Today’s reading is a continuation of Jesus’ response to His disciples’ questions about His return. The first parable of the ten bridesmaids is a little difficult for us to understand unless we know something about the wedding customs of Jesus’ day.

Back then, people didn’t get married in churches, but in their own homes. With his friends, the bridegroom would walk from his house to the house of the bride. From there he would take her back home in a wedding procession, and the wedding guests would light their way through the darkened streets with oil lamps. The ten bridesmaids in this story were either stationed at the bride’s home, waiting for the bridegroom to arrive, or at his house, waiting for both bride and bridegroom to arrive.

The important point of the story is that, because the bridegroom was delayed, five of the bridesmaids ran out of oil to fuel their lamps and had to go and purchase more oil. When they returned, they couldn’t gain entrance into the wedding feast that was by then in progress.

We should be very cautious about searching for significance in every detail of parables such as this, otherwise we’ll become confused. Every parable is an imperfect comparison that usually serves to make one major point. We don’t need to wonder what the oil represents, what is the significance of the number of bridesmaids, or why the five foolish ones were excluded from the wedding feast just because they arrived late. The obvious point of this parable is that we need to stay ready for the return of our bridegroom, Jesus, even if it seems He’s delayed. People who are spiritually asleep will miss out on a great eternal wedding feast.

The story of the three servants is very similar to the parable of the ten servants we read in the nineteenth chapter of Luke’s Gospel. Notice that in this parable, the unfaithful servant was cast into “outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30), obviously hell. We can be sure he wasn’t a Christian. So what did the one bag of gold he was entrusted with represent? It represented either his life, a gift given to him by God, or it represents gifts, abilities and opportunities that God gave him. When he had to give an account at the final judgment, he had nothing to show for what God had given him. He was considered to be lazy, wicked and useless by God (see Matthew 25:26, 30). The least he could have done would have been to invest his master’s money in the bank and earn a little interest for him. A true believer would have at least produced a little fruit in his life. But this man had none.

The other two servants represent those who, by their obedience, prove their faithfulness. (The reason they had been given more money than the other servant was perhaps because they had already proven themselves faithful with one bag of gold). As God finds us faithful, He entrusts us with more responsibility. This is true in this life and the next one.

The primary point of this parable is that every person is accountable to God for what God entrusts to him. Those who prove to be completely faithless will suffer eternally, but those who prove themselves faithful to serve God with their gifts will be rewarded. Again, this parable teaches us that true believers are identifiable by their deeds.

Q. If Jesus visited the earth for the first time today, do you think He would tell people the same parable of ten bridesmaids as He did two thousand years ago?

A. He probably wouldn’t, because it doesn’t fit our modern customs. He would probably adapt it to fit modern weddings or use an entirely different story to illustrate the same truth. Perhaps He would talk about a man who was late for his job interview and who wasn’t hired, or a young lady who arrived late for her college entrance exams and was consequently prohibited from entering the room where the test was being taken.

Q. How do you think Jesus might change the parable of the three servants to fit our modern culture?

A. He might change the wealthy master into an employer who, upon leaving for a business trip, gave his employees certain assignments according to their abilities. Upon his return, he would discover that one employee, to whom he gave the easiest task, had accomplished nothing. That employee would be fired. Or Jesus might tell a story about a mother who gave her three children jobs to do while she went grocery shopping. When she returned earlier than expected, she found out that one child had been watching TV the whole time. Because of this, his mom grounded him for a week!

Application: What did we learn today? Stay ready, and be faithful. If Jesus returned right now, would you be ready to meet Him?

If you were giving Jesus a tour of your city and pointed out the city hall, public library and largest old stone church, and He told you that the time was coming when those buildings would be completely destroyed, you’d probably want to know when! That is how the disciples felt when Jesus predicted that the massive Temple buildings in Jerusalem would be destroyed. They knew that if the Temple was to be demolished, a building that took forty-six years to build, it could only be for one of two possible reasons. Either a highly motivated enemy would destroy it during a major war, or God would destroy it. In either case, to the disciples, such an event would surely be a sign of the end of the world. So they asked Jesus when this would take place, and what signs would signal His return and the end of the world.

