This chapter begins with the continuation of this encounter with the Chief priests and elders. This encounter started back in chapter 21 verse 23:
23 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?"
Jesus answered this question with a question regarding John; a question they chose not to answer so as not to incriminate them selves. Jesus then did not answer them directly, but He did offer them a parable. He told the parable of the landowner. It was clear from this parable that Jesus was claiming the authority of God Himself; the landowner, the owner of the vineyard. As we begin chapter 22, we'll see another parable leading these men to the answer they sought.
Matthew 22:1-10
Jesus gives these men a picture; it's a picture they would understand. A wedding was a significant event, but its even more significant because its the King's Son that is getting married. The king is surprised when these people don't show up. They were invited to the royal wedding, why didn't they come?
When an event like this was held the invitations were sent out long ahead of time with no date set. Then when the day came, the father would send the servants to all who were invited to let them know its time.
In the parable, the King informed those invited but they didn't come. He then sends the servants out again to remind them; the meal is ready and all that is lacking are the guests. At the end of verse 4 the King sounds more like He is giving a command to come. Who would refuse the invitation of a King? Twice?
The guests made light of the invitation. This didn't make any sense at all. One went to his farm while another went about his business; neither concerned with, or showing any interest toward, this wedding. As strange as this response seems, this adequately describes the response to the gospel message; people just go about their business of life as they choose not wanting bothered by thoughts of God. It's like they said, 'You have your important things, I have mine.'
Imagine for a moment planning a large wedding for someone special to you. Imagine the preparation and planning involved; the investment of time and money. But its for a loved one and it's a 'one time' thing so you want it to be memorable and special. Imagine after all the work that no one showed up. Would you feel rejected? Heartbroken? Angry? We can only get a small glimpse of what God feels when those He calls to salvation go about their business and make light of the invitation as if it were nothing special.
The offense of rejecting the invitation is one thing, but then killing the servants who were trying to get them to attend is taking it to another level. In the parable the angry king responds by sending out his armies, destroyed the murderers and burned up their city. This is prophetic of the destruction of Jerusalem and he temple in 70A.D; a judgment on these leaders and their rejection of Jesus and the gospel.
Remember the question was on the authority of Jesus to do the things He did. This parable reveals the authority but also the purpose. Jesus was sent to the Jews first. But when they failed to come, the invitation was extended to all others. This is a display of the gospel. The invitation is to all; no one is worthy of the invitation. Nothing is expected of those who come, the preparation is complete. All one had to do is to accept the invitation.
Matthew 22:11-14
The king came to the guests and among them was one who stood out. This one didn't have a wedding garment. When the king inquired of his presence there it says he was 'speechless'. This is the only use of this Greek word and it means 'muzzled'. This guest was invited but he came inappropriately. He came for the wrong reason. To come as you were was to show disregard to the King. This wasn't accepting the invitation; it was seeking the benefits of the King without respect for the King and His Son.
There is no substitute for the robe of righteousness.
Revelation 3:4-5
4 You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
Barclay said there were two stories the rabbis spoke of involving kings and garments:
The first told of a king who invited his guests to a feast, without telling them the exact date and time; but he did tell them that they must wash, anoint and clothe themselves that they might be ready when the summons came.[1]
The wise made preparations and stood at the door anticipating the servant coming to get them. The unwise went about their business thinking they had plenty of time.
The other parable was that the king entrusted the servants with robes. The wise kept their robes clean and well cared for. The unwise allowed their robes to become dirty and soiled. When the king demanded the robe to be returned, the wise returned clean robes tot he pleasure of the king. The unwise returned soiled and stained robes and the king ordered the robes taken and cleaned and the servant thrown into prison. The parables may have been the basis for the second part of the wedding feast parable.
This man who came without a robe was bound and cast into outer darkness. He suffered the same separation and loss of joy as the unbelievers. He was called but not chosen.
14 "For many are called, but few are chosen."
This statement shows a balance of God's sovereignty and the responsibility of man. We see God call to all of mankind. The chosen are those who respond. They are not relieved of the responsibility to respond. When they respond to that call it shows they were chosen by God.
Matthew 22:15-17
This is the response to the parables. They were presented as wicked vinedressers who produced no fruit for the landowner; men who murdered the servants. They were then presented as guests invited to the wedding of the king; men who made light of the invitation and went about their business and life. They were also presented as men who were called, attempting to enter the wedding feast with no respect or honor for the king; coming only to experience what the king had to offer. It's like the Pharisees were determined to prove out the parables by acting wickedly. They plotted how they might catch Him in a trap of Roman law with His own words.
