Sunday Morning Service

Matthew 22:15-46 (Click title for audio access)

“Illusions Of Grandeur” • 1.9.11 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro.

- We are currently in a portion of Matthew that is detailing the Lord’s opinion of the nation of Israel. Unfortunately, His opinion of them was not very favorable at this time.

- God raised Israel as a nation to represent Him to the other nations. They had been given the scriptures, the law and the privilege of knowing God intimately.

- But something went wrong. Their privilege gave way to pretension and pride, which made them fail in the eyes of God.

- Jesus, just two days away from being crucified, offers His assessment of where they went wrong. It's a sobering look into the failure of a people and a strong admonition for us.

Text

• Matthew 22:15-17 : “Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?’” : Instead of turning from their wicked thoughts, they turned toward them with even more determination.

- Upon hearing Christ's parables, they turned and plotted against Him. Literally, they took counsel together. They had a brainstorming session!

- They sought to entangle, literally "to ensnare" Him in His words. The word comes from a trap that had been devised to catch birds.

- A special delegation of their disciples, along with a group of Herodians came to work Jesus over. It's interesting to consider this concept: The Pharisees had disciples too!

- Disciples are people who commit themselves to learn and propogate their Master's teachings. Jesus had 12 disciples, but the Pharisees also had men just like this!

- The Pharisees sent disciples because they knew that Jesus knew they would never come with the flattery that this group will come with.

- This is the first time that we have seen the term "Herodians" in the book of Matthew. This was a group that considered themselves friendly toward the house of Herod.

- The Herodians were a purely political group. The Pharisees hated the house of Herod, but saw a need for an alliance. Their hatred of Jesus brought these two factions together.

- Their question began with some flattering words. "Teacher, we know..." They had flattery down pat! They were saying, in effect, we know that no matter the audience, you will speak truthfully!

- "We know that you are not intimidated by anyone. So what's the answer to this..."

- Their question was scandalous. There were some who listened who believed that paying taxes to anyone other than God was blasphemous. There are some who feel the same today!

- Others who were listening in believed saw this as a token of appreciation to Rome. If Jesus answered one way or another, it was believed that He would be trapped. Wrong again!

• Matthew 22:18-22 : "But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, 'Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the tax money.' So they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, 'Whose image and inscription is this?' They said to Him, 'Caesar’s.' And He said to them, 'Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.' When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way." : Jesus is increasingly direct with them, calling them "hypocrites." "You actors! I see right through you!"

- He asks them for some tax money. I had enjoyed J. Vernon's comment that Jesus asked them for money because He did not have any, but then I realized something more ironic.

- The actors who had asked Him about paying taxes HAD the tax money! They were ready to pay the tax that was being exacted, which most scholars believe was the yearly poll or census tax!

- These guys are already caught in their scheme!

- The coin that they gave Jesus contained the image of Tiberius Caesar.

- Jesus told them that that the image on the coin reflected ownership. The coin had a representative of government upon it, and therefore, belonged to Caesar.

- The government had a right to exact taxes, to pay for roads and provide services. Caesar, an evil, God rejecting heathen, had a right to tax the citizenry.

- Jesus then tells them that there is an equal responsibility, as God is to receive that which bears His image. Money belonged to the government but their lives belongs to God.

- Jesus advocated paying taxes, fulfilling one's duties to the government, as well as fulfilling responsibility toward God. It's not an either/or situation.

- Pay your taxes. Be an honorable citizen, even to something as corrupt as Rome! At the same time, there is an obligation towards the Lord!

- We, human beings, have been made in His image. That image has been marred by our own sinful desires, yet we carry certain characteristics that originate in God.

- Because He communicates, we communicate. Because He has joy, we have joy.

- Being an image bearer intones responsibility and Jesus is calling them to recall that.

- Do not miss what He is saying. He is saying that they would be responsible to give taxes to the government and they were to also give themselves to God, which they had not done.

- They looked as though they had, the acted as if they had, but they had not. What a warning and a reminder for us: We belong to the Lord!

- Our life is His palette where He rightfully longs to express His endless creativity! We are to offer it to Him, freely and joyfully!

- They went their way, marveling at His ability to get Himself out of a trap.

• Matthew 22:23-28 : "The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying: 'Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her.'" : The Sadducees came to Jesus with an question regarding the Mosaic law that governs a deceased brother's family line found in Deuteronomy 25:5-10.

- The law stipulated that a brother was to take the responsibility to help his brother's house by providing a male child. This was important especially given the status of women in that time.

- A brother could refuse, at which point, the elders would confront him at the city gate.

- If he still refused, then they would remove his sandal, spit in his face and call his name "The house of him who had his sandal removed!" It wasn't good.

- The Sadducees do not believe in the resurrection. This question was both a mockery of that doctrine, as well as an incitement to test Jesus.

- Their scenario is ridiculous, akin to asking if God could create a rock that was heavier than He could manage! The woman outlives all of the brothers and then dies.

- They wondered, "Who has the honor of being married to her in eternity?"

• Matthew 22:29,30 : "Jesus answered and said to them, 'You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven." : Jesus tells them literally that they've wandered into error and it's in the two most common ways to wander: They are ignorant of the scriptures and God's power!

- They had read the scriptures, even to the point of memorization, but had missed the meaning or refused to consider things in their context, which is the most commonly repeated error.

- The scriptures testify of a life with God that lasts beyond this life. It's the power of God that makes that a reality.

- The Sadducees refused to believe in the resurrection because they could not fathom how that could be possible. They would only believe what they could explain.

- But that makes them ignorant of the power of God, which is infinitely beyond our ability to comprehend and explain. Genesis 1:1 sets the tone. If He can do that, anything else is simple!

