CHAPTER 22

(A.D. 33)

THE PARABLE OF THE MARRIAGE FEAST

¹And Jesus answered and spoke unto them again by Parables, and said (Jesus is still in the Temple, and continuing with His Message; them refers to the religious leaders of Israel),

²The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a certain king (God the Father), which made a marriage for his son (the Lord Jesus Christ),

³And sent forth his servants (the Prophets) to call them (Israel) who were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come (they rejected the Prophets and even their Messiah; the phrase proclaims a studied and deliberate rejection).

⁴Again, he sent forth other servants (which could well refer to His personal Disciples, and the Apostle Paul, and those in the Early Church, whose Ministry was yet future), saying, Tell them which are bidden (this is an invitation directed personally to the people of Israel; the first few Chapters of the Book of Acts will bear this out), Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready (a strong sense of urgency, for time is running out): come unto the marriage (respects the last invitation given to the Jews that could well have been given by the Apostle Paul [Acts, Chpt. 23]).

⁵But they made light of it (Israels response to the Gospel), and went their ways (their ways instead of Gods Ways), one to his farm, another to his merchandise (Israel had no interest in the Gospel; they were more interested in money; how much does this characterize the modern Church!):

⁶And the remnant (those of Israel who didnt want the Gospel, which included the religious leaders) took his servants (the Apostles), and entreated them spitefully, and slew them (the time of the Early Church was glorious, but as well, a time of intense persecution).

⁷But when the king (the Heavenly Father) heard thereof, he was wroth (extremely angry): and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city (exactly what happened in A.D. 70, when Titus destroyed Jerusalem).

⁸Then said he to his servants (the Plan of God is not halted, only its direction), The wedding is ready (will go as planned, but with a change of guests), but they which were bidden were not worthy (concerns Israel who would not accept the worthiness of Christ).

⁹Go ye therefore into the highways (the balance of the world), and as many as you shall find (love invites the many), bid to the marriage (give an invitation to the Gentiles, which was the Lords Plan all along, but not in this fashion).

¹⁰So those servants (Apostles and Prophets) went out into the highways (world evangelism, actually begun by the Apostle Paul), and gathered together all as many as they found (the Gospel invitation given to everyone; none are excluded), both bad and good (proclaims the fact that the good need Salvation, as well as the bad): and the wedding was furnished with guests (respects the redeemed who will be made up of both Jews and Gentiles).

¹¹And when the king (God the Father) came in to see the guests (it was customary for the host to come and see their guests after they were assembled), he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment (a wedding garment supplied by the King, which was the custom in those days):

¹²And he said unto him, Friend (used in a negative way), how did you think you could come in hither not having a wedding garment? (You have on your own garment, which is self-righteousness, and have refused my garment, which is the Righteousness of Christ.)And he was speechless (this man deemed his own garment of self-righteousness good enough for the feast; and it suited him very well until the king came in, and then he was exposed, and cast out).

¹³Then said the king (God the Father) to the servants (Angels, in this case), Bind him hand and foot, and take him away (also refers to true Preachers who proclaim Salvation to Christ-acceptors, and doom to those who are Christ-rejecters), and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Hell is the end result of all self-righteousness).

¹⁴For many are called (includes the whole world, which are many and called by God), but few are chosen (few respond favorably to the call).

TRIBUTE MONEY TO CAESAR

¹⁵Then went the Pharisees (the self-righteous hypocrites to whom Christ was speaking), and took counsel (with the Herodians and Sadducees) how they might entangle Him in His talk (trap Him so they could arrest Him; how foolish they were!).

¹⁶And they sent out unto Him their Disciples (Disciples of the Pharisees) with the Herodians (those who claimed Herod to be the Messiah), saying, Master (teacher), we know that Y ou are true, and teach the way of God in truth, neither carest Thou for any man: for You regard not the person of men (flattery, which they did not at all believe, but was a part of their clever trap; they were foolish to try and match wits with Him, but in their stupidity they kept trying).

¹⁷Tell us therefore, What do you think? Is it lawful (the Law of Moses) to give tribute (pay taxes) unto Caesar, or not? (This question raged in Israel at that time. In their thinking, either way He answered would trap Him. If He said it was not lawful, this would have put Him in opposition to the Roman government. Had He said it was lawful, He would have denied His claim as Messiah, the King of Israel.)

¹⁸But Jesus perceived their wickedness (pertains to the hypocrisy which prompted their question), and said, Why tempt you Me (He saw through their craftiness), you hypocrites? (He said this to their faces.)

¹⁹Show Me the tribute money (the type of coin used to pay the tax). And they brought unto Him a penny (the coin).

