Matthew 21:23-22:14

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 5:1-7

Introduction

We’ve Got a Big Text to Cover, So Let’s Jump Right into it

Matthew 21:23-22:14

Last Time, We Saw Jesus Prophetically Curse the Fruitless Fig Tree

The Fig Tree Represents the Religious Leaders of Israel

They Looked Righteous, Holy, Devout…

But They were Fruitless

Matthew Tells Us of the Cursing of the Fig Tree…

To Set Us Up for What’s to Follow

The Religious Leaders are Going to Question Jesus’ Authority…

And Then He’s Going to Respond to Them with 3 Parables

Each of the 3 Parables are about God’s Rejection…

Of the Wicked/Fruitless Leaders of Israel

Matthew 21:23 (NASB95)

23 When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?”

This is Likely Tuesday of the Last Week of Jesus’ Mortal Life

He’s in the Temple Again

The Religious Leaders Approach Him and Ask Him:

“By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?”

Matthew Doesn’t Tell Us What They Mean By “These Things”…

But They could Be Referring to Any/All of the Things Jesus has Recently Done:

Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

Healing the Blind/Lame in the Temple

Cleansing the Temple

Or, More Likely, They’re Referring to…

The Teaching He was Currently Doing in the Temple

He was Teaching in the Temple as a Rabbi

They Want to Know What Authority He had to Be Teaching…

And Where He Got that Authority

They Knew Jesus had Never Received Any Formal Training…

From Their Rabbinic Schools

And When He Taught, He Never Cited Any Previous Rabbis…

In Order to Establish His Authority

According to the Jewish Leaders…

Jesus had No Credentials/Authority to Be Teaching

Let’s See How Jesus Responded:

Matthew 21:24–27 (NASB95)

24 Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 “The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 26 “But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet.” 27 And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Jesus Agrees to Answer Their Question…

If They First Answer His

The Question was Essentially this:

“Where Did John Get His Authority?”

“From Heaven/God or From Men?”

They Knew They were Trapped

“We Can’t Say from Heaven…”

“Because Then We’d Be Admitting that We Knowingly Disobeyed God”

“We Can’t Say from Men…”

“Because Then We’ll Lose Our Credibility with the People…”

“Because They Believe John was a Prophet Sent from God”

So They Chose the Coward’s Answer:

“We Don’t Know”

This Interaction Alone should’ve Been Enough…

To Prove that They have No Business Being Religious Leaders

They’ve Admitted that They Don’t Know the Difference…

Between the Authority of God & Men

But, By Refusing to Answer, They have Answered

They’ve Rejected the Ministry of John…

Who was the Forerunner for Jesus

Therefore, They’ve Rejected Jesus

And for Their Rejection of God’s Messenger & Messiah…

They will Be Rejected By God

That’s Exactly What Jesus is Going to Communicate to Them in the Following Parables

Matthew 21:28–32 (NASB95)

28 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ 29 “And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 “The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go.

That’s a Pretty Simple Parable, Right?

A Father Asks His 2 Sons to Go Work in the Vineyard

The 1st Says “No”, But Regrets it & Ends Up Obeying

The 2nd Says “Yes”, But Never Obeys

31 “Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. 32 “For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.

The 1st Son Represents the Sinners Who Repented and Accepted the Gospel

At First They were Living Wickedly & Rebelliously Against God

But When God Sent His Messenger & Messiah…

They Believed the Gospel Message…

And Repented of Their Sin & Began Obeying God

The 2nd Son Represents the Religious Leaders

They Claimed to Be the Ones Who were Obeying God

They Claimed to Be the Righteous/Holy/Devout Ones

They Claimed to Be the Ones Who were Faithfully Waiting for the Messiah

But, in Reality, They weren’t Obeying God at All

And When God’s Messiah Arrived, They Completely Rejected Him

The Wicked Sinners (Present Tense) “are Getting into” the Kingdom…

Before the Religious Leaders

They were Recognizing the Authority of John & Jesus…

And Repenting & Accepting the Gospel

The Religious Leaders Weren’t

Let’s Look at the 2nd Parable

Matthew 21:33 (NASB95)

33 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey.

In His Description of the Vineyard…

(Wall, Wine Press, Tower)

Jesus Seems to Be Referring to Isaiah 5

In Isaiah 5, The Vineyard Represents God’s Kingdom, Israel

They were Supposed to Produce Good Grapes…

But They Only Produced Worthless Grapes

So God would Destroy His Vineyard/Kingdom/Israel

Jesus is Hinting to Us By His Subtle Reference of Isaiah 5…

That He’s Going to Make a Similar Point with His Parable

Matthew 21:34–41 (NASB95)

34 “When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. 35 “The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. 36 “Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. 37 “But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

38 “But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ 39 “They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 “Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” 41 They said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.”

So, a Landowner Plants a Vineyard and Places Workers in it

But, When the Owner Sent His Slaves…

To Collect His Money From the Produce…

The Workers Beat Them, Killed Them, and Stoned Them

After a Couples Rounds of Sending Slaves…

The Owner Sent His Son, Thinking the Workers would Respect Him

The Workers Likely Thought that the Owner had Died…

So the Son is Coming to Claim the Vineyard as His Inheritance

They Thought, if We Kill the Heir, the Vineyard will Be Ours

So Jesus Asks the Chief Priests & Elders:

“What Do You Think the Owner is Going to Do to Those Workers?”

