Matthew 22 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Matthew 22

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

22:1 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants¹ to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ 5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Paying Taxes to Caesar

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances.² 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But 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.³ 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.” 22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.

Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

23 The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, 24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. 26 So too the second and third, down to the seventh. 27 After them all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”

29 But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” 33 And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.

The Great Commandment

34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “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. 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.”

Whose Son Is the Christ?

41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” 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.

Footnotes

[1] 22:3 Or bondservants; also verses 4, 6, 8, 10
[2] 22:16 Greek for you do not look at people’s faces
[3] 22:19 A denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer

Commentary

v1: Jesus continues to use parables, to sift and challenge His hearers.

v2-4: The invitation to the banquet is repeated, a picture of the Lord's patience. There is no charge, and the promise of great blessing.

v5: Those invited "paid no attention," of 'made light' of the invitation, and, by implication, of Christ's things. They prefer material possessions, and go 'their way.' These are the people of the kingdom, the king's subjects. Their refusal to come is therefore more serious, akin to rebellion; and hence the king sends his armies to destroy these who murdered his messengers.

v6: Others are antagonistic towards God's servants; many mock the things of Christ, and mistreat those who follow Him.

v7: Judgment falls on those who refuse to believe, see 21.41, 43; ultimately, they are the losers.

v8-10: All are invited, "both good and bad."

v11-14: One man is missing his "wedding clothes," referring to purity obtained by the levitical offerings. In type, this speaks of the righteousness of Christ, by which we are acceptable in the sight of God. Some do not understand the invitation; they think they are accepted when they are not.

God calls many out of the world to His feast; but few, those chosen, respond in true faith.

v15: The religious leaders, conscious of the Lord's searing words against them, return to the attack. But the Lord uses each question, whether genuine or trick, to challenge them afresh. Such attacks on the Son of Man are futile, for Christ can never be defeated. Their intention is to trap Jesus in His words.

This was a 'live' issue of the day. Roman taxation was systematic, cruel, relentless and utterly regardless. (See Dr Alfred Edersheim, Sketches of Jewish Social Life)

v16-17: The religious leaders addressed Jesus as "Teacher," not "Lord," v24, 36.

v18-21: Jesus also addresses them differently; "hypocrites." He never uses this with His disciples.

v22: The Pharisees are silenced, and the people are amazed.

v23-28: The Sadducees' question, from a desire to bring Jesus down, rather than a desire to learn truth. They invent a ludicrous situation, mocking the resurrection, in which they refuse to believe.

v29: Their problem; they are ignorant of the Scriptures and the power of God. The Scriptures teach about both marriage and resurrection. The power of God is the power of resurrection.

v30: Marriage is something for this life; there is something better in the resurrection, although Jesus does not explain further.

v31-32: Jesus's words here are clear, "have you not read what God said to you." The words recorded by Moses are spoken by God and therefore hav utter authority.. They are relevant to Jesus' hearers and relavtn to us today.

God has already spoken about the resurrection, saying to Moses, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." The Scripture is clear, for God is interested in life. The use of this scripture is very powerful – it links the resurrection with the deliverance of Israel from Egypt; the divine reversal of the human order; a promise of massive spiritual revolution to come.

v33: The people are again astonished, and this time the Sadducees are silenced.

v34-36: The word translated "silenced," may also be 'gagged,' or 'muzzled.' The Pharisees were doubtless pleased that the Sadducees had been defeated over the issue of the resurrection.

Having witnessed the previous answers, a Pharisee, an "expert in the law," brings a third question to Jesus. This question seems not to have the malice attached to the previous ones.

v37-40: The greatest commandments, and no Jew would disagree here. Jesus proves Himself a genuinely orthodox Jew, perhaps the only one! Those religious leaders He addressed certainly held views outside of OT truth.

The fact that all the OT teaching "hangs" on the two great commandments implies that all OT teaching is true, and that none can be omitted.

Although the Ten Commandments are couched in negative terms, in Christ, they bring much that is clearly positive. For example, the commandment ‘you shall not kill,’ contains a requirement to give to others all the help we can. The duties of love require that we see to preserve the lives of others. (1 John 4.20)

Desmond Tutu comments; 'The authenticity of this vertical relationship, this spiritual relationship with God, is expressed for me and tested out by my relationship with my neighbour. This is the so-called horizontal dimension. The vertical and the horizontal must be held together'

'For Jesus love of God was inconceivable and could not exist without its corollary love of neighbour.'

(Speech in 1978. God is not a Christian)

v41-45: Jesus' question of Ps 110. The reality is that He must be seen as both God and man, Rom 1.3-4. David's son is also David's Lord.

v46: No-one dare ask Jesus further questions, compare 2 Sam 10.19; the folly of man being set against God. Here the Lord is seen to be victorious, although some admit defeat only grudgingly, and will not repent and believe.