Members Submit to Jesus

ME (A hook):

Now that fall is here.

We are starting to get those cold nights.

Anyone else here start turning their heat on at night?

It is kinda crazy to think about, right?

Whether you heat with wood, pellets, fuel, or propane.

It is essentially the power of fire contained and directed in a purposeful and beneficial way.

But we all know how the power of fire when not contained properly,

Can cause great destruction and havoc.

Even worse,

Some can take fire,

And use it against others,

Causing even greater pain and suffering.

Fire illustrates well the subject of authority.

In one sense,

The Bible shows that God is our perfect authority,

And that is a great comfort.

However, authority is not a pleasant subject for everyone.

Many people have been abused by authority figures,

They should have been able to trust.

Resulting in deep wounds.

Perhaps you have been taken advantage of or mistreated,

By someone you wanted to obey.

It could have been a parent or an older sibling,

Maybe a spouse or a boyfriend or girlfriend,

Perhaps it was a teacher or boss or a leader in the church.

Whatever the source,

When mistreatment comes from an authority figure it causes great suffering and hurt.

Sadly, the problem of abusive authority is far too prominent in our world.

But this does not mean we are to completely disregard the concept of authority altogether.

Because God ultimately uses His authority for our good.

Therefore we can trust Him.

And if we are members of Christ’s body,

Then we Submit to Jesus fully and without any reservations.

And when we do,

We will find joy and peace.

This is the topic we are exploring in Matt. 21:23-22:46.

Slide

Our outline for this passage is...

Some Doubt Jesus (Matt. 21:23-27)

Some Deny Jesus (Matt. 21:28-22:14)

Some Test Jesus (Matt. 22:15-40)

All Answer to Jesus (Matt. 22:41-46)

How will you answer to Jesus?

Throughout this Gospel,

Matthew has sought to make it abundantly clear that Jesus is the Messiah,

The Christ, the Promised Savior the entire OT points to.

In our passage this morning,

Matthew continues his narrative with some controversial pronouncements from Jesus,

In response to some who do not submit to His authority.

WE (21:23-27) (Why does this matter to us?):

Slide

First, in vs. 23-27,

We see that Some Doubt Jesus.

In John 5, Jesus says,

God the Father had given Him authority to do everything He did throughout His life and ministry.

In our passage last week,

We saw an example of that authority.

Jesus accepted praise and worship from the people and children,

And He cleansed the temple.

After all these things,

The religious leaders ask in vs. 23,

“By what authority are you doing these things?

Who gave you this authority?”

They wanted to know if the things Jesus was doing were actually from God.

This is so relevant to our context today.

So many people wonder,

“Is Christianity truly from God,

Or just some made up religion?”

This is not merely some sort of innocent doubt.

Slide

That is why Jesus answers their question with a question about John the Baptist.

Whether John’s message was from heaven or humankind.

He is forcing their hand,

To uncover their hearts.

John had said that the Christ would pour out the Spirit on His disciples,

And punish the unrepentant with a fiery judgment.

And that Jesus is the Christ.

The Jewish leaders already rejected John’s message.

But as we see in vs. 25,

They knew if they admit that John was a prophet,

Then they would be acknowledging Jesus’ authority as well.

This is how we know their doubt comes from a place of unbelief.

Likewise, when we have unbelief,

We will often have misplaced fear,

Just like the religious leaders here.

They do not fear God,

Rather, they have an greater fear of people.

They knew the people respected John.

So, they feared that rejecting John would turn the people against them.

This misplaced fear stemming from their unbelief is what led them to doubt Jesus.

It is the same thing that leads many people to doubts Jesus today.

So, the question each of us must face is,

Will we let unbelief and the fear of others control us?

Or will we trust Jesus enough to submit to Him?

If we have any doubt in Jesus,

Then we will answer answer to the question about who Jesus is,

Just as the religious leaders answer here,

“We do not know.”

And Jesus will say,

“Neither do I know you.”

GOD (21:28-22:14) (Teach the text):

But doubt is not our only problem,

In vs. 28-22:14,

Jesus gives three parables to teach how Some Deny Him.

