The Snare Broken

All right, brethren, let's turn to Luke, Luke chapter 20. Now, the Jews who hated Christ, hated his gospel and his person, they had been shamed and humiliated by the truth and righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Just by way of reminder, recently he had just come into Jerusalem. This is before his crucifixion, just a few days before the crucifixion. He comes into Jerusalem being praised and worshipped by the people, shouting Hosanna to the Nazarene. And he's being praised and he comes into the temple.

And he drives out the money changers. He turns over their tables. He upsets and turns over everything. He drives out those that were selling sheep and doves. And this upset the Jews because they're the ones, the leaders of the Jews and the elders, were the ones who gave those sellers license to be there. They wanted them there. They had set up this big business. And so they were upset because Christ drove them out and upset that whole business and work.

And he even taught the people while he was in the temple, saying that, it is written that my house shall be called a house of prayer. He was teaching the people right there. And then he continued now the next day. He was in the temple teaching the people.

And they come to him thinking that they're going to catch him off guard. They're going to catch him unexpectedly so that he would be speechless by asking him, by whose authority doest thou these things? Who sent you to do these things? Who gave you the right to come in here and do the things and teach the things that you're teaching? But then again, our Lord shamed and humiliated them by asking them a simple question, which was the baptism of John. Was it from heaven or of men?

And these Jews, these leaders of the Jews knew they couldn't answer this question honestly, and so they came up with this. They came up with this savvy answer, so they thought, answering that they could not tell whence it was in verse seven. To which our Lord responded in verse eight, neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

And so they were left speechless. And our Lord went on to preach a parable, to teach a parable that revealed the murder that was in their heart, that revealed that they were set on murdering the Son of God, standing there in the flesh, who came to deliver his people, to lay down his life for the sheep, and to give them life and salvation, light and understanding. and to worship the true and living God by his spirit and grace and power. And Matthew actually tells us that he preached another parable after that, which was of the parable of the wedding garment. And these Jews were now speechless. They didn't know what to say to him. And it's just interesting that he preached that parable of the wedding garment, because what happened when the king asked the man, where's your wedding garment? He was speechless. He was speechless. And that's exactly what these Jews were. They were speechless. They were dumbfounded. They were shook. They were shamed and humiliated again by the Lord of glory. And so they're seething with hatred right now. They want this man gone. They were jealous of him. They envied him.

They were blind in the rage and hatred of him, and so they now team up with those that would normally be their enemies, that they would not associate with, the Herodians in this case, and they want to catch the Lord in his speech. They want to take him in a snare. And they thought they came up with something so good that they had him this time, and that they would either be able to charge him as a fraud, as not the Messiah before the people, if he said one thing, and if he said the other thing, then they could charge him and turn him over to the governor to be crucified, which is what they wanted to happen. And so, because they could charge him then with insurrection. So that's what has happened and where we are in our passage, picking up now in verse 20.

And they watched him, it says, they watched him. And sent forth spies, which should feign or pretend themselves to be just men, righteous men, sincere men. that they might take hold of his words, so that they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.

Now, these wicked, self-righteous Jews were watching him. They weren't watching him to learn of him. They weren't watching him because they wondered at him in a way that gave them a heart or an interest in him. They watched him in order to ensnare him. either by his actions or his words.

And I say that because in the beginning of Luke, Luke chapter 6 verse 7, we're told that on the Sabbath day, they tried to set him up by having a man there that was crippled. His hand was withered. His hand was withered. And it says there that verse that the scribes and Pharisees watched him. whether he would heal on the Sabbath day that they might find an accusation against him. And then in Luke 14 verse 1, it came to pass as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees, that first one was in the synagogue, now he's in the house of the chief Pharisee to eat bread on the Sabbath day that they watched him.

Because that day there was a man with dropsy in the house. If I remember correctly, that's like diabetes, a form of diabetes there. And they knew, it just testifies, they knew that he was compassionate. They knew that he was compassionate and gracious and willing to heal. They watched him, and that just went right over their heads, and they watched him that they might ensnare him, take him, for healing a man on the Sabbath day.

