Does Jesus "Get Us" More Than the Father Does?

Does Jesus get us more than the Father does? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. Hi, it's Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. We would love to hear from you, and our phone lines are open. Here's the number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Now you can also post your question on one of our social media sites, and of course you can always feel free to email us at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to Ralph calling in from Long Island, New York. Ralph, what's your question for Adriel? Hello, sir. Oh, Pastor, how you doing, man? Hey Ralph, how you doing? All right, man, I'm doing all right.

Thanks for taking my call, man. All right, question. In Matthew 22, the parable of the wedding feast, right? So Jesus is like the ones that were invited, but they'll have excuses, right? So my question in verse 11, right, and when the king came, I'm reading, I'm reading, and when the king came in to see the guests, he saw their man, which is not on a wedding garment, and he said unto him, Friend, how cameest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?

And he was speechless. So how did that, this guy, he was not invited, but he came in, he doesn't have a garment on. How did he get there? Yeah, what's going on? Who is this guy? Yeah, who is this guy? Who's this guy who got into the wedding party or the wedding feast, and he's not properly dressed?

Great question. Matthew 22, parable of the wedding feast. Let me just read it.

I mean, as we're getting into the text, context is so important. Again, Jesus spoke to them in parable saying, The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again, he sent other servants saying, Tell those who are invited. See, I've prepared my dinner. My oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready.

Come to the wedding feast. But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. Now, who are these people that aren't coming? I mean, here Jesus is really, he's really convicting or condemning, we might say, those religious leaders who were rejecting the gospel. I mean, you think of the Hebrews who time and time again rejected the prophets that were sent to them.

And that's what's, you know, being alluded to here with this language of, you know, seizing them. You think of how Jeremiah was treated. You think of how Ezekiel was treated as they preached the word of God in a corrupt religious system, basically rejected them.

And of course, this is going to be what happens to Jesus as well. So verse seven, the king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, the wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find. And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good.

This is, I mean, they're just, anybody, come on, come one, come all. So the wedding hall was filled with guests, but when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. In other words, he's not supposed to be there. And some people have, you know, that wedding garment.

Well, what is that? Some people have said that's the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It's given to us, imputed to us, and received by faith alone.

And I like that. I like that understanding of the text. God is the one who clothes us with salvation, the prophet Isaiah said. And he said to a friend, how did you get in here without the wedding garment?

And he was speechless. And the king said to the attendants, bind him hand and foot and cast him into outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And oftentimes in the Gospels, Jesus talked about how on the last day at the final judgment, you know, that we're going to be separating, God is going to be separating the sheep from the goats. You're going to get this a little bit later in Matthew as well, as Jesus, you know, talks about essentially, you know, the final judgment, Matthew 25, verses 31 and following. And I think that's what's happening here is this separation between the wheat and the chaff, between the sheep and the goats.

This individual who didn't have a wedding garment, he's a goat. He's not a part of the people of God, even though he was there. And so the warning, I think for all of us, is one thing to be in proximity to church and to Jesus.

It's another thing to lay hold of Jesus and his promises, the promise of the Gospel, by faith. Jesus in Luke's Gospel says that many are going to come to him and say, Lord, Lord, didn't we do all these mighty things in your name? He says, look, I don't know where you're from. That's what he's going to respond with them. He says, I don't know where you're from, and they're going to respond to him. He says, you're going to respond to me.

We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets. And he's going to say, I don't know you. And this man who's not clothed in the wedding garment, in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, you know, God can say to him, I don't know you. We don't have a relationship.

You don't have a relationship with me. And I think that's what's behind what's going on there, Ralph. And so, hey, thanks for giving us a call. You know, Adriel, today there are some denominations that tend to focus on what we might call the social Gospel, you know, doing good works, but unfortunately have either obscured or completely ignored the Gospel. Do you think in that case this is those people that we're talking about in today's modern world?

