Matthew Chapter 22 Part 2
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Matthew Chapter 22 Part 2 (The Living Word)
Matthew Chapter 22 Part 2 (The Living Word)
Intro:
We closed the first half of Chapter 22 with Christ preaching the 3rd parable to the Pharisees and the Herodian’s about the wedding banquet and we saw the verse from Christ, “For many are called, but few are chosen” This is Matthew 22 verse 14, very powerful conclusion to that parable.
Then we saw Christ speaking to the Herodian’s about paying currency tax to Caesar, and Christ further explains that what is Caesars leave to Caesar, and what is God’s leave to God,
Still showing that God is the Highest power without speaking against the King of Rome which would be considered treason during this time.
That leaves us picking up in Matthew Chapter 22 with verse 23,
The Sadducees Question the Resurection Matthew 22:23-33 (Mark 12:18-27, Luke 20:27-40)
First of all, who were the Sadducee’s?
We’ve went over this a while back, but I used to struggle with the Sadducee’s and Pharisees and thinking they were the same people, but they were very different.
In summary, the Pharisees were like the “keepers of the oral laws of Moses”
The Sadducee’s, who were a different religious party among the Jews, completely denied the oral laws was a revelation of God to Israelite's, they mainly solely on the written law,
And another doctrine they were heavy on was that they denied resurrection after death which is what ties deeply into this section here.
The best way I was helped to remember it from Papa and James was to remember,
The Saducee’s didn’t believe in eternal life after this, therefore they were “sad you see”
This is just a briefing over them, the Smith’s Bible Dictionary does a great job at explaining their doctrine and also comparing it to the Pharisees,
Lets get started, Matthew 22:23
The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,
It says “the same day” meaning that the same day that Christ left the Pharisees and Herodian’s unresponsive and astonished against His teachings,
Now the Sadducee’s have come, and remember, the Pharisees and Herodian’s have been trying to cause Jesus to slip up either against His teaching’s or to slip lawfully against the King so they would have dirt on him,
and again, pay attention to how Matthew documents this here, “The Sadducee’s, which say that there is no resurrection”
Saying make note, this was their belief,
Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
Remember, they don’t believe in the Oral laws of Moses to be divine by God,
And so they way I read this in context with the whole chapter, is basically the Pharisees were trying to catch Jesus contradicting the word of God, and obviously failed,
so now the Sadducee’s are doing the same thing through their doctrine’s
What they are trying to quote here is in Deuteronomy chapter 25 which we will look there in a few minutes,
So “ If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother,”
Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother:
So the scenario they are giving Christ is that there are 7 brothers, and when the 1st brother dies, leaves his wife to the next brother,
Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.
And last of all the woman died also.
Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.
So basically, the scenario is that the wife of the 1st brother has been passed down all the way to the last brother by them dying,
So they ask Jesus, “when they ALL have been resurected meaning rising again in spiritual form, who's wife will the lady be in eternal life?”
and remember again, the Sadducees didn’t believe in eternal life after this, so that's why they are giving this exaggerated context to try and prove against Christs’s teachings,
take a look at verse 29
Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
Remember we said earlier that they were “trying” to quote Deuteronomy chapter 25, which was from Moses
Jesus point blank tells them, you don’t know the scripture or the overall power of God,
But He tells them this after the phrase “Ye do err”
What does that mean?
G4105 - planaho - err: to go astray, to deceive, seduce, and wander out of the way,
It is also a derivitive of G4106 meaning delusional
So Christ is calling them for what it is, saying “you are delusional, causing deception and getting way out there with your ideology because you don’t know the true scripture, or the full power of God”
They end up doing the same thing Satan does to Jesus back in Matthew chapter 4 where he claims to be quoting scripture but changes it just enough where he doesn’t.
If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her.
This is what the Sadducees were trying to quote here in Matthew.
And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.
Meaning that his seed or inheritance should be carried on.
And if the man like not to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband’s brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother.
See what Moses was writing about here was to do with the law of levirate marriage which was put here protect family property and to assist with marital support instead of leaving the widow alone,
and Levirate marriage falls under the “civil” laws of Moses which were given by God to ancient Israel to maintain a functioning society and handle daily lives by resolving disputes among them.
This was a law for the daily life in the flesh, not for the kingdom of heaven. The Sadducees were doing the same thing in a way that the Pharisees and Herodians were doing in the first half of this chapter with the Roman tax scenario.
They are comparing apples to oranges, the Sadducees are trying to use a civil law to prove their own doctrine and contradict the teachings of Christ.
That’s why Christ say’s in verse 29 “you don’t know the power of God, you don’t know the scripture, and that they are delusional” because they are quoting a law for something that doesn’t even pertain to there scenario.
