What must happen in order for someone to willingly render one’s life to another?
1. The understanding that we don’t belong to ourselves
2. The understanding that we belong to someone else
I. Those Opposed To Jesus (Unwilling To Render Themselves To God)
A. Desire To Remove Jesus V. 15
1. Their strategy was to make Jesus choose one side or another, and thus alienate himself from either the public, or get Himself arrested by Roman rule
a. To answer against Caesar would put him at risk of arrest
b. To answer for Caesar would cause Him to lose his Jewish followers
2. They Were Motivated By Self-Righteousness Matthew 23:25-28
3. Bible Declares Mankind Guilty, Not Righteous Romans 3:10-24
4. Self-righteous (guilty) people either try to remove Jesus, or finally submit to Him
a. They try to remove Jesus because He confronts their sin
b. OR, they finally realize and admit their guilt, and receive forgiveness
c. People either are willing or unwilling to render their life to God
d. At this point, these men are unwilling to render their lives to God
B. Methods To Remove Jesus
1. Enemies Unite Against Jesus V. 16a
a. Pharisees– nationalistic, religious conservatives, believed scripture
b. Herodians– political party that tolerated Herod, a puppet of Rome
c. These two groups would normally oppose each other, except re. Jesus
2. Religious Flattery Regarding Jesus V. 16b
a. Proverbs 29:5 A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.
b. Normally, people become deceived and weakened by flattery, and they get caught in some kind of snare.
c. These men flattered themselves thinking they could trap Jesus in dialogue.
d. Job 9:3, 4 If one wished to contend with Him, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand. 4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength.
Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?
e. These men had hardened themselves against God the Son.
f. They did not prosper unless they repented before their death.
g. In dialoging with Christians, people will “flatter” Jesus as they position themselves to discredit Him. “Jesus is good, but…”
3. Feign Religious Interest V. 17
a. Their question appears to be sincere and of interest to every religious Jew
b. Jesus knew they only wanted Him out of their lives
c. Many who want Jesus out of their lives ask seemingly “unanswerable” questions, trying to find fault w/God, the Bible, or the church
d. Questions they feel will disqualify or discredit God, the Bible, Christians
II. Jesus’ Response (To Help Them Render Themselves To God)
A. His Assessment Of Them
1. Wickedness- depravity, malice, evil purposes & desires V. 18a
2. Hypocrites- those who pretend to be something they aren’t V. 18b
3. Awareness of your own sin is critical before surrendering to God (Rom. 3:19)
4. A man/woman needs to have a sense of their need for a savior & forgiveness
B. His Appeal To Them (That They Might Render Their Lives To God)
1. He Doesn’t Play Their “Natural” Game-Arguing From Human Reason
a. Many times Christians allow themselves to get baited into useless debate
b. Jesus would not be manipulated into foolish & insincere arguments
c. “Natural” people can only argue from a “natural” perspective
d. Read 1 Corinthians 2:9-16
2. Jesus Leads Them To Reason Their Way To Truth Vs. 19-21
a. Jesus will use an obvious argument to reason with them
b. His answer rises above the “either/or” proposition of His enemies
c. Caesars considered gods by Rome- their faces were on the Roman coins
i. The money “belonged” to Caesar
d. Man made in the image of God
i. Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…”
ii. We are God’s creation, His workmanship, His possession
iii. Psalm 24:1 The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.
e. Jesus pointed to what was most important V. 22
i. When they had heard these words, they marveled…
ii. Jesus had dismantled their false pretense/religious argument
iii. They marveled -to wonder at, to admire
iv. left Him & went their way- To consider, repent, stay the same???
v. No record of the Pharisees & Herodians repenting as a group
III. For Us
A. Unbeliever: Render Your Life To God
John 1:1-3, 10-13 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 10He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
B. Christian: Render Your Life To God
Romans 12:1, 2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
C. Jesus Rendered His Life To The Father
D. Don’t Come W/A Religious Argument
1. Jesus Knows Your Heart
2. Let Him Expose You, Correct You, Lead You
3. You Might Impress Others With Your Clever Spiritual Questions/Objections
4. God Knows Your Heart, And Wants To Bring You To Himself