LESSON 7
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
CHPTRS. 20-24
Matt. 22:15-46 & Explanations Matt. 22:15-33
Matt. 22: 15 -46 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.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.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.”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, 1 “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.
22:15-46 THE HOUSE OF HERAUDES TESTS YAH SHUA Then the Pherisas go and take counsel on how to catch him in words: and they apostolize their disciples, with the house of Heraudes wording to him, Doctor, we know you are true, and doctrinate the way of God in truth: and you bear no anxiety for humanity: for you take not the face of humanity: so word to us, How see you? Is it allowed to give head silver to the Qesar — or not? And Yah Shua, knowing their evil, words, Why test you me, you hypocrizing hypocrites? Show me the dinara head silver. — and they offer him a dinara. And Yah Shua words to them, Whose is this icon and scripture? They word to him, Of the Qesar. Then he words to them,So give that of the Qesar to the Qesar: and that of God to God. And when they hear they marvel and leave him and go. THE ZADUQAYA TEST YAH SHUA That day the Zaduqaya approach him— who word of not having the living from the dead and ask him, wording, Doctor, Mosheh words to us, if a human dies, when not having sons, his brother takes his woman and raises seed for his brother: and there have been seven brothers with us: and the first takes the woman, and dies: and there having been no son, leaves his woman to his brother: likewise also the second and also three until seven:and finally all die — even the woman. Genesis 38:8—10 So in the resurrection, of these seven, whose woman becomes she? — for they all had taken her. Yah Shua answers them, wording,You err, not knowing the scriptures and not the power of God: for in the resurrection of the deadthey take not a woman, and a woman be not to a man — but have as the angels of God in the heavens. And concerning the resurrection of the dead: recall you not what God worded to you by God, wording, I — I AM the God of Abraham the God of Yischaq the God of Yaaqub?— being God, not of the dead but of the living.— and when the congregation hears this, they are astonishing at his doctrine. THE PHERISAS TEST YAH SHUA And when the Pherisas hear that he hushed the Zaduqaya, they congregate to him: and one of them, knowing the torah, asks, when testing him, Doctor, which is the great misvah in the torah? And Yah Shua words to him, Love Yah Veh your God from all your heart and from all your soul and from all your power and from all your mind — this is the first and great misvah and the second is like it, Befriend your neighbor as your soul:— in these two misvoth hang the torah and the prophets. Deuteronomy 6:5, Leviticus 19:18 YAH SHUA TESTS THE PHERISAS And the Pherisas congregate and Yah Shua asks them, wording, What word you concerning the Meshiah? Whose son is he? They are wording to him, The son of David. He words to them, How, in spirit, calls David him Lord for he words, A word of Yah Veh to my Lord: Sit by my right, until I place your ba’al enemies under your feet? So if David calls him Lord, how is he his son? And humanity is not able to give him a word, and humanity dares not again from that day to question him. Ps. 101:1 Aramaic NC
A. Question from the Pharisees.
1. (15-17) After a flattering introduction, the Pharisees ask Jesus a problematic question.
a. Plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk: Here the Pharisees and the Herodians worked together. This was evidence of their great hatred of Jesus, because they were willing to put aside their own differences for the sake of uniting against Jesus.
1). The Herodians: The name of this party probably originated in a kind of hero-worship for Herod the Great.
2). Jesus had been directly accusing and exposing the religious leaders; now they are fighting back. Now we see the Jewish leaders launching their counterattack; and they do so by directing at Jesus carefully formulated questions.
b. 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: Their plotting led them to approach Jesus with flattery. They hoped He was insecure or foolish enough to be impressed by their hollow praise.
1). The compliment, besides being treacherous, was insulting, implying that Jesus was a reckless simpleton who would give Himself away, and a vain man who could be flattered.
c. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Jesus’ dilemma with this question was simple. If He said that taxes should be paid, He could be accused of denying the sovereignty of God over Israel (making Himself unpopular with the Jewish people). If He said that taxes should not be paid, He made Himself an enemy of Rome.
1). Lawful does not refer to Roman law (there was no question about that!), but to the law of God; is it permissible for the people of God to express allegiance to a pagan emperor?
2). This particular tax was the poll tax. Paying the poll tax was the most obvious sign of submission to Rome. Zealots claimed the poll tax was a God-dishonoring badge of slavery to the pagans.
2. (18-22) Jesus answers: give to Caesar what is his but give to God what belongs to God.
a. And He asked, “Whose image and inscription is this?” Again, with His wise answer, Jesus showed that He was in complete control. He rebuked the wickedness and hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Herodians.
b. Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s: Jesus affirmed that the government makes legitimate requests of us. We are responsible to God in all things, but we must be obedient to government in matters civil and national.
