Matthew 21:33-23:7

Now we’re going to hear the Lord give another parable which is completely Jewish, and which no Jew listening would be able to miss the point of.

In this parable the householder represents God the Father, and the son is the Lord Jesus Christ. The vinedresser (or the husbandmen as the King James has it) is a picture of national Israel. These are what we’d know as farmers and because they’re leasing the land they’re what we’d call sharecroppers.

 

Matthew 21:33-38,

“Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. 

Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. 

And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. 

Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. 

Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 

But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ 

 

This is the most pointed parable that our Lord’s given so far.

It’s His final warning to the religious rulers.

The landowner is God who’s given His vineyard, the promised land to the vinedresser, Israel.

He’s sent out His servants, the prophets, into the land to get His share, the praise, worship and obedience of the nation, but the nation tortured and killed these prophets.

When in the parable He said, “Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’” the Son was standing before them, giving them the parable.

What are they going to do with God’s Son? He’s telling them right now exactly what’s in their hearts.

 

Verse 39,

So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. 

This was a startling parable to these men!

 

Verses 40 to 41,

“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?” 

They said to Him, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.” 

So far, they get it completely.

 

Now Verses 42 and 46,

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE. THIS WAS THE LORD’S DOING, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’? 

“Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. 

And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” 

Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them. 

But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet. 

 

Even in this first question of these verses, “Have you never read the scriptures,” Jesus challenges them because it’s like he’s asking a pastor or a minister if they’ve ever opened a Bible.

Now, Jesus sends them back to the Old Testament to Psalms 118 verses 22 to 23 and He compares that “stone” spoken of there to Himself.

These religious rulers are now determined that Jesus would die.

They sought to lay hands on him. They tried to physically grab Him, but they were afraid of the multitude of people who held Him in high regard and saw Him as a prophet. Notice they still didn’t see Him as the Messiah.

Chapter 23 continues the verbal clashes our Lord’s having with these religious rulers.

He now gives them the parable of the king who made a marriage feast. This is His continuing clash with the chief priests and elders which began in chapter 21, and we know He’s still addressing the chief priests and the elders because of the little word “again”.

 

Matthew 22:1

And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: 

“The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, 

The “certain king” here is, of course, God the Father, and “his Son” is the Lord Jesus.

Notice that He resorts to the expression “Kingdom of Heaven” instead of Kingdom of God which He used in the previous two parables. The emphasis of this parable here is on how and why the situation that they’re living in at that time came about.

Verse 3,

and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. 

He “sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding.” Who were invited? The lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Remember when the Lord had sent His apostles out back in Matthew chapter 10 verses 5 and 6,

These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 

But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 

We must keep in mind that that’s the reason Jesus came in Matthew 15 verse 24 which reads,

But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

The prophets back in the Old Testament were those servants, “sent out to call those who were invited to the wedding.”

 

Verse 4 now,

Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”

But what was the response?

Verses 5 and 6,

But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. 

And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.

This was Israel’s rejection of God’s invitation. Not only did they “make light of it” which means they just turned their backs in disregard of the invitation, they killed God’s messengers, the prophets of old, and they’re going to kill the Lord Jesus Himself.

 

To verse 7,

But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

 

This undoubtedly refers to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 by Titus the Roman. This was a turning point in Jewish history. Over a million men, woman and children were slaughtered, the city was burned to the ground and the temple, the focus of Jewish sacrifice and worship, the centre of their culture, was destroyed. Jewish culture was never to be the same again and we must remember that the time we’re looking into here in Matthew was before that happened and Jewish culture was still as it had been for centuries, except that Israel had rejected God more and more to the point where they didn’t even believe the scripture that they knew so well in their heads.

How important it is for us to keep focused on why the Lord Jesus came.

 

To Matthew 22:8 now,

Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.

Now we see a definite change in the invitation. Israel has rejected the incredible invitation, the wonderful time that was prophesied for so many generations, the Kingdom on earth. This was the great Jewish hope, and it still is today, the time when gentile nations no longer would rule and reign over Israel. The time when the Messiah, Immanuel, God with us, would rule and Israel as a nation would be restored back to its former glory as it was in the days of King Solomon and King David and even greater.

All gentile nations would recognise Israel as God’s chosen people and they would come to Israel for their instruction, and their desire to commune with God would happen through Israel.

How incredible it is to realise that this, their great hope, was here right there before them and they quote, “made light of it”. They rejected it.

This is the reason you and I as gentiles today, along with individual believing Jews, have received an invitation. It was because of this terrible rejection by Israel of God’s plan and promise for them.

