Matthew 22

 

Parable of the Marriage Feast

Verses 1-14

In this parable, there are some heart-searching lessons for all to ponder especially for all who call themselves Christians. May we have an ear to hear? The parable talks about the kingdom like a marriage feast. Jesus tells us that a “certain king made a marriage for his son.” Just like a marriage Christ takes us into union with Himself. Those that are in Christ are members of the family of God. We as believers are called the children of God. We are adopted into the holy family. As we are part of the family we have a place in the kingdom of heaven, and one day we will be presented faultless before the throne of God.

The Gospel is preached to all mankind and offered to all people. The invitation to repent and believe the Gospel is broad. In this lesson, Jesus tells us that the king’s servant said to those who were called that everything is ready and to come to the marriage and join the feast. Christ is ready to receive souls into his Kingdom.

The Holy Spirit is ready to sanctify and renew. Angels are ready to rejoice with all heaven, and the Holy Bible is ready to guide men and women. However, the sinner must be ready and willing himself to come to this great marriage feast. The sinner is responsible and must respond to the call of Christ in the Gospel. This parable teaches us that not all who are called will come. The teaching is clear, few enter the straight gate, and all are invited to come.

The Lord Jesus Christ tells us that some, “made light of it, and went their way.” There are many who find no benefit in Christ, no hope in His Gospel, and no peace in the last days of earthly life. They hear the Gospel but do not come to the saviour and thus sadly perish in their sins. Everything matters to them except the salvation of their soul. It is an awful and miserable reality that many will turn their ears away from the call of the Gospel.

The last point that Christ makes in this parable is that all false professors of Him will be condemned on the last day. In the parable, the king came and “saw a man which had not on a wedding garment.” When we are invited to a wedding we turn up in our best clothes out of respect for the bride and bridegroom. The man in the parable was asked how he came to the wedding without a wedding garment. The man did not reply and was taken away. There will always be false professors in the assembly, who are not clothed in Christ’s righteousness.

Nothing but true faith in Christ can save. None but true believers will sit at the marriage feast of the Lamb. All who are found outside of true faith will be judged and cast into outer darkness where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Have we put on Christ? May those heart-searching words ring in our ears, “many are called, but few are chosen.”

Conflict with Pharisees and Herodians

Verses 15-22

We see in this passage the cunning attacks which our Lord suffered during his ministry on earth. His enemies were the Pharisees. They were focused on one goal, to silence Christ. They asked Him a hard question aiming to entice Christ to answer something that would give them cause to accuse Him. We have this in our society today. We hear far too often of street preachers being accused of something after preaching the Gospel in the open air and talking publicly about Christ.

Look careful at the language of Christ’s enemies. They called Him, “Master” a term of honour and respect. They said that they knew that Jesus was true and a teacher in the ways of God’s truth. They used smooth and sweet words. These Pharisees and Herodians know how to sweet talk someone.

The Herodians were a Jewish party that supported the Herodian dynasty. They were a party of peace at all costs even if that meant appeasement of Rome. This is the only mention of this group in Matthew’s Gospel.

This passage of Scripture warns all Christian people to be on their guard against all forms of flattery. Christian soul be careful the devil knows how to poison and destroy souls with words of flattery. The devil is never so dangerous as when he appears as an angel of light. Joseph Smith believed he saw a divine light instead he met with Satan and created a false religion that sends millions to hell. There are at least sixteen million members of this cult worldwide.

Going back to the matter at hand it is clear that this flattery is intended to provoke Christ into criticising paying taxes to the Romans. Listen to the great wisdom in Christ’s response. If Christ would have said that it was not lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, then he would have been denounced as a rebel. Christ demanded to see the “tribute money” which confused them. He asked them whose head was on the coin. This allowed them to recognise the authority of Caesar. Christ told them to render to Caesar whatever is his and render to God the things that belong to God.

We have a duty and responsibility to the civil government. The government is put in place to keep the peace and to punish evil doers. We may not approve of the civil government, but they must be obeyed in temporal matters as long as they are not encouraging you to disobey Scripture. There are many things that are legal, but not right. There are many things that are illegal, but right. Our authority is God, not man. We must do all that is in our power to live the Christian life here on earth. We must lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty just like 1 Timothy 2:2 teaches us to do.

 

 

What about the resurrection?

Verses 23-33

The passage before us describes a conversation between Christ and the Sadducees. The Sadducees believed that there was “no resurrection.” They continued like the Pharisees and Herodians in the previous passage to try to perplex our Lord with a difficult question. Again, their aim was to damage the reputation of Christ among the people.