We know from history that Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed about forty years later by the Roman army, and Jesus told His disciples what would happen immediately preceding that disaster so they could preserve their lives. However, only Luke recorded that portion of what Jesus said: “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you will know that the time of its destruction has arrived. Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. Let those in Jerusalem escape, and those outside the city should not enter it for shelter. For those will be days of God’s vengeance, and the prophetic words of the Scriptures will be fulfilled. How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for mothers nursing their babies. For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. They will be brutally killed by the sword or sent away as captives to all the nations of the world. And Jerusalem will be conquered and trampled down by the Gentiles until the age of the Gentiles comes to an end” (Luke 21:20-24).

History tells us that Jerusalem was surrounded by Roman armies around A.D. 70, but for a short time they were drawn away to fight elsewhere, and that is when all the Christians escaped, obeying Jesus’ words. When the Roman armies returned to besiege the city and destroy it, not one true follower of Christ was harmed during the siege, while tens of thousands of nonbelievers lost their lives.

Matthew, whose record we’ve read today, seemed to focus more on Jesus’ predictions that related to His return and the end of the age. Notice that Jesus first talked about things that would not be signs of His return and the end of the world. False christs, wars, famines and earthquakes would be many, but they are not signs that the end is near. Neither are severe persecution, false prophets or rampant sin and selfishness indications that Jesus will soon come back.

However, Jesus did give us two signs that will occur within a short time before His return. First, when the gospel has been proclaimed to the whole world, the end will be near. As I write this, as many as half the people in the world have not heard the name of Jesus. However, that looks like it is changing as the church takes Christ’s command to preach the gospel to every person more seriously.

The second sign is something that Daniel predicted about 2,500 years ago, what Jesus called “the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the holy place” (Matthew 24:15). We don’t have the space to explore this in detail, but one day a man whom the Bible calls the antichrist will walk into the new Temple in Jerusalem and proclaim that he is God. Paul wrote to the Christians in Thessalonica about that man, saying, “He will exalt himself and defy every god there is and tear down every object of adoration and worship. He will position himself in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4).

That event will be a sign that the end of the world and Christ’s return are very near. Many Bible scholars believe that, according to other scriptures, that event will precede Christ’s return by three-and-a-half years. It will be a time of terrible distress for people in Jerusalem and around the world, what the Bible calls the “great tribulation,” of which we can read in the book of Revelation. God’s wrath will be poured out upon the inhabitants of the earth like never before. At the end of it, Jesus will return in a way that no one will miss seeing Him, lighting up the entire sky like a flash of lightning does for only a split second. And although the world will consider that to be the end, we will consider it to be another beginning!

Q. The Jerusalem Temple that was destroyed in A.D. 70 has never been rebuilt. Does this mean that Daniel, Jesus and Paul were mistaken about the future antichrist walking into the holy place of the Temple to proclaim himself as being God?

A. No, you can be sure that Scripture will be fulfilled. Obviously a new Temple will have to be built before the antichrist can fulfill Daniel’s, Jesus’ and Paul’s predictions. Therefore, when we hear that a new Temple is being constructed in Jerusalem, this will be a sign to us that the end is drawing closer. Think about this: It wasn’t until 1948 that the Jews repossessed the region of ancient Israel as their homeland for the first time since A.D. 70, and it wasn’t until a short war in 1967 that they repossessed Jerusalem as their own city. These are two relatively recent events that were both necessary before the Jerusalem Temple could ever be rebuilt.

Q. When God’s wrath is poured out upon the earth during the tribulation period that the Bible tells us about, will true Christians be punished along with nonbelievers?