 

Verses 9 and 10,

Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ 

So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.

 

But notice what happens in verse 11,

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.

 

What is that wedding garment?

The King’s invitation is now for everyone, those individuals both Jews and Gentiles who see and accept the truth of God’s plan for the world.

However, there’s a danger of coming without meeting the demands of the King. That wedding garment is the righteousness of Christ, which is absolutely essential for salvation. It’s critical beyond measure in order to be a partaker in the wedding, Gods plan of the ages, and it’s supplied to all who believe.

The apostle Paul explains this in the great salvation chapter of Romans 3 and we see particularly Romans 3:21-23,

But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God or from God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe (that’s Jew and non-Jew). For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

All can freely come. All are invited to this great event, but all must be wearing the correct garment, the robe of righteousness.

That garment can only be obtained by the grace of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Who He is and what He’s done by shedding His Own blood for us to pay the price for our sin. Only with that faith can we wear that robe, that garment.

So now to verse 12 and the man who the King spots not wearing the correct garment,

So he (the King) said to him (this man), ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 

Notice that this bloke was speechless!

Huge numbers of people think they don’t need Christ and the righteousness that comes only through Him. They choose to take their chances before God on the day they’ll answer to Him. They’ll argue their case directly. They’ll call on their own self-righteousness, their own quote, “goodness” and bring that before God.

Well, our Lord said that this bloke without the wedding garment was speechless. On that day each and every person will know that they’re impossibly separated from God and that their own righteousness doesn’t even begin to cut it. They could only have the righteousness that God can accept by taking that robe that Christ offers.

There’ll be nothing to say, nothing to do except hang the head in total despair.

To verses 13 and 14,

Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 

“For many are called, but few are chosen.” 

Whether or not we accept the wedding garment is up to each one of us, but Christ has provided it for us.

The invitation’s gone out to everyone, but we’ll all need to come on the King’s terms.

 

Now the enemies of Christ make their final onslaught, their final attack on the Lord Jesus.

The Herodians will come first, the Sadducees will come next, and finally the Pharisees will come. Then the Lord’ll question the Pharisees and they’ll try to get away from Him as quickly as they can. That marks the final break, and in chapter 23 we hear Him denounce them.

The Herodians’ll come with the question of paying tribute to Caesar. The Sadducees’ll come with a question regarding the Resurrection, and the Pharisees’ll come with their question concerning the great commandment of the Law. We’ll see the marvellous way in which the Lord answers them all.

We can actually see another proof of His deity in the way in which He deals with the enemy.

 

So, the Herodians come to Him with a question which was related to their particular position. They were a political party which favoured the house of Herod. They looked to those of that house of Herod to eventually deliver them from the Roman yoke.

The Herodians couldn’t really be considered a religious lot because they were strongly political. However, the Pharisees apparently used them, and it’s possible that many of the Pharisees were Herodians as well.

Notice how the Pharisees plotted this first attack on the Lord Jesus and used the Herodians in the next verses Matthew 22:15-17,

Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. 

And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. (What? See the conceit and the hatred being twisted into a form of flattery?)

Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 

Obviously, they weren’t a bit interested in His opinion. They had their own answer. It was a trick question. If Jesus had said, “No, you are not to pay tribute to Caesar,” He could be accused of being a traitor to Rome, and Rome was ruling over Israel at that time and the Romans were brutal to anyone opposing them. If He’d said, “Yes, you are to pay tribute to Caesar,” He couldn’t be the true Messiah because that would be acknowledging Rome’s rule as legitimate.

They really thought they’d trapped the Lord. How this lot must have laughed and patted each other on the back when they came up with the idea.

Verse 18,

But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? 

Notice that Jesus had no problem calling them what they were—hypocrites.

Verses 19 and 20,

Show Me the tax money.” So they brought Him a denarius. 

And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” 

They were using the legal tender of the Roman government, and here it was a Roman coin with Caesars image on it.

To verse 21,

They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 

This is truly an amazing answer because it involves more than just answering their question. He certainly did that, but in addition, He’s saying that they did owe something to Caesar.

They were using his coins, they walked down Roman roads, and Rome did provide them with a measure of peace; so, they did owe something to Rome. Therefore, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. But there’s another angle as well. Render to God the things that are God’s. This was the part this lot had completely disregarded.

Verse 22, 

When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left Him and went their way. 

Obviously, Jesus didn’t fall into their trap.