And so this self-righteousness is continuing now. And the psalmist wrote of this, he foretold of this, saying in Psalm 38, verse 12, they also that seek after my life lay snares for me. And they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long." And so we see it there. Throughout the whole time our Lord is ministering to the people, these self-righteous Pharisees come out to ensnare Him. And it's no different today. It's no different today. The self-righteous then are the self-righteous now. That same pharisaical heart is in men today. It's still there.

They never let the peace of God rule in their hearts. What Paul wrote in Colossians, they never are willing to trust the Lord, to wait on the Lord, to trust the Lord to instruct his people, to instruct his pastor, and perhaps to instruct them. that maybe they might hear something and learn something by the grace of God.

Instead, men who are fixers, men who are self-righteous, always want to put their hand to it and make a thing happen. They want to fix it. They want to steer it a certain way. They want to make it go a certain way because they want it to work the way they want it to work, what makes them happy, just like these Pharisees.

The same type of thing, and all that does is sow hatred, and division, and strife, and stirs up wrath, because that's what we are by nature. And they don't let the peace of God rule their heart, give them rest in their heart, and give them peace to know, Lord, be gracious to us. Lord, if there's trouble, Lord, have mercy on us. Help us. Maybe it's me, Lord. Help me. Turn my heart. Show me grace, show my brother grace, and wait on him, letting the peace of God rule in our hearts.

And so they sent forth spies to pretend to be just men, to pretend to be sincere seekers that have an issue of conscience and they want some clarity on it so that they might know what to do rightly before God. and not be troubled by it anymore. That's what they were pretending to be, sincere people with an honest question. Not every question's bad. Sometimes you have questions, and you just have an honest, sincere question. And then there's others that ask questions to set you up, and to then attack you for it.

And that's what these men were doing. And they wanted to catch him in his words, And we're told there, so that they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor. These were men that were hunting for Christ's life. They wanted him dead.

Now, if they did this to the Lord of glory, will they not do it to you that profess that Christ is all your righteousness? that you need Christ, that he's all to you, that he is precious to you, that without him I can do nothing? Will they not do the same thing to you who are trusting Christ for all your righteousness and all your salvation and giving no glory to self, but giving all glory to God and praising him and thanking him for what he has done for you in grace and in mercy? Sure they will do it, because the self-righteous are the same. They haven't changed. self-righteous Pharisees who traded one religion for another to do the same thing to God's people. They do the same thing.

They put our Lord to death, and then they put his apostles to death. In fact, with Paul, before they put him to death, it says, certain of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.

That's how much murder is in the heart of the self-righteous. And Paul had such an experience with them, he describes in Romans chapter 3 of the heart of the self-righteous. And not only had experience with them, but even to his own heart. as a Pharisee, and his own heart of murder and wickedness and deceit in his heart. And it describes us all by nature. It describes us all. And he wrote in Romans 3, picking up in verse 13 through 17, he says, their heart is an open sepulcher, meaning an open grave. It's just breathing out death.

When they speak, they speak death. that with their tongues they have used deceit, the poison of asps or poisonous snakes is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known."

And so when you read that, though, it's very easy to just look at the Jews and condemn the self-righteous Pharisees, but We should see it in our own selves. We have to acknowledge that I'm the Pharisee. I've done these same things and still struggle with these things at times, where the Lord pulls back the curtain enough to see I'm just as guilty. If I condemn them, I'm condemning myself. And so we see it in our own nature.

And so confident the self-righteous are in themselves that they think that they'll think that when they put you that trust Christ for all your righteousness and salvation, that they're doing God's service, that they're doing the good work, that they're doing Him a favor, and the world a favor by putting you to death.

But don't fear. I don't say these things to fear man. Don't fear what man can do to you, for no man or devil can do anything to you except God permit it. And that's what he does, except God permit it. And when the Lord permits it, it's for the good of his people. That's why he does it. It's for the good of his people. Paul wrote, saying, we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are thee called according to purpose. And his purpose, it's his purpose. It's a good purpose. We know that God's will is just and that he has a good purpose so that if we come into trouble, if we are persecuted, if we are stripped by fiery trial or by the persecution of man or whatever affliction or difficulty or time of darkness that we go through, it is for my good. Because when you're driven to the feet of Christ, what better place could you be at? And you know that it's God who did it because we would never go there.