Slide

The first parable,

The parable of the two sons,

Shows a father,

Who symbolizes God,

Commanding his two sons to work the vineyard,

With two completely different reactions.

Initially, the first son tells the father he doesn’t want to do as the father commanded.

But later,

He changes his mind and goes and works the vineyard.

Slide

He symbolizes repentant sinners,

Like tax collectors and prostitutes.

Because sinners initially rebel against God’s Word,

But after repenting,

They change their mind and their heart,

And obey God.

But unlike the first son,

The second son ultimately denies the father.

He symbolizes the religious leaders.

As Jesus says in vs. 32,

Even after hearing John the baptist’s message,

They still do not believe and repent,

Despite claiming obedience to God.

So, Jesus exposes their hypocrisy through this parable.

With their lips,

They say they love God,

But clearly their hearts were far from Him.

They did not submit to Him and His will for them.

They were the second son,

Who say “yes” with their mouths,

But “no” with their lives.

They demonstrate how some deny Jesus.

But the the first son reminds us,

There are some who genuinely turn from their sin,

And trust in God.

Slide

The second parable,

The parable of the tenants,

Draws out the hard hearts of the religious leaders,

This parable is based on Isaiah 5:1-2, which says,

Isaiah 5:1–2 ESV

Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.

Here in Isaiah,

The leaders of God’s people were expected to care for God’s vineyard.

But they rejected God,

And instead, the vineyard yielded wild grapes.

Slide

Here in Matthew,

Jesus is picking up this same idea with a parable.

And the comparisons are pretty straightforward.

God is the landowner.

The vineyard is His kingdom.

The servants are the OT prophets.

The son is Jesus.

And the tenants who are renting the land are the religious leaders.

In vs. 34,

The time to harvest came.

Slide

So, the landowner sent his servants to collect his fruit.

But the tenants beat and stoned and killed them.

So, the landowner sends more servants,

But the tenants do the same to them.

Finally, the landowner sends his son.

But the farmers kill him too,

Thinking they would get his inheritance.

This foreshadows how the Jewish leaders would deny God’s Son, Jesus,

And have Him crucified on the cross.

Slide

Not realizing this story was about them,

Jesus asks them,

“When the owner comes,

What will he do to the tenants?”

They emphatically respond that the landowner must completely destroy those miserable men,

And give the vineyard to others who will give him his fruit at the harvest.

They essentially admitted their own guilt,

Affirmed their own destruction as right,

And agree with Jesus’ teaching,

That God must take His kingdom from them,

And entrust it to the Church.

Slide

So, Jesus responds in vs. 42,

By quoting Psalm 118:22-23 as a judgment upon them.

The image from this psalm is that of a stone being rejected as worthless by builders,

But later becoming the cornerstone,

The most important part of a structure.

It foreshadows how Jesus gets rejected by the Jewish leaders,

Though He is the focal point of God’s Kingdom.

The fact that this was predicted in the Psalm,

Means God planned to have His Son despised, rejected, and forsaken.

And as a result,

The kingdom would be taken from the Jews,

And given to a new people of God that included Gentiles,

Called the church,

The body of Christ.

Therefore, whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces,

And whoever it falls on will be crushed.

Jesus is alluding to multiple OT prophecies,

Claiming to be God,

And the founder of God’s Kingdom,

Which will destroy all other earthly kingdoms.

At the same time,

He is pointing out how these religious leaders are,

As was prophesied,

Opposed to His Kingdom.

Slide

The third parable,

The parable of the wedding feast,

Begins ch. 22.

Once again,

The king represents God,

The son represents Jesus,

The servants are the prophets,

And the wedding banquet is the great feast during the Messiah’s reign.

Slide

In the parable,

The king sends his servants to summon those who were invited,

But they denied the king’s invites because they didn’t want to come.

Some were just too busy,

Others mistreated the servants,

Even killing them.

Slide

In response,

The king was enraged,

So, he killed the murderers,

And burnt their city down,

Portraying the eternal punishment of hell.

But after the city is destroyed,

The king sends his servants to invite everyone they find on the main roads,

Both good and evil.

And they all were accepting the invitation,

Resulting in the wedding banquet being filled with guests!

These guests represent the members of Christ’s body,

Who have been invited into the kingdom,

Despite how unworthy we are.

Slide

But in vs. 11,

The parable takes a shift.

The king finds a person who is not dressed for the wedding.

So, he casts the man into the outer darkness,

Where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Let’s just pause here for a moment.

Do not just hear these words from a fictional king.

Hear them from the mouth of God.

First, hear God invite you to be with Him forever.

He invites you to His kingdom,

To His feast,

To enjoy Him and His good and perfect gifts.

But, you only get to take part in His feast,

If you are properly dressed for the wedding.

So, how do you get the proper clothing for the wedding?

Slide

Revelation 19:8 says,

To the bride of Christ,

Revelation 19:8 ESV

it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

So, you get in when you are clothed with righteousness.

But how can that be,

If the Bible says your righteous works are considered filthy rags?

Because, God says,

You clothe yourself in righteousness,

By grace through faith in your groom,

Jesus Christ.

Which happens when you hear the gospel invitation,

And truly accept in your heart.

He will know if you lack true faith and repentance,

And like this wedding guest,

You will end up in the outer darkness,

Punished for all eternity,

Separated from God,

Lonely forever.

There is no middle ground between heaven and hell.

This wedding guest confronts our cultural idea of “nominal Christianity.”

Many today will profess Christ,

But their lives show no evidence of saving faith.

Because they are ungrateful to God,

And when you try to confront their stubbornness,

It reveals a deep-seated rebellion against God and His authority.

They do not find joy in God,

They have no desire to read His Word,

Or to hear His Word.

They pursue the fleeting and empty false joys this world offers.

Only to end up miserable and angry at God.

Because in the end,

Their denial of Jesus will have eternal ramifications.

That is who this wedding guest represents.

A nominal Christian who denies Jesus in their heart,

Only to be denied, rejected, and forsaken by God,

And cast into the excruciating pain of the outer darkness,

To suffer alone forever.

This is the horrifying fate of all who deny Jesus.

So, when you hear God’s gospel invitation,

Accept it both with your mouth,

And in your heart,

With true, genuine repentance.

Slide

Jesus ends this parable in vs. 14 with a challenging statement,

“Many are called but few are chosen.”

This is where we get the theological idea of effectual calling.

It is a way for our limited human minds,

To understand the mysterious miracle of conversion.

First, the Holy Spirit illuminates our minds to God’s Word,

Which softens our hard hearts,

Then regenerates our souls,

Resulting in a transformed will.

The Bible teaches this entire process as a result of the sovereign work of God,

Effectually performed by the Holy Spirit,

Who calls those who are brought to faith,

And converted to Christ.

And we are in desperate need of this regeneration.

Because the Bible teaches that all human beings are by nature dead.

It is only through this effectual calling that God gives life to the dead,

Making Jesus Christ our greatest love and affection.

You see, when our souls are regenerated,

Our will gets set free from slavery to sin,

To choose God and His ways.

And as a result,

We are empowered by the Spirit to turn away from our former way of life,

And instead,

Live a new life,

Growing in Christlikeness.

But everyone else,

As the parable warns,

Will deny Jesus.

YOU (15-40) (Response):

And just as some deny Jesus,

Slide

Vs. 15-40 demonstrates how Some Test Jesus.

The Pharisees are plotting how to trap Jesus with His own Words.

So, they try flattering Jesus,

Calling Him Teacher,

Then telling Him that they know He teaches the Word of God truthfully,

And He shows no partiality.

They are hoping this flattery might distract Him somehow,

As they trap Him with a question about taxes.

Everyone’s favorite subject!

You may think you are no more a fan of taxes today then the people were back then.

But in their context,

Roman taxation was far more hated.

It was a symbol of their oppression to Rome.

Every family was taxed on just about every commodity imaginable.

And Jews actually endured what was essentially a double taxation,

Because they had to pay the Roman taxes,

And religious taxes.