Yeah, I mean, I think there are all sorts of people that can fall into this category. Of course, the idea of the social Gospel, you know, this thinking that really the heart of the Gospel is what we do as opposed to what God has done for us. Not to say that acts of charity and caring for the poor are not important.

They certainly are. And we're called to good works as Christians. But the Gospel message centers around the death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's the Gospel message. And these other things that we do, these good things that we do, are implications of the Gospel. And if you have the implications of the Gospel without the Gospel, you have a serious problem.

And so, I mean, that is certainly an issue, Bill. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Our phone lines are open, and we'd love to hear from you if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Maybe something going on in your church life that you're either confused about or concerned about, or maybe you need a prayer request for something going on in your life. Give us a call right now at 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Larry calling in from Oregon. Larry, what's your question for Adriel?

Yeah, thanks, Bill and Adriel. I had a question about 2 Peter 3.9. The very famous verse says, The Lord is not slack concerning his promise that some men count slackness, but his long suffering to us were not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Now, the way I see that verse is that the letters written to believers and that the any is referring to believers, because we obviously know the Bible says there are those that will perish, so God is willing that people perish. So I'm just, my question is, isn't the any in this verse referring to only believers? Hey, thank you for that for that question here, Peter talking about the day of the Lord coming, and he had just, I mean, the previous chapter is all about false teachers.

He gives a warning. He says, right, this is, there were false prophets among the people, so there are going to be false teachers among you as well who secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them. I mean, these are people who have this kind of formal relationship with Jesus, but who reject his word. And Peter is calling these Christians to faith and repentance and to perseverance, and the fact that he's writing to believers, and you're picking up on this, Larry, you're clear about that in second Peter chapter one verse one, to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. And so he's calling these these Christians to persevere in the truth, to watch out for false teachers, not to be deceived by these false teachers, but to be on guard and to wait expectantly for the day of the Lord, seeking in all things to honor the Lord. You know, he says, you know, what manner of people ought we to be in lives of holiness and godliness? That's chapter three verse 11.

And so specifically there in verse nine, the passage that you bring up, I do believe that Peter is talking about God's grace towards his people, how long suffering he is towards them. Just in the context of second Peter, the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance. And so this is a reminder for us as Christians to hear this and say, okay, God is patient towards me. I haven't experienced that final judgment yet. Today, I need to turn to the Lord.

I need to continue to pursue him. I need to live in light of the great redemptive realities that he's brought about in his son Jesus, not to count the patience of God as though he were, you know, not paying attention or didn't care. I mean, that's what he's warning against, but instead to lay hold of God's goodness and to walk in repentance. And so Larry, hey, thanks for that question. And Second Peter is such an amazing book.

It certainly is. I love reading Peter, some great challenges there, some great warnings for us, and so good book for all of us to dive into. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We'd love to hear from you if you have a question about scripture, maybe a passage of the Bible that you've been confused about and you really don't understand, need some clarification, feel free to give us a call at 833-THE-CORE.

Let's go to Cornell in Nebraska. Cornell, what's your question for Adriel? Greetings in Christ, Pastor. Greetings, brother. My question, yes, my question is just in regards to, I'm a pre-millennialist and that's pre-millennialist.

My accent kind of gives me away there, just want to emphasize. But I wanted to ask you in my Bible study that I teach, I'm going into chapters 9, 10, and 11, and I assume you are a millennialist, but how would you reconcile, you know, the faithfulness of God in forsaking Israel? In other words, in light of Romans 11, 1 and following, 11, 7, and I mean, there's the historical pre-millennialist view because taking chapter 11 for what it means or for the way it reads, a normal reading of the text.

So, Cornell, I appreciate your question. So there's a couple of things at play here. One, there's the question of eschatology, our view of the millennium, and that language, the millennium language, comes from Revelation chapter 20. Pre-millennialism, meaning Christ is going to come back and then the millennium starts and, you know, he starts this earthly reign on earth that sometimes you viewed as a literal thousand-year reign on earth that precedes the final judgment. Ah, millennialism or post-millennialism as well, those two, there's some distinction between those two, but the view that Christ is presently reigning right now from heaven, that he's ascended, that he's reigning, that the millennium has already begun, although some post-millennials will say, no, it's his future sort of golden age, but my view would be that, no, the millennium, which Revelation 20 talks about, is currently happening ever since Jesus ascended.

