Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

21:23 These things most likely refers to Jesus' disrupting of the commercial activities of the temple the previous day (vv. 12-13), and also to his authority to heal (vv. 14-16) and to teach in the temple (v. 23), because he is neither an official priestly nor scribal authority.

21:25-27 From heaven or from man? The leaders' refusal to answer this question shows their dishonesty, but Jesus also traps them, for as religious leaders they must now profess their ignorance. And if they do not know whether John was from God, how can they judge whether Jesus is?

21:28-32 The parable of the two sons demonstrates the religious leaders' failure to respond rightly to John the Baptist's prophetic ministry. They hypocritically did not live up to their talk. The fruit of one's life ultimately proves whether or not one is obedient to God's message. A person's actions ultimately prove whether or not he is obedient to God.

21:33-46 The parable of the wicked tenants continues the vineyard metaphor to show that God is taking away the kingdom from Israel.

21:33 master of a house. Large farming estates owned either by foreigners or by wealthy Jews were common in Palestine (see note on Mark 12:1). The landowners frequently rented their vineyards to farmers so they could attend to other interests.

21:34-37 beat, killed, stoned. The treatment of the servants brings to mind what God's prophets had experienced throughout OT history (e.g., 1 Kings 18:4; Jer. 20:1-2). son. An unmistakable allusion to the Father sending his own Son, Jesus. The parable publicly declares Jesus' divine Sonship.

21:42 cornerstone (cf. Ps. 118:22). The rejected Son will receive the position of ultimate prominence and importance.

21:43 kingdom of God will be taken away. The leaders have failed to carry out their obligations to God both in their personal lives and in leading the nation of Israel. Their privileged role in caring for God's vineyard/kingdom is now being taken away and given to a people producing its fruits. The church will be a new "people" (Gk. ethnos, "nation, people") consisting of disciples, both Jews and Gentiles, gathered out of many "nations" (28:19; plural of Gk. ethnos) and brought together as one new "nation" (1 Pet. 2:9; singular of Gk. ethnos) in the unfolding of God's kingdom in the present age.

22:1-14 The parable of the wedding feast describes the consequences that will befall the derelict religious leaders.

22:1-2 wedding feast. In this case, a countrywide celebration that would have continued for several days. This "feast" represents enjoying fellowship with God in his kingdom, and coming to the feast thus represents entering the kingdom.

22:3 they would not come. To refuse a direct invitation from the king would be an extreme insult and a dangerous affront to his authority.

22:7 burned their city. An extreme punishment reserved for serious treason and revolt against the king; possibly an allusion to the forthcoming destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70.

22:9 The wedding invitation to those not previously invited anticipates the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles (28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Rom. 1:16). Cf. note on Matt. 15:24.

22:11 a man who had no wedding garment. Everyone was invited, but proper wedding attire was still expected. There are two possibilities for what this means: (1) There is some evidence in the ancient world for a king supplying garments for his guests (cf. Gen. 45:22; Est. 6:8-9), and, more broadly, there is the story of God clothing his unworthy people in beautiful garments (Ezek. 16:10-13). Jesus could thus be alluding to imputed righteousness, which Paul elaborates later (e.g., Rom. 3:21-31; 4:22-25). Thus by not wearing the garments provided, this guest has highly insulted the host. (2) The wedding garment may refer to a clean garment, symbolizing evidence of righteous works (see note on Matt. 5:20). In either case, the man lacks something that is essential for being accepted at the wedding feast.

22:13 weeping and gnashing of teeth. A common description of eternal judgment (cf. 8:12; 13:42, 50; 24:51; 25:30).

22:14 Many (Gk. polloi) are called means that many have been invited to the wedding feast. But not all those invited are actually the ones who are supposed to be there, because few are chosen. This has been described as the doctrine of a "general calling": the gospel is proclaimed to all people everywhere, both those who will believe and those who will not. However, Paul also mentions another kind of calling, an effective calling from God that comes powerfully to individuals and brings a positive response. When the gospel is proclaimed, only some are effectively called--that is, those who are the elect, who respond with true faith (1 Cor. 1:24, 26-28). This is consistent with Jesus' statement that "few are chosen," for the ones "chosen" (Gk. eklektos, "selected, chosen") are "the elect," a term used by Jesus to refer to his true disciples (cf. Matt. 11:27; 24:22, 24, 31; on the theme of election, see note on Rom. 9:11).

22:15 entangle. The Pharisees hope that Jesus will say something to incriminate himself, which they can use to bring him before the Romans for execution.

22:16 their disciples. Probably those in training to become full members of the brotherhood of the Pharisees, and perhaps deceptively sent to appear as less of a threat than their masters. Herodians. A loosely organized group that sought to advance the political and economic influence of the Herodian family (c. 37 b.c.-a.d. 93). Although the Herodians and the Pharisees were adversaries in regard to many political and religious issues, they join forces here to combat the perceived threat to their power and status.

22:17 Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Taxes were a volatile issue in Israel. All of Rome's subjects, including the people of Israel, labored under the empire's heavy taxation. Some Jews believed that paying any tax to pagan rulers contradicted God's lordship over his people.

22:18 Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Jesus' questioners reasoned that if he answered that it was right to pay taxes, he would lose favor with the tax-burdened people, but if he answered that it was wrong, they could accuse him of insurrection.

22:19 On one side of the silver denarius was a profile of Tiberius Caesar, with the Latin inscription "Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus" around the coin's perimeter. On the opposite side was a picture of the Roman goddess of peace, Pax, with the Latin inscription "High Priest."

