Sunday, May 20, 2012 am
Life of Jesus (27)
Answering the Jewish Leaders
Matthew 22:15-45
Recall, our purpose for this study is to learn from the life of Jesus,
as He is our Savior, Lord and perfect example.
There are many ways we can learn,
a.
Last year we studied two
lessons dealing with the enemies of Jesus.
IN those lessons we examined some the interaction He had with His
enemies.
b.
We also noted some
lessons we can learn from Him how to deal with enemies including:
i.
He did not sin in
dealing with them
ii.
He appealed to scripture
frequently
iii.
He spoke the truth even
when it irritated His enemies
iv.
He never compromised
v.
When His disciples were
around, He taught and responded to enemies – they needed a proper
example
vi.
He lived His life so
that there was not cause for legitimate accusations.
a.
Matthew 22:15-22, Mark
12:13-17, Luke 20:20-26
i.
VS. 15-16 – The
Pharisees plotted how to entangle Jesus in His speech.
Luke says, “they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be
righteous, that they might seize on His words.”
The situation and goal is clearly described as underhanded.
Matthew tells us the Pharisees plotted and sent their disciples with the
Herodians – a group of Jews who were loyal to Rome so long as Herod the
Great and his family were reigning (because of his Jewish lineage).
Herod the Great was King when Jesus was born and ordered the
killing of infant boys (Matt. 2:1-2, 16-18).
It was their “compromise” of sorts.
It is believed that they were actually closer to the Sadducees in
beliefs, especially in matters of Roman sympathies.
This makes this event interesting as we have the Pharisees and
Herodians joining together to entrap Jesus.
NOTE the corruption of these men sent to entrap Jesus.
The text indicates they CLEARLY knew what they were doing and
were deliberately deceitful (or so they thought).
LESSON: Beware of such
false teachers – they can be the most damaging.
ii.
They approach Jesus and
“praise” Him noting 4 things about Him.
1.
Teacher – they
acknowledged Him as a teacher.
In other places He was referred to by the term, “Rabbi” – which
meant a teacher.
2.
We know You are true –
He was not a hypocrite nor inconsistent.
Luke says, “Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly.”
3.
You teach the way of God
in truth – an acknowledgment that His message was from God and true to
His word
4.
You do not care about
anyone, for you do not regard the person of men – a statement meaning
that HE showed no partiality.
Luke 20:21 – “You do not show personal favoritism…”
5.
BEWARE of false praise!
iii.
Their question:
“Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
1.
This is a legitimate
question that each of us needs to contemplate.
But what was their motive?
The question was one in which they thought that regardless how He
answered they had Him. 1)
If He said to NOT pay taxes – they could charge Him with
insurrection (like the Zealots) or 2) If He said to pay taxes – this
would anger the crowds following Him as Jews who despised Rome and tax
collectors, etc.
2.
Instead, Jesus gave them
an answer that they had not thought about.
Such is the wisdom of God.
First he described them as the hypocrites they were letting them
know they were not fooling Him.
Second, He asked for a coin – a denarius and inquired, “Whose
image and inscription is this.”
They answered, “Caesar”.
3.
He responded, “Render
therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things
that are God’s” (Matt. 22:21)
In this answer, Jesus validated the need to pay taxes and submit to the
government (cf. Rom. 13:6-7).
However, He answered in such a way that they could not turn the
people against Him. He did
this by distinguishing between the things that belong to man and the
things that belong to God. As Jews, they would respect that and make
distinctions.
NOTE: Consider how Jesus asked for a Roman coin.
Many of the coins of Rome appealed to their gods and the
so-called deity or priestly service of Caesar.
Some commentators have noted in this text that such is the reason
why the temple would NOT accept Roman coins and therefore required an
exchange to pay the temple tax (at a fee of course) or conduct
transactions there. HOWEVER,
Jesus could ask this question to the crowd knowing that someone would
have a ROMAN coin. This
indicates their willingness to use Roman coinage to conduct their
everyday business away from the temple.
4.
His answer silenced
them.
5.
Lesson: When you deal
with critics and enemies who are seeking to entrap you – THINK about how
to answer and look for answer that properly clarifies your position.
NOTE: Sometimes, a “yes” or “no” answer is not sufficient and the
one who demands such is often not honorable.
BUT, there are also times when one who refuses to answer “Yes“ or
“No” has an agenda. We need
to be careful with that as well.
6.
Lesson: Render to
Caesar that which belongs to Caesar – obviously a command to pay our
taxes and submit to governing authorities (cf. Rom. 13:1-7, 1 Pet.
2:13-17). As Christians must
obey the laws of the land.
Render to God that
which belongs to Him
– an entire lesson within itself.
We need to give God His due – that means that we obey Him and His word.
Matt. 6:33, etc.
Lenski, in commenting on this text gave a list of things owed to God,
“contrition, faith, love, worship, obedience, submission to His
providential guidance, even to his correction and chiding.”[1]
III.
The Sadducees Question
Jesus – about the resurrection
a.
Matt. 22:23-33, Mark
12:18-27; Luke 20:27-40
b.
After silencing the
Pharisees, the Sadducees approach Jesus also seeking to discredit Him.
But they, in the process, also seek to prove their superior
knowledge to the Pharisees.
We are told in all 3 accounts that the Sadducees denied the
resurrection. Also worthy of note
is that in Acts 23:6-8 we also read that they denied angels and spirits
as well. That text is
interesting as Paul uses the occasion to turn the Pharisees and
Sadducees against one another because of this doctrine.
WE will see the significance of this in a moment.
c.
