Saturday, April 23, 2016

Matthew Chapter 22




The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. 4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. 13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
1.  Why doesn’t Jesus just speak plainly instead of all these confusing parables?
In that culture this way a common way of illustrating a greater principle. It was considered rude to come directly to the point. In the middle east this is still true. Americans are “get to the point, bottom line, thinkers” we assume everybody else is also.
2.   In this story, what is the point, who and what do the different elements represent?

The parable of the wedding feast describes the consequences that will befall the derelict religious leaders. ESVN

Jesus said the kingdom was similar to what
the following story illustrated . The king represents God the Father. His son, the bridegroom, is Messiah. The wedding feast is the messianic banquet that will take place on earth at the beginning of the kingdom. As in the previous parable, the slaves (Gr. douloi) of the king are His prophets (21:34-36).]
They announced the coming of the banquet and urged those whom God invited to it, the Jews, to prepare for it. However most of those who heard about it did not respond to the call to prepare for it. Several writers have taken this invitation as corresponding to the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus. CN
The parable is therefore a similitude of the kingdom of heaven. The purpose of God is to honour His Son by celebrating His marriage. First of all the Jews, already invited, are bidden to the marriage feast. They would not come. This was done during Christ’s lifetime. Afterwards, all things being ready, He again sends forth messengers to induce them to come. This is the mission of the apostles to the nation, when the work of redemption had been accomplished. They either despise the message or slay the messengers. The result is the destruction of those wicked men and of their city. This is the destruction that fell upon Jerusalem. On their rejection of the invitation, the destitute, the Gentiles, those who were outside, are brought in to the feast, and the wedding is furnished with guests. Darby
3.  Who is the guy with no wedding cloths?
It is said to be a custom in the East, even at the present day, for the host to present his guests with robes of honor. Every saint is robed, not in his own righteousness, but in the white robes of Christ’s righteousness. “As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal 3:27). Abbott, on this passage says: “The garments we put on when we put on the Lord Jesus Christ by faith (Rom 13:14)…. To be without the wedding garments, offered freely to him, implied that the man thought his usual attire good enough. He therefore represents one who, while professing to be for Christ, thought his own righteousness would save him without a trustful obedience to the Savior.” Johnson.
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  Gal 3:27 (ESV)
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. Romans 13:14 (ESV)


4.  Who are the invited and who are the chosen?
“The many called” embrace all who hear the gospel; the whole Jewish nation, and the Gentiles of every land where the gospel is preached. The chosen are those who choose to accept. Johnson
There is a general call of God to sinners which invites them to the joys of salvation, but which may be resisted and rejected. Comparatively few are actually selected for this privilege. Scripture clearly indicates a divine election that brings sinners to God. Yet Scripture also indicates that man is responsible for his indifference, rebellion, and self-righteousness. WBC



 “Ironically, the ‘chosen people’ show in their refusal of the invitation that they are not all among the ‘elect’ but only among the ‘called.’ “While the invitation is broad, those actually chosen for blessing are few.” CN
many are called, but few are chosen. The call spoken of here is sometimes referred to as the “general call”(or the “external” call)—a summons to repentance and faith that is inherent in the gospel message. This call extends to all who hear the gospel. “Many”hear it; “few” respond (see the many-few comparison in 7:13, 14). “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life,and those who find it are few. Matt 7:13-14 (ESV)
Those who respond are the “chosen,” the elect. In the
Pauline writings, the word “call” usually refers to God’s irresistible calling extended to the elect alone Romans 8:29-30 (ESV) 
29  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30  And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. Romans 8:30 (ESV)

—known as the “effectual call” (or the “internal” call). The effectual call is the supernatural drawing of God which Jesus speaks of in Jn 6:44.  No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. John 6:44 (ESV)
Here a general call is in view, and this call extends to all who hear the gospel—this call is the great “whosoever will” of the gospel (cf. Rev 22:17). The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. Rev 22:17 (ESV)
Here, then, is the proper balance between human responsibility and divine sovereignty: the “called” who reject the invitation do so willingly, and therefore their exclusion from the kingdom is perfectly just. The “chosen”enter the kingdom only because of the grace of God in choosing and drawing them. MSBN


Original Sin and the Augustine/Pelagius dust up

The controversy between Augustine and Pelagius about man's will in his fallen condition was re-echoed a millennium later in Erasmus' Diatribe and Luther's answer in The Bondage of the Will. The able Reformer, like Augustine, knew from Scripture that sinful man has a will, indeed, but his will is enslaved, and bent towards evil, and can do nothing except wickedness. For until man is converted, and his will is renewed by the Holy Spirit, his will is captive to Satan, and "are taken captive by him at his will" (2 Timothy 2:26).


