Matthew · chapter 22 of 28
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Matthew 22 tells the parable of the king's wedding feast for his son and the invited guests who refuse to come, and then four confrontations with the leaders: the Pharisees ask about tribute to Caesar, the Sadducees about the resurrection and a lawyer about the greatest commandment. Jesus answers wisely and ends by asking how the Christ can be both David's son and David's Lord.
In chapter 21 Jesus confronted the leaders with parables of judgment. In Matthew 22 the leaders respond with verbal traps. Each group tries to catch him with a hard question, and Jesus' answers reveal his wisdom, and in the end it is he who asks the question.
Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a king who gave a wedding feast for his son and sent his servants to call those who were invited, but they would not come. He sent other servants, and some went off to their business, and others seized and killed the servants. The king was angry and sent for everyone they could find on the roads, both bad and good, and the hall was filled with guests. When the king came in to look at the guests, he saw a man without a wedding garment, asked how he got in and, when he had no answer, ordered him thrown into the outer darkness. Jesus concludes that many are called, but few are chosen.
The Pharisees plot to trap him in his words and send their disciples along with the Herodians, who ask whether it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus asks whose image is on a coin and answers that they should render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's.
The Sadducees, who deny the resurrection, bring up the case of a woman widowed by seven brothers in turn and ask whose wife she will be in the resurrection. Jesus answers that they are wrong because they know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God: in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels; and God said to Moses that he is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and he is not God of the dead but of the living.
When the Pharisees hear that he silenced the Sadducees, a lawyer asks which is the great commandment. Jesus answers that it is to love the Lord with all the heart, soul and mind, and that the second, like it, is to love your neighbor as yourself; on these two depend all the Law and the Prophets. Then Jesus asks whose son the Christ is; they answer that he is David's, and he quotes the psalm in which David calls him Lord, asking how he can be his son. No one can answer him.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Jesus ends the parable by saying many are called but few are chosen. The invitation is broad, but being invited is not enough: one must respond and come in the garment the king provides.
Jesus answers that we should render to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's. He recognizes legitimate civil authority but reminds us that the person bears God's image and belongs wholly to him.
Jesus argues that God presents himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and that he is not God of the dead but of the living. By this he affirms that the patriarchs are still alive to God and supports the hope of the resurrection.
Jesus sums up the law as loving God with all the heart, soul and mind, and loving one's neighbor as oneself. Love for God and love for neighbor go together and are the center of all Scripture.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: They would not come; some went off to their business and others seized and killed the servants. — Matthew 22:3-6
Answer: To render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. — Matthew 22:21
Answer: Because they knew neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. — Matthew 22:29
Answer: To love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. — Matthew 22:37-38
Answer: To love your neighbor as yourself. — Matthew 22:39
Answer: How the Christ, whom David calls Lord, can also be his son. — Matthew 22:43-46
The parable of the wedding feast reminds us that God's invitation is generous but calls for a response. In a small group you can ask what excuses, such as business or worries, keep us away from the feast of the kingdom. Coming to the wedding means accepting the garment the king provides.
The great commandment offers a simple measure for reviewing our lives. Ask how you love God with your whole being this week and whom near you it is hard to love as yourself, and take a concrete step in both directions.
Matthew 22 shows Jesus answering wisely all who test him and summing up the law in love. In chapter 23 Jesus addresses the crowd and his disciples to warn against the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees.
Interpreters understand it in several ways: the righteousness God gives to the one who believes, or a changed life that matches the invitation. In both cases the teaching is that being present at the feast is not enough; one must accept the invitation on the king's terms.
They were supporters of the dynasty of Herod, which ruled with Rome's permission. The Pharisees, who resented Rome, joined them against Jesus, because the question about tribute could set him against the people or against Rome.
Jesus quotes Psalm 110, in which David calls the Messiah Lord. Christians see in this that the Messiah is a human descendant of David but also greater than he, the Son of God. Matthew leaves the question open so that the reader answers it by faith.