How rare it is that we hit our knees when times are good and easy and bright and sunny and rich and full. It's when we're being stripped and humbled and brought low, that's when we go to the throne of grace. And that's when we cry out to the Lord for his grace and mercy and compassion. When we see our children hurting, that's when we're begging the Lord for them. And we're greatly troubled. Then we're reminded of how weak and frail we are.

And it troubles us, but the Lord knows it's for our good. And so I think oftentimes we are touched by those things, whether it be our children or something else. But it's always close to home, because the Lord knows exactly what to do to bring us to our knees. and to humble us again, and to bring to our mind that which we need to be reminded of, because he's able. And so it's for good.

In fact, we see how our Lord Jesus Christ, in doing this, because he kept just poking the bear, as it were. He knew that they were angry with him, and that he spoke the parables, and he just put them in their place over and over again. Why? because he was come to fulfill the Father's will, which was that good, gracious, merciful, compassionate will for us sinners who cannot save ourselves, for his people whom he chose in Christ before the foundation of the world, that Christ should lay down his life. Not as a sinner, but that they should put him to death unjustly.

They'll make up a crime. But they're not going to snare him in any crime or sin, because he's never going to misspeak. He will not misspeak. There's no guile found in his mouth. Everything he says is righteous, perfect, holy, and just. And they're still going to hate him and put him to death for it. The Lord's saying these things because He's accomplishing the will of the Father. He's working it out perfectly so that when He's taken, He's taken at the perfect time, not for any sin or any wrongdoing of His own, but He'll be taken because He's going to the cross willingly as the Lamb of God, slain for the sins of His people. to accomplish our redemption faithfully, eternally. And so He's doing this.

In fact, in Isaiah 53, verse 10 and 11, if you turn there, let's just turn to these. Isaiah 53, 10 and 11, we're told here that it pleased the Lord. It pleased the Lord to bruise Him, our Savior, the Son whom He sent. It pleased the Lord to bruise Him. He hath put Him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. Our Lord shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities." All right, turn over to John chapter 19. Go to John 19 and look at verse 10 and 11.

Our Lord is standing before the Roman governor, Pilate, Pontius Pilate, and the Jews are accusing our Lord with all manner of crimes worthy of death. And Pilate says to him, speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above.

So our Lord was faithful and just. He committed no crime. He did nothing worthy of death. They charged him with false crimes. But what he's saying there is that the Father hath brought me here. The Father hath brought me to this point here, to lay down my life. And you couldn't put me to death except the Father willed it for me to lay down my life for the sheep.

Turn over to Acts chapter 2. Go to Acts chapter 2 and verse 23. Acts 2.23, Him being delivered, our Lord being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken him by wicked hands, have crucified and slain. So we see man's going to do his wicked deeds, but the Lord is purposing and orchestrating and bringing all things to pass according to his counsel and his good pleasure to glorify his name, to glorify his son, to redeem his people, to bless his people with the life that he purposes and promises to give us. Turn to Acts 4, Acts 4, and we'll start in verse 26. Here we see this is God accomplishing his goodwill and purpose.

Acts 4.26, the kings of the earth stood up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ.

For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together. For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done." And so these men were doing what they were doing to our Lord, trying to ensnare him to deliver Jesus unto the power and authority of the governor, the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate. And they would eventually do that, but again, not because he was ensnared or taken for saying the wrong thing. He's perfect, holy, just, unblameable, righteous in all that he does and says.

And even Mark records and tells us that Pilate knew that the chief priests had delivered Christ to him for envy. They knew it was a setup. He knew that they were railroading him, just hitting him because they envied him and were jealous of him. Now, Matthew tells us that the disciples of the Pharisees, along with the Herodians, were the ones who went to ask Christ this question that we're going to see. They're the ones who come as spies. They were disciples of the Pharisees and Herodians, and they were pretending to be just sincere men.

And both of these groups of men would not be well known. They wouldn't be well known to the people. They certainly wouldn't be known to Christ and his disciples, because they hadn't come to him, as far as they're concerned. They weren't the ones who approached him in the temple. They weren't the ones who were accusing him or targeting him before. They got unknowns, the disciples of the Pharisees, people of the Lesser Sanhedrin, not the Grand Sanhedrin.

