Luke 20:27-21:4
Dear RTB’ers,
It’s always nice to connect the New Testament with the Old Testament. We get an opportunity to do that today, with the Sadducees asking Jesus about the resurrection (trying to trip him up, actually). Their question of seven brothers all dying and all having the same one wife calls to mind Genesis 38. In Gen. 38:6-11 we see Judah’s son, Er having a wife, Tamar, and dying. Then Judah asked Er’s brother Onan to go in to Tamar and raise up children for Er. But he also died. Then Judah withheld his third son, Shelah. So while we don’t have the Sadducees’ seven brothers as in today’s reading, we do see the pattern of one brother raising up children for a deceased brother. God later established this as law in Israel. See Deuteronomy 25:5-6.
I have always had trouble understanding the quotation in verse 44: The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, until I put Your enemies under Your feet.” (I have added the bold for further clarification.) Here Jesus is quoting Psalm 110:1, a psalm written by David. My Study Bible clarified the first six words at the beginning of that quotation by substituting “God” for “The Lord” and “David’s Lord” for “my Lord”, so it now would read, “God said to David’s Lord…”. That is, David’s Lord would be David’s superior – ultimately the Messiah…”. That helps me see how Jesus was confounding the Pharisees and challenging them that David’s descendent (the Messiah) was also his Lord. I hope this helps others.
There have been times when I have spoken in churches about giving. At St. Andrew’s we see tithing as the Biblical standard. But I’ve pointed out that three other Biblical references are quite a bit more demanding than the tithe – “first fruits”; the rich, young ruler; and the widow’s mite. These three all make tithing less challenging!
Blessings!