Matthew 22 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00Matthew 22:1 [music]
2. 0:02Jesus spoke to them again in parables,
3. 0:06saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be
4. 0:09compared to a king who gave a [music]
5. 0:11wedding feast for his son."
6. 0:14And he sent out his slaves to call
7. 0:16[music] those who had been invited to
8. 0:18the wedding feast, and they were
9. 0:20unwilling [music]
10. 0:21to come.
11. 0:23Again he sent out other slaves, saying,
12. 0:26[music] "Tell those who have been
13. 0:27invited, "Behold, I have prepared my
14. 0:31dinner. My oxen and my fatted livestock
15. 0:35are all butchered, and everything is
16. 0:37[music] ready. Come to the wedding
17. 0:39feast."
18. 0:42But they paid no attention
19. 0:44and went their way, one to his own farm,
20. 0:48another [music] to his business, and the
21. 0:51rest seized his slaves and mistreated
22. 0:54them and killed them. But the king was
23. 0:57enraged, and he sent his armies and
24. 1:00destroyed those murderers and set their
25. 1:03city on fire.
26. 1:06Then he said to his slaves,
27. 1:09"The wedding is ready, but those who
28. 1:12were invited were not worthy. Go,
29. 1:16therefore, to the main highways, and as
30. 1:19many as you find there, invite to the
31. 1:21wedding feast."
32. 1:24Those slaves went out into the streets
33. 1:26and gathered together all they found,
34. 1:30both evil and good.
35. 1:33And the wedding hall was filled with
36. 1:35dinner guests.
37. 1:37But when the king came in to look over
38. 1:40the dinner guests, he saw a man there
39. 1:43who was not dressed in wedding clothes.
40. 1:46And he said to him, "Friend,
41. 1:50did you come in here without wedding
42. 1:52clothes?"
43. 1:54And the man was speechless.
44. 1:57Then the king said to the servants,
45. 1:59"Bind him hand and foot and throw him
46. 2:02into the outer darkness. In that place
47. 2:04there will be weeping and nashing of
48. 2:06teeth, for many are called, but few are
49. 2:10chosen." In this parable of the wedding
50. 2:13feast, Jesus is wanting to show us
51. 2:15several truths that are actually in
52. 2:18tension with each other.
53. 2:20First, he's telling us that his father
54. 2:24wants the religious community to be part
55. 2:28of the celebration of his son's wedding,
56. 2:32but they won't come. And then he's
57. 2:34telling us that the reason they won't
58. 2:36come is because they are engrossed in
59. 2:40their farms, their businesses. They are
60. 2:44distracted by the things of this world.
61. 2:48And then he tells us that they are
62. 2:50abusive toward those who invite them.
63. 2:55And he tells us that they're not worthy.
64. 2:57They're not worthy to be participants in
65. 3:00this celebration.
66. 3:02Next, he tells us that he sends his
67. 3:05slaves out to gather in many more
68. 3:09people. So the invite list was the
69. 3:12religious, those who'd been walking
70. 3:14faithful, the Jewish community. scratch.
71. 3:17They don't want to come. Now he's going
72. 3:19to the Gentiles. This refers to the
73. 3:21prostitutes and tax collectors, but to
74. 3:24all the Gentiles as well. And so they
75. 3:26bring in people with good backgrounds
76. 3:28and bad backgrounds. But then he pivots
77. 3:31and he wants us to know that just
78. 3:33because you come from a broken
79. 3:36background doesn't mean that you can
80. 3:38just stay as you are. You need to assume
81. 3:42the identity of the Lord. you need to
82. 3:44become part of his covenant wedding
83. 3:47feast. And if you don't, you're going to
84. 3:50be excluded still.
85. 3:52When when you were invited to a wedding
86. 3:54feast like this, you didn't come in your
87. 3:57best suit.
88. 3:59In fact, the master of the feast would
89. 4:02provide you with the clothes.
90. 4:05So he would give you garments to wear
91. 4:07that would show that you were one of his
92. 4:10guests and and then you could
93. 4:12participate in the ceremony as one of
94. 4:14his guests. And in the same way, God
95. 4:17isn't saying that we've got to put on
96. 4:19good appearances, but he has given us of
97. 4:22himself the the white garments of the
98. 4:25saints, the white garments of the Lord,
99. 4:28which is the righteous acts of the
100. 4:30saints.
