Jesus vs. The Pharisees (part 1)
Matthew 22:41 – 23:12 (22:41 – 23:3)
July 29, 2012

As you know Jesus has lately been
Under a pretty extreme and continuous attack.

I don’t think that surprised Him much.
• After entering the city with a parade being worshipped as the Messiah…
• After clearing the temple of all the money changers…
• After re-entering the temple as the new Teacher in charge…

I feel certain Jesus had to expect a bit of a fight.

And of course this was all according to His plan.

Jesus wasn’t just out to teach the truth to the sheep,
He was also out to expose the wolves.

Jesus knew that the religious leaders of the day
Had deceived His flock for far too long
And one of the reasons He came
Was to expose them and break their yoke over His people.

He had no intention of dodging a fight.
He had no intention of leaving them alone.

Clearing that temple was a deliberate act,
Not only to restore the temple to its proper purpose,
But also as a means of declaring war on those who were misusing it.

And so the fight has been on.
• They tried to Trap Him with Taxes – didn’t work
• They tried to Humiliate Him with Hypothetical’s (resurrection) – didn’t work
• They tried to Destroy Him with Debate (a lawyer) – didn’t work

He has not only walked cleanly through their traps,
But has also managed to land a few punches along the way.

But nothing could have prepared the Pharisees
For the battle Jesus was about to give them.

I want to remind you that Jesus has never been a fan of Pharisees.

And the Scriptural reason is simple.
They were destroying His flock.

Remember this passage?
Matthew 9:36 “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”
Jesus had entrusted His flock to the religious leaders
And instead of shepherding, they were slaughtering.

They were like the false prophets in Ezekiel’s day.
Ezekiel 34:1-6 “Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? “You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock. “Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them. “They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered. “My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them.”‘”

The Pharisees and Scribes and Sadducees and Chief Priests in Jesus’ day
Had been doing the very same thing.

And Jesus has already told them earlier today what is coming for them.
Matthew 21:43-45 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. “And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.”

Don’t miss the obvious.
Jesus is angry at these guys.

He has seen the pitiful shape of His flock,
And He has come to demand an answer of those responsible.

And so as we begin our study let’s just be honest and admit that
Our Lord has extreme enmity for false teachers, cruel shepherds, and obvious hypocrites.

This morning it’s Jesus vs. the Pharisees.

Three main points here
#1 HE EMBARRASSES THEM PUBLICLY
Matthew 22:41-46

We know this is Wednesday and He started out teaching.

But:
• The Chief priests came and questioned His authority, prompting 3 parables.
• The Disciples of the Pharisees came with the Herodians seeking to trap Him in regard to paying taxes.
• The Sadducees came seeking to confuse Him in regard to the resurrection.
• And then the Pharisees sent a lawyer asking about the greatest commandment seeking to get Him into a debate.
Jesus has been fielding attack after attack.
But after answering the question of the lawyer with such wisdom,
The whole group is a little shell-shocked.

That lawyer idea was really their last-ditch effort,
And you can kind of see them looking at each other
Not really knowing what to do.

And it is during that stalemate that Jesus goes on the offensive.
(41) “Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question:”
You know:
“Since we are all so interested in Biblical debate, I’ve got a question for you.”

I’m not sure if they were eager or hesitant,
But the crowd is watching and they don’t have any choice.

(42) “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?”

They must have breathed a sigh of relief when He asked this question.

1) They thought themselves to be experts on the Messiah.
(If it were a jeopardy category, they’d pick it first)

2) The question He asked was a simple one.

In reality this question was in regard to the most basic, foundational
And yet most important truth about the Christ.

WHO IS THE CHRIST?
And more specifically, “whose son is He?”

Now you will also notice there is really no hesitancy here at all.

“They said to Him, “The Son of David.”

They knew about those promises to David about a descendant
Reigning upon his throne and having a kingdom that would never end.
The Messiah would be David’s descendant.

AND THEN COMES THE DIFFICULT PART
(43-45) “He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying, ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET”‘? “If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?”

And Jesus just takes it from Psalms 110:1
(Psalms 110 is a recognized Messianic Psalm also talking about Melchizedek)

And Jesus simply asks, “If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?”

I mean, if I know anything about descendants,
It is that the father always comes before the son.

HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?

Jesus is about to reveal that the Pharisees
• Don’t know near as much about the Messiah as they think they do.
• They are not the all-wise teachers they make themselves out to be.
• Their relationship with God is not nearly as strong as they make it appear.

NOW I HOPE YOU KNOW THE ANSWER
It is because not only is the Messiah a man, “the son of David”,
The Messiah is also deity, “The Son of God”.

Yet in all their studies they never picked up on the fact that
The Messiah was not only fully man, but also fully God.

They should have.
Isaiah 9:6 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”

Psalms 2:7-9 “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.'”

Psalms 2:12 “Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”

It should have been obvious that Messiah must be God and man,
But the Pharisees never noticed that.

That’s why they took such offense at Jesus so often.
John 8:56-59 “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.”

John 9:29-33 “We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is from.” The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. “We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. “Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. “If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

But those who recognized Jesus as the Messiah knew it.
John 1:15 “John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'”
But the Pharisees never saw that.
They never understood it.

And when He posed this question to them
You will notice that they were totally humiliated.

(46) “No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.”

And can you imagine the humiliation?

Jesus just showed them that in reality
They knew nothing about the Messiah,
They didn’t even know whose son He was.

These experts prided themselves on being the geniuses of Israel,
Able to answer all questions and give spiritual guidance
And they didn’t even know this very basic truth about the Messiah.

Jesus utterly humiliated them.

And He points out to them a very important fact.
“The main reason you don’t recognize Me as Messiah is not because I don’t fit the bill. It’s because you don’t even know what to look for.”

You are so out of touch with the truth
That you don’t even understand the most basic and essential facts
Regarding the most important person of Israel.

You didn’t even recognize that Messiah must be God.

And certainly not to spend much time here,
But you do understand the necessity of this truth.

Many throughout history have indeed argued about the deity of Jesus.
• Arius was one of the first heretics to try and argue it away.
• Today Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons still deny it.

But the deity of Jesus is essential to our faith.

If Jesus is only man then He has inherited Adam’s sin nature
And is unqualified to be the Savior.

Furthermore He must be fully God and fully man
In order to be a mediator between the two.

And make no mistake that Jesus is God.

His miracles proved it.
John 5:36 “But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish — the very works that I do — testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.”

He forgave sin.
Mark 2:5-7 “And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?”

He received prayer
John 14:13-14 “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”

He received worship
Matthew 28:16-17 “But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful.”

He claimed to be God
John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”

And He accepted the title when other’s claimed it.
John 10:26-29 “But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

Furthermore Paul is adamant about the fact.
Titus 2:11-14 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

Philippians 2:5-7 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”

And we could go on and on, but you get the point.
Deity is essential to the Messiah.
He has to be God.

The Old Testament said so, and yet these religious leaders had no clue.

They claimed such knowledge and insight about God
And in reality didn’t know the slightest things about Him.

Jesus humiliated them here.

And all of a sudden, the entire crowd realized for the first time,
“Maybe our teachers aren’t that smart after all.”

Jesus just put a crack in their armor.

But He wasn’t finished, not by a long-shot.

He Embarrassed them Publicly
#2 HE EXPOSED THEIR HYPOCRISY
Matthew 23:1-7

If you read this story in Mark’s gospel,
After Jesus gave the question none could answer Mark says:

Mark 12:37 “…And the large crowd enjoyed listening to Him.”

So be sure and picture the scene.
In 22:34 Scripture says Jesus silenced the Sadducees.
In 22:46 Scripture says Jesus silenced everyone else.

And according to Mark there was a large crowd listening in on the debate.

So look to your right and see the humiliated religious leaders
Too afraid to challenge Him anymore,
Look to your left and see the large crowd of people
Now giving full attention to anything Jesus wants to say.

(1) “Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples.”

And the point of His sermon is to not only wound the scribes and Pharisees, but to do them in for good.

And in these first 7 verses He lands five punches
In which He destroys the reputation of these hypocrites.

As we study we not only see the obvious problems with false teachers.
But we also learn the dangers of Phariseeism in our own lives.

There is no doubt that Jesus is not pleased with pretenders.

1) THEY ARE UNQUALIFIED PROFESSORS OF SCRIPTURE (2)

Notice what He said, “The scribes and Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses;”

“the chair of Moses” was a symbol of authority.

