4. Jesus & Theological Conflict - Stephen Bohr - The Bible or Tradition

[Music] welcome to lecture number four in the series the Bible or tradition and the title of our subject for today is Jesus and Theological conflict now the introductory music that you hear - each one of these lectures on the DVDs and on television comes from what has been called the Battle Hymn of the Protestant Reformation you know every time that I hear this Kim which is a paraphrase of psalm 46 and was written by Martin Luther I can imagine Martin Luther standing before Emperor Charles the fifth in all of the dignitaries of the Roman Catholic Church and pronouncing those famous words at the diet of worms with a face like flint saying the following my conscience is captive by the Word of God therefore I cannot and will not recant since it is difficult unprofitable and dangerous indeed to do anything against one's conscience so help me God amen those have become the famous words of Martin Luther at the diet of worms in the year 1521 now Protestantism and Catholicism are distinguished in many different ways but if I had to choose only one word that characterizes Protestantism it would be the word Sola that's a Latin word that means only or alone you see Protestantism believes in Sola gratia that means grace alone solo crystal that means Christ alone Sola fede which means faith alone Sola scriptura scripture alone and soli Deo Gloria which means all of the glory for God alone now if you had to characterize Roman Catholicism you would have to add a little three-letter word the word ant you see in the rolling Catholic Church it is Grace and human effort it is Christ and Mary in its faith and works it is glory to God and all the Holy Ones who have achieved sainthood by their good works it is Scripture and tradition and so the one distinguishing word between Protestants and Catholics could be summarized by the word and as far as Catholicism is concerned and the four letter word in Protestantism which is the word Sola now Ellen White has described the meaning of Sola scriptura in the book great controversy page 595 this is how she states the principle of Scripture alone Sola scriptura but God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible and the Bible only there you have the word Sola the Bible only as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms the opinions of learned men the deductions of science the Creed's or decisions of ecclesiastical councils as numerous and discordant as are the churches which they represent the voice of the majority not one nor all of these should be regarded as evidence for or against any point of religious faith before accepting any doctrine or precept we should demand a plain thus saith the Lord in its support that is one of the best descriptions that I've ever read on Sola scriptura that is scripture alone Scripture explains itself scripture contains all of the information that we need spiritually speaking to get to now Ellen White continues this statement on page 595 by pointing out the severe danger of trusting in the judgment of theologians and so-called scholars notice how she continues this statement that I just read Satan is constantly endeavoring to attract attention to man in the place of God he leads the people to look to who bishops to pastors to professors of theology as their guides instead of searching the Scriptures to learn their duty for themselves and I want you to notice the reason she gives why the religious leaders why the devil will want the religious leaders to dictate what people need to believe at the end of a statement she says then by controlling the minds of these leaders he can influence the multitudes according to his will is that true of what happened in the days of Christ we've been discussing the Jewish view of tradition in the days of Christ and we noticed that their view of tradition led the Jewish nation to reject Jesus Christ as the Messiah it was very dangerous to trust in bishops pastors professors of theology and their concepts I'm not saying that we shouldn't read what they have to say but what they say cannot be equalized with Scripture we must go to Scripture and study for ourselves and see if what they teach is in harmony with the written word of God and of course we have our great exemplar Jesus Christ who points out that this is the only way in which we can be certain about what to believe and what to practice so the question that we want to answer in our study today is how did Jesus faced theological conflicts and controversies that he had with the ministers and the theologians of his day did Jesus ever appeal even once to tradition to defend any point of belief or any point of practice I'm going to tell you from the get-go that there is not a single case in the Gospels where Jesus ever quoted any rabbi or any scholar to defend any point of doctrine any point of practice Jesus as we're going to study always pointed people to the written scriptures he never quoted the rabbis he never quoted the scholars and furthermore we know that he did not attend the schools of the rabbis in fact he was home-schooled and the reason why he was homeschooled was so that he would not become defiled with the concepts that were being taught in the theological schools in fact in the book the story of Jesus page 30 we find this remarkable statement about Mary's instruction of Christ it says God himself by His Holy Spirit instructed Mary how to bring up his son notice doesn't say her son says his son the father says I want to tell you how to bring up my son and then notice what she continued saying Mary taught Jesus from the writings of the rabbis no that's not what it says it says Mary taught Jesus