He said they did owe Caesar something, but that didn’t remove their responsibility to God.

The Herodians left Him, marvelling. That is, they were in wonderment at the reply even maybe mixed with admiration and certainly respect for His wisdom that was way above theirs.

Now it’s time for the Sadducees to come to bat, and they also attempt to trap Jesus in verses 23 to 28,

The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying: “Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. 

Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. 

Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. 

Last of all the woman died also. 

Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her.” 

The Sadducees didn’t believe in the Resurrection. They used this ridiculous illustration to try to trap the Lord.

Imagine a woman who had had seven brothers for her husbands! Their question was, “Whose wife shall she be?” Now the Sadducees were in error in two respects, and the Lord brings this to their attention first in verse 29.

Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. 

The two counts on where the Sadducees were ignorant was in the Scriptures and in the power of God.

Ignorance of the Scriptures and ignorance of the power of God caused them to bring up such a ridiculous illustration.

The explanation is simple in verse 30,

For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. 

You are mistaken He told the Sadducees. They connected their thoughts to a Biblical passage but didn’t think through the passage correctly. These highly trained men were mistaken in their basic understanding of Bible truth.

Jesus is not in way saying that they (those in the resurrection) are angels, He said they are like angels.

What He’s saying is that we’ll be like angels in that there won’t be marriage in heaven.

We won’t be angels in heaven, even though so many of us say this when we lose a loved one.

Jesus reminded them that life in the resurrection is quite different from this life here on earth. It doesn’t just continue this world and its arrangements, but it’s life of a completely different order.

In other words, in heaven there won’t be any necessity to continue the race by means of birth.

This doesn’t mean that a husband and wife who were very close on earth can’t be together in heaven. If they want to be together, of course they’ll be together. But those who wouldn’t want to be together won’t have to be. However, they’ll both have new natures and different frames of mind, and troubled couples will probably get along much better then than they do down here now!

 

And we’re still in Matthew 22:31-32,

But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 

‘I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB’ ? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” 

 

This is a devastating statement to these Sadducees who didn’t believe in the resurrection!

Jesus demonstrated the reality of the resurrection using only the Torah; the five books of Moses, which were the only books the Sadducees accepted as the authoritative Word of God.

If Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did not live on in the resurrection, then God would say that He WAS the God of Abraham. Instead, He’s saying “I AM the God of Abraham.”

The Sadducees weren’t that slow of understanding that they didn’t pick this up.

The living God is the God of living men; and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are as much alive as they ever were.

They’ve simply transferred to another place and they’re alive, and this is true of your loved ones who have died in Christ, who believed in and trusted in Christ. They’re waiting in heaven for you, and this is one of the fundamental and glorious truths of the Bible!

 

Verse 33

And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching. 

 

Now the Herodians and the Sadducees have been silenced. The Pharisees have been watching Jesus and these other two groups from the wings.

The Pharisees were a religious, slash, political party. They wanted to see the kingdom of David brought back into power in order to rid themselves of Rome.

In restoring the kingdom, they could join the Herodians, but as a religious party they opposed the Sadducees. The Pharisees would correspond to the liberal wing of the organised church today. They’d be the politically correct, the ones who kept quiet when they should speak and speak when they should keep quiet all for political popularity and personal gain.

The Pharisees, like the other two groups, were out to trap the Lord, and so their representative, a lawyer, posed a very interesting question.

 

Now to Matthew 22:34-35,

But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 

Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 

 

See, the Pharisees have a huddle, then they plan a strategy that they’re sure is going to work this time and completely rip any credibility from Jesus.

Can you imagine their anticipation and their “tee hee” smirks behind the hands over their mouths.

They put forward to Jesus this very clever lawyer, that is, a scribe, to put a question to Him, Theses scribes or lawyers were experts in the Mosaic Law.

 

In Verse 36 this scribe opens up with all his self-importance and confidence in his own ability.

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 

Listen to Jesus’s amazing answer. Verses 37 and 38,

Jesus said to him, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 

This is the first and great commandment. 

Notice how He didn’t pick just one of the Ten Commandments. He gives them a second one, verse 39,

And the second is like it: ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’

When we apply this to our own life, we immediately recognise that we’re coming way short of the glory of God.

The Lord’s very straightforward with this man. He says, “You want to know which is the greatest commandment? To love God is the greatest commandment, and to love your neighbour is the next greatest.”

Verse 40,

On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” 

These two commandments actually summarised the entire Mosaic Law.

