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Scripture Reading: Matt. 22:15-46; 26:57-68
IV. In His ministry:
B. His temptations:
2. During His ministry — Matt. 22:15-46:
а. The tempter’s intention — to ensnare Him in His words — v. 15.
b. By the Pharisees with the Herodians — vv. 16-22:
1) The Pharisees were the fundamentalists of Judaism.
2) The Herodians were the political party under King Herod for Roman imperialism, usurped by the Pharisees in tempting the first God-man.
3) They tempted Him by asking whether it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar, the emperor of Rome, trying to catch Him as one who was against imperialistic Rome — v. 17.
4) He asked them to show Him the coin for the tribute. When they showed Him, He asked them whose image and inscription were on the coin; they answered, “Caesar’s.” He answered them, “Render then the things that are Caesar’s to Caesar and the things that are God’s to God.” He defeated them in their plot — vv. 18-22.
c. By the Sadducees — vv. 23-34:
1) The Sadducees were the modernists at their time in the Jewish religion, not believing in the resurrection.
2) They tempted the first God-man by telling Him that among them there were seven brothers who married one woman consecutively. Then they asked Him whose wife this woman would be in the resurrection. He said that they erred and did not know the Scriptures nor the power of God, for in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. He taught them that God as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob is not the God of the dead, but of the living. By this He muzzled their mouths — vv. 23-34.
d. By a lawyer of the Pharisees — vv. 34-40:
1) A lawyer of the Pharisees, knowing that the first God-man muzzled the mouths of the Sadducees, tested Him by asking Him which is the great commandment in the law — vv. 34-36.
2) He answered, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” By this He conquered them also — vv. 37-40.
e. The first God-man turned the test to them — vv. 41-46:
1) He tested them by saying, “What do you think concerning the Christ? Whose son is He?” They answered, “David’s.” He said, “How then does David in spirit call Him Lord [Psa. 110:1]...? If then David calls Him Lord, how is He his son?” — Matt. 22:41-45.
2) Not one of them was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone from that day dare to question Him anymore — v. 46.
3) The Pharisees, the Herodians, the Sadducees, and a lawyer of the Pharisees tempted the first God-man with questions concerning Roman imperialism, the belief of the Jewish religion, and their creed, thinking that they could ensnare Him, but He defeated them all by His wise and subduing answers, which led them to consider the person of Christ who, rather than political and religious things, was their real need.
4) When He tested them with the person of Christ, they did not have the adequate knowledge, knowing Christ only in His humanity as the seed of David but not in His divinity as the Lord of David, who will sit at the right hand of God (Psa. 110:1). Eventually, He muzzled all their mouths and won the victory in the mutual testings.
3. At the end of His ministry — Matt. 26:57-68:
а. In the time of His being judged by the Jewish Sanhedrin after He was arrested by the Roman authorities in the night — vv. 57-58.
b. They tested Him about several things so that they might put Him to death, but He answered nothing — vv. 59-62.
c. Eventually, the high priest tested Him concerning whether He was the Christ, the Son of God — v. 63.
d. He answered, “You have said rightly. Nevertheless I say to you, From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power [Psa. 110:1] and coming on the clouds of heaven” — v. 64.
e. The high priest tore his garments and said that He had blasphemed, and the Sanhedrin considered that He was worthy of death — Matt. 26:65-66.
f. They spit in His face and beat Him with their fists, and others slapped Him — vv. 67-68.
g. In the last temptation of the first God-man by the high priest usurped by Satan, the high priest’s test was in principle the same as the devil’s in the beginning of the temptations, tempting the first God-man to assume His divine position as the Son of God and ignore His human position as a man — 4:3-7.
h. The first God-man, knowing the stratagem of Satan, in His answer again did not assume His divine position as the Son of God but strongly stressed His human position as the Son of Man to shame Satan and annul him by His humanity.
