Matthew 22:15
In the
Matthew
Those who
accept God’s invitation will take part in a great celebration when God
receives the believers to Himself. That is one reason that He calls the gathering together
a “marriage.” Everyone is invited to
be a part of the marvelous future that God has planned. In describing how great that future
will be, the Bible says in First Corinthians 2:9,
"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
nether have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared
for them that love Him."
The work of
God is the spread of the Gospel, and Jesus expects us all to be involved in that
work. Since the time of Christ
the work of God has been given to all the believers in Jesus, to both Jews and
Gentiles who believe. Jesus gave His life for
the salvation of the world, He touched our hearts when
we were headed for hell because of the guilt of our sins. Therefore, He expects
us to be involved in the spread of the Gospel. Many of the basic elements of
the spread of the Gospel are found in this verse. Jesus said, "Go ye therefore
into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage."
Jesus said,
"Go". That’s a commandment. If you are a believer,
it’s not optional. You are expected to go, and you are commanded to go by your
Master, your Savior, and your Lord. The verb "to go" is an action
verb. In order to go, you have to get yourself moving. You have to get into
action, and you have to do something. You have to be involved in an activity
that lends itself to you spreading the Gospel. Paul said the same thing to the
believers in
Jesus said, "... as many as you
shall find, bid to the marriage." He
said, "as many as you shall find," because the gospel is meant for everyone.
Everyone needs to be saved from their sins, and everyone can be saved. We need
to ask God to give us more of a concern for lost people. We need to know a lot
more about loving the souls of lost people. John
In Matthew 22:9 Jesus
said, "...as
many as you shall find, bid to the marriage."
The word that is translated "bid" in the
King James means to call or invite. We invite others because God has invited
us, and God invites others through us and through our words to come to His
kingdom. The words that you use when you speak to those
around you are important. Your words influence those around you; and Jesus said you should include in
your conversation words of invitation to His kingdom.
Jesus
commanded each believer to do something to help give the invitation to His
kingdom. Why don’t we reach out
to others more often? One reason that many do not witness more frequently about
the salvation that is in Christ is because they have been negatively influenced
by society and it’s ideals of what’s politically correct. They have been told
it is wrong to say the name of Christ in many of the normal circumstances of
life. In fact we have been told over and
over by the court system and by the government and by intellectuals and
by the news media that it is wrong to express our religious beliefs in public,
in the work place, or in the schools. But according to Jesus, it is good and
proper and necessary to give invitations to the
Another reason that many do not give out more invitations to lost
people to come to the kingdom of God through Christ, is because sometimes they think that people are too sinful or
too evil or too worldly to ever come to Christ. But actually, sometimes the opposite is true. The Bible says in
Romans 5:20, “Where sin abounded, grace did much
more abound.” Because of the grace of Christ
the greatest of sinners sometimes become the best of saints. Those who
have sinned the most, upon hearing the truth, are
sometimes the ones who readily see and accept their need of repentance and
forgiveness, and who appreciate the fact that Jesus died for their sins.
Sometimes
Christians hesitate to give an invitation to the kingdom of God because they
discredit themselves and think they are too unimportant of a
person to be involved in the salvation of others. But if you are a believer in
Jesus, the spirit of Christ dwells in you just as powerfully as in any other
believer. You are just as capable as anyone to say a kind word of salvation
that is found in Jesus Christ and to have God use you
to touch someone’s heart.
A witness
for Christ does not speak rudely or obnoxiously to people. Just show
some genuine concern for people, and say what is true at the appropriate time
and in the appropriate situation. Don’t hide the truth. Say what you know to be
true when it is the right time to say it. Truth is good and truth is powerful.
Don’t be afraid of it, and don’t hide it. Jesus said in Luke 8:16, "No man, when he
hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth
it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light."
If you want to witness
for Christ to the lost people around you, then pray and ask God to open the opportunities to be a witness. Put the
responsibility on Him. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. If you are
willing, and if you depend upon God, talking about Christ will come as
naturally as talking about the weather.
When our time on earth
is over, we will be happy to be in the
When this life is over,
we might find ourselves with similar emotions as those experienced by Mr.
Schindler at the end of World War II. He was a German who helped some Jews
escape the gas chambers. When the war was over he broke down in tears, wishing
he had helped more. We will probably break down in tears and wish that we had
done more to see more souls saved through faith in Christ. Jesus said to His
believers, “Go ye
therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage." At the judgment many believers may wish that
they had been more diligent to obey this command of Jesus, and had done more to help spread the invitation to
be a part of His kingdom.
In Matthew 22:15-22 a cunning verbal attack was made against Jesus. It was made by the Pharisees, who were a religious group
that was at this time in league with a political group called the Herodians.
Corrupt religion has always found it easy to be allied with corrupt politics,
because the two come from the same mold. They both have a lust for power, a
willingness to compromise on any point, and a method of doing things that is
born out of deceit and dishonesty.
The Bible says in
Matthew 22:15-22, "Then went the Pharisees, and took council how they might
entangle him in his talk. And they sent out unto him their disciples with the
Herodians, saying, Master, we know that you are true, and teach the way of God
in truth, neither do you fear any man: for you regard not the person of men.
