Matthew: A Demonstration of Lordship (22:1-46)

This sermon was preached to Grace Church Guildford on 19 May 2024. The audio recording of the sermon can be found below along with the transcript.

Few people have been as accomplished, or achieved as much in life, as Abraham Kuyper. He was an influential politician in the Netherlands during the late 19th Century, who not only started his own political party, but was then elected to Parliament, and even went on to serve as Dutch Prime Minister for four years. And yet, his impact was not limited to the field of politics, for he was also a famous professor. He held four different doctorate degrees, and he established a brand-new university, the Free University of Amsterdam, which is the second largest in the Netherlands today. And yet, even that is not the limit of Abraham Kuyper’s many achievements, for not only was he a politician and a professor, but he was also a pastor. He was an ordained minister, who served three different congregations, and went on to establish a new denomination, due to the liberal drift in the Dutch Reformed Church. Kuyper’s new denomination became the second largest in the country, and he trained up a generation of influential theologians, men such as Herman Bavinck and B.B. Warfield. Oh yes, lest I forget, while doing all of this, he also had a long and happy marriage, and raised eight children. Abraham Kuyper was an impressive man. He dominated the fields of politics, academia, and theology in his time. And yet, what he is most remembered for today, is not his legacy as a politician, professor, or pastor. But rather, he is largely known for a single sentence that was part of a speech he gave in 1880. For in that speech, Kuyper famously declared: “There is not one square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” Abraham Kuyper achieved much in every area of life. And yet the great lesson of his life is that it is not ultimately politicians, professors, or pastors who are in charge of this world, but rather it is Jesus Christ. It is Jesus, who is Lord of all.

Jesus is Lord. That’s the truth Kuyper captured in his famous statement, and we see the same here in Matthew 22. Last week, in Matthew 21, we heard how Jesus was in the temple teaching, when he was drawn into a debate with the religious leaders. They tried to trick him, asking where his authority is from, in the hope that he would claim divine authorisation, and so incriminate himself. And yet, Jesus avoided their crafty question, countering with two punchy parables, the parable of the two sons and the tenants. Both parables highlighted the risk of rejecting God’s messenger, but rather than bringing the religious leaders to their senses, they only angered them even more, stokeD the fires of their hatred and opposition to Jesus. And our chapter this morning starts in a similar way, as Jesus tells a third and final story in 22:1-14, really rubbing salt in the wound, reiterates the point of the previous parables. It is a story about a king, who summons his subjects to attend the wedding of his son. And yet they refuse to come, not only rejecting his invitation, but also rebelling and killing his messengers. And so, the king sends out his army, to destroy his enemies, and burn the city to the ground. The main point of the parable is that while many are called, few will come. It is what we saw in the previous two parables, and it is what we see in Jesus’ ministry right now. For through Jesus, God is calling Israel to himself. But they reject his messenger, conspiring to kill him on a cross.

Rather than causing the religious leaders to see their great peril, this third parable simply cements their opposition. It acts as a final straw, for in response, we read in 21:15, his opponents laid plans to trap Jesus through his words. And that is what we witness for the rest of the chapter, as Jesus experiences an all-out assault from his enemies. While he stands there in the temple, wave after wave of them come up to him, try to trick and trap him. First, the Herodians approach him in 21:16, then the Sadducees spring on him in 21:23, and finally the Pharisees have their turn in 21:34. And yet did you notice, that while most of the chapter involves Jesus being tested by his enemies, it finishes with those same enemies being tested by Jesus? For in 21:41, we read of how, having repelled all their advances, Jesus counterattacks with his own question. And as we look at the passage this morning, we will see a single truth is central to the whole chapter. Matthew 22 shows us that Jesus is Lord. In 21:15-40, as Jesus is tested by his enemies, we see his lordship demonstrated to us. And then, in 21:41-46, as he tests his enemies, we have his lordship declared: (1) The Demonstration of Lordship (22:15-40); (2) The Declaration of Lordship (21:41-46).