4. In conclusion, all the temptations by Satan and his usurped instruments present a vivid picture that the first God-man behaved stately within the limit of His positions according to His dual status of God and man. His wisdom, His honesty, His faithfulness to God, His sobermindedness concerning His position and status, and His conquering and subduing ability, all were shown in this ugly portrait of His enemy Satan, the devil. The actual result of the temptations by the opposers of the first God-man afforded an opportunity for Him to unveil to them the person of Christ in full, that He is both God as the Lord of David, their respected father, and man, a seed of David, who will sit at the right hand of God (Psa. 110:1). Such an all-inclusive Christ was the real need for their life, but what a pity that they were blinded by Satan and became ignorant of their real need so that they despised Him, forsook Him, and sentenced Him to death by crucifixion (Matt. 26:66-67)!
In the previous chapter we saw the devil’s stratagems in tempting the Lord at the beginning of His ministry. In this chapter we want to see the temptations suffered by the Lord during His ministry and at the end of His ministry. Although the Lord passed through some other temptations, the principles are all covered by these three categories of temptations. I hope that we would pay our full attention to the fellowship in this chapter and even study it with some others.
Matthew 22:15-46 shows the temptations through which the Lord passed during His ministry.
The tempter’s intention was to ensnare Him in His words (v. 15).
The Pharisees were the fundamentalists of Judaism. The Herodians were the political party under King Herod for Roman imperialism, usurped by the Pharisees in tempting the first God-man. They tempted Him by asking whether it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar, the emperor of Rome, trying to catch Him as one who was against imperialistic Rome (vv. 16-17). The Pharisees were for the Jews, whereas the Herodians were for the Romans. Such a question concerning whether or not to give tribute to Caesar was hard to answer. If the Lord said yes, He would offend the Jews. If He said no, that would offend Rome. That was really an ensnaring question. But the Lord’s capacity was so high, His wisdom was so deep, and His answer was very subduing.
He asked them to show Him the coin for the tribute. This means that He did not have any coin from Caesar and asked them to give Him one. Their having a Roman coin in their pocket meant that they had lost the case already. The Lord Jesus did not show the Roman coin but asked them to show one to Him. Since they possessed one of the Roman coins, they were caught. When they showed Him, He asked them whose image and inscription were on the coin; they answered, “Caesar’s.” He answered them, “Render then the things that are Caesar’s to Caesar and the things that are God’s to God.” He defeated them in their plot (vv. 18-22).
The Sadducees were the modernists at their time in the Jewish religion, not believing in the resurrection. Today among Christians there are modernists. They do not believe in the Bible or in the birth of Christ by a virgin. They do not believe that Christ died on the cross for our sins but that He died on the cross merely as a martyr. They do not believe in the resurrection or in miracles. The modernists explain away all the miracles in the Bible. These ancient Sadducees were the ancient modernists.
They tempted the first God-man by telling Him that among them there were seven brothers who married one woman consecutively. Then they asked Him whose wife this woman would be in the resurrection. He said that they erred and did not know the Scriptures nor the power of God, for in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. He taught them that God as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
God is the God of the living, but Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were dead. How could God be their God? Since God is called the God of these three dead persons, this indicates that they will be resurrected. Without the interpretation of the Lord Jesus, we could not see the light that this divine title indicates resurrection. This is why the Lord told the Sadducees that they did not know the Scripture. They knew it in its words but not in its intrinsic significance. By this He muzzled their mouths (vv. 23-34).
A lawyer of the Pharisees, knowing that the first God-man muzzled the mouths of the Sadducees, tested Him by asking Him which is the great commandment in the law (vv. 34-36). He answered, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” By this He conquered the Pharisees also (vv. 37-40).
All those who tested the Lord were defeated, muzzled. Actually, He was the only one qualified to test. He tested them by saying, “What do you think concerning the Christ? Whose son is He?” Their questions indicated that they were concerned about Roman imperialism, their Jewish belief, and their creed (the law). The Lord indicated that those things meant nothing. What mattered was Christ. He is what they needed. When He asked them whose son Christ is, they answered, “David’s.” He said, “How then does David in spirit call Him Lord [Psa. 110:1]...? If then David calls Him Lord, how is He his son?” (Matt. 22:41-45). Not one of them was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone from that day dare to question Him anymore (v. 46).
