Matthew 22

CHAPTER 22THEME: Jesus gives the parable of the marriage feast for the king’s son; Jesus answers and silences the Herodians, the Sadducees, and the PhariseesChapter 21 closed with the religious rulers determined that Jesus would die. “They sought to lay hands on him” (Mat_21:46), but they were afraid of the multitude at that time. The chapter before us continues the verbal clash our Lord is having with the religious rulers. He gives them first the parable of the king who made a marriage feast. This is His continuing answer to the chief priests and elders which He began in the previous chapter.

Matthew 22:1

PARABLE OF THE MARRIAGE FEASTThis is one of the greatest parables Jesus gave for the period in which you and I live. Take note of the word again. This little word indicates that Jesus is still addressing the chief priests and elders mentioned in Mat_21:23.

Matthew 22:2

Obviously, “a certain king” is God the Father, and “his son” is the Lord Jesus. Notice that He resorts to the expression “kingdom of heaven” instead of Kingdom of God which He used in the previous two parables. This parable parallels the Matthew 13 parables. But the emphasis here is upon how and why this age began rather than upon the conclusion of the age, which we saw in Matthew 13.

Matthew 22:3

He “sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding.” Who were bidden? The lost sheep of the house of Israelour Lord had sent His apostles to them, you recall. And the prophets had been the messengers back in the Old Testament.

Matthew 22:4

What was the response?

Matthew 22:5

This was Israel’s rejection of God’s invitation. They killed His messengers, including the Lord Jesus Himself.

Matthew 22:7

This undoubtedly refers to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 by Titus the Roman.

Matthew 22:8

Now we will see a definite change in the method and manner of the invitation, and it refers to the present age in which we live

Matthew 22:9

But notice what happens

Matthew 22:11

What is that wedding garment? The King’s invitation is for everyone, but there is a danger of coming without meeting the demands of the King. That wedding garment is the righteousness of Christ which is absolutely essential for salvation, and it is supplied to all who believe. The apostle Paul speaks of this imputed righteousness: “But now the righteousness of God without the law [that is, apart from the law] is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of [from] God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all [it comes down upon all] them that believe: for there is no difference” (Rom_3:21-22). All have to have a wedding garment.

Matthew 22:12

Notice that he was speechless! I hear some folk say that they don’t need to receive Christ, that they will take their chances before God, that they intend to argue their case. Well, our Lord said that this fellow without the wedding garment was speechless.

Matthew 22:13

Whether or not you accept the wedding garment is up to you, but Christ has provided it for you. The invitation has gone out to everyone, but you will have to come on the King’s terms. Now the enemies of Christ will make their final onslaught, their final attack upon the Lord Jesus. The Herodians will come first, the Sadducees will come next, and finally the Pharisees will come. Then our Lord will question the Phariseesand they will try to get away from Him as quickly as they can. That marks the final break, and in chapter 23 we will hear Him denounce them. The Herodians will come with the question of paying tribute to Caesar. The Sadducees will come with a question regarding the Resurrection. And the Pharisees will come with their question concerning the great commandment of the Law. We will see the marvelous way in which our Lord answers these men. May I say that I consider one of the proofs of His deity is the way in which He deals with the enemy.

Matthew 22:15

JESUS ANSWERS THE HERODIANSThe Herodians come to Him with a question which is actually related to their particular position. They were a political party which favored the house of Herod and looked to those of that house to deliver them from the Roman yoke. I don’t think the Herodians could be considered a religious party at all because they were strongly political. However, the Pharisees apparently used them, and it is quite possible that many of the Pharisees were Herodians as well. Notice that the Pharisees instigate this first attack upon the Lord Jesus Obviously, they were not wanting His opinion. They had their own answer. It was a trick question. If He had said, “No, you are not to pay tribute to Caesar,” He could be accused of being a traitor to Rome, and Rome was ruling over Israel at that time. If He had said, “Yes, you are to pay tribute to Caesar,” He could not be the true Messiah. They thought that they had our Lord on the horns of a dilemma.

Matthew 22:18

Notice that He called them what they werehypocrites.

Matthew 22:19

It is notable that He used their coin. I have often wondered why He didn’t use His own coin. I think it is because He didn’t have one.

Matthew 22:20

They were using the legal tender of the Roman government, and here it was a Roman coin.

Matthew 22:21

This is an amazing answer because it involves more than just answering their questionand He certainly did that. In addition, He is saying that they did owe something to Caesar. They were using his coins, they walked down Roman roads, and Rome did provide them with a measure of peace; so they did owe something to Rome. Therefore, render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s. But there is another department: Render unto God the things that are God’s.

