seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Matthew 22:1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax[a] to Caesar or not?”
18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
21 “Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
23 That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 24 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him. 25 Now 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. 26 The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. 27 Finally, the woman died. 28 Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”
29 Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 31 But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’[b]? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
“The son of David,” they replied.
43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,
44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet.”’[e]
45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
a. Matthew 22:17 A special tax levied on subject peoples, not on Roman citizens
b. Matthew 22:32 Exodus 3:6
c. Matthew 22:37 Deut. 6:5
d. Matthew 22:39 Lev. 19:18
e. Matthew 22:44 Psalm 110:1
I believe that the Son of God, Jesus, was there when God was talking to Moses. I believe that Jesus was there when God handed down the Ten Commandments. I believe Jesus was there when God came up with the rules. So Jesus knew the words and the intent. God is God. Everything should revolve around Him and what He wants. God wants us to live in peace.... and that's why He created the Garden of Eden. When we wouldn't follow the rules there..... He moved us and gave us Canaan.... a place so lush and lively that it would take teamwork to bring in just one cluster of grapes. He wanted us to live in a civil manner.
This commentary is from the easy English site.
At that time it was the custom to send out two invitations. The first invitation told the guests about the special meal. Then when the meal was ready, the guests received a second invitation. It was time for them to go to eat the special meal.
In Jesus’ story, the guests refused to go to eat the meal. They acted as if the king’s invitation did not matter. They went off to look after their own business first. The business itself was not bad. But they put their own business before the king’s invitation. This seriously insulted the king. In the same way the Jewish leaders were insulting God. They refused the opportunity to come where he rules.
None of the people in the streets expected an invitation to be the king’s guests. They were both ‘good and bad’ ordinary people. Jesus welcomed sinners as well. The new guests were both Jews and foreigners. They gained a place where God rules.
It does not seem fair that the king blamed the man. The man had come in from the street, so he was not wearing special clothes. But the king may have provided wedding clothes for his guests, as that was the custom. The man had come in to the wedding meal without suitable clothes. But he had no excuse because he knew the customs. He had insulted his host.
In this story, the special wedding clothes are picture language. They show that God had saved the person. The man’s clothes were not suitable for a wedding. They are picture language for the bad way that he lived. The other guests had taken off their own clothes and put on the special wedding clothes. This means that God had forgiven them. He had saved them.
The Herodians were friends with King Herod’s family. They did not usually join with the Pharisees. They did not want to obey all the rules that the Pharisees obeyed. What they said about Jesus was true. He always said what God wanted. He did not allow other people to change what he taught. The Pharisees praised Jesus. But they only wanted to make their question sound sincere. They thought that they could test Jesus. They thought that their plan was very clever. And they thought that they would succeed. Whatever answer Jesus gave would cause people to be angry. The Jews hated to pay taxes to their Roman rulers. It reminded them that they were not a free nation. Some Jews thought that it was against God’s commands. They were paying money to people who did not believe God, they said. Jesus might agree with them. Then he would say that it was not right to pay the tax. That would cause trouble with the Romans. Jesus might say that they should pay the tax. Then the people would be angry. And they would stop listening to him.
The Pharisees had to say that the picture and name were Caesar’s on the coin. So Jesus told them to pay to Caesar what belonged to him. It was the payment that they owed him. The state provided security, good roads and other public services. So a Christian has a duty to pay his taxes. He is a citizen of the country in which he lives. But a Christian is also a citizen of heaven. He has a duty to God as well. A good citizen where God rules will be a good citizen in their own country on earth too. They will pay what they owe to both God and to other people.
The Sadducees were the rich Jewish leaders. Many of them were priests. They worked with the Roman rulers in order to keep their own power. And they were afraid that Jesus might cause a difficult political situation. Then the Romans would be angry, and the Sadducees might lose their power. They did not believe that people would live again after death. And they did not believe that God has angels (see Acts 23:8). They hoped that Jesus would not be able to answer their question. Then he would look foolish, and so the crowd would lose interest in him. They would no longer listen to what he taught.
They told a story about marriage and the Jewish Law (see Deuteronomy 25:5-6). A husband may die. But if he has no children, his brother or a close relative must marry his widow. The first son of the widow and her new husband would continue the dead man’s family name. People would also consider that he was the first husband’s son. The Sadducees told a story about a woman who had married seven brothers in turn. But none of them had children. Whose wife would she be when they all lived again after death? They thought that such a situation would be impossible to solve. They thought that Jesus could never give a satisfactory answer.
Jesus showed that their question had no meaning. The Sadducees thought that life in heaven would be the same as life on earth. They did not know God’s power. God is able to give people a new life. There will be no marriage in heaven and people will not need to continue the human race. People will be like God’s messengers, who do not die. In heaven, God will give people a new life. And he will provide bodies that are suitable.
The Sadducees tried to make Jesus less popular, but they failed. The people in the crowd were astonished at the clever way that Jesus had answered the question.
Jesus had answered the Sadducees. Now the Pharisees (the other Jewish leaders) prepared to test Jesus. The Jewish teachers said that the Law contained 613 commands from God. Some of these laws were more important than other laws. The expert about the Law asked Jesus which was the most important command.
