Woe, What Sorrow
Matthew 22
15 Then the Pharisees met together to plot how to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested.
16 They sent some of their disciples, along with the supporters of Herod, to meet with him. “Teacher,” they said, “we know how honest you are. You teach the way of God truthfully. You are impartial and don’t play favorites.
17 Now tell us what you think about this: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
18 But Jesus knew their evil motives. “You hypocrites!” he said. “Why are you trying to trap me?
19 Here, show me the coin used for the tax.” When they handed him a Roman coin, 20 he asked, “Whose picture and title are stamped on it?”
21 “Caesar’s,” they replied.
“Well, then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”
22 His reply amazed them, and they went away.
- Flattery from the enemy is met with absolute truth and clarity - not winsomeness - from Jesus.
- At v.18 “Jesus knew their EVIL motives”.
- How did Matthew come to editorialize this?
- How did he lay THAT adjective on the Pharisees?
2 Timothy 3
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
Romans 12.9, 21 (CSB)
Detest evil; cling to what is good…
21 Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.
2 Corinthians 10.4-5
We demolish arguments
5 and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.
Discussion about Resurrection
Matthew 22
23 That same day Jesus was approached by some Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead. They posed this question:
24 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name.’
25 Well, suppose there were seven brothers. The oldest one married and then died without children, so his brother married the widow.
26 But the second brother also died, and the third brother married her. This continued with all seven of them.
27 Last of all, the woman also died.
28 So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her.”
29 Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.
30 For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven.
31 “But now, as to whether there will be a resurrection of the dead—haven’t you ever read about this in the Scriptures? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said,
32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ So he is the God of the living, not the dead.”
33 When the crowds heard him, they were astounded at his teaching.
- If you’re wrong about God’s power to raise the dead, you’re wrong about EVERYTHING concerning faith in God.
Romans 4
Abraham is the father of all who believe.
17 That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.
- That’s why it is such an affront in John 8 when the religious leaders are arguing with Jesus and contend that they have standing because they’re sons of Abraham.
- They’ve got nothing but a distant, accidental, genetic ancestry to Abraham; they have no father in Abraham because Abraham is the father of all who believe.
The Most Important Commandment
Matthew 22
34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again.
35 One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question:
36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”
37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
- Psalm 138.2 (ESV) says:
- For you have exalted above all things your name and your word.
(Or ‘you have exalted your word above all your name’)
Whose Son Is the Messiah?
41 Then, surrounded by the Pharisees, Jesus asked them a question: 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
They replied, “He is the son of David.”
43 Jesus responded, “Then why does David, speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit, call the Messiah ‘my Lord’? For David said,
44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.’
45 Since David called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?”
46 No one could answer him.
And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Revelation 22.16
“I am the root AND offspring of David”
&
Romans 1.4
This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News.
2 God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures.
3 The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line,
4 and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.
- Paul says in Colossians 1:
19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ,
20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
Jesus Criticizes the Religious Leaders
Matthew 23
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,
2 “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses.
3 So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach.
4 They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.
5 “Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels.
6 And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues.
7 They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’
- This battle against legalism (empty religious acts) will be a constant challenge - even within the church
Acts 15
4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, Barnabas and Paul were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders. They reported everything God had done through them.
5 But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and insisted, “The Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses.”
6 So the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue.
7 At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows: “Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe.
8 God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us.
9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith.
10 So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear?
11 We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.”
France said:
“An exhortation today’s church could take more seriously, not only in relation to formal ecclesiastical titles (Most Reverend, Lord Bishop, Vicar) but more significantly in its excessive deference to academic qualifications or to authoritative status in churches.”
Spurgeon said:
“In the church of Christ, all titles and honors which exalt men and give occasion for pride are here forbidden.”
ANYTHING that seeks to guide, sustain, provide, or assure you in the place of God is wrong!
Carson:
“We must say that the risen Christ is as displeased with those in his church who demand unquestioning submission to themselves and their opinions and confuse a reputation for showy piety with godly surrender to his teachings as he ever was with any Pharisee.”
This is key, reminding us of what we already learned from Jesus Back in Matt. 13.52 where he said:
- “Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old.”
- Jesus is telling them and us to be done with false, legalistic, outward appearances and be cleaned on the inside.
- It was not impossible for them to repent, turn and believe and it’s not impossible for us to turn away from our rules to his grace!
Jesus Grieves over Jerusalem
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.
38 And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate.
39 For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
Jesus Speaks about the Future
Matthew 24
As Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds, his disciples pointed out to him the various Temple buildings.
2 But he responded, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!”
3 Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?”