And so, look, two things. One, this is not an issue of quote-unquote core Christianity. We're brothers in Christ. We can differ on our views of eschatology. We can hash it out according to the Scriptures. And secondarily, the question of Israel and her relationship to God, and in particular a large-scale conversion of Jews, ethnic Jews, that Paul seems to talk about in Romans chapter 11, I would see that as a separate question, because, you know, you can be amillennial or post-millennial and hold to that belief, that view. In fact, one of the things I would want to say is because Satan is currently bound so as to deceive the nations no longer, as John saw in Revelation chapter 20, there I think it is very specific what he says, you know, Satan's bound for a long period of time, for a millennium, so that he may not deceive the nations any longer. That's the time of the Gentiles being brought into the church by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so there's this era of missions, if you will, and the gospel advancing. And that's what gives us confidence that people, Jews and Gentiles alike, can and will embrace Jesus because of Jesus's great work on the cross and because the work of the Holy Spirit advancing the gospel in the world today. And so we should be confident that the Word of God is going to be powerful in bringing many to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And you can read Romans chapter 11 as someone who doesn't take the premillennial view, someone who takes the amillennial view, and still believe that God, you know, through the proclamation of the gospels and bringing many Jews, graft many of them back in to the vine, the tree, if you will, to Jesus by faith. But there isn't anybody who's saved apart from faith in Jesus Christ. That's so important that we understand that.

I think that's another thing that a lot of people miss. And so that's what I would say. Brother, I appreciate you reaching out to us with that question and continue to dig into the Word of God. Hey, Cornell, thanks so much for calling.

We appreciate you listening there in Nebraska. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. By the way, we have a great Bible study on the book of Revelation. If you want to dig into that whole idea of the millennium yourself, check that out at corechristianity.com. We also have a new resource with Easter coming up.

We think this is really appropriate. It has to do with the ascension of Jesus. Yeah, the resource is called The King is Crowned, 10 Ways Jesus's Ascension Matters for You. And right there, I mean, we were just talking with the previous caller about the significance of Christ's reign, the fact that He is Lord of all and that He is King of kings. So important that we grasp this, and this is in line with our understanding of the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ.

What happened when He ascended and was seated at the right hand of the Father? That's what we get into with this resource. And again, it's really practical, 10 Ways Jesus's Ascension Matters for You. And you can download a free digital copy of The King is Crowned over at corechristianity.com.

So many great free resources on our website. And the reason that we can offer free resources is we have a group of people that contribute to this ministry on a regular basis. We call them our inner core folks that are willing to make a donation once each month. And if you'd like to join that special group of folks, check that out at corechristianity.com forward slash inner core. Well, we do receive voicemails here at Core Christianity, and here's one that came in from one of our listeners named Brent.

Hi, guys, this is Brent from Wichita. I have a question for you. Do you guys think that Jesus as the advocate because he was human has a greater understanding of the human condition than God the Father or even the Holy Spirit? Thanks.

Have a good one. This is such an excellent question and important for us to parse this out well, right? So the Father didn't suffer on the cross with Jesus or experience the suffering that he experienced in his humanity throughout his life. The eternal word of the Father, the second person of the Holy Trinity, is the one who suffered for us and for our salvation. And I mean, again, this happened through his assumption of humanity through the incarnation. I love the way that the author of the Hebrews talks about this really a comfort to each of us when we are struggling with our own weaknesses as human beings and living in a fallen world. The author of the Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 14, since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. When we're talking about the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, God's glory, God's power, God's essence, right?

