12:1-11 Could not this vineyard be the earth? Men come proclaiming there is more, a great God, but they don't want more than this life, they don't want greatness, outside of this earth, they want to control what they see, to be lord over themselves. I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to leaving this degenerated wasteland and going home. There is so much ugliness all around us. To think that people would steal kill and destroy for this. Sheesh, get a life.
12:13-17 We just had a discussoin on f.b. about idols. It ranged from you have to worchip it for it to be an idol, to any image is an idol. I thought of this scripture because Jesus does not say the coin is an idol, He doesn't say all belongs to God, quite the opposite. He says the coin belongs to Caesar because his name and image are on it. Jesus' entire mission was to usher in grace through His sacrifice and with that change our religion from what is seen on the outside to what is in the heart. Even in this instance they are hung up on who gets what. The real question is, where is your heart?
12:18-27 I once read a book that had about the same premise as the Shack. In this book people would get to heaven and meet in a circle of people comprised of their earthly family. This scripture came to mind. I just don't think our relationships will be the same. Plus, we will all be brothers and sisters of Christ so we are all brothers and sisters. It seems we will however know each other as evidenced by Jesus' telling of the rich man, Lazarus, and Abraham. The rich man knew Abraham and called him by name. Trying to understand our relationships and those dynamics in heaven while still on earth is quite futile. I believe things will change in ways we can't process with our sad little earth brains.
12:35-38 This is a genius scripture. Jesus is trying to peel back the veil that separates our reality from the truer reality. To take their minds off the idea that it's all about this world and introduce to them that there is so much more going on. To see the eternal implications of heaven and it's kinda smacking them in the face even if they don't realize it yet, because the Christ is right in front of them. They are touching the eternal every day.
12:38-40 Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. That's the saying anyways. The teachers of the law had long since forgotten why they had power and where it came from. Ironically, God has absolute power and is incorruptible. Sometimes the greatest leaders are those who don't want it because they are aware of the dangers--the pitfalls of power.
12:41-44 I have nothing to give. Jesus knew we would come up with this excuse, it's almost become a motto. But, He pre-empted our pathetic excuse by telling us about this widow who gave it all though it amounted to barely more than nothing. I know your thoughts says Jesus. Give something, give anything, just give.
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