from the Holy Scriptures and he learned to read and study them for himself so jesus knew scripture backwards it forwards the reason why is that Jesus studied Scripture now the spirit of prophecy also tells us that his mother was a heart broken many times when she saw how the religious leaders were opposed to Jesus Christ and in some cases she even tried to convince Jesus to go along with the traditions of the elders and I want you to notice what Jesus had to say in response signs of the times August 6 1896 we find these words when the priests and rulers came to Mary to persuade her to force Jesus to give allegiance to their ceremonies and traditions she felt much troubled but peace and confidence came to her troubled heart as her son presented the clear statements of the rabbi's now that's not what it says notice once again but peace and confidence came to her troubled heart as her son presented the clear statements of the what of the scriptures in upholding his practices what did Jesus basis religious faith and its practices on the written scriptures never oral tradition thus whenever Jesus defended his teachings or his actions he always appealed to the written words of the Old Testament he never even once quoted or referred to the supposed oral sayings that came from Moses or from the tradition of the elders we find in the book councils two teachers page 447 these significant words Jesus and John were represented by the educators of that day as ignorant because they had not learned in the schools of the rabbis so if you didn't have a PhD from the schools of the rabbis you were an ignoramus according to them so Jesus and John that's John the Baptist by the way we represented by the educators of that day as ignorant because they had not learned in the schools of the rabbis but the God of heaven was their teacher and all who heard were astonished at their knowledge of the Scriptures there it is again they were they were just absolutely dumbfounded in a furnished at the knowledge that John the Baptist and Jesus had of the Holy Scriptures now Jesus as you know when he was 12 years old visited the temple for the first time it was at the period of a Passover and Ellen White has a very interesting comment about this first visit and the comet is found in desire of Ages page 85 it says there in every gentle and submissive way Jesus tried to please those with whom he came in contact because he was so gentle and unobtrusive the scribes and elders supposed that he would be easily influenced by their teaching because he was nice they urged him to receive the Maxim's and traditions now here comes one of those key expressions that had been what handed down from whom from the ancient rabbis but he asked for their authority in Holy Writ what does it mean writings writings yes he asked for their authority in Holy Writ he would hear every word that proceeds from the mouth of God but you could not obey the inventions of men Jesus seemed to know what the scriptures from beginning to end and he presented them in their true import the rabbis were ashamed to be instructed by a child they claimed that it was their office to explain the Scriptures and that it was his place to accept their interpretation they were indignant that he should stand in opposition to their word that's a remarkable statement isn't it Jesus always required the defense of any of you or any practice based on Holy Scripture now what I want to do in the rest of the time that we have together is take a series of examples from the Gospels on how Jesus responded to the Jews when they came at him with objections and they came at him with different comments about what he was teaching and we're going to see that in every single case in the Gospels when ever Jesus answered an objection or had a theological controversy with the scribes and the Pharisees he always used scripture to defend his point of view never tradition or never said I think or I believe it was always based on the writings of the Old Testament now Jesus set the tone of how he would deal with these objections at the very beginning of his ministry when he was tempted of the devil as you all know the devil hurled three temptations at Christ in the Mount of temptation I want you to notice how Jesus responded and I know that you know this but it's good to read the text anyway because this is the beginning of Christ's ministry it tells us how Jesus was going to deal with things from the very beginning of his ministry temptation number one is found in matthew chapter 4 and verses 3 and 4 now the tempter came to him and by the way the spirit of prophecy emphasizes that the tempter came to him as an angel of light from heaven and he said to G see Jesus had fasted forty days and forty nights and he was sin you know and he he was emaciated and so the devil says you know I've heard that an angel has fallen from heaven and and you've got to be that angel by your appearance he says that if you're not the angel then he tells him to turn the stones into bread so let's read now when the tempter came to him he said if you are the son of God command that these Stones become bread jesus saw through the devil's comment immediately he knew that he was not an angel from heaven do you know how he knew because when Jesus was baptized a voice came from Heaven's that said this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased and now the devil comes says if you are the son of God the father had said that he was the son of God another devil says if you are Jesus thinking what do you mean my father said that I am his son immediately when Jesus depicted the words of doubt he knew that it was the devil now how did Jesus answer the devil notice verse 4 