Matthew 22 – Jesus silences his enemies in Jerusalem
Introduction
A. The enemies of Jesus are the priests (Sadducees) of the Temple in Jerusalem together with the scribes (Pharisees).
1. In chapter 21 of Matthew, Jesus entered the city accompanied by the cries of jubilation, "Hosanna to the son of David!" He cleansed the temple of the "thieves" and healed the blind and lame, but the enemies were indignant.
2. They questioned Jesus' authority, but Jesus condemned them for being disobedient to God and for not bearing the fruits of righteousness to God. Jesus condemned them for having the same spirit that their parents had when they abused the messengers of God.
3. He finally used the words of the Psalm 118:22-23, “Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” They had already rejected the prophet John the Baptist and Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
B. The enemies sought to arrest him, but “they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.” Matthew 22 begins with the Parable of the Wedding Feast with the plot of the enemies in the background.
I. Matthew 22:1-14 The Parable of the Wedding Feast signified the destruction of the enemies of Jesus.
A. Matthew 22:2. The “Kingdom of Heaven” is the same as the "Kingdom of God" just mentioned in 21:43, which Jesus said would be taken away from the Jews and given to people who would produce the fruits that God wants.
1. Jesus cursed the fig tree for not carrying fruit, Matthew 21:19, and the fig tree withered. It was a reflection of the hypocrisy and lack of fruit of the priests and scribes of Jerusalem.
2. Jesus related the Parable of the Unfaithful Tenants who refused to bring the fruits of the vineyard to the landlord, abusing the messengers and killing the son of that the father, whom he had sent to receive the rent that was agreed upon when the vineyard was leased to them. The audience gave sentence: “They said to him, ‘He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.’” Matthew 21:41.
B. In this parable, a king invited certain honored citizens to the wedding.
1. Likewise, the Heavenly Father invited the Jews, the children of Abraham, to the wedding of the His son.
2. When everything was Prepared, the king sent his servants to call the guests to the wedding, but they did not want to come.
3. In the fullness of time (Galatians 4:4), God sent his son. John the Baptist appeared first as a messenger before his face, and prepared the way (Mark 1:1-15). In the beginning, their message was, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
-- Matthew 10:5-7, “These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
--Acts 6:6-15; 7:54-60 but they stoned Esteban; Acts 14:2-5, 19 they stoned Paul; and of course, they crucified Jesus, Matthew 27.
4. The king destroyed those murderers, and burned their city, 22:7. Jesus prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem, Matthew 24.
5. Matthew 22:8-10. In the parable finally, the king invited and called to the wedding as many as the servants should find. In the fulfillment, before ascending to heaven, Jesus sent the disciples to all the nations inviting them to the Kingdom, making disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them to keep all the teachings of Jesus, Matthew 28:18-20.
6. When the king saw a guest that was not properly dressed, he cast him into the outer darkness. Hebrews 10:26-31, scripture warns the person who has “profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace” V29. “For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” V30-31.
II. Matthew 22:15-22. The Pharisees and the Herodians tempted Jesus, “to entangle him in his words.”
A. The question of Roman taxes: "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
1. The Pharisees refused to pay the taxes. Some justified even assassinating the Roman soldiers.
2. The Herodians were in favor of loyalty to Caesar and helped the Romans expose the problematic Jews.
B. Jesus, “aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar's.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”
1. No group could instigate fuss because of the words of Jesus.
2. “When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.” Jesus silenced them. He judged both parties for neglecting their duties, either to God, or to Caesar.
III. Matthew 22:23-33. The Sadducees said there is no resurrection. They used their most powerful argument on Jesus.
A. They were the party of the priests. They tried to use the “husband’s brother” law (Deuteronomy 25:5) to prove that there could not be a resurrection because women in the end could have more than just one husband if it were so.
B. Jesus had already taught them the reality of the Resurrection.
1. He raised three people from the dead: the daughter of Jairus, the son of the widow of Nain, and Lazarus.
2. He had taught the truth about "hell" Matthew 5:22; 5:30.
--The final Judgement day: Matthew 7:13 Some would be lost, 7:14; some would receive eternal life 7:21-23
-- Matthew 10:15 “Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.” 10:22 "Persevere until the end will be saved"
-- Matthew 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” 10:32 “So everyone who acknowledges me before men I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven…” 10:42 “he will by no means lose his reward.”
-- Matthew 11:24 "Judgement Day", 13:41 “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.” 13:49 “So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous”
-- Matthew 16:27, “For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.” 18:8 “thrown into the eternal fire.”
C. Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.”
1. They were the priests and scribes who had the sacred burden of teaching the people the Law and the Prophets, the Scriptures. Malachi 2:1-8, V7 “For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.”
2. But they were ignorant that 32 times, the Scriptures mentioned "Angels," as for example Nehemiah 9:6 and Psalm 148:2-5. Also, the Resurrection: Daniel 12:2; 1 Kings 17:17-22; 2 Kings 4:32-35; 13:20-21.
3. Jesus called their attention to what God implied when he spoke to Moses in Exodus 3:6: “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
--Jesus compelled them to make the inference of the resurrection, because God implied the truth and reality of existence after death. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were still living after 400 years. The teachers who claimed the right to send in the temple were ignorant of the truth by not inferring what God implied. Therefore, they taught the error.
4. They also did not know that "in the resurrection, they will not marry or be given in marriage, but they will be like the angels of God in heaven."
--Procreation belongs to the bodies of human beings on Earth and not to angels or men resurrected for eternity.
D. Matthew 22:33, “And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.”
1. The Sadducees could not answer even a word before Jesus. The truth is stronger than error. That is how it will be when we come before the throne of God. He'll judge us and we won't be able to say anything against His judgment.
2. “But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.” "Then the Pharisees, hearing that he had silenced the Sadducees, joined one."
IV. Matthew 22:34-40 “A lawyer asked him a question to test him.”
A. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
B. Jesus answered by giving them the first and the second.
1. ““You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment.” Deuteronomy 6:5
2. “39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
3. After exposing the ignorance of the Sadducees and the Pharisees, Jesus confronted their unbelief by citing another Scripture that they themselves valued but ignored. Psalm 110:1 Whose son is the Christ?
V. Matthew 22:41-46 What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?
A. Psalm 110:1 The Messianic Psalm written by David
-- “They said to him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, 44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’? 45 If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” 46 And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.”
B. The answer was: Christ is the Son of God and also a descendant of David.
-- John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Conclusion
A. And no one could answer him word. No one even dared to challenge Him from that day on. B. They could not resist the wisdom of the Son of God. They had two options: to believe him or to kill him. They chose to kill him to silence him, the rightful Christ, whom God had sent them to give them the light of God.