101. 4:31This is a grace and a righteousness that
102. 4:33is not our ours. This comes from God.
103. 4:36But if we don't take on that identity
104. 4:39that has been given to us through Jesus
105. 4:42and we come and stick with our old
106. 4:44street urchin identity at the wedding
107. 4:46feast of the Lord, we are going to be
108. 4:48cast out. We have to conform. We have to
109. 4:52become part of what he's doing. And so
110. 4:55that's where he ends. These are
111. 4:57intention with each other. Yes, it's
112. 4:59inclusive in the invite, but it's
113. 5:02precise in the demands. Many are called,
114. 5:05but few are chosen.
115. 5:09Then the Pharisees went and plotted
116. 5:11together how they might trap him in what
117. 5:13he said.
118. 5:15And they sent their disciples to him
119. 5:18along with the Herodians, saying,
120. 5:20"Teacher, we know that you are truthful
121. 5:22and teach the way of God in truth and
122. 5:26defer to no one, for you are not partial
123. 5:29to any.
124. 5:31Tell us then, what do you think? Is it
125. 5:33lawful to give a pole tax to Caesar or
126. 5:37not?"
127. 5:38But Jesus perceived their malice
128. 5:42and said, "Why are you testing me, you
129. 5:45hypocrites,
130. 5:47show me the coin used for the pax?"
131. 5:51And they brought him a daenarius.
132. 5:54And he said to them, "Whose likeness and
133. 5:57inscription is this?"
134. 6:00They said to him, "Caesars."
135. 6:03Then he said to them, "Then render to
136. 6:06Caesar the things that are Caesars's and
137. 6:09to God the things that are God's." And
138. 6:13hearing this, they were amazed and
139. 6:16leaving him they went away.
140. 6:19>> [snorts]
141. 6:20>> This is one of the most profound
142. 6:22statements because this is the first
143. 6:24time in human history that someone is
144. 6:28separating life into two distinct
145. 6:32realms.
146. 6:33The political realm and the voluntary
147. 6:36realm or you could say the governmental
148. 6:40state realm and the kingdom faith realm.
149. 6:44Jesus separates those two and he says
150. 6:48they can coexist with each other at the
151. 6:50same time. He asks them whose image is
152. 6:55on this coin
153. 6:58and they say well that coin is stamped
154. 7:01in the image of Caesar.
155. 7:05When you would take the hammer and
156. 7:07strike a piece of metal, a coin, you
157. 7:10would imprint it with the image
158. 7:14that the that the hammer had and that
159. 7:17was called forming character
160. 7:22and his implication is whose image do
161. 7:26you bear?
162. 7:28We bear the image and glory of God. So
163. 7:32Jesus is tacitly saying we should give
164. 7:36our lives, our hearts, our time, our
165. 7:40devotion, our affection to the one whose
166. 7:42image we bear. But coins can be given to
167. 7:46the one whose image they bear, Caesar.
168. 7:49[snorts] But he's separating the two
169. 7:51realms, the realm of Caesar and the
170. 7:53realm of God. Give to Caesar what
171. 7:56belongs to Caesar and give to God what
172. 7:59belongs to God. What belongs to God?
173. 8:01everything that bears his image, you and
174. 8:04me. On that day, some Sadducees who say
175. 8:08there is no resurrection came to Jesus
176. 8:10and questioned him, asking, "Teacher,"
177. 8:13Moses said, "If a man dies having no
178. 8:16children, his brother as next of kin
179. 8:20shall marry his wife and raise up
180. 8:22children for his brother."
181. 8:24Now there were seven brothers with us.
182. 8:27and the first married and died, and
183. 8:29having no children, left his wife to his
184. 8:31brother. So also the second, and the
185. 8:34third down to the seventh.
186. 8:37Last of all, the woman died. In the
187. 8:40resurrection, therefore, whose wife of
188. 8:43the seven will she be?
189. 8:46For they all married her?
190. 8:48They think they are so clever. They have
191. 8:51created the perfect scenario that just
192. 8:54will trap him for sure. But Jesus
193. 8:57answered and said to them, "You are
194. 9:00mistaken."
195. 9:02Not understanding the scriptures, nor
196. 9:04the power of God. For in the
197. 9:07resurrection, they neither marry nor are
198. 9:10given in marriage, but are like angels
199. 9:14in heaven.