22:21 render to Caesar . . . and to God. Jesus is not establishing a political kingdom in opposition to Caesar, so his followers should pay taxes and obey civil laws. There are matters that belong to the realm of civil government, and there are other matters that belong to God's realm. Jesus does not here specify which matters belong in which realm, but many Christian ethicists today teach that, in general, civil government should allow freedom in matters of religious doctrine, worship, and beliefs about God, and the church should not attempt to use the power of government to enforce allegiance to any specific religious viewpoint. All forms of the Christian church throughout the world today support some kind of separation between matters of church and matters of state. By contrast, totalitarian governments usually try to suppress the church and subsume everything under the realm of the state. And some extreme Islamic movements have tried to abolish independent civil government and subsume everything under the control of Islamic religious leaders. Historically, when the church and state have become too closely aligned, the result most often has been the compromise of the church.

22:23 Sadducees (see note on 3:7) drew mainly or exclusively on the Pentateuch for doctrine (see Jewish Groups at the Time of the New Testament), so they did not believe in the resurrection, a theme developed more clearly in later OT books (cf. Isa. 26:19; Dan. 12:2). They asked him a question in order to trap him theologically. They assumed that those who believe in a resurrection life think it is like the present life, suggesting that a woman who has been married more than once will be found guilty of incest after the resurrection. They hope hereby to show that the idea of resurrection is really absurd.

22:24 Moses said. The Sadducees cite the OT law of what is later called "levirate marriage" (from Latin levir, "brother-in-law"), in which the surviving brother of a childless, deceased man was obligated to marry his sister-in-law in order to provide for her needs and to preserve the deceased brother's family line (Deut. 25:5-10; cf. Gen. 38:8).

22:29-30 The Sadducees are making two errors: (1) they do not know . . . the Scriptures well enough to know that Scripture teaches the reality of the resurrection, and (2) they do not know the power of God to create a much more wonderful world than anyone can now imagine. They neither marry nor are given in marriage implies that the present institution of marriage will not continue in heaven. But are like angels in heaven means living without an exclusive lifelong marriage commitment to one person. This teaching might at first seem discouraging to married couples who are deeply in love with each other in this life, but surely people will know their loved ones in heaven (cf. 8:11; Luke 9:30, 33), and the joy and love of close relationships in heaven will be more rather than less than it is here on earth. Jesus' reference to "the power of God" suggests that God is able to establish relationships of even deeper friendship, joy, and love in the life to come. God has not revealed anything more about this, though Scripture indicates that the eternal glories awaiting the redeemed will be more splendid than anyone can begin to ask or think (cf. 1 Cor. 2:9; Eph. 3:20).

22:31-32 I am the God of Abraham, and . . . Isaac, and . . . Jacob. The present tense in the quotation from Ex. 3:6 logically implies that when God spoke these words to Moses, God was still in covenant relationship with the patriarchs, even though they had been dead for centuries. If the Pentateuch thus implies that the patriarchs are still alive, and if the rest of the OT points to the resurrection (as it does), then the Sadducees should recognize God's power to raise the patriarchs and all of God's people to enjoy his eternal covenant in a life beyond this one.

22:35 A lawyer is an expert in the law; this is another expression for "scribes of the Pharisees" (Mark 2:16; cf. Acts 23:9; and Jewish Groups at the Time of the New Testament).

22:36 the great commandment. The rabbis engaged in an ongoing debate to determine which commandments were "light" and which were "weighty" (cf. 23:23; and note on 5:19). The Law refers here to the entire OT.

22:37-38 love the Lord your God . . . heart . . . soul . . . mind. This command from Deut. 6:5, repeated twice daily by faithful Jews, encapsulates the idea of total devotion to God and includes the duty to obey the rest of God's commandments (cf. Matt. 5:16-20). "Heart," "soul," and "mind" do not represent rigid compartments of human existence but rather together refer to the whole person.

22:39 You shall love your neighbor as yourself. See Lev. 19:18, 34. Love signifies a concrete responsibility to seek the greatest good of one's neighbors, both Jew and Gentile.

22:40 The kingdom life that Jesus initiated--summarized in these two commandments--fulfills the deepest longings of human beings created in the image of God to display his glory. the Law and the Prophets. See note on 5:17.

22:41-46 Having dealt with malicious questions from his adversaries, Jesus now asked them, concerning the long-awaited Messiah (the Christ), Whose son is he? Their reply, "The son of David," reflected the common understanding that the Messiah would be a royal descendant of David (cf. 2 Sam. 7:12-14; Ps. 89:4; Isa. 11:1, 10; Jer. 23:5). Jesus then quotes from Ps. 110:1, one of the most important messianic texts in the OT and the one most quoted in the NT. The Pharisees would have recognized this psalm of David as a divinely inspired messianic prophecy. In the psalm, David said that the coming Messiah (i.e., David's "son") will not be just a special human descended from David; he will be David's Lord. Because the Pharisees acknowledged the messianic import of the psalm, they did not dare to ask Jesus any more questions. The fact that David's descendant (Jesus) would have a more prominent role and title than the ancestor (David) further indicates the uniqueness of the Messiah and the greater honor that is due him as the Son of God. Matthew does not say how exalted a person Jesus was claiming to be in his use of Ps. 110:1; but the psalm itself may well imply the deity of the Messiah (see note on Ps. 110:5), i.e., that the Messiah is to be Yahweh incarnate (cf. John 1:14).