1.     THE DEMONSTRATION OF LORDSHIP (22:15-40)

In Matthew 3, Jesus’ ministry famously began with three temptations in the wilderness, as Satan tried to trip him up before he even got going. However, here in Matthew 22, we see that Jesus’ ministry also concludes with three tests as well, this time in the temple, as his human enemies try to trick him into making a mistake right at the end. These three groups that approach him, the Herodians, Sadducees, and Pharisees, all represent different challenges. The Herodians were a political group, who supported the Romans, and Herod the tetrarch, their regional ruler. These men were politicians, and so unsurprisingly they ask Jesus a political question in 22:15-22, about paying taxes to Rome. In contrast, the Sadducees are a liberal religious group, made up of wealthy aristocratic families, who were educated in the philosophies of Ancient Greece and Rome. As a result, though they are known as Jews, they have abandoned much of the Jewish faith. For example, they reject most of the Old Testament, including the idea of life after death. They are well educated philosophers. And so, unsurprisingly, they hand Jesus a riddle in 22:23-33, that is designed to show just how ridiculous the idea of resurrection really is. Finally, the Pharisees, in 22:34-40, are the theologians of Israel, a conservative religious group who valued the Law above all else. And so, they bring Jesus a theological challenge, ask him to identify the most important commandment in the Jewish Law. Our chapter contains three great challenges for Jesus: a political test, a philosophical test, and a theological test. And yet, Jesus passes each with flying colours. In every area of examination, Jesus demonstrates his lordship. For just as Abraham Kuyper found, it is not politicians, professors, or pastors who rule the world. But it is Jesus Christ.

Jesus demonstrates this lordship in each area by the great wisdom of his replies. No matter what they ask of him, no matter how they try to trick him, he outsmarts and outwits them, answers in such a simple and sublime way, that they are stunned into silence. Did you notice that at the end of each encounter? In 22:22, the Herodians: [READ]. Similarly, of the answer he gave to the Sadducees in 22:33, we read: [READ]. In 22:34, we are told that when the Pharisees heard that Jesus “had silenced the Sadducees”, they too launched an attack. However, at the end of our passage, we read in 22:46, that after Jesus finished with the Pharisees: [READ]. Jesus shows himself to be lord, simply by winning the debate, defeating his enemies in their own areas of expertise. And yet, we also see Jesus demonstrate his lordship in another way. For Jesus’ answers to their three questions are all radically God-centred, they all claim divine lordship over that part of human life. First, in the field of politics, Jesus establishes God’s lordship over the government. Then, in the field of philosophy, he shows God’s lordship over the grave. And then, finally, in the realm of theology, he asserts God’s lordship even over our human hearts. [...]

a.     Lord of the Government (22:15-22)

With both the Labour and Conservative parties announcing key policy pledges this week, we all received a helpful reminder that this year is an election year. And so at some point, we will all head to the polls to cast our vote. And as always, one of the key issues that many will base their decision on, is the economic policy of the various parties. Who is going to raise tax? And who will reduce it? All of us have a real interest in what happens to the money in our pockets. And that was also true back in Jesus’ day, where the issue of taxation was even more controversial. For it not only related to your personal wealth, but it was also seen as evidence of whether you accepted the authority of Rome. When these Herodians ask Jesus in 22:17 whether it is right to pay the poll-tax to Caesar, they weren’t simply asking him to discuss his preferred economic policy. No, they were asking him to say whether he submitted to Roman occupation. This poll tax required every foreign adult in the Roman empire to pay a denarius each year, to help finance the Roman occupation of their homelands. The last major uprising in Israel had been in response to this poll tax, with Judas the Galilean revolting only a few years earlier, after he and his supporters refused to pay it. And so, these politicians want to see whether Jesus will do something similar. It’s a question that puts Jesus in a difficult position. If he says that it is right to pay the tax, he legitimises the rule of the Roman invaders, which will anger his patriotic Jewish supporters. However, if he says that it is wrong to pay, then he immediately identifies himself as another revolutionary, and can be sure that Roman troops will soon arrest him.