A. No, they will not. Some Bible scholars believe that all true Christians will be taken up to heaven prior to the tribulation period. This is called the “rapture,” and Paul wrote about it in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. There is no doubt that it will happen; the only question is when it will happen. Those who think the rapture won’t happen until some point during the tribulation period or at the end of the tribulation period agree that Christians will be protected from God’s wrath upon the ungodly, as this is what God has always done in the past. They will not, however, be necessarily spared from the persecution of the anti-Christ.

Application: It sure is good to know that we have nothing to dread about the future. We will not have to suffer God’s eternal wrath like those who don’t follow Jesus. And any trials we face on the road to heaven are only temporary.

Today we continue reading Jesus’ response to His disciples’ question about the signs that will precede His return and the end of the world. After a time of terrible, worldwide tribulation, there will be some unmistakable signs that Jesus is just about to return. The sun will be darkened, and the moon, because it only reflects the sun’s light, will not shine. The stars will fall from the sky. Can you imagine seeing that? It will terrorize those who are unprepared. Isaiah predicted this almost three thousand years ago, writing, “The land will be destroyed and all the sinners with it. The heavens will be black above them. No light will shine from stars or sun or moon….The heavens above will melt away and disappear like a rolled-up scroll. The stars will fall from the sky, just as withered leaves and fruit fall from a tree” (Isaiah 13:9-10; 34:4).

Then Jesus will return, shining brightly in a black sky, in clouds of God’s radiant glory. All who are alive on earth will see Him and mourn, for they will have no doubts then that their eternal fate is sealed because they rejected Him. A great trumpet will sound, and God’s angels will gather His people from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

That will mark the beginning of Jesus’ reign over all the earth, and people would be foolish to be unprepared for such a momentous event. Jesus therefore admonished us to be ready by watching for the signs He predicted and by living obedient lives. Although no one knows the exact day or hour of His return, everyone should be able to recognize when the time is near. The signs He described will not be spread out over centuries of time.

Unfortunately, multitudes will be caught unprepared, living their normal lives right up until the day when Jesus comes back. In spite of the distress that will exist during the time just prior to Jesus’ return, people will be working, eating and partying right up until the end. In some cases, they will be working right alongside people who have come to believe in Jesus, and will see them disappear when Jesus sends His angels to gather His people. The unsaved will be completely caught off guard.

Those who are ready for Christ’s return will be those who believe in Him, and naturally, their faith will be evident by their lifestyles. When Jesus comes back, they will be doing His will. Those who are selfishly living for themselves, always partying and getting drunk, prove that they don’t believe in Jesus or His promise to return. And, as Jesus said, they will be banished to hell.

Are you ready?

Q. We read today about some major changes that will one day occur to some things most people think are permanent: the sun, moon and stars. Jesus also mentioned a major change in something else people consider permanent. What is it?

A. Jesus said that one day the earth would disappear (see Matthew 24:35). Don’t be alarmed, however, because God will create a new one right after He destroys the present one (see Revelation 21:1)!

Application: In today’s reading and throughout Scripture, we are told that every material thing we presently own will one day disappear. For that reason we should view material things from a spiritual perspective. We should, as much as possible, use material things for spiritual purposes, to serve God and others. Our use of material things is a test of our Christlikeness, and one day we’ll be rewarded for every unselfish act.

People who love God will show their love by how they live their lives. One area in which their love for God will be manifested is how they spend their money. If how they spend their money isn’t affected by their relationship with God, they probably have no relationship with Him.

For example, parents love their children, and their love shows when they use their money to take care of their children’s needs or buy them gifts. If a parent never spent any money on his children, we would doubt his love. People love their friends, and their love shows when they, among other things, spend money to show hospitality to, or help their friends. People love their dogs, and their love shows when they spend money on their dogs.

By the same token, when people love God, it affects their pocketbooks. Unfortunately, many people who claim to love God actually prove by their actions that they love their dogs more!