he answered and said it is what they're there Jesus sets the tone it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by what but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God it is written do you know where that quotation comes from it comes from Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 3 so Jesus is quoting from the writings of Moses he's not giving some oral tradition he's quoting written scripture what Moses wrote and then we have temptation number 2 the spirit of prophecy says that the devil is still there as an angel of light he does not violate anything until the third temptation but in the second temptation we're told when the devil took him up into the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and Ellen White explains that he wanted to impress Jesus with his great power by flying Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and now notice and said to him if you are the son of God once again expressing doubt if you are the son of God throw yourself down for it is written huh interesting the devil heard Jesus say it is written in the first context it says hey this guy lives by it is written so let's give him give them a little bit of it is written and so the devil says it is written he shall give his angels charge over you and in their hands they shall bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone do you know what this quotation comes from Psalm 91 but the devil left out a phrase purposely because he knew that he put it in Jesus would immediately detect what he was trying to do and this is a part that was omitted he shall give his angels charge over you to keep thee in all thy ways if Jesus had jumped from the temple tower he would not have been keeping his father's way in the devil knew it so he said I've got to hide that portion of Scripture now how did Jesus answer the devil notice verse 7 jesus said to him how did he answer it is written again and now a better translation would be it is also written so the devil says in his reign Jesus yeah but he leaves also written and that quote a this quotation comes from Deuteronomy 6 and verse 16 you shall not tempt the Lord your God and so in the second temptation Jesus faces the devil in the same way that he did in the first temptation he says it is written you shall not tempt the Lord your God a quotation from Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 16 and then we are the third temptation the devil takes Jesus to a high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world let's read about it in Matthew chapter 4 and verse 8 again the devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and he said to him all these things I will give you if you will fall down and worship Me and by the way Ellen White explains that at this point the devil had revealed his true identity and notice verse 10 then jesus said to him away with you Satan and then what do we have for it is written you shall worship the Lord your God and him only you shall serve these quotations come from deuteronomy 613 and deuteronomy 10 verse 20 from the writings of moses jesus is not appealing to tradition to some supposed oral tradition or the maxims of the rabbis jesus and say i think or i believe jesus answered by quoting the written scriptures jesus lived by sola scriptura now i want you to notice how jesus introduced himself at the beginning of his ministry after his baptism jesus goes to the synagogue he's asked to do the scripture reading and he opens up the scroll to Isaiah 61 and verses 1 & 2 and when he finishes reading that passage he says and this is in Luke chapter 4 in verse 21 this day is this what is this scripture fulfilled in your ears so how did Jesus introduce his public ministry by appealing to one by appealing to scripture Isaiah 60:1 and verses 1 and 2 now go with me to John chapter 5 and verses 45 to 47 this is an interesting passage you know there's a group of Jews Jesus had just healed a paralytic and you know then he had a dialogue with the Jews after he healed the paralytic and I want you to know how Jesus concludes his argument notice John 5 in verse 45 Jesus says to them do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father there is one who accuses you Moses in whom you trust so who accuse them Jesus I don't have to accuse you there's one who accuses you they say Moses in whom you trust is the one who accuses you and then notice verse 46 for if you believed Moses you would believe me for he what wrote about me is either speaking about some oral tradition that comes from Moses no no Jesus is saying he wrote about me in case that wasn't clear in verse 47 it says but if you do not believe here's what if you do not believe his writings how will you believe my words so if you don't believe his what if you don't believe his writings how will you believe my words so what did Jesus appeal to when he was discussing things with the Jewish nation he appealed to the written scriptures now let's refer to mark chapter 7 we already discussed this in our last study together remember we talked about the concept of tradition in the washing of the hands and the washing of pots and so on now I'm only going to refer to this briefly because we did a full study on mark chapter 7 how did Jesus respond to the objections of the rabbis that he did not have his disciples washed ceremony ceremony as they should the Jesus quote contrary views of the scribes and the Pharisees to say listen folks you know there's another tradition that says just the opposite of what you're doing absolutely not Jesus quoted scripture three Isaiah 29 and verse 13 was the first quotation Jesus says you know the prophet Isaiah spoke very well about you these people