The answer Jesus gave was so obviously accurate that if the Pharisees had been honest, they would have said, “We’ve fallen short. We can’t be saved by the Law; we really do need a Saviour.” At this time the Lord Jesus, the Saviour, was almost under the shadow of the Cross.

But, on this answer the poor Pharisees are befuddled, and they huddle together again to try to trap Him with another question. Honestly if it wasn’t such a grave event, this lead up to the cross, it would be hilarious, like some created cartoon strip.

Jesus beats them to the punch this time and asks them a question.

Verses 41 to 44,

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, “The Son of David.” 

He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘LORD,’ saying: 

‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, TILL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES YOUR FOOTSTOOL” ‘? 

Jesus quotes this powerful verse from Psalms 110 verse 1 which speaks of the exalted position of the Messiah at the right hand of God. It displays both the Messiah’s divine authority and His ultimate victory over enemies. But it also confirms that the long-prophesied Messiah was a son, or of the line, of David, and this is something nobody could argue with. The temple records that were meticulously kept would have confirmed that Jesus definitely was of the line of David as all the prophecies foretold.

How could David call his son his Lord? The Pharisees would have to say that the son would have to be supernaturally born for David to call him “my Lord.”

Remember that the word Lord here means God.

Verse 45,

If David then calls Him ‘LORD,’ how is He his Son?” 

This is the very searching question which the Lord put to these Pharisees and there’re several tremendous implications in the question.

First Jesus plainly says that David wrote Psalm 110, that he wrote it by the Holy Spirit, and that he wrote it about the Messiah.

“If David then calls him Lord, how is He his son?”

In other words, how could David call his son superior unless He was? The only logical answer to this question is the virgin birth.

Jesus is David’s son, but He’s greater than David. A son of David can’t be greater than David unless there’s something greater introduced into the line to make a greater son.

The records of the supernatural birth of Jesus afford the only satisfactory answer. The Lord of David got into David’s line, as stated in Luke’s Gospel in Luke 1 verse 35,

And the angel answered and said to her (Mary, the mother of Jesus), “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. 

He’s greater than David because He’s the Lord from heaven, you see.

The Lord Jesus was forcing the Pharisees to face up to the real issue and to acknowledge Him as David’s son and as David’s Lord. But even in this stunning example, this incredible picture that the Messiah was the One these blokes were taking to, these Jewish leaders rejected both the picture and the reality.

This ended the verbal clash with the religious rulers.

Verse 46,

And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.

 

They made no more verbal attacks on Him after this.

They had determined amongst themselves that Jesus had to be put to death, and that’s now the thing they’re working toward. They see that they just can’t answer Him, but rather than bow to His obvious superiority and His obvious deity, and accept Him for Who He was and partake of all the glorious eternal benefits that were included, they’d rather put Him to death.

Maybe in this way they can claw back some of their authority and credibility. These passages of scripture are one of the great proofs of Jesus’s deity.

 

We’re moving now into chapter 23 of the Gospel of Matthew.

Here, Jesus warns the multitude against the scribes and Pharisees and pronounces woes upon them. He weeps over Jerusalem and their rejection of Him as the Messiah.

This chapter finishes the clashes between the Lord Jesus and the religious rulers.

He warns the multitudes about them and then denounces them in unmistakable terms. No more scathing words were ever uttered by our Lord. It’s a merciless condemnation.

Jesus’ public denunciation of the Pharisees will take place at the temple, the stronghold of His enemies.

We open Matthew 23:1-2,

Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 

These religious rulers were in the place of authority, and they controlled the Old Testament Scriptures. They were the ones responsible for communicating God’s will and God’s instruction to the people, but they would subtly change those scripture meanings which they had no right to do.

They used scripture to create power and authority for themselves. In this they’re directly and openly acting against God.

They were in a similar position that church leaders are in today where people look to them for the interpretation of the truth.

Verse 3,

Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.

In other words, do as the Scriptures teach, but don’t follow the works of the scribes and Pharisees because they’re not following the Word of God.

Listen to His sad commentary about the religious rulers in verses 4 to 7,

For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 

But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. 

They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ 

 

These men liked to have titles. They loved to be recognised. They liked to wear certain religious garments and perform habits which set them apart from other people and drew attention to their high position.

Our Lord’s condemning all this.

Next time friends we’ll see this continuing ripping apart of these self-centred, self-important religious leaders whose self-image was way higher than it ever was in reality.

Until then I pray you see more and more in the Bible and that it draws you ever closer to God’s truth and His purpose for you.