Of course, there is no way to give God money or any material thing directly. The only way we can give to God is to support what He is interested in, and He is primarily interested in His kingdom and the advancement of it. He wants people to be saved and discipled. So we can show our love for God by supporting our church, missionaries and other biblical ministries.

As today’s story clearly illustrates, God is not so impressed by how much we give, but by how much we give in proportion to how much we have available to give. It’s easy for a millionaire to give a thousand dollars to God’s work, but in God’s eyes, a poor person’s gift of one dollar could be a bigger gift. This is something for us to consider in our own lives. Every Christian should regularly be giving a portion of his income to God’s work, but those who have more should be giving a larger percentage—if they want their gifts to be equivalent to the smaller percentages that poorer Christians are giving.

Q. Is there a biblical percentage of income that is the minimum that every Christian should be giving? If so, what is that percentage?

A. In the Old Testament, God commanded all of His people to give ten percent of their income to His work, regardless of how rich or poor they were. It would seem reasonable to conclude that God does not expect less of His people under the new covenant, and so giving ten percent is a good place to start.

Q. Let’s say your parents give you an allowance of five dollars a week and you give it all to a missionary. Would that be the same as your parents giving away all of their weekly income?

A. Your giving would be commendable, but your parents’ giving would be a much greater sacrifice. This is not because the amount of their gift was greater, but because they gave what they had to live on for a week, something you really didn’t do. You probably didn’t need any of your money to buy food, pay electric bills or purchase clothing for your kids!

Application: Because God knows everything, He views things differently than we often do. What impresses us might not impress Him, and vice versa. Jesus once said, “What this world honors is an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15).

Mary and Joseph remained in Bethlehem for at least a few weeks after Jesus was born, and it may well have been during that time when the wise men visited Him. They had seen a star appear in the sky about two years earlier that led them to Jerusalem. Unfortunately, we don’t know much about those wise men. We can assume that the new star they saw was placed in the sky by God, and that He somehow revealed the significance of the star to them. We don’t know, however, which country they came from or how long they traveled. If they departed from their home country soon after they first saw the star, they started on their journey almost two years before Jesus was born! It’s quite obvious that they knew Jesus was worth traveling a long way to see, and that He was worthy to be worshipped and given expensive gifts appropriate for kings. He was God!

Wicked King Herod didn’t like hearing the news that a baby had been born who was destined to be king of the Jews, because at that time, he was a king over the Jewish people. (Herod hadn’t been elected by the Jewish people to be king, but was appointed to be king by the Roman government that then controlled Israel.) Herod wanted to kill the new baby, but all he knew about the child was that He had been born in Bethlehem (as the prophet Micah had predicted), and that His special star had appeared in the sky about two years before. So Herod told the wise men that once they found the child, they should return and tell him so that he could go to Bethlehem and worship Him also. He was lying of course, and was really planning to kill Jesus. Herod was so evil that when he realized that the wise men weren’t going to return to him with the details he requested, he ordered that every boy two years old and younger in the region of Bethlehem be killed by Roman soldiers. It was just as horrible as you can imagine, and Jeremiah had predicted it about 600 years earlier in a prophecy about Rachel, the wife of Israel, weeping for her dead children. The murdered boys were perhaps some of Rachel’s descendants through her sons Joseph and Benjamin. Rachel herself had died in Bethlehem.

We are blessed to live in a nation where no one has the kind of absolute power that Herod had. No one in the United States has the authority to order the mass killing of people he doesn’t like. But no matter where injustice exists, we know that God will ultimately bring justice because He is loving and fair. Did you notice that it wasn’t long after the slaughter of the little boys in Bethlehem that Herod died? (see Matthew 2:19). People always “reap what they sow,” which means that God will treat them like they treat others. Unless Herod repented of his horrible sins and believed in Jesus, when he died he perished in hell.

Q. The wise men from the east brought Jesus some very expensive gifts, including gold. Can you think of a reason why Jesus may have needed those expensive things?