1). Peter said it like this: Fear God. Honor the king. (1 Peter 2:17)
2). Render generally means give back (whereas the verb they had used in verse 17 was simply give). It is the verb for paying a bill or settling a debt; they owe it to him.
c. And to God the things that are God’s: Everyone has the image of God impressed upon them. This means that we belong to God, not to Caesar, or not even to ourselves. We were bought with a price.
1 Corinthians 6:20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body [a]and in your spirit, which are God’s.
1). By treating them as distinct Jesus said in effect: The kingdom of God is not of this world, it is possible to be a true citizen of the kingdom and yet quietly submit to the civil rule of a foreign potentate.
B. Question from the Sadducees.
1. (23-28) The Sadducees attempt to ridicule the idea of the resurrection.
a. The Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection: The Sadducees were the ancient version of the modern liberal theologians. They were anti-supernaturalistic, only accepting the first five books of Moses as authentic – and disregarding what was written in those books when it pleased them to do so.
1). The Sadducees were not many in number; but they were the wealthy, the aristocratic, and the governing class.
I always like to quote the pun: Sadducees- They are Sad- you-see
b. Now there were with us seven brothers: The Sadducees asked Jesus a hypothetical – and ridiculous – question, hoping to show that the idea of the resurrection is nonsense. Based on Deuteronomy 25:5-10, if a married man died childless, it was his brother’s responsibility to impregnate his brother’s widow and then count the child as the deceased husband’s descendant. The Pharisees imagined elaborate circumstances along these lines and raised the question, Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?
1). This practice of a brother-in-law marrying the widow of his brother is known as levirate marriage. The term comes from the Latin “lavir,” meaning “brother-in-law.” This is the specific idea in the question. “Marry is not the normal Greek word, but a technical term for the performance of the levirate duty.
a. You are mistaken: The Sadducees connected their thoughts to a Biblical passage but did not think through the passage correctly. These highly-trained men were mistaken in their basic understanding of Biblical truth.
b. Not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God: Their mistake was rooted in two causes. First, they did not know the Scriptures (though they thought they did). Second, they did not know the power of God, being basically anti-supernaturalists. This was true of them, even though religion was their career and they were highly trained.
1). Not knowing the Scriptures: It is possible for a person to have much Bible knowledge, yet not fundamentally know the Scriptures. Paul later told Timothy to hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me (2 Timothy 1:13). This suggests that Biblical truth has a pattern to it, a pattern that can be detected by the discerning heart. It also suggests that one can lose this pattern (thus the command to hold fast). The Sadducees had Bible knowledge, but they did not hold fast the pattern of sound words; many today are like them in this respect.
3. (30-33) Jesus answers: resurrection life is different.
a. In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage: First, Jesus reminded them that life in the resurrection is quite different from this life. It does not merely continue this world and its arrangements, but it is life of a completely different order.
1). 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.
· Family relationships will still be known in life in the world beyond. The rich man Jesus described in the afterlife was aware of his family relationships (Luke 16:27-28).
· The glory of heaven will be a relationship and connection with God that surpasses anything else, including present family relationships (Revelation 21:22-23).
b. Are like the angels of God in heaven: Jesus here said that the angels of God in heaven do not marry; we presume this includes that they do not have sexual relationships.
Yet the words of Jesus do not exclude such a connection for several reasons.
· Jesus spoke of the angels of God in heaven, not the fallen angelic beings indicated in the Genesis and Jude passages.
Many in the Genesis passage say these are the Nephiliam. There are 2 schools of thought here:
(Gen 6:4) There were giants (Nephilim) in the earth in those days. And also after that, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore to them, they were mighty men who existed of old, men of renown.
Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and satan also came among them.
H5303–nephı̂yl nephil–nef-eel’, nef-eel’–From H5307; properly, a feller, that is, a bully or tyrant: – giant. from the Hebrew word Naphal, which means to fall upon, meaning they were creatures of violence.
Who are the sons of God and the Nephilim?
Who are the “sons of God” and the Nephilim in Genesis 6:4? If the Nephilim were a race of giants, how could they appear both before and after the Flood, which destroyed everyone except Noah and his family?
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days – and also afterward – when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
· Jesus did not say that angelic beings were incapable of sexual expression, only that such relationships did not exist among the angels in heaven.
· We can’t be certain of the type of sexual connection indicated in the Genesis and Jude passages. It is entirely possible that the connection was not between material appearances of these angelic beings and humans, but that the evil angelic beings expressed themselves through uniquely demon-possessed humans.
Jude 6 And the angels who did not keep their [c]proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;
Explanations for Matt. 22 :34-46 next week.
We will continue with Les.7 next week.
The blessings of the Lord are upon you whether by blood, adoption/sonship or assignment. The blessing of the LORD makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it. Prov. 10:22
David & Mary Sue