The law is for the flesh day to day, they are trying to pertain it to the afterlife saying “see it doesn’t add up”
Jesus even explains this,
For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
In the Life after the flesh, there is no marriage with one another, and we see in Mark 12 and Luke 20 that Jesus teachings on this line up exact from 3 different witness accounts,
But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
In other words, Jesus is saying, “since you want to bring up resurrection of the dead”
I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
this is Exodus 3:6 Jesus is quoting here,
Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
Christ even furthers this by saying “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living”
God is speaking to Moses here in Exodus,
Here is the importance of knowing lineages in the Bible,
Abraham begot Isaac, who begot Jacob, who's name was changed to “Israel”
God is saying that His relationship with these men is carried on EVEN after their death in the flesh, again showing that God is a God of the LIVING not of the dead,
death in the flesh was not the end and if the Sadducees actually knew the scripture then they would have known this,
So to wrap up this section, verse 23
And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.
The Sadducees and Pharisees were very powerful Jewish groups, with Rome and Religious temples and synogogues,
And here Christ left both of them walking away speechless from His teachings,
This shows just how powerful the word of God is,
the conclusion to this section makes me think of something Papa and James have taught me coming up and struggling with social events, weddings, funerals, witnessing to others, ETC,
If you don’t know what to say, lean on the word of God, it’s that simple,
and I really feel like that is what verse 33 is concluding to,
it doesn’t matter what your up against, or if someone is trying to corner you socially, or whatever the case may be,
don’t try to come up with your own words, simply stick to the word of God,
It’s isn't called the living word for nothing, it’s living because it’s real,
And you can’t contradict against something that is real,
Which leads to this very next section,
The Greatest Commandment Matthew 22:34-40 (Deuteronomy 6:1-19, Mark 12:28-34)
If you want to know where to find the commandments of God, they are in Exodus chapter 20
Just to make note how many commandments are there? 10
which there are more through them being expanded on by Christ etc etc, but traditionally 10 commandments,
10 in biblical numeric represents, testimony, law, and responsibility,
But during this time period, there was an ongoing debate between Jewish legal experts on trying to prioritize the commandments.
They would debate on which laws were more important and more considerable that others,
So based on the title of this section, “The greatest Commandment” keep that in the back of your mind,
But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
We all know what a lawyer is today, but “lawyer” means “legal experts”
This was one of the Jewish legal experts that was apart of the debates held during this time about which laws hold higher values than others,
But notice here it says “tempting Him” describing when he asked Jesus a question,
Take a look at the question he asks Jesus,
Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Matthew describes this question about which laws holds the highest value not in an attempt to gain the knowledge and insight about the law, but more so to try and induce Christ to say something they could use against him,
That’s why Matthew describes the lawyers question with “tempting Him”
They are constantly trying to get something they can use against Jesus, take a look at His response,
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
This is the first commandment written from God by Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 5
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Very simple and easy to read and understand, Love God, Yahweh the Almighty with EVERYTHING,
Jesus says this is the greatest commandment so does that mean in holds higher value than all other commandments?
Remember this is a debate that is HUGE during this time period and honestly even some in our time,
But Jesus’s response doesn’t stop there,
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
So Christ even builds off of the 1st commandment, “next law with high importance is this, Love you neighbour as yourself,
Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.
So why do these two commandments hold higher value than the rest? if no sin is greater than the next, did Jesus just fall into their trap and cause confusion within the people about the laws?
Remember, God is not the author of confusion, Jesus is the living word,
He wraps this section up with one sentence that should put an end to the great debate of “which laws have higher values than others”
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
All laws from God, to the prophets, from Jesus, ETC ETC all lead and support these two laws here,
It isn’t necessarily that these two laws hold “higher value” than all others,
but more so that the commandments to Love God and to Love others ties all the commandments and prophetic teachings together,
These are the focus we should have in EVERYTHING we do, these are just the “main” subject that tie all the laws together,
We can’t look at the commandments as “well which ones have bigger repercussions”
these aren't like the laws in the global legal system, these are laws for both physical AND spiritual happiness and completion,
They are a perfect guideline on how to live our lives, they ALL lead back to these two commandments,
Love God and Love others,
And Jesus did a perfect example of that, will others sin against you, YES but that doesn’t give you the right to sin against them,
Do we have to separate ourselves sometimes, “YES” and I think we did a Wednesday night study over “turning the other cheek”
But again, Christ is saying telling them “these commandments have higher values”
But that these commandments what all prophetic teachings from God help fulfill the understanding of and elevate.
Does anyone know what the first sin ever committed was(that we know of)
(let them guess)
It was pride when Satan wanted to sit in the seat of God,
This is before Adam and eve in the first world age, that is why this is the foundation and the starting point, or main focul point for the commandments, “you should love the Lord God with ALL your heart, and ALL your soul,”
If Satan loved God more than himself he would have never tried to sit in the role of God,
And if you Love God with everything you have, you would want to abide by His word as much as possible and follow His guidance and give ALL glory to Him.
But anyway, tieing this back to Matthew, the lawyer is trying to get Jesus to say something they can use against Him, and Christ ends up answering a debate that is huge during this time period,
And I think I've touched on this before, but it always seems like when Christ gets past a point of contradiction from others, He seems to throw in like an ironic “mic drop” scenario,
I kind of find the humor in Christ’s teachings when He turns a problem into an opportunity to teach,
“like, Oh you want to try and contradict me? let me prove you wrong then leave you with a question that can’t be denied”
Like He turns the tables back on them,
No pun attended there,
Who’s Son is the Christ? Matthew 22:41-46 (Mark 12:35-37, Luke 20:41-44)
Something we gotta remember, is Jesus’s name wasn't “Jesus H Christ”
Jesus IS the Christ,
Christ simply means “the anointed one, the Messiah”
It is a description of Jesus.
