“At the resurrection people neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like angels in heaven.”
– Matthew 22:30
Hi James and Ellen,
What do you do when you know through the questions that you are being asked that you are being trapped so that you will be discredited? What do you do when you know that you are being tricked to say something that you know would be wrong for you to say? What do you do when you know that what you believe is being twisted to make you look coldhearted? Pharisees wanted to make Jesus appear being disloyal. Sadducees wanted to establish Jesus as being an inept teacher. Herodians wanted to prove Jesus as being treasonous. In his book that he expressly wrote for the Jewish community to help them to get their arms around the fact that Jesus was Christ, Matthew – in Matthew 22, recorded Jesus’ very much ‘in your face’ responses to personal confrontations from a prepped mixture of Pharisees and Herodians, then from a band of Sadducees and then from a Pharisee who was a law expert. The initial altercation that Jesus had – which was with some Pharisees and Herodians, was driven by a threatened group of nationalistic Pharisees who wanted Jesus – in their best case scenario, executed by the Roman governor for saying something that would obviously communicate that Jesus was not supportive of the Roman government. This group of Pharisees recruited some Herodians – who the Pharisees detested because of Herodians being zealous supporters of Herod and the ruling Roman government while they remained ardent Levitical or Mosaic Law fanatics, in their plan to trap Jesus with His words. The Pharisees and their co-conspirators – the Herodians, in their plan to trap Jesus with His words, asked Jesus if Caesar – the Roman Emperor, should be paid taxes. Jesus without hesitating because He knew the guys’ thoughts, was to caustically call the guys hypocrites. Jesus proceeded to explain to this motley mixture of Pharisees and Herodians that both Caeser and God had money coming to them so . . . the Pharisees did not end up with a reason to denounce Jesus and the Herodians did not end up with a reason to accuse Jesus.
Jesus’ next clash came with some Sadducees. A group of Sadducees had formulated a convoluted argument against the resurrection belief paradigm. Sadducees believed that guys, gals and kids – when they die, will not be resurrected. The Sadducees wanted Jesus to explain to them which one of the seven guys who a gal had married would be this gal’s husband after she dies and goes to heaven. Jesus’ abrupt response to these guys’ impertinent, hypothetical situation was to tell these guys that they were in error – that they did not know Scriptural content nor did they know the power of God. What verse 30 states “At the resurrection people neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like angels in heaven.” is Jesus’ clear elucidation to these misinformed guys what it is going to be like for each guy, gal and kid who is heaven bound. Jesus then was approached by a Pharisee – who was an expert in the Levitical or Mosaic Law, who asked Jesus what the Law’s greatest commandment was. Jesus’ reply to the Pharisee was to tell him that the Law’s greatest commandment is an expectation that God has of Him being loved by him with all his heart, with all his soul and with all his mind – and that he is to love his neighbor like he loves himself. During a Presidential debate about five years ago, John Kerry – who was the Democratic Presidential candidate, used the Great Commandment verses in a Bible memorization faceoff with Republican Presidential candidate – who was George Bush. Your grandpaa was convinced enough that John Kerry had left out heart when he tried to quote Matthew 22:37-39 that he went to the Wikipedia website – which has the debate’s transcript, to check if he really had heard correctly. John Kerry said per the Wikipedia website “I was taught — I went to a church school and I was taught that the two greatest commandments are: Love the Lord, your God, with all your mind, your body and your soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. And frankly, I think we have a lot more loving of our neighbor to do in this country and on this planet.” The Freudian slip that John Kerry made – when he omitted heart, during his third Presidential debate that he had with George Bush, explained to your grandpaa that John Kerry had not internalized yet what the heart’s role is for a guy, gal or kid who has come to know Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and Savior as only the heart can accept God’s saving agape love.
Before Matthew wrote about the three different encounters that Jesus had with dissenters of His teachings, Matthew recorded a parable – or allegory, that Jesus taught to the guys and gals who were following him about a wedding banquet that a king prepared for his son. Your grandpaa thinks that the wedding banquet in this parable – or allegory, was prepared by God – as God the Father, for every guy, gal and kid who will one day and for all eternity fellowship with God – as God the Son. Some guys and gals who have been invited to this special wedding banquet through an invitation to meet Jesus Christ in a personal, heartfelt way will ignore the invitation or they will beat up and/or kill the invitation’s carriers. God – as God the Father, will resend His invitation – this time to guys and gals who the invitation couriers find. Every guy, gal and kid who God – as God the Father, predestined before He created planet Earth to accept Jesus – as being God the Son, and who God – as God the Spirit, leads to and through the faith/grace door will join the wedding banquet that God – as God the Father, prepared for His Son – as God the Son.
Matthew 22 (1022)