Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  2024  Day 267

September 22;      Luke 20:19;       64/260(III);      ‘Intense Hatred’

Luke 20:19 And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people — for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.

The religious leaders over and over asked Jesus questions, desiring to elicit answers that would allow them to ‘legally’ arrest Jesus.  Jesus always answered the questions in a manner that the hypocritical leaders could not refute.  In this account, Jesus tells them about a vineyard and those who leased it.  Jesus was actually using this as an illustration against the religious leaders and when Jesus finished telling them this narrative, they knew He had spoken it against them.  One more reason for them to hate Him.  When we hear the word religion, until you begin to know the difference between religion and Christianity, maybe you used to think about God, love and peace.  As you read the gospels and learn about the pride and jealousy of the religious leaders, you begin to understand why when they spoke of Jesus it was always in the terms of arresting and killing Him.  What astounds me as I write this, is, the Word says no one every taught like Jesus.  The religious leaders were always around Him so they heard what He said.  They knew He did miracles and raised the dead (Lazarus). Nicodemus, a Pharisee who seemed to believe who Jesus really was said to Jesus, “we know You are from God because no one could do what You unless God was with Him. The Pharisees could never ‘trip Jesus up’ with their questions.  He always answered in a manner they could not respond to.  If you put that all together, they had to know He was the Messiah and by rejecting Him they sealed their eternal fate.  That is terrifying if it is true.