honor me with their lips but their heart is far from me and then you have another quotation and in vain do they worship Me teaching as precepts the commandments of men Jesus is quoting Isaiah 29 and verse 13 when he is in controversy with them then a little later on Jesus speaks about the tradition of Corbin remember we talked about Corbin and how it opposed the commandment of God well Jesus quoted Exodus chapter 20 and verse 12 where it says what honor your father and your mother Jesus says look the writings of Moses say honor your father and your mother but you have carbon as one of the traditions which contradicts that commandment in other words your traditions are contrary to the commandments of God the written commandments of God oral tradition contradicts the written word and then Jesus quotes Exodus 21 verse 17 where Moses wrote he who curses father or mother let him be put to death and so how did Jesus faced this issue of ceremonial ceremonial washing of the hands did he speculate that he say I think I believe you know other rabbis said something different no no Jesus three times quoted Scripture as the authority to respond to this particular situation now once a scholar a certain scholar or theologian came to Jesus could test him in other words he wanted to trick Jesus and he says to Jesus what do I need to do to inherit eternal life and I want you to notice in Luke chapter 10 and verse 26 that Jesus answers his question with another question Jesus says what is what you can say well what do the rabbi's see you know what does the oral tradition that is handed down from the times of Moses II know Jesus says what is written in the law when it says the law by the way it's referring to the Torah the five books of Moses how do you read is this are these the writings of Moses absolutely and then you know what the young man does he quotes Deuteronomy 6 verse 4 and he quotes Leviticus 19 and verse 18 and then Jesus says to this young man you have answered correctly do this and you will live so how did Jesus answer this young man with a question but he by his question he led the man to quote what to quote scripture which the two scriptures are Deuteronomy 6 verse 4 in Leviticus 19 and verse 18 you know the enemies of Jesus once came to him and said to him we can't accept your testimony as being valid and true because according to what Moses said there needs to be two witnesses to make a testimony true now let's read John chapter 8 and verses 17 and 18 to see how Jesus responded to this accusation that because Jesus supposedly was giving testimony about himself there wasn't anybody else giving testimony of him then you know his word could not be true John chapter 8 and verses 17 and 18 it says it is also what written in your law that is in the writings of Moses and incidentally he's quoting here or referring to Deuteronomy 17 verse 6 and Deuteronomy chapter 19 verse 15 where it says that one witness could not was not sufficient or enough to prove something and so it says it is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true and then notice what Jesus says I am one who bears witness of myself and the father who sent me bears witness of me so I do have two witnesses Jesus's and I have my witness and I have the witness of my father and he appeals to what two written scripture to prove his point now Jesus had also many Sabbath controversies as you're very very much aware and one of those Sabbath controversies that Jesus had was about the decide both picking ears of corn on the Sabbath you remember that particular episode and and they came at Jesus and they said why do you allow your disciples to disobey this regulation that you're not supposed to pick ears and you're not supposed to eat those what you take from those ears on the Sabbath well notice how Jesus answered this Matthew chapter 12 and verses 3 to 5 but he said to them have you not what there it is it's written scriptures again and he's quoting by the way 1st Samuel chapter 21 and verse 6 but he said to them have you not read what David did when he was hungry he and those who were with him how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him but only for the priests and so how is Jesus defending his point of view defending what his disciples did he's referring to what he's referring to an experience that was written in 1st Samuel he's referring to the writings of the Old Testament and then Jesus refers to another interesting passage in the second part actually in verse 5 Jesus continued saying or have you not what read in the law that is the law of Moses that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are blameless now when it says that they profane the Sabbath it's because they continue to offering sacrifices and lighting the lamps and doing everything on the Sabbath and actually they offer twice as many sacrifices on the Sabbath than any other day and they were blameless and so Jesus is arguing from Scripture he's arguing from numbers 28 9 and 10 as well as from 1st Samuel chapter 21 in verse 6 that his disciples have a perfect right to eat the ears of corn that they had picked on the Sabbath now you also remember that there was once a dispute between Jesus and the religious leaders concerning marriage you remember that dispute over marriage you know the scribes came to Jesus and they said you know both is allowed to allowed us to get divorced for any reason so they're they're going to actually pit Moses against Moses and I want you to notice how Jesus answers this particular objection that they bring up Matthew chapter 19 and verses four through six Matthew 19 verses four through six and he answered and said to them have you not what there it is again Jesus