It's worth noting that the Pharisees, who got along with no one, were partnering with the Herodians to go after Jesus. The Herodians were a political group who were sympathetic to the rule and leadership of Herod. They were closely tied to the Sadducees. We would classify them as a Jewish political party, embracing Roman rule while being liberal in religious views. The Pharisees were completely opposite; an extremely conservative religious group that was nationalistic, which means they opposed Rome. These two groups couldn't agree on anything but they came together in agreement that something must be done with Jesus. In pursuing this trap, they trying to set Jesus up for charges of sedition,
This attempt to come to Jesus with flattery is simply treachery; it's evil deceit with only one thing in mind. They said he was true, yet didn't believe it; they said He speaks truth, yet accused Him otherwise. They said He had no regard for persons of men; while this was supposed to be a compliment as a statement of His independence, it was a slap to the Lord who came to die for the sins of men. The flattery sets up the question. These are pride-filled self righteous men. Their assumption is that Jesus could be played as any other man like them. They thought they could play on pride and self righteousness in Jesus, getting Him to take a bold and courageous stand against the Law or against Caesar.
The Pharisees stood ready to accuse Him if He said they should pay taxes. It was thought to be dishonoring to God to pay these Roman taxes. They thought that if Jesus said they should pay taxes to Rome their accusations would harm His popularity. The Herodians also stood ready to accuse. If Jesus said not to pay taxes, they would accuse Him of rebellion and sedition and hope to see Him crucified as a political enemy of Rome.
Matthew 22:18-22
Jesus saw through their plot because Jesus saw the heart. They were hypocrites; presenting themselves as something they were not. The tax money was a denarius. This was probably the poll tax due every year for all men age 14 to 65 and all women age 12 to 65. This was just one of 4 taxes paid to Rome.
The answer Jesus offers is brilliant in showing that His kingdom and His purpose and higher and beyond this world. The image on the coin was Caesars, render this to him. We have a responsibility in our citizenship in this world to honor the leaders God has put in place. So they should give their tax money to Caesar. This would excite the Pharisees to begin making accusations. But, Jesus then said to render to God the things that are God's. This is not a call to live two live and keep them separate, but the two citizenships we live in do not have the same end. We must keep that in mind. The image of God is on His children. We should then render our hearts, souls and minds to God.
Our citizenship in this world is temporary. We are to be good citizens. We are to respect that God puts rulers over us. Our other citizenship is that of the heaven, of the Kingdom of God. This is an eternal citizenship that is already in place, but we haven't returned to this far country just yet. Our two citizenships are linked; there should be a consistency in them. You can't be a good citizen of God's kingdom while being a bad citizen of the world. Peter put this relationship this way: Fear God. Honor the king. (1 Peter 2:17).
These two groups of men went away marveling. They may have been wondering why they never thought of that approach. "How did Jesus do that? How did He see through their best laid plans?"
Matthew 22:23-28
The Sadducees didn't even believe in the resurrection! It's clear that the question isn't any honest pursuit of knowledge. The situation given may be possible but it's certainly bizarre. But in the end, the question was off. They were simply pit Jesus against Moses. Spurgeon said this was probably one of their stock stories told to prove there was no resurrection.
Matthew 22:29-33
The first, and maybe least obvious point Jesus made was that there was in fact a resurrection and there was in fact angels. These points would have been very obvious to the Sadducees who believed in neither. They were asking a question regarding people who they assumed would be dead and gone. "God isn't the God of the dead but the living!" It's clear; they neither knew the scriptures of the power of God.
It's clear resurrection life will be vastly different from what we know. These religious men thought eternity would be just like here and now, except we'd never die. There won't be any marriage in heaven, at least not like we know it. That makes us wonder about our eternal relationship with the spouse of this life. We don't have enough information to know, nor would we understand if we had it. We do know from the bible that we'll know our family members and others we know in this life. We know that there won't be anything of about this life that we'll miss or long for.
Once again, the religious folks were guilty of taking the things of this world and applying them to the kingdom of God. Maybe we should be more focused on applying the Kingdom of God to this world.
Matthew 22:34-40
The Pharisees had come up with 613 commandments. They had classified and sorted them into the lesser commandments tot he greater commandments. In asking this question they were hoping to trap Him into showing regard for one commandment and lesser regard for the others. Jesus confidently answered them with the words of Moses from Dueteronomy 6:5, part of the Shema:
The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
This is the greatest commandment because it is at the heart of each commandment. The second commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. The message is clear, we are to love the Lord first and love our fellow man second. These two principals lie at the heart of every commandment. They sum up all that the Law says and the Prophets spoke of.
Matthew 22:41-45
Jesus gives these men a question. It was time for them to decide. They were looking for the messiah and knew him to be the Son of David. Jesus then gives them a passage from Psalm 110 where David writes of the Lord speaking to Jesus to sit at His right hand. The question is this: How can David call Him Lord if He is a Son of David. To be a Son of David and to be called Lord by David would be something supernatural, something of God. Or, the idea that He was the Son of David was inadequate. He should be called the Son of God. Either way, the message is that Jesus is fully man, descended from David, born in Bethlehem. He is also the Son of God, fully God walking in the flesh.
The Pharisees had all the signs and all the information they needed to see that Jesus was their Christ. They knew He was from Nazereth but its unclear if they knew Him to be a descendant of David from Bethlehem.
The Pharisees decided they had had enough questions for that day and dared not to ask another. The questioning of Jesus wasn't going as they planned.
Amen.
©2015 Doug Ford
[1] Barclay, W. (2001). The Gospel of Matthew (Third Ed., p. 313). Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.
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