Defiant Questions, Direct Answers
(A Week Like No Other – Part 5)
#131 in Series: “The Life of Christ – in a Harmony of The Gospels”
(Summary statement: Jesus gives direct, honest answers, despite defiant and deceptive questions.)
There are times when a non-believer will ask you a question about your faith, and they are sincere in wanting to gain a better understanding of Christianity… We are directed by Scripture to prepare ourselves in the faith, and be ready to share the truth of the gospel…
but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;
Matthew, Mark, and Luke (Matthew 22:15-46, Mark 12:13-37, Luke 20:20-44) all tell us about what happened next in the events of Passion Week… Last time we saw how Jesus continues to expose the hypocrisy of the Jewish leadership, and it not only serves to highlight the authenticity of the Messiah, but it also further aggravates those bent on seeing Jesus destroyed!
Any report would suffice for us to learn what happened next, but we will stay with Matthew’s report for this event.
We begin with a blatant revelation of –
1. The Motive for the Questions
Matthew 22:15-16a
15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said. 16 And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians,
Here the Pharisees and the Herodians worked together… We’ve talked a lot about the Pharisees. They were the sect in Judaism that were the legalistic, hardline, separatist… They elevated the law about everything – that is, their own interpretation of the law…
The Herodians were a different sect… The name of their “party” reflects their attitude toward … Herod. Some have suggested that they were more guilty of being worshippers of Herod than they are of God!...
Here, we find these two parties - that usually oppose each other - uniting in their opposition against Jesus…
Luke tells us –
Luke 20:20
So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, in order that they might catch Him in some statement, so that they could deliver Him to the rule and the authority of the governor.
Why did they do this?... Jesus had just exposed the Jewish leaders in their hypocrisy. They are now launching their counterattack, and will pose questions to Jesus – again, not out of a desire to learn something, but out of their determination to discredit, defy, and denounce Jesus!
So, they sent some of their own disciples to Jesus to pose their questions –
Matthew 22:16b
… saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any.
These are not sincere words. They are true - but insincere… They are not offering words of affirmation from the heart – they are offering flattering words with an evil heart!... This is their plotting on display!
The Puritan commentator, John Trapp put it this way – “Here is a fair glove, drawn upon a foul hand.”
Let’s look at the first exchange in our text… It is a –
2. The Pharisees’ Question Concerning Sovereignty
Matthew 22:17
17 Tell us then, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?”
The dilemma presented to Jesus was one designed to get Him to declare an either-or answer… If Jesus said that it is lawful to pay the tax – then He could be accused of denying the sovereignty of God over Israel, which would hopefully (in their minds) cause Him to lose credibility with the people.
If Jesus said that taxes should not be paid – then He would be making Himself an enemy of Rome – which would only bring pleasure to the enemies of Jesus…
Keep in mind, that the question of being “lawful” was certainly not a question about Roman law – but … God’s law! The deeper question is – is it “permissible for the people of God to express allegiance to a pagan emperor?” (R.T. France, as quoted by Guzik)
I have read that there were three regular taxes collected by Rome. There was the ground tax, which was a 10% tax on grain production and a 20% tax on oil and wine… There was the income tax, which was 1% of a man’s income. (Evidently, women didn’t pay this tax), but the third tax was the poll tax, paid by every man from 14 to 65 years of age and every woman from 12 to 65 years of age; this tax was a denarius a year…
A denarius was a silver coin worth approximately one day’s wage for a laborer. The fact that they had such a coin showed that they already operated in the economic world of Rome. The denarius would have had a picture of Tiberius Caesar stamped on it.
(And again, these were in addition to the Temple tax collected by the Jewish leaders.)
3. Jesus’ Demonstration of Wisdom
Matthew 22:18-19
18 But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? 19 Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a denarius. Again, Jesus demonstrates wisdom, and that He is in complete control. He rebuked the wickedness and hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Herodians.
Matthew 22:20-22
20 And He said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” Then He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s;
Jesus affirmed that government has a legitimate role, and has the right to make legitimate requests of its citizens and residents… Yes, God’s people are certainly responsible to God in everything – and we are responsible to be obedient to government in civil and national matters. The term “render” should be understood as a strong word. We don’t merely give – we owe what is … legitimately required.
Peter said it like this –
Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.
We are citizens of heaven – and residents in this world… We are to be exemplary in our citizenship in both worlds… So, we owe the government what it is due – and we owe to God what He requires… So, Jesus said “render –
Matthew 22:21b
… and to God the things that are God’s.”
Everyone – all of us – belong to God! We bear His image! We belong to Him – not to a government – not to others – not even to our own selves! We belong to God!