Jesus used words from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. The most important command is part of what the Jews call the Shema. It is their statement of what they believe. So Jews say the Shema every day. The most important of God’s commands is that people should love him. They should love him with their whole soul - the whole of their thoughts, all of their feelings and their entire life.
Jesus added a second command. When people really love God, then they love other people. We should love other people as much as we love ourselves, Jesus said.
Jesus asked this question after the Pharisees had been asking him questions. He wanted them to think more about Christ, their Messiah. They should be thinking about the kind of Christ (Messiah) that they were expecting. They believed that he would belong to King David’s family. But the popular idea was that he would be a soldier like David. The Messiah would free Israel’s people from their Roman rulers and he would defeat other nations. Then Israel would have great political power in the world.
Jesus agreed that he belonged to David’s family. But he reminded them about Psalm 110:1. This psalm showed that Jesus was more important than David. The Jews knew that David wrote many psalms. And Psalm 110 was about the Messiah. The first words, ‘The *Lord’, refer to God. So God is inviting the man whom David called ‘my Lord’. David’s Lord is the Messiah, Christ, and God is giving him the most important place next to him. He would remain with God until God had defeated all his enemies.
David called the Messiah “Lord”. So Jesus wanted to know how the Messiah could be David’s son. Jesus wanted to show that the Messiah was not a military hero like David. He was a different kind of king who had come to rule with peace. He would invite people to enter where he rules. He was someone much greater than David, so he received a place of honour in heaven with God.
When I opened this chapter and started posting.... I titled it "legal crumbs". To me this was going to be like our current debates. Jesus entered into the debates with the people who spoke in legal. They were so astute... they were sure to destroy that upstart Jesus with their knowledge and the people would see Him as they thought of Him. But they were wrong..... He won the debate hands down. Then I figured I would title it "Jesus stuns the panel" as if it were a headline of the local paper declaring Jesus the winner of the debate..... but that didn't seem right either.
The chapter opens with a parable about who will finally get into Heaven. Jesus compared it to a wedding. According to the commentary.... people would receive two invitations. They would get one to get ready and one to go..... so to say. Jesus said everyone who was invited..... decided not to go.... so in order to save the wedding..... people just walking along enjoying life [or hating life as it might be] were invited. As I understand it.... everyone would have been given an outfit to wear..... but one guy sneaked in..... and he stuck out like a sore thumb. They knew he wasn't invited because he wasn't dressed in the attire given to all in attendance. So... when I get to Heaven I will get a new outfit. I'll have a body that will work for every task I am doing.
So what do clothes have to do with the stupidity of the Pharisees and the Sadducees? The way I figure it.... they were among the descendants of Jacob [Israel] who should have been issued those new wedding outfits. They were working in the Temple. They were invited to worship God from the time they were circumcised right after birth. According to what I read here.... the Pharisees and the Sadducees ignored the invitation. They were happy running the show here in the Temple.
So... the tax collectors and prostitutes.... the thieves and liars.... the poor and those who were suffering from leprosy.... anyone who welcomed Jesus..... were given the wedding outfits. They got to go to the feast. It means.... to me..... Gentiles got invited because so many of the descendants of Jacob [Israel] turned down the invitation.
Back when Jesus was born in Bethlehem.... a star led three wise gentiles to Him. The king [the first Herod]learned that these gentiles were looking for the King of the Jews. Now if the Jews were going to have a king.... that might mean trouble for Herod's relationship with Rome. That would not do.... so Herod tried to have Jesus murdered.... but God moved Jesus to Egypt for a while.... until Herod croaked and the Romans divided up the kingdom four ways. The new Herod [the one who murdered John the Baptist] was afraid of Jesus because he thought somehow Jesus was a reincarnation of John the Baptist.
The Pharisees and the Sadducees didn't want anyone tearing up what they had settled into. Jesus caused a problem at the Temple. Who told Him He could go in there and ruin all that inventory and throw all that coin around? They wanted Him gone.
None of them figured Jesus was the Messiah He claimed to be. They were expecting a warrior, like David. I remember, back in the Old Testament... King Saul [the pretty boy king from a good family] that God appointed was said to kill his thousands but David killed his tens of thousands. That's the Messiah they were looking for. They wanted someone to come in and run Rome out of Israel. They wanted someone to come in and get rid of the need to pay tribute [taxes] to Rome. Instead.... Jesus healed the sick, fed the poor, and took in anyone who would listen.
Jesus would rule in peace.
One last little tidbit from my Sunday School teaching days. I love the name of the Sadducees. They made it so easy to teach the children who they were. The Sadducees didn't believe in life after death or Heaven. They thought we live here and then we die and that's it..... and that why the Sadducees "are so Sad You See" . Easy peasy way to remember.....
So I guess this whole chapter isn't really about what clothes we should wear to a wedding.... or if we will know our Uncle Pete in Heaven..... or if our husband will know us.... or should we pay taxes.... which law is good and which is a stumbling block.... it's about Jesus.
He's invited us all to His place for dinner.... I'm excited.... I can't wait for that second notice that says the table is set..... I wonder who else will be there. I guess I'll be excited to see everything and everybody..... so I guess this should be titled "What are you wearing?"
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