They told Him that a certain woman had married seven men in succession, all who died without children. They asked Christ whose wife she will be in the resurrection. The aim of the question is clear to see that they meant to bring the doctrine of the resurrection into contempt.

Supposed cases are the most common way unbelieving minds entrench Scripture. Such minds will overlook the overwhelming evidence that supports Christianity. They will hold to questions that they find unanswerable to support their unbelief. However, the arguments should not shake our faith as we ought to remember there is an agenda behind such minds of unbelief. There are many unmistakable truths in the Bible. Let us believe them and obey them. It is easy to doubt and sometimes hard to believe. Remember we are not commanded in Scripture to understand everything. Some doctrines we must believe by faith and trust in the God who cannot lie and is all true.

May it settle in our mind that the dead are in one sense still alive. Although they are hidden from our eyes they are seen by God. Those who have died in Christ are alive now more than they were on earth. There is no such thing as annihilation. The ungodly are in a state of judgment under God’s wrath, and the godly are in a state of rejoicing under the loving care of God. May we never forget this!

Our Lord teaches us that in the resurrection there are no marriages, no births, no death, no sickness, and no pain. All will be healthy, healed, and made whole in Christ. We shall be “as the angels of God.” Like them, we shall be in God’s presence forever more. Like them, we shall delight to do God’s will. Like them, we shall give all glory to the Lamb of God.

Are we ready to serve Christ? Are we ready for the Christian life of worship and service? Are we ready to be the Christian men and women Christ wants us to be?

The Great Commandment in the Law

Verses 34-46

In these verses, we read about a lawyer who asked Jesus a question concerning the law. He asked Jesus what the greatest commandment of the law is. This question did not come from a friendly spirit. However, we ought to be thankful that this happened as the answer our Lord gives contains much wisdom for us today. What the devil meant for evil the Lord meant for good. Here we see how good may come out of evil.

Here we see our duty toward God and our fellow man as Christian people. Jesus tells us to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. This commandment seems to be impossible to obey. This commandment shows us that we have failed to obey not only the first and great commandments of God, but have fallen short in all of God’s laws. We are spiritually bankrupt before a Holy God. This is why we need a new heart and to be born again; born of God.

We are commanded to love God with our hearts, soul, and mind. This means we are to love God by how we feel about God (heart), with our desires (soul), and with our thoughts (mind). This does not come naturally to us as we are all born with a rebellious nature towards God. This is why we need a new heart and to be born again; born of God.

Love is at the heart of true obedience to God. We ought to feel love towards God as we do for our parents. Not everyone has the experience of loving and good parents, but if we do our feelings about them ought to be similar to God. His commandments are not grievous to keep, if we are seeking to honour and worship God. We keep the law of God best when we do it from the heart.

Love is also at the heart of the right view and behaviour towards our fellow man. If we love our neighbour, we will not seek to do our neighbour any harm, or injury. The one who loves his neighbour will seek to lighten sorrows and promote his comfort, happiness, and well-being. We love God and show that love towards others because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). We shall never love our neighbour correctly until our hearts have been changed by the Holy Spirit. We are born selfish, hateful, and hating one another (Titus 3:3) but when we are changed by God we have a new life, the old has passed away.

There is much these days about, “love”, but not many can define what love is. We have a carnal and self-centred view of love today and as long as there is “love” anything and everything is ok. This is the twisted view and form of love that is believed and promoted today. This is not love but lust, passion, and sinful pride. We have made “love” into a god. So no longer God is love, but that love is god.

The concluding verses contain a question put to the Pharisees by Jesus that we must answer also. What think ye of Christ? Whose son, is He? The reply that was given was, “The son of David.” In the Book of Psalms David writes, “The LORD said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies my footstool” (Psalm 110:1). Jesus explains if David called him Lord, how is He his son? Jesus teaches the application of this Psalm to the utter amazement of those who heard it. The Messiah is pre-existing and divine.

With this in mind let us apply this to ourselves. What do ye think of Christ? A better way of asking this question is what does Christ mean to you? Does the life and death of Christ mean anything to you? Does the cross of Christ feature in your daily thoughts?

For all those who call themselves Christian, Christ is precious. It is through the precious blood of Christ that we are without blemish and spot (1 Peter 1:19). We by faith in Christ are precious to God (1 Peter 2:4) and Christ is precious to us (1 Peter 2:6-7). If Christ is not in your thoughts then look unto Him who is precious. May we not rest until we give a satisfactory answer. May we put this to the test. Is Christ precious to you? What think ye of Christ?