And so the men whom they called the Herodians, I read a number of things and they appear to be, what it all boils down to, is that they appear to be servants, workers for Herod, who were in favor of taxing the Jews to give to Rome because it was from Rome that Herod received his authority to rule, to be Tetrarch of Galilee. So these Herodians would be in favor of the Jews paying taxes. Now, the Pharisees, on the other hand, were absolutely opposed for the Jews to pay taxes to their oppressors, to Rome, who was subjecting them. They were against it.

And so these two groups are coming together, and they're pretending that they're innocent, sincere seekers of truth. They're acting like they want to learn from Christ, but wickedness is in their heart. They're laying a trap. They're trying to ensnare our Lord.

And they thought they had it. They put a lot of brainpower, a lot of scheming went into this. And they thought, we've got him, because he's got to answer it one way or the other. And then we're going to get him one way or the other. We're going to get what we want out of this. And so they have two very different interests. And let's read the question that they ask here in verses 21 and 22 of Luke 20.

They asked him, saying, Master, and Gill says that even the Jews wrote that they bowed themselves. They gave a couple names of the Herodians and that they bowed themselves. They really sold it and made it look like they were sincere in this. And they say, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly. Neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly." They're trying to butter him up. They're trying to make him want to answer this question very openly, very plainly for them to hear.

Is it lawful, they ask, for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no? Should we be doing this? Should we be paying him tribute, or no? Should we not be paying him? Because we've got a troubled conscience about this, and we need to know. And we know that you're going to tell us the truth, so we're asking you Can you tell us, should we pay or shouldn't we pay?

And so you've got, again, you've got the Pharisees who are vehemently opposed to giving tribute to the Romans, so that if Christ said, yes, you should pay, you know, give tribute to the Romans. Well, they could turn that and incense the people against them, because they were against, they hated the Romans. They hated being under the rule and thumb of the Romans, and so they could say to the people, the Christ wouldn't speak like this. He's an imposter. He's a frog. Listen to him. He wants to pay the Romans. He's saying that it's good for us to be in subjection to the Romans.

And so they would twist and turn it that way and at least be able to lead the people away from following this man or hearing this man anymore. And then on the other side, with the Herodians, who had an in with the government, Herod had authority to arrest this man if he was a lawbreaker or an insurrectionist. So that if he said, no, you should not pay tribute to Caesar, you should not pay tribute to the Romans, they could seize him. Or even if they couldn't do it, they would go to Herod and get officers, and they could arrest him and take him to the governor, to Pontius Pilate, charge him with insurrection and treason, and justly put him to death.

And that's what they thought they could do there. And so it seemed like this is a perfect plan. We'll just put up a blind, as if they're not connected to us at all. We'll send in unknown people that are good talkers, and they'll deceive him, and they'll ensnare him, and then we'll have him. We'll be able to murder him, to put him to death, just like we want.

But Isaiah tells us, the scriptures tell us, the wisdom of their wise men shall perish. The world can come up with all kinds of schemes, but you cannot defeat God. God is God, and that's one thing that the people of God take great comfort in, that as terrifying as it looks, as dangerous as it can look to us, to our eyes, yet the Lord is able. He will not be defeated, brethren. The wisdom of man, the greatest wisdom of men shall be defeated. Excuse me. And so Luke 20, verse 23, he perceived their craftiness and said unto them, why tempt ye me? Nothing's hid from his eyes. He knows the heart. He knows our hearts. He knows what we're thinking. Nothing's hid from him.

Show me a penny. He asked for it, and Matthew, or Mark, it says that he asked to show him the tribute money. So this is a denomination, one of the coins that could be given in tribute to Caesar, to the Romans. And he asks, whose image and superscription hath it? And they answered and said, Caesar's. And he said unto them, render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's. and unto God the things which be God's."

Wow. Knowing the murder that was in their heart, knowing what they wanted to do and how they took them, when you look at that, is there anything that if you were a child of Israel there, if you were an Israelite at that time, would you find anything wrong with what he said? Or if you were one of the Herodians who were ready to arrest him for saying, don't pay tribute, is there anything to arrest him for that? Is there anything wrong with what he said? No. None of us could assail him for that. It's unimpeachable. There's nothing wrong with it. There's no reproach that can be brought against it.

