BIBLE STUDY LESSON 19

SERIES S --- THE SON OF YHVH

CAESAR OR YHVH?

PARABLE OF A VINEYARD

From Matthew 21:19-22:22; Mark 11:19-12:17; Luke 20:1-26; 21:37, 38

That evening Yeshua and His disciples returned to Bethany. On the following morning as they went toward Jerusalem again, the disciples noticed that the fig tree had withered from the roots up. Peter mentioned this to Yeshua, [Teacher, look at the fig tree which You cursed. It has withered.] [Have faith in YHVH!] Yeshua said. [If you have enough faith, you can command this mountain to rise up and be thrown into the sea, and it will happen. When you ask for something in prayer, sincerely believe that you have received it, and you will. But when you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive, for then your Father in heaven will forgive your sins.] When Yeshua arrived in the temple, the chief priests and elders demanded, [By what authority are You doing the things You do, and who gave You this authority?] [Answer My question and I will answer yours,] Yeshua replied. [Where did John the Baptist receive his authority to baptize? From YHVH or from men?] The leaders began to whisper among themselves. [If we say ‘from heaven,’ He will say, ‘why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say ‘from men,’ the people will be angry, for they believe that John was a prophet.] [We don’t know,] they replied to Yeshua. [Then I will not answer your question,] said Yeshua. Then Yeshua told this parable. [A man asked one of his two sons to work in his vineyard one day, and the son said, ‘I will.’ But he did not. Then he asked the second of his two sons the same, and this son said, ‘I will not,’ but he did, for he was later sorry that he had said that to his father. Which of the two was truly obeying his father?] [The second,] the chief priests and elders answered. Then Yeshua told the meaning of the parable. [John the Baptist came with a message to repent and obey the Father in heaven. You say you obey Him, but you don’t. The tax collectors and harlots do not claim to be religious, but some repented and turned toward YHVH, and now obey Him. I tell you that these tax collectors and harlots will enter the Kingdom of YHVH before you, for you not only refuse to obey, but you even feel no remorse for your disobedience.] Yeshua then told another parable. [A man who owned some land planted a vineyard with a hedge around it, built a wine press and watchtower, and rented it to some men while he travelled to another country. When the harvest was ready, he sent slaves to get his share of it, but the vineyard keepers beat one, killed another and stoned a third. He sent another group of slaves, larger than the first, but they did the same to them. ‘Now whom shall I send?’ the owner wondered. ‘I will send my beloved son, for surely they will reverence him.’ [But the vineyard keepers threw the son from the vineyard and murdered him. When the owner of the vineyard comes, what do you think he will do to those vineyard keepers?] The leaders answered, [He will utterly destroy those wicked men and rent the vineyard to some others, who will share the man’s rightful part with him.] Then Yeshua told them, [Have you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has now become the chief cornerstone. This was from Adonai and it is marvellous in our eyes.’ Now I want to tell you the meaning, for the Kingdom of YHVH is about to be taken from you and will be given to others who will produce fruit. Whoever stumbles on this will be broken, but those upon whom it falls will be crushed.] When the chief priests and other religious leaders saw that He was comparing them to the wicked vineyard keepers, they wanted to arrest Him, but they were afraid of the crowd of people who thought of Him as a prophet. Yeshua told another parable. [The Kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son. He sent his slaves to inform the invited guests that it was ready, but the invited guests refused to come. He sent some more slaves with instructions that the dinner was ready and the oxen and fattened animals were butchered and cooking, and that they should hurry to the wedding feast. But these people still ignored him. One went to a farm, another to his business, and the others abused the slaves whom the host had sent, and even killed them. The king who had prepared the wedding feast was angry and sent his army, which destroyed the murderers, and set their city on fire. He then gave his slaves new instructions. ‘The wedding is prepared, but those I invited were not worthy. Go out where the ordinary people are and invite them to the feast.’ The slaves obeyed and went out among the ordinary people and found those who were both good and bad and filled the wedding hall with them. When the king arrived, he saw one man who had refused to put on the wedding robe, provided for the guests. ‘What are you doing here without the wedding robe?’ the king asked. But the man had no answer. The king then ordered his servants to bind the disrespectful man and throw him out into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.] The Pharisees tried again to think of some way to trap Yeshua so that they might have Him arrested. They sent some of their own, along with some Herodians, to ask Him a question. [Teacher, we realize that You teach the truth no matter what others think,] they said. [Tell us, is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?] Yeshua realized that they were trying to trap Him, so He said, [You hypocrites, are you trying to trap Me with your questions? Show Me a coin.] They showed Him a denarius. [Whose picture and name are on this coin?] He asked. [Caesar’s,] they answered. [Then give Caesar what is his,] said Yeshua. [And give YHVH what is His.] When they heard this, they were amazed and went away.

COMMENTARY

CAESARS

During the years when the events of the New Testament were unfolding, Rome controlled most of the ancient world. All of the land around the Mediterranean Sea and much of Europe formed a single large empire ruled by one man. That man wielded more power from his Roman palace than any other person in the ancient world. Not only did he command armies and fleets of ships, but he also had the power of life and death over every person in the entire Roman Empire. Today the nations of the world are governed by presidents, prime ministers and kings, but in ancient Rome the ruler was called a {Caesar.} Originally {Caesar} was the family name inherited by Augustus from Julius, who had adopted him. But in honour of the strong government of Rome’s first emperor, his family name became a title reserved only for the highest Roman ruler. Augustus Caesar ruled the Empire for over forty years. His reign marked a period of peace Rome had not known for a very long time. Today his rule is remembered as a time of order in an age of great confusion. But more important, the reign of Augustus was marked by the birth of a baby in a faraway corner of the Roman Empire. Caesar’s decree that {all the world should be taxed} fulfilled the ancient prophecy that the Moshiach would be born in Bethlehem. Augustus Caesar died when Yeshua was still a young teenager. He did not live to see the birth of the first believer’s church. The emperors who came after him were the ones guilty of persecuting the early believers. But in spite of everything the Roman rulers tried, they could not stop the rapid spread of the godly message throughout the Empire.