Tell us therefore what you think? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar or
not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why
do you tempt me, you hypocrites? Show me the tribute money. And they brought
unto him a penny. And he said unto them, Whose is this
image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then said he unto them,
Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and unto God, the
things that are God’s. When they heard these words, they marveled, and left
him, and went their way."
The purpose
of the questions asked by the Pharisees and the Herodians was to attempt to entrap Jesus by getting Him to say
things against the Roman government, hoping that they could then accuse Him of
treason. The compliments that they gave to Jesus were not sincere, but were only said to try to ensnare Jesus. Unlike the Pharisees and
the Herodians, Christ simply spoke the truth and His words revealed their
wickedness. The truth spoken by those who serve God will always be more
powerful than the deception of the wicked.
The
Pharisees and the Herodians were scheming and trying to get Jesus in trouble
with the Roman government by using the issues of taxes. The taxes of a
government can cause a tremendous burden on a people. For example, a communist
government is a government in which the state owns all things, and the citizens
own nothing. Although some taxes are necessary, the more that a people is taxed
the less freedom that they will have. And the more that a people is taxed, the more that their government will become like a
totalitarian government. In our society citizens should do what is legal in the
political system to reduce taxes. But they should not resort to revolution or
sedition or violence to oppose the policies of their government.
Jesus made this very
clear when He said, “Render
therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and unto God, the things
that are God’s.” A Christian should be
a good citizen in any country and under any form of government, because we know
that the kingdoms of this world are temporary. We serve King Jesus, and our
main goal is to help people become citizens of His kingdom.
This same idea of
obedience and submission to governmental authority is also found in Romans
13:1-2 which says, "Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For there
is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever
therefore resists the power, resists the ordinance of God: and they that resist
shall receive to themselves damnation." In
order to follow God, there is a certain respect and honor that should always be
shown to those in authority, whether you agree with them politically or not.
The lack of civility and the mean spirit that is often a part of the political
arena in our society should be avoided by Christians,
because it is not the will of God.
The Pharisees and
Herodians tried to entangle Jesus. They wanted
Him to slip up so that they could have ammunition against Him. It says in verse
18 that they were wicked, and Jesus called them hypocrites. There is one thing
worse than when someone does wrong themselves, and that is when they try to get
someone else to do wrong. That’s the work of the devil. Jesus said in Matthew
chapter 18:6 about those who would cause
little children to stumble, that it were better for such a person that a
millstone were hanged about his neck and he were cast into the sea.
The next religious group
to question Jesus was the Sadducees. The Sadducees were the religious liberals
of the day, in contrast to the Pharisees who were the religious conservatives.
Both were religious hypocrites and both opposed Jesus. The Sadducees did not
believe in a literal resurrection. Because the Sadducees had no hope in life
after death, they were sad, you see. Of course, they had intellectual arguments
to support their viewpoints, and they presented one of their arguments to Jesus,
which is recorded in Matthew. It says in Matthew 22:23-32, "The same day came
to Him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,
Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall
marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Now there were with us
seven brothers: and the first when he had married a wife, died, and having no
offspring, left his wife unto his brother. Likewise
the second also, and the third, unto the seventh. And last of all the woman
died. Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven, for
they all had her? Jesus answered and said unto them, You
do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the
resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the
angels of God in heaven. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have you
not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I 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. And when the multitude heard this, they were
astonished at his doctrine."
The Sadducees were proud
of an argument that turned out to be no argument at all, once Jesus revealed to
them that there is no such thing as marriage in heaven. Jesus taught very
clearly that there is no marriage in heaven. Even
today there is a religious group called the Mormons, who label themselves
Christians, but they have erred on this basic Bible truth by putting a big
emphasis on the continuation of the family beyond this life. In this point and in many others the Mormons are
confused and are misleading people. They do not understand the scriptures, and
they do not understand the meaning of life after death.
There is life after
death. Jesus said that there is. Death is the end of physical life, but it is
the beginning of a different kind of life. For those who are saved by faith in
Christ, eternal life is a spiritual life that will be free from all the sorrows
and limitations that we now experience. Jesus came to give us spiritual life: a
life that continues beyond death. He taught us that there is life after death,
and that life after death is much more important than this life. To prove that
He had power over death, He raised several people from the grave during His
lifetime, and then Jesus also was raised from the dead after dying for our
sins. Jesus told the Sadducees in Matthew 22:32,
“God is not the
God of the dead, but the God of the living.” In other words, because there is a God, there is life after death.
Many people fear death,
but a believer does not have to fear because we look forward to the promises
about eternal life that have been made by God and that have been made by Jesus.
The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead is a very important teaching.
Because of the resurrection from the dead, we are
encouraged in our suffering for Christ as His witnesses and as His followers.
We know that we may suffer for a short time in this life for His glory, but
soon we will be rewarded for everything that we have done for Him.
The resurrection from
the dead is also important because it is the main reason to seek the
forgiveness of sins. Knowing that one day you will stand before God to be
judged, it behooves you before you die to make sure that you have found the
forgiveness of sins that is in Jesus Christ. After you die, you will stand
before God to be judged. If you come to Christ in this life and ask Him for the
forgiveness of sins, then when you stand before God, you will be welcomed into
His kingdom. You will then find the fulfillment of the promise that Jesus gave
when He said, "Whosoever
lives and believes in me shall never die."
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2008 by Charles F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved