Matthew 22:42-46 Who Do You Say I am?

Matthew 22:42-46  While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah?  Whose son is he?”  “The son of David,” they replied.  He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,“‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’  If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”  No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions. 

We see in the Old Testament many verses expressing that a deliverer would come to rule over Israel.  He would come from the loins of David; he would destroy Israel’s adversaries and restore Israel to a prominent place among the nations.  Peace, prosperity, and safety would be the product of his reign.  Regardless of how they understood the Messiah’s reign, they concluded he would come as an descendant of King David.  David’s time of rule was a period of prosperity for the Israelites.  Gold and silver from all over the world flowed into the treasure of David and the people.  The Israelites were looking to this future time of peace and prosperity that the Messiah would bring. The Messiah also would have a divinity about him for he would be in the likeness of the king of Salem who blessed Abraham after he and his people won a war against their adversaries.  The king of Salem, Melchizedek, was so great that even the father of their nation, Abraham, gave tithes to him.  The lesser always gave tithes to the greater.  Melchizedek had no perceived beginning and ending; therefore, he was eternal, one who is blessed by God.  For many of the Jews, the Messiah’s coming would be to establish an eternal rule.  He will destroy their adversaries and bring peace The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.  (Psalms 110:4)  Melchizedek was given his priestly responsibilities by God himself.  He was not out of the loins of men as were the Levites out of Aaron.  Therefore what God had sworn to be true was greater than what Moses, a mere man, swore to be true.  For many religious Jews, the Messiah was to carry this mantle of ruling Israel forever.  The prophets foretold this Messiah would come from David’s loins.  Messiah, as David, would be from the tribe of Judah, the tribe of kings.  Jesus fulfilled this requirement.  His supposed father, Joseph, was a descendant of David.  Because Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, He, as the Messiah, could rule forever as king and as priest.  Jesus was not a Levite, but as with Melchizedek, Jesus’ priestly position came directly from God, not from the loins of men.  The Pharisees could not conceive of Jesus being a spiritual leader, for He was out of the tribe of Judah and not Levi, and He was considered by them to be a bastard, born out of an illicit relationship of Mary.  They knew Jesus’ beginnings were in dispute; they knew He was not a Levite, so they questioned greatly Jesus’ role as a spiritual leader.  They resented that so many people treated Jesus as a king, giving him what they believed was undue deference.  Jesus knew their thinking and confronted them with the question, “What do you think about the Messiah?  Whose son is he?”  Jesus knew their hearts; He knew they resented him and wanted to kill him.  So, if they are believers in the Messiah’s coming, what basic stipulation did they hold for the person who would be the Messiah.  They stated what they knew the scriptures told them: The son of David,” they replied.  Jesus then quoted from the scriptures: The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.  How could the Messiah be out of the loins of David, if David calls the Messiah his Lord.  The lesser calls the greater, Lord.  This is a repeat of Abraham and Melchizedek.  The lesser honors the greater.  Jesus went on, if David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?  Because Jesus’ response was scriptural, they were quieted and went away without any further questions.  

But, they went away with murder in their hearts, intending to kill this man who claimed to be the Messiah.  As we peruse Jesus’ life, we see major incidents when God himself affirms that Jesus the son of Mary is his Anointed One.  As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water.  At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.   And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”  (Matthew 3:16-17)  John the Baptist who is preparing the Jewish people to accept a heavenly intervention into their lives by calling the people to repent of their sins and to be baptized in water has a divine interaction with Jesus.  When Jesus approaches him to be baptized, John recognizes Jesus as holy.  “John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”  (John 2:14)  After the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus, John knows Jesus is the Messiah who takes away sins.  Later in Jesus’ ministry, we see Peter, James and John on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus.  Once again, we see God affirming Jesus as his son.  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.  Listen to him!”  (Matthew 17:5)  The apostles were shaken for now they realized Jesus is someone far beyond the miracle worker, the great teacher: He is the Son of the living God.  This separation is acute—Jesus performed many miracles and wonders, but the prophets of old did the same things, but not to the extent that Jesus did them.  But now for the apostles’ understanding, Jesus moves into another category, not just a holy man of power but as the Messiah, “Who do you say I am?”  Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”  (Mark 8:29)  This categorical response is soon challenged by the events of the world.  Jesus is taken captive by the high priest and his followers abandon him.  Jesus is humiliated by the Romans and then hung on a cross.  The disciples fear for their lives and initially leave him in terror, unable to tell anyone that they are followers of this man, Jesus, who they once believed was the Messiah, the one who would rule Israel justly and in peace, throwing off the yoke of their oppressors.  They question Jesus’ divinity until the resurrection and then after the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus’ followers, they understood fully the reason for Jesus’ death and resurrection.  David said about him: “‘I saw the Lord always before me.  Because he is at my right hand,  I will not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay.  You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’”  (Acts 2:25-28)  In Peter’s sermon to the people who witness Pentecost, he affirms that Jesus is the Messiah anointed by God.  David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’  “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”  (Acts 2:34-36)  When the people heard the truth about Jesus, many repented of their sins and turned to Jesus as their Messiah.  Many were saved on that day.  Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.   (Acts 2)  The Messiah had come into their lives as ruler and priest of their existence forever.

