Day Twenty-Two – Thursday, January 30, 2025

One Year Journey Through the New Testament

Matthew 22

Welcome to our journey through the New Testament!

Parable of the Marriage Feast

1 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: ² “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, ³ and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. ⁴ Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ’ ⁵ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. ⁶ And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. ⁷ But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. ⁸ Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ⁹ Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ ¹⁰ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.¹¹ “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. ¹² So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. ¹³ Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’¹⁴ “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Mt 22:1–14.

Points to Ponder:

• Jesus uses a parable to explain the Kingdom of God.
• He spoke of a king who arranged his son’s marriage, and sent out invitations to the wedding. No one sent in their RSVP.
• The king sent other servants, and announced there would be dinner, a sumptuous dinner with great fanfare and decorations. They still acted as if they were not interested and went to their homes and jobs. Others grabbed the servants, mistreated them, and killed them.
• When the king heart this report, he was beyond angry, and sent teams to destroy these people and burned their houses and their city.
• He declared them unworthy of the invitation they had received. There was still a wedding to celebrate, so he sent his servants out to the common people in the highways, to invite as many as possible to come to the wedding.
• They obeyed, and gathered good and bad people and filled the dining hall with guests.
• When the king arrived, most were dressed and excited to be there. One guest, though, did not have on a wedding garment. When asked how he got in without a wedding garment, he was without a response.
• The king sent him out in shackles into the darkness outside.
• Jesus then turns from the parable to an actual image of the kingdom of heaven, as He describes the outer darkness as a place of weeping and grating of one’s teeth.
• He sums it up with the now familiar phrase, “many are called, but few are chosen.”
• This seems to be an image of the Jews who did not accept Jesus as Messiah, and the need to bring others (Gentiles) into the heavenly kingdom. This could be applicable to us today: seeing the traditions of men causing them to feel superior religiously, but not truly follow or accept the teachings and leadership of Christ is cause for allowing others the opportunity to serve in their place. The cold or tradition-bound could be bypassed and others brought into the wedding feast as well.
• Don’t lose sight of the Savior.

Conflict with Pharisees and Herodians

Mark 12:13–17; Luke 20:20–26

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. ¹⁶ And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. ¹⁷ Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”¹⁸ But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show Me the tax money.”So they brought Him a denarius.²⁰ And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”²¹ They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²² When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Mt 22:15–22.

Points to Ponder:

• The Pharisees were back to their old tricks, trying to trick Jesus into saying something that they could use against Him.
• They took the followers of Herod with them to confront Jesus about the lawfulness of paying taxes to Caesar.
• He perceived their wicked intent and called them out. He then asked for a piece of tax money. He asked whose picture was on it. They replied that it was Caesar’s picture.
• He replied, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
• This wonderfully wise statement caused the Pharisees to marvel, and they left without tripping Jesus up. Jesus’ wisdom far exceeded that of the Pharisees.

Conflict with Sadducees

Mark 12:18–27; Luke 20:27–40

²³ The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, ²⁴ saying: “Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁵ Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. ²⁶ Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. ²⁷ Last of all the woman died also. ²⁸ Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her.”²⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. ³⁰ For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. ³¹ But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ³² ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” ³³ And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Mt 22:23–33.

Points to Ponder:

• Jesus was then confronted by the Sadducess, another sect of Judaism, that did not believe in the resurrection.
• They questioned Jesus about a woman who married a man. He died without a son for an heir. By Jewish law or tradition, the next brother to him would take the woman as a wife and bear a son for this brother. The scenario they proposed had her marrying all seven brothers attempting to bear a son for her first husband.
• They then asked, “whose wife will she be in the resurrection?”
• He answered their question and addressed their mistaken theory on the resurrection. He said that we will not marry or be given in marriage in heaven, but will be like the angels. He then reminded them of the designation of Yahweh as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He reminded them that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, therefore, those patriarchs were still alive in heaven and would one day be resurrected.
• Jesus’ teaching astonished the multitudes listening, and He once again silenced His enemies.

The Greatest Commandment

Mark 12:28–34

³⁴ But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. ³⁵ Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”³⁷ Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Mt 22:34–40.

Points to Ponder:

• The Pharisees decided to question Jesus again. They asked a representative, a lawyer, to quiz Jesus about the law.
• He asked Jesus to identify the great commandment of the law.
• Jesus called out the commandment to love the Lord your God with all of one’s heart, soul, and mind. He called this the first and great commandment.
• He then named a second in rank, to love one’s neighbor as himself or herself.
• He stated that all the Law and Prophets hung on these two commandments. In essence, Jesus summarized the entire law in these two statements.
• It is interesting that the first four of the Ten Commandments related to one’s relationship with God and the other six relate to one’s relationship to his fellow man. Love God, love your neighbor. Go figure!

The Son of David

Mark 12:35–37; Luke 20:41–44

⁴¹ While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, ⁴² saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”They said to Him, “The Son of David.”⁴³ He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying:⁴⁴ ‘The Lord said to my Lord,“Sit at My right hand,Till I make Your enemies Your footstool” ’?⁴⁵ If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?” ⁴⁶ And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Mt 22:41–46.

Points to Ponder:

• Jesus’ final encounter of this chapter with the Pharisees sees Him asking them what they think about the Christ and whose Son is He.
• They gave a typical Jewish teacher’s response: “The Son of David.”
• Jesus, though, asked them why David called Him “Lord” and quoted Psalm 110 that described him doing just that.
• He asked, “If David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?”
• No one could give Jesus an answer. They stopped following Him to test Him with questions after that.
• Jesus cannot be dominated, cannot be stopped, cannot be tricked. he is the Lord of all and cannot be overcome. Serve Him and be in awe of Him today.

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All Scriptures from New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Join us this afternoon at 5:00 pm for a discussion of this chapter live online. Live@5 with Dr. Greg Sloop can be found on Facebook on the Dr. Greg Sloop page or on the Kannapolis Church of God Facebook page or Youtube page.