A. It’s possible that Mary and Joseph used those gifts to support their little family during their flight to Egypt. If that was the case, God used the wise men to provide for their needs until they could return to Nazareth. There Joseph could support his family as a carpenter.

Q. What makes murder wrong?

A. Murder is wrong for several reasons. First, because every human being is created in God’s image, and when a person is murdered, it is the killing of one who looks something like God. When someone angrily destroys or defaces a photograph of another person, it is an offence against the person in the photograph. If for no other reason, we should respect other human beings because they’re created in God’s image. Second, murder is wrong because every person is loved by God, so no one has the right to take the life of another person. When someone commits a murder, he has taken the life of someone who was loved by God. Murder is the highest form of selfishness.

Application: Wise people know that Jesus is worth traveling to see, even if it takes months. He deserves to receive their best gifts, and is worthy to be worshiped. We are a wise family!

What we read today was certainly not the only time Jesus strongly rebuked the Pharisees and religious teachers. In fact, we’ve previously read in Luke’s Gospel of a time when Jesus spoke some of the very same words while dining in a Pharisee’s home (see Luke 11:37-52)! Because He was God, Jesus had every right to make such a critical judgment. Moreover, His criticism could be considered an act of love, because He was only telling them what they will hear Him say in the future when they stand before His throne of judgment. Jesus’ warning was spoken when the religious leaders still had time to repent and be saved from their eternal fate in hell.

Just like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, modern Christian leaders also face the same temptations to abuse their authority. Because people often think more highly of Christian leaders than they should, these leaders are often tempted to take advantage of the people they lead. However, if Christians and their leaders will simply do what Jesus said, a problem that is widespread in the church will end.

The solution is two-fold. First, Christians should be careful how they view their leaders, respecting but not revering them. God is the only Person who should be revered. Too many Christians are focused more on human leaders than they are on God, giving them even more praise than God! Jesus said we should avoid using any titles when we speak of our leaders, such as “Teacher,” “Father,” or “Master,” because we should consider God alone to be all of these to us.

Second, Christian leaders should be careful how they view themselves. They should not allow those they lead to give them titles, teaching their followers that, as Jesus said, we’re all equal brothers and sisters in God’s family. God should be the One we’re focused on, not any man who has been gifted by God. Personally, I discourage people in the church I pastored from calling me “Pastor David” for the same reason I wouldn’t allow them to call me “Teacher David,” “Father David,” or “Master David.” God alone is our Shepherd, which is what the word pastor means. I wanted the people of my church to consider God to be their only Pastor and consider me to be only His servant. The word minister means “servant,” and that is how all Christian leaders should view themselves, just as Jesus said in today’s reading, “The greatest among you must be a servant” (Matthew 23:11). I told my congregation that if they wanted to attach a title to my name, they should call me “Slave Dave.”

All of us, not just leaders, should monitor our own lives for hypocrisy. If our private lives are different than our public lives, if we preach what we don’t practice ourselves, if we interpret or bend God’s Word to fit our own lifestyles, if we emphasize what is minor and neglect what is most important, then we’re hypocrites just like the Pharisees. Outwardly, they appeared holy and clean, but inwardly they were filthy, just like whitewashed tombs. Jesus called them blind guides, snakes, sons of vipers and sons of hell! We don’t want to be one of them!

Q. Jesus promised the religious leaders that He would send them prophets, wise men and teachers whom they would persecute. How is this statement an indirect claim to His being God?

A. Only God sends prophets, so Jesus’ claim that He would send prophets was a claim to be God.

Q. Kids sometimes make a promise to a friend, but because they had their fingers crossed behind their backs when they spoke, later claim that they don’t have to keep their promise. How do you think God feels about that?

A. He would feel the same way about that as He did about the Pharisees claiming that they could break an oath if they swore “by God’s Temple,” but were obligated to keep an oath if they swore “by the gold in the Temple.” Lying is lying.