Jesus is caught between a rock and a hard place, and yet demonstrates his lordship by providing the perfect answer. For in 22:18-21 we read: [READ]. That statement in 22:21, provides a succinct summary of how God’s people should interact with human governments. They are to “give back” to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. This coin had his face on it, and so they should willing to give it back to him if he asks for it. As one commentator puts it, “They were using Caesar’s money, so let them also pay his taxes.” And it is a good reminder to all of us today, that if we benefit from government, we must not hesitate to contribute to government. If we get free healthcare, use local council services, benefit from policies and programs, we can hardly refuse to help pay for them. Christians should pay their taxes, cast their vote, contribute to civic life. [...] And no matter which party comes to power next year, whether Labour or Tory, if Caesar asks you for something, you should generally give it to him.

And yet, the second half of Jesus’ statement provides a perfect counterbalance. For we are not only to give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, but we are to give back to God what belongs to God. Now some, when reading this statement, see two separate categories here. Think that there is a secular kingdom and a spiritual kingdom. And so, they argue that out there in the world, we are to obey the civil authorities. While religious convictions are only to be practiced here in church, or the privacy of our own homes and hearts. You might come across that idea, for example, when you hear politicians talk about how they have personal views on sexuality or abortion, but they publicly endorse the positions of their party which differ from their private views. That is how some seek to apply this today: they obey Caesar publicly, and obey God privately. And yet, we must remember that the Bible nowhere teaches there are two kingdoms, that the spiritual belongs to God and the secular to government. No, the Bible is very clear that everything is God’s! There is only one kingdom in this world, and there is only one ultimate king. For God made it all. And so, if this coin is to be given to Caesar, because it has his image on it, then surely we should render our whole lives to God, for we have been made in his image, have had his likeness placed upon us.

Indeed, this was the very idea that made the Dutchman Abraham Kuyper so famous as a pastor and theologian. For he developed a doctrine called ‘sphere sovereignty’. He pointed out that there are many spheres of authority in this world. Government has authority in civic life. Elders in the church. Parents have authority in the home. Those are spheres of sovereignty, where God delegates different authority to different people in different places. And we should respect that. Citizens you should submit to the government, teenagers you must obey your parents, church members you should respect your church leaders. For God has given them sovereignty in their own sphere. And yet, we must never forget that there is a greater sphere of sovereignty, an overarching sphere over all things. For God sits on a higher throne still, rules over every area of our lives. He is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. And so, if anyone in the state, at home, or at church, calls us to act contrary to his command, then we must do as Christians did in Acts 4, we  must obey God and not men. For he is Lord of all, he is even Lord of the Government.

b.     Lord of the Grave (22:23-33).

In 22:23, we read that later that same day, a second group come to Jesus. This time it’s the Sadducees, the liberal philosophers, who reject the idea of there being life after death. And they create a kind of riddle to prove the point. It’s based on Deuteronomy 25, where a widow who has no children, is supposed to marry her husband’s brother. This may seem strange to us today, but it was actually meant to protect her. For without a husband or children, a widow would have no one to care for her, and the family line would come to an end. However, these Sadducees point out the apparent difficulty, for if this widow marries her husband’s brother, then whose wife will she be in the afterlife? That’s the basic point of the problem they put to Jesus. However, they intensify it by imagining a situation where a wife goes through seven brothers in a row, and so Jesus is supposed to work out which of the seven will have her as his wife in the future. It’s a ridiculous situation, designed to mock the whole idea of eternal life. And yet, in trying to show the foolishness of resurrection, these Sadducees only end up revealing their own foolishness. For as Jesus says in 22:29, they show that they “do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.”

To answer the problem of the seven brothers, Jesus corrects the Sadducees in 22:30, by declaring that resurrection is far more than mere resuscitation. For in eternity, this whole world will be changed, and we be like the angels, in that we will neither marry nor reproduce. Our eternal existence will be unlike anything we experience here. And yes, there will be a form of marriage in eternity. But it will not be human marriages, for it will be the reality pictured by them, that marriage between the son of the king and his bride, between Jesus Christ and the church. This verse can lead to all kinds of questions. For example, if you enjoy a happy marriage, you might feel a sense of disappointment that it will end. And yet, you can be sure that whatever is in store for you and your spouse in the future will be far better. When we reach our destination, none of us will be disappointed. For even if marriages here are momentary, whatever we will enjoy together in the future, that will last forever. And so instead of seeing your marriage now as a high watermark, you should rather see it as a foretaste of the far better things to come. And, in the same way, those who never get the chance to experience marriage on this earth, for whatever reason, can still rejoice in the fact that while they never get to taste the appetiser, they will still get to enjoy the full feast.

However, Jesus is not finished with these Sadducees, for he not only wants to unravel their riddle, but also reveal their underlying unbelief in the resurrection. And so, he takes them to Exodus 3:6, where from the burning bush, God declares to Moses that, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” The stress in that sentence is the on the present tense, “I am”. For even though Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all died more than 500 years before God spoke to Moses, he still claimed to be their God in the present. Though they died, Jesus is pointing out that they still live from God’s perspective. For that is the measure of God’s power, his great lordship extends not only over life, but even over death itself. He is lord of the grave. He can bring his servants through death. Indeed, this is what the Sadducees will soon see in a very visible way, in the resurrection of Jesus himself.

c.      Lord of the Heart (22:34-40).

This last question come to Jesus from the Pharisees, who we are told in 22:34, huddle together to come up with a final trap. However, their question is relatively tame in comparison with the last two. It seems that Jesus’ enemies are running out of ideas, for all they can ask him in 22:36, is which commandment he considers to be the greatest. The answer Jesus gives is a standard one, for quoting from Deuteronomy 6:5, he declares in 22:37: [READ]. As we said earlier, we are not only to give back to Caesar all that is Caesar’s, but we are also to give to God all that is God’s. And so, our heart, soul, mind and strength should be loving rendered to him. The greatest law that this Lord lays down, is that we should love him. He wants our affection above all else, he wants to be lord of our heart.

And yet, in 22:39, Jesus goes beyond their question to highlight another commandment, which he likens and links to the first one. It is almost as if Jesus is reluctant to mention one, without the other. For while the first and greatest command is to love God, there is a second command that we cannot forget. For God, the Lord of our hearts, calls us not only to love him, but also to love each other. To love our neighbour as ourselves. And Jesus says that the Law and the Prophets, the whole Old Testament, hangs on these two commands, just as a picture hangs on a nail. Without these two things, loving your God and your fellow man, the whole of religion falls crashing to the floor. Indeed, is that not what Paul also says in 1 Corinthians 13, where he declares if we have not love, we have nothing.

Brothers and sisters, members of Grace Church, do you see that in his response to this test from the Pharisees, Jesus lays down a test for each of us? As Christians, we claim to love God as Lord, have handed him our hearts. And yet the great test is not simply whether we say we love God, but whether we seek to love each other. As John puts it in 1 John 4, if we fail to love those around us, whom we can see, how can we claim to love God, who we cannot see. The great test of whether you love the lord, is how you treat everyone else. Your neighbour, those you bump into every day. That colleague in work, who is a constant pain. That family member, who has hurt you. That brother or sister at church, who has slighted or snubbed you. For if you believe God is Lord of all, then you must show love to all. He not only wants our hearts for himself, he also wants our hearts to go out to others. To pray for those who persecute you. Forgive those who wrong you. That is how we demonstrate his lordship today.

2.     THE DECLARATION OF LORDSHIP (22:41-46)

I’m not sure if many of you stayed up last night to watch the so-called the fight of the century, the boxing match between Fury and Usyk, where one of them was crowned as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. I won’t spoil the surprise, by telling you who won, if you haven’t caught up on the news yet. However, even if you didn’t watch the match, or see the highlights, what we have read together in Matthew 22 is not dissimilar to a heavyweight boxing match. For Jesus’ enemies came out swinging, each of them trying to land a knockout blow on him, and yet Jesus has dodged every one, perfectly parried their punches. Jesus still stands unscathed in the centre of the ring, and his opponents seem to have tired themselves out. And so now, as we enter the final round, it is time for Jesus to land a few blows of his own. Or rather, land a single blow. For that is all it takes for Jesus to put his opponents on the floor. A single well-timed well-aimed question is enough to knock them all out cold.

We see the question there in 22:42, as Jesus asks: [READ]. Some point out that this question seems like the least interesting one in the chapter. The questions that they asked Jesus were so practical, applicable to everyday life. Should we pay tax? Is there life after death? How should we live under the law? In contrast, Jesus’s question seems so theoretical. A bit like asking how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. Come on Jesus! You have one question, is this really the question you want to choose? And yet, the foolishness of God is far greater than the wisdom of man. For as Jesus’ goes on, we see that far from being unrelated, this question really cuts to the heart of the debate. The other questions were really just side issues, while this one uncovers the real disagreement. For we shall see that how you answer this question is foundational, fundamental for how you answer all the others.

The answer the Pharisees give to it is a good one. They instantly reply that the Messiah is the Son of David. All Jews knew this was the case, for in 1 Samuel 7, David was promised a son who would save his people and sit on his throne forever. And remember, this is the title that was given again and again to Jesus as he entered Jerusalem. By the blind men on the road from Jericho in chapter 20, and the children and crowds as he entered the city at the start of chapter 21. The Christ, the Messiah, the King of God’s people, was to be a human descendent of David. Everyone knew it. And yet, by answering that way, the Pharisees put their foot right in the middle of Jesus’ trap, they effectively hold their chin forward for his knockout blow. For in 22:43, Jesus immediately responds: [READ].

The passage Jesus quotes from there is Psalm 110, which we read at the start of our service. It’s the most frequent Old Testament passage mentioned in the New Testament, being either quoted or alluded to at least 37 times. And here Jesus refers to it in order to raise a clear question: if the Messiah is David’s son, how can he also be his lord? That’s what David calls him there in 22:44: [...]. And indeed, Psalm 110 isn’t just God calling the Messiah lord, but it also tells us that he treats him as lord, for he is told to sit at his side, at the right hand of the divine throne, until all his enemies have been defeated, have fallen at his feet. Psalm 110 declares that the Messiah is not only David’s son, but he is also David’s sovereign. Yes, he shares his human nature with David, but he also shares his divine lordship with the Father. The people have proclaimed Jesus to be the Son of David, and yet here he points out that this psalm also proclaims him to be the Son of God. This tussle in the temple started because the religious leaders asked Jesus where his authority was from, demanded that he declare what right he had to tell them what to do. And finally, after implying it by telling three parables, and demonstrating it by solving three problems, right at the end of Matthew 22, Jesus finally comes straight out to declare it. Where does Jesus get his authority from? He gets it from the right hand of the Father, from the very throne room heaven, for Jesus Christ is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. As Kuyper put it, “There is not one square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” And as we read in 22:46, as he stood there that day in the temple, declaring who he was, no one could say a word in reply. All his enemies had been put under his feet, defeated by his wisdom, overcome by his answers, stunned into silence by the declaration of their Lord.

All three of these groups are gone in history – after the city of Jerusalem was burnt and destroyed in 70 AD. But Jesus Christ is still Lord. Still seated on his throne. [...] There will be no outsmarting or outwitting him. You will not be able to argue or debate with him on that last day. [...]