They pose a question to
Jesus about a man who marries a woman but dies without giving her
children. As a result his
brother takes her as wife (i.e a “levirate marriage” – Deut. 25:5-10) in
which a brother had the responsibility to provide offspring to his
brother’s widow so that the inheritance would continue.
If he refused it was a great insult.
There are actually two examples of this in scripture – Tamar (Gen.
36:6-11) and Ruth (the story unfolds throughout the book – Ruth 1:11)
The 2nd brother dies and so do all his other siblings (7
brothers in all), having each taken her as wife.
Finally the woman dies.
They ask Jesus, “Whose wife will she be in the resurrection?”
They thought they had a dilemma that contradicted the idea of the
resurrection.
d.
But Jesus answered them.
He said, “You are mistaken,
not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.” (22:29)
He then proceeds to give a glimpse of heaven and their
misconceptions about the afterlife.
Jesus noted that “in the resurrection” there will be neither
marriage nor death anymore (cf. Luke 20:36).
Rather we will be like the angels in heaven.
NOTE that in this text Jesus is NOT saying we will become angels,
but rather we will possess the eternal spirit of the angels and live
eternally.
e.
He then poses a question
to them about the resurrection.
He asks if they have read the passage where God appeared to Moses
at the burning bush (Exodus 3:6, cf. Mark12:26).
NOTE: Recall that the Sadducees placed respect on the Law of
Moses (Torah) only.
Throughout the Old Testament there are numerous passages that hint of a
resurrection – David in Psa. 16:9-11, 17:15, Isaiah in Isa. 26:19.
But He chose a passage in Torah to make His point.
Jesus recalled the wording of God to Moses, “I am the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob”. When He
said, “I am” it was a present tense statement indicating ongoing action
as the words were spoken.
Jesus concluded rightly, “God is
not the God of the dead, but of the living.” (Matt. 22:31)
f.
They had no answer for
Him
g.
Lesson: Of
course there is the clear teaching of assurance that gives us a little
clearer picture of our eternal state – no death or decay and no
marriage. We could discuss
many other things about what we will be like, but time will not permit
such.
h.
Lesson:
Be careful how you answer those who seek to discredit you with loaded
questions. First we must
consider their motives, and second seek to answer in a way that does not
give them more fuel to use against you.
Before we answer a matter, let us take a little time to think
about it – Prov. 18:13, “He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to
him.”
Also, sometimes there is the need to expose the error of false teachers
–both their motives AND their message.
Let us be ready for such.
a.
Matt 22:34-40 & Mark
12:28-34 describe another event occurring at this time.
b.
Matthew tells us that
the Pharisees and Sadducees joined together after Jesus silenced them.
We then read of a lawyer (Mark describes him as a scribe) who asked Him,
“Which is the great commandment of the Law?”
Exactly how sinister this lawyer was is debatable because Mark’s account
gives his response in which he commends the Lord’s answer and Jesus
responds in a somewhat favorable manner toward him.
c.
Jesus answered with the
two greatest commandments, and we can see why they are such – the first
is to love God will all your soul, heart and mind.
And the 2nd is you shall love your neighbor as
yourself. He then concluded,
“On these two commandments hang
all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matt. 22:40)
You would think Jesus would utter the 1st of the 10
commandments, where God said, “You shall have no other gods before Me”
(Ex. 20:3).
d.
Mark records the scribe
responding that His answer was well said and that, “You are not far from
the kingdom of God.” (Mark. 12:34).
e.
How could this be a
trap? One observation is
that regardless of what Jesus answered, perhaps they thought they could
accuse Him of exalting one portion of the Law over others, thus
trivializing the rest.
Perhaps they had several “important” commands in mind.
OR, having answered the inconsistencies of both the Pharisees and
Sadducees, each answer giving some consolation to the other party about
their personal beliefs, one now poses a question in which Jesus will be
put into a position in which He would choose one sect over the other – a
two-edged sword. It was the
Pharisees posing this question and perhaps they used the occasion to
further exploit their doctrines over the Sadducees.
HOWEVER, we are not sure how tainted this “lawyer” or “scribe” was.
IN other words, his reply could have been agreement with Jesus
and rebuking the efforts of these corrupt leaders to expose Jesus. (I.e.
at times in trials, a witness for one side, when testifying actually
does more damage to that side than the other when all the facts come
out). Perhaps this “lawyer”
was someone like Nicodemus (John 3:1, 7:50, etc.) who was a secret
disciple of Jesus, until His crucifixion.
REGARDLESS, Jesus answers in a way that diffuses whatever motives these
leaders had in asking the question.
f.
NOTE that both commands
are found in the Old Law, Deut. 6:5 speaks of loving God with all your
heart, soul and strength.
Leviticus 19:18 speaks of loving your neighbor as yourself.
Interestingly, these two commandments DO summarize the 10 commandments –
those dealing with our relationship to God and those dealing with our
relationship to man.
g.
Lesson:
Oh how we ought to apply this question in all that we do – we
must love God with all our heart and love our neighbor as ourself.
i.
Loving God is a must – 1
Cor. 16:22. How do we love
God – 1 John 5:3 – by keeping His commandments.
ii.
Loving your neighbor
(others) is a must also – in at least 3 of the epistles this command is
quoted – Rom. 13:9, Gal. 5:14, Jas. 2:8.
Continually the way we treat our neighbors is emphasized.
And
thus we see how Jesus responds to His enemies.
There are many wonderful and practical lessons for us in these
examples. May we learn from
our Lord HOW to answer those who question us both in attitude and word.
And though our achievements may be different than the Lord’s (He
would die), may we like Him, seek to further the kingdom of God.
Think about it.