Today prestigious universities award scholars with “a chair of history” or “a chair of philosophy”
They sat in “the chair of Moses” which was to assume
The highest and most prestigious level of theological understanding.

They appeared as experts on the will of God.

The problem was they “seated themselves” there.
• God didn’t call them, but they came.
• God didn’t send them, but they ran.
• God didn’t speak to them, but they taught.

Jeremiah 14:14 “Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds.”

Jeremiah 23:21 “I did not send these prophets, But they ran. I did not speak to them, But they prophesied.”

Unlike the apostles whom the Lord called into ministry.
These men assumed the position on their own.

False teachers still do by the way.
God doesn’t call them, but they run into it anyway.

And that is why they are unqualified.
The church does not operate like the world,
Although some undoubtedly think it does.

Someone goes to looking at a man and wonders if he is qualified for the ministry.

And the first thing they want to know is if he has been to seminary.

I for one am not opposed to seminary,
But I am certainly opposed to those who think
It in any way qualifies a person for the ministry.

• There is no doubt seminary can help prepare you.
• There is no doubt seminary can help inform you.
• But I don’t care how long you study or how many degrees you earn or
what level you achieve; seminary can never qualify a person for
ministry.

WHAT QUALIFIES A PERSON?
The calling of God.

Now even in that a person can be called by God and yet disqualify himself
By not holding to a certain level of holiness and sanctification.
But the only person that qualifies someone
To stand and preach or teach the word of God, is God.

WHY?
Because it is not a work done in the flesh,
And cannot possibly be learned or cultivated by human effort.

It is a work done through the power of His Spirit
As He equips those He calls to be able to proclaim His word.

• It’s not a privilege.
• It’s not an honor you achieve.
• It is a stewardship entrusted by God to those whom He chooses.

These men were unqualified because God had not called them.
They took it upon themselves.

And my what a blow to the Pharisees.
Jesus just informed the entire crowd that the religious leaders of their day were not called by God to be there.

They are Unqualified Professors of Scripture
2) THEY ARE UNWORTHY PATTERNS OF SANTIFICATION (3)

Now, they don’t have the right to sit in “the chair of Moses”
But they are sitting there and so Jesus says,
“therefore all that they tell you, do and observe.”

Now this does not mean that Jesus is endorsing their preaching,
He very clearly is not.

But these are the men who sit and read the Law of Moses,
And even from the mouth of a false prophet,
God’s word is still God’s word.

“You have an unqualified preacher,
But whenever he preaches scripture you still have to listen.”

Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

“but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.”

The right jab in verse 2 is followed by a left hook in verse 3.

These men are terrible examples of the Godly lifestyle.
They are unworthy patterns of sanctification.

They are all talk.
They talk about what it means to love and serve God,
And yet they don’t love or serve God.

Didn’t Jesus just condemn them of this very thing?
Matthew 21:28-32 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ “And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. “The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. “Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. “For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.”

It was to them that Jesus said:
Luke 6:46 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”

James warned against being people like that:
James 1:22-24 “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.”

That was the Pharisees – deluded.
They thought hearing it was all God wanted.

And yet Paul reminds us:
Romans 2:13 “for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.”

Jesus taught us:
Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”

These guys were a joke.

And Jesus said, listen so long as they are reading from the Law
And talking about the Law, then yes do what they say.
But don’t look at their life as examples of how to obey the Law,
Because they miss it by a mile.
They are all talk.

And that’s really as far as we’re going to be able to go this morning,
We’ll finish this up next week.
But take a minute and understand what Jesus has just said.

We have here men who claim the greatest knowledge of God.
• And yet, they don’t recognize Messiah.
• They aren’t called by God.
• They don’t obey the word (even when they teach it)

Is there any confusion as to why Jesus is put out with them?

Look we learned it last week.

Jesus is not looking for some outward pretense or show of religion.
He doesn’t care about your titles.
He isn’t interested in your position.
He certainly isn’t impressed with your knowledge.

WHAT DOES JESUS WANT?
(For you and I to love God)

• Do you love God with all your heart, soul, and mind?
• Do you know God?
• Do you walk in obedience to Him, or just claim to?

It’s all about being real, and these Pharisees weren’t.
And so Jesus is blowing a hole in their façade.

We cannot assume that He would be any more pleased with us.

Certainly as a preacher I have to examine myself
As one who speaks week after week about obeying Christ.

But in reality we all have to examine ourselves as we claim Christianity
And that we are lights in darkness to the world around us.

Are we really, or do we only claim to be?

When Jude wrote to the church
He was concerned about these types of hypocrites,
Not only in the pulpit, but also in the pew.

Jude 12-13 “These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.”

The point is they are phonies and they bring no good to the church.
And they are in great danger before God.

We’ll finish this up next time,
But let me encourage you church, above all things be real!

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”

 

The Greatest Commandment
Matthew 22:34-40
July 22, 2012

As you know we are currently studying through Matthew
And we are smack in the middle of His passion week.

After entering the city, clearing the temple, and teaching in the temple Jesus has come under attack.

• The first questioned His authority, which He answered with three parables.
• The next sought to trap Him in regard to taxes, a trap which He avoided.
• The next wished to humiliate Him with hypotheticals, a truth He defended.

And now we get another attack.
We find in verse 35, “a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him,”

And that right there would be enough for most of us.
(I had to give a deposition once and the lawyer ate me alive)

Well, that is the type of situation Jesus is in.
Accusations, hypotheticals, and curious questions that cause one to wonder, what are they getting at?

The difference between me and Jesus is that
He has walked through His deposition with flying colors.

Not only has He had the perfect answer for every question,
But as you will see this morning,
He also had no need whatsoever for hesitation.

Jesus is under attack, and at every turn He is miles ahead of the game.

And so let’s look at our text this morning.
3 things
#1 AN INTERESTING APPROACH
Matthew 22:34-36

Now of course we remember that the first attack
Came from the disciples of the Pharisees and the Herodians.

The sort of sent them incognito with their best attempt at condemnation,
Seeing if they could trap Him between Rome and Israel.

Then the Sadducees came up (who were not necessarily allies of the Pharisees) but they failed too.

That means that both groups have now fired their best shot
And both came up short.

THEY ARE EACH AT POINT OF DESPERATION.

(34) “But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together.”

What you have here is a group of men who are frustrated.

So in desperation the gather again,
Grasping at straws to see what else they can try.

AND HERE IT IS:
(35-36) “One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

Admittedly, it is difficult to see where the trap is here.

With taxes it was obvious. Answer one way and Rome gets you, answer another and Israel does.

But this question is a little more perplexing.
That is why I tell you that they are grasping at straws here.

Let me help you understand.
The Pharisees had apparently done their research and determined
That there were 613 Laws that God gave to be obeyed.

The interesting thing is no one could ever agree on
Which was the most important.

The idea here is to get Jesus to pick a command, any command,
And then let the lawyer go to work from there.

Sounds just like a lawyer doesn’t it?

So he asks, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

“great” translates MEGAS
Which has to do with the biggest and the best.

He is simply asking Jesus to pick His favorite, the one He is most passionate about and then the fight will be on.

So it is a desperate attempt, but a test none the less.

An Interesting Approach
#2 AN IMMEDIATE ANSWER
Matthew 22:37-39

And you just have to love Jesus here.
I told you that the lawyers raddled me,
And got me to a point where I hated to say anything.

But not Jesus…
• There is not a hint of hesitation here.
• He didn’t need to think about it.
• There is no covering His tracks as He talks.

He is a model of conviction and certainty.

Without hesitancy Jesus says, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.”

He is quoting from Deuteronomy 6.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

It was known as the SHEMA
And it was quoted by Jews daily.

It was even written on pieces of paper and folded up and placed inside the phylacteries that the Pharisees wore around their heads, or on their arms.

Every Jew was familiar.
And Jesus made no bones about naming it as the greatest.

And while we will talk about the differences of the three,
Don’t miss the overarching point that we are to love God.

In other words, don’t miss the forest for the trees.

The greatest command in the entire Law is that we are to love God.

Exodus 20:4-6 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

And God makes it clear. He wants people to love Him.

And this is certainly carried into the New Testament.
John 14:23-24 “Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”
It’s not obedience in order to earn God’s love,
It is obedience in order to show our love for God.

You see, it’s all about loving God.
1 John 2:3-5 “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:”
And there again obedience reveals a love for God.

WHAT WE HAVE WITH GOD IS A RELATIONSHIP.
He is not some sort of dictator, whom we obey only
Because He has the power to crush us if we don’t.

Our obedience is not done out of fear, but out of love.
1 John 4:18-19 “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.”

