The Scripture reading for tomorrow morning is Matthew 22:34-46.
I know this is late, but I invite you to take a moment tonight or tomorrow morning (or whenever you get the chance) to read through all of Matthew 22. It’s helpful, even, to go back all the way to Matthew 20:29 and read through to the end of chapter 22.
One commentator notes, “the fundamental theme of Matthew 20:29-22:46 is response to Jesus, that is, evaluation of who He is.”
Two blind men, sitting by the roadside hear that Jesus is walking by and they cry out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” The crowd rebukes them, but Jesus heals. They ‘see’ who Jesus really is.
Jesus enters Jerusalem as king, and as he does, Matthew tells us, “When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?’ The crowds [the ones ushering Jesus in] answered, ‘This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.’”(Matthew 21:10-11)
Jesus entered the temple and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the benches of those selling doves and kicked them out, saying, “My house will be called a house of prayer but you are making it a den of robbers.” But the blind and the lame came to him and were healed. When the chief priests saw what was happening and the children shouting praise in the temple courts they were indignant.
Jesus has his authority questioned again by the chief priests and the elders of the people. (Opposition by these religious leaders is an ongoing theme in these verses)
The parables that Jesus tells highlight this theme of response to Jesus.
Then there are the three questions that come from the Pharisees, Herodians, and the Sadducees. They are trying to trap Jesus, to discredit him, because they are the ones who stand with the most to lose if Jesus is who He says He is.
Then, this section ends with Jesus’ question to the religious leaders. Jesus asks, “Whose son is [the Messiah]? It’s a question that hints at the title, ‘Son of God.’ Of course they answer, “David’s,” but Jesus shows them that the Messiah must be more than just David’s son – why else would David call him, ‘Lord’ (a quote from Psalm 110)? In that culture, a father would never call his son, ‘Lord.’ A father was always considered greater than his son.
This final question baffled the religious leaders (they could not – or would not – admit that Jesus was the Son of God) but to us readers of Matthew’s gospel who read in Matthew 1:23 – ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God with us’)” – we know that Jesus is more than his ancestry from King David could produce.
He is greater than even King David because he is Immanuel, God with us.
He is the Messiah.
He is the Son of God.
Therefore, this section that shows people responding to Jesus comes to a close with Jesus pointing to his true identity. And it begs of us, Matthew’s readers, to respond like the blind men who got healed, like those who ushered Jesus into Jerusalem, like those who accepted the invitation to the wedding banquet.
This section invites us to see that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and respond in faith to Him for in Him there is life and hope and our salvation.