Day 301 – Jesus’ Debates with Religious Leaders

• Today’s readings follow directly from those we looked at yesterday, so you might want to read over the last section of Matthew 21 to refresh your memory of them. Today, Jesus continued to debate with, and answer the searching questions of, various groups of people, including the Herodians, Pharisees and Sadducees.
• Before we look at some of the questions posed to Jesus, look at the story in the first 14 verses of Matthew 22. We’ve read a similar story before. If you consider the king to be God, and the wedding banquet as one held for Jesus, who are the guests (both those who were invited, and those who later came)?
• What happened to the person who wasn’t wearing the special wedding clothes?
• This passage about the man who was thrown out might need some further thought. It happened, from time to time, that guests might have been given specific wedding clothes (or expected to provide his own). This man hadn’t accepted the wedding clothes from the king (or refused to provide them himself), but still expected to be at the party. What do you think this is referring to? What sad end is described for this man? I’ll mention this a bit more in my final notes.
• The passages about the taxes and marriage show Jesus talking with the religious leaders. Do you think in each case the leaders wanted to have genuine answers to their questions, or were they just intended to trip Jesus up? Have your friends ever asked you questions like this?
• Use your study bible, if you have one, to work out why Jesus’ answer in Matthew 22:21 was a wise one.
• Jesus’ astonishing interpretation of the Scriptures continued in the discussion about marriage in Heaven. What was the question? Do you think it was a good one? How did Jesus respond?
• By the time Matthew 22 ends, what had the people decided to stop doing? I smiled when I read it!
• The Romans passage links in with Jesus’ teaching on taxes. “Romans” was a letter written by the apostle Paul. What was he saying about how Christians should live within the laws of the country? Why is this important? What should we, as Christians, do if a law goes against the teaching of the Bible?

This set of passages talk about authority in a number of ways. They talk about earthly authority in regards to God and Caesar. Jesus’ authority to say the things He was saying was also being challenged. Today we saw Him calmly answering the questions posed with wisdom and patience. Tomorrow, in day 302, we’ll see Jesus interacting with the teachers in a much more robust way, as He challenged them to give up their false religious ways.

Today we also read a potentially confusing passage about a man who was invited to a wedding. He wasn’t in the first set of guests; in fact, it seems he just got lucky and was in the town at the time the king’s servants came looking for guests. He – and many others – took the chance to turn up at the palace for a good old-fashioned party!

But after being found to be without the appropriate clothes, he was thrown outside into a scary darkness of night. Doesn’t this king sound like a bit of a pompous oddball?

Well – no. The man who was thrown out was just as bad as the people who reacted with such hostility to the initial invitation in Matthe 22:5-7, and justly received the same judgement.

The story refers to God’s family. Many people openly reject God’s good invitation, like the first people in the story. They want nothing to do with God. But there are some who find themselves at church and involved in the “wedding” events, like the second batch of guests, and, like the man in the story, not all are wearing the “wedding clothes”. In other words, they don’t really have any transformation of the heart towards Jesus. They may be at church for the social calendar there, or perhaps to meet like-minded people, or because they’re involved with some sort of job, or church outreach. People can be part of a church in many ways without loving Jesus.

This lack of repentance and faith is what Jesus was challenging in the parable. It’s tough teaching, and you – like I – should examine our hearts regarding our church attendance, always coming with a heart that seeks primarily to come closer to God.