Matthew 22
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
1Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying:
Since Israel had rejected the Messianic Kingdom program, Jesus began speaking to the nation in parables.
2“The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.
The king is God the Father. The son is the Lord Jesus Christ. The bride is the church, which consists of Jewish and Gentile believers.
3He sent his slaves to summon those who had been invited to the banquet, but they would not come.
The servants were the Jewish prophets. They invited the nation of Israel to come to the wedding of the Messiah. The Jewish people refused to listen to the prophets. They rejected this invitation.
4Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look! The feast I have prepared for you is ready. My oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.”’
The apostles also invited the Jewish nation to the wedding.
5But they were indifferent and went away, one to his farm, another to his business.
The Jews loved the things of the world more than Jesus, so they were not interested in attending the wedding.
6The rest seized his slaves, insolently mistreated them, and killed them.
The Jews killed the prophets and apostles who were inviting them to the wedding.
7The king was furious! He sent his soldiers, and they put those murderers to death and set their city on fire.
This was a prophecy of the Temple destruction in 70 A.D. The soldiers were the Romans. Titus destroyed the city and the temple, just as Jesus predicted.
8Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but the ones who had been invited were not worthy.
The Jews had more light than any nation in the world, yet they rejected their Messiah. They were not worthy to attend the banquet, because they were unbelievers.
9So go into the main streets and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’
Since the Jews rejected the invitation, the Gentiles would be invited in their place.
10And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all they found, both bad and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
The apostles and their followers invited the Gentiles to the wedding.
11But when the king came in to see the wedding guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.
The host would supply everyone with the wedding clothes. This guest refused to come to the wedding in the clothes which were offered to him freely. He wanted to attend in his own clothing. He rejected the clothes which were given to him by the grace (or kindness) of the host. He felt that his own clothes were good enough for the banquet. His own clothing represents the works of man. His own clothing was dirty rags to God. No one with dirty rags will be able to attend the wedding.
12And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say.
Those who come before God clothed in their own works will have no answer before a holy God.
13Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’
Those who appear before the Great White Throne in dirty rags will be thrown into the Lake of Fire.
14For many are called, but few are chosen.”
A general call is made to all men, but it is rejected. Some are chosen to receive an efficacious call. They will all believe in Jesus.
Paying Taxes to Caesar
15Then the Pharisees went out and planned together to entrap him with his own words.
The Pharisees want to make Jesus a lawbreaker of Roman Law,
16They sent to him their disciples along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful, and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You do not court anyone’s favor because you show no partiality.
The Herodians were Jews who favored King Herod. They would tell Herod everything that Jesus said. They began with flattery.
17Tell us then, what do you think? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
If Jesus answered yes, then the Jewish crowds would turn against Him. If He answered no, then He would be arrested for treason by the Roman government.
18But Jesus realized their evil intentions and said, “Hypocrites! Why are you testing me?
Jesus was not a seeker-friendly teacher. He took on evil and exposed it for what it is.
19Show me the coin used for the tax.” So they brought him a denarius.
Jesus was the King of the universe, but He did not even have a coin to His name.
20Jesus said to them, “Whose image is this, and whose inscription?”
Men like to glorify themselves by placing their names on coins, buildings, and streets.
21They replied, “Caesar’s.” He said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
This piece of metal belonged to Caesar because God allowed him to own it. The message to the Herodians was that they needed to give to God the things that belong to God. This would include everything that they owned.
22Now when they heard this they were stunned, and they left him and went away.
This answer silenced the Herodians. These cheap politicians were no match for Jesus.
Marriage and the Resurrection
23The same day Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to him and asked him,
The Sadducees only believed in the inspiration, inerrancy, and infallibly of the first five books of Moses.
24“Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and father children for his brother.’ 25Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children he left his wife to his brother. 26The second did the same, and the third, down to the seventh. 27Last of all, the woman died. 28In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”
The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. This question was often used by Sadducees to stump the Pharisees.
29Jesus answered them, “You are deceived, because you don’t know the scriptures or the power of God.
The Sadducees were deceived. They did not study or believe in the entire counsel of the Word of God. Since they were void of over 2/3 of the Scriptures, they did not understand the power of God. There are many Christians today who are being deceived, because they have not studied the entire counsel of the Word of God.
30For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
After a believer is resurrected, he will enter into heaven. No one in heaven will marry or be given in marriage. Angels in heaven do not marry. They can procreate on earth, but they are forbidden to do so. Many of the fallen angels procreated with human women on earth before the flood. Their punishment was to be locked in Tartarus until the judgment of the Great White Throne Judgment.
31Now as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God,
Jesus was going to prove the resurrection of the dead to the Sadducees.
32‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living!”
SInce the Sadducees only believed in the first five books of the Bible, Jesus quoted from Exodus 3:6, the second book of the Bible. God spoke in the present tense, meaning that when Moses was living, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were living as well. They were not living on the earth, but in Paradise. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Everyone lives in eternity. The difference is the location.
33When the crowds heard this, they were amazed at his teaching.
The crowds were amazed at His teaching. Liberals like to claim that these were just stories created by men, but anyone who studies the enter counsel of the Word of God will recognize the fingerprints of God.
The Greatest Commandment
34Now when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they assembled together. 35And one of them, an expert in religious law, asked him a question to test him:
The Herodians and the Sadducees had struck out. The Pharisees will attempt to discredit Jesus.
36“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
Notice that the scribe called Him “teacher” and not “Lord.” The scribe is not recognizing the deity of Jesus. There were 613 commandments in the Old Testament. Rabbi often debated which one was the greatest commandment.
37Jesus said to him, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment.
Jesus quoted the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:5
39The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Jesus quoted Leviticus 19:18. If man can keep these two laws (which he cannot), then he can keep all of the other 613 laws as well.
The Messiah: David’s Son and Lord
41While the Pharisees were assembled, Jesus asked them a question:
Jesus will now ask the Pharisees a question.
42“What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said, “The son of David.”
Jesus asked the Pharisees for the tribal identity of the Messiah. They answered from the tribe of David. Jesus was descended from the tribe of David by His mother only.
43He said to them, “How then does David by the Spirit call him ‘Lord,’ saying, 44‘The Lord said to my lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’? 45If David then calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”
David, speaking by the Holy Spirit, called his own son deity. How can the son of David be deity if he will be born as a human baby from the line of David?
46No one was able to answer him a word, and from that day on no one dared to question him any longer.
No one could answer this question. None of the religious leaders would dare ask Jesus any more questions. Jesus was schooling the religious leaders in front of the people. Whenever a skeptic challenges a believer, he should use Scripture to back him into a corner and shut him up so that he has nothing else to say.