TEXT: Matthew 22:15-46:

1. As Jesus nears the end of His life on Earth, the Pharisees and Sadducees increase their

harrassment of Him.

2. In our text today they ask Him a series of questions to trap Him in His talk.

3. He of answers each of them brilliantly.

4. Many valuable lessons can be learned from His responses to these questions.

5. There are three questions asked about various topics, taxes; marriage in the

resurrection; and the commandments of Moses.

6. Jesus ends the whole discussion with a question about Himself that they could not

answer, nor did they try any longer to trap Him in His talk.

A. Notice the way they approached Him (vs. 15-16)

1) The purpose of their question was to entangle Him in His talk (15).

2) We know that you don't base your teaching upon what men want to hear, but

upon the truth, no matter what (16).

B. Should God's faithful people pay taxes to a secular, civil Government? (17)

1) They had asked Him before about paying the tax for the upkeep of the Jewish

temple, and His answer was, the Son of the King doesn't pay taxes, but He did

any way to keep them from speaking against Him (see Mtt. 17:24-27).

2) But these taxes are a different matter.

3) They are taxes used to support a government which sometimes supported sinful

causes.

C. Jesus knew that their motives were less than honest, and He told them so (18).

1) Show Me the tax money (19)

2) Whose image and inscription is on it? (20)

3) Ceasar's, render therefore to Ceasar the things that are his and to God the things

that are God's. (21).

D. They were astonished at His words. He always answered everything exactly right (22).

E. The question is not a new one but one that Christians still wrestle with.

1) Romans 13:1-8 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there

2) There could conceivably be a situation where one would "Obey God rather than

men" (Acts 5:29)

3) But for the most part, the Christian ought to obey the laws and get along with

whatever government under which he finds himself.

4) The reason for this is so that one can be free to move about and teach the gospel

and further the borders of God's church.

5) Christians ought to be the most honest tax-payers of all.

F. 1Timothy 2:1-3 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers,

G. Acts 17:26 "And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all

H. Daniel 2:21 And He changes the times and the seasons; he removes kings and raises

I. Daniel 4:17 'This decision is by the decree of the watchers, and the sentence by the

J. Isaiah 40:15 Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the

small dust on the scales; look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing. 17 All

1. Living at peace with civil authorities enables us to continue to exist as a church

without fear of govermental interference.

2. Most laws are for our own good anyway (Rom.13:3-4).

3. A child of God is obligated to "obey those who rule over you" (Heb.13:7,17),

except when man-made laws contradict God's laws, then we "ought to obey God

rather than men" (Acts 5:29).

4. To needlessly break the laws of the land is not using good sense because

unnecessary attention is the called to himself and his cause.

5. If one wishes to live at peace and live freely, he is to live within the restraints of

the government of the country where he lives (1Tim.2:2).

6. For the Christian it makes especially good sense to get along with the civil

authorities. If one is ever running from the law, then he is not going to be able

to effectively share his faith with others; he can't worship in peace; and his

Christian influence is compromised.

7. There are deeds done by governments that a Christian could never condone.

However, for the most part, one who obeys the civil authorities will live in peace

and be able to accomplish great things for the Lord's cause.

8. Romans 12:18 "If it is possible, as much as it depends on you, live at peace with

K. The question is basically whether or not a Christian is obligated to obey the civil

government.

1. The Jews hated the Roman government and it was not unusual to find one who

refused to pay taxes to them.

2. They failed to trap Jesus with this question, because He always said and did the

exact right thing.

1. Seeing that the Pharisees had failed to entangle Him in His talk, it was the

Sadducees turn to try.

1) The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection.

2) They approached Him with what they thought was an ironclad, foolproof scenario

which made the resurrection of the dead an impossibility.

B. The Leverite marriage, Deuturonomy 25:5-6 "If brothers dwell together, and one of

C. They didn't know the power of God, or the scriputres (29).

1) In the resurrection they will neither marry nor are they given in marriage.

2) He proves to them that there is such a thing as life after death by quoting God's

words in Exodus 3:6,15.

3) God spoke of being the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob long after they were

dead, yet He spoke in the present tense: "I am the God etc" Not "I was the God."

4) And since God is the God of the living and not of the dead, A, I, and J must be

alive someplace, because He is still their God!

D. Astonished at His teaching (33)

A. This time they send a lawyer (scribe).

1) He would have been an expert in the Law of Moses.

2) It was his full-time job to interpret and explain the law to others, including the

Rabbis.

3) No one on earth, except Jesus, knows more about the law than this man.

B. Which is the great or greatest commandment of the Law? (36)

1) Jesus quotes the first one. Exodus 20:1-7 And God spoke all these words, saying:

2) He then quotes Leviticus 19:18 You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

C. Imagine what the world would be like if everyone obeyed these two commandments!

1) Love the Lord above all else:

a) No church attendance problems.

b) No dishonest behavior.

c) God would be providing what every one needed and we would all be content

with what He gave us (Matthew 6:33).

d) No one would be taking vengeance on any one else, we would leave that up to

God (Romans 12:17-21).

e) No child or spouse abuse (Ephesians 6:4; 5:22-32).

f) And countless other great results.

2) Love your neighbor as yourself:

a) Matthew 7:12 - You would treat him as you wanted to be treated.

b) You would not hesitate to share the gospel with him.

c) You would not steal his property or his wife or his life!

3) It is little wonder that Jesus placed these two commandments in the position of

summing up all the other commandments.

A. Who do you think I am?

B. An ancestor of David (only, nothing more).

C. Then why did David call me Lord?

1) He then quotes Psalm 110, written by David, and He explains that it is talking

about Jesus.

2) If David call Him "Lord" how he be just an ancestor (son) of David?

D. They couldn't answer Him and they were out of ammunition to throw at Him in the

form of questions.

1. Why do people attempt to out-think God?

2. Every time we try we fail miserably.

3. Perhaps we think that if we can out-maneuver God on some small point, then we are

not obligated to obey Him on the major points.

4. Jesus answered every one of their questions perfectly.

5. Then, the one question that He asked them, "No one was able to answer a word."

6. Are you ready to stop arguing with God and just do what He says?

7. Or are you "Ever learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth"? (2Timothy

3:7).