using the scriptures to answer to present his point have you not read that he who made them at the beginning made them male and female worth a quotation come from Genesis 1 verse 27 right the he who made them at the beginning made them male and female and said for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh that's Genesis 2 verse 24 so then they are no longer two but one flesh therefore what God has joined together let not man separate so how is Jesus proving his point through these religious leaders to the scribes and the theologians and the scholars and the ministers of his day he's not speculating he's not referring to what other rabbis said he's not referring to oral tradition he says have you not read in the scriptures and then he refers to Genesis 1:27 and he refers to Genesis chapter 2 and verse 24 now you remember when Jesus entered triumphal into Jerusalem sitting on a donkey you know and the religious leaders they were saying you know you should rebuke those people who are saying Hosanna to the king you know you shouldn't allow them to say that how did Jesus defend the the people and particularly the children in that crowd who were glorifying Jesus who was marching into Jerusalem notice Matthew 21 and verse 16 and Jesus said to them yes have you never what there it is again have you never read he's quoting Psalm 8 and verse 2 by the way have you never read out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants you have perfected trees so they say listen don't tell me that they can't say this because there were already writings in the Old Testament that pointed to the moment when they were going to say this but Jesus is defending what they're doing based on an oral tradition or on what has been handed down or passed along or received he's defending it on the basis of Scripture now you remember when Jesus cleansed the temple right this is the cleansing of the temple at the end of his ministry because he also cleansed the temple at the beginning of his ministry this is at the end and in Matthew chapter 21 and verse 13 notice the justification that Jesus uses for cleansing the temple it says there and he said to them what's the next phrase there it is again it is written my house shall be called a house of prayer he's refering to Isaiah 56 verse 7 by the way written Scripture my house shall be called a house of prayer but you have made it a what you have made it a den of thief now you remember the parable that Jesus told about the vineyard workers remember that there were some messengers that were sent out at vintage time to get the fruit and what did they do with those messengers oh they kill them and they rejected them and so God sent out a second group of messengers incidentally this is really telling the story of Israel the first messengers are between Mount Sinai and the Babylonian captivity the second group are the ones that are sent out after the Babylonian captivity up to the times of Christ and so two groups of messengers are sent out and then last of all God sends his what God sends his own son and he says they're going to respect my son but instead of respecting the son they said this is the heir let's take him and cast maaloula see and kill him and take his inheritance well I want you to notice that after telling this parable Jesus asked the question what will the father do to those who threw the son out of the vineyard and killed him this is a Matthew 21 by the way what what will the what was the owner of the you're the father due to those individuals they answered they still didn't understand the parable be indicted themselves they answered he will destroy those wicked men miserably and leave his vineyard to other vine dressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons and then Jesus quotes scripture he's quoting psalm 118 and verse 22 he says did you never wet almost ad nauseam you come to this this this way the Jesus faced theological objections he did not have a hundred and fifty footnotes in a paper according to the opinions the learner opinions of a scholar there's nothing wrong with scholarship but you have to come fresh to scripture we have to use scripture in order to defend our points of view and to defend our practices so he says did you never read in the scriptures and then he quotes psalm 118 verse 22 the stone which the builders rejected the same is become the head of the corner this is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes saw Jesus once again is quoting scripture and applying it to them in this particular case now the Sadducees were an interesting denomination in the days of Christ the Sadducees only accepted the five books of Moses has been fully inspired in fact the Sadducees did not believe that a person had an afterlife they did not believe in the immortality of the soul and they did not believe in the resurrection of the Dead they were kind of fatalist they believed that when a person died that was it and so you know they come to Jesus to try to trick Jesus with this scenario of seven brothers and you know the story right seven brothers all of them married a certain woman because I you know one died and so the next one came and married the woman and that one died the next one came and married the woman so their seven brothers married the same woman and yes Jesus well tell us who will be this woman's husband in the resurrection and and how did Jesus answer what they were saying well the answer is found in mark 12 and verses 24 to 27 you know Jesus didn't say oh you're so ridiculous you know you didn't say well you know what the ear scribes or your scholars have to say no no Jesus is going to use Scripture to answer their their the trick that they're trying