Luke 20:9-19; Conflict

Jesus did not answer in a politically correct way to the teachers of the law and the priests. He then moved to an offensive posture and told a parable about them that basically called them dishonest and murderous. Again, not very politically correct.

To this blunt statement regarding their hearts and their future he added his interpretation of Psalm 118:22. His application was that whoever comes into contact with him will either be broken or crushed, humbled or destroyed.

Somehow we have lost our vision of this Jesus. We see him as the one who fills "a God shaped hole in your heart". We sing songs calling him the "darling of heaven". I might be wrong but I really don't think anyone listening to him that day would have used either of those terms for him. They are not wrong terms, they are just incomplete. It seems that from his own words, anyone coming to Jesus should expect some form of painful transformation.

Luke 20:1-8; Politically incorrect

There is no way that Jesus would be considered politically correct today. His response to the priests and teachers was anything but politically correct. He left them without an answer, did not clarify anything at all and probably confused some of the onlookers. This type of response would probably have been considered rude by church-goers today and could cost a preacher his job!

All that makes me wonder about how we do Jesus work now. We believe we need to explain everything to the extent that we will write a sermon that lasts thirty minutes from a sentence of Jesus' that lasted seconds. We write books on an explanation of a prayer that takes up one paragraph. We teach via long sermons with three points and very clear conclusions; he taught via short parables and concluded with "if you have ears to hear, then hear." Somehow there just seems to be a little difference in the way he did things and the way we do. I wonder what our churches would be like if we taught like he did?