Application: Today is a good time to examine ourselves. We all need to make sure our insides—our motives, thoughts and desires—are just as clean as our outsides. Why not ask the Lord to show you if you are in any way guilty of an inward sin so you can purify yourself from it?

Like the religious teacher we read about yesterday, the teacher in today’s story also understood that the most important commandments were to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves. If a person did those things, he would, according to Jesus, inherit eternal life. The religious teacher in today’s story obviously felt guilty for not loving his neighbor as himself. He wanted to justify his lack of love by embracing a very narrow definition of what a neighbor is. If God was speaking of us only loving our next-door neighbor, then perhaps this teacher could justify his lack of love and even hatred for so many other people. So he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29), and Jesus told him the story of the Good Samaritan.

The lesson of the story is that anyone and everyone is our neighbor by God’s definition, even people of other races or religions who are usually despised by those with whom we identify. As you probably remember, in Jesus’ day, Jews and Samaritans hated each other. But the Samaritan in Jesus’ story showed love to a Jewish man, probably saving his life, while other Jews showed him no love at all.

When Jesus asked the religious teacher, “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” (Luke 10:36), his hatred of Samaritans surfaced in his answer. Not wanting to admit that the one who obeyed God’s second most important commandment was a member of a race he despised, he simply replied, “The one who showed him mercy” (Luke 10:37). Jesus then told him, “Go and do the same” (Luke 10:37). This seems to indicate that he had not been showing mercy to those who needed it, thus not loving his neighbor as himself. Now he was confronted with his own sin and need for repentance.

Q. In the story of the Good Samaritan, why do you suppose that two very religious people, the priest and the Temple assistant, didn’t help the dying man?

A. Because they were religious but not actually saved. They were hypocrites, claiming to be followers of God’s law, but breaking His second most important commandment. They no doubt justified their actions in some way, because everyone who sins justifies his actions in order to salve his conscience.

Q. If Jesus told this same story today in the United States, do you think He might change the identities of the characters in the story? If so, how?

A. He would probably use characters that would be more applicable to the prejudices of our own society. Perhaps the two who passed by the dying man would be pastors or Sunday school teachers. Perhaps the dying man would be black or white, depending on the color of Jesus’ audience.

Application: In many ways, Jesus was like a good Samaritan to us. We were attacked by the devil and demons, robbed of the truth, and left spiritually dead and destined to die physically. No religion or person could save us, but Jesus felt compassion for us and saved us from death. Praise God for His love for us!

Because Jesus was God in the form of a human being, He had a right to judge which commandments were the most important. No one else has this right, yet even Christians sometimes seem to think they have that right. They take one commandment, verse, subject, or principle in the Bible and emphasize it above everything else in God’s Word. In so doing, they unknowingly are saying that Jesus’ judgment is wrong. Although He clearly stated which commandments were the most important, they’ve supposedly found more important ones.

There is nothing more important than loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and loving our neighbor as ourselves. These are the two things on which we ought to be focused. It is sad indeed when Christians greatly emphasize other biblical concepts to the point of neglecting or even violating the greatest commandments. For example, some Christians emphasize a certain Bible translation, a certain dress code, or a favorite doctrine, and refuse to fellowship with those who don’t agree with them. They are, in effect, saying to Jesus, “What You said is most important is not most important.” Everything that God says is important, but God Himself said that part of what He said is the most important.

Having been asked a series of questions, Jesus decided to ask a question of His own. He, of course, knew the answer to His question, but He wanted to provoke people to think about God’s Word and what it said about Him. The religious teachers of His day correctly believed and taught that, according to the Old Testament, the Messiah would be a descendant of David, which, of course, Jesus was through His mother Mary. However, neglecting or not understanding other messianic prophecies, the religious leaders were anticipating a Messiah who would be only a human being, and not God Himself. Hoping to help them realize that the Messiah would not only be David’s descendant, but also God, Jesus posed a question about David addressing the Messiah as his Lord. How could the Messiah be David’s descendant if David himself called Him his Lord? The only way that would be possible was if God became a man through the agency of one of David’s descendants, and that is what Jesus wanted everyone to understand about Himself. He was more than a descendant of David, He was the Lord Himself!