to lead him into and so it says in mark 12 verse 24 jesus answered and said to them are you not therefore mistaken because you do not know the what the Scriptures nor the power of God why did he say nor the power of God well he's saying you don't know the scriptures because the Scriptures predict the resurrection and you don't know the power of God because you don't believe that God is powerful enough to resurrect people so he says are you not therefore mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God for when they rise from the dead they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels in heaven but concerning the dead that they rise have you not what so Jesus is going to say there is a resurrection of the Dead yes is equaling the rabbi's defend that point of view no he says it's in the scriptures notice have you not read where in the Book of Moses not oral tradition but in the book of Moses in the burning bush passage incidentally that's in Exodus chapter 3 and verse 6 how God spoke to him saying I am the God of Abraham now he's quoting I am the God of Abraham the god of Isaac and the God of Jacob now let me ask you when Jesus said those words were Abraham Isaac and Jacob dead they were dead they'd been dead for a long time and and so Jesus says you know in the bringing bush passage God spoke to him saying I am the God of Abraham the of Isaac and the God of Jacob and then he says he is not the god of the dead but the god of the living you are therefore greatly mistaken now as Jesus saying that Abraham Isaac and Jacob were living at that time know what he was saying is that for God what his potential is actual because God was going to resurrect Abraham Isaac and Jacob that means that God is the the god of the living not of the dead nor of Abraham Isaac and Jacob we're not going to remain dead they were going to resurrect are you understand him and how did Jesus defend his point of view he defended his point of view not on the basis of tradition oral sayings that have been passed down from Moses he defended his point of view by referring to what by referring to the scriptures time and again in the Gospels now the scribes came to Jesus when Jesus entered the temple for the last time and they asked Jesus an interesting question it says while the Pharisees were actually Jesus asked the Pharisees the question while the Pharisees were gathered together this is Matthew 22 41 Jesus asked them saying what do you think about the Christ the word Christ means the Messiah what do you think about the Christ the Messiah whose son is he now there's whose son is the Messiah they said to him all the son of David piece of cake he said to them how then does David in the spirit called him Lord I understand him the difficult situation that Jesus is putting them in you know who's greater the father or the son let me ask you who in in human terms who is greater the father of the son that the son is respect to the father right the father is greater than the son and yet Jesus is here saying why did David call his son Lord it must be that his son is greater than he is so the Messiah can't merely be literally the son of David are you understanding this point and then notice that Jesus actually quotes scripture to prove his point he's quoting Psalm 110 and verse 1 the Lord said to my lord sit at my right right hand till i make your enemies your footstool if David calls him Lord how is he his son so how did Jesus I present this case of the him being the Messiah and being greater than David he did it by referring to Psalm 110 and verse one that proved his Messiahship now after the resurrection as you know Jesus was walking to a village called Emmaus and there were two disciples followers of Jesus that were walking on that road and Jesus caught up to them and started entertaining a conversation with these two men and I want to pick up this conversation in Luke 24 and verses 25 through 27 some very interesting and important information here on how Jesus proved that he was the Messiah the promised Messiah it says there in Luke 24 25 then he said to them o foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the rabbis have spoken thank you the prophets have spoken ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory and beginning at Moses and all the prophets he expounded to them in all of the oral traditions no no in all of the Scriptures the things concerning himself how did Jesus prove to these two men that he was the promised Messiah by appealing to the written scriptures once again a little later Jesus like you know the two disciples on the road to Emmaus they turned around and came back to Jerusalem found the disciples in the upper room they knocked they identified themselves they went in and through the door went someone else which was Jesus and they didn't see him he was hidden by the angels like several times during his ministry and I want you to notice the record as it's found in Luke 24 verse 44 to 47 Jesus says these are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you that all things must be fulfilled which were what written in the law of Moses and of it and the Psalms concerning me and he opened their understanding that they might comprehend the oral traditions know the scriptures folks then he said to them thus it is written and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem so let me ask you how did Jesus face theological opposition did he argue with him did he pit oral tradition against oral tradition did he say what the rabbi's had said in what the theologians of his day in the minister said absolutely not Jesus standard was Sola scriptura scripture alone and in this way he gives us an example of what our standard