- As for their first supposition regarding marriage, they dod not understand that resurrection life will be very different than life here on earth. There will be no marriage there.

- This statement makes every happily married couple cringe and every other couple celebrate. There won't be marriage in heaven!?

- There are several comments to be made about this. More than anything, I suspect that some of our difficulty is found in our conception of heaven.

- We speak half kiddingly about the ultimate day on earth being an average day in heaven. For example, the golfing game, the hunting and the fishing with Jesus stories that we often tell.

- We imagine that we'll live in better homes in perfect relationships and great neighborhoods with no problem people because they are in the other place!

- Heaven will be very different that we think, simply because we will be very different than we think! Our bodies will be different and our desires will be different as well.

- Jesus says that we will be similar to angels, in that they are servants of God, available at His call. They have no desire for marriage, nor was it created for that environment.

- It was created for this environment. It was created for the propogation of godly heritage on the earth and enjoyment. Heaven will bring an entire other palette of enjoyments and needs.

- I suspect that there will be wondrous things that we could not have ever imagined.

- This being said, we will know and love each other. We'll just have another context to dwell in!

• Matthew 22:31-33 : "But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.' And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching." : When God says that He is the God of these patriarchs, He speaks of a current relationship.

- Notice that Jesus says, "This was spoken to you by God!" The Word of God is a personal message from the Lord to them and to us. The Bible is the most relevant document in the world!

- Jesus is quoting from Exodus 3, where God is introducing Himself to Moses. At this time, Abraham had been dead for hundreds of years, but nothing had changed with God!

- They were literally blown away at what Jesus spoke. They had denied the resurrection, but here, they were confronted with the truth that the resurrection was what God was talking about.

• Matthew 22:34-36 : "But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 'Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?'" : This scribe's question regards the one commnandment that is the most important in all of the law. This was a constant source of debate among the religious elite.

- They had counted up the commandments, both positive and negative, and had come up with 613 different commandments. Nobody could keep them all, so the idea was to distill it down.

- They separated the commandments into weighty and light, but the greatest was not universally agreed upon. Why not test Jesus for His answer.

- His hope is that Jesus will use something new and non-Mosaic.

• Matthew 22:37-40 : "Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.'" : When Jesus said these words, He brought them back to what would have been fundamental to their thinking. He brought them back to what had become a national chant.

- This set of verses were the most well known verses to the Jewish people then. Even to this day, it's contained in their phylacteries. It's rolled up in tiny scrolls by the side of their front doors!

- It was called "the Shema" which was a recitation of the words of Deuteronomy 6:4 and 5. This statement was to be recited two times a day apart from their prayers and service.

- This was the foundation of their lives. Love for God is the center of the law. The force of this statement is incredible, in that every portion of a person's being is to love God fully.

- Our whole heart is to be involved, our whole soul is to be involved and every part of our mind must be engaged! Every part of us is to love God, completely.

˚ "The word in Deuteronomy 6:5, thou shalt love ahebin Hebrew, the verb, refers primarily to the love of will, the love of the mind, the love of action rather than the love of feeling, the love of emotion. It is that highest kind of love. Not the love that you just feel, but the love of dedication, the love of commitment, the love that says this is right and this is noble no matter what I feel. And that's the word, agapeo. Agapeo is the love of intelligence, it's the love of purpose, it's the love of will as opposed to phileo, which is the love of emotion or affection and eros,which is the love of the physical animal senses. This is the highest kind of love, the love of purpose, the love of will, the noblest, purist, highest, self-sacrificing love of that which is right and that which is worthy." John Macarthur

- The second command is like it, being equal in importance, on the same plane. Love your neighbor as yourself!

- Love for our neighbor is just as important as loving God! Everything is suspended upon these two pillars and the entirety of the law is a commentary on how to live out these principles.

- It's fascinating to consider that in just a few days, Jesus would hang on a tree and bring it all together: Supreme love to God and supreme love for humanity!

• Matthew 22:41,42 : "While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, 'What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?'
They said to Him, 'The Son of David.'" : Jesus says, "While I have you here..." He asked them a question that would expose them. "What are your thoughts about the Messiah?"

- The Messiah would be the Son of David, who was promised an heir to rule on the throne perpetually. Son of David is a very popular messianic title, especially in the time of Christ.

- It reflected a belief that the Messiah would simply be a great man and leader.

- The title spoke of the hope that people had regarding the Messiah and what He would do.

• Matthew 22:43,44 : "He said to them, 'How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool'?" : Jesus is quoting Psalm 110:1. King David is speaking of a time when his ultimate offspring would rule. He'd be David's God and an equal with God the Father!

- No Father, especially in that patriarchal society, would call their son "Lord." That went against everything that any of them would ever consider saying and yet, this was inspired of the Lord!

- From the human perspective, the Messiah would be the Son of David. From heaven's perspective, He would be the Lord, equal with the Father.

- Ultimately He would sit at the right hand of the Father and at that time, His enemies would be squashed or humbled under His feet.

• Matthew 22:45,46 : "If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?' And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore." : David calls His offspring, the Messiah, Lord. He defers to His greatness. David calls the Messiah God!

- From here on out, the religious leaders had nothing to say! No more questions, no more talking. Jesus shut them up.

Conclusion

- As we close, notice a few things: At this time, Jesus exposed the Jews for their illusion of giving themselves fully to God.

- They claimed to know the scriptures, but had failed to listen to the heart God!

- They had claimed and repeated, to love Him with all of their heart, soul and mind, but when He appeared, they did not love Him at all.

- Finally, they looked for a Messiah that fit their thinking and missed the Messiah when He came. Boy, they messed up!

- But let's not miss what we are intended to know. God wants our lives, our hearts, our entire being fully devoted, in love, to Him. Don't let your lips say one thing, but your lives say another!