Q. Jesus told the teacher who asked Him what the greatest commandment was, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God” (Mark 12:34). This indicates the teacher, although close to God’s kingdom, was not actually in it yet. What did he need to do to enter?

A. Although he recognized what the two most important commandments were, he needed to realize how much he had broken those two commandments. Then, he needed to repent and believe in Jesus, recognizing that Jesus was the only One who could save him from his sins.

Q. Some Christians emphasize faith and how it works in a believer’s life more than anything else. How do you suppose God feels about that?

A. He considers it unbalanced. Taking his cue from Jesus, Paul wrote that love is greater than faith (see 1 Corinthians 13:13).

Application: Because Jesus told us what are the most important commandments, it would be a good thing to ask ourselves this question all the time: “Am I loving God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, and loving my neighbor as myself?” If we are, it will be reflected in how we live our lives.

In Jesus’ time, Israel was under the domination of the Roman Empire, led by a king named Tiberius Caesar who lived in Rome. In Israel, one of the men who represented the Roman government was Herod Antipas. Among other things, he was responsible to see that the Jews under his jurisdiction paid their appropriate taxes to Rome, taxes that every Jew resented having to pay.

One day, some Pharisees came to Jesus, bringing with them some of Herod’s supporters. They hoped to trick Jesus into saying something that would get Him in trouble with the Roman government. That way, He’d be arrested, tried and maybe executed. So they asked Him if they should pay taxes to the Roman government, hoping Herod’s supporters would hear Him say that they shouldn’t. They figured they had Jesus trapped, because they knew He always told the pure truth. Surely He wouldn’t endorse paying unjust taxes to a cruel, dominating foreign power, a tax that everyone who would hear Him resented paying.

But Jesus saw through their trickery, and answered in a way they didn’t expect. The Bible teaches that us that all government has been established by God (see Romans 13:1-2), and so our government deserves our respect and obedience—as long as our government doesn’t require us to sin against God. On the other hand, some people look to governmental leaders as if they were God, giving them praise, honor and devotion that only God deserves. We, as Jesus said, should give to Caesar what belongs to him and give to God what belongs to Him.

Next, a religious group called the Sadducees stepped up to ask Jesus a difficult question. They didn’t believe that there was life after death or that people would one day be resurrected, even though those truths were taught in the Old Testament. (No wonder they were sad, you see!) So they posed a ridiculous question, hoping to make Jesus look foolish as He tried to defend the doctrine of the resurrection. Their question was about a woman who had been widowed seven times. Whose wife would she be when they were all resurrected, since she’d had seven husbands?

Jesus replied that she would be no one’s wife, because in heaven, no one will be married. That is why, at Christian weddings, couples promise to be husband and wife only until death. In heaven, there will apparently be no exclusive relationships. We’ll all be deeply devoted to one another and, of course, to the Lord.

Jesus then furnished scriptural proof that people live after they die, citing God’s conversation with Moses at the burning bush. God said to Moses, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Notice God spoke using the present, not the past tense, indicating that all three men were still alive right then, long after they had physically died. The Sadducees had made a serious error in their understanding.

Q. If our government makes a law saying it is illegal to worship Jesus Christ, should we obey that law?

A. Although the government is an authority over us, there is a higher authority: God. If the lower authority tells us to disobey the higher authority, we shouldn’t obey the lower authority.

Q. Why is it, as Jesus said, such a serious error not to believe that people live after their bodies die?

A. Because if there is no life after death, there is no judgment and no heaven or hell. If that is the case, there is no need to be saved and so there’s no need for Jesus to save us. And there’s no ultimate reason to obey God in this life. That is why believing in the resurrection is so important.