should be our standard should be scripture alone now the people were constantly wondering where Jesus had gotten his knowledge and his authority from being that he had never studied in the schools of the rabbis go with me to Matthew chapter 13 and verse 52 53 to 57 now the context of this is that in Matthew chapter 13 Jesus has just told a series of parables beautiful parables you know the weed and the tares and the fishing expedition and and many other parables Jesus the sower and many other parables Jesus had told and after he told these parables you know people marbled and his teaching notice will begin at verse 53 now it came to pass when Jesus had finished these parables that he departed from there when he had come to his own country that's nazareth by the way he taught them in their synagogue so that they were astonished and said where did this man get this wisdom hmm this guy did study in the schools of the rabbi's this guy's not a theologian this guy was home-schooled how can he peace wise words notice so they were astonished and said where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works is this not the carpenter's son is not his mother called Mary and his brothers James Joseph Simon and Judas and his sisters are they not all with us so Jesus had sisters in me interesting interesting we'll come back to that a little bit later on in this series now notice what it continues saying in verse 56 and if sisters are they not all with us where then did this man get all these things and instead of saying wow this guy has to be from God this man has to be from God they were what it says there in verse 57 so they were offended at him and by the way in the next verse he who says heaven I told you that a prophet is without honor among his own they just could not accept the fact that Jesus was the greatest theologian on earth because he had never studied in the schools of the theological experts of his day now let's go to John chapter 7 verse 15 John chapter 7 and verse 15 this was at the feast of tabernacles in Jerusalem which is the last feast of the Hebrew year and Jesus saw went to the temple and were told there in verse 15 now about the middle of the feast the feast by the way lasted eight days Jesus went up into the temple and taught and the Jews marveled shame how does this man know letters having never studied had Jesus studied oh you better believe he had studied he just had not studied the Maxim's and the traditions of the rabbis and the theological experts but he had studied as we noticed the scriptures for himself he could have never squatted so many scriptures in so many circumstances unless he knew the scripture backwards and forwards and so they asked the question how does this man know letters having never studied a little bit later on in the chapter in chapter 7 and verses 21 to 24 you know Jesus refers back to the healing of the paralytic in chapter 5 and I want to read those verses because they were still thinking about Jesus healing that paralytic on the sabbath of all things they said this guy has broken the Sabbath because he healed on the Sabbath now notice verse 21 jesus answered and said to them I did one work and you all marvelled Moses therefore gave you circumcision not that it is for Moses but from the father's and you circumcised a man on the Sabbath they say you pretend when I went in the eighth day since the birth of an individual comes on a Sabbath you circumcised on the Sabbath he says if a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses should not be broken are you angry with me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath do not judge according to appearance but Judge with righteous judgment and so once again Jesus is referring to what he's referring to the law of Moses as he encounters them in this particular situation at the end of chapter 7 you know the the religious leaders had simply officers to where Jesus was teaching to arrest Jesus and bring him back and I want you to notice that these individuals instead of arresting Jesus and bringing him back they come back empty-handed and I want you to notice what they said to the religious leaders chapter 7 verses 45 and 46 then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them why have you not brought him we sent you out to pick him up and bring him back the officers answered no man ever spoke like this man they were amazed at his teaching what gave power to the teaching of Jesus the power in the teaching of Jesus is that it was based on the Word of God the written word of God why didn't the scribes and the Pharisees have any power in their teaching because it was based on the traditions and the commandments of men and with men there is no power notice mark chapter 11 verses 27 and 28 the religious leaders were constantly questioning Jesus to ask him where did you get your authority from who gave you the authority to preach notice mark chapter 11 verses 27 and 28 and they come again to Jerusalem and as he was walking in the temple there come to him the chief priests and the scribes and the elders and sand to him by what authority doest thou these things and who gave thee this authority to do these things and you'll find several times in the Gospels that they're asking Jesus where do you get your authority from and of course the answer of Jesus was invariably I get my authority from my father through the written scriptures now it is clear as we examine the Gospels that the religious leaders believed that the right to teach was theirs and belonged to them alone because they were the ones that had studied in the schools they were the ones that knew all of the traditions they knew all of the ideas that have been passed along