This is the great difference between religion and a relationship.
Religion is filled with commands and ordinances and traditions
By which people do as a means of keeping God off their back.

But we are in a relationship, our motive is love for God.

And this is without a doubt the greatest single indicator
Of salvation in a person’s life.

A person who is saved has an undeniable, super evident,
All encompassing, never failing, purely genuine,
All surpassing love for God.

That is the greatest command, love God!

Now we can also get more specific here, for Jesus gives three ways.
• “with all your heart”
• “with all your soul”
• “with all your mind”
• (Mark adds “strength”)

But let’s look at the three Matthew records.
• What does it mean to love God “with all your heart”?
• What does it mean to love God “with all your soul”?
• What does it mean to love God “with all your mind”?

When you think of loving God “with all your heart”, think about your DESIRES
In other words: WHAT DO YOU LOVE?
It is the idea of not loving other things more than you love God.

Consider David.
Psalms 86:11 “Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.”

There was David wanting nothing else in his heart but love for God.
He wanted an undivided heart.

Very different from his future offspring.
2 Chronicles 25:1-2 “Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. He did right in the sight of the LORD, yet not with a whole heart.”

How do you know that?
2 Chronicles 25:14-16 “Now after Amaziah came from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought the gods of the sons of Seir, set them up as his gods, bowed down before them and burned incense to them. Then the anger of the LORD burned against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of the people who have not delivered their own people from your hand?” As he was talking with him, the king said to him, “Have we appointed you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” Then the prophet stopped and said, “I know that God has planned to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”

Amaziah loved God, but not with his whole heart.
Part of his heart was given to other gods.

It sparks our memory to think of the parable of the soils.
Remember the weedy soil?

Luke 8:14 “The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.”

This heart loved other things and could not fully love God.
(It is like the Rich Young Ruler.)

This is what Jeremiah referenced.
Jeremiah 4:1-4 “If you will return, O Israel,” declares the LORD, “Then you should return to Me. And if you will put away your detested things from My presence, And will not waver, And you will swear, ‘As the LORD lives,’ In truth, in justice and in righteousness; Then the nations will bless themselves in Him, And in Him they will glory.” For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, “Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns. “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD And remove the foreskins of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Or else My wrath will go forth like fire And burn with none to quench it, Because of the evil of your deeds.”

To love God with all your heart means that you heart
Is fully reserved for love of Him and Him only.

DOES YOUR HEART BELONG TO ANYONE OR ANYTHING ELSE?

So it references your Desires or What you love.

Second Jesus said to love God “with all your soul”
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

When you think of loving God “with all your soul” think of DEGREE or DEPTH
In other words: HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE?

It speaks of your level of commitment.
You say God is the only one you love, but how much do you love Him?

John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”

And of course we are commanded not only to love God only,
But to love God with all we have.

When Paul knew he was to be arrested in Jerusalem, his friends tried to talk him out of going. Notice his response.
Acts 21:13-14 “Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, remarking, “The will of the Lord be done!”

Remember this woman?
Luke 7:44-47 “Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. “You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. “You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

She loved Him with all her heart and with all her soul.

This is what God desires.
Love Him only and Love Him a lot.
“with all your heart and with all your soul”

But what about the mind?
How do you love God “with all your mind”?

• Well the heart has to do with DESIRES
What do you love?
• The soul has to do with DEGREE or DEPTH
How much do you love?

When you think of loving God “with all your mind” think of your DECISIONS or DETERMINATION
In other words: HOW DO YOU LOVE?
Love is not an emotion, love is an action.
Love is not just something that is felt, it is something that is exercised.
• Jesus died on the cross
• Paul went to Jerusalem
• The woman wept over Jesus’ feet

HOW DO YOU LOVE?

Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Romans 13:12-14 “The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

Colossians 3:12-13 “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.”

Ephesians 5:1-6 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”
DO YOU GET THE POINT?

We love God and Him only, we love Him with a great love,
And we love Him with a measurable love
By which we decide to live differently.

It is all in the choices we make.

Loving God “with all your mind” is the practical side of love.

It is what Jesus said:
John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

You can claim to love Him only.
You can claim to love Him a lot.
But does it evidence itself in your life?

Do you do things that indicate that you love God?
That is what Jesus is referring to here.
“YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.”

And then Jesus said:
(38) “This is the great and foremost commandment.”

This is not only the MEGAS command “great”
This is also the PROTOS command “foremost” (means “chief”)

This isn’t just the biggest and the best,
This is also the “foremost” the most important,
The chief command of all the Bible.

And so you can see Jesus had no problems answering their question.

And that wasn’t all.
Jesus said, “I can even tell you the second greatest”

(39) “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’”

And of course this makes perfect sense.
1 John 4:19-21 “We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”

1 John 4:7-8 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

1 John 3:17 “But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?”

Loving God is the most important, but how do you know if you love God?
If you love your brother…

The two are interwoven.
You can’t claim to have this all encompassing love for God
When you don’t have an all encompassing love for your neighbor.

TURN TO: Luke 10:25-37
That was a story meant to condemn Israel’s lack of love for God.

Jesus was revealing that they didn’t love God
Because they didn’t love their neighbor.
That is why this is without a doubt
The second most obvious trait of a saved person.
One commentator wrote:
“One sure mark of a transformed life is the desire to be with fellow Christians. First John 3:14 reads, “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.” Believers are those who do “not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers”. They can say with the psalmist, “I am a companion of all those who fear the Thee, and of those who keep Thy precepts”.
That does not mean, of course, that Christians are to have no contact with unbelievers. But a professing Christian who prefers the company of the people of the world is probably still one of them.” (MacArthur John, Acts Commentary, pg. 274-275)

When a person gets saved not only are they filled with a love for God
But also with a love for God’s people.

And this love is not sentimental, it is also practical.
It is a self-sacrificing love.

That’s what Jesus means when He says, “as yourself.”

Ephesians 5:29 “for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it…”

• If you are hungry, what do you do? Eat
• If you are thirsty, what do you do? Drink
• If you are cold, what do you do? Get a blanket
• Well if your brother is hungry?
• Well if your brother is thirsty?
• Well if your brother is cold?

Loving them is a practical love.
James 2:14-17 “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”

That is also why Jesus gave this analogy.
Matthew 25:41-46 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

People who don’t love their brother indicate people who don’t love God.
And those people will not inherit life.

You can see how important this is.

And so when they ask Jesus which is the great command,
He doesn’t even hesitate.
Love God with everything you have and love your neighbor as yourself.

And then comes the really sobering part.

An Interesting Approach, An Immediate Answer
#3 AN IMPORTANT APPLICATION
Matthew 22:40

“On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets”
In other words, if you keep the whole Law and yet miss this,
You have missed everything.

If you flawlessly obey every moral command but fail to love God,
You haven’t accomplished anything.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.”
God doesn’t want religion.
God wants a relationship.

If you miss that point,
You have completely missed the entire point of Christianity.

Jesus took the Pharisees here because this is the point they had missed.
They knew all the commands, they had counted them.
They were externally perfect.
They looked more pleasing than anyone.

But they had missed the point.
Matthew 23:23-24 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”

They had religion, they didn’t have love.
They did all the minor stuff and missed the most important.

If you try to walk in Christianity without a love for God
And a love for people then you are fooling yourself.

It is all about love.
Romans 13:8-10 “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
Jesus said:
Matthew 7:12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

This is not to oversimplify Christianity,
But it is to make sure the main thing remains the main thing.

Jesus was not as concerned about you naming the commandments
As He was about you getting the point behind them.

All of those commands (all 613)
Were just another way of practically telling you
How to love God and how to love your neighbor.

This is the point.

And by the way, if you are wondering about the lawyer who asked…
You know the one who was supposed to hear Jesus answer
And then debate Him until He was trapped…

Mark 12:32-34 “The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE BESIDES HIM; AND TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL THE HEART AND WITH ALL THE UNDERSTANDING AND WITH ALL THE STRENGTH, AND TO LOVE ONE’S NEIGHBOR AS HIMSELF, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.”

Even the lawyer knew He was right.

And so friend let me ask you today.

DO YOU LOVE GOD?
• Do you love Him only?
• Do you love Him greatly?
• Do you love Him practically?
• Do you love His people?

Because if you don’t have that, you don’t have anything.

Let me encourage you to leave outward religion behind
And determine to fall in love with God.

Matthew 22:37-40 “And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Refuting Satan’s Logic
Matthew 22:23-33
July 15, 2012

As you know we are smack in the middle of Jesus’ passion week.
• Monday He entered the city
• Tuesday He cleared the temple
• Now on Wednesday He has returned to assume His rightful role as teacher in God’s temple.

However, this teaching has been met with much opposition.
• The chief priests and the elders first questioned His authority, and Jesus rebuked them with three parables.
• The disciples of the Pharisees then sought to trap Him by asking Him if it was lawful to give taxes to Caesar and Jesus escaped their snare.

But as we learned last week, Satan doesn’t give up easily.
As we learned in the text about Job, Satan checked him, his house,
And all that he had on every side.

Satan is thorough, looking for an opportunity to deceive and destroy.
And so certainly he has more up his sleeve
Than simply to try and trap Jesus with bait.

Last week we talked about spotting Satan’s snares,
This morning we learn about “Refuting Satan’s Logic”

In case you didn’t know, Satan is a very logical enemy.
His logic even has a name, it is called “The Wisdom of this World”

James said:
James 3:14-15 “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.”

Worldly wisdom is Satan’s wisdom.

If you have ever been fortunate enough to have been confronted with it,
You know how frustrating it can be.

We in the church are continually confronted with Satan’s wisdom.
Let me give you some examples of Satan’s logic that the world is buying
Hook line and sinker.

EVOLUTION – “From goo to you, by way of the zoo”
Satan actually tells people they came from monkeys and they believe it, they even fight for it.

JUDGMENT – Satan gets people to believe it isn’t real, we’ve all heard the logical argument, “A loving God wouldn’t send anybody to hell.”
EXCLUSIVITY OF JESUS – Satan spreads his logic that Jesus can’t be the only way to get to heaven. He talks about the many roads that all lead up the same mountain.

AUTHORITY AND RELEVANCE OF SCRIPTURE – I even recently had a preacher tell me he didn’t think the bible was true and that you couldn’t go to this book for your answers.

SALVATION THROUGH THE CROSS – Satan has instead spread his more logical approach that if you are really going to get to heaven, then you had better earn it yourself. (It really sounds logical)

RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD – Satan says it isn’t real, and this morning you will hear his logical approach.

The point is we all know what it is to be confronted
By some sort of logical approach to the truth
That poses a difficult dilemma to answer.

And when we think about this fact, it often times causes us anxiety.
“What if I can’t answer all their questions..?”
“What if I can’t refute evolution or Islam..?”
“What if I can’t prove the Bible is true to a skeptic..?”

If you’ve ever found yourself worried about facing such dilemmas,
Let me set your mind at ease and remind you of something.

YOU CAN’T CONVINCE A PIG THAT THE MUD ISN’T FUN.
Matthew 7:6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”

You cannot argue people into the kingdom of heaven.
And most of the time you can’t even win the argument.

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

In other words, regardless of the brilliance of your argument,
Those skeptics will not see, they are deceived by Satan’s logic.

The only possible way is if God grants that their eyes be opened.

2 Timothy 2:24-26 “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”

They are ensnared by the devil, quarreling with them is useless.
Gently proclaim the truth and hope God grants them repentance.
You cannot convince a pig that the mud isn’t fun.
Beyond that, if you’ve ever become worried about arguing with the wisdom of this world, let me remind you of something else.

OUR GOAL IS NOT TO WIN, OUR GOAL IS TO DEFEND

Jude 3-4 “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

Jude knew he couldn’t get those who had crept in to change their view,
He merely wanted to protect the purity of the gospel for everyone else.

He didn’t set out to win the argument, he set out to defend the faith.

I tell you that, because that is precisely what Jesus does here.
After escaping one of Satan’s snares in our text last week,
This week Jesus is confronted with Satan’s logic.

Jesus finds Himself in the midst of one of those logical battles
That is meant to baffle the mind and humiliate the believer.

Let’s look at how Jesus deals with the situation and learn from Him.

Two things
#1 THE ATTACK
Matthew 22:23-28

Well now instantly you will notice we have a new group attacking Jesus.

“On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Jesus and questioned Him,”

• Earlier it was the “chief priests and the elder”
• Then it was “the disciples” of the Pharisees

Now it is the “Sadducees”
Matthew even tells you about them they “say there is no resurrection”
That is why they are “Sad – you see”

BUT WHO ARE THESE GUYS?

Commonly we try to throw them and the Pharisees together,
But don’t do that, they most certainly were not allies.

The Pharisees were blue collar working guys.
• They were patriots who loved Israel and hated Greek or Roman influence.
• They were legalists from the word go, who not only sought to enforce the Law, but also all of their oral traditions.
The Pharisees looked outwardly to be the most zealous
And religious people on the planet.

The Sadducees were very different.
• They were white collar, they were wealthy
• And they weren’t opposed to Rome, Rome actually benefited them greatly.
• Rome gave them power and helped them financially.
• The Sadducees held the office of high priest and made up the Sanhedrin, they were the big-wigs.

They are portrayed as the liberals and that is true, but not totally true.

They were liberal in the sense that
They rejected most of the Scripture as untrue.
However in what they accepted
They were very much fundamentalist.

We aren’t really sure why, but they only believed
The first 5 books of the Old Testament known as the Pentateuch.

And so the only thing that mattered to them was what Moses said,
Nothing else mattered.
And because Moses didn’t speak on the resurrection or about angels,
The Sadducees didn’t believe in it.

But none the less it is these guys who are now attacking Jesus.
• Incidentally this is Annas’ and Caiaphas’ group.
• This is the group that would try Jesus before handing Him over to Pilate.
• This is the group that would also try the apostles after Pentecost.

And perhaps more important than all of that;
This is the group that Jesus offended most by clearing the temple.

They had control of the temple,
And that flea market Jesus interrupted directly hit their income.
They are angry.

But that is not the only reason.
They saw in Jesus a threat to their allegiance with Rome.

After Jesus raised Lazarus
John 11:47-53 “Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. “If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.” Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.”
Those guys only got together in order to kill Jesus,
They were enemies otherwise.

Their concern was that people would follow Him, that Rome would catch wind
And take away their comfortable spots and their authority.

They hated Jesus because He threatened their cushy way of life.
And so they are here to attack.
NOT WITH A TRAP, BUT WITH LOGIC.

Look at the attack.
READ 24-28

You will first recognize that they brought a Scripture to Jesus’ attention.
They quoted Deuteronomy 25:5 about the law of levirate marriage.

And you are familiar with the command.
Because family heritage was important and the passing on of a seed mattered, it was actually commanded by Moses that if your brother died, you had to go and sleep with his wife and provide a seed for your brother.

Now this didn’t even begin with Moses.
We find Judah doing this with Tamar far before even the days of Moses.

But Moses commanded it.

Then comes the logic.
What if this woman actually goes through 7 brothers who marry her and none of them produce an offspring and then she dies.

Wouldn’t that make for an awful mess during the resurrection?

(28) “In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”

Now understand, they are not really curious,
They don’t believe in the resurrection.

Rather, this is their logical attack on the resurrection.
By their reasoning, the resurrection can’t be real,
Because it would totally mess up what Moses commanded.

And so you see what they are doing.
• They are trying to make Jesus look dumb.
• They are trying to make Jesus look ignorant.

They are seeking to discredit Him before this crowd
That is hanging on every word He says.
But you also need to understand what is under attack.
• First, they are attacking Jesus.
• But they are also attacking the resurrection.
• And they are also attacking Scripture.

They are saying the Scriptures that teach resurrection don’t matter.
They are saying the resurrection isn’t real.
They are saying Jesus isn’t a true teacher.

They are attacking all three.
And by the way, an attack on 1 is an attack on all three.

You can’t deny one without denying the others as well.

In one of our pastor meetings one of the pastors said he didn’t believe the Bible was true, and as I was talking to him another in the group jumped in and said, “If they proved the Bible untrue today it wouldn’t affect my faith in the least.”

I asked him what his faith rested on, he said,
“Jesus Christ and Him crucified”
(That sounds good)

BUT WHO IS JESUS APART FROM THE BIBLE?

Furthermore which Jesus would you believe in?
• The Mormon Jesus – who say He was a son to God and brother to Satan?
• The Islamic Jesus – who say He was a good moral teacher?
• The Jewish Jesus – who say He was a blasphemer rightly crucified?
• The Jehovah’s Witness Jesus – who say He was man and not God?
• The Liberal’s Jesus – who think Jesus was a soft pushover?

WE MUST BELIEVE IN THE BIBLICAL JESUS

And the same is true for the resurrection.
Why do you believe in the resurrection?
Because Scripture said it happened.