200. 9:16But regarding the resurrection of the
201. 9:18dead, have you not read what was spoken
202. 9:21to you by God?
203. 9:24I am the God of Abraham and the God of
204. 9:27Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is not
205. 9:31the God of the dead, but of the living.
206. 9:34When the crowds heard this, they were
207. 9:36astonished at his teaching.
208. 9:40Jesus is making the argument for the
209. 9:41resurrection based on grammar. It's very
210. 9:45astute. If the Lord had said to Moses,
211. 9:49"I was the God of Abraham and of Isaac
212. 9:52and of Jacob," that would indicate that
213. 9:55Abraham is dead. But he was the God of
214. 9:58Abraham while he lived. But because he
215. 10:01says, "I am the God of Abraham,"
216. 10:05that denotes that Abraham is alive or
217. 10:10else he's the God of the dead. And so
218. 10:14Jesus says, since we all agree he is the
219. 10:15God of the living and not of the dead,
220. 10:18if he says, "I am the God of Abraham and
221. 10:21of Isaac and of Jacob, therefore they
222. 10:24are alive somewhere."
223. 10:27But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus
224. 10:29had silenced the Sadducees, they
225. 10:30gathered themselves together. One of
226. 10:33them, a lawyer, asked him a question,
227. 10:35testing him. Teacher, which is the great
228. 10:39commandment in the law?
229. 10:41He said to him, "You shall love the Lord
230. 10:45your God with all your heart and with
231. 10:47all your soul and with all your mind.
232. 10:50This is the great and foremost
233. 10:52commandment. The second is like it. You
234. 10:56shall love your neighbor as yourself."
235. 10:59On these two commandments depend the
236. 11:01whole law and the prophets.
237. 11:04Now, while the Pharisees were gathered
238. 11:06together, Jesus asked them a question.
239. 11:10What do you think about the Christ?
240. 11:12Whose son is he?
241. 11:15They said to him, "The son of David?" He
242. 11:18said to them, "Then how does David in
243. 11:21the spirit call him Lord, saying, The
244. 11:24Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right
245. 11:28hand until I put your enemies beneath
246. 11:30your feet." If David then calls him
247. 11:33Lord, how is he his son?
248. 11:36No one was able to answer him a word,
249. 11:39nor did anyone dare from that day on ask
250. 11:42him another question. When he speaks
251. 11:44about the Sadducees, it's important to
252. 11:46understand that there were two
253. 11:48predominant schools of religious thought
254. 11:51like two denominations at that time. And
255. 11:55one were the Pharisees. And [music] the
256. 11:56Pharisees believed in the inherency of
257. 12:00scripture. They believed in the
258. 12:02resurrection. And they were much more of
259. 12:05an attempt, an honest [music] attempt to
260. 12:09be faithful to the law of God. The
261. 12:12Sadducees [music] were deeply influenced
262. 12:14by henistic thinking, meaning Greek
263. 12:17thinking. And they were a much more
264. 12:21liberal version. They would almost be
265. 12:23like Unitarians in the Christian world
266. 12:26today. And they believed that the Bible
267. 12:30was full of of metaphors and things that
268. 12:33should not be taken literally. [music]
269. 12:34And they did not believe in the
270. 12:36resurrection. They found that absurd
271. 12:39because they had been influenced by
272. 12:41Greek rationalism. And they thought that
273. 12:44the power of God in resurrection
274. 12:46was irrational. And so Jesus tells them,
275. 12:49you understand neither the scriptures
276. 12:51nor the power of God. And he's
277. 12:54identifying that the problem with their
278. 12:56thinking is that they have rejected the
279. 12:58power of God and have [music] reduced
280. 13:00God down to a logical uh absolute, a
281. 13:03philosophical and logical absolute
282. 13:05instead [music] of a living spirit who's
283. 13:08going to give life to all people in the
284. 13:10resurrection. They would have been much
285. 13:13more inclined to [music]
286. 13:15rationalize away scripture, much more
287. 13:17inclined to modernize the
288. 13:20interpretation. And the Pharisees would
289. 13:22have been much more hardliner, like
290. 13:24we're going to do what the Bible says.
291. 13:27Ironically, the Pharisees got in more
292. 13:29trouble with Jesus than the Sadducees
293. 13:30[music] just because they were closer to
294. 13:32the truth and so they were more offended
295. 13:34at the correction that God was bringing
296. 13:36them.
297. 13:48>> [music]