Five Points of Arminianism





The five points of Arminianism (from Jacobus Arminius 1559-1609) are in contrast to the five points of Calvinism. The Arminian five points are:
  • Human Free Will--This states that though man is fallen, he is not incapacitated by the sinful nature and can freely choose God. His will is not restricted and enslaved by his sinful nature.
  • Conditional Election--God chose people for salvation based on His foreknowledge where God looks into the future to see who would respond to the gospel message.
  • Universal Atonement--The position that Jesus bore the sin of everyone who ever lived.
  • Resistible Grace--The teaching that the grace of God can be resisted and finally beaten so as to reject salvation in Christ.
  • Fall from Grace--The teaching that a person can fall from grace and lose his salvation.

Five Points of Calvinism, also known as reformed theology

  1. Total depravity--Man is completely touched by sin in all that he is but is not as bad as he could be. Furthermore, this total depravity means that the unregenerate will not of their own free will choose to receive Christ.
  2. Unconditional Election--God elects a person based upon nothing in that person because there is nothing in him that would make him worthy of being chosen, rather, God's election is based on what is in God. God chose us because He decided to bestow His love and grace upon us, not because we are worthy in and of ourselves of being saved.
  3. Limited Atonement--Christ bore the sin only of the elect, not everyone who ever lived.
  4. Irresistible Grace--The term unfortunately suggests a mechanical and coercive force upon an unwilling subject. This is not the case. Instead, it is the act of God making the person willing to receive Him. It does not mean that a person cannot resist God's will. It means that when God moves to the save/regenerate a person that the sinner cannot thwart God's movement and he will be regenerated.
  5. Perseverance of the Saints--That we are so secure in Christ that we cannot fall away.

Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar
15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 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. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”21 “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.” 22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
5. Who were the Herodians?
Herodians. A party of the Jews who supported the
Roman-backed Herodian dynasty. The Herodians were not a religious party, like the Pharisees, but a political party, probably consisting largely of Sadducees (including the rulers of the temple). By contrast, the Pharisees hated Roman rule and the Herodian influence. The fact that these groups would conspire together to entrap Jesus reveals how seriously both groups viewed Him as a threat. Herod himself wanted Jesus dead (Lk 13:31), and the Pharisees were already plotting to kill Him as well (Jn 11:53). So they joined efforts to seek their common goal. MSBN

6.  What is the purpose of this question?
Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar? Kēnsos is a Latin loanword, referring to the Roman poll tax imposed upon every Jew. The question presupposed a dilemma: Jesus must either acknowledge servitude to Rome (and thus compromise any claim of Messiahship), or risk being charged with disloyalty to Rome. Our Lord’s enemies were so sure of the inflammatory nature of the latter charge that they used it against him a few days later, in spite of his clear denial (Lk 23:2). WBC
This is a trick question like, “have you stopped beating your wife yet?”
They trying to get Jesus to speak out against the
Caesar which would be treason or speak in favor of the Caesar (Caesar is Lord) which would be blasphemy. A no win situation.
7.  What does Jesus mean by this answer?
This is an amazing answer because it involves more than just answering their question—and He certainly did that. In addition, He is saying that they did owe something to Caesar. They were using his coins, they walked down Roman roads, and Rome did provide them with a measure of peace; so they did owe something to Rome. Therefore, render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s. But there is another department: Render unto God the things that are God’s JVM

Marriage at the Resurrection
23 That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 24“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. 25 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. 26 The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. 27 Finally, the woman died. 28Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?” 29 Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 30At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 31 But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, 32 ‘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.”33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.

8.     Who were the Sadducees and what was their major problem?
Sadducees drew mainly or exclusively on the Pentateuch for doctrine, so they did not believe in the resurrection, a theme developed more clearly in later OT books.
Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead. Isaiah 26:19 (ESV)
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Dan 12:2 (ESV)
They asked him a question in order to trap him theologically. They assumed that those who believe in a resurrection life think it is like the present life, suggesting that a woman who has been married more than once will be found guilty of incest after the resurrection. They hope hereby to show that the idea of resurrection is really absurd. ESVN

9. What is revolutionary about what Jesus reveals in His answer?
The entire concept of afterlife was not well defined at this time. Jesus gives a glimpse of something which had never been understood before.
The Sadducees cite the OT law of what is later called “levirate marriage” (from Latin levir,“brother-in-law”), in which the surviving brother of a childless, deceased man was obligated to marry his sister-in-law in order to provide for her needs and to preserve the deceased brother’s family line.
5 “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6 And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. 7 And if the man does not wish to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to perpetuate his brother’s name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’ 8 Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists, saying, ‘I do not wish to take her,’ 9 then his brother’s wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face. And she shall answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.’ 10 And the name of his house shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal pulled off.’ Deut 25:5-10 (ESV)
The Sadducees are making two errors: (1) they do not
know … the Scriptures well enough to know that Scripture teaches the reality of the resurrection, and (2) they do not know the power of God to create a much more wonderful world than anyone can now imagine. 

They neither marry nor are given in marriage implies that the present institution of marriage will not continue in heaven. But are like angels in heaven means living without an exclusive lifelong marriage commitment to one person. This teaching might at first seem discouraging to married couples who are deeply in love with each other in this life, but surely people will know their loved ones in heaven and the joy and love of close relationships in heaven will be more rather than less than it is here on earth.

Jesus’ reference to “the power of God” suggests that God is able to establish relationships of even deeper friendship, joy, and love in the life to come. God has not revealed anything more about this, though Scripture indicates that the eternal glories awaiting the redeemed will be more splendid than anyone can begin to ask or think.

I am the God of Abraham, and … Isaac, and … Jacob. The present tense in the quotation from Exodus logically implies that when God spoke these words to Moses, God was still in covenant relationship with the patriarchs, even though they had been dead for centuries. If the Pentateuch thus implies that the patriarchs are still alive, and if the rest of the OT points to the resurrection (as it does), then the Sadducees should recognize God’s power to raise the patriarchs and all of God’s people to enjoy his eternal covenant in a life beyond this one. ESVN

The Greatest Commandment
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied:“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
10.  So do we add these two to the 10 Commandments and now we have 12?
This always seem to be a point of confusion for Christians. What do we do with the 10 Commandments? The Mosaic Law was made up of 613 written Commandments. This consisted of 365 negative commands and 248 positive for a total of 613 commands. These may also be divided into three parts or sections —the moral, the social, and the ceremonial.
The Ten Commandments are like the preamble to our constitution in that they establish the basic foundational precepts which the rest of the commandments hinge upon.

The Mosaic Law was an indivisible unit, and is that which was terminated by the Lord Jesus. Though the Law is usually divided into three parts, as described above, it is important to see that it was an indivisible unit. Thus, when Paul stated that we are not under the Law, this included all three parts, including the Ten Commandments. Some will agree that parts of the Old Testament Law have been done away, but assert the Ten Commandments are supposedly still in force today. But all three parts of the Law were designed to function as a unit to guide Israel in all of its life. The Ten Commandments cannot be separated from the rest. Further, even though most recognize this three-fold division, the Jews so numbered all the commands that they approached the Law as a unit.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.Matt 5:17-18 (ESV)
For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.Romans 10:4
Thus the law had become our guardian until Christ, so that we could be declared righteous by faith.  But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. Gal 3:24-25

Whose Son Is the Messiah?
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied.43 He said to them,“How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’[e]45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

11.   What would be the proper answer to this question from Jesus?

Jesus’ counter question about Messiah. 42. What think ye of the Christ?Virtually the same question he had asked earlier of the Twelve (16:15). The son of David. The Davidic lineage of Messiah was taught by the scribes (Mk 12:35). 43-45. By pointing his hearers to Ps 110, which was interpreted by the Jews as Messianic, Jesus showed their inadequate understanding of that Scripture. This psalm of David (the authorship of which Jesus clearly affirms), presents the Lord (Jehovah) as speaking to Messiah; and David calls Messiah my Lord (Adonai). Thus the Jews, who acknowledged Messiah as David’s descendant, were confronted by this psalm, where David calls this descendant his “Lord” and superior. The prevailing idea of Messiah as a king who would be merely a political ruler was shown to be inadequate. Furthermore, this psalm was given in the Spirit(Holy Spirit, Mk 12:36), the product of supernatural revelation. 46. Neither durst any man… ask him any more questions. From that day forth there were no more interruptions by such questioners. WBC
The Pharisees were confronted with the fact that the Messiah would be superior to David and indeed also God himself.
·        ESVN………….ESV Study Bible Notes
·        MSBN…….MacArthur NASB Study Notes
·        NIVSN…..NIV Study Notes.
·        JVM ….J Vernon McGee,
·        ACC …. Adam Clarke’s Commentary
·        BN …..Barnes Notes
·        WBC……   Wycliffe Bible Commentary
·        CN ……Constables Notes
·        IC……….Ironside Commentary
·        NET………Net Bible Study Notes.
·        JFB…………..Jamieson  Fausset Brown Commentary
·        VWS……………..Vincent Word Studies
·        CMM………….Commentary on Matthew and Mark
·        BDB…………..Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
·        Darby………..John Darby’s Synopsis of the OT and NT
·        Johnson………Johnson’s Notes on the New Testament.
·    

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