And by the same token if you deny the resurrection then you deny the Scripture that teaches it and you deny Jesus who did rise.

See, all three are interlocked and all three are under attack here.
If it was just about making me look dumb, who cares.
I don’t mind looking dumb.
(I’ve got a doctorate in looking dumb)

But that isn’t it.
They are also attacking Scripture and the Resurrection,
And Jesus cannot let that go.

And they are attacking Jesus with a logical argument.
And if you’ve ever been there, it can be intimidating.

Well, let’s see how Jesus responds.

The Attack
#2 THE ANSWER
Matthew 22:29-33

Don’t you love how Jesus starts the answer.
“But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken…”

In other words, “That is a stupid question”
Don’t let anyone tell you dumb questions don’t exist, they do.

Had a person ask once, “Don’t you think it’s possible for God to save someone apart from faith in Jesus?”

It doesn’t matter if it’s possible, God won’t do it.

That’s a hypothetical that doesn’t benefit anyone.

Listen, mankind loves his own intellect,
Sometimes he likes to ask questions he really has no business asking.

In case you didn’t know it, God did not tell us everything,
Nor did He intend to.
Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.”
There are some things that God purposely kept secret,
He only told you all that you needed to know to be obedient to Him.

See, the Sadducees are working in hypothetical’s here.
They are discussing things they don’t know anything about.

And Jesus calls them on it.

In fact He gets specific about what they don’t understand.
“You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.”

The only reason you give Me such a question is because you are ignorant.
And then Jesus goes to explain.

First He explains “the power of God.”

(30) “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”
See the Sadducees thought they had accounted for every possible scenario in their question, but they hadn’t.

They hadn’t accounted for the power of God and most specifically His power to change the nature of man so that marriage wouldn’t matter.

Remember when Paul defends the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15?
1 Corinthians 15:35-41 “But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?” You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.”
The heretics at Corinth had some of the same problem.
They wanted to know, “How are the dead raised” “And with what kind of body..?”

How is it possible, and if it was possible, what would they look like?
(Makings of the first zombie show)

Paul answers by saying you overlook two key facts.
1) GOD IS CREATOR
“God gives it a body”

2) GOD IS CREATIVE
“There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies…”

In Corinth they denied the resurrection because they didn’t understand it.

That is what Jesus reveals is the problem of the Sadducees.
You don’t understand that nothing is impossible with God.

What you see as limitations aren’t limitations to God.
He’ll just change the nature of man to no longer desire marriage.

Now admit it, that sounds crazy to you doesn’t it?
Some read that truth and go into a panic,
Others are pretty pumped about it.

Carrie can’t imagine not being able to be married to me for all eternity!

And that is why the Sadducees denied the resurrection,
They didn’t understand God’s ability to change humanity.

Now don’t panic, in heaven it doesn’t get worse, it only gets better.
The intimacy you share with your spouse won’t be limited to your spouse. You’ll have that kind of intimacy with everyone, including Jesus.

The Sadducees also didn’t understand the Scriptures.
(31) “But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: “I Am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
God spoke that to Moses from the burning bush,
At least 430 years after those men were dead.

And yet God didn’t say, “I was the God of Abraham…Isaac…and Jacob”
God said, “I Am the God of Abraham…Isaac…and Jacob.”

In other words, I am still their God.
They are still with Me.
They are still alive.

So Jesus took their own Pentateuch
And revealed to them the most obvious of statements
And then said, “He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

If they had understood the Scriptures they would have known that.
But they were ignorant.

So we have Jesus here attacked by the logic of this world.
HOW DID HE DEFEAT IT?

1) He was still on the alert (just as last week)
When people who don’t believe in the resurrection
Start asking about the resurrection, that is a pretty good clue.

2) He trusted the power of God and the perfection of the Scriptures.
Jesus did not get down and answer their logic,
He merely answered with Scripture.

BUT IN HIS ANSWER HE DID FOUR THINGS.
1) HE VERIFIED THEIR IGNORANCE
“You are mistaken…”

They displayed their ignorance in their question,
He verified it in His answer.

When people come to you questioning God, that is the simple answer.
“The reason you question me is because you don’t know the power of God or the perfection of the Scriptures. If you did we could talk, but you don’t.”

Jesus verified their ignorance

2) HE VALIDATED THE RESURRECTION
“He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

He merely quoted Scripture as true and authoritative.
He didn’t go into a long lecture as to why Scripture was true,
He merely quoted it and left it at that.

I’ve shared the story about the atheist and the young preacher.
“It is appointed man once to die and then comes judgment”

3) HE VENERATED THE SCRIPTURES
“have you not read what was spoken to you by God:”

Jesus was clear that the Scriptures are God speaking to you.
He didn’t even say what God said to Moses,
Jesus referenced that the Scripture is alive
By revealing that God spoke to you through the Scriptures.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

2 Peter 1:19-21 “So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

Jesus just defended the fact that God was speaking through the Bible.

4) HE VINDICATED HIMSELF
(33) “When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.”

And this is where we get back to the point.

I told you earlier that when the logical come to attack us,
We are not trying to win the argument.
We are merely trying to defend the truth.

WHY ARE WE DEFENDING TRUTH?

For everyone else who is listening.

DID JESUS CONVINCE THESE SADDUCEES THAT THE RESURRECTION WAS REAL?
No

Did He convince them that all of the Old Testament was Scripture?
No

Did He convince them that He really was from God?
No.

But by defending the truth
He did convince those standing around who were listening in.

We don’t argue with the pigs
Holding out any hope that we will win the argument.
We merely stand our ground and defend the truth.

Listen to what Paul told Timothy.
1 Timothy 6:20-21 “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge” — which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.”

Guard the gospel, preserve it for future generations.

Again:
2 Timothy 1:8 “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,”

Suffer for the gospel, not because you win the argument.

Again
2 Timothy 1:13-14 “Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.”

Guard the treasure of the gospel, defend it.

Again
2 Timothy 2:10 “For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.”

Paul endured for the chosen, not the skeptic.

It isn’t about winning.
We are not trying to win against Satan’s logic.

Scripture is not logical.
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”

There was no logical answer for the Sadducees question.
There was only a theological one.

When Satan attacks you with his logic,
Just know you will never convince him and look like you won the debate.

Just be true to the Scripture.
Trust in the power of God and the perfection of His word
And let Him accomplish what He intended by putting you in that situation.
Simply contend for the faith.
Jude 3 “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.”

Spotting Spiritual Snares
Matthew 22:15-22
July 8, 2012

Hebrews 4:15 makes a great statement about Jesus.

Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”

The point of that writer is that we have an Ally, we have an Advocate
And our Advocate is both experienced and successful.

Jesus was fully God who came to this earth as fully man.
And in order to be a faithful and merciful high priest
He walked through every single temptation that you and I face.

Hebrews 2:18 “For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”

And that is certainly good news for us.
Because Jesus faced every possible temptation and because
He resisted every single temptation He is a merciful high priest.

FURTHERMORE HE IS AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE.

We are blessed to be able to witness various times of His temptation
And see how He overcame.

We remember that period in the wilderness back in Matthew 4.
Matthew 4:1 “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”

And we saw how Jesus overcame temptation with a definite trust in God,
A denial of self and commitment to the Scriptures.

One of the misnomers about that event
Is that Satan only hit Jesus with three temptations.

• Turn the stones into bread
• Throw Yourself off the temple
• I’ll give you the kingdoms of this world if you bow to me

But that isn’t even close to all that He faced.

Luke 4:13 “When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.”
Luke says “every temptation”.

Do we really suppose that Satan would withhold anything in seeking to get the Son of God to sin?

Absolutely not!
Jesus suffered it all at the hands of the enemy.

And of course that wasn’t the only time.

We all remember when Satan tried to get Jesus to skip the cross.
Matthew 16:21-23 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

THE POINT IS, JESUS UNDERSTOOD TEMPTATION.
He felt it all.
He resisted it all.

And that makes Him not only a merciful high priest but a definite example.

And this morning we get to see Him at His finest yet again.

We all know the context.
• If Jesus didn’t anger the religious big wigs at the triumphal entry…
• If Jesus didn’t anger them by clearing the temple…
• Then certainly this debate on Wednesday has done the trick.

They questioned His authority
And He has dumped the entire bucket load on them.

He gave them three parables,
Each of which indicated either their lack of recognition of God’s authority,
Or their outright denial of it.

And we are not under any misconceptions
About how they feel towards Him.

Matthew 21:45-46 “When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet.”