from generation to generation but Jesus said none of these counts it is the written scriptures that count Sola scriptura I'd like to bring our study to an end by referring to Matthew 7 28 and 29 these verses I've mentioned them before and I'll probably mention that many times during this series in fact the last presentation number 10 is a study of this parable Jesus told which concludes the Sermon on the Mount the parable of the man who built his house upon the rock and the man who built his house upon the sand and I want you to notice that after Jesus tells the parable of the man who built his house on the rock and we're gonna and when we study this we're going to notice that building the house upon the rock means building upon the teachings of Jesus that are based upon the Word of God and building of the sand means to build on the traditions that have been passed along by the religious leaders and scholars and the rabbis so to build on the sand means to build on human opinions to build on the rock means to build on the sayings of Jesus which are based on the scriptures and I want you to notice what happens when this story comes to an end it says there in Matthew chapter 7 verses 28 and 29 and it came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings the people were what were astonished at his doctrine the doctrine probably better translated teaching they were astonished at his teaching for he taught them as one having what authority and then Matthew adds and not as the scribes did the scribes have much authority no because their authority was quoting other authorities and you know what perhaps even in our own seventh-day Adventist Church we've fallen into that pitfall you know when I examined some of the papers for example that are presented of two theology of ordination committee and you have page after page after page after page of footnotes of what scholars have to say about a biblical text it makes me wonder very little scripture and a lot of the opinions of other individuals and human opinions have no power the power is in the Word of God now I like to end by once again reading that statement from Ellen White the classic statement from great controversy page 595 and you know you're going to hear this majestic hymn of the Protestant Reformation a mighty fortress is our God based on sound 46 and Luther had this severe struggle you know and there's some product leaders today they're saying well you know the Protestant Reformation is over because the Catholic Church and Protestants believe the same thing unrighteousness thy face that were justified by grace through faith but what these individuals are forgetting is that the clarion call of the Protestant Reformation was not that men is justified by grace through faith it was Sola scriptura because there were many other practices of the Roman Catholic Church which were criticised by Martin Luther and the Protestant leaders it was not only righteousness by faith the plastics and Protestants can come to an agreement on righteousness by faith but there are so many other things like a Sabbath like praying to and for the dead like celebrating lips confessing your sins to a priest getting indulgences I mean yet the list goes on and on and on things are based only on tradition and not on the Word of God this is the same at the mill of white but God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible and the Bible only sees Sola scriptura and the Bible only as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms the opinions of learned men the deductions of science and the Creed's or decisions of ecclesiastical councils as numerous and discordant as are the churches which they represent the voice of the majority not one nor all of these should be regarded as evidence for or against any point of religious faith before accepting any doctrine or precept we should demand a plain thus saith the Lord in its support what a majestic statement and then as I mentioned before she warns us about trusting the opinions of the bishops and the pastors and the professors of theology taking them as guides instead of searching the scriptures to learn our duty from God himself and of course he warns that by controlling the minds of the people the devil can control basically the world because if people blindly trust their religious leaders they'll do what their religious leaders say so if their religious leaders say hey everybody is supposed to keep Sunday in honor of the resurrection if people don't go to the Bible to study this for themselves and they simply accept what the theologians say because they say hey these people they went to the seminary you know they've studied this out so we can trust what they're saying and people don't go to the scriptures for themselves to see if it is so and it applies not only to the Sabbath but to any other doctrine or to any other practice that we are going to believe in or that we are going to implement in our lives we must absolutely have as our foundation the Word of God the written word of God the writings of the old and the new testament are our foundation rock and when the Pampas comes which it will come the house that is built upon the rock will stand and will withstand the winds and the floods because we are built on the eternal Word of God [Music] Oh [Music] you [Music] you

Channel: secretsunsealed

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Keywords: The Bible or Tradition, Stephen Bohr, Secrets Unsealed, Jesus, Theological Conflict, Bible or Tradition, Sunday, SUMtv, secretos reveladots, pastor bohr, Pastor Steve Bohr, Pastor Stephen Bohr

Id: e67U9NBF_7g

Length: 58min 30sec (3510 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 28 2017