Matthew
22:1-46
Unto
Caesar Unto God
March 26,
2017
Lynchburg,
Virginia
EXHORDIUM
Review
Two Sons- Which one will do the will of
God?
Parable of the Vineyard- The unfaithful
servants
Parable of the Wedding Feast- The
wicked invited guests
Herodians and taxes- Evil intent
EXEGESIS
And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables,
and said, 2 The
kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his
son, 3 And sent forth his
servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
Many are invited.
4 Again, he sent forth
other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my
dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are
ready: come unto the marriage. 5 But they made light of it, and went
their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
They were too busy.
6 And the remnant took
his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.
Finally, they grow weary of the
invitation and spitefully treat the servants and even kill some of them.
7 But when the king
heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed
those murderers, and burned up their city.
The King is gracious and kind but His
mercy and kindness have a limit. Since His patience is so long, when his wrath
falls, it falls hard.
8 Then saith he to his
servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. 9 Go ye therefore into the
highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
Those invited would not come but the King will
have a full house to honor His Son. If the invitees won’t come, he will find
others who will.
10 So those servants
went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found,
both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
The rejection of the invited guests
gave a tremendous opportunity to others. This is the olive tree whose branches
were cast away so that the Gentile could be grafted in. It says that bad and
good were invited. The guests are wheat and chaff but these, too, shall be converted
or sorted.
11 And when the king
came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding
garment:
They came from the highways and byways
but they must put on wedding garments suitable to the event and feast.
12 And he saith unto
him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was
speechless.
When you face the Father of glory
without Jesus, you will be speechless. Imagine the surprise of masses who
affirm the Father and yet deny the Son, when the Father accuses of them of refusing
to put on their wedding garments. They are imposters to the feast. When God,
the Father asks the question, they will be speechless.
This is very important. They will not
be able to make excuses, blame their parents, blame their religious leaders, blame
their country or origin of birth. They will receive their just due with a
closed mouth.
13 Then said the king to
the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him
into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 14 For many are called, but
few are chosen.
These are Jesus’s words and they are
very scary. Bind him hand and foot and take him away, cast him into the outer
darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matt. 22:15 Then
went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his
talk.
These wicked men knew that Jesus
condemned them. They sought to catch Him in His words so that they could
condemn Him to death.
This is very interesting setup. The
Pharisees are opposed to supporting their occupiers, the Romans. The Herodians
support the Roman government because they are have been set up as puppet
rulers. So, once again the leaders in Israel come to Jesus not to hear truth
but to catch Him in His words.
Jesus is able to reveal the wicked
hearts of both of these groups.
16 And they sent out
unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou
art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any
man: for thou regardest not the person of men. 17 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it
lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?
The Herodians wanted controversy. A
controversial question was whether the Jews should pay taxes to Caesar or not.
They were subjects of Rome but should they willingly submit to Rome’s taxes? Or
rebel? A rebellion had large consequences.
The Herodians supported the Roman
government. The Pharisees were opposed. Why were these two groups now facing
Jesus as friends? The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
If Jesus answers that we are not to pay
the tax, the Herodians will have him in a snare and can raise trouble with the
Roman government. If Jesus answers that we ought to pay the tax, then the
Pharisees can cause trouble for Him in the religious sector.
But Jesus points out their hypocrisies.
18 But Jesus perceived
their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? 19 Shew me the tribute
money. And they brought unto him a penny. 20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this
image and superscription? 21 They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he
unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto
God the things that are God’s. 22 When they had heard these words, they
marvelled, and left him, and went their way.
Jesus knew it was a trap question. But
He still answers it. He does so in a way that leaves them in awe of His answer.
The Herodians have forsaken the things
of the God for the state. The Pharisees are rebellious about God’s rule of them
through the Romans. Both groups have failed in fundamental ways and Jesus’s
simple answer condemns them both.
However, He does answer the question.
Yes, since the currency is Roman, we are under their rule and we are to pay the
tax.
Matt. 22:23 The same
day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and
asked him, 24 Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die,
having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto
his brother. 25 Now
there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife,
deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother: 26 Likewise the second also,
and the third, unto the seventh. 27 And last of all the woman died also. 28 Therefore in the
resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.
Again, note the context. The Sadducees
come and ask Jesus about the Resurrection. They don’t believe in the
Resurrection. They are not asking if there is a Resurrection. They are asking a
hypothetical question set up to make the Resurrection look ridiculous.
29 Jesus answered and
said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection
they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in
heaven.
Jesus corrects their faulty view of
what post-Resurrection relationships will look like. We will exist in the
Resurrection with those to whom we were married, but they will not be married.
This makes sense if the need for sex is gone. It may be hard to imagine a
Resurrected world without babies but it appears that is exactly what it will
be.
31 But as touching the
resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by
God, saying, 32 I am
the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the
God of the dead, but of the living.
Jesus is an excellent theologian. We
should learn His example. He finds the simplest proof text and uses it without
further explanation.
His argument here for life after death
is incredibly simple and profound. God said that He is the God of Abraham,
Isaac and David. He said this on many occasions, even long after those three patriarchs
were dead and gone. But God is the God of the living so those three men must be
alive. Thus, we do live after we die.
33 And when the
multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.
Why were they astonished? Because Jesus
shut down the Sadducees so simply and completely. Why had no one thought of
this simple answer before and said it with such authority?
It is amazing how we get caught up in
controversies and long books about various topics while we have simple answers
directly in front of us. The reason we do this is because we do not like the
simple answers and it takes a long convoluted argument to get around the truth.
Take for example Hell and damnation.
There are many people who have tried long and convoluted books designed to get
around the fact that there is hell as well as heaven. But Jesus said ‘Cast them
into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Matt. 22:34 But when
the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were
gathered together.
Pharisees are behind the scheming. But
Herodians, down, Saducees down. Now, let’s get out the big guns. The Pharisees
gather together. What can we do to get Jesus?
35 Then one of them, which
was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36 Master, which is
the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and
great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and
the prophets.
It is interesting to me that this
question is asked. I am not sure we know where the controversy in it is. Were
there humanists in their midst advocating for the brotherhood of man? Not
likely. But I can imagine a liberal push towards serving man that neglected
doctrine and duties towards God. Or, an orthodusty push that focused on
doctrine but neglected the weightier duties of the law. These two unbalanced
emphases often exist in the Church. They even exist in a good church.
Getting out of balance leads even to
drifting away from the truth. So, there is constant need for a return to
doctrine, reformation, and practical application, revival.
Matt.
22:41
While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
Jesus has
had enough of being asked. He now asks.
EXHORTATION
42 Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is
he? They say unto him, The Son of David. 43 He saith unto them, How then doth David in
spirit call him Lord, saying, 44 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my
right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? 45 If David then call him Lord, how is he his
son? 46 And no man was able to
answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any
more questions.
Here comes that question again. Who do you say that I am?
With a very simple argument, Jesus delivers the idea that
the Christ is the Son of God. If the greatest of the kings, King David, calls
the Christ, Lord, then the Christ cannot be inferior to David. He must be
superior and the only way that can be the case is if He is the Son of God.
This
leaves the Pharisees no options. They must submit to Him or kill Him. Jesus
shuts their mouths. Stop all the talk. Stop the long arguments to justify
yourselves in God’s sight. Put away your commentaries, your convoluted
explanations getting around Jesus, hell, resurrection, authority, and
submission. Stop all that. Shut your mouth. Look to Him in faith. Believe. If
you open your mouth, let it be praise and worship, thanksgiving and rejoicing,
saying, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
