St. Matthew 22:34–46
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| The Pharisees question Jesus - James Tissot |
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question to test Him. It might help you to better understand what’s going on, if you knew a little about who these Pharisees and Sadducees are, and what’s the difference between them. Just like in our day, there were factions among the people—groups, movements, political parties. The Pharisees and Sadducees were two of these groups.
The Sadducees were what we might think of as the liberals, but not the radical left. They were not the kind that led protests or riots. The Sadducees were the establishment. They held the levers of power in Jerusalem around the Temple and in the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jews. They were liberal in two ways. They were culturally and politically liberal because they had adopted the decadent culture of the Greeks, and they collaborated with the political power of Rome. Remember, the Jews at this time did not have their own kingdom. They were under Roman occupation, with a Roman governor and Roman military officers in charge. But the Sadducees managed to keep some power for themselves by colluding with their Gentile overlords. The Sadducees were liberal theologically as well. They only accepted the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, and disregarded the writings of the prophets. And they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, which was the debate they started with Jesus just before our reading. But they lost—He silenced them.
So, with their political and religious enemies licking their wounds, the Pharisees took their turn with Jesus. The Pharisees were the conservatives. They were known to be righteous, rigorous keepers of the Law. They were the Bible-believing, hard-working, decent people. And they were not impressed by the wealthy or powerful who were caught up in a corrupt and immoral society. We tend to just think of the Pharisees as the “bad guys,” but there’s a reason Jesus spends so much of His time arguing with the Pharisees: they were the closest to Him! They took God’s Word seriously, but they were still blind. They saw God’s Law, but they couldn’t see that they were incapable of keeping it perfectly. They saw this Teacher from Nazareth, but they refused to see Who He really is.
This is why Jesus asks them His question. Who is the Christ? Jesus is trying to get them to see that the Messiah, the Christ, cannot only be King David’s son, a man. He must also be David’s Lord, the Son of God. Only this Christ, true God and true Man, could make satisfaction for their sins, die for all, rise for all, and give forgiveness and life to all. See, you have to get to the Christ, or the Law will do you no good. The Law, without Christ, only leads to the death of sinners. Sinners need the Law to realize their sin, but then they also need the Christ who saves them from the Law, from sin and death.
Jesus wants them to see this. He wants the Pharisees to be saved! This conversation actually happened during the last week of Jesus’ earthly life, after Palm Sunday and before His arrest. He’s trying, even in those last days, to save these stubborn, blind fools. Sadly, they will team up with their rivals, the Sadducees, in order to get Jesus condemned. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. And people who disagree on a lot of things, can still find ways to unite in their hatred of Christ.
The Pharisees knew what Jesus is claiming here—that He is David’s Lord. In fact, they will use this conversation against Him at His trial. They will say to Pilate, “We have a law, and according to that law He ought to die because He has made Himself the Son of God” (John 19:7). But no matter what they say on Good Friday, Jesus wants them to have heard the truth from Holy Scripture. They might still reject Him, but He wants them to know Him, because He still loves them.
If we were to look for comparisons in our day, it’s actually very likely that many of us would fit in with the Pharisees. Like them, we care about the Bible, and God’s Law, right and wrong, justice. We might not like the rich political insiders, the liberal fat-cats pulling the strings in New York and DC. We might think the country’s falling to pieces and somebody’s got to lay down the law.
But without Christ, the Law does you no good; certainly not man’s law, but not even God’s Law. It can’t save you. There are decent, moral people who are not Christians, and they do what’s right and benefit society. But they don’t know Christ, so they are not saved from sin, death, or hell. Outside the Christian Church, you will not hear about the Christ, the Savior, David’s Son and David’s Lord. We’re the only ones preaching this message. We’re the only ones with a message that can actually save the world. I don’t mean save it in a political sense, or make it a bit better for right now. I mean save it for eternity. The only way we get to the resurrection and the life of the world to come is to know the Christ who died and rose again.
I’m all in favor of working for a better society. In fact, God is in favor of this as well. It is His will that all things good, true, and beautiful should flourish and be protected among us. We should care about the kind of education are children are getting in history, science, and literature. We should pay attention to our political system (there’s nothing technically wrong with politics). We should elect wise leaders who will make prudent decisions for our nation. And we must teach and learn God’s Law. And we must condemn the sin we see in society and in our own lives.
But as the Christian Church, the Gospel is our main thing. Like Jesus, we want to get people to see the Christ. We want to get sinners to the justification of God on account of Christ’s innocent suffering and holy blood. We’ve got something for the world that nobody else has. We’ve got a message that brings real peace, a washing that cleanses every sin and stain, guilt and shame, and a food that makes you immortal and will carry you into a world you can’t even imagine. That’s what we’re all about.
If people know anything about us Christians, that’s what we want them to know. People are going to hate the Christian Church, no doubt about it. There’s always going to be unlikely allies who team-up to take her down. But if people want to hate the Christian Church, let’s make sure they know our real message first. If enemies want to team up like the Pharisees and Sadducees, then let’s meet them head on with the Gospel: the story of the King who was hated by this world, was hung on a cross, and did it all out of His own great love. We don’t need them to just know the commandments of the Law, but to also know the Christ, whose Son He is, and what He does for you.
In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
