Let’s look at lessons on God’s invitation, paying taxes, marriage in heaven and love in Matthew 22.
God’s Invitation
What is our response to God’s invitation? What does God expect us to wear? Let’s look at the Parable of the Wedding Banquet in Matthew 22:1-14. Did many refuse to accept the invitation?
Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. (Matthew 22:1-3 NIV)
Is this an allegory of salvation, the world’s most important invitation? The king invites us politely. The decision is ours. What did others choose? Did some even insult and kill the messengers?
So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them. (Matthew 22:4-6 NLT)
How did the king respond?
When the king heard that, he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. (Matthew 22:7 WEB)
Were those who refused the invitation declared unworthy? Is this a picture of the invitation now opened to Gentiles too?
Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding party is prepared, but those who were invited weren’t worthy. Therefore, go to the roads on the edge of town and invite everyone you find to the wedding party.’ (Matthew 22:8-9 CEB)
Is the invitation to both bad and good people?
They went out on the streets and brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike. And the banquet room was filled with guests. (Matthew 22:10 CEV)
What happened to one of the guests?
But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Matthew 22:11-13 ESV)
Why is appropriate clothing important?
For many are invited, but few are chosen. (Matthew 22:14 HCSB)
We clothe ourselves with Christ (Romans 13:14). When we are baptized we put on Christ (Galatians 3:27). Salvation is only possible in Jesus Christ and those who ultimately refuse Him refuse salvation.
What is our response to God’s invitation? Will we choose the right clothing? Let us accept God’s invitation and those He sends with the message. Shall we wear the right clothing, putting on Jesus every day? You decide!
Paying Taxes
Ought Christians to be good citizens? Is paying taxes a participation in evil acts by human governments? What’s the difference between love and idolatry of a country? Let’s look at the moral dilemma of paying taxes in Matthew 22:15-22. Was Jesus deceived by obsequious flattery?
Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? (Matthew 22:15-17 KJV)
It was a trap. What did Jesus say about what they were doing?
But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?” (Matthew 22:18 NASB)
Should we Christians always be nice even to those who abuse us? Jesus answered their trap bluntly. Pastor beware! When your new church flatters you, while vilifying the previous pastor, they may soon betray you. If they speak kindly of the previous pastor, they may also treat you with kindness.
Schmoozing can seem encouraging, but beware of the ambush. Jesus was not fooled by their insincere flattery. How wisely did He reply?
Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” (Matthew 22:19-20 NIV)
A false dilemma or false dichotomy suggests that only one of two sides is right. But both may be right or wrong, and there may be other options. In an immoral world we pay tribute to corrupt governments AND to God.
Poor Jews often lost their lands to unjust, excessive Roman taxes. They also did not want to serve a false god, Caesar. Roman coins often called Caesar divine or a son of divinity, blasphemous claims which offended Jews. Whose image was on the coins, and what did Jesus say to that?
“Caesar’s,” they replied. “Well, then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.” (Matthew 22:21 NLT)
Jesus was not asked about worshiping Caesar, but paying taxes. We owe governments for the use of their roads and many other things, just as we owe God for His providence. How did they react to Jesus’ wisdom?
When they heard it, they marveled, and left him and went away. (Matthew 22:22 WEB)
It is impossible to live and work in this world without handling tainted things like money. Jesus’ answer addressed the practical reality of life in an evil world. We cannot change the whole world. Should we begin with ourselves, love our neighbors, and prepare for our part in God’s heavenly reign? You decide!
No Marriages in Heaven
What puzzle did the Sadducees put to Jesus?
That same day Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Jesus. They asked, “Teacher, Moses said, If a man who doesn’t have children dies, his brother must marry his wife and produce children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married, then died. Because he had no children he left his widow to his brother. The same thing happened with the second brother and the third, and in fact with all seven brothers. Finally, the woman died. At the resurrection, which of the seven brothers will be her husband? They were all married to her.” (Matthew 22:23-28 CEB)
Was Jesus tactful or blunt with them?
Jesus answered: You are completely wrong! You don't know what the Scriptures teach. And you don't know anything about the power of God. (Matthew 22:29 CEV)
What was Jesus’ explanation?
For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ‘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.” And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. (Matthew 22:30-33 ESV)
Does this also explain who the sons of God were, angels or men (Genesis 6:4)? Is there a love greater than marital love? Will the love we experience for all eternity be so far above marital love, that we won’t miss it at all? You decide!
Love
What was the Pharisees’ question about the greatest commandment? Let’s learn from Jesus in Matthew 22:34-46.
When the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. And one of them, an expert in the law, asked a question to test Him: “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?” (Matthew 22:34-36 HCSB)
Does Jesus’ answer summarize Christianity? When we teach what neither Jesus nor the Apostles taught, are we like the Pharisees and Sadducees? How can any church claim to be apostolic, yet add dogmas not taught by Jesus or the apostles? If he was here on earth today, would we accept him? Did Jesus expound the Ten Commandments or other commandments from the Hebrew scriptures?
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. (Matthew 22:37-38 KJV)
Mark adds a fourth word because the Greek more fully explains the Hebrew word “mind” with two words “mind” and “strength.”
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. (Mark 12:30 KJV)
This Shema Yisrael (“Hear O Israel” from Deuteronomy 6:5) teaches us to love God with our entire heart. The soul, breath or spirit thirsts for God like a deer panting for water (Psalm 42), a passionate spiritual desire. We assemble with others who love God, pray, study the Bible and meditate on godly things. An anti-intellectual bias contradicts the Bible, because Jesus taught us to love God with our minds.
How much do we love God?
My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. (Psalm 84:2 NKJV)
Does agape mean divine love? No. Agape does not always mean divine love. It can refer to the wrong kind of love. Men loved darkness (John 3:19), the praise of men more than God (John 12:43), and this world (2 Timothy 4:10). What kind of agape does God expect (1 Corinthians 13)?
Loving God is neither just emotional, nor intellectual, nor just spiritual, but it includes all of those dimensions. Jesus taught us to love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind and our neighbor as ourselves.
What about the second great command? Do the law and the prophets, the whole Old Testament, hang on the Ten Commandments or something else?
The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 22:39-40 NASB cp. Leviticus 19:17-18)
The world shows reckless disregard for others. The second Great Commandment is a version of the golden rule (Matthew 7:12). This is so fundamentally important that even non-Christian religions and atheists recognize it as valid (Romans 1:19-21)?
If we say we love God and hate our brother, we are liars (1 John 4:20). If we love our brother and disobey God, we believe a social Gospel (Hebrews 1:9). If we love God with our hearts but not our minds, we worship emotionalism. If we love God with our minds and not our hearts, we worship intellectualism. Let’s look at the Messiah Riddle.
While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied. He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions. (Matthew 22:41-46 NIV)
Why did David refer to his son or descendant as “my Lord.” The Messiah is divine.
God invites us to participate in a love that is infinitely greater and more fulfilling than marital love. Do we accept His invitation? You decide!
