Matthew 22-23
These chapters concern Jesus
teaching the parable of the wedding guest, answering three questions, and
lamenting the religious teaching and following of God in Jerusalem.
Jesus’ parable teaches that
we must be ready when God calls us to come, either to a task or to go to His
kingdom. Jesus said many are called to
come to the wedding/His kingdom, but not all are chosen to enter the kingdom of
God or to do His ministries. We are all
called to give a testimony, but if you have not prepared yourself by studying
and growing, then you are not fit to be called to the ministry. Similarly, we are all called to be the
children of God, but not many are chosen to enter God’s kingdom because some
have rejected Him and His ways. This
speaks about God’s grace. It also speaks
about who we let be our lord, ourselves or God.
The second question is posed
by the Sadducees. Verses 23-34 show us
just how astute Jesus was about the beliefs of the people around Him. He knew the Sadducees did not believe in a
resurrection of bodies. This made their
question to Jesus even more biting. They
hoped to trap Him. In Jewish Law, if a
woman’s husband dies, she is to marry his brother and have children for her
husband. The Sadducees took this
question to the extreme. They posed a
question where there were 7 sons in a family.
(Remember the number 7 is considered a complete and holy number.) If they all died before her, whose wife would
she be when the resurrection of the bodies occurred? You see the trick they laid for Him? If he said that she was the wife of the first
or any of the brothers, then they, who do not believe in a resurrection, could
catch Jesus and sting Him with their beliefs.
Jesus, however, gave them an answer they did not anticipate, just like
He gave to the Pharisees. Jesus told
them they did not understand Scriptures or the power of God. After the resurrection, there will be no
marriage. Also, He says, concerning the
resurrection of the dead, God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the God of the living. He is not the God of the dead. Jesus was telling them, not only do they not
understand the intent of the Law, which was to provide for a widowed wife and
her children, they do not understand the kingdom of God and God’s heart . There will not be dead people in the
kingdom. All who enter the kingdom are
alive because they have received new life in Christ when they professed faith
in Him. Those who are dead are the ones
who did not believe in Jesus; they are the ones who are watching from
hell. Jesus is stating that not only do
they not know the Law by which they live their earthly lives, they do not know
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who is the giver of life to all who believe. Their question had just blown up in their
faces, like the Pharisee’s question.
They walk away amazed at His wisdom.
They must decide Who is lord, their ideas about after-earthly life or
Jesus. They must decide which religious
belief is correct.
We have had the Pharisees,
the tribunal keepers of the Law, ask Jesus a question as well as the Sadducees,
who don’t believe in the resurrection.
Now, a lawyer, an interpreter of the Law, comes up to Jesus to trick Him. He wants to check His judgment not His
knowledge. This lawyer asks Him, “Which
is the great commandment in the Law?” Jesus
told him what he and all other Jews knew by heart because it is the Shema which
is recited at each worship. It was on
each doorpost and spoken about regularly (see Deuteronomy 6). Jesus answered, “You are to love the Lord
your God with all your heart and soul and mind.” Jesus even reiterated it for all to hear by
saying it is “the great and foremost commandment.” Continuing, Jesus went further to state the
second greatest commandment is to “love your neighbor as yourself” (see Leviticus
19). When Jesus said this, He made a Law
from the Old Testament into a commandment and gave it greater precedent than
any other commandment except for the Shema.
Jesus states that all the Laws and Prophets depend on these. Jesus was setting a precedent; relationship
with God and mankind was more important than anything else. You cannot have this relationship though without
considering Who you would allow to be your Lord.
Jesus then asked them all a
question, “Whose son is the Christ, the Messiah?” He was asking them what they had been taught
for generations from the Prophets to the current time. They knew the Messiah would be from the line
of the kings of Israel. They repeated
from rote that He would come from the line of David. Christ then asked another question of
them. If he is the son of David, from
the line of David, how is it that David called Him Lord in Psalm 110:11? They could not answer unless they said that
the Son of the man, of David, was also the Messiah who sits on the throne to
whom David was speaking when he wrote this Psalm. David is accounting Messiah as the Lord yet
is the Son of Man and the son of David.
If David is calling Him Lord, then He truly must be Lord, would be the
logical conclusion, especially in the Jewish mind since they highly revered
King David. The Pharisees and Sadducees
left pondering how to answer this question.
It is answerable when we accept that the Son of God came down in human
form to be God manifested in flesh. This
is how He is the Son of man and the Son of David. The Pharisees and Sadducees could not accept
Jesus as Lord yet so they walked away from these answers and are amazed at His
wisdom.
Questions are still being
asked. What was Jesus’ main point now
that everyone had asked their questions?