Some have estimated that they were paying as high as 12.5 percent sales tax to Rome.

Jewish households are believed to have had an additional tax on top of that.

Plus their 10 percent tithe,

The other various taxes required for transporting goods,

And annual taxes.

Add it all up,

And it is assumed by most that about 40 percent of a Jewish family’s income was going to taxes.

Even Roman historians from the first century wrote how this tax burden on the Jews was crushing.

And they had no choice.

If they ever tried to refuse paying taxes,

They were met with physical punishment.

So, the Pharisees knew what they were doing.

This question had a lot of strong emotions tied to it.

To simply say the Jews didn’t like paying taxes,

Doesn’t fully express how deeply they resented them.

So, Jesus’ answer would have deep political ramifications.

If He simply advocated for paying taxes,

He would have alienated the Jews who felt all this resentment,

By seeming to support Roman occupation in Israel.

But if He encouraged not paying,

He likely would have been accused of treason against Rome.

And there would be serious consequences for His insubordination.

Slide

So, as Jesus often does,

He perceives their malicious intent,

Takes a question meant to trap Him,

Asks them why they are testing Him,

Then brings the discussion to a deeper level,

To the heart level of who our allegiance is to.

Since the currency had the image of Caesar on it,

Jesus says,

It belongs to Caesar.

So, give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.

Essentially affirming that yes,

We should pay taxes,

Even if it is to an idolatrous government.

But, Jesus implies,

People are made in the image of God.

Therefore, people belong to God,

So, our ultimate allegiance must be to God.

This answer leaves the Pharisees stunned in amazement.

Slide

But they were hoping to trap Jesus.

Because they are power hungry and prideful.

This was their motive for testing Jesus.

In the next chapter,

Jesus lists out a series of blistering critiques for these self-righteous Pharisees.

But all throughout the gospels,

We see them refuse to submit to Jesus,

Because it would require them to lose the power they held in the eyes of the people.

It would have been a fatal blow to their egos.

And this same motive exists today.

Some refuse to submit to Jesus,

Because they want to hold power over their own lives,

And the lives of others.

Again, they may even claim to know God,

But at their core,

Like these Pharisees,

They are nothing more than a hypocrite.

Slide

A second motive is that some are too worldly or materialistic.

We see this from the Sadducees.

Vs 23 says they did not believe in the resurrection,

Which means they did not believe in an afterlife.

They were too worldly.

As a result,

They lived for wealth and possessions and materialism,

Because they believed this life is all there was.

They were seeking to,

As prosperity preachers would say,

“Live their best life now.”

This is what spurs on the strange question they ask Jesus about a woman marrying seven brothers,

Slide

Asking Jesus,

In the resurrection,

Which of the seven will she be married to?

This clearly gets at their doubt about the resurrection,

And is meant to test Jesus.

Slide

Right from the jump,

Jesus tells them they are mistaken.

Because like angels,

People are eternal beings,

Therefore, Jesus says,

Earthly marriages are not eternal.

At first,

If you are in a healthy marriage,

You may not like the sound of this.

But rest assured,

Your relationship with your spouse will be even better in eternity than it is in this life,

Despite there being no marriages in eternity.

Because in the resurrection,

You will know Christ,

You will be overwhelmed with joy,

And be in God’s presence forever.

It will be a time of no sorrow,

No sadness,

And all relationships will be perfect.

Slide

Jesus continues in vs. 31-32,

To fully explain to the Sadducees why they are wrong.

Since the Sadducees only accepted the first five books of the Bible as God’s Word,

They did not believe in any of the resurrection prophecies in books like Isaiah and Daniel.

So, Jesus intentionally asks,

“Have you not read Exodus 3:6?”

This is where God speaks to Moses in the burning bush.

It is a particularly revered portion of Scripture to the Sadducees.

In it, God says He is God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

By the time God spoke to Moses,

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had been dead a long time.

Yet God spoke to Moses in the present tense.

He did not say He was God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

He said He is their God.

So, Jesus was taking this Scripture,

And shows the Sadducees how God implied that their ancestors still existed during the time of Moses.

To which Jesus added that they still exist during the NT time.

Because God is not the God of the dead,

But of the living.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were alive during the time of Moses,

They were alive during the NT time,

And they are alive today.

Because the eternal God calls His members to eternal life in an eternal relationship with Himself.

Once again,

Jesus’ teaching leaves His audience astonished.

All who trust in Christ in this life,

Continue to live in God’s presence forever.

But if you have this worldly or materialistic heart like the Sadducees,

You will be blinded to the reality of the resurrection,

The truth of eternal life,

The hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Slide

Lastly, we see one final motive in vs. 34-40,

Some are deceived by knowledge or experience,

And are cold-hearted.

It says,

When the Pharisees hear Jesus silence the Sadducees,

They join together with the Sadducees.

Together, they send someone who was a supposed expert in the law.

Ironically, he missed the One the entire law points to,

The One Who was standing right in front of him.

Here we have this lawyer,

Who has a head full of knowledge,

And likely many years of experience,

Yet he is deceived,

And His heart is cold.

But he asks Jesus which commandment is the greatest.

Slide

Jesus initially answers by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5.

That you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.

This passage is known as the Shema.

It was something faithful Jews would recite every day.

The second, Jesus says,

Comes from Lev. 19:18,

To love your neighbor as yourself,

Another command this expert would know.

All of the law and the prophets, Jesus says,

The entire OT depends on these two commands.

Love for God and others fulfills the entirety of God’s law.

Slide

This is similar to what Rom. 13:8-10 teaches,

Romans 13:8–10 ESV

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Notice it does not say the dissolving or discarding of the law.

No, love fulfills, illumines, and deepens God’s law.

Slide

Jesus said this about Himself back in 5:17,

Matthew 5:17 ESV

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

You see,

The Bible teaches,

As beings created in the image of God,

We are subject to His law.

But He created us in such a way that obedience to His law brings the highest joy to both God and humankind.

But because of sin,

Our hearts are cold, hardened, and fallen.

This causes us to inherently hate God’s law,

Compelling us to rebel against God.

So, Jesus is teaching us,

How He transforms our hearts,

Fostering a love for God’s law,

And a greater desire to follow it.

This is a key part of the Holy Spirit’s ministry.

The Spirit leads us into a greater degree of obedience that is not possible for us without His influence.

Slide

Rom. 7:6 explains this,

Romans 7:6 ESV

But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

The written code is God’s law,

And it is all throughout the Bible.

We have the books of Moses,

The messages from the prophets,

The teachings of Jesus,

And the letters in the NT.

All compiled together into the Bible,

Reflecting the character of God,

And His purposes for human beings created in His image.

This is what He is commanding,

And all of this is fulfilled,

Jesus says, by loving God and loving your neighbor.

Christ does not discard God’s law,

He deepens it,

Reapplying it to the new life as members of His Body,

Where we are joined and knit together by the presence of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us,

And compelling us to live sanctified lives amid a world that is hostile toward God and one another.

Without Him,

God’s law demands every person to perfectly and completely obey all of the law.

And Jesus teaches,

That we do not just obey God’s law in action,

But we must obey with our hearts,

And our desires.

This is why Jesus condemns the hypocritical religious leaders,

Who obey outwardly,

But hide their inner corruption.

That is the case with this expert here.

He clearly knows the commands,

But he sadly misses their application.

He does not truly love God with all his heart,

If he did,

He would recognize the love of God manifested right before him in Jesus.

He would recognize Jesus’ love for him.

But because he was deceived by knowledge and experience,

And was cold-hearted,

He denied Jesus,

And sought to trap Jesus with a test.

This is the third and final motive for testing Jesus.

WE (41-46) (Paint a picture of the future):

Slide

But this passage ends in vs. 41-46,

With Jesus showing how we All Answer to Jesus.

Throughout these verses,

Several different religious leaders have doubted Jesus, denied Jesus, and tested Jesus.

So, in the end,

Jesus turns the table on them with His own question,

Focused on the crucial issue of the Messiah’s identity.

In vs. 42,

He asks them what they think about the Christ, the Messiah.

They say He is David’s son.