Application: If Jesus had ever answered someone’s question by saying, “I’m sorry, but I just don’t know the answer to that one. You’ve stumped Me,” we’d be tempted to think that He wasn’t God in the form of a human being. But Jesus never was stumped by anyone. One day, we’ll get to ask Him all the questions for which we don’t presently have answers. In the meantime, we can thank God for what He has revealed to us, and ask Him to help us understand everything He wants us to know in this present life.

Here is another parable Jesus told that was packed with significance for both believers and unbelievers, modern and ancient. However, when we interpret any parable, we must realize that every parable is an imperfect comparison, and we need to discern which details are significant and which details have no significance at all in illustrating spiritual truths.

This parable is about the kingdom of heaven, and Jesus compared it to a great wedding feast prepared by a king for his son. Just like a wedding feast, heaven is going to be a place of celebration, fun and enjoyment. Like a wedding feast, it won’t be a pointless party. It will be a place to honor God’s Son.

Jesus may have also used the marriage feast illustration because the Bible speaks of those who believe in Jesus as being His bride (see Ephesians 5:25-32; Revelation 19:7-9). Marriage is a good illustration of our relationship with Jesus, because true believers are inseparably joined with Him in an intimate, trusting and devoted relationship. As husband and wife become one in God’s eyes, so we have become one with Jesus. True Christians are not just Christ’s neighbors or acquaintances, they are married to Him!

Many guests were invited to the wedding feast but refused the invitation. The king mercifully sent his messengers with invitations more than once, but they were ignored and even mistreated. The invited guests were more interested in other things, illustrating the attitude of so many people who hear and ignore the gospel.

Eventually, however, the king’s patience ran out, and he became furious with those who spurned his kindness. Consequently, he sent his army to destroy them. This teaches us that although God is love, He will not be merciful forever with those who ignore Him. Judgment is coming.

Then the king sent his servants out again to invite anyone they could find to attend the wedding feast. If this part of the parable has any significance, it represents the gospel invitation that was rejected by the Jews and offered to the Gentiles.

Of course, even those on the street corners who were invited had a choice to accept or reject the invitation. Unfortunately, one man tried to accept the invitation but not abide by the rules of the king. In Jesus’ time, wealthy people often provided special wedding robes for their wedding guests. In Jesus’ parable, the wedding robes may well represent the “robes of righteousness” spoken of in the book of Revelation (see Rev. 19:8). The man who was caught without a robe was either lacking Christ’s righteousness, something that is given as a free gift to every believer in Jesus, or he was lacking any personal obedience, the fruit of real faith. Consequently, he didn’t belong in heaven.

Jesus’ primary point, as He summarized in the conclusion of the parable, was, “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). That is, many are invited to the kingdom of heaven, but the invitation doesn’t guarantee salvation. Only those who truly believe are chosen to attend God’s great wedding feast.

Q. What does this parable have to teach us about the idea that some people are predestined by God to be saved while others are predestined by God to be unsaved?

A. This parable teaches that everyone has a choice in the matter of his salvation, and that God has not predestined certain ones to be saved and certain ones to be unsaved. This parable shows us that it is God’s will for people to be in heaven who will not be there.

Q. In Jesus’ story, once the man at the wedding feast was discovered to be without a wedding robe, he was cast out. Is Jesus trying to tell us that some people who don’t really belong in heaven will be mistakenly allowed in and then later be cast out and thrown into hell?

A. No, and this is where we must draw the line in trying to find significance in every detail of the parable. Jesus was only illustrating the fact that, even though the invitation is so freely extended to everyone and so many people do apparently accept the invitation, there will be those who will try to accept the invitation on their own terms and who ultimately will be rejected. The man who was cast out represents a false believer. He accepted the invitation but didn’t do what the king required.

Application: The most important thing in life is accepting God’s salvation invitation and then doing His will the rest of your life. If you’ve done that, you’re on the right track and have a happy future indeed!