His parable tells us that God’s grace calls everyone to come to Him;
however, not all accept this gift and so are not chosen to enter the kingdom of
God. The Pharisees’ question teach us
that we must give to the lord on earth and the Lord of heaven. Religion does not negate our duty to civil
authority. If that is the case, then
what is our duty to our heavenly Lord? (hint:
the greatest commandment) The question
of the Sadducees revealed the answer that God is the God of the living not of
the dead. The Law that was handed down
by God to the Israelites will not be in effect because the new law of God, of the
new life, will be written on the resurrected persons’ hearts and minds by the
indwelling Holy Spirit. The Sadducees
will be without God and the Law if they do not turn to God. Those who die under the Law without acknowledging
the Messiah will remain forever in hell under the rule of Satan. Jesus tells the lawyer that the two most
important laws that will not pass away are to love God with everything by which
they were created and to love others as themselves. To each of these three, Jesus teaches them
what is important and supreme in each realm.
For the Pharisees, Caesar is lord on the earth and Jesus Christ is Lord
over all creation. For the Sadducees, God
is Lord over the living, which points to Satan being lord of the dead. For the lawyer, Jesus points to the ultimate
Lord over all. This Lord deserves the
tribute of each person’s heart, soul, and mind.
This is not too much since He created them. He also goes further to say that in our
living on this earth, we are not to consider ourselves above others, but to
love them as we do ourselves. We are not
to be lord over other people, but we are all equals, with the exception of municipal
magistrates.
These questions all come down
to the question of who is lord? Jesus
sums it up with a question of His to which they do not want to be
committed. He asks who is the Lord of
whom, the Messiah of David or David of the Messiah? People must all come to this point. We must each ask ourselves, of whom are we
lord over and Who is Lord over us? So
many people will answer that no one is in charge of them. It is a common phrase used especially by
young people. The Lord laments over each
one of us who turns our backs on Him and His gift of grace. He lamented over Jerusalem, too. Chapter 23 is Jesus’ lament over them. He likens them to the chicks of a hen. He wants to protect them under His wings, but
they do not want to accept His leadership and follow Him.
He laments Jerusalem, the
“religious” children of God, for five specific reasons. The first reason is that they act “religious”
but they are not actually faithful to God.
They are hypocrites who say the right thing but do not do that which is
required by God. Jesus is not Lord of them. Second, they teach false teachings, even to
new converts, so that they can have a following instead of giving the converts
true knowledge of new life as a child of God.
This is two indictments, desiring their own followers (setting
themselves up on the pedestal with God) and false teaching. Third, they did not care for the
disenfranchised, the widows and orphans.
Instead of helping them, they prospered by taking their assets and using
it for themselves. Fourth, they were
swearing oaths instead of just being honest and being known for their
integrity. They thought by attaching an
oath to something large and tangible, their oath would seem more credible. Christ calls them on that because they cannot
change gold or a tabernacle by the outcome of their action, whether they kept
the oath or not. If they failed to
follow through on their promise, that did not give the other party the right or
ability to take the gold of the temple or to even take the temple. These oaths were in vain. They should be known for their integrity and
let shame fall on their name if they do not follow through. The final thing that Christ laments is that
they have killed righteous people of God in the past and present and will in
the future. By claiming they are the
sons of someone from the past, they are accepting the sins of that person if
that ancestor persecuted, scourged, or killed a prophet or righteous
person. Not only that, but Christ knew
they would do it again in the future. He
knew what His demise would be and what many of His followers would endure at
the hands of these people.
Jesus pointed out their
faults/sins. He pointed out who these
chosen children of God had been, who they are, and who they will continue to
be. He showed them that they must decide
for themselves who is going to be their lord, things of the world which was
created by Yahweh, or the Son of David, the Messiah. He told them in a parable. He answered three of their “tricky questions”
and asked a question of them, which received no answer. Finally, He showed them His heart; He wept
over their hardened hearts. He lamented
that they would not accept His yoke which comes with grace and brings
freedom. When we have decided that Jesus
is truly Lord, then we can honestly love our neighbors as ourselves. Until we love the Lord our God, until that
vertical relationship is correct, we cannot get the horizontal relationships
right, this includes ourselves. Until we
give to God what He commanded in the greatest commandment, our heart, soul, and
mind, we will not be free to be all that we were created to be. We must make this decision for our selves,
each of us must do it. If we do not make
a decision or do not let Jesus be Lord, then we do not have new life; we are
not reborn. We are trapped in the snare
that Satan set for us and we are condemned to live separated from God in
heaven, a place of eternal bliss. We
must ask ourselves who is lord of my life, me or Jesus. We must further ask ourselves, will I give my
heart, soul, and mind to Him? I hope you
say yes…for yourself, for your relationships on earth, and for Christ. Unlike the false Rabbis in chapter 23 verse
13, Jesus has opened the doors of the kingdom to you. He is waiting for you to accept His
invitation to the wedding feast. He
loves you and wants to spend eternity with you.
The decision is up to you.