And so we have the chief priests and the Pharisees all desperately wanting to destroy Jesus, but too afraid to just come right out and do it.

That means their best option to destroy Him is to trap Him.
This morning we see an attack.
This is not a physical attack, it is a spiritual one.

And as we witness the tremendous discernment of Jesus
We get an example of how to avoid spiritual snares in our lives.

There are three main points in our text this morning,
But we’re going to break them down a little further.
#1 THE HUNTERS
Matthew 22:15-17

This is actually the first of three attacks that are coming.
• First by the Pharisees
• Then the Sadducees
• Then the Pharisees again

This is an all out attack on Jesus,
And it paints the picture of a hunter who is seeking to trap his prey.

There are actually three things I want you to see here.
1) THE SCHEMED PLAN (15)

“Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said.”

Now we know all about Satan.
1 Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Last Sunday night we also learned he can be a wolf,
And we have all seen him as the deceptive serpent.

But the point is, Satan is on the prowl.

Remember the book of Job.
Job 1:6-10 “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” Then Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? “Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.”

There you notice that when the Lord spotted Satan
He had been “roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”

Why?
He was seeking someone to devour, to which God brought up Job.
“Have you considered my servant Job?”

To which Satan said, “Have you not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has on every side?”

“Yeah, I’ve considered Job,
But You have him protected to where I can’t touch him.”

But he is always prowling, he is always looking, and is always ready to attack.
Well he is at work here as well through these Pharisees.

They are scheming, they are plotting
And I find their scheme especially dangerous.

“plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said.”

That may look insignificant, but it is far from it.
James 3:2 “For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.”

James went on to say:
James 3:8 “But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.”

Even Jesus said:
Matthew 15:18 “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.”

This is a deadly trap.
They are pulling no punches, looking to see if they can get Him to slip up
And say something that will either condemn Him before Rome
Or cause some of the Jewish support He has to fade away.

• If they can make Him a Roman traitor, Rome will kill Him.
• If they can make Him a Jewish traitor, His popularity will fade and they can.

And all they need is one juicy sound bite.

The schemed plan.
2) THE SPREAD BAIT (16)

Every hunter knows that when trapping an animal,
You first have to figure out how to do it, and once you figure out the trap,
The next thing to do is place the bait to lure the animal to it.

And that is what is happening here.

And the bait?
FLATTERY

“And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians…”

Now this is interesting namely because
The Pharisees and Herodians were not allies.
They couldn’t agree on anything, except that Jesus needed to go.

• Pharisees were Jewish patriots, originating during the war with Greece.
• Herodians were Roman loyalists and the two hated each other.

And yet here we find them together.
WHY?
Because the trap they are setting needs to either
Condemn Jesus before Rome, or condemn Him before Israel.

• If what Jesus says is offensive to Rome, the Herodians will condemn Him.
• If what Jesus says is offensive to Israel, the Pharisees will.

They have thought this out.
But watch them here first conceal the trap and bait the hook.

They came “saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any.”

And I think it’s safe to say they are spreading it thick.

They talk about His HIGH POSITION.
They called Him “Teacher”

Now if you will remember that was the very issue they had with Him.
“Who gave You this authority?”

And now, they are calling Him “teacher”

Furthermore to them this was a very flattering name.
Matthew 23:6-7 “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men.”

They also comment on His THEOLOGICAL PERFECTION
“we know that You are truthful”

That is to say, “we, the scholars, the religious elite, the educated…have done our homework and we find that all You say is Scripturally accurate.”

When You teach, You teach truth.

They also comment on His DIVINE PURPOSE
“and teach the way of God in truth”

In other words, we know You to be on a divine mission.
You are here to tell people “the way of God”

“where as other people don’t really understand God, You do, and You are truthfully teaching us about what matters to God.”

They also comment on His LACK OF PARTIALITY
“and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any.”

You also have tremendous conviction.
You are the ultimate teacher, always true, on God’s mission
And won’t compromise Your message for anyone or any reason.
You are the ultimate super teacher.

The ironic thing here is that
They couldn’t have spoken more accurately about Him.

Everything they said about Him was absolute truth,
It’s just that they didn’t believe what they were saying.

They were baiting their trap with flattery.

They were tempting the pride of Jesus.

DO YOU KNOW WHY?
Because with Satan there isn’t anything more difficult to resist
Than a trap that appeals to his pride.

Remember why Satan was removed from heaven?
His pride.

Isaiah 14:13-14 “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”
And he loves to attack men based on their pride.

Remember when Paul gave qualifications for overseers?
1 Timothy 3:6-7 “and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.”

It is also how he tempted Jesus in the wilderness,
Three times asking Him, “if you are the Son of God…”

He was pushing Jesus’ pride seeing if he could get a response.

Well, he is still up to his old tricks attacking the pride once again,
This time seeking to puff Jesus up with flattery.

So let me just say here, anytime people start flattering you, watch out.
Satan loves to use that trick to get people to drop their guard.

But none the less we the schemed plan and the spread bait
3) THE SET TRAP (17)

Did you just hear the “click” as the trap was set ready to spring?

After puffing Jesus up with all their flattery
About how He always speaks truth and isn’t afraid of anyone,
THEY HIT HIM WITH A VERY CONTROVERSIAL QUESTION.
“Tell us then, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?”

A poll-tax was the most offensive tax the Romans imposed.
It was simply a head tax that you paid as sort of a gratitude
To the Roman government for all they benefits you received from them.

And the Jews absolutely hated it.
• They weren’t grateful to Rome.
• They didn’t like being under Rome.
• And the thought of having to pay a tax to that end was ridiculous to them.

They didn’t want to have to pay that tax.

And so here is the scene.
• You have Pharisees who were against it.
• You have Herodians who are for it.
• And whatever Jesus answers, they think they have Him.

If He says don’t pay it (which is probably what they expected) the Herodians will arrest Him as a traitor who leads insurrections by trying to get people not to pay their taxes.

If He says pay it He will shock the masses of people who thought it was wrong and the Pharisees will pounce on Him for not being loyal to God.

It looked like a perfect trap.

And so there you have the hunters.
• Scheming their plan
• Spreading their bait
• Setting their trap

This is what the enemy does, not only to Christ, but also to us.

Let’s see how Jesus responds.
#2 THE HUNTED
Matthew 22:18-21

And so now that the trap is set let’s see how Jesus reacts.
1) RECOGNITION (18)

“But Jesus perceived their malice”

We love that.
He was “on the alert”
He didn’t drop His guard.

He knew Satan was out to trap Him.
Didn’t Jesus tell us:
Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.”

He spotted the trap.
“Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?”

He knew the hearts of all men, and He knew this was a trap.
Pharisees and Herodians didn’t work together,
And neither ever flattered Him like this.

See, Satan appealed to His flesh,
And He knew to never follow the flesh.

And we need to know this.
James 1:14-15 “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”

Satan doesn’t tempt you according to the Spirit,
He tempts you according to the flesh.

In the wilderness with Jesus,
Jesus’ hunger
Jesus’ desire for fame
Jesus’ desire to skip the cross

Satan tempts the flesh.

That is why Paul said:
Galatians 5:16 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”

When you or I start making decisions based upon the flesh
We are only setting ourselves up for the trap of the enemy.

This is why we have kill the flesh.
This is why we have to deny self.

Colossians 3:5 “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.”

Jesus was not interested in gratifying the flesh and He spotted the trap.

2) RESPONSE (19-21)

And having recognized the trap notice the wisdom and conviction
With which Jesus answers the question.

“Show me the coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”
And I have to tell you at this point,
They were licking their lips, they thought they had Him.

• See aside from hating Rome, another reason Israel hated this tax was because they perceived the coins to be a sort of graven image.

It had a graven picture of Caesar on it,
And that appeared to be an abomination and blasphemy.

And so when Jesus asked about the “likeness”
They just knew He was about to say,
“Have nothing to do with this idolatrous coin!”

They were ready.
“They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”

And then Jesus blew them away.
“Then He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.”

What a tremendously wise answer.

Like him or not, Caesar is in a position of authority,
And as such he demands your respect and submission.

Romans 13:1-7 “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.”

1 Peter 2:13-17 “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.”

Now Jesus was not obeying what Paul and Peter wrote,
They were writing what Jesus taught.

And that was that no authority exists accept from God
And they must be honored.
We even remember earlier in Matthew
Jesus taking money from a fish to pay the temple tax.
Jesus here understood authority.

But we also have to notice exactly how Jesus answered.

Earlier they said (17) “Is it lawful to give a poll-tax..?”
Here Jesus says, “Then render to Caesar…”

They asked about giving, Jesus said to render.

“give” translates DIDOMI
Which means simply “to give”

“render” translates APODIDOMI
Which means “to give back” or “return” or “restore”

Jesus turned this into a moral obligation or Godly living.

Like it or not Caesar has given to you.
• You drive on his roads
• You live in his economy
• You even to a degree live under his protection

Those things he has done for you,
Require that you give back in payment for what he has done.

We aren’t talking about free gifts of generosity
By which you would show your approval,
We are talking about you paying for the services you use.

Jesus turned this into a moral obligation.

And by the way, that is what taxes are.

I’m not saying any of us agree with all the beliefs or morals of the government,
Or even the direction they seem to be headed.

But because we are under God’s authority, and because we do live
Under the services that they provide, taxes are a moral obligation.

And that is what Jesus told them here.

But He wasn’t finished.
“and to God the things that are God’s.”

Jesus takes it a step further, but revealing that
Caesar isn’t the only one you owe things too.
You owe Caesar payment for his services.
You owe God worship and obedience for everything else.

And with that Jesus is right back to the issue of authority.

You’re problem is that you don’t submit to authority.
• Not Mine…
• Not John the Baptist’s…
• Not Caesar’s…
• Not God’s…

And so Jesus takes their trap and ends up convicting them again
For their lack of submission both to Rome and to God.

TALK ABOUT HANDLING THE TRAP WELL!

The Hunters The Hunted
#3 THE HUNGRY
Matthew 22:22

And the point here is that because Jesus was so perceptive
And because He walked by the Spirit not the flesh,
And because He understood submission to authority
The hunters went home empty handed.

And so, if you want to overcome the snares of the enemy,
Follow the example of Christ.

• Walk by the Spirit not the flesh
• Watch out for anything that appeals to the flesh
• Always submit to the will and word of God for guidance.

And when those times of temptation come,
Know that you have an experienced Advocate to help.

Hebrews 4:14-16 “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

And with that we can overcome the snares of the devil.

The Importance of Submission – part 2
Matthew 22:1-14 (8-14)
July 1, 2012

When last we met we began looking at this third parable of Jesus.
• Having entered the city on Monday
• Clearing the temple on Tuesday,
• He is now locked in a debate on Wednesday morning.

The chief priests wanted to know where He got the authority
Both to clear the temple and now take over as its chief teacher.

And in answering that question Jesus gave three parables.

The first was of a father who told both sons to go work in the vineyard.
• The first said no, and then went.
• The second said yes, and then didn’t.
• To which Jesus revealed that they did not recognize God’s authority.

Then came a second parable of a vineyard owner who rented his vineyard
• When the harvest was read and the slaves were sent to gather the proceeds
• But the vine growers mocked, stoned, and killed them.
• Eventually the owner sent his son, but the vine growers killed him as well.
• Thus bringing a sure and certain judgment upon their heads.
• With that parable Jesus revealed that chief priests didn’t submit to God’s
authority.

It is bad enough not to recognize God’s authority,
Even worse to recognize it and still fail to submit to it.

And then Jesus gave a third parable.
This one we actually began studying last Sunday morning.

This one, like the previous two
Teaches us the importance of submitting to the King.

This was the parable of the wedding banquet.
Matthew 22:2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.”

And we talked about what a wedding banquet was.
• It was a week or even two week celebration
• In which the guests also lived at the hosts home and enjoyed his delicacies.
• For this to be the wedding of the king’s son, you could bet the party would be second to none.

This would be the invitation of a lifetime.
But something shocking happened.
Matthew 22:3-6 “And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. “Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”‘ “But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.”

Ordinarily when a wedding banquet was being prepared,
Invitations were sent out.
At that point you were supposed to start getting ready to attend,
And then once the banquet was ready the slaves would come say it was time.

But on this day, at this banquet the king was completely ignored.
“they were unwilling to come”

At the very least we find an unsubmissive attitude.
They just didn’t care what the king wanted.
The king said “come”, and they said, “no”

Later we learned why.
(5) “But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business.”

They didn’t come because they had their own plans.
They didn’t care about the King’s plans.

And we talked about how their danger was they were too distracted.
They loved this world, they were enamored with this world
And when their opportunity for something better came
They neglected it.

The writer of Hebrews said:
Hebrews 2:3 “how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”

But that is what they did.
And it is fair to say they received their just reward.
Matthew 22:7 “But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.”

These men were destroyed because
They loved their own lives and their own plans and their own agendas
And were not willing to submit to the king.
We called that “A Rejected Invitation”

And the reality is that our world is full of people that do the same.
They reject the invitation to the wedding banquet
Because they don’t care to take the time to get ready.

It is the tragedy of the world.
It was certainly the tragedy of Israel.
They were too busy to submit to the king, it was A Rejected Invitation.

Let’s move in the parable this morning now
A Rejected Invitation
#2 A RECEIVED INVITATION
Matthew 22:8-10

We know that when the invitation first went out
Some of the slaves were mistreated.

And now those slaves have returned to the king,
He has destroyed the murderers
And is now about to send the slaves out again.

(8) “Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.’”

That statement echoes the just nature of the king’s decision.

Remember what Jesus said?
Matthew 10:37-39 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”

Jesus said those who won’t forsake this life aren’t worthy
And that’s the same thing the king said about those who rejected his offer

And so now the king sets out to find those who are worthy.
And this is really an important thing to grasp.

Worth in the world’s eyes is different than worth in God’s eyes.
The world looks outwardly to determine worth, God looks inwardly

We all remember the story of when David was selected King.
1 Samuel 16:7 “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

And so worth to God is not measured by our earthly value.
Worth to God is measured by our heart’s commitment to Him.

David was “a man after God’s own heart”
Not because he was perfect,
But because he was committed and humble before God.

Those who are most committed to Him hold the most worth.

And that is what continues on here.
(9-10) ‘Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ “Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.”
Now this is really interesting.

They went to “the main highways” because that is where the most travelers were, as well as the beggars and what not.

And the slaves went out and notice what it said about all they gathered.
“both evil and good”

WOULD THE KING REALLY ALLOW EVIL PEOPLE TO THE WEDDING?
Yes, because worth to Him isn’t about what they’ve done,
It’s about their level of commitment to Him.

2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.”

It wasn’t about evil and good it was about willingness to come.

SEE THESE GUESTS SERVE A BIGGER PURPOSE.

WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS MOST IMPORTANT TO THE KING?
It was that “the wedding hall” be “filled with dinner guests”

WHY?
Because it was the wedding of His Son.

I know in our Sunday School class we talked about this recently,
And Amy did her missions devotion on this,
But it is something that is very important for you to understand.

This whole salvation plan is really not about you.
It is about the love that the Father has for the Son.

Titus 1:1-3
“Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began,” (NKJV)

Now notice what Paul said.
• I am a bondservant of God
• For the faith of God’s elect
• And for the knowledge of truth
• And for the hope of eternal life
And all of this “God…promised before time began,”

So God promised to elect (choose) a people for godliness and eternal life.
But He promised all of this “before time began”
So who did He make that promise to?

The answer is to the Son.
He promised the Son a holy and redeemed bride.
It was the ultimate promise from the Father to the Son
To secure for Him a redeemed bride
To love, serve, and worship Him for all eternity.

This is what Jesus referenced in His High Priestly prayer
John 17:24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”

There was a love between the Father and the Son before time began,
In which the Father promised the Son a bride.

And we know how it works in Jewish culture.
• The Father selects the bride
• The dowry is paid
• They are engaged and the groom goes to prepare their place to live
• He then returns and the marriage is consummated

That is what is happening here.
• The Father selected a bride
• Her dowry was paid (through the death of the Son)
• He has gone to prepare a place
• He will come again and receiver her unto Himself.

Now I could go more into all of this, but often lost in this salvation story
Is that salvation is really about the Father and the Son.

Somehow we like to pretend it is all about us,
But in reality it is about the Father and the Son.

We are caught up in this divine love triangle.
We are certainly unworthy beneficiaries
Of a promise the Father made to the Son.

Now, that is clearly seen in this parable as well.
The Father didn’t invite all these people to the wedding feast
For the sake of the people.

He invited them for the sake of the Son.
He wanted a full wedding hall in order to glorify the Son.

And so we understand HIS FURY when those first people were unwilling.

And we also understand HIS LACK OF DISCRETION
In letting both the wicked and the good come.
He simply wanted a full hall in order to best honor His Son.