Notice the profound effect Jesus’ words had on these questioners!
Matthew 22:22
And hearing this, they were amazed, and leaving Him, they went away.
Next, we hear -
4. The Sadducees’ Attempt to Ridicule
Here we will read of a third Jewish sect –
Matthew 22:23
23 On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection)
The Sadducees were “the ancient version of the modern liberal theologians”. (Guzik) They were anti-supernatural in their worldview… Matthew notes that they deny the very reality of resurrection!
[“The Sadducees don’t believe in the resurrection – that’s why they are so sad - you see ]
The only portion of God’s Word they even accepted as being authentic was the Pentatauch – The first five books – the books of Moses… And they were quick to dismiss any part of that, that went against what they wanted…
One commentator pointed out that – “The Sadducees were not many in number; but they were the wealthy, the aristocratic, and the governing class.” (Barclay)
These –
Matthew 22:23b-24
… came to Jesus and questioned Him, 24 asking, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up children for his brother.’
So far, so good… They are simply quoting the portion of Scripture where God gave such instruction to the nation of Israel!... This practice of a brother-in-law marrying the widow of his brother became known as levirate marriage… (From the latin word; “lavir”, which means “brother-in-law”)
The Sadducees go on to tell … a hypothetical story that they think will demonstrate that the idea of resurrection is … rather ridiculous. They said –
Matthew 22:25-28
25 Now there were seven brothers with us; and the first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother; 26 so also the second, and the third, down to the seventh. 27 Last of all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”
Immediately we see –
5. Jesus’ Direct Confrontation
Matthew 22:29
But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.
Notice Jesus’ direct confrontation in calling out the Sadducees’ poor treatment of Scripture. They had a flawed hermeneutic, where they twisted a passage addressing one matter – and used it to try and reinforce their flawed theological position on resurrection!
They are not only “mistaken”, in not “understanding Scripture”– they are mistaken in not understanding “the power of God”!
If they knew God – they would know that He has the power to do what He wants… If they knew the Scriptures, they would have known that God will raise people from the dead!
But the Sadducees maintained a commitment to a liberal worldview that denies the supernatural! This has robbed them of the knowledge of the truthfulness about God! They were highly educated, but remained ignorant!
This points to the reality that one may obtain a measure of knowledge about the Bible, the Word of God – and never come to know God!
The Sadducees denied the supernatural – including the existence of angels, and the supernatural ability of God to raise someone from the dead!... They denied what they could not “measure and understand in the material world” (Guzik) – just like many today!
Be careful… You can not put God in your limited understanding of the world and how things work. He is the Designer, and He has the prerogative of superseding His creation at any point He chooses… That is why they are called miracles!...
We see Jesus going further… we see –
6. Jesus’ Clear Instruction
Matthew 22:30
30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage,
Stop there for a moment… The first thing Jesus mentions here, is that life in the resurrection is quite different from life now… Post-resurrection life is not a mere continuation of the “arrangements” in this life… Life will have a completely different order…
David Guzik makes some great observations that we should think through: “This passage has made many wonder if marriage relationships will exist in heaven, or if those who are husband and wife on earth will have no special relationship in heaven. We are not told enough about life in the world beyond to answer in great detail, but we can understand a few principles.
We certainly don’t know all that life will entail then, in how it will be different than what we experience here – but we can be certain that what we will experience will far exceed all we enjoy now, and … no one will experience disappointment!
Listen to John’s description of the vision he was given in –
1 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; 4 they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.
The question raised by the Sadducees is not just a theoretical matter… There will be many in heaven who have had more than one spouse, for any number of reasons… One thing is for certain – there will be no jealousy, or loneliness in heaven!
Let’s look at Jesus’ statement again –
Matthew 22:30
30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
Jesus says the angels of God do not marry!... This is not the time and place to discuss this – but I share the school of thought that angels don’t have sexual relationships!...
The most important point that the Sadducees should have gotten at this point, is that angels are in fact real!
Let’s move to the next statement Jesus gives –
Matthew 22:31-32
31 But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
Here, Jesus demonstrated the reality of the resurrection by using only the Torah – the five books of Moses! These were the only books the Sadducees accepted as authoritative…
Here’s the logic Jesus is demonstrating: If Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did not live on in resurrection, then God would say that He was the God of Abraham, instead of saying “I am the God of Abraham.”
Charles Haddon Spurgeon – “The living God is the God of living men; and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are still alive and identified as the same persons who lived on earth.”
Again, I love how Matthew tells us about the impact Jesus’ words has on the people!
Matthew 22:33
When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.