²⁰And He said unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? (Was probably the image of Tiberius on the coin.)

²¹They say unto Him, Caesars. Then said He unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesars; and unto God the things that are Gods (lawful government is here recognized, and support for government approved; if done correctly, support for government and support for God will not clash).

²²When they had heard these words (in this short statement, a new sphere of government was introduced, the two spheres of Church and State to be distinct and not joined), they marveled (were left speechless), and left Him, and went their way (they were silenced, but their evil hearts were not changed).

THE RESURRECTION

²³The same day came to Him the Sadducees (the third party in Israel which tried to trap Him), which say that there is no Resurrection (they did not believe in a future life of the soul, or the Resurrection of the body), and asked Him,

²⁴Saying, Master (teacher), Moses said (they studied the Bible, but not for it to mold their life), If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother ([Deut. 25:5-10] this was only under the Old Covenant, and was not carried over into the New Covenant).

²⁵Now there were with us seven brethren (a hypothetical case): and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased (died), and, having no issue (no children), left his wife unto his brother:

²⁶Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.

²⁷And last of all the woman died also.

²⁸Therefore in the Resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her (they now spring their trap).

²⁹Jesus answered and said unto them (that which seemed to be unanswerable to others, was simple for Him), You do err, not knowing the Scriptures (once again, He takes them to the Word of God), nor the power of God (addresses itself to the denial by the Sadducees of the supernatural).

³⁰For in the Resurrection (this proclaims by Christ the validity of the Doctrine of the Resurrection) they (all who are saved) neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the Angels of God in Heaven (do not die; as well, Christ proclaims existence of Angels, which the Sadducees also denied).

³¹But as touching the Resurrection of the dead (guarantees their Resurrection and as well, life after death), have you not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying (Ex. 3:6, 16),

³²I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living (portrays the fallacy of the great Plan of God being built and predicated on that which is non-existent; the Lord is saying that these men of whom He spoke, and all others who had died in the Faith were then alive, and will be ever alive; in this, Christ teaches the immortality of the soul and that God is the God of all departed souls; also, the great investment that Christ would make at the Cross, was definitely not to be made for all the Sainted dead who will have no existence).

³³And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at His doctrine (at the simplicity of what He said concerning the Resurrection, by using examples from the Word of God).

THE GREAT COMMANDMENT

³⁴But when the Pharisees had heard that He had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together (they normally hated each other).

³⁵Then one of them, which was a lawyer (Scribe), asked Him a question, tempting Him, and saying,

³⁶Master (teacher), which is the great Commandment of the law? (The Law of Moses.)

³⁷Jesus said unto 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 foundation of all the Law, and as well, applies to the present Day of Grace).

³⁸This is the first and great Commandment (Love of God must be first before anything else can be claimed).

³⁹And the second is like unto it, You shall love your neighbour as yourself (as one loves their neighbor, accordingly, one loves God).

⁴⁰On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets (this includes the New Testament, as well!).

DAVIDS SON

⁴¹While the Pharisees were gathered together (refers to Jesus speaking to the great crowd in the Temple, which contained many Pharisees), Jesus asked them (concerns the most important question they will ever be asked, because it pertains to the Person of Christ, the Messiah),

⁴²Saying, What do you think of Christ? (What were their thoughts concerning the Messiah?) whose Son is He? (He will now bring them face-to-face with His identity.)They say unto him, The Son of David (this is the correct answer as outlined in II Sam., Chpt. 7).

⁴³He said unto them, How then does David in spirit call Him Lord, saying (the Messiah was Davids Son in his lineage and as well, Davids Lord; this was revealed to David by the Holy Spirit, and brings together Christs Humanity and Deity),

⁴⁴The LORD said unto My Lord ([Ps. 110:1] this refers to God the Father speaking to God the Son), Sit Thou on My Right Hand (refers to Christ being exalted to the highest position in Heaven, which immediately followed the ascension [Phil. 2:9-11]), till I make Your enemies Your footstool? (Refers to all enemies being put down during the Millennium and at its conclusion [I Cor. 15:24-28; Eph. 1:10].)

⁴⁵If David then call Him, Lord, how is He his Son? (He is Davids Lord because He is God; He is Davids Son because He became man through Mary of the House of David [Lk. 1:34-35; 3:23-38] this one question presents to them the truth of His Incarnation God becoming Man.)

⁴⁶And no man was able to answer Him a word (they could not refute His argument), neither does any man from that day forth ask Him any more questions (portrays the fact that His Spiritual and Scriptural intelligence far exceeded anything they had ever seen or known).