Paul addresses the issue of Jesus as the Messiah for all people in the world.  He emphasizes how Abraham’s covenant was for the whole world.  Faith in God through Jesus would heal all people of every land and the hearts of people could be changed permanently into new hearts.  In talking to the Greeks in Colossus, he states,  My goal is that they (you) may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they (you) may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they (you) may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  (Colossians 2:2-3)  As Jesus claimed to the Pharisees, He was not a mere man out of the loins of a man named David, but He was the Son of God who would heal all lands, all people.  God’s mysterious plan of redemption for the world culminates in JESUS ALONE.  Most Greeks did not have an understanding of the Jewish religion, for the Jews were not even allowed to enter a Gentile home.  But now Paul is not only entering their homes, but he is living with them.  He is passing on to the Greeks a better understanding of the one in whom they have placed their trust.  He reveals the mystery of God that was held from people until the last days, CHRIST alone, the Savior of mankind.  In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and the knowledge of what reality is.  Paul explains to the Greeks as well to the Jews that all have sinned, all are in need of restoration to the God who made them.  None will ever approach the God of Creation who is holy, without one fault, unless they too are holy without one fault.  Only IN THE PERFECT ONE, can anyone approach the eternal God.  As with all people, Paul states,  You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away.  Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.  He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.  In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities.  He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.  (Colossians 2:13-15)  All the principalities and rulers everywhere, even in the spiritual world, have seen God’s answer to man’s dilemma of sin.  God through Jesus Christ has answered all accusations and condemnation by the devil and his cohorts against the human race.  He has provided humans a way out of their captivity to sin: Jesus Christ, in him is the fulness of God himself.  All other ways to God, all other religions, philosophies, methods, and knowledge to gain eternal peace with God are foolishness, deceptive, and devilish.  Only through Jesus can men and women become whole, living in peace and love.  Jesus quelled the Pharisees’ attack on him in today’s focus by intimating strongly to them through the scriptures that the Messiah is not the son of man, of David, but He is the Son of God.  His lineage falls back to God, not to man.  He wanted those who were listening to him to know that they were looking at the Messiah, the beloved Son of God.  Dear friends, He is your Messiah, your Deliverer, your Savior.  Take him today as all of that: Jesus only is the Truth of existence and the Way to eternal life.  Amen!  

Matthew 22:34-40 Love Your Neighbor

Matthew 22:34-40  Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.  One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

