Matthew Chapter 22
Matthew carefully records the many times that Jesus was pummeled with questions by the religious leaders of the day.
They were no match for the wisdom of Jesus.
Their hope was to catch Him in some discrepancy of the Holy Scriptures, not realizing that they were speaking to the author of the Law and the Scriptures.
Jesus had just told these power-driven leaders that the Kingdom of Heaven would be taken away from them. He then described to them in a parable why they (the religious leaders and any who rejected Christ) would not be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Were they invited? Yes, they most certainly were, but they rejected the invitation.
Let's Reflect
1. In the parable of the wedding feast held for a son, what type of wedding was this? Who was orchestrating the wedding for his son?
2. The reaction of the towns’ people was odd. Some of them just simply ignored the invitation. They ignored an invite to a royal wedding. There were others who even had an adverse reaction to the invitation. What did they do and what was the father’s response to their actions?
3. When the feast was finally ready, other servants were once again sent out to let the people know that it was time to come. This time they had to go outside the city limits since the towns’ people (the Jews) had rejected the invite, and they invited outsiders to come to the wedding. Who is represented as the outsiders?
4. There was one man who tried to “sneak into the feast” apparently not caring that he was not dressed for the wedding. What did the king do to this man? This man could represent all religious people who think their religion is going to get them a seat in the Kingdom. But they are not chosen to be a part of the Kingdom, they are not repentant believers.
5. The Pharisees obviously did not understand the meaning of Jesus’ parable because they continued to question Him. Had they understood what Jesus had just told them, they would have stopped their seeking of frivolous accusations. What did they next question Jesus about?
6. Notice that Matthew said “in the same day” the Sadducees came to Jesus. Another group of religious leaders were going to try their hand at crossing wits with Jesus. Bible scholars tell us that while the Pharisees and the Sadducees wanted nothing to do with each other, they were now united in one endeavor – to destroy the ministry of Jesus. It is ironic that the Sadducees asked Jesus the question that they asked, because as Matthew pointed out they did not believe in the resurrection. They were hoping to show that the idea of the resurrection is nonsense and to prove that Jesus had no authority to be teaching. Jesus answered their hypothetical question about the marriage of a woman to 7 different brothers who each died, in a way they were not expecting. What was his answer? See verses 29-30.
7. The Sadducees had two problems. They were Bible scholars but did not understand the Word and they did not understand the power of God – God has the power to raise people from the dead. What did Jesus teach them about marriages in heaven?
8. Concerning the resurrection power of God, Jesus mentioned words that were so important. He said, “I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” He did not say “He was the God of Abraham.” Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are still alive. Jesus stated that “he is not God of the dead, but of the ______________.”
9. Then one of the top Pharisees questioned Jesus. What title did this Pharisee have?
10. Then Jesus asked the religious leaders a question. He asked them what? If Jesus was indeed the son of David, a descendant of David, then He was more importantly the Son of God.
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