“He’ll Give Those Wretched People to a Wretched End…”

“And Put New Workers in the Vineyard that will Give Him His Money”

They Didn’t Even Realize that They were Foretelling…

Their Own Condemnation and Replacement in the Kingdom

Jesus’ Parable is a Little Different than Isaiah’s

In Both Parables, the Vineyard Represents God’s Kingdom

But in Jesus’ Parable, the Vineyard/Kingdom will Not Be Destroyed

The Workers will Be Destroyed & Replaced By Others

Owner of the Vineyard = God

Workers in the Vineyard = The Religious Leaders of Israel

Slaves Who were Sent By the Owner = The Prophets…

Who were Murdered By Israel’s Religious Leaders Throughout Israel’s History

Son of the Owner = Jesus, Who will Soon Be Killed By Israel’s Religious Leaders

Replacement Workers = Those Who Do the Will of the Owner, Producing His Fruit

Matthew 21:42–44 (NASB95)

42 Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone; This came about from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes’? 43 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. 44 “And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

Jesus Quotes from Psalm 118, Saying:

The Builders/Religious Leaders have Rejected the Chief Cornerstone/Jesus

They were Meant to Be the Builders of God’s Kingdom

But They Rejected the Foundational Stone…

Without Which, the Kingdom Can’t Be Built at All

There is No Kingdom Without the King

So Those Worthless/Wicked Workers…

Will Be Replaced with Workers Who Exalt the Chief Cornerstone…

And Produce the Fruit of the Kingdom

Matthew 21:45–46 (NASB95)

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. 46 When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet.

They’re Finally Starting to Catch On…

And They Want to Arrest Him (Fulfilling the Parable They Just Heard)

But They’re Too Afraid to Do Anything about it at this Moment

Let’s Look at the 3rd & Final Parable

Matthew 22:1–10 (NASB95)

1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. 3 “And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come.

4 “Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.” ’ 5 “But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, 6 and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.

7 “But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. 8 “Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 ‘Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ 10 “Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.

In this 3rd Parable, the Kingdom/Reign/Rule of God…

Is Described as a Wedding Banquet for the King’s Son

This was a Royal Event that Only Certain People would Be Invited to Attend

According to Custom, the King Sends Out 2 Invitations

1st is the Official Invitation to Inform Those Who are Invited

2nd is the Invitation Stating that the Banquet is Now Ready

To Both Invitations, the Invitees Refuse to Come

They are Either Preoccupied or Uninterested

Some Even Attacked and Killed the Messengers

Such a Rejection to the King’s Act of Grace…

Would have Been a Direct Insult to the King’s Honor

So He Responds By Destroying Those Who Rejected His Invitation…

And Burning Down Their City

Then He has His Slaves Go Out…

And Invite Anyone & Everyone Who will Come to the Banquet

We should Be Seeing the Analogy By Now:

The King = God

His Son = Jesus

The Banquet = The Messianic Fellowship Banquet of Being Citizens of the Kingdom

The Invitees = The Religious Leaders of Israel

So, the King/God Invites All Kinds of People to His Banquet/Kingdom

But, What Inevitably Happens When…

You Invite All Kinds of People…

To a Royal Wedding Banquet?

All Kinds of People Show Up

Some Who Accept the Invitation will Be “Good”

Some Who Accept the Invitation will Not

What Happens When Someone Enters the Banquet…

But has No Intention on Conforming to the Norms of the Banquet?

Jesus also Addresses that in the Parable

Matthew 22:11–14 (NASB95)

11 “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, 12 and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. 13 “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw 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.”

The King Finds a Man Who was Not Dressed in Proper Wedding Attire

When Asked Why, the Man had No Excuse to Give

So He was Thrown Out of the Banquet

Application

The Main Idea of this Large Context We’ve Just Studied is:

Because the Religious Leaders have Rejected the Messiah…

And His God-Given Authority…

They are Rejected By God & Will Be Destroyed & Replaced

Kingdom Citizenship will Be Offered to All People (Entire World)

And Those Who Believe/Obey the Gospel/Produce Fruit…

Will Inherit the Eternal Kingdom

There are So Many Great Lessons that could Be Taken from this Large Context

But Let’s Just Focus on the Last Thing that Jesus Said:

“For Many are Called, But Few are Chosen”?

What Does that Mean?

“Many/All are Invited…”

“But Few Take the Demands of Discipleship/Citizenship Seriously”

When it Comes to God’s Kingdom…

You Don’t Get to have Your Cake & Eat it Too

You Don’t Get to Be a Citizen on Your Own Terms

To Follow Jesus Anyway You Like…

Is to Not Follow Him at All

God Graciously Invites Everyone to Be Citizens of His Kingdom

But Only Those Who Commit/Devote Themselves to the Kingdom Lifestyle…

Will Receive the Blessings/Inheritance of the Kingdom

It’s Not Just the Religious Leaders of Israel & Those like Them…

Who Reject Jesus & the Gospel…

Who are Rejected By God & Denied Kingdom Citizenship

It’s Also Those Who Accept the Gracious Gospel…

But Refuse to Conform to the Transformed Lifestyle of Jesus

Jesus Describes Their Fate as:

Outer Darkness

Weeping & Gnashing of Teeth

Christians, Do You Take Your Citizenship Seriously?