Next –
7. A Scribe’s Question on the Priority of the Law
Matthew 22:34-36
34 But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together.
This is almost comical… The enemies of Christ are trying their best to discredit Jesus. They are failing… The Pharisees, Herodians, and the Sadducees have all failed… So, here come the Pharisees, yet again!
35 One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
Their hope seemed to be that if they could get Jesus to highlight one law – that He would be seen as having a low view of other laws – and thus be discredited in His view of God’s laws…
What is rather … silly… The Rabbis have counted 613 commandments!... They had developed a systematic understanding of the priority of each commandment and were okay with disobeying “the lesser important” ones without any sense of guilt at all!... And here they are trying to trip Jesus up!... They are still “testing” Jesus and trying to discredit Him…
Let’s spend a moment with what comes next… And that is –
8. Jesus’ Focus on the Heart of the Law
Matthew 22:37-40
37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Instead of elevating one command over another, Jesus focuses on the very core of the law!… We are to love the LORD with everything we are, and have … and we are to love our neighbors as yourself.
It seems rather clear that the first command simply involves loving the Lord with are … all! All that we are – all that we have… This is what Jesus says is “the great and foremost commandment”! It is first in priority! It is first in quality!
The second commandment has garnered a great deal of debate through the years… Some have erroneously thought that you cannot love someone else until you love yourself! Scripture assumes people will have a natural interest in looking out for themselves… This commandment simply means that we demonstrate a genuine concern for others – for their needs and interest – and not just our own!
On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets… The heart of all the Law and instruction of the Prophets is found in – or stims from these two sentences: Love God. Love others!
Incidentally, Mark gives us a little more detail about this exchange between this lawyer and Jesus –
Mark 12:32-34
32 The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that He is One, and there is no one else besides Him; 33 and to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as himself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.
What comes next is interesting and important to understand –
9. Jesus Challenges His Opponents’ Theology
Matthew 22:41-42
41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: 42 “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?”
It seems that before they could think of another question to test Him, Jesus asked them a question.
“What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” Everyone was awaiting the coming of the Messiah. The Jews’ opposition to Jesus was because He is being acknowledged by many as being the Messiah - the Christ! (Messiah is Hebrew – Christ is Greek – both the same title, meaning “The Anointed One”) So Jesus begins here to lean into their view of Christ in posing this question…
Their response is immediate. They said to Him, “The son of David.”
“Son of David” is one of the great Old Testament titles of the Messiah. God had made a covenant with David, and declared that the Messiah would be a descendant of David! (Jeremiah 23:5-6, Isaiah 9:6-7, Luke 1:31-3)
The Pharisees fail to understand that the very One standing in front of them - posing this questions to them - is Himself in the line of David, and was even born in Bethlehem, the city of David!
Jesus is leaning further into the Pharisees limited understanding of the Messiah and challenges them with the truth that not only is the Messiah a descendant of David – He is in fact … God incarnate!
Let’s continue – Jesus said –
Matthew 22:43-44
43 He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying,44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet”’?
The Pharisees were only partially right in their answer to Jesus… They acknowledged that the Messiah is the Son of David – but they failed to understand the Scripture proclaiming that the Messiah is also the LORD Himself!
The Messiah / Christ is not only human, but is also divine!
It is interesting to note that Jesus is quoting Psalm 110 here… I have read that Psalm 110 is “the most frequently quoted OT chapter in the NT.” (Carson)
Write these two passages down: In Revelation 22, Jesus clearly proclaims that He is –
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
The Apostle Paul wrote, even in the opening verses of the book of Romans – that Jesus –
3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, 4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,
The Messiah is both, a son of David, and the Son of God!
And Jesus is challenging the Pharisees to … see this!
Matthew 22:45
If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?”
Jesus, the Master Teacher, has clearly shown from the Scripture that the Messiah is both Lord, and Christ!... The Pharisees are being … schooled!...
Notice yet again … the impotence of unbelief!
Matthew 22:46
No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.
The religious leaders hoped to trap Jesus, discredit, and embarrass Him in front of all those who have come to Jerusalem for Passover… In the end, they are the ones … intimidated into silence!
What we see in the balance of Passion week, is that since the Jewish leaders have failed with “logic and rhetoric” – they will turn to “treachery and violence instead” (Guzik).
Listen, Jesus was never intimidated when challenged. He never wavered from speaking the truth in the right way for the setting…
Now, before this message ends, we should think about how such a message applies to us today… I can think of at least two very important things we should take from this:
but sanctify[ing] Christ as Lord in [my] your hearts, [am I] always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, [and am I doing it] yet with gentleness and reverence;
Matthew 22:21b
… and to God the things that are God’s.”
You bear His image in your person. Are you honoring Him in every aspect of your person?...
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Questions to Consider in Community Group:
