Questioning Jesus

Introduction

I

Consider infinity. Some infinities are larger than others

You could spend your entire life counting and never reach the end.

N

For a lot of people, it is unpleasant to think about infinity, or anything that one is not able to comprehend. A lot of times, we like to be in control. We don’t like to consider things that our beyond our comprehension because it is a reminder that there is something we cannot control, cannot measure, cannot contain.

God is infinite. And yet oftentimes we can find ourselves shifting him into something controllable, measurable, containable. We can do this in subtle ways, often without even realizing.

T

In Matt 22, Jesus answers two groups in his day who have subtly made God less than what he really is.

R

Matt. 22:15-33

O

Giving too much to Caesar vv. 15-22, Expecting too little from God vv. 23-33

Giving Too Much to Caesar

Matthew 22:15–22 ESV

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. 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. 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.

Revelation

Matthew makes the Pharisee’s intentions very clear. They are going to try and get Jesus entangled in his words. So they sent some of their disciples. Pharisees, we have to remember, were not all just religious teachers. They were tradesmen, craftsmen, just common people among them as well. And so, these are probably people coming to Jesus appearing to be common people in order to trap him. The bring some of the Herodians with them. The Herodians were a political group who advocated for Herod to be the king of the area. Remember, this is the Herod who put John the Baptist to death. They wanted to Herod to be trusted by the Roman government to be king and not just govenor so that the Roman troops would be expelled from the area. In other words, the would still be under official Roman rule, but the Roman empire would trust them to govern themselves. So, taxation for the Herodians was very important.

The Pharisees begin their question with flattery, flattery aimed at prodding him to answer the question as they framed it. That’s why they say things like, “teach truthfully” and “do not care about anyone’s opinions. They’ve set the stage, now they set the trap. They ask him a yes or no question: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” When they ask “is it lawful” they are asking Jesus’s opinion. The Roman law was clear and the Torah did not address it. They want to know what Jesus thinks—or rather, they hope that whatever Jesus’s opinion is, it will get him into trouble with someone. If Jesus answers “No, it is not lawful” the Herodians would have him arrested. If he answers “Yes, it is lawful”

Matthew Exegesis

the crowds that hoped he was a political Messiah intent on overthrowing the Roman rule of Judea would likely turn against him

But Jesus was aware, even though their words sounded beautiful, they were filled with poison. Jesus reveals their hypocrisy by asking for a coin. Pious Jews objected to using Roman coins because it had an engraved image of the emperor, breaking the second commandment. Pious Jews called these coins “idolatrous.” Roman law allowed Jews to coin their own non-idolatrous copper money, so they did not have to carry the engraved money. Jesus apparently had no such idolatrous coin on his person, but his opponents did. They pretended to be so curious about Jesus’s opinion, yet clearly already made up their mind by carrying around the coin.

Jesus asks them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” at the end of v. 20. One side of this coin has the image of the head of Tiberius. And the inscription said, “Caesar Augustus Tiberius son of the Divine Augustus.” On the other side of the coin was a depiction of the Roman goddess of peace calling Tiberius the high priest of the Roman stat cult. All of these things serve to point out the hypocrisy. Jesus’s statement to “give back” to Caesar . . .

Matthew Exegesis

implies that since the emperor’s portrait and name were stamped on the denarius, it rightly belonged to him, and he had the authority to reclaim it

But even though the emperor may have this claim, it is overshadowed by God’s claim on all things. Psalm 24:1 “1 The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,” So while these hypocrites are so consumed with trapping Jesus in his words with what belongs to Caesar, they have neglected that all things belong to God.

So not only do his opponents carry an idolatrous coin—from their perspective—on their person, they are also practicing idolatry by exalting their concern for the things of Caesar above their concern for the things of God.

Relevance

It’s easy for us to find ourselves in the same place.

We live in a self-making culture. A culture that says “you are what you feel.” A culture that said not just that feelings are real, but they are authoritative.

In a self-making world, it’s easy to listen to our feelings instead of God.

We may not be obsessing over taxes like they were—but we are constantly asking: “How do I feel about this? What feels right to me?”

Caesar and his claim on taxation become an ultimate concern for the disciples of the Pharisees. And without realizing it, our feelings begin to function like Caesar. Our own feelings can become our ultimate concern, our ultimate question. They start making demands. They start shaping decisions. They start ruling our lives.

Meanwhile, God—who actually has claim over our hearts—gets pushed to the side.

And when the feelings we want don’t come, what do we do? We try to manufacture them. We distract ourselves. We suppress what we don’t like. We chase what gives us relief.

Not because God told us to—but because our feelings did.

And this effects how we approach a worship service.

Most people leaving a worship service in America leave thinking one thing, “How did this worship service make me feel?” If they left feeling uplifted, they will come back. If they left feeling discouraged, they may not come back. Do you hear that though? You understand, if you’re leaving the service consumed with the question, “How did this worship service make me feel?” Is not this question evidence that we have replaced God with our feelings?

A worship service designed to make up feel uplifted is a worship service designed to worship our feelings, not God. A worship service can uplift us, that’s not a problem, but it’s design is to form us. . .to form us into worshipers, to form us into those who recognize God has a claim on us.

Bridge

So we have to see the God is bigger than all our earthly concerns. He is the one who has claim on us and everything. Only when we see his great power can we trust in him instead of control him. This is what the Sadduccees needed to see.

Expecting Too Little From God

Matthew 22:23–33 ESV

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.

Revelation

The Sadducees come up right after thinking they can do better than the disciples of the Pharisees. Matthew notes that they did not believe in a resurrection. They believed the soul died with the body.

They start by paraphrasing the law in Dt. 25:5-6. If a man died without producing a son to carry on the family name, his widow would marry the deceased man’s brother who would produce a son to carry on the deceased husband’s legacy. This would be extremely important to a group who though the soul was not eternal—the only way to be remembered was through your family.

Why do the Sadduccees bring all this up? They are trying to make the concept of resurrection seem absurd. They have probably used this routine on the Pharisees before. They have made the Pharisees look foolish in front of crowds with this, and now they want to do the same thing to Jesus.

And maybe that question would cause us to think as well. Many Christians have been remarried. What about what happens in heaven? Are you going to have more than one spouse? Jesus is going to give his answer, but first he rebukes his attackers.

He says in v. 29, “You know neither the Scripture nor the power of God.” The Sadduccees spent their lives pouring over the Scripture and yet ignored the clear power of God found in the text.

Thomas Jefferson famously denied the supernatural. He used a razor to cut out all the portions of the Bible that contained miracles—including Jesus’s resurrection.

This was like the Sadduccees. The Sadduccees did not actually cut anything out of the text, but they so ignored obvious implications of the text. They would rather have their precious interpretation of Scripture than wrestle with the true and powerful God.

Jesus answers their riddle in v. 30, “ For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”

Marriage is done away with. . . it sounds disheartening.

The purpose of marriage is procreation, companionship, and pleasure. (Quarles) Immortality makes the need for procreation dissipate. And being in the presence of God and each other in perfection and eternal bliss brings all the companionship and pleasure one needs. “In your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

The Gospel of Matthew 2. The Question about Resurrection and Marriage (22:23–33)

Those who have found some of the deepest joys of earthly life in the special bond of a married relationship may be dismayed to hear that that must be left behind. But note that what Jesus declares to be inappropriate in heaven is marriage, not love. So perhaps heavenly relationships are not something less than marriage, but something more

Heaven is always more than not less than. Even if we cannot comprehend it, it should not be something that is dreaded, but anticipated.

Then Jesus turns to the issue of the resurrection in v. 31. He quotes from Ex. 3:6, God himself in the burning bush. The Sadducees introduced their argument with “Moses said” in v. 24, but Jesus responds with “God said. . .” The words Jesus quotes comes from God himself speaking from the burning bush.

God says, “I AM the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. . .”

Matthew Exegesis

If these men had ceased to exist at the moment of physical death as the Sadducees maintained, “I was the God of …” would have been more appropriate. “I am the God of …” implied that the patriarchs still existed, thus refuting the annihilationism of the sect.

Marriage covenants are traditionally said, “‘till death do us part.” The marriage covenant cannot overcome death. Yet God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob can. God’s power is such, and the covenants that he makes are such that they cannot be undone by death.

Thus, God is called the God of the living, not the God of the dead.

The Sadduccees are so willing to use the Scripture to maintain their own power that they ignore God’s clear power revealed throughout. They would rather maintain control than trust in God.

Relevance

We have the tendency to do the same thing. Not by denying the resurrection out loud—but by living as if God’s power has limits.

We look at our circumstances… our struggles… our situations…and without saying it, we begin to believe: “This is too much. This can’t change. This won’t be different.” And in that moment, we are doing exactly what the Sadducees did. We are making our situation feel more certain than the power of God.

Notice how confident they sound. They come with certainty, with a polished argument, with a scenario that—in their minds—proves the whole thing is absurd.

But the problem is not their logic. The problem is that they have no category for a God whose power exceeds their understanding. And we don’t either sometimes.

We say we believe God is powerful…but when it comes to our sin, we think, “I’ll never change.” When it comes to others, we think, “They’ll never change.” When it comes to suffering, we think, “There’s no way God could bring good out of this.”

And without realizing it, we have done the same thing: not denied God…but reduced Him.

Notice what Jesus says to them, “You know neither the Scripture nor the power of God.”

Yet the Sadduccees poured over the Scripture almost every day. Which is a startling thing. It’s possible to read the Bible frequently, attend church, hear the Bible preached, and yet live as if God is not powerful.

Application

Summary

We have seen two different errors—but they lead to the same place.

In the first scene, they gave ultimate concern to something in the world. In the second, they reduced God to something they could understand.

But in both cases, they failed to see God as He truly is— the One who has claim over everything… and the One whose power has no limits.

Tell

So what do we do when we realize our view of God has become too small?

We don’t fix that by trying harder… we fix that by seeing Him more clearly.

And Scripture gives us exactly that.

This week, I want to urge you to go read Book of Isaiah 40.

Not quickly… not as a checkbox…but slowly, prayerfully.

Read it and let it confront how small we tend made God.

Show

As you read, notice what God says about Himself:

He measures the waters in the hollow of His hand. He marks off the heavens with a span. Nations are like a drop in a bucket before Him. He does not grow weary. His understanding is unsearchable.

And then ask yourself: Is this the God I actually trust?

Or have I been living as if my feelings… my circumstances… my understanding… are bigger than He is?

Image (Gospel)

And ultimately, we don’t just see the greatness of God in creation—we see it most clearly in Jesus Christ.

The same God who holds the oceans in His hand…stepped into our world.

The One the Sadducees doubted. . .proved His power by rising from the dead.

The One the Pharisees tried to trap. . .gave His life for sinners who constantly make God too small.

The infinite God did not stay distant. . .He came near, so that people like us could know Him, trust Him, and belong to Him.

This is not a God to manage… this is a God to worship.

Challenge

This week, take time—set it aside intentionally—and go read Book of Isaiah 40.

Read it slowly. Pray through it. And when you feel overwhelmed… when your feelings feel loud… when your circumstances feel heavy…go back to it again.

And remind yourself: God is bigger than this.

Because the answer to a small, controllable view of God…is not trying to fix your life— it is seeing our God as He truly is.