And those who came did not get invited because they were worthy. They were worthy because they answered the invitation.
And we need to understand this about salvation.
God didn’t choose you or call you or save you because you were so valuable
That He just couldn’t bear to have a wedding feast without you there.

No, God was determined to fill the wedding hall with guests to honor His Son,
It was your good fortune that He chose to invite you.

You or I neither one were worthy to be invited.
We were made worthy only because we responded.

Furthermore, we received the opportunity
Because the previous invited guests were unwilling.
• That first unworthy group was Israel, who was unwilling.
• The second group is the Gentiles.

That is what Paul talks about in Romans 11, when Israel was broken off, and the wild olive shoot of the Gentiles was grafted in.

At the very least, those of us who have accepted the invitation
And are preparing ourselves for that great feast
Should spend every day until that feast thanking and praising God
For this tremendous privilege and opportunity.

This was not an opportunity we deserved.
We are peasants going to the ball.

And that also forces us to realize why we are going.

WHY DID THE KING WANT THE HALL FULL?
So the Son would be glorified.

What does that say about someone who is accepting an invitation to the wedding, but who refuses to glorify the Son?
If you attend the wedding banquet, you’d better glorify Him.

And that leads to the third point. (Rejected Invitation, Received Invitation)
#3 A REVOKED INVITATION
Matthew 22:11-14

So we finally have a full wedding hall, but then look what happened.
“the king came in to look over the dinner guests”

NOW WHY WOULD HE DO THAT?
Because this is for the glory of the Son, and He wants it perfect.

This is actually the judgment.
The king may have graciously allowed whosoever to enter,
But that doesn’t mean he has lowered his standard.

He will let them come, but they must still look the part.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE SON!!!

And “when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes,”

Earlier we saw some who were unwilling to get ready
And so they were unwilling to come.
Well, here is a man who didn’t get ready,
But who decided to come to the wedding anyway.

And he “was not dressed in wedding clothes”
He hadn’t cleaned up.

(12) “and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless.”

The king isn’t asking “how” so much as “why” here.

He’s not curious how this man snuck past his guards,
He’s curious why attending this wedding in filth was acceptable.

How is it that you did this?
Who do you think you are to do this?

And you will notice that the man has no answer.
(In the judgment when God declares your guilt there are no excuses)

(13) “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

The king wasn’t messing around.
• All were welcome, but you were expected to live up to the standard.
• By coming dressed in his rags he was actually an insult to the Son.
• He came, but he didn’t honor the Son.

NOW WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Well, in Scripture garments always speak of character.
Dirty garments = wicked character
Clean garments = righteous character

Zechariah 3:1-5 “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.” Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the LORD was standing by.”
There Joshua was being accused and he really was wicked,
But the Lord justified him by changing his garments.

So this man in the wedding has come, but not in righteousness.
• He’s tried to come without righteousness.
• He’s tried to come in his own wedding clothes, not those supplied by the king.

And the king will not stand for it.
In fact, the king is so upset he instantly has the man bound
And cast out of the wedding hall.

This is the equivalent of a man who tries to enter heaven
Based upon his own goodness.

• He thinks he deserves it.
• He thinks his own righteousness is good enough.
• He thinks his works speak for themselves.

That is why throughout the Revelation those in heaven
Are those who had their garments washed.

Revelation 22:14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.”

Revelation 7:13-17 “Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. “For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. “They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
You don’t go to the wedding in your own clothes.

And this really just emphasizes what we said a moment ago.
Those who are invited are not worthy, they are made worthy.

Those who enter are given their righteous clean garments.

But this was a man thought he was good enough,
What a startling reality when he learned otherwise.

The King wanted people to come who honored the Son,
This man dishonored him.

So do all who think they are good enough.
Listen to what Paul said the Galatians
Who thought being circumcised would make them worthy.

Galatians 2:21 “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

In other words, “If you could earn it, what Jesus did was insignificant.”
Paul would say you make light of the sacrifice of Christ.

Throughout Scripture those who think they are good enough fail to enter.
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”

All of their own goodness meant nothing.

That’s what Jesus meant in the beatitudes.
Matthew 5:3-6 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

Those who think they are good enough do not please the king.
When you come in your own righteousness you dishonor the Son
And up being bound and cast outside.

That is why Scripture says:
Psalms 96:9 “Worship the LORD in holy attire; Tremble before Him, all the earth.”

Psalms 29:1-2 “Ascribe to the LORD, O sons of the mighty, Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in holy array.”

And we obviously aren’t talking about outer clothes here,
We’re talking about a righteous heart.

And so we see that because this man did not come in the king’s perfect righteousness, his invitation was actually revoked.
And then Jesus sums up this whole parable with a sobering statement.

(14) “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Now in relation to this parable we learn, that the call went out to everyone.
First to the original invited guests, and then to all on the highways.

Everyone was called.
“but few are chosen”

Only the chosen remained at the wedding banquet.
“many are called”
“few are chosen”
I know this is a little tough to swallow, but can we agree here that being called and being chosen is not the same thing?

The first and most obvious difference is in their number.

It brings a memory to our minds of the wide and narrow gates.
Many enter the wide gate, few enter the narrow one.

We also recognize that while all the chosen are called,
Not all the called are chosen.

It was only the chosen who enjoyed the wedding feast.
That is why we don’t just want to be called.
We want to be chosen.

2 Peter 1:10-11 “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”

Now this already takes us to a place
That most of the time we aren’t comfortable to go.

Preacher are you saying that the only people who get to go to heaven are those whom God chooses?
• No, I’m not saying that, Jesus is.
• Jesus, in this parable revealed that truth.

Only the chosen get to go to heaven.
• Some say “that makes God look like a monster.”
• Some say “that’s not fair.”

But let me remind you, it has never been about fair.
In a fair world no one gets invited, because no one is worthy to go.
Have we not called an invitation to this banquet a privilege?

It’s never been about fairness, God can do what He wants.
Romans 9:19-24 “You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.”

God doesn’t have to answer to your standards of fairness.
He is God and He can do what He wants.

This is where our minds have to be transformed.
Some argue that if this is true then it is actually God’s fault
That people go to hell, since He didn’t choose them.

But that is missing the entire point.
• Was everyone called?
• Was everyone invited?
Yes, so how is it God’s fault that they refused to respond?

OUR WORLD SEES THINGS BACKWARD.
They see this massive throng of humanity
All desperately wanting to enter the wedding banquet, but that isn’t true.

The massive throng didn’t want to enter, they were unwilling.

Matthew 22:3 “And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come.”

It was God who continued to call.
It was God who continued to choose.
It was God who provided righteousness.

See, no one will be in hell who doesn’t deserve to be there.

But no one is in heaven who does deserve to be there.
Only those whom God graciously chose.
HEAVEN ISN’T A RIGHT, IT IS A PRIVILEGE!

And the reason God chose them is so that they could glorify His Son.

Ephesians 1:4 “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.”

That is why the man without wedding clothes didn’t get to stay,
He wasn’t “holy and blameless”

Now, let’s bring this all back to the parable.
• Here we had a universal call that went out.
• But only a few actually entered the wedding hall.

Here is Jesus’ point.
These Jews all thought they were God’s people
And they had nothing to worry about, but Jesus reveals otherwise.

• They are not God’s people; because they don’t submit to His authority.
• They are unwilling to do His will,
• And when they do try to come to Him, they come in their own
righteousness not having submitted to His.

They are called, but not chosen to stay, because they are not righteous.
Only those who are washed in the blood of the lamb
And made righteous by His sacrifice get to stay.

And that speaks volumes to us.
There is a great wedding feast,
And the King wants the hall full all for the glory of the Son.

And you are called to come.
But don’t assume being called is all it takes.

You must also respond to that call,
And be made righteous by the sacrifice of the Son,
Or else you will not enjoy the wedding banquet.

• So don’t be like those who were too distracted…
• Don’t be like those who were self-deceived thinking they were good enough…

Instead be like those poor and crippled and lame
Who even though some were wicked,
Saw the golden opportunity and removed their filthy garments
And determined to walk in righteousness,
That they might honor the Son for giving them an opportunity
To enjoy such a lavish feast.

Respond to the Son and submit to His will
Answer His call and submit to His dress code.

And that is really the answer to the dilemma.

You can sit here today and say,
“Well I know I’m called, but what if I’m not chosen?”

Do you want to be chosen?
• Then take off your sinful garments
• Put on the righteousness of Christ.
• And you will prove yourself one of the chosen as well.

John 6:37-40 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”