People during this time didn’t have hereditary “surnames” like we use now, that practice wasn’t used,
They were named by their hometown, so Jesus would be “Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Joseph,”
and yes I know Joseph wasn’t His biological father but by adoption He was the son of Joseph,
But anyway, “who is Christ the son of”
While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
This is that “mic drop” statement Jesus is leaving them with I was talking about earlier, “what better time for a teaching moment then while they are all gathered together”
Remember they were gathered together for the purpose of trying to test Jesus,
Jesus turned the tables, turns a negative into a positive, a problem into an opportunity,
Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David.
So Jesus isn’t saying here, “what do you think of me?”
He’s asking them, “what do you think of the Messiah?”
They respond with “the son of David”
and if we look at
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,The spirit of wisdom and understanding,The spirit of counsel and might,The spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;
Isaiah chapter 11 is a full outline prophecy of the coming of the Messiah,
Where it says here, “there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse,”
Jesse was Davids father, and If we further this prophecy, lets look at
And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
In this chapter, David is telling the prophet Nathan that he wants to establish a permanent temple for God,
But instead this was God’s response,
God will bring forth a seed after David that will establish the Kingdom and sit on the throne of God forever,
and the Pharisees know these prophecies that’s why they tell Jesus that the Christ or the Messiah will be of the Son of David,
He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?
The “Lord” here is referring to Yahweh or the highest supreme,
And Jesus is quoting Psalms 110 verse 1 here,
Remember, the Pharisees knew prophecies and were knowledgeable in scripture, they just let their own doctrines stand in the way,
The Lord said unto my Lord,
Sit thou at my right hand,
Until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
So again, Jesus is quoting prophecy that He knows the Pharisees should know,
If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more question
This question Jesus asks them is Him hinting at Him being the Messiah,
“If David calls him Lord, the how is it his son?”
The prophecy states that a branch would come from the stem of Jesse, but what Christ is saying here, is if David is calling Him Lord, then how is it his son,
Jesus was born a virgin, He is the son of God, but remember looking at the lineage side, Joseph was Jesus’s father through legal adoption, We went through the lineage at the beginning of Matthew,
and we did a study before about the lineage on how Jesus being born and God setting it up to where inheritance and legally He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
This is one of the situations where we have to look at it from the outside looking in,
We know and have documented the lineage of Jesus, but these men and multitudes haven’t
That’s why this question left them all Marveled and it says from that day forth they didn’t ask Him anymore questions trying to contradict Him.
Conclusion,
So looking at this chapter as a whole, and even stepping back a little bit further to Jesus’s adulthood and His teachings,
He is teaching the truth, living and being that perfect example of the truth,
But man was constantly trying to contradict Him, and set Him up for treason and to fail time and time again,
But why didn’t He ever fall?
Because He stuck to the truth, He lived by the word, He was the word,
and I think there is a main theme that we see throughout the life of Christ, and that is simply “love God with all your Heart, and love your neighbor as yourself,”
The 1st 2 commandments that all other law is derived from,
And I'm sure most of you have experienced this,
the more you try to do the right thing and your works for God, the more it seems like the enemy tries tearing you down and turning one on another,
When that happens, ALL we have to do is stick to the word of God, and start with those two commandments,
Love God with everything in you, nothing should be above Him, and love your neighbor as yourself,
Those 2 commandments are the foundation for ALL other law, that is why Jesus specifically makes that point, none necessarily has “greater” value than the next, but they are all built on these two here,
and when we enter into conflict, and have stumbling blocks and seeds planted by Satan,
There is a very simple answer for solution that all it takes is a little time and effort,
STICK TO THE WORD OF GOD,
Lean on the word, it was given to us for a reason it is our weapon,
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
There is a huge key word in this verse, does anyone want to take a guess?
discerner, which means that it perceives, it recognizes, it detects something easily,
The word is a detector of thoughts and intents of the heart, of people, of situations,
and I know we look at this verse a lot but it is such an important verse to remember,
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Anytime we are caught up in conflict or situations with others, there's a simple answer,
Do what Christ did, turn that problem into an opportunity, use the word of God to find your answer and it will discern the situation on it’s on, and through it, you will learn from it,
It isn’t called the living word for no reason,
and by facing conflict this way, it will lead to self reflection of the word, which will help us get closer to God and learn from our mistakes,
“Let the Bible interpret the Bible,”
That’s a phrase James says all the time,
I wanna take it a step further,
Let the living word discern you, Let the living word discern situations and turn situations into opportunities just like Christ did with the ones here trying to contradict Him.
Matthew Chapter 22 Part 2 (The Living Word)
Matthew Chapter 22 Part 2 (The Living Word)
