MATTHEW LESSON 43

     We will begin this lesson in Matthew 22:1 "And Jesus answered and
spake unto them again by parables, and said,"  Matthew 22:2 "The
kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage
for his son," Matthew 22:3 "And sent forth his servants to call them
that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come."

     The king spoken of, here, is God the Father who is preparing a
wedding for His Son Jesus. Jesus has paid for His bride with His shed
blood. God has sent out invitations to the wedding. The sad thing is
that most of the invited will not come. They are so busy with things
of this world they are not interested in coming to this marriage.

     Matthew 22:4 "Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell
them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and
[my] fatlings [are] killed, and all things [are] ready: come unto the
marriage." Matthew 22:5 "But they made light of [it], and went their
ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:"  Matthew 22:6 "And
the remnant took his servants, and entreated [them] spitefully, and
slew [them]."

     These servants, that the master had sent to invite them to the
marriage, were prophets whom God had sent to send His message. The
disciples would be included in this, also. These ministers, whom that
God sent to bring this message, were mistreated; some of them were
even martyred. God's first choice had been the physical house of
Isreal. They refused to accept Jesus. This "taking light of it" just
meant that they did not take God seriously. They only thought of the
world, not the everlasting life to come.

     Matthew 22:7 "But when the king heard [thereof], he was wroth:
and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and
burned up their city."

     The wrath of God will come down on those who reject the Lord
Jesus as Saviour. He will not always allow the murdering of His
servants.

     Matthew 22:8 "Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is
ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy." Matthew 22:9 "Go
ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to
the marriage."

     This Scripture was just telling of the message being offered first
to the Jews. They totally  rejected the message; it was then offered
to the Gentiles. He had given up trying to get the physical Isreal, and
had now sent messengers to the Gentiles.

     Matthew 22:10 "So those servants went out into the highways, and
gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and
the wedding was furnished with guests."

     Christianity was offered to everyone; prostitutes, robbers.
adulterers, etc. God has offered salvation through grace to everyone;
The Jew first and the Gentile afterward. A person's past is not
important. It is what you do after you are saved that counts.

     Matthew 22:11  "And when the king came in to see the guests, he
saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:"  Matthew 22:12
"And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a
wedding garment? And he was speechless."  Matthew 22:13 "Then said the
king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and
cast [him] into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth."  Matthew 22:14 "For many are called, but few [are] chosen."

     The Bible is pretty explicit about Jesus being the way to heaven.
Anyone who comes any other way is a robber and a thief. There is only
one garment that is acceptable, and that is our white robe that has
been washed in the blood of the Lamb. A person can sit on a church
pew, and even be baptized, and not be cleansed from all
unrighteousness; washed in the blood of the Lamb. Christianity, that
is acceptable to God, is a love affair with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pretenders will not be acceptable to God. He will say to them, get
away from me, I never knew you. They like professing atheists, will be
banished to outer darkness.

     The Lord invites all of us to come to Him; but to be chosen of
God, we must be washed in the blood of the Lamb, sold out to Jesus,
having a brand new heart, and stayed up on the wishes of the Lord.
Jesus must not only be Saviour to us, but our Lord, as well.

     Matthew 22:15  "Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how
they might entangle him in [his] talk."  Matthew 22:16 "And they sent
out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we
know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither
carest thou for any [man]: for thou regardest not the person of men."
Matthew 22:17 "Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to
give tribute unto Caesar, or not?"

     They were trying to trap Jesus into saying something that would
be punishable by death. If they really believed that He was the truth,
why would they be trying to entangle Him? God is not a respecter of
persons, that part of their statement is true.

     If Jesus said "no" to the inquiry about paying taxes, they felt
that they would be able to turn Caesar against Him. There were two
opinions about followers of God paying these taxes. If Jesus answered
with a "yes" or "no" He would offend someone. If Jesus said to pay the
tax, the people would be disappointed. They did not believe God's people
should pay. They believed in the sovereignty of God. If Jesus said not
to pay it, He would be an enemy of Rome.

     Matthew 22:18 "But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said,
Why tempt ye me, [ye] hypocrites?"

     Jesus saw right through their little scheme. He rightly called
them hypocrites. They said they believed He taught truth, but they
really did not believe in Him at all.

     Matthew 22:19 "Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto
him a penny." Matthew 22:20 "And he saith unto them, Whose [is] this
image and superscription?" Matthew 22:21 "They say unto him, Caesar's.
Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which
are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's."  Matthew 22:22
"When they had heard [these words], they marvelled, and left him, and
went their way."

     This is not telling you to pay taxes to Caesar, or to abstain from
paying taxes. When Jesus had them show a coin, and the coin had
Caesar's picture on it, it just meant the Roman government was the
ruling influence there. Jesus was not about to get into a political
battle.  He just said, if you owe any tax to Caesar, pay it. If you
owe God anything, pay Him. When they saw that they could not trap Him,
they just left. You see, with whatever thing they tried to trap Jesus,
they wound up being trapped themselves.




































                        Matthew 43 Questions

1.  With what did he compare the Kingdom of heaven?
2.  Who is the king symbolic of?
3.  Why would most of the invited not come?
4.  When He sent forth the servants the second time, what did He tell
    them?
5.  What did the invited do when they got the second invitation?
6.  Who were the servants representative of?
7.  Who was God's first choice?
8.  When the king became angry, what did he do?
9.  When He decided that the first group was not worthy, who did He
    invite?
10. How was the wedding furnished with guests?
11. When the king came in to the guests, what did he notice was wrong?
12. What did the king tell the servant to do with this person?
13. "For many are called, but few are_________."
14. What is the only acceptable garment?
15. If Christianity is not a formality, what is it?
16. Jesus must not be just Saviour, but ________.
17. The Herodians and Pharisees came together to do what?
18. What hypocritical statement did they make to Jesus?
19. What question did they ask Jesus?
20. If Jesus said do not pay taxes, whose enemy would He be?
21. What did Jesus rightfully call them?
22. What did Jesus ask them to show Him?
23. Whose picture was on it?
24. They left when they had heard what words?
25. Who was the ruling government there?