The Sadducees were silenced, but they were not willing to back off in their attempt to discredit Jesus before the people and to eventually do away with him.  They were the elite in Israel; they represented the segment of the Jewish society that ran the country.  The Sadducees and the elders of Israel were willing to profess allegiance to Rome so that their position of power in Israel would be maintained.  Jesus and his supporters were a threat to this power structure, so the Sadducees and the elite were always concerned about Jesus and his followers.  After Jesus went away to heaven, the apostles were the focus of the leaders’ animosity.  The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people.  They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.  They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day.  (Acts 4:1-3)  Peter and John were released, but warned about speaking about Jesus, but this did not deter the apostles from their work with the people, so later all of the apostles were arrested.  Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.  They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.  (Acts 5:17-18)  Killing Jesus was not enough for these leaders; they felt they had to eradicate this Jesus sect or their authoritative position with the Jews and their favoritism with the Romans might be in jeopardy.  To them, Christianity was a threat to their society and to their position of power in the establishment.  Even today, Christianity is a threat to the world’s leaders, to their position of power, to the establishment that is in place.  Therefore, Christianity is not well accepted by the world’s order.  They will either fight Christianity or co-opt it into their way of thinking.  When the apostles were released by the angel out of jail, the angel told the apostles to go back to the temple, the place of power, and “tell the people all about this new life.”  (Acts 5:20)  The message of this new life focused strongly on one point: God is love.  The apostles knew that God demanded holiness, righteousness, perfection.  Jesus told them how to meet God’s demands on their lives: love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.  Now the angel tells them, go out and tell about this new life of love.  A story that was backed by the power of God, miracles, and wonders of all sorts happened to support the message of the Good News: that God’s love had come to them in the form of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene.  He had come to deliver the human race out of slavery—to release them from the Adamic nature.

The story of Jesus revolves around the theme of love.  God, through Jesus Christ and his Spirit, has come to people to reveal God’s love for all humanity.  We who are Christians are filled with God’s mercy and grace.  He has given us his Holy Spirit to express his love to people.  We are his instruments of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  (Galatians 5:22-23)  Jesus told us to reflect God by doing the will of God by loving others.  We do this by the power of God through the attributes of the Holy Spirit.  The second commandment stands equal to the first, loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind.  The first commandment focuses on our allegiance to God: to love him completely.  But the second commandment is our responsibility to others.  If we believe we fulfill the first commandment but then do not love others as we love ourselves, we are deceiving ourselves, and the love for God is not really present in us.  Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar.  For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.  (1 John 4:20)  Now we can put a footnote at the bottom of the page on this one, for John could definitely be referring only to our brothers and sisters IN CHRIST.  So we could consider this aspect of loving our neighbors as a requirement to love only the neighbors who are Christians with God’s love.  Sounds good to most of us, gets us off of the hook of loving certain people in the world.  We decide to love good neighbors but not bad neighbors, good groups of people but not bad groups of people.  How glad we are that the Bible coincides well with our own understanding about people.  But then Jesus, our LORD AND SAVIOR, seems to have other ideas about love.  “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.  He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?  Are not even the tax collectors doing that?  And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others?  Do not even pagans do that?  Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  (Matthew 5:43-48)  Jesus rejects the Bible we write for ourselves where we avoid some scriptures but accept others into the category of what are pagan scriptures.  Do not even pagans do that?   Pagans are people without God, who will never see God as the light of the world, for they live in darkness with evil intentions in their hearts.  We who are supposed to be lights in this world ought not to live as the pagans.  James says that even if you prefer one person above the other, you fall into the pagan domain.  Otherwise, you might as well break all the laws of God, for you are not acceptable to God, no better than a pagan.  How often we scribble out parts of the Bible that do not fit well with our Adamic DNA: our self-willed, self-indulgent nature.  We sometimes deceive ourselves by believing God does not see our sinful attitude and behavior, but God knows all, even our thoughts are in his purview.  His ways and understanding are far beyond our ways and understanding.  Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.  Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts.  Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.  (Isaiah 55:6-8)  God is merciful to us even though we cross out so much in the scriptures.  He still is the God of mercy and grace to those who seek to love him.  

If we love God with our whole heart, mind, and soul, we will seek to do his will and to love others as ourselves.  We will fall under his authority.  We will be his servants to all people.  We see Jesus demonstrating servanthood by washing all of his disciples’ feet.  Christians who want to be great in the kingdom of God or who really want to serve the Lord with fervor must be willing to be servants to all.  This is the ultimate expression of love, God himself.  God loves all people, good or bad.  They are his creation, made in his image.  We are to respect all people and be willing to serve them regardless of race, creed, social standing, diversity.  We are not to love the world and the things of the world, but we are to love people.  As Jesus told Peter, if you are not willing to allow me to wash your feet you have no part with me.  (see John 13)  Jesus in his demonstration was revealing clearly God’s love for all people.  If Peter would not accept this act of love, he would not be accepted in the Kingdom of God, for he was rejecting the goodness of God to him.  As Jesus demonstrated, God’s love demands action.  We who love God should be constantly looking to love others with our actions.  Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.  And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.  If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?  Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.  (1John 3:16-18)  The action of love should be is a continuous flow in every Christian, every day.  Not one day should be given to slothfulness, without a concern to serve God thought displaying his Spirit to others: those fruits of the Spirit from Galatians 5 that we listed above should be evident in our lives.  We are to be controlled by the Spirit of God, not the spirit of the self-indulgent man or woman.  We are the light of the world, and without actions of love in our lives, we are dark, blending into a worldly life.  Our lives should be different; our association with others should be different.  We should display God every day, and we should end our lives focused on loving others.  Love must be genuine and enduring.  We read a story in the newspaper about an elderly man who closed out his life with his enduring love for his wife.  Every day he visited his wife who was in a nursing home.  She had Alzheimers, dementia of the mind.  He visited her daily, taking care of her needs, feeding her, watching carefully that she was well cared for.  In her state of mind, she did not know who he was and sometimes acted out aggressively against him.  But he was faithful to her; his love endured to the end regardless of her behavior towards him.  Breakfast companions, God asks you to endure to the end, to love to the end.  Let God’s love for a broken world shine in your life.   We are to love when we are on the mountaintop and when we are in the valley.  Let us stand firm, knowing God is love and we are his children who love as He loves.  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  (John 3:16)  

Matthew 22:23-33 Whose Wife Will She Be?

Matthew 22:23-33  That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question.  “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.  Now there were seven brothers among us.  The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother.  The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh.  Finally, the woman died.  Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”  Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.  At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.  But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?  He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”  When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.

We see the Sadducees asking the above question.  They are the sect of the priests that believe very little that is supernatural.  They probably could be classified as religious agnostics, not willing to believe anything until they could experience it with their senses.  They denied the immortality of the soul, the bodily resurrection after death, and the existence of angelic spirits.  Consequently, their question about whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her? was nothing more than a theoretical question.  Since they did not believe in an afterlife or immorality, their intention for asking this question is to trap Jesus in saying something that might be contradictory or confusing to the people.  The crowd was listening carefully, for when Jesus finished his answer to the Sadducees’ insincere question, they were astonished at his teaching.  This kind of question comes from hypocrites who do not want to accept the truth of the Bible.  Instead, they want to skirt the deeper things that point to a spiritual reality.  They consider anything that depends on faith as foolishness.  To the Sadducees the spiritual world was irrelevant.  Paul said such people were always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.  (2 Timothy 3:7)   The Sadducees entertained unprofitable surmising, considering something they did not even believe: the afterlife.  With Jesus they involved him in intellectual musing, without a desire to actually learn something.   Titus reminds people to avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.  (Titus 3:9)  He goes on to say that such people are divisive, warped, and sinful, willing to destroy people’s faith rather than build people up in the faith.  The Sadducees were wicked in their intentions about Jesus; they intended to kill him, and eventually they helped put him on the cross.  They sanctimoniously wore their long robes with their broad phylacteries on their arms, looking holy, but inside, as with the Pharisees, they were full of hypocrisy and sin.  (see Matthew 23)  They, more than the Pharisees, denied the transforming power of God in people’s lives.  Their lifestyle was fixated on the things of this world.  To maintain their position of preference with the people, and to put this popular man in his place, they asked this insincere, pretentious question, void of any real situation.  They were blind guides, straining at a gnat in the truth of the law, but swallowing a whole camel of unbelief.  (see Matthew 23:24)

I was blind but now I see, exclaimed the healed blind man to the priest.  Sadly the Sadducees were not only blind to Jesus’ messiahship, they were also blind to the scriptures and God’s power.  Jesus addresses their question after first referring to their blindness, their ignorance in their area of expertise, the Pentateuch.  The Sadducees read only the Pentateuch, for they considered the first five books in the Bible as the only reliable scriptures.  You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.  The Jews esteemed the Sadducees and knew them as the elite in society.  They were wealthy, well-educated leaders in the secular and religious world in Israel; therefore, implying their ignorance attacked their power and control over the Jewish people.  The Sadducees’ question was of interest to the Jews because land in Israel was initially allotted to each tribe based on the number of males in each clan.  If a woman lost her husband through death, her husband’s land passed to the eldest brother.  To reclaim the dead brother’s rightful inheritance of land, the elder brother married the woman, providing her with sons, to inherit her dead husband’s land.  Since women were much like property, passed down from father to husband and so forth, women had little authority.  So the Sadducees questioned Jesus on who had responsibility for a woman with many husbands.  Whose wife will she be of the seven?  Jesus does not answer that question directly; He tells them they are ignorant of the afterlife and God’s power.  He says after death she would be free from the patriarchal system instituted by the Jews.  At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.   On the earth for thousands of years males had dominated the relationship between male and female, but Jesus says, this is not what will be in heaven.  We see on Pentecost, the Spirit falling on both genders.  Peter speaks of this situation of male and female knowing God.  In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.  Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.  (Acts 2:17-18)  When Cornelius was baptized, the whole house was baptized with the Spirit.  When Paul and Silas were freed from their chains through an earthquake, the jailer feared for his life.  Paul assured him not to fear, for none of the prisoners had escaped.  Then, at that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and ALL his household were baptized.  (Acts 16:33)  Jesus tells the Sadducees women will be free from the domination of males, free indeed!  These disbelievers in the afterlife were criticized by Jesus because of their failure to read the scriptures carefully.  Have you not read what God said to you, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?  He is not the God of the dead but of the living.  Of course Jesus knew they had read this passage many times; He knew they probably had it memorized; but they did not understand what God said to Moses at the burning bush.  Their preconceptions, their unbelief, overrode understanding the word.  Jesus tells them that God’s words to Moses were that He was the God of the living and that the Patriarchs were presently with him.  He is not the God of the forever deceased, but He is the God of the forever living souls.  He criticizes them for not knowing the power of God, not understanding that the God of the universe exists beyond their perceptions, their senses.  They boxed God into their fleshly understanding of the reality of the world, so they thought they had a very difficult question for Jesus.  But Jesus answers it by stressing the spiritual reality of the human soul, something they rejected.  But the wisdom of Jesus’ answer confounded them, silenced them.

The interaction between Jesus and the learned Sadducees shows Jesus’ words undermining the wisdom and knowledge of their foundation.  Jesus spoke of the eternal Rock of Ages, God himself; they talked about their perceptions of life on earth.  Their minds were captivated by darkness, based on what their senses revealed.  Even their spiritual understanding and interpretation of the Torah was limited by their understanding of what was real and what was not.  Jesus knew that they were blind to the power of God, ignorant of spiritual truth.  As Christians today we should not be ignorant of spiritual truth, for Christ has given us his Spirit to teach us all things.  The Lord’s words should be real to us; they should be words that direct our daily lives.  Peter tells us, in your hearts revere Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  (1 Peter 3:15)  We are to be prepared to testify of God’s wonderful grace and to express with joy the salvation that has been given to us freely.  However, we should also be able to give a coherent explanation of our hope.  The Sadducees knew the scriptures but had not heard what they were saying.  Jesus informed them that they were ignorant of the scriptures.  We are not to be ignorant of the word of God.  Our testimony will open the eyes and ears of people around us to the reality of God.  Being able to open the scriptures to them will provide a path for the unbeliever to come to God in faith, for the scriptures go beyond one individual’s life.  Being rich in faith is important; equally important is to be rich in the scriptures.  That is why we need to be reading the scriptures daily.  Memorizing scripture is good, but for those less capable in memorizing, we should hold onto the truths in the Bible.  We should paraphrase these scriptures.  Documenting our paraphrases can come later if we need to do that.  Jesus knew the Sadducees had no real foundation for their lives other than their senses.  Their spiritual eyes were blind, and spiritual blindness can lead to horrible consequences: chaos, disobedience, sinfulness and uncertainty.  Lives without a foundation can spiral downward quickly and eternally.  Titus explains this when he says, At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.  (Titus 3:3)  The Sadducees were caught in this kind of lifestyle.  They even wanted Jesus murdered.  Without truth in a person’s life, there is no stopping point for sin.  The Sadducees disappeared from existence as a sect when the Temple was destroyed.  Their world view could not hold them.  But Christians know if heaven and earth pass away, the Spirit of God will hold us, for He is present with us at all times.  God saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.  He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.  (Titus 3:4-7)  The Sadducees could not believe that life could exist after death; consequently, they had to mine everything they could out of life for death ended their existence.  Jesus said, You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.  We who are alive IN CHRIST know the power of God—eternal life is ours.  Amen!   

Matthew 22:15-22 Give to Caesar What Is Caesar's!

Matthew 22:15-22  Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words.  They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians.  “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.  You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are.  Tell us then, what is your opinion?  Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”  But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?  Show me the coin used for paying the tax.”  They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this?  And whose inscription?”  “Caesar’s,” they replied.  Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”  When they heard this, they were amazed.  So they left him and went away.

We see in the above focus that the Pharisees were devious in their attempt to undermine Jesus’ influence with the people.  Jesus was gathering a great throng of people around him.  He had attacked the Jewish elite directly, calling them hypocrites, snakes, people with scheming purposes.  The Pharisees wanted to keep their position of preference in the Jewish society.  Jesus and his teachings were a threat to their position of power within the  community.  They were seeing Jesus’ power grow among the people; the people acclaimed him as a man with godlike authority; He performed miracles and healings that no man had done from the beginning of time.  If Jesus’ popularity was not diminished, how could they hold spiritual control over the people?  To them, Jesus was a rogue operating outside of the appropriate religious structure in the Jewish community.  He attacked the hierarchy, failing to defer to their position as spiritual leaders.  You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are.  In today’s verses, we see the Pharisees bringing with them the Herodians to trap Jesus with his own words.  The Herodians followed Herod, who was a tool of Rome, so his followers paid homage to the Roman rule.  If Jesus would say anything that was detrimental to the Roman’s authority in Jerusalem, his words would quickly reach Herod’s ears and then Caesar’s ears, causing Jesus’ imprisonment or death.  The Jewish leaders would then be free from Jesus’ threat to their leadership role in the community.  They would also benefit by the Romans taking care of Jesus and not them; for Jesus was very popular with the people; He was almost untouchable.  Therefore, when they asked their question, Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? they were hoping Jesus would fall into the trap of offending Herod’s position of power, and subsequently Roman’s authority over the Jewish nation.  But Jesus avoids this trap deftly by asking to see a coin used for the payment of the tax.  Show me the coin used for paying the tax.  The Roman coins were imprinted on one side with the image of of Caesar.  Rather than telling them a definitive answer of whether Rome should be ruler of the Jewish people, He states a matter of fact under the present condition.  So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.  By answering this way, Jesus evades the trap, upsetting neither the Jewish people nor the Roman authorities.  The people wanted Rome gone, but the people knew Jesus had to handle this matter delicately.  The Jewish elite wanted an answer that they could repeat to the authorities that would indict him as a rebel, but Jesus escapes their trap with his wise response.  These Pharisees were dangerous hypocrites, vipers along his journey, lying in wait, to destroy his influence with the people.  They wanted him dead; if they could identify Jesus as a revolutionary, Rome would take care of him.  But his answer stopped the mouths of the hypocrites: He had given them no ammunition to use against him.  They left him and went away.

Jesus had become a man of the people.  Right after the above test, the Sadducees come to Jesus with another question about marriage, but when Jesus answers it wisely, the Bible says, When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.  (Matthew 22:33)  The people not only found him a wise man, they held high hopes of Jesus throwing off the secular power of Rome in their land.  Caesar’s tax was a symbol of the weakness of Israel.  This subjugation to Rome was detested by the Jews.  Consequently, there were many revolutionaries in Israel, operating clandestinely to overthrow the Roman rule.  When the people clamored for Barabbas to be released by Pilate, the Roman governor; they were asking for a revolutionary to be released.  Jesus, the one they had put their hopes in to overthrow Rome, had failed them miserably.  They cried for Barabbas’ freedom because at least he would continue aggressively fighting the Romans.  Their shouts for Barabbas made the Roman governor exceedingly angry; therefore, he ordered Jesus to be beaten with a lead-tipped whip, slashing his back to pieces.  If they wanted a revolutionary released, then he would brutalize Jesus and put a sign on him that he, this emaciated, brutalized man, was their king, ridiculing the Jewish people by displaying Rome’s power over a weak Jewish man.  Jesus, who became the crucified one, was not in the business of gaining power in this world.  He did not struggle with the elite over political or hierarchal power.  He chose fishermen, tax collectors, and people of little power to be in his inner circle: his confidants.  He also chose a revolutionary, Simon the Zealot.  The Zealots were militant, against the Roman occupation and also against any Jewish people who were helping the Romans rule.  For Simon, this question directed at Jesus about taxes was probably very important, more so than to the other disciples.  Which way would Jesus jump?  Favoring the Romans or the people?  We do not know if Jesus’ answer disappointed him, but we do know Jesus was not going to be subjected to the Jewish elite.  He had come to give the Good News to the Jewish people.  He was the Messiah who would release all people from the authority of the devil.  The destination of eternal souls was in question, not whether a certain people would rule or not.  He came to give life to all people.  They were now living in darkness, in hopelessness, living temporary, finite lives on earth, physically disappearing into dust eventually, with no hope for eternal life.  As sure as the Romans ruled Israel, they were ruled by death and darkness, with no possible escape from a life of senseless captivity.  But Jesus came to reveal that the God of Creation wanted their souls to be with him forever.  He came to give his life for people, not to win the world for himself or for the Jewish nation.  Jesus was not out to gain the world—He was out to win souls for God’s family.  

Of course, winning the world is very attractive to men, much more important than looking forward to an eternal existence.  The proverb a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush means the things we currently have are worth more than what we might have a chance of getting.  Why not eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die.  Let us live for today.  But Jesus came to give eternal life to all who would place their trust in him.  His life was fixed on that purpose, not to make life better for humans in this world.  He told his disciples they would have many troubles in this world, which they did.  Paul describes some of his hardships in 2 Corinthian 6.  People who ministered with Paul also shared many of the hardships that fell upon him.  Jesus was not there to pay allegiance to Rome or to the leaders of the Jewish people.  He was there to do the will of the Father: to bring people into his kingdom, his dwelling place.  But taxes and money are indicators of where people’s hearts are, so this question put to him by the Pharisees was important to those who were listening.  Should they continue their loyalty to Rome by giving Caesar his taxes or should they rebel, following their leader, Jesus.  Jesus knew their hearts; He probably disappointed many in the crowd, not just the deceptive Pharisees.  Taxes were an issue because fewer taxes meant more money in their coffers, more security, more self-worth.  But Jesus had already talked about money issues.  Dependence on wealth, revolving your life on gain is an unhealthy way to live.  In fact, it can be considered darkness, for living only for money distorts the reason for living: to bring glory to God the Creator.  The latter is a healthy reason to be alive; but the former, fixated on money, is great darkness—a broad way to destruction.  The eye (what is important in your life) is the lamp of the body.  If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!  “No one can serve two masters.  Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and money.”  (Matthew 6:22-24)  In Jesus’ answer about taxes, He was reenforcing the idea that life should not be about taxes or money; life should revolve about serving God.  Yes, life has perfunctory duties, obligations to those who rule, daily routines to serve those around us and society.  Life has a more extensive and real reason: serving the eternal God.  Jesus said, give to him what is owed to him.  Of course, what is owed to him is our very lives, breath, heartbeat, hands, and feet.  Every part of us is his creation.  Therefore, we should love him with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength.  Our lives should be dedicated to him.  If taxes are owed, we should pay them; if obligations need to be met, we should fulfill them.  But do not let anything take hold of our lives.  The Zealots wanted to be free of Rome; the Herodians wanted to maintain their position of power.  The struggle between the Herodians (Caesar’s people) and the Zealots would end up in a horrible war, decimating the Jewish nation.  Jesus did not walk unknowingly into this trap set for him by worldly people.  His purpose for everything He did or taught was for a permanent victory, bringing the chosen to his Father, holy, without one fault.  He came to save people from destruction.  He came to redeem.  He came to deliver to God his Father a people that would be called God’s children.  He brought righteousness to unrighteous, holiness to the unholy.  Jesus’s answer about taxes is a lesson for us today.  Let us Christians keep in focus our purpose for living.  Let us strive to articulate the reason for Christ coming to earth.  Let us display light, bringing the light of Jesus to every man and woman we meet.  The real message is not taxes, who rules or who does not, but that JESUS SAVES.