Three persons, one undivided essence. And so the persons of the Holy Trinity are one God equal in power and glory. But when we're talking about the incarnation and what the Son of God experienced in his humanity, that was unique to the eternal Son. And so your question, you know, does that mean Jesus knows us better?

I'd want to be careful with how I answered that specifically. I think what we can say though is that there is a sense in which what he endured was unique to him as the second person of the Holy Trinity. And for us, we're meant to be comforted by that, and ultimately that's the source of our, you know, eternal redemption. The fact that the eternal word of the Father came down to redeem us, sent by the Father into the world for our salvation, that he applies that salvation, that salvation is applied to us now by the work of the Holy Spirit. And so God, you know, the Holy Trinity working in concert for our redemption, for our salvation, so that he might be glorified and we might be a part of his forever family. And so I appreciate that question.

Getting into some more complex theology there, there was a heresy that the Church addressed called patripasianism, the idea that the Father suffered together with the Son, that he was a part of the sufferings. And so that's what we say. There is something unique about the eternal word, what he endured for us that we don't say is also true of the Father.

And so I appreciate that question. And of course, something for us all to remember as we head towards Good Friday, exactly what that suffering of Christ on the cross means for us and what it did for us. So thanks for that, Adriel.

Amen. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. If you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, you can always leave us a voicemail. Here's the phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673.

And of course, when you do call, make sure to leave us your name and where you're calling from. Let's go to Phil, who is calling from Kansas. Phil, what's your question for Adriel? Hey, Phil, are you there? Hello? Yeah.

Hey, brother, what's your question? Hey, my question is, during the crucifixion, you know, Jesus was crowned with a crown of thorns. And I know it's a form of mockery, but what, if any, is there any significance for us as Christians, regarding the crown of thorns? Excellent.

Yeah. So I think what's really interesting is when you're looking at the crucifixion scene, and this fits perfectly, Bill, with what you just said, you know, getting ready for Good Friday coming up here, what's emphasized there is the idea of curse. Curse. The curse of the law being upon Jesus. The curse of sin. You know, Mark chapter 15, verse 33, when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. Well, that's the idea of curse, judgment curse. You think of Exodus and the darkness there. You think of the curses for disobeying God's law in Deuteronomy chapter 28, verse 29. One of them was darkness at noon day.

Well, that's what's happening here. And then specifically with the crown of thorns, well, what do thorns and thistles communicate? You go way back to Genesis when God cursed the ground.

Why? Because of Adam and Eve's sin. God curses the ground. So here's what's going to happen.

It's going to yield thorns and thistles. And so it's almost like, I mean, what a vivid picture. Jesus being crowned with our curse. Him taking our curse upon himself.

That's the vivid imagery that you're getting at the scene of the crucifixion. And of course, Paul, you know, writing to the Galatians, said that when Jesus went to the cross, when he hung on the tree, he was being cursed for our sake. Brothers and sisters, this is the gospel, that Jesus has taken the curse that we deserve, because we're sinners, because we have not kept the law of God like we should.

He has taken that curse upon himself. He suffered and died on the cross, making atonement for each and every one of your sins, so that believing in his name, you might receive forgiveness. And then Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. Death could not hold him, because he was and is the eternal Son of God, perfect in holiness and righteousness. And he ascended into heaven after he rose from the dead. He was raised for our justification, as Paul says in Romans chapter 1, so that we might have, one, our sins forgiven because he's taken our curse, and two, might, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, be given the very righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. That, brothers and sisters, is the gospel.

And there's no better message than that. I hope that you know it, I hope that you believe it with all your heart, that your sins have been washed away, and that you've been given the righteousness of Jesus Christ, not so that you would continue to go and live in sin. And Paul says this in Romans chapter 6, you know, how could we who died to sin live any longer in it? No, God calls us now. God calls you now to walk in newness of life as a child of God, forgiven, justified, imputed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, to walk in a manner that is pleasing to him, serving him today and all the days of your life. Hey, God bless you all. Thank you for listening once again. God bless you all, and God bless you all together.