Matthew 22:15-32: “The Pharisees, Sadducees, And Herodians Ask
Jesus Test Questions To Try And Trap Him”
by
Jim Bomkamp
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we studied the parable which Jesus
taught of the Wedding Feast, and we gleaned much interesting truth from it
1.2.
Today, we will see that for the rest of this chapter
that the Pharisees and Sadducees (and even some Herodians) begin putting Jesus
to the test with trick questions in order that they might find a reason for
putting Him to death. In our study today
we will look at the following tests that Jesus was put to:
1.2.1.
Some Pharisees and Herodians ask Jesus if it is lawful
to pay the toll tax to Caesar
1.2.2.
Some Sadducees ask Jesus which man a woman will be
married to in the resurrection if she had multiple husbands on earth
2.
VS 22:15-17 -
“15 Then the Pharisees went and counseled together how they might trap Him
in what He said. 16 And they *sent their disciples to Him, along with the
Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of
God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any. 17 “Tell us
therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?””
- The Pharisees try to entrap Jesus by
asking Him if it is lawful to pay the poll-tax to Caesar
2.1.
In these verses we see that the Pharisees are desperate to try to find a
reason to bring charges up against Jesus so that He can be put to death, or to
find something that He might say by which they could stir the multitude up into
a riot and have them kill Him by stoning.
2.1.1.
The Pharisees desperation is seen in that they even pair up with the
‘Herodians’ in order to find a way to entrap Jesus.
2.1.1.1.The Herodians were
supporters of the kingdom of the Herods, and perhaps were even direct
descendants of the Herods, and thus in reality the Pharisees despised to the
greatest extent these Herodians as they reminded them of everything that they
resented
2.2.
Once again, we see in these verses that the Pharisees think that they
have Jesus in their clutches, for no matter what He answers they can see that
He is put to death.
2.2.1.
If Jesus told the people that they if they were truly spiritual then they
wouldn’t pay taxes to
2.2.2.
If Jesus told the people that they ought to pay taxes to
2.3.
Notice here that the Pharisees and Herodians try to flatter Jesus here to
get Him off guard in hopes that He will speak what He really feels about the
subject, as they say, ‘we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God
in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any’.
2.3.1.
Jesus could never be flattered, plus He always saw straight through man,
for being God He knew what was inside of man, his thoughts, etc.
2.4.
Notice also that the question is about whether it is ‘lawful’ to pay the
poll tax, not whether or not they ought to pay the tax for conscience sake.
3.
VS 22:18-21 -
“18 But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you
hypocrites? 19 “Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a
denarius. 20 And He *said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21
They *said to Him, “Caesar’s.” Then He *said to them, “Then render to Caesar
the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.””
- Jesus spoils the trap being set for
Him by the Pharisees and Herodians by revealing that their question to Him
really touches upon much deeper issues
3.1.
Jesus saw right through their hypocrisy in trying to flatter Him, as well
as their acting as if they were truly interested in learning truth from Him,
and thus He said to them, ‘Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?’
3.2.
Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees and Herodians stops them in their tracks
for it reveals that the question that they are asking has much deeper issues
attached to it, and their minds which were set on the flesh had never even
considered these greater issues of spiritual truth.
3.2.1.
All governments render authority over the lives of their subjects, and
Jesus’ answer to them tells them in essence that as one of God’s people, you
have responsibility to submit to the governing authorities over your lives.
3.2.1.1.It is interesting that Jesus
asked them for a ‘denarius’, which incidentally happened to be the yearly cost
of the poll-tax, and He asks them whose likeness and inscription was on this
coin. You see, the very coins that the
Jews used were all made by Rome, for being under Roman domination they could
have no currency of their own, and so just the coin itself communicated to them
that they were subjects under a government which exercized authority over them.
3.2.2.
The second part of Jesus’ answer was that they needed to give to God that
which belonged to Him. In other words,
they needed to submit to Him and obey Him according to all of His commandments,
and do all of the things which He required of them.
3.2.2.1.This caught these men off
guard because they weren’t committed to following God’s commandments
wholeheartedly as they knew that God required of them, and thus Jesus’ answer
convicted them deeply of their sin.
3.2.2.1.1.In 2 Chron.
7:13-22,
God tells His people of the conditional promises of His covenant which He was
making to
3.2.2.1.2.These men knew that God’s
covenant to them required wholehearted obedience and yet they were not willing
to give that to the Lord, and I’m sure that they had plenty of rationalizations
and excuses for why they could not and did not follow the Lord completely,
however none of these reasons were valid.
4.
VS 22:19 - “22 And
hearing this, they marveled, and leaving Him, they went away.” - Jesus confounded the Pharisees and Herodians
in their trap of Him
4.1.
Jesus actually silenced these ones who were trying to lay a trap for Him
by actually opening their minds and hearts up to just a little piece of
spiritual understanding, and having seen the wisdom of Jesus’ words they were
confounded by His wisdom and convicted of their sin in not following Him
wholeheartedly.
4.2.
From this teaching of Jesus we Christians need to realize that God does
not call us to be rebel’s against the governing authorities that God places
over our lives, and thus Paul’s writings from Romans 13:7 command us that we are to, “7 Render
to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to
whom fear; honor to whom honor.”
5.
VS 22:23-32 -
“23 On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to
Him and questioned Him, 24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies, having
no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up an
offspring to his brother.’ 25 “Now there were seven brothers with us; and the
first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother;
26 so also the second, and the third, down to the seventh. 27 “And last of all,
the woman died. 28 “In the resurrection therefore whose wife of the seven shall
she be? For they all had her.” 29 But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are
mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures, or the power of God. 30 “For in the
resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels
in heaven. 31 “But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read
that which was spoken to you by God, saying, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of
the living.”” - Some Saducees now
come to Jesus and try to put Him to the test
5.1.
The Pharisees, who had been the ones who were more knowledgeable about
the law, had failed in their attempts to trick Jesus into saying something for
which they could find a reason to put Him to death, so now the Sadducees decide
to try their hand at putting Him to the test.
5.2.
The Sadducees were materialists and wealthy, and they also held a very
liberal view of the scriptures as they didn’t believe in the afterlife nor in
angels.
5.3.
These Sadducees came up with what I would call a very lame rhetorical
question that was designed just to see if they could coax Jesus into committing
Himself concerning which husband a woman would be married to in the
resurrection if she had had multiple husbands on earth.
5.3.1.
The Pharisees and Sadducees would debate this and other issues from time
to time and try to figure them out using common sense, however this question
concerning marriage in heaven was an issue upon which they were deadlocked. Probably the most common view was that the
woman would be married to the first husband, however no matter which husband
Jesus picked, these men were committed to using his answer as an excuse to
bring charges of being a false teacher against Him.
5.4.
These Sadducees were hypocrites in even asking this question because in
the first place they didn’t even believe that there was an afterlife, and thus
they were leaving themselves open to Jesus’ rebuke of them.
5.5.
Jesus rebukes the Sadducees for being mistaken because they didn’t
understand the scriptures nor the power of God.
Being the leaders of
5.5.1.
Again and again we see Jesus rebuking the religious leaders, Pharisees
and Sadducees alike, for not having read nor understanding their own
scriptures.
5.6.
Jesus tells these Sadducees that things will not be as they are here on
earth in the
5.6.1.
In 1 Cor. 15:35-49, the apostle Paul gives us a detailed description of the glorified
bodies that all believers in Christ will have when Jesus returns for His
church, “35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what
kind of body do they come?” 36 You fool! That which you sow does not come to
life unless it dies; 37 and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which
is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God
gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.
39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another
flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. 40 There are
also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one,
and the glory of the earthly is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and
another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs
from star in glory. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a
perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; 43 it is sown in dishonor,
it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is
sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body,
there is also a spiritual body. 45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam,
became a living soul.” The last Adam
became a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the
natural; then the spiritual. 47 The first man is from the earth, earthy; the
second man is from heaven. 48 As is the earthy, so also are those who are
earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And just
as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the
heavenly.”
5.7.
Jesus confronts these Sadducees and their beliefs by bringing them back
to the writings of Moses since the Sadducees accepted only the writings of
Moses as being inspired. He confronts
their not believing in an afterlife by pointing out to them that God called
Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and God would not have called
Himself the God of these men if they were long since dead and gone.