The Pharisees, the Herodians, the Sadducees, and a lawyer of the Pharisees tempted the first God-man with questions concerning Roman imperialism, the belief of the Jewish religion, and their creed, thinking that they could ensnare Him, but He defeated them all by His wise and subduing answers, which led them to consider the person of Christ, who, rather than political and religious things, was their real need. It was as if the Lord were saying, “You have to consider your real need. The real need for your life is Christ. But regretfully you don’t know Him. You know Roman imperialism, Jewish belief, and the Jewish creed. You know all the political and religious things, but you don’t know the very Christ, who is your real need.”
When He tested them with the person of Christ, they did not have the adequate knowledge, knowing Christ only in His humanity as the seed of David but not in His divinity as the Lord of David who will sit at the right hand of God (Psa. 110:1). Eventually, He muzzled all their mouths and won the victory in the mutual testings.
Now we want to consider the temptations through which the Lord passed at the end of His ministry (Matt. 26:57-68). This was at the time of His being judged by the Jewish Sanhedrin after He was arrested by the Roman authorities in the night (vv. 57-58). They tested Him about several things so that they might put Him to death, but He answered nothing (vv. 59-62). Eventually, the high priest tested Him concerning whether He was the Christ, the Son of God (v. 63). He answered, “You have said rightly. Nevertheless I say to you, From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power [Psa. 110:1] and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matt. 26:64). The Lord Jesus referred them to Psalm 110:1, which says, “Jehovah declares to my Lord, / Sit at My right hand / Until I make Your enemies / Your footstool.” Although He was a man, He could sit at the right hand of God. He was saying that He was equal to God, and that offended the Jews, but it was prophesied by David in Psalm 110:1. The Lord also said that the Son of Man would come on the clouds of heaven. This word has not yet been fulfilled. We believe that the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man will come on the clouds of heaven to take the earth and possess it (Rev. 10:1-2).
When the high priest heard this man, Jesus of Nazareth, say that He would sit at the right hand of God, making Himself equal with God, the high priest tore his garments and said that He had blasphemed, and the Sanhedrin considered that He was worthy of death (Matt. 26:65-66). They spit in His face and beat Him with their fists, and others slapped Him (vv. 67-68).
In the last temptation of the first God-man by the high priest usurped by Satan, the high priest’s test was in principle the same as the devil’s in the beginning of the temptations, tempting the first God-man to assume His divine position as the Son of God and ignore His human position as a man (4:3-7). At the beginning Satan himself was tempting the Lord. At the ending the high priest was tempting Him. These two temptations were actually the same because the high priest was usurped by Satan. His temptation was just a repetition of that by Satan. They tempted the Lord to assume His God-given position, the position of His divinity, and ignore His God-ordained position, the position of humanity. The first God-man, knowing the stratagem of Satan, in His answer again did not explicitly assume His divine position as the Son of God but strongly stressed His human position as the Son of Man to shame Satan and annul him by His humanity. The Lord’s standing on the position of humanity was a strong weapon for Him to defeat Satan and the instrument usurped by Satan.
In conclusion, all the temptations by Satan and his usurped instruments present a vivid picture that the first God-man behaved stately within the limit of His positions according to His dual status of God and man. His wisdom, His honesty, His faithfulness to God, His sobermindedness concerning His position and status, and His conquering and subduing ability, all were shown in this ugly portrait of His enemy Satan, the devil. The actual result of the temptations by the opposers of the first God-man afforded an opportunity for Him to unveil to them the person of Christ in full, that He is both God as the Lord of David, their respected father, and man, a seed of David, who will sit at the right hand of God (Psa. 110:1). Such an all-inclusive Christ was the real need for their life, but what a pity that they were blinded by Satan and became ignorant of their real need so that they despised Him, forsook Him, and sentenced Him to death by crucifixion (Matt. 26:66-67)!
