the Herodians, the Sadducees, and the scribes, they began to appear on the scene. Maybe they get it. Maybe they don't. Mark doesn't dwell on it, but they do begin to show us this contrast, the contrast with the leaders, those who were wise in a worldly sense with those who weren't. The common people heard him gladly. The leaders, not so much, not so much. Jesus moves on though, and he says, beware of the scribes. Why? How would we summarize these terms in these three verses? Or the phrases, excuse me, in these three verses? I think we could summarize them like this. Beware of the scribes and their pride and their greed and their arrogance. Pride, look at it. Desiring long robes. Loving greetings in the marketplaces. Best seats in the synagogues. Best places at feasts. Recognition, right? Greed, devouring widows' houses, taking advantage of them. Arrogance, pretense, making long prayers. Beware of the scribes because of those reasons, Jesus says. Beware of them because of those things, you common people. Look at these leaders who I have just defeated, you might say. Beware of them because of these things and know that they will receive the greater condemnation. I thought all sin was equal, yeah, mm-hmm. They and everyone like them of superior rank, those who ought to lead but actually only move with pride, greed, and arrogance, they will receive the greater condemnation. When the common people begin to hear Jesus gladly, we're beginning to see an end to this, what we might call a reign of terror of these three classes in Israel, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the scribes. those who tried to twist the word against the word. Jesus is exposing them, 2 Timothy 3. He is defeating them, preparing them for the slaughter, their follies being revealed. But there's one more act to this play, isn't there? One little section we haven't touched. Remember how Jesus always does this thing at the end of a section of teaching. He's done it over and over and over again in Mark. He teaches, he does something, And then he takes just his disciples aside to tell them the lesson. He does it here too. He pulls his disciples to the side just to give them the interpretation. And look at it in verse 43 and 44. Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury. For they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood. Look at who Jesus uses to teach them. Not the Pharisees or the Herodians or the Sadducees or the scribes, but the widow. Look at her, he says, to shame Those who had probably devoured her house. They were just condemned for that. He uses a widow, the least outwardly powerful, influential, and wealthy person in all of Israel. The one that the Sadducees were supposedly concerned about. This woman, this widow, had a better understanding of the Holy Scriptures than the Pharisees. and the Sadducees and the scribes. And Jesus would rather have his disciples learn from her than from these other men. It's a profound twist, isn't it? Jesus shows the leaders of Israel to have led the flock of God astray into adultery, into whoredom, you might say, and to understand the things of the covenant less than a widow. Imagine the sadness and the rage that the Lord Jesus must have felt towards these men. Look on how they perverted the scriptures, knowing the words clearly, but not the doctrine which they were to commit to the people. Jesus' perfect hatred of error had to be bubbling over. You read of it in Isaiah 1. Israel of old have proved to be a harlot. which is much worse than a widow, though they didn't understand themselves to be a harlot, for sure. These are the very type of men Paul warned Timothy about. The reason you have all three of these passages strung together is so Jesus can shame them with a widow. That's why you read all the way to the end. You might say, well, preacher, you could preach a sermon on all of those. You could, but I didn't. Now you understand the context of the whole passage. Now what do we need to meditate on as we come to the Lord's table? I'll just give you a few things. First, the risk of missing the point. These were men who knew the word but didn't know the word. Jesus said so. They missed it. Supreme example of getting lost with the trees instead of looking at the whole forest. Second, the risk of presumption. Jesus addressed that in saying, you are not far from the kingdom of God. They gave all the right answers. And Jesus still said, you are not far. That is, you are not yet in. The dangers of pride, greed, and arrogance, especially with those who have the power of place, because the Bible says these will receive the greater condemnation. Remember 2 Timothy 3. Remember Isaiah 1. Fourth, the danger of believing the lie that the heart is absolutely unseen. Now why do I say that? Because we want to diminish works in favor of the heart. Because of the existence of hypocrites. Doesn't mean there aren't hypocrites. But what did Jesus point to? He pointed to the actions of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the scribes over and over and over. Sometimes he addressed their belief, but he also pointed to their actions. But look at what he pointed to when he got to the widow. Not her understanding of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, but that she gave, that she gave, that she understood. He pointed at the action. The heart is not absolutely unseen. Last, Jesus as the great high priest. All of these things, yes, the truths of Mark 12, 13 to 44, press upon the heart. They cut to the heart as the word of God penetrates. But why does the word of God cut and slice and penetrate? Ladies, you should remember this from our Bible study the other night. To prepare for sacrifice. What does a priest use a knife for? To prepare for sacrifice. Why does the word come to us in the form of a sword from our great high priest? That we might be prepared to be presented to God as a sacrifice. Jesus, Of course, offered himself as the ultimate purification so that you can be offered up to God in and through him. But the cutting of the word is a preparation for sacrifice. Sacrifice is at the heart of true doctrine and biblical living. You might say, preacher, you sound Roman Catholic. Isn't that what the widow did? Sacrifice. Isn't it what Jesus did? on the cross, the sacrifice for the sins of the world. Most of all, in showing the greed of the leaders of Israel, it's what they didn't do. There was no sacrifice in them, just greed, pride, and arrogance. The sacrifice of the Lord and the son of David is what brings us here. It's what is rehearsed at the table. It's the gift of God to us. It's the memorial for God that we offer back up to Him, that He might continue to look on us in mercy, in memory of His covenant commitments. Remember when God sent the rainbow, who was it a reminder for? Him. Him. The sacraments, the signs and seals of the covenant have a two-way communication. not just from heaven to earth, but from earth to heaven. These earthly means communicate to God as well. So I invite you in light of Isaiah to come and reason with the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, he will make you as white as snow. Amen.