And it says there, verse 26, they could not take hold of his words before the people, and they marveled at his answer. and held their peace, so that once again the Scriptures are fulfilled in the Lord, which say, Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee, the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. And even the wicked, who wanted to take him, had nothing to latch into. They couldn't put their teeth into it and bite it and tear them apart. There was nothing to say.

Because what he answered was right and discreet and perfect. You could find nothing wrong with it. And so the sad thing is that they spent all their time trying to tear him down and disprove him, rather than ever begging God for understanding and for grace to hear and for faith to believe. Lord, if you sent him, if this is your son, show us, Lord. They had no heart for that. They had no desire to seek Christ. Paul would later write, sorry, Paul would later write, where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

They could charge him with no crime, and yet they could not see that he was sent of the Father to redeem his people, to deliver his people from bondage, that this was the one of whom Moses wrote that after me, the Lord your God shall raise up a prophet. Him ye shall hear."

And this is Him who is to deliver His people, not from the bondage and the subjection of the Romans, but to deliver us from the bondage of sin and death and operating in fear, trying to work a righteousness for ourselves. Christ has delivered His people from that fear and that laboring and that constant working and spending and toiling for things that cannot satisfy. Christ delivers His people from that.

He is the Savior of the world. And what I mean by that is there is not another Savior given among men whereby we must be saved. Jesus Christ alone is the Savior whom the Father had sent to save his people from their sins. He came to lay down his life for you who cannot make a righteousness for yourselves, who are sinners before holy God, who are troubled for your sin, and crying out for mercy and grace. That's who Christ came to save.

He reveals His people. He's justified in the hearts of His people who need Him. He reveals that need. He gives that need. He makes us to see our sin and our need of Him. And that He alone fulfills and meets that need perfectly, righteously, in perfect righteousness.

Paul tells us over in Titus 3, in Titus 3, verse 3 through 7, He says, we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving diverse lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. And that's what we see here. We see it here in this text. We see it in our own hearts. We see it when we look at the mirror of scripture in ourselves. That's what the Lord has to deliver us from and what he has delivered his people from. But we still see its markings, its fingerprints. We still see the filth of this nature.

But after that, the kindness and love of God, our Savior, toward man appeared. not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. And so that's the good news, brethren. that it is finished. Our Lord and Savior has come.

He has willingly laid down his life. He went to the cross as the substitute of his people to propitiate the wrath of God which was against them. As a substitute, meaning he took the place of his sinful people, bearing the wrath of God to satisfy the wrath of God, which was against us, justly against us. And God is well pleased with him because as a surety, he paid the debt of death that we owed. the debt of eternal death by his own blood, by his own life, by the laying down of himself willingly under that wrath, which I deserved, and which you deserve. He did it faithfully, brethren on the cross.

And so satisfied is the Father with that payment that he made. And so clean washed are your sins away. So perfect is his sacrifice that the Father is perfectly satisfied in Him. And all who come to Him through Jesus Christ, His Son, God is well pleased with you in Christ. All who come in Christ, the Father is well pleased in the Son. And so pleased as He raised Him from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures. Perfect.

So that all who believe in Him are justified. Justified for believing Him. You're justified for trusting Him. When you stand before the Father, He won't say, what were you thinking? You should have been doing this and should have been doing that. No, He'll say, well done. Thou good and faithful servant. Because you came in the Son, in His righteousness.

Not wanting to be found and judged in your own righteousness, which is of the law, but in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. and what he did and what he accomplished. And the only ones that are mad about that are the self-righteous. The only ones who are mad about that and angry about Christ and you hoping and rejoicing in Christ Jesus are those who want you to rejoice in them and their works.

What about my works? What about my sacrifices? What about all I've done? It's done. Push it aside. Get rid of it. Have no hope or confidence in that. Look to the Son. Look to Christ. Believe Him. He is your rest. He is your confidence. He is your salvation. He's all your acceptance with the Father.

And Paul tells us, for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. So I ask you, is the cross foolishness? Or do you believe Christ and need Christ? If you believe Christ, that's a testimony of God that Christ has laid down His life for you.

Because for whom He loves and whom He chose in Christ, for whom Christ died, He reveals faith in them to lay hold of Christ. He gives it. Faith is the gift of God. We're saved by His grace. Everything we need, He gives us in perfect faithfulness, in glory, in wonder, in praise to His name. Amen.

The Snare Broken

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