Matthew 22:22

Obviously, this reveals that our Lord did not fall into their trap. Although they did owe Caesar something, that did not remove their responsibility to God. The Herodians left Him, and now it’s time for the Sadducees to come to bat, and they also attempt to trap Him

Matthew 22:23

JESUS ANSWERS THE SADDUCEESThe Sadducees did not believe in the Resurrection. They used a ridiculous illustration to try to trap the Lord. Imagine a woman who had had seven brothers for her husbands! She must have lived in Hollywood to accomplish this. Their question was, “Whose wife shall she be?” Now the Sadducees erred in two respects, and the Lord brings this to their attention.

Matthew 22:29

The Sadducees were ignorant in two spheres: ignorant of the Scriptures and ignorant of the power of God. Ignorance of the Scriptures and ignorance of the power of God caused them to bring up such a ridiculous illustration. The explanation is simple

Matthew 22:30

He is not saying that they are angels. Neither will we be angels in heaven. But we will be like angels in that we will not marry in heaven. In other words, in heaven there will not be any necessity to continue the race by means of birth. This does not mean that a husband and wife who were very close down here cannot be together in heaven. If they want to be together, of course they can be together. But, my friend, think of the ones who wouldn’t want to be together. They won’t have to be together. However, they both will have new dispositions, and probably they will get along lots better up there than they did down here!

Matthew 22:31

This is a devastating statement! What about those who have gone before? What about Abraham today? Well, he is just as much Abraham today as he ever was. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have been simply transferred from earth to another place. They are not dead; they are alive. And this is true of your loved ones who are in Christ and are waiting in heaven for you. This is a glorious truth!

Matthew 22:34

JESUS ANSWERS THE PHARISEESNow the Herodians and the Sadducees have been silenced. The Pharisees have been watching Jesus and these two groups. The Pharisees were a religio-political party. They wanted to see the kingdom of David brought back into power in order to rid themselves of Rome. In restoring the kingdom they could join the Herodians, but as a religious party they opposed the Sadducees. The Pharisees would correspond to the liberal wing of the church. The Pharisees, like the other two groups, were out to trap the Lord, and so their representative, a lawyer, posed a very interesting question. The Pharisees have a huddle, then they plan a strategy and put forth this very clever lawyer, that is, a scribe, an expert in the Mosaic Law, to propound a question

Matthew 22:36

Listen to the answer of the Lord Jesus

Matthew 22:37

Notice that He did not pick any one of the Ten Commandments. He gives them a second one

Matthew 22:39

When you put this down on your life, you will recognize that you are coming short of the glory of God. Our Lord is very straightforward with this man. He says, “You want to know which is the greatest commandment. To love God is the greatest commandment, and to love your neighbor is the next greatest.”

Matthew 22:40

These two commandments actually summarized the entire Mosaic Law. The answer of Jesus was so obviously accurate that if the Pharisees had been honest, they would have said, “We have fallen short. We cannot be saved by the Law; we do need a Savior.” And at that time the Lord Jesus, the Savior, was almost under the shadow of the Cross.

Matthew 22:41

JESUS PUTS A QUESTION TO THE PHARISEESThe Pharisees huddle again to try to trap Him with another question, but He beats them to the punch and asks them a question The Lord Jesus is quoting Psa_110:1. How could David call his son his Lord? The Pharisees would have to say that the son would have to be supernaturally born for David to call him “my Lord.”

Matthew 22:45

This is the searching question which our Lord put to the Pharisees. There are several implications in this question which are tremendous. Our Lord said that David wrote Psalms 110, that he wrote it by the Holy Spirit, and that he wrote it about the Messiah. “If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?” How could David call his son superior unless He was? The only logical answer to this question is the virgin birth. Jesus is David’s son, but He is greater than David. A son of David cannot be greater than David unless there is something greater introduced into the line to make a greater son. The records of the supernatural birth of Jesus afford the only satisfactory answer.

The Lord of David got into David’s line, as stated in Luke’s Gospel, “And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luk_1:35). He is greater than David because He is the Lord from heaven. The Lord Jesus was forcing the Pharisees to face up to the real issue and to acknowledge Him as David’s son and as David’s Lord. This ended the verbal clash with the religious rulers.

Matthew 22:46

They made no verbal attack upon Him after this. They had determined His death, and that is the thing toward which they are going to move. They see that they cannot answer Him. This is one of the great proofs of His deity.