So, Jesus quotes Psalm 110:1,

Showing them how their view of the Messiah is limited.

The Christ is not just the son of David.

He is the anointed one.

The Messiah was chosen for God’s service.

He is authorized by God to provide salvation for God’s people.

He is the righteous Servant of the Lord.

So, even though the Messiah is the Son of David,

Even David calls Him Lord,

Making the Messiah David’s superior,

Making Him the Son of God.

Jesus is forcing the religious leaders to consider how even David spoke about this mysterious reality.

How the Messiah would be both a human,

As the Son of David,

And God,

As David’s Lord.

Slide

So, in the end,

No one was able to answer Jesus.

Jesus just laid out the truth,

And they had no reply.

Their Messiah,

The God-man,

Jesus Christ,

Was standing right before them,

And His infinitely perfect wisdom left them dumbfounded.

So, from that day forward,

No one dared to try and test Jesus again.

Slide

This raises three questions about Jesus that each of us must answer.

First, is He the Christ?

In other words,

Do we believe He is the promised Messiah,

The promised Savior of the world?

Second, is He the Son of God?

Do we believe that Jesus was more than just a prophet?

A teacher?

A human?

That He is, in fact, God?

And third, Is He the Lord of your heart?

Have you truly submitted to Jesus?

Not just in your head or with your mouth,

But with your heart?

As we have seen in our passage this morning,

Regardless of what some of these religious leaders think in their head,

Or say with their mouth,

Some doubt Jesus,

Some test Jesus,

And some deny Jesus.

When we deny Jesus,

We deny God’s perfect authority,

And we’re denying God’s Spirit.

Jesus said in vs. 43,

David was inspired by the Spirit to write the Psalm.

This is true of the entire Bible.

It is all God’s inspired Word.

So, when we deny what this says,

We are denying God, Jesus, and the Spirit.

As tragically sad this is,

It is not surprising.

Because Jesus will always be denied by some.

This truth plays out through the end of Matthew’s Gospel.

Jesus is rejected by the religious leaders and the crowds,

And He is crucified.

Despite His seemingly universal denial,

The fact that He is God,

And His absolute authority is finally proven in the most unexpected way.

When Jesus is denied by the Father.

Because then Jesus is despised and rejected by all.

Think about that for a moment.

This reality,

Makes Jesus a marvelously sympathetic Lord and Savior.

Because we all have been despised,

We all have experienced rejection.

For some of us,

It has come from our own parents.

For others it has come from a sibling.

Perhaps it came from a friend, or all your friends.

Maybe it came from a specific group of people.

But at an even deeper level,

You have feared,

Or maybe even currently fear,

Being rejected by God.

It is a haunting fear,

That one day,

You will die,

And have to face God,

Only to be denied by Him.

Whatever your experience,

Whatever your fear,

Jesus sympathizes with you.

He sympathizes with us all.

Because He knows what it is like to be denied, despised, rejected.

That is why in the most unexpected way,

Jesus’ identity as our Lord and Savior was proven when He was forsaken by the Father on the cross.

Because Jesus lived a perfect life according to God’s law.

His death on the cross was the substitution that paid for our sins.

He was denied, forsaken on the cross,

So, that we won’t be denied, forsaken by the Father,

When that time comes after we die,

And we stand before Him.

In Christ,

We are forgiven,

Adopted as God’s children.

So, we do not have to fear death,

Eternal darkness and weeping,

Eternal suffering and loneliness,

Or any part of God’s judgment.

Because Jesus took on all of God’s judgment.

He was denied,

So, we could be accepted.

But it was not just His death that proves He is our Lord and Savior.

It was His resurrection that followed.

God is not the God of the dead,

He is the God of the living,

And Jesus is alive!

He has defeated sin, Satan, and death.

So, today,

We look forward to when He returns,

And His glory will be fully displayed as He restores all of creation to eternal life,

Making all things new,

And all of creation will have to answer Him in His perfect authority.

Slide

So, in light of this glorious reality,

How will you answer to Jesus?

Will you doubt?

Will you deny?

Or will you submit?

Pray.